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Health and
Human Happiness
SGI
QuarterlyApril 2013
Number 72A Buddhist Forum or Peace, Culture and Education
S o k a G a k k a i I n t e r n a t i o n a l
A HEALTHY LIFE Guy Bourgeault
TREATMENT FROM THE HEART Felix Unger
A NEW MEASURE OF WELL-BEING Hazel Henderson
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FEATURE
1 Health and Human Happiness
2 A Healthy Life
By Guy Bourgeault
4 Treatment from the Heart
By Felix Unger
5 A Kinship of Bones: AIDS, Intimacy
and Care in Rural KwaZulu-Natal
By Patricia C. Henderson
7 Communication, Health and
Hearing Loss
Interview with Sharon Hutton
8 Beyond Economics: A New Measure
of Well-being
Interview with Hazel Henderson
10 Voices of Health
Refections rom around the world
12 Treasuring the Dignity of Life
Interview with Chung Cheng Lee
13 The Physician’s Healing Touch
By Abraham Verghese
14 The Science of Sleep
From an interview with Dr. H.N. Mallick
16 Buddhism and a Healthy Life
By Daisaku Ikeda
18 Looking at Life
By Hitomi Saruwatari
19 Music Therapy and Health
From an interview with Cybelle Loureiro
PEOPLE
20 Illness and the Middle Way
By Meri Everitt, UK
21 Changing Poison into Medicine
By Carmen Díaz Prensa, Dominican
Republic
PROPOSAL
22 SGI President Ikeda’s 2013 PeaceProposal Released
AROUND THE WORLD
23 SGI activity news from around
the world
ON VOCATION
26 Passion Aligned with Care
BUDDHISM IN DAILY LIFE
28 The Simultaneity of Cause and Effect
Contents
Editorial Team:
Anthony George
Elizabeth Ingrams
oan Anderson
ulie Kazumi Kakiuchi
Keiko Kakurai
Marisa Stenson
Motoki Kawamorita
Richard Walker
Yoshiko Matsumoto
Yoshinori Miyagawa
Published by Soka Gakkai International
Art Direction & Design by Modis DesignPrinted by Japan Print Co., Ltd.
© 2013 Soka Gakkai InternationalAll rights reserved. Printed in Japan.
Printed on FSC certifed paper, supporting esponsible orest management.
SSN 1341-6510
1810 19
The SGI Quarterly aims to highlight initiatives and perspectives on peace, education and culture and to provide
inormation about the Soka Gakkai International’s activities around the world. The views expressed in the SGI Quarterly
are not necessarily those o the SGI. The editorial team (see above) welcomes ideas and comments rom readers.
For permission to reprint material rom this magazine, please contact info@sgiquarterly.org.
Soka Gakkai International Quarterly Magazine
SGIQuarterly
A Buddhist Forum or Peace, Culture and Education
April 2013
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The Roman saying, “A healthy
mind in a healthy body,”
expresses the need or both
physical and mental well-
being. The human quest or a healthy way
o lie, despite increased lie expectancy,
is ongoing. Health is usually seen as the
natural condition o lie, and when sickness
occurs, this is seen as a sign that our nature
has gone o course because o a physical or
mental imbalance.
The advances o modern medicinemean that more diseases are treatable, yet
in developed countries, or instance, mental
disease seems to be on the rise with the
incidence o depression now outstripping
heart disease.
In the modern approach to medicine,
illness is seen as an aberration, but in other
approaches, sickness and wellness are seen
as part o a continuum, and good health is
gained by balanced interactions between
lie and its environment.
As illness will never be eradicated, even
by medical science, what is the role o the
physician? American journalist Norman
Cousins noted that a physician should also
be a philosopher—someone who helps
activate what he described as our innate
healing system and system o conviction,
which work together to solve illness.
Rather than aiming to conquer illness, the
physician thereore strives to restore andstrengthen this balance.
The experience o illness and the
attendant desire to recover can bring about
a change in the human heart, a deeper
understanding o our own mortality, our
connection with others and with lie itsel.
Martin Luther King Jr. recognized
that our quest or individual health cannot
be seen in isolation rom the broader
question o society’s health. He wrote:
“We are caught in an inescapable garme
o mutuality; tied in a single garment o
destiny . . . As long as there is poverty in
world, no man can be totally rich even i
has a billion dollars. As long as diseases
rampant and millions o people cannot b
expected to live more than 20 or 30 yea
no man can be totally healthy even i he
just got the cleanest bill o health rom
fnest clinics in America.”
This issue o the SGI Quarterly looat health in relation to both lie and de
showing how a healthy lie is rooted in
strong sense o purpose and energy, or
orce. This way o living cannot simply
be evaluated by a statistical analysis
o the numbers o years we are alive,
our economic output or the number o
diseases we encounter during the cour
o our lives. ❖
Health andHuman HappinessHealth andHuman Happiness
SGI Quarterly 1April 2013 P h o t o c r e d i t : © T r y g v e B o l s t a d / P a n o s P i c t u r e s
/ U n i p h o t o P r e s s
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At the age o nine, I was struck by the
abundance and variety o lie: gathering
red and gold autumn leaves, it occurred
to me that not one lea was identical to
another and there are so many trees and orests!
As I approach 80, still not yet able to take stock
o my lie to date and unable to oresee what is to
come, I am struck by that same eeling.
Through all the years o my lie (which is like
water, sometimes calm and sometimes gushing),
there have been so many twists and turns that I amsurprised palm readers or psychologists can talk o
one’s “lie line.” The lie we are living—and which
we can’t observe as an external reality—is so ull o
inuences o all kinds. We don’t take into account
the extravagance o our lie i we reduce it to a
linear, one-dimensional journey. The idea that lie
could be a preordained journey that conorms to a
set path comes rom our inability to experience the
richness and the incredible sense o ullness that
comes rom living rather than just observing.
Lie is a tapestry o unoreseen surprises
and grim losses. Georges Canguilhem (1904–95)
defned health as a bond with lie—a real living
bond, not just in the mind—elt by all living
beings, and more specifcally the human being
and everyone in his or her lie; as the capacity o
the living being, and especially that o the human,
to ace the demands o lie whilst continuously
exposed to the risk o loss, and ultimately death.
Death In Life
Two years ago, the woman with whom I hadthe ortune and privilege to share my lie or 35
years received a sudden diagnosis rom a doctor
who was also a riend: a verdict, delivered with
gentle and respectul tenderness, o incurable
cancer o the pancreas. Devastatingly, the cancer
was to take her lie within 10 weeks. My partner
did not express any o the denial, revolt, begging,
even anger really, that is expected and virtually
decreed by psychologists and other specialists.
There was sadness, yes, and there were tears
or two nights, then a mutual decision to reuse
Guy Bourgeault is a proessor at the
University o Montreal, Canada. He is
a specialist in Ethics and Education,
Philosophy o Education, Ethics,
Health and Society. He published the
dialogue On Being Human: Where
Ethics, Medicine and Spirituality
Converge (Les Presses de l’Université
de Montréal) with René Simard and
Daisaku Ikeda in 2002. See page 17
or an excerpt rom this book.
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to let death inhibit the lie that was still there
or us to experience together. “What do I have to
complain about?” she said. “You are here, and the
children too. I have everyone around me, while so
many women in the world die every day on their
own, under bombs, ater suering rape.” Dare
I say that I learned a lot during those 10 weeks,
during which she serenely mourned her lie, and
I mourned too? Who knows when it would be my
turn to quit lie or to be abandoned by it?
And now unoreseen encounters have once
again changed the color o my lie. Sunshine
has returned, ater so many passing moons that
aithully brought, without my really noticing, a
certain warmth to me. My lie goes on and no doubt
will go on or months and perhaps years to come, asit did in the past, bringing tenderness and jubilation
as well as anxieties and sometimes real anguish
rom which my insurance contributions cannot
protect me. Such is the risk o lie: we cannot live
without there being the risk o losing lie. Our
lie, inevitably subject to risk, is simultaneously
“enchantment and sorrow,” as expressed in the title
o the beautiul book by the Quebec author and
novelist Gabrielle Roy (1909–83): Lie is a git, a
project, a responsibility.
Savoring life
Lie is a git. No one has a right to lie beorebeing, without having ever decided it, alive.
Cherished by lie through no merit o my own,
I sometimes have the eeling when meeting
people—usually those younger than me who have
had a tougher lie—that I am taking advantage
o lie’s unairness by having a taste o shameless
happiness. I can savor it nonetheless. I say lie is a
git, but I should perhaps say lie is gits, given that
lie—at least my own—is maniold. And I believe
this to be the case or others, i not or everyone.
Lie is a project. Again, I should use the plural
here: projects, which are in the end just brave
replies to lie’s invitations. Brave in that we kno
that invitations can be retracted or even erased
by illness or death. But why should this unhapp
consciousness curb the desire that is but an
anticipation o the pleasure lie will bring us? T
same brave attitude allows us also to embrace t
challenge o the unexpected, despite the inhere
risks in doing so.
Lie is a responsibility to the extent that we
gain a grasp on it, however weak and limited. S
riends told me that I am in good health becaus
I do the right things: I don’t smoke, I am activeand I eat well. It is however more likely that I h
simply won the genetic lottery. One o my broth
was aicted at the age o nine by polio, which
appear to have warded o. He was badly aect
by it, suering the consequences until his deat
his early 50s. This was certainly not a conseque
o him not looking ater himsel—though this d
not mean that we should leave everything up to
ate and adopt a careless attitude to lie.
We can have two attitudes to lie, two “way
o dealing with it and ulflling our responsibili
control vs. care. Care comes rom respect and
attention. I do eel we place too much emphasicontrol and too little on care. In eect, this app
to all our social or institutional policies, all our
plans and all our practices, notably in the feld
health, education and social intervention. Since
are powerless to avoid all evil, we tend to incre
our levels o prevention and control in order to
relieve or compensate or unhappiness once it
has arisen and to minimize the risk o accident
illness, educational ailure and so on happening
the uture. In doing so, we seek only to control
which, in the end, has the eect o hindering li
it stops it rom blossoming.
Living, or us humans, is learning to acethe challenges o lie. When we have the power
to decide and act, we should go or control and
prevention since lie is never without risk. But
let us also build a relationship to lie based on
acceptance and attentiveness, on kindness and
deerence. Despite everything, let us trust in li
its power, which can—little by little—live withi
and become our power. Let us concern ourselv
with sustaining and ostering lie—our own and
that o others. This doesn’t make lie any easier
just richer. ❖
“We cannot live without there being the risk of
losing life. Our life, inevitably subject to risk,
is simultaneously ‘enchantment and sorrow.’”
SGI Quarterly 3April 2013
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Medicine has always stood in the
center o all our endeavors and
interests and is driven by the wish
to live as long and healthily as
possible. The role o doctors is to help patients
realize this desire through the treatment they
oer. Another task o doctors, however, is to guide
the patient.
Medicine o course deals with a very large
spectrum o maladies, rom mild disturbances
such as headaches, stomach upsets and so on,through to serious diseases. Because the range o
diseases is so large, it is sometimes very difcult
or doctors to ascertain the real severity and extent
o the symptoms.
