Happiness in This World

Background

In the third month of 1275, about one year before this letter was written, Nichiren Daishonin warned Shijō Kingo, his loyal samurai follower who was an early convert, that as a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra he must be prepared to meet further difficulties and hardships.

In the present work, the Daishonin explains the nature of true happiness. It lies, he says, in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Suffering is unavoidable, he adds, encouraging Shijō Kingo to “regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens.” The Daishonin emphasizes that this is the way to experience “the boundless joy of the Law,” or the state of Buddhahood.

Main Text

Notes

1. Lotus Sutra, chap. 16. The full passage reads, “This, my land, remains safe and tranquil, constantly filled with heavenly and human beings. The halls and pavilions in its gardens and groves are adorned with various kinds of gems. Jeweled trees abound in flowers and fruit where living beings enjoy themselves at ease.”

2. “The Buddha of limitless joy” is the eternal Buddha who derives limitless joy from the Law.

3. Lotus Sutra, chap. 5.

Lecture

This letter was written to Shijō Kingo, who, at the time, was despised by his colleagues and treated coldly by his lord, Ema Mitsutoki, and was thus in the depths of adversity. In it, Nichiren Daishonin teaches and encourages him, explaining that true happiness in life lies in living by faith in the Mystic Law (Myoho). However, the teaching set forth here is not merely advice for a particular individual in a special circumstance. Rather, it elucidates a universal and fundamental principle concerning what constitutes the ultimate happiness of human beings and how people should live their lives.

In this sense, though brief, this letter must be regarded as an important guide to life. Moreover, it expresses profound Buddhist philosophy in clear and familiar language, and every phrase carries deep brilliance and weight. It may sound presumptuous to say so, but there is not a single wasted character, not a moment’s gap — it is a writing as flawless as a polished jewel.

“There is no true happiness for human beings other than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The sutra reads,”

The term “joy and delight” (遊楽, yuraku) here does not refer to the shallow pleasures of the world. In ordinary terms, joy or entertainment is derived from activities such as games or sports—things that provide limited relief from work or social obligations.

But the “joy and delight” referred to in this passage means to take delight in life itself. In other words, to reach a state where simply being alive becomes a profound joy—this is the ideal condition aimed for in Buddhism. This, however, does not mean living frivolously or irresponsibly. Escaping reality may bring momentary comfort, but the consequences inevitably return as even harsher realities later on. Such a life can never be true joy.

True joy in life lies in confronting the harsh realities of existence head-on and overcoming them with composure and strength. The source of that powerful life-force and wisdom is the Mystic Law; therefore, the Daishonin declares that “there is no joy or delight apart from chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.”

The word “to play” (遊) means to live freely and dynamically amid reality, while “to delight” (楽) means to enjoy life from the depths of one’s being. With the power of strong life-force and wisdom, one can enjoy the waves of adversity as a surfer rides the sea, or climb the steep mountains of challenge with exhilaration—thus overcoming all turmoil with joy.

The ultimate source of this genuine delight in living lies solely in the practice of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo by all people throughout the world—there is no other way.

““Where” means Jambudvīpa, and Japan lies within Jambudvīpa.”

On the surface, this statement emphasizes that Japan is part of Jambudvīpa, the known world. But more deeply, in the words “The place refers to the entire Jambudvīpa,” the Daishonin reveals his fundamentally different stance from that of other religions.

Christianity taught that true joy and salvation lie in heaven—that only beyond the gates of heaven can happiness be found. In many pre-Lotus teachings of Buddhism, such as the Pure Land schools, the “land of delight” was believed to be the western paradise of Amida Buddha, while this world was seen as a defiled land filled with suffering. Hence the world was called shaba—“the world of endurance.”

In contrast, the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra is the first to teach that one should not seek an ideal world elsewhere, but that this very saha world itself is the place where all beings can find joy. It also reveals the principle by which this world can be transformed into such a realm.

“Could “enjoy themselves at ease” mean anything but that both our bodies and minds, lives and environments, are entities of three thousand realms in a single moment of life and Buddhas of limitless joy?”

The true state of joy and delight arises from awakening to the realization that our very lives embody the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life (ichinen sanzen) and that we ourselves are the Buddha of self-enjoyment (jijuyushin no hotoke). This is not a matter of abstract thought or a solitary inner experience disconnected from one’s environment; it is the manifestation of the Buddha state in both body and mind, in both self and surroundings.

The principle of ichinen sanzen is itself identical with the Buddha of self-enjoyment—one expresses the Law, the other the Person, and together they are one reality.

