Chanting Growers Group

[Babbabud]

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year!! and Happy New Beginings to you all !!

Good day to spend some real time chanting to start the new year off right Much Love to you all !! May all your dreams and wishes come true

Nam myoho renge kyo !!
Nam myoho renge kyo !!

Nam myoho renge kyo !!

 

[tricky]

can i just sit and learn...............!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GordyP]

Sit and Learn

Sit and Learn

By all means, Tricky!!!
Sitting back and learning from this thread is about all I've done here over the past year. If you're stumped, just ask a question and I guarantee you it will be answered. To help you begin, I would encourage you to scan back through this thread to the later months of 2004 and early in 2005 to get a taste of who some of the early contributors were at that time; to see hear the questions on their minds when they first became aware of Nichiren Buddhism and discover the great respect and friendship that developed between most of us over the many months leading to this time. We've helped each other through hard personal times as well as rejoiced and celebrated personal triumphs together via this thread. But it would serve you well to learn the players in this social, and quite educational, interaction of spirits. Because like all spirits, no two are exactly alike. Some can lift your soul with friendship, love, and honesty discovered by sharing the wisdom and truths given us by Nichiren, while others can leave you questioning your personal worth and purpose in this existence with somewhat troubling responses to your questions and inputs. Read, read, read! Read the past of this thread and become a happy and enlightening contributor to it's future. Regardless of who's post you're reading, remember in the end it's all about achieving world peace for us all, and every one of us can at least agree on that point. It all begins with chanting nam myoho renge kyo!

Still learning more every day,

Gordy P

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Touché GordyP.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538

Background

This treatise, counted among Nichiren Daishonin's five major writings, was written at Minobu in the first year of Kenji (1275) and was entrusted to a believer named Yui who lived in Nishiyama of Suruga Province. As with a number of his other important works, it is written in the form of a dialogue between the Daishonin and a hypothetical questioner.

The Daishonin had met and remonstrated with Hei no Saemon, who represented the regent Hojo Tokimune, in the fourth month of 1274, after returning from his exile to Sado. When this, his third and last admonition to the government, went unheeded, the Daishonin left to live in the forest of Mount Minobu. In the tenth month of 1274, Mongol forces launched an invasion of Japan just as the Daishonin had predicted to Hei no Saemon during their meeting. News of the invasion, the first in Japan's history, came as a profound shock. Though the invasion ultimately failed, people were terrified that the Mongols would seize the next opportunity to launch a second attack. It was amid this uneasy situation that the Daishonin wrote The Selection of the Time.

"Time" in the title, The Selection of the Time, refers to the Latter Day of the Law, when the "pure Law" of Shakyamuni's teaching was to become obscured and lost and the "great pure Law" of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was to be spread.

Nichiren Daishonin set forth elsewhere five guides or criteria for the propagation of Buddhism: namely, a correct understanding of (1) the teaching, (2) the people's capacity, (3) the time, (4) the country, and (5) the sequence of propagation. The Selection of the Time places the greatest emphasis upon the factor of the time.

In this writing, the Daishonin refers to the five five-hundred-year periods described in the Great Collection Sutra to outline the events of Buddhism over the first twenty-five hundred years following Shakyamuni's passing. (1) In the first five hundred years of the Former Day of the Law, Mahakashyapa, Ananda, and others propagated the Hinayana teachings in India. (2) The second five hundred years of the Former Day saw the advent of Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, and others, who propagated the provisional Mahayana teachings. (3) In the first five hundred years of the Middle Day of the Law, the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai appeared in China and propagated the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. (4) The second five hundred years of the Middle Day saw the Great Teacher Dengyo propagate the theoretical teaching in Japan and establish the ordination platform for administering Mahayana precepts. (5) The first five hundred years of the Latter Day is the time when, according to the Great Collection Sutra, "the pure Law will become obscured and lost." Nichiren Daishonin proclaims that during this period the great pure Law will be spread far and wide throughout the entire world.

Nichiren Daishonin then states that one who spreads the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law is the votary of the Lotus Sutra who possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent.

