February 2012 Kanji Address
Every spring, hundreds of the world’s most talented people—the best and the brightest—fly to Southern California for the annual TED conference. Nobel laureates, Hollywood actors, and respected scientists, writers, artists and politicians gather to share ideas on how to make the world a better place. Al Gore spoke about how we can avert the global climate crisis. Doctors discussed cutting-edge cures for cancer. Dance companies and musicians performed pieces so beautiful and breathtaking, it had grown men crying. One scientist even created a laser “force field” out of discarded office printers that could snip the individual wings off of malaria-carrying mosquitos to help protect refugee camps in Africa.
Now if wasn’t enough, you could have gone last week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where government leaders and titans of industry go to discuss answers to the world’s most pressing problems.
I know about these conferences and these world-renowned people, because I’ve worked for some of them. And I’m telling you all of this, because I feel infinitely more honored today to be at the temple than any global conference.
No, it’s not because we have any Nobel laureates or billionaires in the room. It’s because the people in this room are the ones who are truly changing the world.
Despite all mankind’s brilliant economic theories, scientific advancements and cures for cancer, the world still has the same problems it always has. “They” have lots of answers, but not the right one. By contrast, the people in this room have only one answer, but it is the right one.
While “They” are trying to create lasers to zap the wings off of mosquitos, invest billions of dollars into global relief programs or pass new policies to affect millions of people, the people in the room are working day and night to share this Buddhism with one person at a time.
Despite their tremendous intellect and power, global luminaries fail to understand cause and effect. While they may solve cancer today, another disease will arise tomorrow. Buddhists, on the other hand, understand past, present and future. We realize that policies and technology only attack the surface problem. To change the world, we need to change the hearts and karma of each individual first by teaching them to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
By doing so, we will naturally change our environment, because the environment reflects the human condition. This is the most important and profound doctrine of Buddhism and I’ve seen its effect in real-life on many occasions. I once worked for Hollywood director Michael Mann on Miami Vice, who also happens to go the World Economic Forum. He would throw tantrums and throw phones at the crew, but whenever he stormed into my office, he would suddenly change his mind and walk away. My abused coworkers wanted to know my secret (chanting!). Later, when the entire crew went to shoot the film in the Carribean, he made me stay in LA to watch the home office. While they were stranded for weeks due to Hurricane Katrina, I was warm, dry and chanting.
One more example, last year we had our second Young Adults Exchange meeting. In total, about 80 young adults from across the northwestern US gathered to chant at Myohoji temple in LA. It turned out to be “Carmageddon” weekend, where they closed LA’s biggest freeway. Despite all the fears in the media about the havoc this would cause, one radio announcer commented that surprisingly, there was no traffic, no crime and it was the most peaceful he has ever seen LA. He even said he saw people walking their dogs and saying hi to their neighbors! I mean, this is LA! I truly believe that it was no coincidence that LA’s most feared weekend turned into it’s most peaceful.
Do we have any guests here today?
It is hard to believe at first, but the simple act of chanting can change the course of a human life and the world, because it is based on the fundamental truth of the entire universe. By contrast, global policies and technologies only have limited, temporary impact because it is based on a narrow understanding of cause and effect and swayed by greed, anger and ignorance. Einstein was able to describe how the tiniest parts in a single atom worked. This singular law of energy would later lead to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima. It is easy to see how you can affect the world by a single cause. So it is very important to pick the correct, fundamental cause, which is the act of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Chanting is the single true cause that will affect everything else in your life and allow you to overcome any problem, no matter how difficult. It contains the one thing that Einstein was missing: wisdom.
Finally: I started off by saying how much of an honor it is to be here today at the temple. So for all of our members, I wanted to just a moment to recognize 2 groups of people.
Raise your hand if you started practicing in the 50s, 60s or 70s. These members are our pioneers who first brought this Buddhism to the US for the first time.
Raise your hand if you were practicing in the 80s and 90s. These members helped build Myoshinji Temple in 1983, protected it and became our first Hokkeko members. Please keep your hands up.
New people ask me all the time how do I get started in this practice and how do I do shakubuku? It’s easy. Just ask them. They have some amazing stories to tell.
I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to our early pioneers and the members who have helped build and protect Myoshinji temple since its earliest days. As a young adult, I want to sincerely ask you to share your experiences with us so all of us can work together for shakubuku and kosen-rufu. Please speak with Rev. Kimura if you would like to share your experience or need help with translation.
Everytime we go to the temple, let’s remember that it is truly an honor to go to the temple and be surrounded by people who are changing the world. Let’s share our stories. Let’s inspire each other do shakubuku each week. And let’s change the world one daimoku, one shakubuku at a time.
Thank you very much!
Vincent Chang
Kanji