In our modern, mechanistic society, people
generally do not expect that the onset o an illness
might alter their lives. Most people believe that a
disease can be evaluated clearly in a mechanistic
way and controlled much as one would control a
machine. The expectation is simply that a proper
diagnosis will be made, ollowed by the proper
therapy. But in act illness is as much a part o our
lie as night is complementary to day. And all days
fnd an end, as we will too.
The simplest contribution to leading a healthy
lie is to correct our liestyle. This is particularly
so with our aging population. Eective medicine
can help people be healthy, but liestyle plays a
major role.
Our society, which includes patients and
doctors, shares the same time paradigm. In
consequence it is how we deal with man. Today we
have a mechanistic, materialistic view o the world,
a paradigm o constant change known as “progress.”
We believe, as a result, that we can control nature
too. A disease is seen as nothing more than a
temporary disturbance to be managed immediately
by doctors. Ater fnding the disturbance and cure,
people oten believe they can continue an excessive
liestyle as they have done beore.Another problem or medicine is misleading
inormation. There are constant reports o
how medicine fghts cancer and cardiac arrest
successully. We read in the newspapers that
medicine can manage all. In reality, while our
medicine is very eective, it has certain limits.
This causes disappointment or patients and their
relatives. Ultimately, death cannot be avoided.
Europe has a very efcient health care system.
Most people are cared or very rapidly. Because o
the advancements in medicine, medical care has
become very expensive. In terms o how we deal
with people, health care is seen as a market, and
the health-care system thus creates a new fnancial
burden. Medicine cannot be evaluated in terms o
costs and benefts. In act the beneft is the quality
o lie o a patient. Highly efcient patient care
makes the system costly. The recent debate in theUnited States over health-care reorm is a prime
example o how controversial the health system
has become.
Despite all this, a doctor has to set lie at the
highest value. When lie itsel is perceived as the
highest value, then doctors have the right basis
or a doctor-patient relationship. The doctor cares
or his or her patients and tries to return them
to health and back into society, or to accompany
them on their fnal journey.
In my proessional lie as doctor and cardiac
Treatment from the HeartBy Felix Unger
Felix Unger M.D. is director o the
University Clinic o Heart Surgeryat the Paracelsus Private Medical
University o Salzburg in Austria. He is
a cardiac surgeon and has published
over 400 papers and 17 books. He
mplanted the frst artifcial heart
n Europe in 1986, and in 1990 he
ounded with Cardinal Franz König
and Pro. Nikolaus Lobkowicz the
European Academy o Sciences and
Arts, which today has 1,300 members
www.euro-acad.eu ).
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From 2003 to 2005, I
documented people’s
experiences o living withand alongside HIV/AIDS in
Okhahlamba, a rural sub-district within
KwaZulu-Natal, South Arica—a country
that has the invidious distinction o
having one o the highest rates o HIV
inection in the world. The outcome
o the research was a book that traces
the ways in which people came to draw
on local cultural repertoires in the
ace o mourning and multiple deaths
at a time when the state had not yet
committed itsel to the provision o
ree antiretroviral treatments throughthe public health system. The research
thereore straddles a period in which
antiretroviral therapies were not readily
available, thereater becoming gradually
introduced. It charts a social process in
which a layering o grie and mourning
was mitigated by hope or survival.
A praise poet rom the region, Roman
Khumalo, who also acted as a voluntary
counseling and testing (VCT) ofcial at a
local clinic, wrote and perormed many
poems about the eects o the epidemic.
quote here a ew extracts rom one o his
poems, as it captures the horror o beingconronted by the premature deaths o m
young people. He addresses the aiction
AIDS, as i it were a monstrous person, in
line with the nature o praise poetry. In
Okhahlamba, HIV/AIDS was generally
reerred to as The Great Destroyer or
Mashaya Bhuqe, and more prosaically as
“This illness.” In Roman’s words:
Alas! There is this afiction,
Ngculazi (AIDS). Alas, The-One-
That-Annihilates-All. What kind o
illness are you that you are unlikeall others? All illnesses have cures.
You do not . . . The girls’ strength,
the young men’s strength, boys
and girls not yet in love. They all
down like ears o corn and grass
seeds. They are eaten by the Great
Destroyer . . . Oh, the fowers o the
nation. They perume the earth with
their abundance. Today they droop,
orphans remain . . .
surgeon over the past 40 years, it is
my experience that good patient care
is based on an honest doctor-patient
relationship. This bond begins with
looking into the eyes o the patients
when you tell them you will care or
them, and what therapy you propose
will help them regain their health,
with a specifc course o treatment to
ollow. The patients are immediately
ready to ollow the proposed treatment
when they eel this trust. I experience
this consent in the eyes, like a spark
between patient and doctor. Ater
fnding the proper trust you can treat a
patient successully. This relationship
o trust and honesty makes the lie o a
medical doctor wonderul.
All patients are earul, especiallywhen they have heart operations. I
tell them they can overcome their
ear with trust and belie in their
own uture. Then I experience this
spark, which is a basic consent or
big operations with, one hopes, a
successul outcome.
In our modern society we detect a
lack o a real doctor-patient bond, due
to many inuences in society. I believe
we have an enormous defcit in terms
o the way doctors are educated in our
medical schools.We have to consider man as an
entity o body, soul and spirit and not as
a machine. Health is a balance o these
three entities. My criticism o medical
schools is the strong ocus placed on
the body to the exclusion o the soul
and spirit. My recommendation would
be to design a new curriculum or
medicine. Students need to be trained
to respect lie and consider proper
therapy aimed at the beneft o the
patient in the broadest sense. Doctors
are now also placed under a terribleburden by awul administration systems
that are a result o poor fnancing and
overreliance on inormation technology.
A doctor dedicated to his patients
sees them only or a short period in
their lie. While treating the patients,
he also has to respect lie at its highest
value. The doctor is not only treating
the patient; through his fndings, he is
serving lie as an ultimate goal. ❖
A Kinship of Bones:AIDS, Intimacy and Care in Rural
KwaZulu-NatalBy Patricia C. Henderson
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cared—eects that stripped away bodily esh. As
the local saying went, when aicted with ull-
blown AIDS, you are “let with bones” ( Usala
’ngamathambo ). My book opens with an account
o a mother who accompanied her daughter in
her journey toward death. Beore she died, the
daughter thanked her mother or having touched
her bones. The mother had carried her daughter
on her back to relevant government departments
to try to accrue the required documentation or
her daughter’s children, so that they could receivecertain state benefts ater her death. It was a story
that captured the painul and tender aspects o
human exchange in the ace o devastation.
To conclude, the research documented many
detailed stories about people’s journeys in pursuit
o care, including the stories o healers, children,
lovers and home-based carers. It traced the storieso some who survived and some who died. The
terriying scale o death is captured in the way an
old woman once greeted me at a uneral. She said:
“Oh, my child, there is dying! We are being attacked
rom both sides, and rom above and below.”
The ways in which hope became gradually more
maniest through access to appropriate therapies
are captured in what another woman told me. She
said that with correct medication, people began
to see the return o bodies they could once again
recognize as their own. ❖
Many people who survived would not have
done so without the generous support o others,
and in particular o home-based carers—volunteers,
who looked ater the ill and dying in their
homesteads without any orm o remuneration.
My research explores the notion o what it means
to accompany an extremely ill person in pursuit o
health. I explore the ethics o care and the multiple
orms o care that individuals oered one another,
including exchanges between those who were ill
and those who cared or them. Without relativelywell persons lending their bodily orces to the ill—
who oten could not walk or care or themselves—
many more persons would have died. At one time,
successul journeys to gain access to antiretroviral
medication required catching fve minibus taxis
in one direction to a distant hospital that had
begun an antiretroviral program through researchcollaboration with a oreign university. Beore
public hospitals in South Arica were in a position
to distribute the medicine, such journeys had been
necessary, and were initiated by the home-based
carers themselves. Accompanying people who were
ill required great determination and staying power
when little help was orthcoming rom the state.
An important aspect o everyday lie in
Okhahlamba was how people had to ace the
devastating physical eects o the illness in
themselves, or in the people or whom they
“Without relatively well persons lending their bodily
forces to the ill, many more persons would have died.”
Patricia Henderson PhD, a senior
lecturer in the anthropology
department at Rhodes University,
South Arica, has undertakenanthropological research in a number
o rural regions o the country
and in Botswana. She has lectured
at the Universities o Cape Town
and Stellenbosch. Her book AIDS,
Intimacy and Care in Rural KwaZulu-
Natal: A Kinship of Bones is published
by the University o KwaZulu-Natal
Press (2012) and Amsterdam
University Press (2011). She is a
member o SGI-South Arica.
Photos o communal lie in Okhahlamba, taken by the author
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Approximately 10 million people in the UK have some sort o
hearing loss, while 70,000, according to the Lancet magazine, are
prooundly dea. Many o these people have never been taught to
use sign language. Oten parents with dea children don’t know
what to do when they discover a child is dea. Children, teachers
and parents need help with attempting to transcend the barriers to
communication they ace.
In health care, dea people are oten at a disadvantage because there
are very ew signing interpreters within the health service. The NGO
Action on Hearing Loss reported that 50 percent o dea people
in the UK let the doctor’s surgery conused about their condition
and medication. Usually adult patients are expected to bring amily
members with them to act as interpreters. Recently there has been
a greater degree o awareness o the diculties experienced by dea
people who have not learned to sign and who may well be isolated
both at home and at school. In this written interview, Sharon Hutton
describes the diculties o communication or people who have
been diagnosed as prooundly dea since birth.
SGI Quarterly: What was your experience o
growing up with hearing loss?
Sharon Hutton: I was born in 1962 in Canada, and
moved to the UK in 1969. I have been dea rom
birth, and have had a hearing aid rom the ageo three. During my school years both in Canada
and the UK, I was not taught sign language
either at primary school or secondary school.
At my secondary school I was taught in a dea
unit where we were taught to lip-read, but the
lack o interaction with other pupils led me to be
withdrawn and anxious.
SGIQ: Have you ever had any health issues
that could have been better solved with better
communication?
SH: At the age o 18, I spent seven months in
hospital and picked up a limited use o sign
language with patients and sta. I can lip-read
close amily members and a ew people I have
known or many years. I struggle to communicate
with outsiders.
Since leaving hospital, I have received
medication or some mental health issues and
have had regular appointments with the doctor.
I am always accompanied by my mother to these
appointments as I cannot always lip-read whatthe doctor is telling us. I did receive some speec
therapy sessions at the Royal Victoria Infrmary
in Newcastle-upon-Tyne 10 years ago, but the
struggle to communicate with nonamily memb
is ongoing. I have not been given any one-to-one
support rom any care workers over the long ter
The only people who have oered me long-term
support have been my parents. Due to their supp
I am able to cope a lot better.
SGIQ: How does receiving one-to-one or group
support help you with your lie and health?
SH: Recently I have received support rom asocial worker who has helped me become muc
more independent—to travel on my own by pub
transport and to pay or things mysel. I have b
attending art therapy classes recently and have
been able to improve my communicative abiliti
lot. I mix well with many others now; or insta
I was able to work with a riend to write the
answers to this interview.
I do eel there needs to be better
education or dea people, as well as ongoing
communication classes. ❖
“I do feel there needs to be better education
for deaf people, as well as ongoing
communication classes.”
