Chanting Growers Group

[SoCal Hippy]

Take these teachings to heart, and always remember that believers in the Lotus
Sutra should absolutely be the last to abuse one another. All those who keep
faith in the Lotus Sutra are most certainly Buddhas, and one who slanders a
Buddha commits a grave offense.

(WND, 756)
The Fourteen Slanders
Written to the lay priest Matsuno Rokuro Saemon on December 9, 1276

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"When you encounter a wall, you should tell yourself, "Since there is a wall
here, a wide, open expanse must lie on the other side." Rather than becoming
discouraged, know that encountering a wall is proof of the progress that you
have made so far. I hope that you will continually advance in your Buddhist
practice with this conviction blazing ever more strongly in your heart."

"It doesn't matter in what area, just keep working on your personal revolution to
transform and improve yourself in the way most natural for you. The important
thing is that you change in some positive way. There is surely no more
exhilarating a life than one in which we write our own unique history of human
revolution each day. And the growth and transformation we achieve in this way
can convince people of the greatness of the Daishonin's Buddhism more eloquently
than anything else."

"It is important to have a sufficiently elevated life-condition so that you will
be able to calmly accept whatever happens in life, striving to put problems into
proper perspective and solving them with a positive attitude. Happiness blossoms
forth from such a strong and all-encompassing life-condition."

"The Gohonzon encompasses the entire universe. Therefore, we who believe in and
chant daimoku to the Gohonzon can live out lives with the greatest serenity and
composure. Please be confident that through faith in the Mystic Law we can
definitely lead a wonderful and unsurpassed existence."


quotes: Daisaku Ikeda

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo---Nam Myoho Renge Kyo---Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Desiderata]

Music to my ears...

Music to my ears...

"When you encounter a wall, you should tell yourself, "Since there is a wall
here, a wide, open expanse must lie on the other side." Rather than becoming
discouraged, know that encountering a wall is proof of the progress that you
have made so far. I hope that you will continually advance in your Buddhist
practice with this conviction blazing ever more strongly in your heart."

"It doesn't matter in what area, just keep working on your personal revolution to
transform and improve yourself in the way most natural for you. The important
thing is that you change in some positive way. There is surely no more
exhilarating a life than one in which we write our own unique history of human
revolution each day. And the growth and transformation we achieve in this way
can convince people of the greatness of the Daishonin's Buddhism more eloquently
than anything else."

"It is important to have a sufficiently elevated life-condition so that you will
be able to calmly accept whatever happens in life, striving to put problems into
proper perspective and solving them with a positive attitude. Happiness blossoms
forth from such a strong and all-encompassing life-condition."

"The Gohonzon encompasses the entire universe. Therefore, we who believe in and
chant daimoku to the Gohonzon can live out lives with the greatest serenity and
composure. Please be confident that through faith in the Mystic Law we can
definitely lead a wonderful and unsurpassed existence."


quotes: Daisaku Ikeda

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo---Nam Myoho Renge Kyo---Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Thankyou SoCal!!!

President Ikeda was totally in-tune with Life when he wrote this piece. It is positively beautiful!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Thankyou SoCal!!!

President Ikeda was totally in-tune with Life when he wrote this piece. It is positively beautiful!

"It is the heart that is important."

(The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1000) Selection source: "Myoji no Gen", Seikyo Shimbun, May 8th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The Treasure Purity World is the womb of our mothers."

(Ongi kuden - Gosho Zenshu, page 740, The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, page 91) Selection source: SGI President Ikeda's guidance, Seikyo Shimbun, May 2nd, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The Treasure Purity World is the womb of our mothers."

The Treasure Purity World is the World of Treasure Purity where the Buddha Many Treasures is said to have emanated from in order to give testament to the validity of the Lotus Sutra being preached by Shakyamuni.

T

 

[PassTheDoobie]

from: The Selection of Time...

from: The Selection of Time...

The eighth volume of the Lotus Sutra says, “In later ages if there are those who accept, uphold, read, and recite this sutra. . . . Their wishes will not be in vain, and in this present existence they will gain the reward of good fortune.” It also says, “If there is anyone who offers alms to them and praises them, then in this present existence he will have manifest reward for it.”