The Daishonin describes the Law that will spread in the Latter Day as follows: "Unbelievable as it may seem, there clearly appears in the text of the Lotus Sutra a correct Law that is supremely profound and secret, one that, though expounded in full by the Buddha, in the time since his passing has never yet been propagated by Mahakashyapa, Ananda, Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Asanga, or Vasubandhu, nor even by T'ien-t'ai or Dengyo" (p. 560). The latter half of the treatise exposes the errors of the Nembutsu, Zen, and True Word schools, pointing out these mistakes as the root causes of the calamities besetting Japan at that time. In On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land, the Daishonin focused his criticism on the Nembutsu doctrine as a primary source of disaster. In The Selection of the Time, he reveals, among others, the fallacies of the True Word school whose leading priests had by this time won the confidence of the ruling class, who in turn relied on the school to offer prayers for subduing enemies. The Daishonin points out the futility of such prayers by referring to the Mongol expeditionary force that had attacked Japan in 1274 and to the Jokyu Disturbance of 1221, when the imperial court placed its faith in the True Word prayer rituals and was nonetheless defeated by the Kamakura government.

The Daishonin points out the doctrinal error of the True Word school. True Word patriarchs incorporatedT'ien-t'ai's doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life into their own teaching and then asserted that it is to be found in the Mahavairochana Sutra, the basic scripture of their own school. They even went so far as to accuse T'ien-t'ai of stealing the supreme doctrine of the True Word. They asserted the superiority of the Mahavairochana Sutra over the Lotus Sutra, and of Mahavairochana Buddha, who appears in that sutra but is not an actual historical figure, over Shakyamuni Buddha.

Then he declares, "In China and Japan in the past, sages of outstanding wisdom and ability have from time to time appeared. But none, as an ally of the Lotus Sutra, has faced such powerful enemies within his country as have I, Nichiren. From the facts present before your very eyes, it should be apparent that Nichiren is the foremost person in the entire land of Jambudvipa" (p. 574).

The Daishonin next attributes the underlying cause of calamities to failure of the nation's ruler to honor the Lotus Sutra and its votary.

The Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts say that a sage is one who knows the future. By this account, the Daishonin is a great sage, because, as he says, "Three times now I have gained distinction by having such knowledge" (p. 579). The predictions he made on the three occasions he remonstrated with the authorities all came true. In his third remonstration, he said to Hei no Saemon, "Even if it seems that,because I was born in the ruler's domain, I follow him in my actions, I will never follow him in my heart" (p. 579). This can be taken as a bold expression of freedom of thought and belief, a rare statement in thirteenth-century Japan.

He further says that although he is a mere common mortal, because he is the votary of the Lotus Sutra, he deserves to be called the foremost Great Man in Japan. "Great Man" is one of the titles of a Buddha.

In response to this statement, the questioner in this writing criticizes him, saying that his arrogance is beyond measure. The Daishonin replies, in effect, that what seems like arrogance on his part is actually sublime conviction in the superiority of the Law that he embraces. Then he turns to his followers: "Therefore, I say to you, my disciples, try practicing as the Lotus Sutra teaches, exerting yourselves without begrudging your lives! Test the truth of Buddhism now" (p. 584). In conclusion, the Daishonin declares that he himself has lived up to the passage in the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter of the Lotus Sutra: "We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way." That is, in order to reveal the correct teaching, he has struggled continually without begrudging his life in the face of persecution by the three powerful enemies - especially those of the third group, respected priests who induce secular authorities to persecute the votaries of the Lotus Sutra.

(to be continued)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538

When it comes to studying the teachings of Buddhism, one must first learn to understand the time. In the past, when the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence appeared in the world, he remained for a period of ten small kalpas without preaching a single sutra. Thus the Lotus Sutra says, "Having taken his seat, (1) ten small kalpas pass." And later, "The Buddha knew that the time had not yet come, and though they entreated, he (2) sat in silence."

Likewise Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings in the present world, spent the first forty and more years of his preaching life without expounding the Lotus Sutra, because, as the sutra says, "the time to preach so had not yet (3) come."

Lao Tzu remained in his mother's womb for eighty years, waiting to be (4) born, and Bodhisattva Maitreya abides in the inner court of the Tushita heaven for a period of 5,670 million years, awaiting the time for his advent in the world. The cuckoo sings when spring is waning, the cock waits until the break of day to crow. If even these lowly creatures have such an understanding of time, then how can a person who wishes to practice the teachings of Buddhism fail to make certain what time it is?

When Shakyamuni Buddha prepared to preach at the place where he had gained enlightenment, the various Buddhas made their appearance in the ten directions, and all the great bodhisattvas gathered around. Brahma, Shakra, and the four heavenly kings came with their robes fluttering. The dragon deities and the eight kinds of non-human beings pressed their palms together, the ordinary people of superior capacity bent their ears to listen, and the bodhisattvas who in their present bodies have attained the stage where they perceive the non-birth and non-extinction of the phenomenal world, along with Bodhisattva Moon of Deliverance, all begged the Buddha to preach. But the World-Honored One did not reveal a single word concerning the doctrines that hold that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, or that he himself had attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past, nor did he set forth the most vital teachings of all, those concerning a single moment of life encompassing the three thousand realms and the fact that one can attain Buddhahood in one's present form. There was only one reason for this: the fact that, although his listeners possessed the capacity to understand such doctrines, the proper time had not yet come. Or, as the Lotus Sutra says, "[The reason . . . was that] the time to preach so had not (5) yet come."

