HARMONY - Dec 2011

Special Feature: The Difference Between Buddhism And Positive Thinking

Dear members and friends of SGI,

As always, we would like to thank you for reading this month’s Harmony.

In this issue we take a look at the difference between Buddhism and positive thinking.

My father was a strong believer in the power of positive thinking and the power of a positive mind.  Throughout my childhood I was bombarded with the slogans and sayings of his favorite motivational speakers.  Until the day he died, he would always respond with an enthusiastic “GREAT” when anyone asked him how he was - regardless of how he was actually feeling.

My father was a voracious reader and our house was filled with all types of self-help books.  One of the first books I can remember him giving me (beside Dr. Seuss) was “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and “How to Win Friend & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.

I grew up on the stuff and I have seen first hand the power of such a thought process.  Positive thinking has a lot of value and can add benefit to one’s life.  My father was a very determined man who grew up very poor and was able to better his life and that of his family by holding such views.

But he was also a man who suffered a lot and was at a loss how to change himself, not just superficially but fundamentally.  His positive thinking was a kind of band-aid, a way to cover up the wounds but never getting at the core problem. He was not able to change his karma through his positive mental attitude, regardless of how often he said “GREAT!”.

That is, of course, until he started to chant.

As is explained in our Special Features, Buddhism goes beyond just positive thinking and offers a means to change ones life at the core.

I feel grateful for having been exposed to a lot of the modern-day pioneers in the area of positive thinking.  Having read books by many of them, I can honestly say that I find the very best inspirational speaker of our day to be Daisaku Ikeda. Whether a practicing Buddhist or not, his words touch one’s heart and offer hope to anyone willing to listen.

He teaches us how to use our Buddhist practice, not merely to change our attitude, but to understand and change our lives.  Thus providing us with the never give up spirit than enables us to be happy and really win.  Now that’s GREAT!

Robert “Skip” Williams
Editor-in-chief

Available at all HKSGI Culture Centres