In these two passages are the words “in this present existence they will gain the reward of good fortune” and “in this present existence he will have manifest reward for it.” These two statements in their Chinese original each comprise eight characters. If these sixteen characters are meaningless, and if Nichiren does not receive some great reward in this present life, then these golden words of the Thus Come One will be in the same category as the empty lies of Devadatta, and the testimony of Many Treasures Buddha that guaranteed their truth will be no different from the baseless assertions of Kokalika. Then none of the people who slander the correct teaching will ever be condemned to the Avichi hell, and the Buddhas of the three existences will not exist! But could such a thing be possible?

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! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Question: In the Lotus Sutra we find this passage “We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.” And the Nirvana Sutra says: “For example, it is like a royal envoy skilled in discussion and clever with expedient means who, when sent on a mission to another land, would rather, even though it costs him his life, in the end conceal none of the words of his ruler. Wise persons too do this. In the midst of ordinary people and without begrudging their lives, those who are wise should without fail proclaim the Thus Come One’s prize teaching from the correct and equal sutras of the great vehicle, that is, all living beings possess the Buddha nature.” But under what circumstances should one be prepared to sacrifice one’s life and safety? I would like you to explain the matter to me in detail.

Answer: When I first embarked upon the Buddhist practice, I supposed that the statement “We care nothing for our bodies or lives” meant receiving the imperial command and traveling to China the way men like Dengyo, Kobo, Jikaku, and Chisho did, or that it meant setting out from China as the Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang did, traveling all the way to India, dying six times in the attempt and striving again with each rebirth. Or I thought that it meant throwing away one’s life the way the boy Snow Mountains did in order to learn the second half of a verse, or burning one’s arms as an offering for seventy-two thousand years the way Bodhisattva Medicine King did. But if we go by the passage of scripture that you have quoted, these are not the kind of thing that is meant.

As to this passage in the sutra, “We care nothing for our bodies or lives,” the sutra earlier describes the three types of enemies who will vilify and attack one with swords and staves, and in all likelihood deprive one of life and body. And to understand the passage in the Nirvana Sutra that speaks of carrying out one’s duty “even though it costs him his life,” we should look at the passage later on in the same sutra that says, “There are icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief. They pretend to be arhats, living in deserted places and speaking slanderously of the correct and equal sutras of the great vehicle. When ordinary people see them, they all suppose that they are true arhats and speak of them as great bodhisattvas.”

Speaking of the third of the three types of enemies, the Lotus Sutra says, “Or there will be forest-dwelling monks wearing clothing of patched rags and living in retirement . . . they will be respected and revered by the world as though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental powers.” And the Parinirvana Sutra says, “There are also icchantikas who resemble arhats but who commit evil deeds.”

These passages from the sutras speak of powerful enemies of the correct teaching. Such enemies are to be found not so much among evil rulers and evil ministers, among non-Buddhists and devil kings, or among monks who disobey the precepts. Rather they are those great slanderers of the Law who are to be found among the eminent monks who appear to be upholders of the precepts and men of wisdom.

The Great Teacher Miao-lo, speaking of such men, says, “The third [group] is the most formidable of all. This is because the second and third ones are increasingly harder to recognize for what they really are.”

The fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra says, “This Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones. Among the sutras, it holds the highest place.” In this passage we should note the words “it holds the highest place.” The phrase comprises four characters in the original. If we are to believe this passage, then we must say that the votary of the Lotus Sutra is one who proclaims the Lotus Sutra to stand supreme above all the other sutras.

Let us suppose now that there are many people who are held in great respect by the ruler, and that these people claim that there are sutras superior to the Lotus Sutra, disputing with the votary of the Lotus Sutra on this point. They enjoy the trust and support of the ruler and his ministers, while the votary of the Lotus Sutra is a person of low station and humble learning; therefore, the whole nation joins in heaping abuse on him. If at that time he conducts himself in the manner of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging or the Scholar Bhadraruchi and continues to assert the superiority of the Lotus Sutra, he will almost certainly lose his life. To practice with such resolve in the face of this threat is the most important thing of all.