But when Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra to the gathering on Eagle Peak, the great king Ajatashatru, who had been the most unfilial person in the entire land of Jambudvipa, was allowed to sit among the listeners. Devadatta, who had spent his whole life slandering the Law, was told that in the future he would become the Thus Come One Heavenly King, and the dragon king's daughter, though impeded by the five obstacles, became a Buddha without changing her reptilian form. Those predestined for the realms of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones were told that they would in fact become Buddhas, like scorched seeds that unexpectedly sprout and put forth flowers and fruit. The Buddha revealed that he had attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past, which puzzled his listeners as greatly as if he had asserted that an old man of a hundred was the son of a (6) man of twenty-five. And he also expounded the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, explaining that the nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood and that Buddhahood retains the nine worlds.

Thus a single word of this Lotus Sutra is as precious as a wish-granting jewel, and a single phrase is the seed of all Buddhas. We may leave aside the question of whether Shakyamuni's listeners at that point possessed the capacity to understand such doctrines or not. The fact is that the time had come for him to preach them. As the sutra says, "Now is the very time when I must decisively preach the great (7) vehicle.”

Notes

1. Lotus Sutra, chap. 7.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., chap. 2.
4. The Sutra of the Conversion of Barbarians by Lao Tzu states that Lao Tzu was white-haired at birth and had the appearance of an old man.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
6. A reference to chapter 15 of the Lotus Sutra. Seeing the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, Maitreya and others in the assembly wonder how, in the mere forty years since his enlightenment under the bodhi tree, the Buddha has contrived to teach and train so many majestic and noble bodhisattvas. It is, Maitreya says, as though a youth of twenty-five were to point to a hundred-year-old man and say, "This is my son."
7. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"'Regularly being careless and neglecting to follow the rules that have been set for checking and rechecking information is an indication of a person’s life tendency. Such people are not only likely to be careless at work but in other areas as well, which may manifest itself in such ways as traffic accidents. It is important for them to view this tendency as their one basic shortcoming and strive to transform it through specific and earnest prayer about it on a daily basis…"

SGI Newsletter No. 6681, The New Human Revolution—Vol. 18: Chap. 1, Lion’s Roar 40, translated Dec. 22nd, 2005

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

Question: If one preaches the great Law to people who do not have the capacity to understand it, then the foolish ones among them will surely slander it and will fall into the evil paths of existence. Is the person who does the preaching not to blame for this?

Answer: If a man builds a road for others and someone loses his way on it, is that the fault of the road-builder? If a skilled physician gives medicine to a sick person but the sick person, repelled by the medicine, refuses to take it and dies, should one blame the physician?

Question: The second volume of the Lotus Sutra says, "Do not preach this sutra to persons who are without (8) wisdom." The fourth volume says, "It must not be distributed or recklessly transmitted to others." (9) And the fifth volume states, "This Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones. Among the sutras, it holds the highest place. Through the long night I have guarded and protected it and have never recklessly propagated (10) it." These passages from the sutra would seem to indicate that one should not expound the Law to those who do not have the capacity to understand it.

Answer: I refer you to the passage in the "Never Disparaging" chapter that states, "He would say to people, 'I have profound reverence for you.' . . . Among the four kinds of believers there were those who gave way to anger, their minds lacking in purity, and they spoke ill of him and cursed him, saying, 'This ignorant monk.'" The chapter also says, "Some among the group would take sticks of wood or tiles and stones and beat and pelt him." And in the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter it says, "There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of us and will attack us with swords and staves." These passages imply that one should preach the Law even though one may be reviled and cursed and even beaten for it. Since the sutra so teaches, is the one who preaches to blame?

Question: Now these two views appear to be as incompatible as fire and water. May I ask how one is to resolve this dilemma?

Answer: T'ien-t'ai says, "The method chosen should be that which accords (11) with the time." Chang-an says, "You should let your choices be fitting and never adhere solely to one (12) or the other." What these remarks mean is that, at times, the Buddha's teaching will be met with slander and one therefore refrains from expounding it for the present, and that, at other times, even though one encounters slander, one nevertheless makes a point of preaching anyway. There are times when, although a few persons may have the capacity to believe, the great majority will only slander the Buddha's teaching, and one therefore refrains from expounding it for the present. And there are other times when, although the great majority of people are bound to slander the Buddha's teaching, one nevertheless makes a point of preaching anyway.

