The Nirvana Sutra teaches the principle of lessening one's karmic retribution. If one's heavy karma from the past is not expiated within this lifetime, one must undergo the sufferings of hell in the future, but if one experiences extreme hardship in this life, the sufferings of hell will vanish instantly.
From "Lessing One's Karmic Retribution"
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol.1, p.199
Nichiren Daishonin cites the principle of "lessing one's karmic retribution," which in Chinese characters means "transforming the heavy and receiving it lightly." "The heavy" means the negative results of past bad causes, or "bad karma," and "receiving it lightly" means to experience their ill effects in a much lightened form.
By the time Buddhism emerged in India, people had long believed in karma - the accumulation in one's life of the latent effects of one's past thoughts, words and deeds, But this early view of karma shackled people to their circumstances and destiny.
Shakyamuni Buddha aught a new perspective on karma: He gave people hope and confidence that, because they are the ones who create their own karma, they have the power to fundamentally transform it and change their lives for the better.
By Nichiren's time, however, this hope-filled message had become obscured. The most revered Buddhist teachers of his day denied the possibility that popel could change their karma in this lifetime. They taught that attaining enlightenment required countless lifetimes of painful practices - a message that, in effect, taught believers to escape reality.
In contrast, Nichiren Buddhism presents a refreshing and empowering view of karma, revealing not only the possibility but also the means for people to transform their karma in this lifetime, no matter how heavy it may be.
Nichiren Buddhism recognizes that negative karma ultimately comes from "slander of the Law," from disbelief in and disrespect for the Law underlying all life and the universe. Nichiren teaches that one's life itself is the Mystic Law. So to disrespect one's own life or the live of others is equivalent to "slandering the Law."
Conversely, protecting, practicing and spreading this Law, which Nichiren revealed as Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, and supporting, encouraging and working harmoniously with other practitioners, is the fundamental cause for transforming our reality.
In this passage, Nichiren declares, "The sufferings of hell will vanish instantly." This means that we can overcome even the most negative karma and resulting suffering at this very moment. Just as the multiple of stars in the night sky fades with the brightness of the rising sun, our store of negative karma is rendered insignificant when we call forth the brilliant life state of Buddhahood through chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo base don a vow to accomplish kosen-rufu.
We develop our lives to the same extent that we help others develop their lives. The more we strive to encourage others and pray for their happiness, the more vibrant we become, strengthening our Buddha nature, the limitless reservoir of power within us. Changing karma means ending the cycle of suffering caused by deluded thoughts and actions, and entering a new, positive path to happiness. What propels us on this path is the wisdom we bring forth through correct Buddhist practice.
What's more, lessening karmic retribution is not a simple settling of karmic accounts, a zeroing out of a negative balance. Rather, it is a fundamental transformation, where the degree of our karmic "debt" of suffering turns into the magnitude of our "assets" of fortune and happiness. This process is powered by our steady efforts to practice Nichiren Buddhism for our own happiness and that of others. When we do so, the principle of lessening karmic retribution operates naturally within our lives. Then, all difficulties we encounter in our lives and in our Buddhist practice change into fortune and joy. In modern terms, we call this process "human revolution."
SGI President Ikeda says: "In the Soka Gakkai, an organization that is taking action in accord with the Buddha's will and decree, there are hundreds of thousands of people - no, millions of people - who have battled painful hardships with faith, and who have experienced profound revitalization as their own sufferings have "vanished instantly." In truth, the power of Nichiren Buddhism to change karma has been proven by the real-life experiences of 10 million people" (August 2003 Living Bhuddhism, p.37)
Rather than viewing hardships simply as sources of our suffering, Nichiren Buddhists see hardships as signifying opportunities for developing faith and forging a powerful inner state of life. Nichiren teaches that the difficulties we take on for the sake of spreading the Mystic Law and people's happiness equate to experiencing our karma in "lightened form," thereby transforming them into sources of deep fulfillment. He also teaches that to experience difficulties when advancing the cause of kosen-rufu is proof that we are practicing Buddhism correctly.
Let us have the conviction that, no matter what obstacles we meet in the course of life, as long as we continue advancing courageously on the path of faith, we can transform our karma into our mission. And jut like the sun, which illuminates all darkness, our lives will come to shin brilliantly with victory and happiness.
(The passage for July from Living Buddhism)