Now I, Nichiren, am confronting just such a situation. Though I am a humble man, I have proclaimed that the great teachers Kobo and Jikaku, the Tripitaka masters Shan-wu-wei, Chinkangchih, and Pu-k’ung, and others of their kind are potent enemies of the Lotus Sutra, and that, if the words of the sutra are to be trusted, they have without doubt fallen into the hell of incessant suffering. To proclaim such a thing as this is a very grave step. It would be easier to walk naked into a raging fire, easier to take up Mount Sumeru in one’s hands and toss it away, easier to hoist a great stone on one’s back and walk across the ocean, than to do what I have done. To establish the correct teaching in this country of Japan is indeed a difficult thing.

If Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, of the pure land of Eagle Peak, Many Treasures Buddha of the World of Treasure Purity, the Buddhas of the ten directions who are Shakyamuni’s emanations, the bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds who sprang up out of the earth, Brahma and Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings do not, conspicuously or inconspicuously, give me their protection and lend me aid, then they will never know a single day or a single hour of peace and safety!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Be the Buddha! Make your life the way you want it to be! Chant!!!

You got the POWER!!!

Tap into it.

Bowing in humble obeisance,

T

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The great power of the Buddha
lies within our very own lives.
Let's make a fresh departure, beginning with daimoku.
Aligning our spirits - our hearts and minds - with each other,
let us create a glorious history together!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Some think of Buddhist practice as retreating to a quiet place and leading a life of calm and contemplation, but you should know that from its earliest origins Buddhism was a philosophy of practice, of living and energetically engaging with others in dialogue.

"Buddhism is a teaching for helping all living beings, and especially the people who are suffering the most. Therefore, study needs to be rooted in daily life and serve as a guide for action. Study becomes a revitalizing force when it provides assurance and self-confidence in the power to overcome life's difficulties and tribulations."

SGI Newsletter No. 8208, The New Human Revolution--Vol. 24: Chap. 2, Vigilant Safeguarding 38, translated April 12th, 2011.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Yet a hundred or even a thousand people can definitely attain their goal, if they are of one mind."


(Many in Body, One in Mind - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 618) Selection source: Victory Avenue for World Peace, Seikyo Shimbun, April 14th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Buddhism ultimately comes down to our 'behaviour as a human being' (WND-1, 852). What matters are our character and integrity. People take note of the way we speak, our facial expressions, and our attitude. I hope, therefore, that you'll actively reach out to others, taking the lead in greeting and talking to those around you in a bright and friendly manner."

SGI Newsletter No. 8203, OUR BRILLIANT PATH TO VICTORY, The Great Light of the Westward Transmission of Buddhism--Part 2 [of 2], from the February 19th, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated April 6th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"(It also states that, if the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land.) There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 4) Selection source: Living the Gosho: Words of Encouragement from President Ikeda, Seikyo Shimbun, April 12th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Our palms are pressed in gratitude and appreciation
for all the efforts that everyone has been making
towards building a noble and remarkable history.
The benefits and good fortune that you are gaining in your lives,
as you dedicate yourself to the noble cause of kosen rufu,
will unmistakably prevail across all the three existences.
Let us gear ourselves up to making a victorious advance...!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment / WND Pg. 317

Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment / WND Pg. 317

five or seven characters
[五字七字] (Jpn goji-shichiji )

The "five characters" indicating Myoho-renge-kyo, which consists of five Chinese characters (pronounced in Japanese)—myo, ho, ren, ge, and kyo, and the "seven characters," Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which comprises two additional Chinese characters, nan or na, and mu. Nichiren (1222-1282) often uses Myoho-renge-kyo synonymously with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in his writings. Nam or namu is a compound of the two Chinese characters of nan and mu. In his work On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law, Nichiren states: "I have offered prayers to the Gohonzon of Myoho-renge-kyo. Though this mandala has but five or seven characters, it is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the three existences and the seal that guarantees the enlightenment of all women. It will be a lamp in the darkness of the road to the next world and a fine horse to carry you over the mountains of death.... It is the teacher who leads all people to Buddhahood and enlightenment" (WND/414).