When Shakyamuni Buddha first attained enlightenment and prepared to preach, the great bodhisattvas Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Diamond Banner, Diamond Storehouse, Manjushri, Universal Worthy, Maitreya, and Moon of Deliverance, as well as the heavenly lords Brahma and Shakra, the four heavenly kings, and countless numbers of ordinary people of superior (13) capacity, came to hear him. When he preached at Deer Park, Ajnata Kaundinya and the others of the five ascetics, along with Mahakashyapa and his two hundred fifty followers, Shariputra and his two hundred fifty followers, and eighty thousand heavenly (14) beings all gathered to listen.

At the ceremony of the great assembly for the Correct and Equal sutras, the World-Honored One's father, King Shuddhodana, displayed a sincere desire for the Buddha's teachings, and the Buddha therefore entered the palace and preached the Meditation on the Buddha Sutra for him. And for the sake of his deceased mother, LadyMaya, he secluded himself in the heaven of the thirty-three gods for a period of ninety days and there preached the Maya Sutra. Where his father and mother were concerned, one would think he could not possibly withhold even the most secret teaching of the Law. And yet he did not preach the Lotus Sutra for them. In the final analysis, the Buddha's preaching of the Lotus Sutra has nothing to do with the capacities of his listeners. As long as the proper time had not yet come, he would on no account expound it.

Question: When is the time for the preaching of the Hinayana sutras and the provisional sutras, and when is the time for the preaching of the Lotus Sutra?

Answer: Even bodhisattvas, from those at the ten stages of faith to great bodhisattvas on the level of near-perfect enlightenment, find it difficult to judge matters concerning time and capacity. How then can ordinary beings such as ourselves be able to judge such matters?

Question: Is there no way to determine them?

Answer: Let us borrow the eye of (15) the Buddha to consider this question of time and capacity. Let us use the sun of the Buddha (16) to illuminate the nation.


Notes:

8. Ibid., chap. 3.
9. Ibid., chap. 10.
10. Ibid., chap. 14.
11. The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.
12. The Annotations on the Nirvana Sutra.
13. To these people Shakyamuni Buddha preached the teachings of the Flower Garland Sutra immediately after his enlightenment.
14. At Deer Park (Skt Mrigadava) in Varanasi, present-day Benares, Shakyamuni preached the teachings that became the Agama sutras.
15. One of the five types of vision - the physical eyes, the heavenly eye, the wisdom eye, the Dharma eye, and the Buddha eye. The "eye of the Buddha" here means the sutras that consist of Shakyamuni's teachings.
16. The Buddha is often likened to the sun because he dispels the ignorance of the people.

(to be continued)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"[When he launched his struggle to rebuild the Soka Gakkai after the war,] Mr. Toda saw that his only course was to start by developing one genuine comrade fully dedicated to kosen-rufu, and then proceed from there to steadily increase the ranks of such comrades one by one. This itself would create the “time” for kosen-rufu, he believed. Taking this to heart, let us now once again create the “time” for dynamic growth in our kosen-rufu movement!"

SGI Newsletter No. 6682, 55TH SOKA GAKKAI HEADQUARTERS LEADERS MEETING—PART 3 [OF 3], Have Faith and Confidence in Your Unlimited Potential, Dec. 8th, 2005, translated Dec. 26th, 2005

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

Question: What do you mean by that?

Answer: In the Great Collection Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment, addresses Bodhisattva Moon Storehouse and predicts the future. Thus he says that the first five hundred years after his passing will be the age of attaining liberation (17), and the next five hundred years, (18) the age of meditation (making one thousand years). The next five hundred years will be the age of reading, reciting (19), and listening, and the next five hundred years, the age of building temples(20) and stupas (making two thousand years). In the next five hundred years, (21)"quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to my teachings, and the pure Law will become obscured and lost."

These five five-hundred-year periods, which total twenty-five hundred years, are delineated in different ways by different people. The Meditation Master Tao-ch'o of China declares that during the first four of the five five-hundred-year periods, which constitute the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the pure Law of the Hinayana and Mahayana teachings will flourish, but that after the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law these teachings will all perish. At that time, only those who practice the Pure Land teaching, the pure Law of the Nembutsu, will be able to escape the sufferings of birth (22) and death.