Communication, Health and Hearing LossAn interview with Sharon Hutton
A patient using sign language during a medical consultation
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SGI Quarterly: What is your view o health care?
Hazel Henderson: My lielong interest has been inthe prevention o health problems. This really is
the only way to go. Living in the US, one is barraged
every day by all sorts o goods and services o the
medical-industrial complex. The medical system
in America is driven by proft. At least 90,000
people per year die rom medical mistakes. This is a
symptom o a medical system that has overshot the
mark because it has the wrong incentives. I grew up
in Britain under the National Health Service (NHS),
an inclusive system o caring that is not driven by
proft. What people seemed to appreciate there is
that you didn’t have to eel guilty about your ellow
citizens not receiving the care they need. At leastwe elt a sense o “we are all in it together.”
SGIQ: Could you briey outline what frst spurred
you to measure alternative models o success and
well-being other than Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP)?
HH: This relates very much to the medical sector.
Most o the time, the drugs and surgeries that are
being prescribed or recommended are to deal with
problems that could have been avoided by better
education and better preventive care. The costs o
these medicines and procedures are included in the
GDP, as i they are useul. GDP is usually calculated
as the monetary value o all goods and services
during one year, as an indicator o a country’s
standard o living. So what is actually a negative
cost looks as i it is something positive. This
problem o not being able to separate the “bads”
rom the “goods” highlights the contradictions
inherent in the whole way o using money to try
to measure health care or any other aspect o a
country’s progress.
Our current economic models are blind tothe social and environmental costs, which then
get let out o the economic equation. However,
these costs are elt in terms o health problems,
pollution and all kinds o social pathologies such
as unemployment and inequality. I try to point
out the crises that our fnanciwal system gets us
into. The Wall Street crash o 2008 caused terrible
hardship to millions o people and happened
because the fnancial system blinds itsel to what
they call “externalities.” Unless companies are
orced to “internalize” all those costs and put
them on the balance sheet, you can’t have a proper
accounting system.In terms o the health sector, consider the
incredible costs in the US o childhood obesity,
which stems rom allowing sot drink and ast ood
companies to place dispensers in schools. We have
to connect the dots: our problems are a mirror held
up to our own limited consciousness.
SGIQ: Please explain the Quality o Lie Indicators,
which you pioneered in an attempt to enable people
to see the underlying realities oten obscured by
simply considering progress in terms o GDP.
HH: We were one o the frst groups to go beyond
economics. We use a set o 12 indicators—measuring education, employment, energy, environment,
health, human rights, income, inrastructure,
national security, public saety, recreation,
shelter—which all have their own metrics. You
don’t measure them in money terms. In the area o
health, we measure inant mortality, lie expectancy
and sel-reported health.
Macroeconomics would take all those apples
and oranges o the 12 dierent aspects o quality o
lie and turn them all into money coefcients, and
aggregate them into one number, which is what
Beyond Economics:A New Measure of Well-beingAn interview with Hazel Henderson
Hazel Henderson is the oundero Ethical Markets Media, LLC,
and the creator and co-executive
producer o its TV series. She is a
world-renowned uturist as well as
an evolutionary economist, a globally
syndicated columnist and consultant
on sustainable development. She is the
author o Building a Win-Win World
and Nautilus award-winning Ethical
Markets: Growing the Green Economy
as well as eight other books.
n the Lodi Gardens, New Delhi, India
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GDP does. It’s like ying across a country at
50,000 eet; your view does not in any way
reect what is happening on the ground.
Most editors and journalists are used
to picking up a press release and then
writing a story without ever asking what
GDP is and how it is arrived at. The big
battle is to get economists to subtract those
external costs rom GDP and come up witha truer net number. Hal o all a country’s
productive work is unpaid: women raising
children and taking care o elders, people
building their own houses and growing
their own ood.
I would like to add that there is a new
movement or sharing. When we get the
numbers together, the unpaid sectors o
a country’s economy are larger than the
money-denominated sectors that are
ofcially counted in the GDP.
SGIQ: Could you tell us what componentso well-being might be better measured
through your indicators?
HH: Abraham Maslow did a lot o work on
the hierarchy o human needs, and what I
would identiy is not that dierent rom his
ideas, starting rom basic physical needs
and progressing to more intellectual and
spiritual ones. There is an institute called
the Human Givens Institute in London
whose ocus is very similar to what
Maslow talks about. They are taking this
model and translating it into social policy.
We now know a lot more about what
makes people happy through psychology,
brain science and endocrinology. Almost
every one o these studies seems to agree
that i a child is loved, cared or and
indeed recognized by at least one adult in
their lives, they can survive a lot o other
actors that may be suboptimal. That isundamental. From that, you go through
the lie cycle o the individual, including
properly unding social policies, education
and public health.
It is commonly accepted knowledgethat public health includes the question
o whether there is clean water, proper
sanitation and good inrastructure, but
in act it is wealth or poverty that is the
underlying variable. Most ill health is
due to poverty. But there again, it is about
connecting the dots.
SGIQ: Do you see a trend toward
reintegration, seeing issues in relation to
each other at last?
HH: In the last 300 years, we had this
compartmentalization o knowledge: th
reductionism o trying to understand
the whole by examining the parts. This
produced a lot o brilliant technologies,
but they are not well related to one
another. The big task now, which I saw
being undertaken at Rio+20 in 2012, is t
reintegration o knowledge. This is thebasis or going orward with more cohe
policies in the uture.
All these problems out there, rom
climate change to desertifcation;
everything rom poverty to inequality thealth are reections o our own limite
consciousness. Cooperation, sustainab
green economy, equality, justice were k
words at that conerence. We humans
have the amazing capability in our brai
to both zoom the lens o our minds and
ocus in on the details—the capability t
care or the immediate—as well as the
capability to pull back and take a wide
view and to realize we are all children
the cosmos. ❖
Ethical Markets Quality of Life Indicato
These indicators, originally named Calvert-Henderson Quality o Lie
Indicators, grew out o a relationship between uturist Hazel Henderson
an asset management rm, Calvert, and 12 scholars with expertise in threspective dimensions o quality o lie. The 12 indicators range beyond t
traditional national accounts o GNP, GDP and the CPI (Consumer Price
Index) to paint a broader picture o the quality o lie and provide a basis
or incorporating social analysis into the investment process. The mode
has since been replicated elsewhere including by the Organisation or
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and is now managed
Henderson and her team as the Ethical Markets Quality o Lie Indicator
See: www.calvert-henderson.com
“We have to connect the dots: our problems
are a mirror held up to our own limited
consciousness.”
Education Income
Employment Infrastructure
Energy National Security
Environment Public Safety
Health Recreation
Human Rights Shelter
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As a mother, it’s very important
to be mentally and physically
healthy. I the mother is well,
then the baby will be well too.
I was in hospital or about fve days
when my son, Rumi, was born 14 months
ago. He was a Caesarean baby and had
lost more weight than expected; my milkow didn’t come so ast. Although he was
very hungry, I was not able to express any
milk; we thereore had to breast-eed and
ormula-eed at the same time.
There are health benefts to exclusively
breast-eeding your baby and I truly wanted
to bond with Rumi, so that he could eel
secure. But even ater my breast milk came
in, Rumi experienced a lot o discomort,
especially ater eeding and prior to sleeping.
We had to fnd him all sorts o bottles
I believe health is a state o well-
being: It doesn’t just mean the
absence o disease.
Some months ago, I became
ll, but the doctors were not able to
diagnose the problem. The medication
they prescribed seemed only to make
things worse. Eventually, I stoppedtaking that medication and started
taking herbal medication, which
helped. I now eel like I am almost 100
percent mysel.
When you’re ill, it aects you
psychologically as well as physically,
and you ask yoursel a lot o
questions—i I don’t get well, what will
happen to me? How will this aect
me fnancially? It becomes a stress. All
kinds o thoughts occur to you. You
think, “Maybe I did something wrong,
maybe I’m being punished, maybe
someone has cursed me.” It’s when
the ear o death comes in, and that is
what makes you go and seek a cure.
From my experience o working
in a hospital, I believe education and
prevention are certainly better thancure. I ound our psychology plays a big
part, and when you don’t take care o
the psychological aspects o illness, it’s
much more difcult to recover well.
There is nothing better than being
healthy. When you are sick, the only
thing you can think about is getting
better. And at the same time, you think
that you might not get better. There is
nothing that is more important than to
be healthy; it’s the best thing in lie.
that wouldn’t give him too much air. His
intestines were not very mature as a baby,
so he could not process the milk very well.
The health visitor came to suggest all
kinds o remedies and possible solutions,
and we ound a massage therapist who
came to teach us how to massage Rumi to
prevent so much air being in his tummy.It was a very stressul time or me. But
once he reached the age o our months, he
was much better. Since then, Rumi’s health
has been quite good.
Because a mother and her baby’s
well-being are so linked, the health visitor
wanted to know i ever I was eeling upset
or bored or missing work, eeling helpless
or hopeless. Rumi needs a lot o attention,
but or me, keeping in touch with the
outside world is also very important.
Voices of HealthEach individual has a unique response to the health issues they encounter as well as a personal way o maintaining
their health. The SGI Quarterly asked people rom around the world to contribute their own perspectives on health
and human happiness.
Muslin Abdul Hamid, Malaysia (currently living in France)
Lawyer
Johnny Bambila, Democratic Republic of the Congo (currently living in South Africa)
Nurse
When you’re OK, you don’t think about being
healthy, you’re thinking about things like money
and so on. But when you’re ill, everything else
seems unimportant.
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G
rowing up with digestive
issues, becoming a wie and
mother and learning about all
o the many reasons people
seek health rom holistic practitioners
has inspired me in my work. Health is
something that is all encompassing. To
have optimum health, we have to examine
our body, our mental stability, our
relationships and our spiritual sel. Being
healthy means we have to be connected to
ourselves in many ways. Sometimes this
requires new experiences to allow us to
eel things we have never elt.
There is always more to learn about
nutrition and exercise, more oods to try,
more tweaking to be done; and regarding relationships, mental clarity and stress,
we have to allow ourselves to ind
outlets and resources to support us in
times o need. All o these actors evolve
I took up jogging nine years ago.
The year beore, I had elt asudden sharp pain in my abdomen
and was taken to the hospital. I
was diagnosed with gallbladder disease
and underwent surgery to remove my
gallbladder. This was a result o stress
and neglecting my health. I had given it
my all at work, but ater years o eating
high-calorie meals while entertaining
clients and eating out with coworkers,
my weight reached about 80 kilograms.
The excess cholesterol hardened and
became gallstones.
Ater becoming ill, I started thinking seriously about health or the frst time in
my lie. Following my surgery, I stopped
eating high-calorie oods and my weight
dropped to around 60 kilograms. To help
regain my strength, I started jogging
together with my wie. Even though my
wie began jogging to support my health,
she actually became more enthusiastic
about it than me, and even began
participating in marathons. Initially, I
had been jogging at my own pace ater
as we age, so we have to constantly
reevaluate our needs. We have to look
ourselves as whole beings and not all
ourselves to be processed into someth
we are not.
