Paul Monaco .org

“Faith is a source of unfathomable good fortune and wisdom. When just one woman stands up with faith, a pure and refreshing realm of happiness and peace will emerge and expand from wherever she is. When the sun of truth and justice rises, the night of unhappiness and iniquity will be dispelled without fail” - Kaneko Ikeda

The January-February issue of Living Buddhism is focusing on The Women of the SGI-USA.  The Sokka Gakkai is a Buddhist lay organization dedicated to world peace and the practice of Nichiren Buddhism.

The Lotus Sutra preached by Shakyamuni is a great teaching of gender equality. Nichiren states..

“There should be no discrimination among those who propagate the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day of the Law, be they men or women” (WND-1, 385)

and while praising a female disciple of particularly strong faith…

“Only in the Lotus Sutra do we read that a woman who embraces this sutra not only excels all other women, but also surpasses all men” (WND-1, 464)

The equality of this practice is one of the key aspects that has led to my embracing of it.  There is no discrimination what so ever between the sexes or races.  We are simply all human beings.

Lately it seems we’re hearing about more incidents of racism then ever before.  At one point I even shrugged off reports as just sensationalized news about an isolated incident, but apparently it’s very widespread and perhaps I’m the one that leads a life in isolation?

We are all human. We cannot become anything greater than human, but we can shine with humanity just as we are. We can bond deeply, helping and encouraging one another. In this process, our families will prosper and our communities will develop.  This is the real picture of kosen-rufu that we pursue. - Daisaku and Kaneko Ikeda

I can understand our ignorance in the past, when slavery was common place.  That was a time when many different cultures lived great distances from one another and didn’t have the opportunity to learn about each others similarities and enjoy the things unique to the other cultures.  But today this is not the case.

We live side by side with each other.  The other end of the world is a click of the mouse away.  At any time of the day or night you can easily find a person from another culture to directly ask any question you’d like and get a direct answer and not one based on false information and stereotype.

We will always run into people we prefer to not be around, but let that reason be because you know them and don’t like they’re point of view, thoughts or attitude.  Not because of their race, heritage, culture or any other similar factors.

We are ALL humans.  Deal with it.