(from the front page of SGI International)

Buddhism in Daily Life

When a tree has been transplanted, though fierce winds may blow, it will not topple if it has a firm stake to hold it up. But even a tree that has grown up in place may fall over if its roots are weak. Even a feeble person will not stumble if those supporting him are strong, but a person of considerable strength, when alone, may fall down on an uneven path.
From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
“Three Tripitaka Masters Pray for Rain”

In my younger years I would not have appreciated this much. I believed I could stand, must stand, alone in the world if ever I would understand it. Today I still struggle with this apparent tension between community and autonomy. How much should we rely on others? Recently that question has been re-framed for me somewhat to: How much do we need to acknowledge our reliance on others?

This shifts the emphasis from dependence to gratitude. The goal of Buddhism is to overcome dependence, it is to overcome the very idea of others as opposed to ourselves. Thus the question of community becomes moot. We always are and will be in a community. The quest for community is like searching for your own face in a mirror: it’s not really out there, it is within. It is within that we find community, just as it is within that we discover our true nature.

With wrong/fixed views we seek community out there and despair that it is never found, or only fleetingly. Finding community, there is no more ‘feeble person’. Alone there is no ‘strong person’. Realizing community within one finds community everywhere.