Nichiren Works For Me

Nichiren BuddhismSo many of the World Religions base their beliefs on a God, a Supreme Being, a Creator or an Entity whose existence is the focus of the religion’s belief.

As a confirmed Atheist, that focus never sat comfortably in my psyche. I don’t think anyone really believes in a white haired old man sitting in the clouds these days, but there are millions of people who base their faith on a Being whose existence cannot be proven. In fact, many religions actively seek to dissuade followers from even trying to prove that existence.

I was schooled in the Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology as well as Psychology, and those sciences demand proof for each and every hypothesis. So when I stumbled, and that is the right way to describe it, upon Nichiren Buddhism, I was overjoyed to find that there was no supreme being and that every part of Practice demands we examine the results of that Practice as proof of it’s validity.

Nichiren Daishonin said that we should seek proof of the effectiveness of our Practice in the results it brings. He also says that if the results do not support the practice, that we should desist.

I don’t want anyone to think that I am putting Nichiren Buddhism above or before any other religion, I am only saying that, for me, it fits my thinking and for me, it works.Although I have been practicing for a little while now, I am still learning new things every day, and the results have been amazing so the proof is there for me, and others to see.

1 Comment (+add yours?)

  1. Gary
    Dec 06, 2012 @ 19:12:04

    That’s sometimes the unsettling thing coming from a science related mind set, you are used to enquiring into the proven aspect of a proposition. Blind faith has never sat well with me either as I also feel uncomfortable believing in a “sky god” and do need that burden of proof. Science is the only discipline that I’m aware of where you actually can get a (Nobel) prize for disproving someone else’s theory or proposition. Questioning is absolutely encouraged in most forms of Buddhist practice as welI, which in turn is attractive. I can feel an article come on for me regarding the differences between faith, belief and confidence in a certain proposition (or did I read something similar recently in another blog). As the Buddha expounded – “Do not accept any of my words on faith, believing them just because I said them. …. Only accept what passes the test by proving useful and beneficial in your life.” Regards …

    Reply

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