Spiritual Forum

I was at a district meeting of my SGI Buddhist group when, during the discussion time, a newbie brought up the topic of the Connecticut massacre. 26 people, mostly children and a few teachers had been murdered while in their elementary school by a lone gunman with automatic weapons.

The newbie in our group simply but loudly posed the question: "Why?" 

The question echoed in the now silent  room. After some very short feeble attempts, no one really answered his question and we quickly moved on to another topic. I guess some people took it as more of a rhetorical question and others may have felt it was way too big a topic to open as we were pressed for time. Others simply seemed not to want to touch that can of worms with a ten foot pole.

At first the "Why" for me turned into "What?" I silently questioned: What in our society created the conditions that could manifest into the slaughter of our most innocent? Was it the fault of the NRA or video Games? Was it the gratuitous violence on television and movies? Or are we as a society so desensitized to the suffering of others that no one, absolutely no one could have seen this coming? (even though a gun related massacre seems to happen every couple of years in the U.S.)

The possibilities mushroomed in my head and I wanted to start crying. I looked up at the Gohonzon  (altar of devotion) and was immediately brought back to the original "Why?"

At that moment I remembered the story of Nichiren's original "Why"? (Why was feudal Japan so fucked up at the time and how as Buddhists do they fix it?)

Suddenly the rice paper lantern in my head was lit. It was as if Nichiren Daishonen himself were whispering the answer into my ear: "World peace can only be attained through individual happiness."

And there it was. Two individuals: A mother, living in so much fear she felt the need to protect her home with assault weapons and the shooter, her son, carrying so much pain that manifested into rage and finally into madness. A madness with which he felt he had nowhere else to go but outward.

We would all bear witness to the most horrific example of Nichiren's postulation of individual unhappiness. An example that would eventually ripple outward to create collective suffering on an unimaginable scale. Did no one in their circle see it coming?

For me, this was it, the "Cliffs Notes" short answer to the newbie's profound inquiry: Individual suffering left unchecked (or ignored) shall eventually become collective suffering.

Is this a naive assessment of a tragedy that has much broader social and political implications? Maybe, maybe not. I believe this answer to the why is found at the core of its simplicity.

This is not to suggest we stop the inquiry of the "Why?" there. Indeed this is where we can begin the quest for answers, at the root cause.

And yes of course we need more gun controls and mental health and interventions and anti child abuse initiatives and anti bullying programs and the list goes on. But it is at the individual point where  the end of collective suffering will find its ultimate catalyst. And that for me is the point, and that is why I chant.