Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Welcome

The question “What is happiness?” is often left to philosophers because it requires a kind of thinking we don’t normally engage in. It challenges who we are and how we live. Most of us believe that the ultimate purpose of our actions is to obtain happiness but happiness can be elusive or temporary. In our world, happiness is most often based upon acquiring material possessions.

In attempting to make sense of what we do, to understand our interactions with others and the challenges that confront us, once we retreat into our thoughts, what do we find? More confusion? Do we dislike who we are? Is our place of last retreat only a mirror of all the uncertainties that walk with us through the day and into the night?

This book is intended to encourage its readers to consider Nicherin Buddhism as a possible path for obtaining greater fulfillment in life. Even the most confused, disappointed and angry people want a good night’s sleep and the companionship of someone who understands their journey and their pain. For more than 2,500 years, Buddhism has led its practitioners to greater serenity and a more fulfilling life.

When facing life’s uncertainties, those who think about it are often led back to their fundamental belief system. Whether they reject or uphold those beliefs is a reflection of individual culture, family and community. The origin of one’s beliefs may extend back for generations to an unknown beginning. Often, they are a reflection of religious training, particularly if the church, synagogue or mosque was the central institution within the community.

In seeking spiritual fulfillment, how do we choose where to worship? We may attend a convenient local church, or perhaps remain with the one our parents attended. We may join a popular church to follow a charismatic leader. Sometimes we choose a place to worship in order to establish roots in a higher socioeconomic bracket, abandoning the storefront church with the folding chairs that our parents may have attended. We may follow a spouse or partner into a new belief system or religion, telling ourselves, “it’s as good as any other and they all lead to the same place.” But in fact most of us do not know another form of spirituality, belief or life philosophy. We cling to the familiar one because it’s all we know.