Empowering Individuals for Lasting Peace

From Inner Change to Global Change

The Oneness of Life and Its Environment

One’s life and the environment are often viewed as being completely distinct, but from the
comprehensive viewpoint of Buddhist philosophy, they are one and inseparable.

It is a common human tendency to blame our problems and sufferings on things outside
ourselves—other people, circumstances beyond our control. The principle of the “oneness of
life and its environment,” however, demonstrates that the causes of our joy and sorrow
originate within us. When we base ourselves on this principle, seeing our environment as a
reflection of our inner life, we are able to take full responsibility for our lives and in this way
become empowered to solve our problems and create positive outcomes in the situations in
which we find ourselves.

The oneness of life and its environment is clarified within the theoretical framework of
“three thousand realms in a single moment of life,” which was established by the sixth-century
Chinese Buddhist teacher Zhiyi (the Great Teacher Tiantai, or T’ien-t’ai) on the basis of the
teachings of the Lotus Sutra. It is an overarching explanation of the nature and workings of life.

Typically, one’s view of life and questions of existence are shaped by a consciousness of
self, as reflected in Descartes’ famous declaration “I think, therefore I am.” We hold the self to
be the basis of reality, and everything else is seen in relation to it. This gives rise to a perception
of life structured in terms of dualities—self/other, internal/external, body/mind,
spiritual/material, human/nature. From the perspective of Buddhism, however, the self is a
temporary phenomenon, a nonpermanent combination of matter and mental/spiritual
functions (body and mind).

Life, which is eternal and all-pervasive, transcends what we perceive as the self and is
coextensive with the universe. Zhiyi describes this reality as the mutually inclusive relationship
of life and all phenomena.

This, then, is the profound nature of our lives from the perspective of the Buddha’s
enlightenment, belying our experience of life as being contained simply within the boundaries
of our own skin.

What we experience as the day-to-day reality of our lives is the workings of the law of
cause and effect, or karma, spanning past, present and future. Our actions and responses in
each moment create latent karmic or energetic potentials; when these are activated by external
stimuli, they manifest as effects—the events and experiences of our lives. Our reactions and

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 Empowering Individuals for Lasting Peace
From Inner Change to Global Change

responses to these in turn create further latent karmic potentials—an ongoing cycle that
constitutes our subjective experience of life.

Because no living being can exist apart from an environment, karmic effects are
expressed within that environment too. Here the word “environment” does not mean the
overall context in which all life occurs. Rather, it refers to the fact that each living being exists
within its own unique set of circumstances in which the effects of its individual karma appear. In
other words, a living being and its environment are a single integrated dynamic. A living being
and its environment are fundamentally inseparable.

According to Buddhism, everything around us, including work and family relationships, is
the reflection of our inner lives. Everything is perceived through the self and alters according to
the individual’s inner state of life. Thus, if we change ourselves, our circumstances will inevitably
change also.

The principle of the oneness of life and its environment clarifies that individuals can
influence and reform their environments through inner change or through the elevation of their
basic life state. It tells us that our inner state of life will be simultaneously manifested in our
surroundings. If we are experiencing a hellish internal life state, this will be reflected in our
surroundings and in how we respond to events. Likewise, when we are full of joy, the
environment reflects this reality. If our basic tendency is toward the life state of compassion, we
will enjoy the protection and support of the world around us. By elevating our basic life state—
which is the purpose of Nichiren Buddhist practice—we can transform our external reality.

As Nichiren writes, “If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure,
but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in
themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.”

Everything is interconnected, and our individual lives exert a profound and potentially
unlimited influence. As Daisaku Ikeda writes again, “It is Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, that
encourages and enables people to become aware of their great power, to draw it forth and use
it. Buddhism gives people the means to develop themselves thoroughly, and opens their eyes to
the limitless power inherent in their lives.”

The more we believe that our actions do make a difference, the greater difference we
find we can make.

[Courtesy – www.sgi.org]

Copyright © 2017, Bharat Soka Gakkai, All Rights Reserved P a g e |2

This document can be photocopied for the exclusive use of activities of Bharat Soka Gakkai. This document may not be
forwarded, circulated through email or internet or uploaded on any social media.