 

[PassTheDoobie]

On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law / WND pg. 414

On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law / WND pg. 414

I have offered prayers to the Gohonzon of Myoho-renge-kyo. Though this mandala has but five or seven characters, it is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the three existences and the seal that guarantees the enlightenment of all women. It will be a lamp in the darkness of the road to the next world and a fine horse to carry you over the mountains of death. It is like the sun and moon in the heavens or Mount Sumeru on earth. It is a ship to ferry people over the sea of the sufferings of birth and death. It is the teacher who leads all people to Buddhahood and enlightenment. This great mandala has never yet been propagated anywhere in Jambudvipa in the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing.

[The prescription of] medicine differs according to the illness. A slight ailment can be treated with ordinary medicine, but for grave illnesses, an elixir should be used. During the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing, the people’s illnesses of earthly desires and negative karma were not serious, and a succession of wise men appeared in order to act as physicians and dispense medicine appropriately as these illnesses required. These men came from the Dharma Analysis Treasury school, the Establishment of Truth school, the Precepts, Dharma Characteristics, and Three Treatises schools, as well as the True Word, Flower Garland, Tendai, Pure Land, and Zen schools. Each of these schools prescribed its own medicine. For example, the Flower Garland school set forth the principle of the six forms and the ten mysteries, the Three Treatises school advocated the middle path of the eight negations,(1) the Dharma Characteristics school stressed the perception that all phenomena derive from consciousness only,(2) the Precepts school upheld the two hundred and fifty precepts, the Pure Land school invoked the name of Amida Buddha, the Zen school expounded the “perceiving one’s true nature and attaining Buddhahood,” the True Word school propounded the meditation on the five elements,(3) and the Tendai school taught the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

Now, however, we have entered the Latter Day of the Law, and the medicines of these various schools no longer cure the people’s illnesses. Moreover, all the Japanese have become icchantikas and people of grave slander. Their offense is even worse than that of killing one’s father or mother, fomenting a rebellion, or causing a Buddha to bleed. Japan is filled with individuals whose respective offenses exceed even those of one who were to gouge out the eyes of all the human beings of a major world system, or raze all temples and pagodas in the worlds of the ten directions. Consequently, the heavenly deities glare down furiously upon our nation day after day while the earthly deities tremble in continual rage. Nevertheless, all the people of our day believe themselves to be without fault, and none doubt that they will be reborn in the pure land or attain Buddhahood.

The blind cannot see or know the shining sun, and someone who is sound asleep will not feel even an earthquake that is reverberating like a great drum. So too it is with all the people of Japan [who do not realize their own offenses]. The offenses committed by the men are heavier than those committed by the women. In like manner, the nuns’ offenses are heavier than the laymen’s and the priests’ more serious than the nuns’. Among the priests, the offenses of those who observe the precepts are worse than those of priests who violate them, and those of learned priests are graver still.4 Such priests are like those with white leprosy among lepers and, among those with white leprosy, the most malignant.

Then, what great physician or what efficacious medicine can cure the illnesses of all people in the Latter Day of the Law? They cannot be cured by the mudras and mantras of the Thus Come One Mahavairochana, the forty-eight vows of the Thus Come One Amida, or the twelve great vows of the Thus Come One Medicine Master, not even his pledge to “heal all ills.” Not only do such medicines fail to cure these illnesses; they aggravate them all the more.

Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, brought together the Thus Come One Many Treasures and all the emanation Buddhas of the ten directions, and left one elixir— the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo— for the people of the Latter Day of the Law. He refused to entrust it to any of the bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Vajrasattva, Universal Worthy, Manjushri, Medicine King, and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, let alone to Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, [or any other person of the two vehicles]. Rather, there were four great bodhisattvas, including Superior Practices, who had been disciples of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni since [he first attained Buddhahood] numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago. Not even for a moment had they ever forgotten the Buddha. Shakyamuni summoned these great bodhisattvas and transferred Myoho-renge-kyo to them.

