The Silence Of Many Will Lead To The Tyranny Of The Few.

We all have a voice. How we use it defines the outcomes of each situation we are in.

In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni tells us that the ‘voice does the Buddha’s work’. What is this voice?

The voice we have is a manifestation of our intent. Its tone, pitch and pace convey our emotions, thoughts and aspirations dressed as words we use.

The True Cause

The Buddhist voice is an invitation to engage in a dialogue. We want to ask good questions to understand each other better. Without this intent to understand, we will lose our right to be called humans.

‘Ask Powerful Questions — Create Conversations That Matter’ the authors, Will Wise and Chad Littlefield, start from the intention, which is the fundamental driver for all conversations. It aligns well with the Buddhist principle, Honnin Myo, i.e. the concept of True Cause.

The way we talk defines the reactions we get from others. Wise and Littlefield outline in their practical book a method to start with the right intentions.

Conversations that matter in the Buddhist context are those that help other people become happy, fulfilled and contributing members of the community.

The True Cause of Buddhism is the conscious effort to open our hearts to understand and be more compassionate, wise and courageous.

The True Cause is a forward-looking, active way to take responsibility for our lives. It starts with the intention to sow the seeds of future success regardless of our failures or past regrets. It does not involve permanent dwelling in the past, asking ‘why me’ or ‘why I always have to [fill the blank]’.

When we apply this principle, we acknowledge that we might not have been thinking straight in the past, but now it is different, and the future is in our hands. We reveal our intent to become enlightened as we are just now without the need for endless painful austerities or tribulations.

And for practicing Nichiren Buddhist, the fundamental true cause is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but that's another story. I'll write about it later.

Do you have what it takes?

Buddhism is not for the faint-hearted. It requires true courage to be intentionally happy no matter what. Because it states that you are responsible for everything you experience in this life, it also gives hope, methods and tools to fix us to become the best versions of ourselves.

In Burt Watson’s beautiful translation of the Lotus Sutra, we can read these lines:

When living beings witness the end of a kalpa

and all is consumed in a great fire,

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.

The gods strike heavenly drums,

constantly making many kinds of music.

Mandarava blossoms rain down,

scattering over the Buddha and the great assembly.

My pure land is not destroyed,

yet the multitude sees it as consumed in fire,

with anxiety, fear, and other sufferings

filling it everywhere.

The Buddha is you, me, and everyone who believes in life’s sanctity and ultimate respect for it. It describes the massive difference between the understanding of a Buddha and that of an ordinary person. The Buddha sees opportunity, beauty and joy, whereas others see suffering and pain.

The poem tells us that this ‘Buddha Land’ is within our reach because it is within us regardless of the circumstances. It gives hope but also requires action. The world around us will start to change when people realise that their intentions matter.

If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then you performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. — Nichiren Daishonin

Buddhism is action

The intention, the fact that the voice does the Buddha’s work, asks to take action. If you don’t use your voice, somebody else will use your silence to amplify theirs.

It happened in Germany during the ’30s. It is happening now in Russia with horrifying effects on the innocent people in Ukraine. And it tries to happen in the USA and elsewhere. It is part of human nature. Evil exists, but so does good.

If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds. — Nichiren Daishonin

Ultimately the Russians will suffer because they have decided to use their voice to support the evil intentions of the ruling regime. But the True Cause also indicates that we will suffer too if we don’t use our voice for good. Russia is not apart from us. If we remain silent and do nothing, the flames of the end of the Kalpa will eat us alive.

The silence of good people kills more than the loudest voices of the agitators. And the silence of many will lead to the tyranny of the few.

There is hope amid the horrors

The way out is clear. It is to use our voice and intention and engage in dialogue to build bridges, understand and confront evil with ironclad kindness and determination not to give in or give up. That’s the True Cause: it looks forward from now on without compromising life’s dignity.

That’s why Buddhism is so hope-filled and optimistic. It tells us that it is not up to some external deity or superior leader but to every one of us to take action and change the course of our lives.

At all times, I think to myself:

How can I cause living beings

to gain entry into the unsurpassed way

and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha? — Lotus Sutra, Chapter 16

When we change for the better and start to reveal our full potential, it will help everybody around us to do the same.