It can be very diicult to keep up w
the demands o work, parenting, carin
or others, riendships, relationships
and simply inding a place in this wor
that allows us to eel accomplished bu
also allows us to care or ourselves. I
mysel enjoy the process o discoverin
ways to eel and unction at my best, i
what lets me do all o the things I wan
to do, and the possibilities seem endle
Staying healthy is a constant eort, bu
it becomes a part o our lives it becomeortless, and or many it becomes a
hobby or a passion. Encouraging and
guiding others through this process is
what I see as the uture o health.
work and on my days o; however, with
my wie’s encouragement, I, too, beganparticipating in marathons.
Ever since I’ve started jogging, I don’t
get tired as easily and I hardly ever get
sick. I haven’t even caught a cold. My wie
has also recovered rom shoulder pain and
is happy she’s been able to improve her
fgure and look more youthul.
Jogging not only leads to gaining
muscle strength but also allows oxygen
to reach every corner o the body, which
has a positive eect on one’s health. In
addition, jogging can help reduce stress
by signaling the brain to secrete hormonesthat remove atigue-causing substances
such as lactic acid rom the body.
Jogging is becoming increasingly
popular among Japanese men, and every
person has his or her own reason or
jogging. Some want to gain a sense o
accomplishment by improving their time,
others want to make new riends, and
some simply enjoy it. My reason is to help
maintain my health and enjoy a happy lie
with my amily.
Erin DeLucia-Benson, USA
Health Coach, Pilates Instructor, Dancer
Takahiro Omata, Japan
Businessman
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SGI Quarterly: When you treat a patient, what is the
frst thing you take into consideration? How might
this dier rom Western perspectives?
Chung Cheng Lee: Eastern medicine emphasizes theconcept o maintaining overall balance. Both Eastern
and Western medicine have their own strengths and
weaknesses. They can complement each other.
When treating frst-visit patients, I will
give them enough time to ully describe their
symptoms and medical history. Listening
attentively to my patients enables me to empathize
with them. SGI President Daisaku Ikeda has
said that one should respond to sincerity with
sincerity; thereore, I think the most important
actor in treating a patient lies in the patient’s
complete trust in the doctor who exerts him- or
hersel to cure the patient.Eighteen years ago, my wie was pregnant
with our third baby. However, the baby had severe
thalassemia [an inherited autosomal recessive blood
disorder], so we sought every possible treatment.
Although the baby passed away soon ater birth,
it made me deeply realize the true meaning o a
Chinese proverb: “Treat your patients as i they
are your children.” Since then, whenever I am
providing treatment, I spur mysel on by thinking o
these two mottos: “Respect the dignity o lie” and
“See patients as your own amily.”
I currently run a Chinese herbal clinic in a
local community. My patients are just as amiliar
to me as are my own amily members. As their
amily doctor, I try my best to provide my patientswith any treatment so long as it benefts them.
I am also willing to transer my patients to a
hospital o Western medicine or precise checkups
and treatments. Sometimes I work as a counselor,
and, through having dialogues with my patients, I
not only build stronger bonds with them but also
grow as a person.
SGIQ: What is the key to maintaining good health?
CCL: First and oremost, spiritual contentment—a
richness o the heart—is imperative. Nichiren
Daishonin [the 13th-century ounder o Nichiren
Buddhism] states in one o his writings: “Morevaluable than treasures in a storehouse are the
treasures o the body, and the treasures o the
heart are the most valuable o all.” Physical
illness will not be a source o limitation to a
person who is spiritually rich, nor will it be a
cause or becoming pessimistic.
In order to maintain a good, healthy condition,
it is necessary to live a regular lie, have a balanced
diet, exercise adequately, and so on. Having a
vigorous lie orce helps prevent illness and heal the
body. It is the key to leading a healthy lie. ❖
Treasuring the Dignity of LifeAn interview with Chung Cheng Lee
Chung Cheng Lee is licensed in
Oriental Medicine. Ater working in the
Chinese herbal medicine department
o a local hospital or several years,
he opened the Many Treasures
Clinic o Chinese Herbal Medicine in
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2003. Among
he treatments oered in his clinic are
acupuncture, moxibustion, massage
and herbal remedies. He is a member
o Taiwan Soka Association.
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A
ew months ago, a 40-year-old woman
came to an emergency room in a
hospital close to where I live, and she
was brought in conused. Her bloodpressure was an alarming 230 over 170. Within a
ew minutes, she went into cardiac collapse. She
was resuscitated, stabilized and whisked over to a
CAT scan suite right next to the emergency room,
because they were concerned about blood clots
in the lung. And the CAT scan revealed no blood
clots in the lung, but it showed bilateral, visible,
palpable breast masses, breast tumors, that had
metastasized widely all over the body. And the
real tragedy was, i you look through her records,
she had been seen in our or fve other health-care
institutions in the preceding two years. Four or
fve opportunities to see the breast masses, touch
the breast mass and intervene at a much earlier
stage than when we saw her.
That is not an unusual story. I joke, but I onl
hal joke, that, i you come to one o our hospita
missing a limb, no one will believe you till they g
CAT scan, MRI or orthopedic consultation.
I am not a Luddite. I’m a physician practicin
with cutting-edge technology. But I’d like to ma
the case that when we shortcut the physical exa
when we lean toward ordering tests instead o
talking to and examining the patient, we not onl
overlook simple diagnoses at a treatable, early
stage, but we’re losing much more than that. We
losing a ritual that I believe is transormative,
transcendent, and is at the heart o the patient-physician relationship.
A riend o mine had a small breast cancer
detected and had her lumpectomy in the town
in which I lived. She then spent a lot o time
researching to fnd the best cancer center in the
world to get her subsequent care.
She ound the place and went there, which i
why I was surprised a ew months later to see h
back in our own town, getting her subsequent c
with her private oncologist. I asked her, “Why d
you come back and get your care here?”
She said, “The cancer center was wonderu
It had a beautiul acility . . . But,” she said, “thedid not touch my breasts.” Now, you could argu
that they probably did not need to touch her
breasts. They had her scanned inside out. They
understood her breast cancer at the molecular
level; they had no need to touch her breasts. Bu
to her, it mattered deeply. It was enough or he
make the decision to get her subsequent care w
her private oncologist who, every time she wen
examined both breasts and did a thorough exam
And to her, that spoke o a kind o attentivenes
that she needed.
Rituals are terribly important. They’re all
about transormation. The ritual o one individu
coming to another and telling them things that
they would not tell their preacher or rabbi, and
“I will always, always, always be there. I will see you
through this. I will never abandon you. I will be with you
through the end.”
The Physician’s Healing TouchBy Abraham Verghese
Abraham Verghese M.D. is Proessor
or the Theory and Practice o
Medicine at Stanord University and
a aculty member o the Stanord
Center or Biomedical Ethics. He
has published three books: My Own
Country: A Doctor’s Story , The Tennis
Partner and Cutting for Stone . The
ollowing is an authorized extract
rom his TED talk given in Edinburgh,
Scotland, in July 2011.
A doctor at Miller School o Medicine, University o Miami, examines a patient
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then, incredibly on top o that, disrobing
and allowing touch—I would submit that
that is a ritual o exceeding importance.
And i you shortchange that ritual by not
undressing the patient, by listening with
your stethoscope on top o the nightgown,
by not doing a complete exam, you have
bypassed on the opportunity to seal the
patient-physician relationship.
I’m an inectious disease physician,
and in the early days o HIV, beore we had
our medications, every time I went to a
patient’s deathbed, whether in the hospital
or at home, I remember my sense o
ailure—the eeling o “I don’t know what I
have to say; I don’t know what I can say; I
don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” And
out o that sense o ailure, I would always
examine the patient. I would pull down
the eyelids. I would look at the tongue. I
would percuss the chest. I would listen
to the heart. I would eel the abdomen. Iremember so many patients, their names
still vivid on my tongue, their aces still so
clear. I remember so many huge, hollowed-
out, haunted eyes staring up at me as I
perormed this ritual. And then the next
day, I would come, and I would do it again.
I recall one patient who was at that
point no more than a skeleton encased in
shrinking skin, unable to speak, his mouth
crusted with candida that was resistant to
the usual medications. When he saw me
on what turned out to be his last hours
on this Earth, his hands moved as i in
slow motion. And as I wondered what
he was up to, his stick fngers made their
way up to his pajama shirt, umbling with
his buttons. I realized he was wanting to
expose his wicker-basket chest to me. It
was an oering, an invitation. I did not
decline. I percussed. I palpated. I listened
to the chest. I think he surely must have
known by then that it was vital or me just
as it was necessary or him. Neither o us
could skip this ritual, which had nothing
to do with detecting rales in the lung or
fnding the gallop rhythm o heart ailure.
No, this ritual was about the one message
that physicians have needed to convey to
their patients. Although, God knows, o
late, in our hubris, we seem to have drited
away—we seem to have orgotten—as
though, with the explosion o knowledge,
the whole human genome mapped out atour eet, we are lulled into inattention,
orgetting that the ritual has meaning and a
singular message to convey to the patient.
And the message, even as I delivered it,
which I didn’t ully understand then and
which I understand better now, is this: “I
will always, always, always be there. I will
see you through this. I will never abandon
you. I will be with you through the end.” ❖
For the original talk, see www.ted.com
I am a ounder member o
the Indian Society or Sleep
Research and have been working
in dierent capacities at the
society since 1992. We encourage
sleep research, and we promote the
importance o sleep and sleep medicine
throughout the country through
members’ courses and meetings.
Humans need to sleep 7 to 8 hours
per day; sleeping more or less than
this will have a harmul eect on us.The less we sleep, the less eective
we are, and lack o sleep can have a
long-term impact on our health. I we
are going to sleep late at night, it will
create problems in day-to-day living,
decreasing our concentration, having
an eect on our decision-making, and
compromising our motor unctions.
Being tired during the day can create
problems while driving. A good amount
o sleep is very important or our health.
It should be mentioned that although
sleeping 7 to 8 hours is the guideline ormost o our lie, when we are children,
we sleep 16 to 18 hours, and then when
we are older, we sleep less.
In India, there are now many sleep
centers, which include sleep clinics
where people with sleep disorders can
pursue treatment or their condition,
as well as acilities called sleep
laboratories that conduct standard
sleep studies. These are growing in
number mainly in the metropolitan
An AIDS patient is comorted at a hospital i n Masaka, Uganda
From an interview
with H.N. Mallick
H.N. Mallick M.D. is a proessor o
the neurophysiology o male sexual
behavior and sleep wakeulness at
the All-India Institute o Medical
Sciences and the Indian Society or
Sleep Research.
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areas. In our contemporary liestyle o
having a television and a computer, we live
in a 24/7 society where we start the day
early. In the last 30 years, we have been
sleeping less, which has a harmul eect.
This is a big problem now.Many high achievers who work
very hard dismiss the idea that sleep is
important, which is not true. Various
accidents and disasters, including nuclear
disasters and atal train and car crashes,
are attributed to lack o sleep. We are not
asking people to sleep or 24 hours, only
7 hours per day. Sleep has a vital role, not
only in terms o health.
In terms o the benefts o sleep
treatment, recently we know more
about the pathologies o sleep and have
developed new drugs. We have manyoptions we can oer the patients.