A woman who takes this efficacious medicine will be surrounded and protected by these four great bodhisattvas at all times. When she rises to her feet, so too will the bodhisattvas, and when she walks along the road, they will also do the same. She and they will be as inseparable as a body and its shadow, as fish and water, as a voice and its echo, or as the moon and its light. Should these four great bodhisattvas desert the woman who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they would incur the wrath of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanation Buddhas of the ten directions. You may be certain that their offense would be greater than even that of Devadatta, their falsehood more terrible than Kokalika’s. How reassuring, how encouraging! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nichiren


Background

Neither the date nor the recipient of this letter is known. But it is generally supposed that the letter was given to the lay nun Sennichi, the wife of Abutsubo, in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273). The “Mystic Law” in the title indicates both the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo and the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The mandala of the Mystic Law refers to the Gohonzon— the object of devotion inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo down its center. The Daishonin also mentions elsewhere that the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra should be made into an object of devotion.

In terms of the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the daimoku down the center of the Gohonzon represents the enlightened “single moment of life” of Nichiren Daishonin, and the characters on both sides of it, “the three thousand realms.” Because the former includes the latter, the Daishonin says that “this mandala has but five or seven characters.”

The Daishonin emphasizes that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the medicine that will cure the illnesses (that is, sufferings) of all people in the Latter Day of the Law, and that the lay nun Sennichi, a woman who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, will be protected by the four bodhisattvas at all times.

Notes

1. “The eight negations” refers to the eight expressions of negation in Nagarjuna’s Treatise on the Middle Way: “Neither birth nor extinction, neither cessation nor permanence, neither uniformity nor diversity, neither coming nor going.” The doctrine of the eight negations indicates that the Middle Way, or true nature of all phenomena, cannot be defined as either existence or nonexistence; it is non-substantial and transcends all duality.

2. The perception that all phenomena arise from the alaya-consciousness.

3. The meditation on the five elements is an esoteric form of meditation intended to let one realize that self and environment are composed of the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space; that the five parts of the body, namely, crown, face, chest, abdomen, and knees, are governed by the five syllables of the esoteric mantra avarahakha; and that one’s own life is ultimately one with the five Buddhas who are embodiments of the five aspects of Mahavairochana Buddha’s wisdom.

4. In this passage the Daishonin states that the more highly respected the perpetrator, the heavier in effect the offense will be. Men had the greater influence in Japanese society, so their errors with respect to Buddhism made a heavier impact than the same errors committed by women. Similarly, the clergy carried more influence than the laity, and, among the clergy, those priests who observed the precepts and were well learned commanded the highest respect; thus their errors had a graver influence on society than anyone else’s.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Myoho-renge-kyo
[妙法蓮華経] ( Jpn)

(1) The Japanese reading of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Miao-fa-lien-hua-ching), which is the translation of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra, the Sad-dharma-pundarika-sutra, produced by Kumarajiva in 406; it consists of eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters. See also Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.

(2) The Mystic Law, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It is the essence of Nichiren's teaching, which comprises the Three Great Secret Laws, and which, he assures, enables all people to attain Buddhahood. On the Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice, written in 1277 by Nichiren, reads, "The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo do not represent the sutra text, nor are they its meaning. They are nothing other than the intent of the entire sutra" (WND/788). In Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment, Nichiren writes, "Practicing only the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo seems limited, but since they are the master of all the Buddhas of the three existences, the teacher of all bodhisattvas in the ten directions, and the guide that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way, it is profound" (WND/317). See also five or seven characters; Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment / WND Pg. 317

Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment / WND Pg. 317

I deeply appreciate your visit here and your constant concern over the numerous persecutions that have befallen me. I do not regret meeting with such great persecutions as the votary of the Lotus Sutra. However many times I were to repeat the cycle of birth and death, no life could be as fortunate as this. [If not for these troubles,] I might have remained in the three or four evil paths. But now, to my great joy, I am sure to sever the cycle of the sufferings of birth and death, and attain the fruit of Buddhahood.

Even for spreading the teaching of the theoretical "three thousand realms in a single moment of life" from the first half of the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo met with hatred and jealousy. In Japan it was transmitted from Dengyo to Gishin, Encho, Jikaku, and others, and spread. The eighteenth chief priest of the Tendai school was the Great Teacher Jie, and he had many disciples. Among them there were four named Danna, Eshin, Soga, and Zen'yu. The teaching also was divided into two: the Administrator of Priests Danna transmitted the doctrinal studies, while the Supervisor of Priests Eshin studied the meditative practices. Thus the doctrinal studies and meditative practices are like the sun and moon; doctrinal studies are shallow, while meditative practices are deep. Thus the teaching expounded by Danna is broad but shallow, while the teaching of Eshin is limited but deep.

