(Photo above by Aaron Blanco Tejedor / Unsplash)
You’re scrolling TikTok. Next thing you know, you’re being told to set stronger boundaries, speak your mind and know your worth. “This year we’re standing on business, OK?” Standing on business, simply put, means to stand strong, back up your words with action and advocate for yourself. Who wouldn’t want to stand on business?
Buddhist Philosopher Daisaku Ikeda explains that consistent Buddhist practice helps us develop into strong people:
It is impossible to stop the winds of suffering from blowing. Our only alternative is to become strong. When we develop dauntless fortitude, like mighty trees, we will be untroubled by even the most powerful gales. In fact, we can even find them exhilarating. The aim of our Buddhist practice is to carry out our human revolution so that we can lead such lives and develop such inner strength. Though we may not notice it, a tree grows every day. In the same indiscernible way, our daimoku [chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] nurtures our growth day after day into people of unshakable strength who abound with good fortune.
The Wisdom for Creating Peace and Happiness, part 2, revised edition, pp. 49–50
As we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and challenge ourselves to overcome hardships each day, we become stronger and stronger.
Though strength is key to stand on business, we also need to cultivate wisdom and compassion to ensure we’re taking action that supports the happiness of ourselves and others. When it comes to setting boundaries, for example, standing on business might result in hurting others and avoiding important self-reflection. Dr. Lisa Katz says that not all boundaries are created equally. She outlines key ways boundaries can backfire:
- When they are not communicated.
- When they are overly rigid and fail to take on other people’s perspectives.
- When we notice a pattern of one-sided thinking around our boundary-making.
- When they are set from a place of dysregulated anger.
- When they are a replacement for you doing your work.
Dr. Katz says: “Setting a boundary is a complex thing. Boundaries are necessary to feel good. They can also backfire when not done with intention, are entirely egocentric, are created from a dysregulated place or are driven by a desire for oversimplification.”
Through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we tap into our Buddhability—the limitless wisdom, courage and compassion in our lives—which we can use to stand on business and set boundaries in a healthy way. We need courage to speak with someone honestly about our relationships, wisdom to know how to do it in a way that honors our needs and theirs, and compassion to consider and understand others.
We need courage to speak with someone honestly about our relationships, wisdom to know how to do it in a way that honors our needs and theirs, and compassion to consider and understand others.
With consistent efforts to challenge ourselves to tap into our Buddhability, we can become strong and confident people who stand on business with wisdom and compassion. Ikeda reminds us:
Prayer to the Gohonzon, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, is not abstract or theoretical. It is a burning inner flame to be victorious. If that flame of resolve blazes in our heart, the instant we chant, we have already won. It is, as the Daishonin declares, like “a lantern lighting up a place that has been dark for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years” (“The One Essential Phrase,” WND-1, 923). This is the practice of human revolution that is accessible to all.
Oct. 1, 2021, World Tribune, p. 3