Most sleep disorders, including
insomnia, can be treated. However, patients
can also make changes to their daily routine
to enhance their sleep. Sleep hygiene—good
habits or a good night’s sleep—includes
such things as going to bed at a specifc
time, not exercising or 4 hours beore
sleep, taking a hot shower beore going to
bed, not watching television beore going to
bed and not cluttering up the bedroom with
extra items. There should be no external
disturbance, and in a modern society we
need to be aware o external light pollution,
which can interere with sleep.
For example, a 45-year-old patient rom
Delhi says, “About eight years ago, or oneand a hal years, I was not able to sleep at
night, and I was very uncomortable. I had
atigue, and I also had a thyroid problem. I
was very agitated, and I used to shout a
children. Dr. Mallick advised me that w
I am in bed, I should not watch TV or re
too much, as I should keep the associati
between the bed and sleep. I was also
advised not to exercise or eat a heavy mbeore going to bed. Even though I have
recovered rom my inability to sleep, I s
ollow these guidelines in my daily lie.”
The Science of Sleep
The Negative Effects of Lack of SleepSleep deprivation is oten due to unrecognized sleep disorders.
The eects o untreated sleep disorders could be:
Decreased perormance and alertness•
Excessive sleepiness during the day that can impair your memory and•
cognitive ability
Disruption o sleep can reduce your quality o lie•
Excessive drowsiness makes people twice as likely to sustain an injury at•
work and signicantly increases the chances o a trac accident
The long-term eects o lack o sleep are: increased likelihood o high•
blood pressure, heart attack, heart ailure, stroke, obesity, attention decdisorder, etal and childhood growth retardation and relationship stress
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Health is a universal desire o
human beings. No matter how
wealthy or powerul one is,
health, ater all, is the most
precious thing.
Buddhism recognizes illness as one
o the most basic suerings that human
beings experience—as we can see rom its
inclusion in the our suerings o birth, old
age, sickness and death. In seeking to ree
people rom this suering, both Buddhism
and medicine share a common goal.The links between the mind and
disease, the mind and health, are points
where Buddhism and medicine converge.
Buddhism is not simply a kind
o spiritualism or an abstract theory.
Buddhists throughout the ages have
ocused squarely on the reality o physical
and mental illnesses and sought to relieve
the suering o illness rom the dual
perspective o Buddhism and medicine.
Still, it is only natural that Buddhism
concern itsel primarily with the role o
the mind. And as stress-related illnesses
increase in the uture, the relationship
between the mind and health in general
will be spotlighted all the more.
Health is not simply a matter o
absence o illness. Health means constant
challenge. Constant creativity. A prolifc lie
always moving orward, opening up resh
new vistas—that is a lie o true health.
An unbeatable spirit is what supplies the
power to keep pressing ahead.Second Soka Gakkai president
Josei Toda once said that there are two
undamental problems with people today.
One is the conusion o knowledge with
wisdom, and the other is the conusion o
sickness with death.
Knowledge and wisdom are not the
same thing. There is much that can be said
about the relationship between the two.
With regard to Buddhism and medical
science, we can say, very generally, that
medicine fghts illness with scientifc
knowledge. Buddhism, on the other hand,
develops human wisdom, so that we may
fnd our own rhythm and strengthen
our lie orce. This assists the efcacy
o medical treatment and also helps us
conquer illness through our own natural
healing powers.
But it is oolish to ignore or deny the
contribution o medicine. Otherwise aith
descends into anaticism. We must use
medical resources wisely in fghting illness.Buddhism gives us the wisdom to use
medicine properly.
Wisdom is the basic ingredient to
health, to long lie, and to happiness.
Sickness does not necessarily lead to
death. Sickness can orce us to examine
ourselves, our existence and our lives.
It can be a very important and precious
motivator. Someone has said that a person
who has never been ill only understands
hal o lie.
Buddhism and a Healthy LifeBy Daisaku Ikeda
SGI Quarterly16 April 2013
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The Swiss philosopher Carl Hilty
(1833–1909) writes: “Just as the ooding
river stirs the soil and enriches the felds,
sickness stirs and enriches all people’s
hearts. One who truly understands illness
and endures it is made deeper, stronger and
greater, and grasps ideas and belies that
were incomprehensible beore.”
The struggle with illness leads us to
understand human lie ully and orges in
us an indomitable spirit. I mysel suered
rom a weak constitution rom the time I
was a child. I had tuberculosis and, or that
and other reasons, I was not expected to
live past 30.
But that experience helped meunderstand others who are ill. And that is
why every single moment is so valuable to
me, why I have determined to accomplish
what I can while I am alive without wasting
a minute, and why I have lived ull-out all
these years.
There are many whose bodies are
healthy but whose inner being is ill. And
there are also those who suer some
physical disease but whose inner lie orce
is very healthy. All o us will experience
some sickness during our lives. That is why
it is important to acquire the wisdom to
deal with illness properly.
Though it may seem contradictory, rom
the Buddhist perspective health and illness
are not separate. Nor are lie and death.They are part o a single whole. For that
reason, the Buddhist perspective on heal
is not limited to this single lie. Its basic
ocus is a healthy lie throughout the thr
existences o past, present and uture. ❖
Daisaku Ikeda
the president o
SGI. This articl
is excerpted ro
the series A Ne
Century o Hea
Buddhism and
Art o Medicin
originally carried in the Soka Gakkai’s
Seikyo Shimbun newspaper in 1996.
A Dynamic EquilibriumSince Buddhism is a “Law o Lie,” issues like
health and longevity are undamental to it.
Shakyamuni himsel gave considerable thought
to medical techniques. Buddhist scriptures
incorporate the essence o Indian medicine (setorth in the Sacricial Prayer Veda or Yajur Veda),
which was the most advanced in the world in
its day. At a later stage, Buddhist wisdom on
the art o healing was compiled to orm what is
called Buddhist medicine. The sutras reer to
Shakyamuni as the Great Healer . . .
As everyone knows rom experience, we only
appreciate how wonderul good health is once we
lose it . . . According to the Indian Buddhist sutra The
Wanderer’s Collection (Caraka Samhita), reedom
rom sickness is undamental to human lie and the
basis o good works, success, sexual desire andliberation rom the bonds o illusion and suering in
the three worlds. “Freedom rom sickness” means
more than the absence o illness. Good health
is judged not only on the basis o physiological
diagnosis o abnormalities, but also on a holistic
view o lie that includes spiritual elements.
According to the constitution o the World Health
Organization (WHO), health is a state o complete
physical, mental and social well-being, not simply
absence o disease or inrmity. In other words, th
concept o good health is not limited to the physic
but extends to the spiritual and social as well . . .
Nichiren Daishonin taught that “The our suer
o birth, old age, sickness and death are the nat
o the threeold world.” In other words, since al
living things must pass through birth, old age,
sickness and death, illness is a natural compon
o the lie cycle. It does not necessarily mean th
deeat o lie. On the contrary, the struggle to
conront illness enables us to celebrate the vict
o the human experience. Eorts toward ulllm
are the dynamic o lie, and this struggle is [a]
constant equilibrium . . .
Nichiren Daishonin also said, “Illness gives risto the resolve to attain the way.” Sickness help
people pioneer a more ullled way o living by
refecting on the meaning and dignity o lie. Th
very process o overcoming illness tempers bo
and mind and enables us to create a still broad
equilibrium. This is the source o the radiance
good health.
“The links between the mind and disease, the mind and health, are
points where Buddhism and medicine converge.”
The following is taken
from Daisaku Ikeda’s
dialogue with René Simard and Guy Bourgeault,
published in English as
On Being Human: Where
Ethics, Medicine and
Spirituality Converge (Les
Presses de l’Université de
Montréal, 2002).
SGI Quarterly 17April 2013 P h o t o c r e d i t : ( a u t h o r p h o t o ) ©
S e i k y o S h i m b u n
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What is real happiness?
Through my illness, I’ve
come to understand that
happiness is actually
something very close at hand. It is not
defned by status, prestige or money. It is
ust being alive now, in this very moment.
When I was in the sixth grade, I was
told I had osteosarcoma, a type o bone
cancer, and I battled with this illness or
about a year and a hal. I was told by thedoctor that losing to this illness would
mean death and that they would have
to amputate my right leg rom the thigh
down. At frst, I was shocked. However, I
resolved to win no matter what; with hope
in my heart, I aced my illness head-on. As
a result, I won over the illness, and even
though I did end up having surgery on my
leg, it was spared rom amputation.
During the course o my battle with
cancer, however, I had to watch 15 dear
riends who were hospitalized with me
die one ater the other. From a young baby
to an old grandpa and grandma—the ages
and illnesses varied. From all the intensetreatments and various tests, our hearts
and bodies were at their wits’ end, but we
ought with all our might to continue living.
The reality, however, was harsh. Every
one o them passed away in an instant, and
each time, I was reminded o how incredibly
difcult yet amazing it is to continue living.
Each o us would dream about the day when
we would be healthy. We were giving it
our best toward this goal in high spirits, no
matter how tough things became.
How disappointing it must have been
to not be able to continue living despitetrying so hard. I really believe, though,
that those who are fghting illness are
the most radiant. I also came to realize
how truly ortunate it is to be healthy and
attend school and spend time with amily
and riends every day as i it was a matter
o course.
No matter what kind o obstacle you
may bump up against that causes you to
worry and struggle, i you are alive, you
can move orward, without a doubt. This
is the very important lesson I learned rom
my riends who ought or their lives but
could not continue living, and I eel it is my
mission to spread this message to people allaround the world.
In the world today, there are wars
where people kill each other, stories o
people who take the lives o others without
any hesitation, or people who commit
suicide as a result o being bullied. Every
time I see such sad news my heart is flled
with anger. For those who take lie lightly,
I’d like to show them those who are battling
illness and allow them to realize just how
precious lie is.
None o us knows what will happen
to us at any given moment. That is whywe must treasure each and every day. It
is thanks to my illness that I was able to
understand the most important thing in
lie. I can now say rom the bottom o my
heart that I truly appreciate having become
ill. In order to ulfll my lie’s mission, I am
determined to live my lie to the ullest or
the sake o all those who could not. It is my
hope that all o you, too, can appreciate the
act that you are alive and live your lives
without any regret. ❖
Looking at LifeBy Hitomi Saruwatari
Hitomi Saruwatari was born in
Saitama, Japan, on January 19,1991. She submitted a slightly
longer version of this essay to
a contest a few months before
she passed away peacefully in a
hospital on September 16, 2004.
She was 13 at the time. It was
her dream that her experience
would help encourage people
around the world and provide the
greatest medicine of hope.
Hitomi reading her essay at a speech contest in Omuta, Fukuoka, July 2004
SGI Quarterly18 April 2013
FEATURE
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Music therapy has an ancient
tradition, going back to
Hippocrates, who, it is
said, played music or his
mentally ill patients. It also owes a debt
to shamanic traditions where medicine
men employ chants and dances as a
way o healing patients. Similarly, in the
United Kingdom ater World Wars I and
II, musicians would travel to hospitals
to play music to soldiers suering rom
war-related emotional and physical
trauma. Nowadays, music therapy uses
the components o rhythm, melody and
tonality to provide a means o relating
within a therapeutic context. In music
therapy, people work with a wide range o
instruments and voices to create a musical
language that reects their emotional and
physical condition, which enables them to
build connections with their inner selves
and with others around them. I mysel am
a trained classical pianist, but I decided
to devote the last 20 years o my career to
establishing music therapy in Brazil.