The Japanese priest Honen defines (23) the situation in this way. According to him, the Lotus, Flower Garland, Mahavairochana, and various Hinayana sutras that have spread in Japan, along with the teachings of the Tendai, True Word, Precepts, and other schools, constitute the pure Law of the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law referred to in the passage from the Great Collection Sutra cited above. But once the world enters the Latter Day of the Law, all these teachings will be completely obliterated. Even though people should continue to practice such teachings, not a single one of them will succeed in escaping from the sufferings of birth and death. Thus The Commentary on the Ten Stages Sutra and the priest T'an-luan refer to such teachings as the "difficult-to-practice way"; Tao-ch'o declares that "not a single person has ever attained (24) Buddhahood" through them; and Shan-tao says that "not even one person (25) in a thousand" can be saved by them. After the pure Law of these teachings has become obscured and lost, then the great pure Law - namely, the three Pure Land sutras and the single practice of calling upon the name of Amida Buddha - will make its appearance, and when people devote themselves to this practice, even though they may be evil or ignorant, "ten persons out of ten and a hundred persons out of a hundred (26) will be reborn in the Pure Land." This is the meaning of the passage: "Only this doctrine of the Pure Land offers a road by which one can gain admittance." (27)

Honen therefore declares that, if people desire happiness in the next life, they should withdraw their support from Mount Hiei, To-ji, Onjo-ji, and the seven major temples of Nara, as well as from all the various temples and monasteries throughout the land of Japan, and should seize all the fields and landholdings that have been donated to these temples and devote these resources to the building of Nembutsu halls. If they do so, they will be certain to be reborn in the Pure Land. Thus he urges them to recite the words Namu Amida Butsu.

It has now been more than fifty years since these teachings spread throughout our country. My refutation of these evil doctrines is now a thing of the past. There is no doubt that our present age corresponds to the fifth five-hundred-year period described in the Great Collection Sutra, when "the pure Law will become obscured and lost." But after the pure Law is obscured and lost, the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, will surely spread and be widely declared throughout the land of Jambudvipa -with its eighty thousand kingdoms, their eighty thousand rulers, and the ministers and people in the domain of each ruler - just as the name of Amida is now chanted by the mouths of the priests, nuns, laymen, and laywomen in Japan.

Question: What passages can you cite to prove this?

Answer: The seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra says, "After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvipa (28) and never allow it to be cut off." This indicates that to "spread it abroad widely" will be accomplished in the time after "the pure Law becomes obscured and lost," as the Great Collection Sutra puts it.

Again, the sixth volume states, "In the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law if there is someone who can uphold (29) this sutra . . .". The fifth volume states, "In the latter age hereafter, when (30) the Law is about to perish . . .". The fourth volume states, "Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so (31) after his passing?" The fifth volume says, "It will face much hostility in the (32) world and be difficult to believe." And the seventh volume, speaking of the fifth five-hundred-year period, which is the age of quarrels and disputes, says that evil devils, the devils' people, heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, and kumbhanda (33) demons will seize the advantage.

The Great Collection Sutra says, "Quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to my teachings." The fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra similarly says, "In that evil age there will be monks," "Or there will be forest-dwelling monks," and "Evil demons (34) will take possession of others."

These passages describe the following situation. During the fifth five-hundred-year period, eminent priests who are possessed by evil demons will be found everywhere throughout the country. At that time, a single wise man will appear. The eminent priests who are possessed by evil demons will deceive the ruler, his ministers, and the common people into slandering and abusing this man, attacking him with sticks, staves, shards, and rubble, and condemning him to exile or death. At that time, Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions will speak to the great bodhisattvas who sprang up from the earth, and the great bodhisattvas will in turn report to Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings. As a result, strange occurrences and unusual disturbances will appear in abundance in the heavens and on earth.

If there are countries whose rulers fail to heed this warning, then the Buddhas and the great bodhisattvas will order neighboring countries to attack the evil rulers and evil priests of those countries. Then great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past will break out in Jambudvipa.

At that time, all the people living in the land illuminated by the sun and moon, fearing the destruction of their nation or the loss of their lives, will pray to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas for help. And if there is no sign that their prayers will be answered, they will put their faith in this single humble priest whom they earlier hated. Then all the countless eminent priests, the great rulers of the eighty thousand countries, and the numberless common people will all bow their heads to the ground, press their palms together, and in one voice will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It will be like that occasion during the Buddha's demonstration of his ten supernatural powers, described in the "Supernatural Powers" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, when all the beings in the worlds of the ten directions, without a single exception, turned toward the saha world and cried out together in a loud voice, "Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha! Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!" (35)


Notes:

