From the beginning of human history, sages have bequeathed enduring values to the people of the world. After thousands of years, people seeking solutions to the problems of human existence still turn to the teachings of Zoroaster, Shakyamuni, Confucius, Jesus Christ and Mohammed. Of all spiritual legacies, Shakyamuni's teaching - Buddhism - because of its universality and selflessness, has given most hope to the peoples of Asia and has been the greatest influence in most Asian cultures. Today, the salvation found in Buddhism has proved as relevant to the people of West as to the people of the East.
About twenty-five hundred years ago, Shakyamuni was born a prince of the Shakya tribe in north-eastern India. He was deeply distressed in his youth by all the problems of human existence.
At the age of twenty-nine he renounced his worldly life to devote himself to liberating all human beings from suffering.
In Shakyamuni's time India teemed with competing schools of thought. Renouncing a secular life Shakyamuni searched for truth for six years. He investigated all the teachings with an open mind, practising, adopting or rejecting them.
At the age of thirty-five he sat in meditation under a bodhi tree and comprehended the one truth that permeate all things and phenomena in the universe.He attained perfect wisdom. He attained enlightenment. He became the Buddha.
He then taught the Dharma (Truth) throughout north central India for the next forty-five years until his death at eighty years old.
A liberal man, Shakyamuni trusted his disciples to govern their groups themselves and never asked that they uniformly consolidate his teachings His purpose was to save people from suffering. He preached the Dharma to people in various ways according to their power of understanding, according to the time, the place and the situation.
About 200 BC the disciples of buddhism separated into, roughly, two schools of Buddhism - the conservative and the liberal.
In Sri Lanka the conservative school of Buddhism was introduced by the emperor Ashoka. This teaching known as Theravada Hinayana or southern Buddhism still flourishes in Southeast Asia, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia.
Also around this time the followers of the liberal school criticised the conservative school for thie unyielding insistance on personal salvation and what they saw as the departure from the essential pragmatism of Shakyamuni's teaching. The liberal school initiated a movement for the salvation of ordinary laymen. This school became the Mahayana, or 'great vehicle' Buddhism.
It was under these circumstances the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, or the Lotus Sutra, was introduced in an effort to unite the two streams of Buddhism. The content of the Lotus Sutra represents the culmination of Shakyamuni' teaching. It is a profound teaching of wisdom, compassion and liberation.
Mahayana Buddhism transmitted northward from India through central Asia. The Lotus Sutra made its way to China. There the head of the T'ien-tai school Chih-i (538-97) wrote several commentaries on the Lotus Sutra. His explanations enabled many more people to understand and value the profound teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Chih-i is revered as the 'Little Shakyamuni'.
The Lotus Sutra has been a major influence on Japanese culture. It was in the spirit of the Lotus Sutra that the prince regent Shotoku (574-622) based the first law code in Japan. The great priest Saicho (767-822) founded the Japanese Tendai sect to bring the Lotus Sutra to more people. Even in the writings of the founder of the Soto Zen sect Dogen (1200-82) the Lotus Sutra can be found to provide a strong undercurrent in thought and zen practice.
In the thirteenth century the priest Nichiren (1222-82) infused new life into the Lotus Sutra. He asserted that only by practising its teachings is it possible to save society and the individual.
In 1938 Nikkyo Niwano founded a lay Buddhist organisation - Rissho Kosei-kai - which has the Lotus Sutra as its basic scripture. The Rissho Kosei-kai seeks to restore to the modern world the spirit of Shakyamuni's most profound teaching. The Rissho Kosei-kai exists to help free people from suffering. The Rissho Kosei-kai seeks to establishing a peaceful world through the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
In the twenty-first century the Rissho Kosei-kai of the United Kingdom is part of an organisation which has 6.2 million members and 227 branches throughout Japan and Worldwide.
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