Music is one o the greatest cultural
expressions o Latin American people.
Brazil especially has a rich and vibrantmusical culture. The roots o Brazilian
music are very diverse, and each
subculture has its own typical musical
identity. The strong inuence o Arican
rhythms and the way music and dance
combine is characteristic o Brazilian
music. Song lyrics relate the history,
suering, love and happiness o the
everyday lie o our peoples.
Music therapy was frst applied to
public health programs in Latin America
at the end o the 1960s. At the Federal
University o Minas Gerais in Brazil,
the Music Therapy program brings
in lecturers rom biology, psychology,
anatomy, neurology, psychiatry,
pediatrics and geriatrics, as well as ro
the humanities. The program gives
accreditation to musicians rom aroun
the world.
One early modern recognition o th
efcacy o music in medical treatment
was in relation to the relie o pain.
During World War II when there were
shortages o medication, music was us
to soothe patients’ pain because music
distract patients rom pain and put the
brain into a dierent state. Neurologisthave since recognized the efcacy o
music in controlling pain and aiding th
rehabilitation o patients with various
neurological problems.
Music can also be used in the
treatment o mental health problems,
helping patients express emotions
nonverbally; it has the ability to elicit a
range o dierent emotions and to enab
people to set aside their worries.
In Brazil there are music therapy
research programs in public hospitals a
philanthropic institutions or treating children with cerebral palsy and a vari
o neuro-developmental syndromes. M
therapy can help with neuroplasticity
and brain development and is thereor
useul or children who are not able to
concentrate or who have not developed
the usual way.
As therapists, we learn patients’
musical preerences to be able to apply
these to dierent therapeutic objective
such as working on memory with
Alzheimer’s patients, working with
rhythm to oer symptomatic relie toParkinson’s disease patients or helping
patients with cerebrovascular and
traumatic brain disease patients to rele
Music is part o our experience at
each stage o lie—as babies, children,
adolescents, adults or older people. Mu
therapy can thereore fnd eective
application at each stage o the lie cyc
believe that music contributes to our w
being right to the end o our lives. ❖
Music Therapy and HealthFrom an interview with Cybelle Loureiro
Cybelle Maria Veiga Loureiro PhD is rom the
School o Music at the Federal University o Minas
Gerais, Brazil, and is the World Federation o Music
Therapy Regional Liaison or Latin America. For more
inormation, see www.musictherapyworld.net .
Music therapy at the Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at the Federal University o Minas Gerais
SGI Quarterly 19April 2013
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I n 2004, I was diagnosed with
fbromyalgia, a condition
characterized by chronic pain
and atigue.
I had always had a very active lie—I
worked long hours in tough jobs and had
a very active social lie. When I became
ll, it was almost impossible to change the
way I lived. I was in complete denial andthereore could not seek appropriate help. I
ost riends, jobs and money.
I had started practicing Nichiren
Daishonin’s Buddhism two years earlier,
and through all o this, I continued to
chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to receive
the best health care. I saw many dierent
doctors and tried nearly all the alternative
therapies available. As a result o my prayer
and action, I have now ound the right
specialists. I had been reerred to similar
specialists previously yet had not been
ready to ace my illness. Chanting is crucial
or me to be able to bring orth and use
wisdom, courage and compassion or the
sake o improving my health every day.
As with many other medically
unexplained syndromes, there is no
universally accepted cure or treatment.
Although I never give up hope that I will
recover, I have also learned how important
it is to ace my daily reality. The Buddhist
concept o “the usion o reality and
wisdom” enables me to accept and respect
my body while maintaining a spirit o never
giving up hope and eort toward making
my dreams a reality. In my experience, the
most crucial (and most difcult) things to
hold onto during any illness—especially
a long-term one—are determination and
hope. My Buddhist practice is second to
none in terms o honing my interests and
enabling a hopeul uture.
Being ill has taught me to create balance
in my lie. This is o utmost importance
in maintaining my health and reducing
the length and depth o my are-ups. The
Buddhist concept o “the Middle Way” is
brought to lie when I chant; I naturally
fnd mysel taking more positive, balanced
actions over time. I eat healthily most o
the time and cannot go a day without green
vegetables or an apple! I try to sleep when
my body tells me it is tired and have begun
to make that more o a priority. I see clearly
how common sense and balance in lieare a precursor to good health. I have also
realized how important relaxation is. I used
to be so driven that I never stopped, but now
I accept that relaxation is a crucial actor in
leading a creative lie.
It is hard or close riends and amily
to understand and accept my illness. It
takes time or understanding to grow, and
I sometimes meet people who judge and
comment and do not rerain rom giving me
inappropriate advice.
However, my illness has taught me
to become stronger because it leads to adeeper understanding o lie that would
otherwise be difcult to reach. Certainly at
times, I have been in despair because o this
illness. At other times, however, I see it as
something positive that has enhanced my
lie and that my experience can help others
who have become ill. Illness leads to a deep
compassion and understanding o others.
Many people who become ill are not easily
understood by those around them, so a
level o understanding rom another person
with health struggles is beyond valuable.
My Buddhist practice has enabled me
to see illness in a more positive light, and
my defnition o good health is never losing
one’s determination in lie and hope or the
uture. It is possible to be happy despite
illness and to lead a lie o value creation. ❖
Illness and the
Middle Way By Meri Everitt, UK
“Illness leads to a deep compassion and understanding
of others.”
SGI Quarterly20 April 2013
PEOPLE SGI members’ experiences in faith
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I began practicing Buddhism in 1991.It helped me harmonize my lie and
see that any problems I aced were
mine to resolve. Several years ago, I
began experiencing headaches regularly as
well as visual impairment. I had recently
begun working as a nurse. At frst, I thought
these symptoms were due to my sinusitis,
but I noticed that they became more
requent during my nighttime shits.
On one occasion, the pain lasted or
fve days—I tried painkillers to ease the
symptoms, but they didn’t work. Then, it
was as i a bomb exploded. In addition tothe pain, I began experiencing acute nausea
and dizziness—everything became blurry.
I was taken to the emergency room, and
a tomography revealed that I had a huge
tumor in the ront part o my brain. I was
told I needed surgery as soon as possible.
It would be a complicated operation. The
brain tumor was pressing the right-side
optical nerve; the doctors really didn’t
know what to expect. I knew that even
i I survived the surgery, I could end up
my orehead was deormed, and I neede
reconstructive surgery.
At this point I realized I had a choic
I could be deeated by my suering, or
I could resolve to “change poison into
medicine” and transorm this negative a
painul situation into something positiv
I chose the latter and, with my Buddhis
practice, that became my ocus.
My amily, riends and ellow SGI
members were incredibly supportive
throughout all o this. Whenever I elt l
giving in, they continued to encourage
me. Moreover, I realized that I was able
encourage others through my experienc
battling cancer.
Two months later, with my doctor’s
approval, I went back to school to
continue my nursing studies and earned
my bachelor’s degree. Although I’ve lost
complete vision in my right eye, I amworking as a clinical clerk at the same
hospital I worked at previously and am
involved in a geriatric medical program
where we oer ood, medication and
assistance to elderly people in need. I f
suering rom recurrent seizures. I wasscared but managed to remain calm.
The surgery lasted 13 hours, but it
ended in success. I was ortunate to have
one o the best neurosurgeons in the
country. My head and ace had swelled
up to about twice the normal size. When
I was released rom the hospital several
days later, my immediate concern was
or my daughter and son. They were both
nervous and sad—I was shocked when
my son couldn’t recognize me. I worried
what eect all this would have on them.
My concern or them helped me think less
about my own problems.
When the swelling decreased, I realized
that I couldn’t see with my right eye. Also,
deep satisaction in exploring humanistapproaches to patient care together wit
my coworkers.
Ater everything I have gone throug
I have proound appreciation or the ac
that I am alive, and I eel a deep sense o
satisaction that I am able to contribute
the well-being o others through my wo
I also eel huge gratitude or the suppor
and encouragement I received through
my ordeal. Without it, things would hav
been so much more difcult. My childr
are well and bring me great joy, which I
derive also rom my determination to ra
them so that they will grow into individ
who can contribute to the development
peace o our country. ❖
Changing Poison into MedicineBy Carmen Díaz Prensa, Dominican Republic
“I could be defeated by my suffering, or I could resolve
to ‘change poison into medicine’ and transform this
negative and painful situation into something positive.”
Carmen (center) with her daughter Florangel and son Angel
SGI Quarterly 21April 2013
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On January 26, 2013, SGI
President Daisaku Ikeda
published his 31st annual peace
proposal, entitled “Compassion,
Wisdom and Courage: Building a Global
Society o Peace and Creative Coexistence.”
In this year’s proposal, Mr. Ikedastresses the centrality o the dignity o
lie and calls or action toward abolition
o nuclear weapons, the need to address
poverty as a human rights issue and ways
o improving relations between China
and Japan.
To make respect or the dignity o lie a
reality, he proposes three broad guidelines:
sharing the joys and suerings o others,
having aith in the limitless possibilities
o lie and consistently deending and
celebrating diversity. Specifcally, Mr. Ikeda
emphasizes dialogue and sel-reection asmeans or spreading empathy and ostering
a culture o peace. He notes that, because o
the multilayered nature o human identity,
“there is always the possibility o fnding in
one-to-one human interchanges points o
conuence and mutual resonance.”
In terms o concrete measures, he
welcomes eorts led by Norway and
Switzerland to highlight the potentially
devastating humanitarian impact o nuclear
weapons, and urges Japan, the only country
to have been the target o these weapons, to
support this endeavor. He repeats his call
or the drating and adoption o a Nuclear
Weapons Convention to comprehensively
ban these weapons o mass destruction.
To this end, he also proposes that an
expanded G8 Summit be held in Hiroshimaor Nagasaki in 2015, the 70th anniversary
o the atomic bombings o those cities, to
encourage renewed commitment among
world leaders to nuclear weapons abolition.
Noting that this year marks the 65th
anniversary o the Universal Declaration o
Human Rights, Mr. Ikeda calls or urgent
attention to poverty as a human rights
issue. He urges implementation o a Social
Protection Floor in every country to enable
those living in extreme poverty to regain
a sense o dignity. He also calls or human
rights education and training on a globalscale, and cites the new educational DVD “A
Path to Dignity: the Power o Human Rights
Education” coproduced by the SGI, Human
Rights Education Associates and the UN
Ofce o the High Commissioner or Human
Rights as a contribution to this eort.
Having championed China-Japan
riendship or over 45 years since his frst
proposal in 1968 or the normalization o
relations between the two countries, Mr.
Ikeda laments the recent deterioration in
relations, but rejects pessimism on this
issue, noting that deep riendship has been
cultivated through countless exchanges
over the years. He calls on both countries
to reconfrm their commitment to the two
key pledges in the 1978 Treaty o Peace and
Friendship: to rerain rom the use or threat
o orce and not to seek regional hegemony.