17. The period when people are sure to attain enlightenment by practicing the Buddha's teachings.
18. The period in which people will practice meditation in order to perceive the truth.
19. The period when people will concentrate on studying and reciting the sutras and listening to lectures on them.
20. The period when numerous temples and stupas are built.
21. This period refers to the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law. The last of the five five-hundred-year periods, which is called the age of conflict.
22. These remarks are found in Tao-ch'o's Collected Essays on the World of Peace and Delight.
23. This explanation appears in Honen's work The Nembutsu Chosen above All.
24. On the World of Peace and Delight.
25. Praising Rebirth in the Pure Land.
26. Ibid.
27. On the World of Peace and Delight.
28. Lotus Sutra, chap. 23.
29. Ibid., chap. 17.
30. Ibid., chap. 14.
31. Ibid., chap. 10.
32. Ibid., chap. 14.
33. Ibid., chap. 23.
34. All three of these quotations appear in a verse in chapter 13 of the Lotus Sutra, which details the three powerful enemies who will attack the votaries of the Lotus Sutra in the evil latter age.
35. According to chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra, the heavenly beings cried out in the midst of the sky that in the saha world a Buddha named Shakyamuni was preaching the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, the sutra kept in mind by the Buddhas, encouraging all to offer obeisance and alms to Shakyamuni Buddha. Then all the various beings spoke these words, "Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha! Hail, Shakyamuni Buddha!" Because the essence of the Lotus Sutra is the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that enabled all the Buddhas to become Buddhas, Nichiren Daishonin states that all the various beings in the worlds of the ten directions cried out, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(to be continued)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Each of you should summon up the courage of a lion king and never succumb to threats from anyone. The lion king fears no other beast, nor do its cubs."

(On Persecutions Befalling the Sage - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 997) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, December 29th, 2005

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Just as flowers open up and bear fruit, just as the moon appears and
invariably grows full, just as a lamp becomes brighter when oil is
added, and just as plants and trees flourish with rain, so will human
beings never fail to prosper when they make good causes.

(WND, 1013)
The Third Day of the New Year
Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on January 11, 1280

 

[PassTheDoobie]

It's a good idea to read this again, I think.

It's a good idea to read this again, I think.

The Nine Consciousnesses

The Buddhist teaching of the nine consciousnesses offers the basis for a comprehensive understanding of who we are, our true identity. It also helps explain how Buddhism sees the eternal continuity of our lives over cycles of birth and death. This perspective on the human being is the fruit of thousands of years of intense introspective investigation into the nature of consciousness. Historically, it is grounded in efforts to experience and explain the essence of Shakyamuni’s enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree some 2,500 years ago.

The nine consciousnesses can be thought of as different layers of consciousness which are constantly operating together to create our lives. The Sanskrit word vijnāna, which is translated as consciousness, includes a wide range of activities, including sensation, cognition and conscious thought. The first five of these consciousnesses are the familiar senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness is the function that integrates and processes the various sensory data to form an overall picture or thought, identifying what it is that our five senses are communicating to us. It is primarily with these six functions of life that we perform our daily activities.

Below this level of consciousness is the seventh consciousness. Unlike those layers of consciousness that are directed toward the outer world, the seventh consciousness is directed toward our inner life and is largely independent of sensory input. The seventh consciousness is the basis for our sense of individual identity; attachment to a self distinct to and separate from others has its basis in this consciousness, as does our sense of right and wrong.

Below the seventh consciousness, Buddhism elucidates a deeper layer, the eighth or ālaya consciousness, also known as the never-perishing or storehouse consciousness. It is here that the energy of our karma resides. Whereas the first seven consciousnesses disappear on death, the eighth consciousness persists through the cycles of active life and the latency of death. It can be thought of as the life-flow that supports the activities of the other consciousnesses. The experiences described by those who have undergone clinical death and been revived could be said to be occurrences at the borderline of the seventh and eighth consciousnesses.

An understanding of these levels of consciousness and the interaction between them can offer valuable insights into the nature of life and the self, as well as pointing to the resolution of the fundamental problems that humanity confronts.

According to Buddhist teachings, there are specific deep-seated delusions in the seventh consciousness regarding the nature of self. These delusions arise from the relationship between the seventh and eighth levels of consciousness and manifest as fundamental egotism.

Buddhist teachings describe the seventh layer as emerging from the eighth consciousness: it is always focused on the eighth consciousness of the individual, which it perceives as something fixed, unique and isolated from other things. In reality, the eighth consciousness is in a state of continual flux. At this level our lives constantly interact, exerting a profound influence on each other. The perception of a fixed and isolated self that the seventh consciousness generates is thus false.

