It's Christmas Time, my favorite time of the year.

And yes, Christmas has always been a Buddhist Holiday to me, especially when I hear that phrase of "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All."

That's the one that has stayed with me as I've grown from a Christian in my childhood, to a Zen, Tibetan, and finally, at last, the answer: Nichiren Buddhist by way of the Soka Gakkai, where I chant and pray for World Peace and Good Will to All, twice a day.

Of all the Christmas songs you hear this year, the one I hope you pay most attention to is Frosty the Snowman, for it is the most blatant buddhist Christmas song ever, and here's why.

First, let me sing the song for you -- please hold onto you ears as I do, for a good singer I am not.

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal


Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say
He was made of snow, but the children know
How he came to life one day


There must have been some magic in
That old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around


Oh, Frosty the snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me

[Chorus]
Thumpety-thump-thump
Thumpety-thump-thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpety-thump-thump
Thumpety-thump-thump
Over the hills of snow

[Verse 2]
Ooh Frosty the snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day
So he said, "Let's run and we'll have some fun
Now before I melt away."


Down to the village
With a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all around the square
Saying, "Catch me if you can!"


He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler, "Stop!"


Oh, Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye, saying
"Don't you cry, I'll be back again someday."


Frosty, as we all remember, is “a jolly happy soul.” Born of heaven’s (Tibetan) white falling snow and seeing through his earthy black eyes of coal, his spirit is that of a child, but his foreknowledge of his own demise places him outside the realm of the purely innocent children. His crucial conflict—our crucial conflict—is this: Frosty the Snowman knew the sun was hot that day. Life is suffering, death will come, is coming. Yet, Frosty’s response is astonishing! “Let’s run and have some fun,” he says, “before I melt away.” Frosty is delivering the wisdom of the Buddha, and one can almost picture him meditating on the mantra Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as he is dashing through the snow. Frosty teaches the children that there is heaven in the present moment.

Frosty leads the children out of the pastoral forest into the town where the group faces the complications of daily life in the stern and officious police officer, who hollers, “Stop!” There is a temptation to dwell in the realm of fear, but Frosty’s stop in the town square is momentary. Time is too fleeting, too precious. The children must learn—while they can—how to play, for as we all know, nothing lasts forever and Frosty must “hurry on his way.”

As Frosty faces his own melting with the acceptance of Nichiren Daishonen, he teaches us the Buddha's most valuable lesson, that we will face death, but will return, or as Frosty says, "Don’t you cry, I’ll be back again someday." Then he fearlessly dances over the hills of snow back to the forest. Frosty shows us that our time is short, but that does not mean it has to be lived in fear and sadness.

Finally, as Second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda once said, and I paraphrase, "It's delusional to think you won't die!"

So, Happy Holiday's Brothers and Sisters, and let's be like Frosty before we melt away.