He proposes a high-level orum
or dialogue between China and Japan
together with a reeze on any provocative
actions. Eorts to rankly analyze the
roots o the current conrontation may
produce heated debate, he acknowledges,
but they are needed to identiy the
underlying concerns and aspirations o the
parties. Trust can only be rebuilt through
joint eorts to resolve common problems,and Mr. Ikeda thereore proposes that
China and Japan launch an organization
or environmental cooperation in East Asia
that would create opportunities or young
people rom China and Japan to work
together toward a common goal. He states,
“The time has come to . . . develop more
concrete models o cooperation across a
range o new felds. I am convinced that it
is through such sustained and determined
eorts that the bonds o riendship
between China and Japan will develop
into something indestructible, something that will be passed down with pride rom
generation to generation.”
Mr. Ikeda concludes the proposal
with the determination that the members
o the SGI around the world will continue
to oster human solidarity together with all
those committed to creating a global society
o peace and coexistence, toward the year
2030, which will mark the 100th anniversary
o the ounding o the Soka Gakkai. ❖
Beijing, China (1992)
SGI President Ikeda’s 2013 Peace Proposal Released
SGI Quarterly22 April 2013
PEACE PROPOSAL
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Bharat Soka Gakkai held a series o peace symposiums between October and
December 2012, celebrating the 40th anniversary o the dialogue held between SGI
President Daisaku Ikeda and British historian Dr. Arnold J. Toynbee. The dialogue was r
published in English in 1976 as the book, Choose Life. The events were held throughout
India in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, and eatured prominent speakers representing a bro
spectrum o social engagement.
One university student who attended the symposium held at the Indian Institute oTechnology Madras in Chennai commented, “Through this symposium, I learned that th
purpose o education does not lie in material pursuits alone. Rather, education exists or
sake o creating value in society, amidst the people. And it is education with this purpos
that directly connects to people’s happiness.”
To date, Choose Life has been translated into 28 languages including Hindi, Bengali,
Urdu, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Swahili, Russian and Serbian.
The 10th International Calligraphy Exhibition and Convention in Kuala Lumpur was
held at the Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) Wisma Kebudayaan center rom December 8to 16, 2012. The event was organized by the International Calligraphers’ Federation, the
Calligraphy Society o Malaysia and SGM, and supported by the Negeri Sembilan Chin Woo
Athletic Association.
On display were 363 calligraphic works by artists rom 21 countries. Following the
opening ceremony at Wisma Kebudayaan on December 8, calligraphy demonstrations were
held where guests could reely ask questions and interact with the calligraphers.
Commenting on the exhibition, guest o honor Minister o Health Y. B. Dato’ Sri
Liow Tiong Lai said that calligraphy is an art orm which gives a sense o tranquillity and
happiness and can elevate one’s thoughts. He expressed his hope that young people will
take an interest in calligraphy.
The SGI-USA Culture o Peace Resource
Center in Santa Monica, Caliornia,
cosponsored the First Annual Special
Assembly o the Greater Los Angeles Chapter
o the US National Committee or UN
Women on December 8, 2012. The theme
o the assembly, “Women, Climate Change
and Human Rights,” brought together local
NGOs, representatives rom sustainability
businesses, academics and artists.
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter o
the Committee was ormed in February
2012 to support the aims o the United
Nations Entity or Gender Equality and
the Empowerment o Women, known
as UN Women. In her opening speech,
Cathy Hillman, the chapter’s ounder and
president, described how underserved
women suer most rom ecosystem
degradation because they are oten
responsible or securing ood, uel, water
and shelter or their amilies. She noted
the power o grassroots eorts to raise
awareness o gender inequality.
Speaking via a video linkup rom the
UN Climate Change negotiations in Doha,
Qatar, Cate Owren, executive director o
the Women’s Environment & Development
Organization, described climate change as
the most critical human rights issue o our
time and noted that women and men are
impacted by climate change dierently.
A panel discussion and Q&A session
ocused on both local and global concerns
such as the lack o inrastructure and
disaster preparedness highlighted by
Hurricane Sandy that swept the Caribbean
and East Coast o the US in October 2012.
Following the panel discussion, a ashion
show o costumes made rom plastic ound
on the beach by designer Marina DeBris
highlighted the eects o plastic pollution on
the environment and oceans.
The SGI-USA Culture o Peace Resource Center ope
in 2005 to serve as a hub or expanding an inormationa
network and nonormal education to support the UN’s
eorts to promote a Culture o Peace based on the UN
International Decade or a Culture o Peace and Non-
Violence or Children o the World (2001–2010).
“Choose Life” Symposiums Held in India
Dr. Devdas Menon, a speaker at the “Choose Lie” symposium in Chennai
Calligraphy Exhibition Held in Malaysia
Panelists at the special assembly on women, climate change and human rig
Calligraphy demonstration
UN Women Special Assembly on Climate Change
SGI Quarterly 23April 2013
AROUND the WOR
P h o t o c r e d i t s : ( t o p t o b o t t o m ) ©
S G I - U S A ; ©
B S G
; ©
S G M
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SGI Hosts First NativeAmerican Intertribal Meeting
Celebrating MartinLuther King Day
Native American talking circle at FNCC
The “Tavola Doria”
“Tavola Doria” Painting Donated to Italy
SGI-USA hosted the rst intertribal meeting
or its Native American membership on November
30, 2012, at the Florida Nature and Culture Center
(FNCC). The meeting was part o a conerence on
Changing Karma into Mission held at the center
rom November 30 to December 3.
The participants ormed a talking circle,
a Native American tradition in which all
members are committed to speaking reely and
istening without judgment. They discussed theransormative power o their Buddhist practice
and the shared challenges in their respective
communities—extreme poverty, isolation and the
nation’s highest suicide rate, especially among
young people.
Michelle Bird-Wheatley, a conerence acilitator
and a member o the Assiniboine, Mandan/Hidatsa
and Winnebago tribes, said the goal o the gathering
was to unite Native American members to enable
hem to better support both each other and people
n their communities who are suering. Ms. Bird-
On January 19 and 20, an event celebrating
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 21) and the
nonviolence movement was held at the SGI-
USA World Peace Ikeda Auditorium in Santa
Monica, Caliornia. The event on January 19,
titled “Redeem the Dream,” eatured inspirational
readings, speakers, dance and music. Guests
included ormer mayor Nat Trives, the rst
Arican American mayor o Santa Monica. On
January 20, a music concert was held, drawing anattendance o 900 people.
The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (TFAM) and
he Italian Ministry o Cultural Heritage and
Activities announced in a joint statement
on November 27, 2012, TFAM’s donation to
he Italian Republic o a major 16th-century
painting known as the “Tavola Doria.” The
two parties also agreed to reciprocate on
showings o acclaimed Italian artworks in
Japan and o TFAM’s collection o premier
Japanese art in Italy, paving the way to
a broader, more diverse range o cultural
exchanges in the uture.
For more news about SGI
activities around the world,
visit www.sgi.org.
The Tavola Doria, an oil-on-panel painting (86 x 115 cm),
depicts a key scene o the design or the wall painting o the
Battle o Anghiari that Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned
to paint or the Palazzo Vecchio’s Hall o the Five Hundred in
Florence, Italy.
Dr. Roberto Cecchi, Under-Secretary o the Ministry o
Cultural Heritage and Activities, declared that his ministry
was thrilled by the work’s return to Italy. “We are immensely
grateul to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum or their most generous
donation and look orward to our cooperation with the
Museum” in the years to come, he said. “Japan is a country
o great culture, and we are pleased that we will be able to
exhibit Italian paintings there and Japanese art here in Italy.”
In a statement, TFAM Director Akira Gokita commented:
“We are proud and pleased that we were able to donate the
Tavola Doria to Italy. We believe the return o the painting to
its country o origin, as well as research on the work and its
exhibition to the general public, to be highly meaningul.”
Under the direction o the Florence-based Opicio
delle Pietre Dure, a global authority on art restoration and
conservation, experts will conduct urther scientic research
and critical evaluation o the work and the maniold questions
that surround it, including the nature o its connection to da
Vinci himsel.
TFAM was ounded in 1983 by SGI President Daisaku
Ikeda to bring the treasures o the world’s cultural heritage
to Japan. The museum also engages in cultural exchange,
making its own collection available to museums throughout
the world.
Wheatley commented, “This process o healing
begins with talking and relating to others who share
the trauma we, the First Peoples, have endured,
hidden and unspoken, or so long.”
In traditional dress, the Native American
members also helped bring the FNCC conerence
to a close with cultural activities that included
a blessing in the our directions and musical
perormances.
SGI Quarterly24 April 2013
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In November and December, SGI members in Kenya, Denmark and o
countries took Buddhist study exams as a way to deepen their understan
o Nichiren Buddhism and its core philosophy. The main purpose o these
exams is to help people apply what they have learned to their daily lives,
thereby enabling them to develop a solid oundation o aith.
Topics covered included Buddhist concepts and key passages rom
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, many o which are letters rom the 13th-
century Japanese priest Nichiren to his disciples containing encouragem
and specic guidance regarding an array o topics. One such letter is titl
“On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lietime” which expounds that all
people possess the lie-state o Buddhahood and that one should not se
happiness outside onesel.On November 25, SGI-Kenya held their rst study exam in Nairobi.
Some o the key Buddhist concepts covered included “three thousand
realms in a single moment o lie,” “oneness o body and mind” and
“oneness o sel and environment.”
In Denmark, 95 SGI members took part in their study exam on
December 9, which was given at our venues, including the city o
Copenhagen. For several months leading up to the exam, participants
studied passages rom two o Nichiren’s letters to his disciples titled “Th
Hero o the World” and “The Proo o the Lotus Sutra.”
Taiwan Hosts KoreanPerformance Troupe
Soka Gakkai Donates Booksto Disaster-stricken Schools
The Chin-Shuan Cultural and Educational Foundatio
an aliate o Taiwan Soka Association (TSA), hosted th
Seoul Perorming Arts Company on a musical tour acros
Taiwan rom November 10 to 19.
Titled “The Splendor o Traditional Korean Culture,”
the perormance eatured Korean olk songs and dances
such as “A Game o Four Instruments,” a traditional harv
prayer and “Music rom the Farming Masses.” The troup
perormed to a ull house in Yuanlin township in Changh
County and in the cities o Hsinchu, Kaohsiung and Taip
The Chin-Shuan Cultural and Educational Foundatio
was established by TSA in 1988 to promote internation
cultural exchange in Taiwan.
In December 2012, the Soka Gakkai
in Japan donated books and bookshelves
to several schools throughout the country
which were aected by natural disasters
such as earthquakes, typhoons and fooding.
Each school was presented with some 300
books on various subjects.
In Nagano Preecture, book donations
were made to Sakae Elementary and Junior
High Schools as well as the public library
in Sakae village, which were all severely
aected by a large earthquake centered
on the village on March 12, 2011, the day
ollowing the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In Nara Preecture, donations were
made to several schools aected by a
typhoon that swept across the region in
September 2011. Oto Elementary School
was one such school which was damaged
by a landslide caused by heavy rains. Several
other schools experienced fooding.
Additional books are scheduled to be
donated annually to each o the schools in
Nara Preecture or the next ve years.
The book donation ceremony at Sakae Elementary School
SGI-Denmark members taking their exam
SGI Members Take Buddhist Study Exams
SGI Quarterly 25April 2013
AROUND the WOR
P h o t o c r e d i t s : ( c l o c k w i s e f r o m t
o p ) © S e i k y o S h i m
b u n ; ©
T S A ; ©
S e i k y o S h i m b u n
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Why did you choose a career in physiotherapy?