The seventh consciousness is also the seat of the fear of death. Being unable to perceive the true nature of the eighth consciousness as an enduring flow of life energy, it imagines that upon death, the eighth consciousness will become permanently extinct. Fear of death thus has roots in the deep layers of the subconscious.

The delusion that the eighth consciousness is one’s true self is also termed fundamental ignorance, a turning away from the interconnectedness of all being. It is this sense of one’s self as separate and isolated from others that gives rise to discrimination, to destructive arrogance and unbridled acquisitiveness. Humanity’s ravaging of the natural environment is another obvious result.


A Karmic River



Buddhism posits that our thoughts, words and deeds invariably create an imprint in the deep layers of the eighth consciousness. This is what Buddhists refer to as karma. The eighth consciousness is therefore sometimes referred to as the karmic storehouse--the place where these karmic “seeds” are “stored.” These seeds or latent energy can be either positive or negative; the eighth consciousness remains neutral and equally receptive to either type of karmic imprinting. The energy becomes manifest when conditions are ripe. Positive latent causes can become manifest as both positive effects in one’s life and as positive psychological functions such as trust, nonviolence, self-control, compassion and wisdom. Negative latent causes can manifest as various forms of delusion and destructive behavior and give rise to suffering for ourselves and others.

While the image of a storehouse is helpful, a truer image may be that of a raging torrent of karmic energy. This energy is constantly moving through and shaping our lives and experience. Our resultant thoughts and actions are then fed back into this karmic flow. The quality of the karmic flow is what makes each of us distinct beings--our unique selves. The flow of energy is constantly changing, but, like a river, it maintains an identity and consistency even through successive cycles of life and death. It is this aspect of fluidity, this lack of fixity, that opens the possibility to transforming the content of the eighth consciousness. This is why karma, properly understood, is different from an unchanging or unavoidable destiny.

The question, therefore, is how we increase the balance of positive karma. This is the basis for various forms of Buddhist practice that seek to imprint positive causes in our lives. When caught up in a cycle of negative cause and effect, however, it is difficult to avoid making further negative causes, and it is here that we turn to the most fundamental layer of consciousness, the ninth or amala consciousness.

This can be thought of as the life of the cosmos itself; it is also referred to as the fundamentally pure consciousness. Unstained by the workings of karma, this consciousness represents our true, eternal self. The revolutionary aspect of Nichiren Buddhism is that it seeks to directly bring forth the energy of this consciousness--the enlightened nature of the Buddha--thus purifying the other, more superficial layers of consciousness. The great power of the ninth consciousness welling forth changes even entrenched patterns of negative karma in the eighth consciousness. Because the eighth consciousness transcends the boundaries of the individual, merging with the latent energy of one’s family, one’s ethnic group, and also with that of animals and plants, a positive change in this karmic energy becomes a “cogwheel” for change in the lives of others. As SGI President Ikeda writes, “When we activate this fundamentally pure consciousness, the energy of all life’s good and evil karma is directed toward value creation; and the mind or consciousness . . . of humankind is infused with the life current of compassion and wisdom.” Nichiren identified the practice of chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the basic means for activating the ninth consciousness in our lives.

As the layers of consciousness are transformed, they each give rise to unique forms of wisdom. The wisdom inherent in the eighth consciousness allows us to perceive ourselves, our experience and other phenomena with perfect clarity and to profoundly appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things. As the deep-rooted delusions of the seventh consciousness are transformed, an individual is enabled to overcome the fear of death, as well as the aggression and violence that spring from this fear. A wisdom arises which enables us to perceive the fundamental equality of all living beings and to deal with them on an unchanging basis of respect. It is this type of transformation and wisdom that is sorely required in our world today.

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"Even if one befriends evil companions and with evil
intent spills the Buddha's blood, kills one's own father and mother,
takes the lives of many sages, disrupts the unity of the Buddhist
Order, and destroys all one's roots of goodness, if one fixes one's
mind on the correct teaching, one can free oneself from that place."
[The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day (WND072)

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"There should be no discrimination among those who propagate the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day of the Law, be they men or women."
[The True Aspect of All Phenomena (WND040)

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim."
[The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life (WND029

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"But now he (Bodhisattva Superior Practices) will appear in the Latter Day of the Law and propagate the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo to all the nations and people throughout Jambudvipa*."

* Jambudvipa - the entire world

(The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 669) Selection source: SGI President Ikeda's speech, Seikyo Shimbun, January 4th, 2006

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"You are already a lay practitioner and therefore one of the "good men"
described in the sutra. One who listens to even a sentence or phrase
of the sutra and cherishes it deep in one's heart may be likened to a
ship that crosses the sea of the sufferings of birth and death. The
Great Teacher Miao-lo stated, "Even a single phrase cherished deep in
one's heart will without fail help one reach the opposite shore. To
ponder one phrase and practice it is to exercise navigation."

