If Dharma is Medicine, Sangha is Immunity!

Kyohei Mikawa, PhD

Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles

Thank you, everyone, for your caring presence at RKLA in 2025! Let's learn a core teaching and practice of Buddhism before we step into 2026.

The goal of Buddhist practice is simple: to end suffering. In Buddhism, suffering means emotional pain created by the gap between what we desire (expectation) and what we actually attain (given reality). Importantly, this sense of "suffering" is neither divine punishment nor one's predestiny. It simply arises and perishes depending on how multiple causes meet multiple conditions. For instance, anger toward another person cannot arise on its own. It can only arise depending on other causes and conditions. When our mind is relatively occupied with complains about life and lacks a sense of gratitude, a slight moment of being ignored by someone can create anger within us. But when our mind is full of gratitude, a little ignorance cannot find any soil to grow in our mind.

Buddha taught that life is a ceaceless encounter with this gap between our expectation and reality. The point of this teaching is that if suffering is unavoidable, living with a "cause-mindset" is more liberating and playful than a "victim-mindset". If we have to experience suffering anyways, would you relate to suffering by complaining and blaming to make you a victim with no power or transforming it into an invitation to reflect your habits, to nurture your creativity, and to reimagine your life in new ways, making you a cause for change? When you wonder, you can ask yourself which way is what your heart truly desires. First 6 months after I came to LA were the biggest struggle for my ministry: not even a single person became a new member of RKLA during that time. But a year later, you helped me reimagine my suffering and welcomed 42 new members with me in 2025. Sangha--a community of Buddhists--of RKLA helped me end my suffering. Our sangha helps you to end suffering as long as you are committed to it. Thanks to you, I can welcome suffering as invitation.

To fully realize the cause mindset and apply Buddha’s wisdom, deeper study and practice are essential. My upcoming class, 6 Essential Wisdom of Buddha, starting January 13 (every 2nd and 4th Tuesday evening for 3 months), will explore these concepts in detail and provide practical tools that help you end suffering.