Andressa Maria: I’ve always been very ascinated by
physiotherapy. It deals with the most basic aspects obeing human, because it’s about helping people regain
the ability to move reely. That was the key actor that
convinced me to pursue this eld.
Sang Hoon: Ater I completed my studies in biomedical
science, I realized I was looking or jobs that would
help people maintain their health. I ound out about
physiotherapy and learned that physiotherapists work
to assist people with impaired abilities, such as the
disabled and aged, to improve their quality o lie, and
that appealed to me a lot.
What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects
o your work?Sang Hoon: Occasionally, patients who have been
making good progress suddenly develop new symptoms
such as pain in a dierent part o the body. That’s very
challenging, especially as a junior physiotherapist. On the
other hand, it’s very rewarding seeing patients make a ull
recovery. I eel like I have contributed to their happiness.
Andressa Maria: In my work, I incorporate an
approach called the Global Postural Re-education
method. When the posture o a patient is o balance,
it’s oten an expression o emotions such as sadness
or embarrassment. When I interact cheerully with
my patients during therapy sessions, it seems to have
an emotional healing eect, and this aects their
recovery. It makes me very happy when my patientsare able to leave the acility standing up straight, ull
o joy. I eel proud to be a physiotherapist and inspired
to continue.
What are the keys to being a good physiotherapist?
Sang Hoon: First is good communication skills.
Physiotherapists see a wide variety o patients, and
i we don’t understand each other, it’s dicult to
provide correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
I always try to explain things simply and to use visual
materials such as inormation sheets and pictures o
the exercises. The other key is constant proessional
development. New technology and research mean thatthe eld o physiotherapy is developing aster than
ever. I’m constantly trying to update my technique by
attending workshops and searching or scientic proo
o new treatments.
Andressa Maria: I believe that what is most important
in being a good physiotherapist is maintaining the
desire to serve others. Also, it is important to enjoy
interacting with people and to be a good listener.
And it is essential that one continue to improve
one’s therapy skills. In that sense, I eel that the SGI
organization serves as a good “training ground” or me
Andressa Maria Paterlini
was born and raised in Ribeirão
Preto, Brazil. She studied at
Universidade de Ribeirão Preto
where she earned her bachelor’s
degree in Physiotherapy. Shes currently studying to earn
her postdoctorate degree in
orthopedic trauma.
Sang Hoon Lee was born
n Busan, South Korea, and
currently lives in Springfeld,
Australia. He earned a
Bachelor o Applied Science
n Physiotherapy rom the
University o Sydney and is
a member o the Australian
Physiotherapy Association.
Passion Aligned with Care
SGI Quarterly26 April 2013
ON VOCATION A series in which SGI members discuss their approach to their profession
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their state o lie, our lives also expand. Actions
to benet others are not separate rom actions
to benet onesel. Our lives and the lives o
others are ultimately inseparable.”
How important is it to enable patients to
retain a sense o dignity in situations where
they may eel helpless?
Andressa Maria: When I am working one-on-
one with my patients, I interact with them in
the same way I encourage my ellow members
in the SGI or share Buddhism with my riends:
I engage with them wholeheartedly and
cheerully. I try to maintain a positive attitude
during each hour-long therapy session so
that I can provide constant motivation and
inspiration to my patients.
Sang Hoon: Sometimes patients eel they are
useless ater their unctioning or mobility has
been limited by an illness or accident, and
their sel-esteem suers. This makes them
passive and less condent in regaining their
unctional ability. As a result, they show very
slow progress or even do not want to undergorehabilitation. To assist patients to regain
condence, I usually set a goal or them to
to improve mysel in all aspects o my work.
I used to be very shy around people and was
not very good at speaking with people or
even listening to what others had to say. SGI
activities challenged me to overcome those
weaknesses. As a result, many o my patients
return just to have a conversation with me or
enjoy some tea together, even ater they have
recovered.
How does your Buddhist practice impact your
approach on a day-to-day basis?
Andressa Maria: Naturally, I always put a
wholehearted eort into working with my
patients, but I can’t perorm at my best unless
I’m eeling energized and positive. I I don’t
eel that way, it’s easy to be infuenced by
negativity. In my daily Buddhist practice,
thereore, I chant strongly to make a positive
impact on my work environment and not to
be infuenced by negative things. Being able
to work cheerully and with passion is key in
being able to help my patients maintain their
physical as well as psychological well-beinguntil their next therapy session. Nichiren
Daishonin states in his writings: “I the minds
o living beings are impure, their land is also
impure, but i their minds are pure, so is their
land. There are not two lands, pure or impure
in themselves. The dierence lies solely in the
good or evil o our minds.” This is a passage I
treasure deeply because it teaches that change
begins with me, here and now.
Sang Hoon: My practice helps me approach
work as the best stage or my personal
development and growth. People rom all
walks o lie open up and share their suerings,and I do my best to treat them. Patients place
their trust in me, without judgment, and trying
to respond to that on a daily basis helps me
develop empathy and orget about my ego,
being ocused instead on helping my patients
get over their physical suering. The patients
recover and appreciate my help, but I eel
grateul to them or the opportunity to develop
and improve mysel. SGI President Ikeda writes:
“When we care or others, our own strength to
live increases. When we help people expand
achieve. I start with small, easily achievabl
goals and gradually build on those, giving t
positive eedback as they progress. When
they see this progress, their negativity star
to dissipate and they begin to believe in th
ability to recover.
What inuence has your Buddhist practic
had on your understanding o physical
health?
Sang Hoon: I think the Buddhist concept o
the oneness o body and mind is very relev
to maintaining physical health. We achieve
health when there is a harmony between b
and mind, or spirit. I’ve ound that patients
in an unhealthy spiritual state, such as tho
who are depressed or thinking very negativ
oten make slow progress in their physical
recovery. However, when patients have a
positive attitude, they recover well and can
discharged early. That’s why I believe that
health depends on healing the spiritual and
physical aspects together.
Andressa Maria: I have learned that an
inner transormation is maniested in a
transormation in one’s outward appearanc
Taking action to support others has a great
impact on our health. I try to convey this
perspective to my patients. I apply what I
have learned rom studying Buddhism whe
I encourage my patients on a psychologica
level, and I put into practice what I havelearned academically when I’m giving them
physical therapy. ❖
“I think the Buddhist concept of the oneness
of body and mind is very relevant to maintaining physical health.”
SGI Quarterly 27April 2013
ON VOCATIO
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Buddhism teaches that the law o cause
and eect underlies the workings o all
phenomena. Positive thoughts, words and
actions create positive eects in the lives
o individuals, leading to happiness. Negative thoughts,
words and actions on the other hand—those that in some
way undermine the dignity o lie—lead to unhappiness.
This is the general principle o karma.
In Buddhist teachings other than the Lotus Sutra,
Buddhist practice is understood as a gradual journey o
transormation. This is a process in which, over the course
o many lietimes, the essentially fawed and imperect
common mortal gradually molds and transorms him- or
hersel into a state o perection—Buddhahood—through
painstaking eorts to accumulate positive causes while
avoiding negative ones.
In Nichiren Buddhism, however, the attainment o
Buddhahood is governed by a more proound principle o
causality revealed in the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra oers a radically dierent view o
the human being and o the attainment o Buddhahood.
In the perspective o the Lotus Sutra, delusion and
enlightenment—the common mortal and the Buddha—
are the two equally inherent aspects o l ie, which itselis neutral. While the “deault” condition o humanity may
be that o delusion, maniesting our Buddhahood does
not require a undamental change in our nature. In act,
the idea that Buddhahood is somehow remote rom our
ordinary reality is itsel a delusion.
This dierence between the pre-Lotus Sutra and
Lotus Sutra views o enlightenment can also be explained
with reerence to the concept o the Ten Worlds. This
concept describes our inner state o li e at any moment
in terms o ten “worlds,” rom hell to Buddhahood, that
we move between constantly depending on how we
direct our lie and respond to our environment. In the
pre-Lotus Sutra view, common mortals carry out Buddhistpractice in the nine worlds (cause) and eventually attain
Buddhahood (eect). The nine worlds disappear, replaced
by the world o Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra, on the
other hand, claries that Buddhahood and the other nine
worlds are both eternally inherent possibilities o lie
at each moment, and that the world o Buddhahood is
brought orth by aith and practice.
The dierence between these two views o
Buddhahood could be described using the analogy o
a video game. The conventional view o the process o
enlightenment is like a game character who gradually
accumulates various powers and useul tools while
successully passing through to the advanced stages o
the game. In the Lotus Sutra’s view o enlightenment,
the game character is rom the beginning already in
possession o all the ull powers possible, and only
requires a means to unlock them.
The practice o Nichiren Buddhism is one o
maniesting the potential o Buddhahood here and now.
Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with aith in one’s
inherent Buddhahood could be compared to activating
the “code” that unlocks this potential.
Bringing orth one’s enlightened nature—
characterized by courage, wisdom, compassion and lie
orce—one is then equipped to engage ully with theproblems o lie, change reality or the better and make
enlightenment an actuality.
Problems and challenges, in this sense, serve as a
means or us to demonstrate the strength and reality
o our enlightened nature and to inspire others to do
the same. Buddhism is about living condently and
expansively here and now. The key component in this is
aith in our inherently enlightened nature.
This revolutionary perspective on “attaining”
Buddhahood is expressed in the concept o the
simultaneity o cause and eect. The nine worlds,
representing cause, and the world o Buddhahood,
representing eect, exist simultaneously in our lives. Thisis symbolized by the lotus plant, which bears fowers
(symbolizing the common mortal) and ruit (symbolizing
Buddhahood) at the same time.
When we have ull condence in our Buddha nature
and our ability to transorm and triumph over any kind o
suering, problems become challenges to be welcomed
rather than avoided. This sustained sense o condence
and determination in the ace o diculties is itsel a
maniestation o our Buddha nature and, in accordance
with the principle o the simultaneity o cause and eect,
assures our success in lie. ❖
The Simultaneity
of Cause and Effect
“The practice
o Nichiren
Buddhism is one
o maniesting
the potential o
Buddhahood
here and now.”
SGI Quarterly28 April 2013
BUDDHISM in DAILY LIFE
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Features:
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Health and Human HappinessCover Photo: Beijing, China
© Lane Oatey/Blue Jean Images/Getty Images
SGI
Quarterly
A Buddhist Forum or Peace, Culture and Education
The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a
worldwide association o 90 constituent
organizations with membership in 192
countries and territories. In the service o
its members and o society at large, the
SGI centers its activities on developing
positive human potentialities or hope,
courage and altruistic action.
Rooted in the lie-arming philosophy oNichiren Buddhism, members o the SGI
share a commitment to the promotion o
peace, culture and education. The scope
and nature o the activities conducted in
each country vary in accordance with the
culture and characteristics o that society.
They all grow, however, rom a shared
understanding o the inseparable linkages
that exist between individual happiness
and the peace and development o
all humanity.
As a nongovernmental organization (NGO)
with ormal ties to the United Nations, the
SGI is active in the elds o humanitarian
relie and public education, with a ocus
on peace, sustainable development and
human rights.
SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL15-3 Samoncho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0017, Japan
Telephone: +81-3-5360-9830