Consistency in The Hands of The Courageous
by Imani Capri
“A sword in the hands of a coward is useless” Nichiren Daishonin I heard this quote in my head and heart as I sat in front of my laptop to write. Immediately, I felt goosebumps; not only because of how powerful the quote is on its own, but also because of its timeliness more than 700 years after it was first written. I first encountered this quote in my early practice and study of Nichiren Buddhism. Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist monk, was the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, and the first to reveal and chant “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” as a means of helping all people attain enlightenment and happiness. In a letter entitled: “Reply to Kyo’o,” Nichiren wrote the above sentence within a longer response to encourage the mother of Kyo’o, an extremely sick little girl, to courageously use her faith in chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to help heal her daughter’s illness. Nichiren went on to say, “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a lion. What sickness can therefore be an obstacle?” In essence, Nichiren Daishonin likened the power of prayer and faith to the power of a mighty sword, that would only be useful in the hands of a person courageous enough to use it. In many respects, Nichiren Daishonin was a revolutionary. He refuted the state sanctioned religions of Shinto and other forms of Buddhism that taught believers to seek enlightenment outside of themselves and that only men could achieve enlightenment. His teachings, based on the Lotus Sutra, emphasized that all living beings could attain enlightenment including women. As I sit in Cleveland, Ohio in the year of 2023 writing this opinion piece, I do not own a physical sword and I find it incredibly offensive that women are still having to “fight” for full power over our own bodies and life decisions. However, I am writing this piece just two days after 2,186,965, Ohio residents voted, on November 7, to pass Issue 1 thus enshrining women’s reproductive rights and access to making sovereign healthcare decisions as a state constitutional amendment. Despite the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in
Page 26
2022, and a host of slick, manipulative, barely legal, tactics, and propaganda from extremist Ohio Republican law makers to keep Ohio voters from amending the state constitution, Ohioans showed up and used the mighty swords of courage, organizing, voting, working together, peacefully, across diverse backgrounds and political beliefs to create a change that honors and protects the basic human right of making decisions for oneself. Like many of you, I watch the news and social media timelines with constant images and stories of global genocide of innocent civilians in Palestine, Israel, Congo, Sudan and beyond, with incredible heartache and disgust. Like many of you, I too am tired of hearing about or seeing news of more youth murdered on Cleveland area streets or continued school or public mass shootings across the country. Yet these atrocities continue. Why? Too many real cowards, and bullies with agendas that really do not prioritize the well-being of the greatest amount of people hold seats of power. The courageous, not the complacent, make history. The courageous, not the complacent do the real work of creating change. Courage requires getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Courage requires the willingness to exchange staying in our comfort zones for inconvenience to create positive change for a greater good. As I reflect on what just happened politically here in Ohio and what is happening around the world, the message I am most compelled to share is: we are the change we have been waiting for, we are the change that we keep demanding from others. We are the superheroes that we have been praying for.
