It was the 13th century. While the period of the High Middle Ages was well underway in Europe in the distant cultural universe of medieval Japan there lived a Buddhist monk known as Nichiren Daishonin. Challenging government sponsorship of the religious establishment of his day he sought to reclaim the teachings found in the Lotus Sutra (an earlier Buddhist sacred text) as a more conducive path to enlightenment. With his efforts the Nichiren sect of Buddhism was born which now claims millions of adherents.
You may be asking how the actions of a medieval Japanese monk still apply to our daily lives today. Although your religious background may differ significantly from Eastern traditions such as Nichiren Buddhism it is important to realize that inner wisdom can be derived from a multitude of sources. By branching outside our pre-conceived currents of thought and embracing teachings external to our established beliefs we are able to understand reality in a greater and expanded way.
One of these illuminating teachings is found in a letter from Nichiren Daishonin to one of his disciples in 1277. The monk warns in his writings against being “carried away by the eight winds: prosperity decline disgrace honor praise censure suffering and pleasure.” If you read closely you will notice that there are four sets of contrasting winds: each set containing one favorable and one unfavorable. For instance the favorable wind of prosperity contrasts with the unfavorable wind of decline.
Now not wishing for decline to overtake us is simple enough to understand. But why would we want to avoid something like a wind of prosperity? The lesson here seems to be one of cultivating mental stability. It is so easy to let ourselves get caught up in grand illusions that delude us into living an ultimately self-destructive lifestyle. When carried away by dreams of prosperity for instance we both endanger our psychological health during the inevitable harder times and run the risk of losing a grounded perspective with which to view the world.
Here at Pepperdine we certainly face a myriad of things that consistently challenge our mental stability. They range from the newfound stress that many freshmen face while adjusting to a new environment to the immense pressures of seniors in making post-graduation plans. In fact there are so many challenges throughout our time here that it may seem like we are often bombarded by many more than eight winds! It is of the utmost importance to remain firm amid the fray. Meditate and pray daily no matter what your faith conviction. Build upon your relationships and try to understand the people and environment around you even further. Expand your mental horizons even if it’s by simply making a new friend on the local 534 Express bus that will happily pick you up at the foot of the Malibu campus. The art of remaining firm will not be acquired by locking oneself up in a protective shell but by gradually challenging one’s own assumptions about the world by being confronted with new situations.
Additionally Nichiren Daishonin bluntly states in his letter “Be unmoved by greed by the desire for fame or by anger.” Though this message may seem antithetical to the essential spirit of many of our cultural role models (well exemplified recently by Kanye West’s idiocy at the MTV Video Music Awards) the world is yearning for a generation that chooses substance over sensationalism solidity over superficiality.
All of this truly begins with the individual. I will be the first to admit that I’ve been carried away by every single one of the eight winds at one point or another in my life. But the point is not to dwell in the past but to act in the present. Together let’s at least try to remain firm.