The doctrine of ichinen sanzen teaches the oneness of body and mind (shikishin funi) and the oneness of self and environment (eishō funi). To awaken to this means to transform both one’s inner life and the external world at their fundamental source.

The Buddha of self-enjoyment is the life that freely and joyfully lives this existence—it is the condition in which living itself is a joy. By embracing the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, one reveals that one’s own life is the embodiment of ichinen sanzen, the Buddha of self-enjoyment. This is the realization of the Buddha state in one’s present form (bonpu soku hotoke)—the manifestation of the life-condition of Buddhahood itself. Therefore, the Daishonin states, “There is no joy apart from upholding the Lotus Sutra.”

“Though worldly troubles may arise, never let them disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even sages or worthies.”

The “worldly obstacles” here refer to the resistance and interference that arise from society when one strives toward an ideal. In Shijō Kingo’s case, these took the form of persecution by his colleagues and oppression from his lord, Ema Mitsutoki, based on slanderous reports.

Wherever people advance toward a noble ideal, opposition and persecution are unavoidable, for ideals transcend reality and seek to transform it. To pursue an ideal inevitably means to challenge or outgrow the status quo.

In early Buddhist teachings (the Hinayana), people sought peace by denying the realities within themselves—by cutting off earthly desires. This led to a self-negating path of extinction, detached from social reality. Mahayana teachings before the Lotus Sutra sought utopias in imagined realms, idealistic but divorced from real-world transformation. Such teachings often served rulers well, for they taught resignation and endurance under hardship.

The Lotus Sutra, however, contains a powerful intent to transform reality itself. For rulers who desired stability based on the people’s submission, this revolutionary spirit was threatening. Thus, the “worldly obstacles” faced by the Daishonin and his followers were an inevitable result of their efforts to spread the Lotus Sutra.

Yet the Daishonin’s ultimate intent was not to fight society on its own terms. His revolution was one of inner transformation—a change in the very essence of human life. Social transformation would follow naturally as a result of this inner change.

Hence his words, “Even if worldly obstacles arise, you must not be disturbed,” express the resolve to engage in this deeper struggle. Misunderstanding this could lead one to think that he advocated resignation, but that would contradict the entire spirit of Risshō Ankoku-ron and the lifelong practice of admonishing the authorities.

Moreover, “worldly obstacles” does not refer only to religious persecution. It includes all forms of hardship and suffering that arise in life and society—the inevitable difficulties of existence within the six paths and threefold world. Even sages and saints cannot escape them, for they too are human beings living within the reality of life and death. Even the Buddha himself cannot avoid encountering worldly challenges.

This truth is clarified by the principle of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds. The “sages and saints” represent the four noble worlds (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, Buddha), and the “worldly obstacles” represent the six paths. Together they form one inseparable reality. Recognizing this truth without being shaken by it is the mark of the sage; embracing the movements of the nine worlds with composure and joy is the mark of the Buddha.

“Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law?”

Suffering and joy are inevitable aspects of life. No one can escape them. Even by embracing the Mystic Law that promises “peace and security in this world and good circumstances in the next,” one does not eliminate the realities of pleasure and pain. The key is not to be swallowed by them, but to establish an inner self grounded in the great life of the Mystic Law, and thus to ride the waves of life with composure.

Suffering and joy are relative states—forms of conditional happiness. The happiness of “self-enjoyment of the Law,” realized through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, is absolute happiness.

Absolute happiness does not arise by accumulating relative happiness. Nor does it mean erasing all suffering and reaching a painless state. That would still be a relative, conditional happiness. True absolute happiness is achieved within the realities of suffering, when, through profound faith, one manifests the infinite life of the Mystic Law within oneself—attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form (sokushin jōbutsu).

True happiness is not the absence of suffering. Paradoxically, a life without hardship or struggle would itself be empty and painful. The heavens of Christianity or the Pure Land of Amida are imagined paradises devoid of suffering or challenge—mere abstractions. In reality, life always includes struggle. When one establishes an unshakable self that does not succumb to suffering, one can enjoy life’s every experience as supreme joy.

The Lotus Sutra teaches this law of life, revealing how to attain unshakable happiness within reality itself. It does not advocate closing one’s eyes to suffering or fleeing from it, but rather facing it squarely—recognizing suffering as suffering, joy as joy, and embracing both through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Through such practice, one fuses one’s life with the Gohonzon—the oneness of subject and object in enlightenment—and establishes an indestructible inner self. That self is able to transform all suffering and joy into supreme delight. This state of self-enjoyment of the Law (jijuyū hōraku) is the true condition of happiness for human beings.