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People need jobs to survive in the world. Whether it’s your dream job or you’re just trying to pay the bills, losing a job can be heartbreaking. While acknowledging the reality, Buddhism teaches that the ability to overcome any adversity exists within our lives.
When encouraging people facing extreme difficulties, the Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda offers the following:
When you lose your livelihood, the common tendency is to feel depressed, and if you have no apparent future prospects, you can easily become apathetic and despairing. If you’re able at such a time to remain filled with life force, energized, and ready to face the challenges before you, you can impart tremendous courage to others. Courage spreads with a ripple effect. In addition, when Soka Gakkai members are positive and energetic, actively taking on life’s challenges, they demonstrate proof of the power of Buddhism to others. ... Adversity is a magnificent opportunity for each of us to demonstrate the greatness of our Buddhist faith and practice. Whether we win or lose is determined from now. All that matters is winning in the end. And our Buddhist practice ensures that we can win.
The New Human Revolution, vol. 25, pp. 73–74
This perspective of challenging adverse circumstances to not only transform our own lives but to give courage to challenge too is what’s beautiful about practicing Buddhism. Your victory becomes a source of hope for everyone in your life. Even for future encounters where a person is struggling with the same thing, your experience can inspire them to never give up.
Right now, you may feel depressed and like giving up. But by continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and participate in local Buddhist gatherings, you can keep reminding yourself of just how powerful you are and the important purpose you have in the world.
As Ikeda writes:
The important thing is what you do from now. Are you going to be discouraged and allow yourselves to fall into despair? Or will you regard this as an opportunity to show actual proof of our faith and rise up again courageously, determined not to be beaten? Your inner resolve is what decides your happiness or unhappiness. … Over the course of our lives, we are bound to face all kinds of adversity, not only natural disasters but things like bankruptcy, unemployment, illness, accidents and the deaths of loved ones. … Unhappiness is not caused by adverse circumstances; it is caused by our own despair and negativity. … If all of you who have been adversely affected by this natural disaster are able to splendidly rebuild your lives, you will have turned poison into medicine and demonstrated the greatness of Nichiren Buddhism to society. That is the purpose of the struggle you are now encountering.
The New Human Revolution, vol. 16, pp. 201–02
Changing poison into medicine in the job sense could be understood as, if you got fired, the next job you get is even better. This is the power of Buddhist practice.
So, if you’re overcome with worry, begin by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to strengthen the courage, wisdom and compassion inherent in your life to discover what steps you can take to open an even better path forward.