Though the teaching I am now propagating seems limited, it is extremely profound. That is because it goes deeper than the teaching expounded by T'ien-t'ai, Dengyo, and others. (1) It is the three important matters in the "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching. Practicing only the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo seems limited, but since they are the master of all the Buddhas of the three existences, the teacher of all the bodhisattvas in the ten directions, and the guide that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way, it is profound.

The sutra states, "The wisdom of the Buddhas is infinitely profound and (2) immeasurable." It refers to "the Buddhas" here in the sense of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions in the three existences, from the Thus Come One Mahavairochana of the True Word school and Amida of the Pure Land school to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of all schools and all sutras, all Buddhas of the past, future, and present, and the present Thus Come One Shakyamuni. And the sutra speaks of the wisdom of all those Buddhas.

What is meant by this "wisdom"? It is the entity of the true aspect of all phenomena, and of the ten factors of life that lead all beings to Buddhahood. What then is that entity? It is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. A commentary states that the profound principle of the true aspect is the originally (3) inherent Myoho-renge-kyo. We learn that that true aspect of all phenomena is also the two Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures [seated together in the treasure tower]. "All phenomena" corresponds to Many Treasures, and "the true aspect" corresponds to Shakyamuni. These are also the two elements of reality and wisdom. Many Treasures is reality; Shakyamuni is wisdom. It is the enlightenment that reality and wisdom are two, and yet they are not two.

These are teachings of prime importance. These are also what is called "earthly desires are enlightenment," and "the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana." Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo during the physical union of man and woman is indeed what is called "earthly desires are enlightenment," and "the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana." "The sufferings of birth and death are nirvana" exists only in realizing that the entity of life throughout its cycle of birth and death is neither born nor destroyed. The Universal Worthy Sutra states, "Without either cutting off earthly desires or separating themselves from the five desires, they can purify all their senses and wipe away all their offenses." Great Concentration and Insight says, "The ignorance and dust of desires are enlightenment, and the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana." The "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, "At all times I think to myself: How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?" The "Expedient Means" chapter says, "The characteristics of the world are constantly abiding." Surely such statements refer to these principles. Thus what is called the entity is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

It was such an august and precious Lotus Sutra that in past existences I put under my knees, despised, scowled upon in disgust, and failed to believe in. In one way or another, I maliciously ridiculed those who, studying the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, taught them to even one person, and carried on the life of the Law. In addition, I did everything I could to hinder people from embracing the sutra by asserting that they should set it aside for a while because, though it might be suitable for practice in their next lifetime, it would be too difficult to practice in this one. Slanderous acts such as these have brought on the many severe persecutions I have suffered in my lifetime. Because I once disparaged the Lotus Sutra, the highest of all sutras, I am now looked down on, and my words go unheeded. The "Simile and Parable" chapter states that other people will neither concern themselves with one nor have sympathy for one, even though one sincerely tries to be friendly with them.

Nevertheless, you became a votary of the Lotus Sutra, and as a result, you suffered severe persecutions, and you came to my assistance. In the "Teacher of the Law" chapter, the Buddha states that he will magically conjure and send the four kinds of believers - monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen [- for the sake of the teachers of the Law]. If the "laymen" mentioned here does not mean you, who does it refer to? You have not only heard the Law, but have taken faith in it and since then have followed it without turning aside. How wondrous! How extraordinary! If that is the case, then can there be any doubt that I am the teacher of the Law of the Lotus Sutra? Perhaps I also resemble "the envoy of the Thus Come One," for I am carrying out "the Thus Come (4) One's work." I have nearly spread the five characters of the daimoku that were entrusted to Bodhisattva Superior Practices when the two Buddhas were seated together within the treasure tower. Does this not mean that I am an envoy of Bodhisattva Superior Practices? Moreover, following me, you, as a votary of the Lotus Sutra, have told others of this Law. What else could this be but the transmission of the Law?