(WND, 33)
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
Written to Shiiji Shiro on April 28, 1261

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"From the time that I was born until today, I have never known a moment's ease; I have thought only of propagating the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra."

(Persecution by Sword and Staff - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 965) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, January 5th, 2006

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

The Selection of the Time / WND pg. 538 (continued)

Question: The sutra passages you have cited clearly prove your point. But are there any prophecies in the writings of T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, or Dengyo that would support your argument?

Answer: Your process of questioning is backwards. If I had cited passages from the commentaries of men such as T'ien-t'ai and the others and you had then asked whether there were passages from the sutras and treatises to support them, that I could understand. But since I have already cited sutra passages that clearly prove the argument, it is hardly necessary to ask if there are similar passages in the commentaries. If by chance you found that the sutras and the commentaries disagreed, would you then discard the sutras and follow the commentaries?

Question: What you say is perfectly true. Nevertheless, we ordinary people have only a very remote idea of what the sutras mean, while the commentaries are more accessible and easier to understand. If there are clear passages of proof in such relatively understandable commentaries, then citing them might help us have greater faith in your argument.

Answer: I can see that you are very sincere and earnest in your questioning, so I will cite a few passages from the commentaries. The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai states, "In the last five-hundred-year period, the mystic way will spread and benefit humankind far into (36) the future." The Great Teacher Miao-lo says, "The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law will not be without (37) inconspicuous benefit."

The Great Teacher Dengyo declares: "The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand. Now indeed is the time when the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra will prove how perfectly it fits the capacities of all people. How do we know this is true? Because the 'Peaceful Practices' chapter of the Lotus Sutra states, 'In the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish, [accept (38) and embrace the Lotus Sutra].'" And Dengyo further states: "Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east (39) of T'ang and to the west of Katsu. As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, 'Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?' There is good reason for (40) this statement."

Shakyamuni Buddha was born in the kalpa of continuance, in the ninth period of decrease, when the span of human life was diminishing and measured a hundred years. The period when the span of human life diminishes from a hundred years to ten years accordingly falls within the period represented by the fifty years of the Buddha's preaching life, the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law that follow his passing, and the ten thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law that follow that. During this period, the Lotus Sutra was destined to be propagated and spread widely on two occasions. The first was the last eight years of the Buddha's life [when he preached the Lotus Sutra], and the second is the five hundred years at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law.

T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyo were not born early enough to be present when the Buddha was in the world and preached the Lotus Sutra, nor were they born late enough to be present in the Latter Day of the Law. To their regret, they were born in the interval between these two times, and it is clear from their writings that they looked forward with longing to the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law.

Theirs was like the case of the seer Asita who, when he viewed the new-born Prince Siddhartha [the future Shakyamuni Buddha], remarked in sorrow: "I am already over ninety, so I will not live to see this prince attain enlightenment. After my death, I will be reborn in the world of formlessness, so I cannot be present during the fifty years when he preaches his teachings, nor can I be reborn in this world during the Former, Middle, or Latter Day (41) of the Law!" Such was his lament.

All those who are determined to attain the way should take note of these examples and rejoice. Those concerned about their next life would do better to be common people in this, the Latter Day of the Law, than be mighty rulers during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law. Why won't people believe this? Rather than be the chief priest of the Tendai school, it is better to be a leper who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! As Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty said in (42) his vow, "I would rather be Devadatta and sink into the hell of incessant suffering than be the non-Buddhist sage Udraka Ramaputra."


Notes:

36. Words and Phrases.
37. The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra."
38. An Essay on the Protection of the Nation.
39. Katsu refers to an ancient kingdom extending from Manchuria to northern Korea. According to old maps, "a land to the east of T'ang and to the west of Katsu" would indicate Japan.
40. The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra.
41. This story appears in the Causality of Past and Present Sutra.
42. Reference is to a document in which Emperor Wu (464-549), the first ruler of the Liang dynasty, pledged not to follow the way of Taoism. It actually says that he would rather sink into the evil paths for a long period of time for going against Buddhism (yet nevertheless forming a bond with it) than be reborn in heaven by embracing the non-Buddhist teachings. This story appears in The Annotations on "Great Concentration and Insight." Udraka Ramaputra was a hermit and master of yogic meditation, the second teacher under whom Shakyamuni practiced. He is said to have been reborn in the highest of the four realms in the world of formlessness.

(to be continued)