Carry through with your faith in the Lotus Sutra. You cannot strike fire from flint if you stop halfway. Bring forth the great power of faith, and be spoken of by all the people of Kamakura, both high and low, or by all the people of Japan, as "Shijo Kingo, Shijo Kingo (5) of the Lotus school!" Even a bad reputation will spread far and wide. A good reputation will spread even farther, particularly if it is a reputation for devotion to the Lotus Sutra.

Explain all this to your wife too, and work together like the sun and moon, a pair of eyes, or the two wings of a bird. With the sun and moon, could there be a path of darkness? With a pair of eyes, no doubt you will see the faces of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions. With a pair of wings, you will surely fly in an instant to the treasure land of Tranquil Light. I will write in more detail on another occasion.

With my deep respect,

Nichiren

The second day of the fifth month.

Reply to Shijo Kingo

Background

In the fourth month of the ninth year of Bun'ei (1272), Shijo Kingo traveled from Kamakura to Sado Island to visit Nichiren Daishonin. Kingo was a samurai who served the Ema family, a branch of the ruling Hojo clan. The journey to Sado was a long, arduous one, involving a boat trip across the Sea of Japan, and required that he absent himself from his duties in Kamakura for more than a month.

In the fifth month of the same year, soon after Shijo Kingo returned to Kamakura, Nichiren Daishonin sent him this letter. It was written in gratitude for the samurai's visit.

In the letter, the Daishonin explains the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in terms of such profound Buddhist principles as the fusion of reality and wisdom, and earthly desires are enlightenment. Although Hinayana Buddhism teaches that earthly desires must be eliminated to attain enlightenment, Mahayana, and particularly the Lotus Sutra, teaches that earthly desires are one with and inseparable from enlightenment. The reason is that both are the workings, or expression, of life itself, and thus are the same in their source.

Nichiren Daishonin teaches that, when one bases one's life on Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, earthly desires work naturally for one's own and others' happiness. The great power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is inherently positive and creative, directs the great energy of one's earthly desires toward happiness and value for all. Thus, when one chants the daimoku, "earthly desires are enlightenment."

Until his near-execution at Tatsunokuchi in the ninth month of 1271, the Daishonin had assumed the role of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, the votary whose appearance is predicted in the Lotus Sutra. He had spent all his time teaching the essence of the sutra and propagating the faith. After Tatsunokuchi, he revealed his true identity as the Buddha who is one with the supreme Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In this letter, the Daishonin teaches the significance of the daimoku from the standpoint of the Buddha who opens the way to Buddhahood for all humankind.

He first states that it is his great joy to meet persecutions as the votary of the Lotus Sutra, because it is the sure way to attain Buddhahood. "Though the teaching I am now propagating seems limited, it is extremely profound. That is because it goes deeper than the teaching expounded by T'ien-t'ai, Dengyo, and others." He reveals that the ultimate Law of all Buddhas is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Notes

1. The "three important matters" refers to the Three Great Secret Laws: the object of devotion, the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, or the daimoku, and the sanctuary, or the place where one chants daimoku before the object of devotion.
2. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
3. This statement has been attributed to T'ien-t'ai, but there is no documentary proof to support this.
4. Based on the "Teacher of the Law" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This particular section reads: "If one of these good men orgood women in the time after I have passed into extinction is able to secretly expound the Lotus Sutra to one person, even one phrase of it, then you should know that he or she is the envoy of the Thus Come One. He has been dispatched by the Thus Come One and carries out the Thus Come One's work."
5. The Lotus school was originally another name for the Tendai school, which based itself on the Lotus Sutra. Later the term came to mean the Buddhism established by Nichiren Daishonin.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"No matter how fine our past achievements may have been if our organisation forgets the fighting spirit and our ardent practise from the early days, kosen-rufu will inevitably begin to decline. Were that to happen, individuals would not be able to transform their karma, and establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land would also become impossible.

“Our real struggle lies ahead of us."

SGI Newsletter No. 8364, The New Human Revolution––Vol. 25: Chap. 1, Light of Happiness 5, translated Oct. 26th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"A blue fly, if it clings to the tail of a thoroughbred horse, can travel ten thousand miles, and the green ivy that twines around the tall pine can grow to a thousand feet."

(On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 17) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, October 26th, 2011