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Chanting Growers Group
- Thread starter PassTheDoobie
- Start date
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So nice to see you 
I concur
I concur
That is the greatness of this Buddhism and this is one of the many things that attracted me to practicing.(not at 1st, of course; solving my problems were my 1st intent).
Nothing is greater than/lesser than oneself and its infinite connections to all things in the universe. This includes all Bodhisatvas, Sages, priests and Buddhas such as Shakyamuni and Nichiren himself. I like to refer to Nichiren as the original 'True Buddha' and his awakening to the mystic law of Nam myoho renge kyo and his mission to propagate that law has now allowed all people who live in todays Latter Day of the Law to become True Buddhas ourselves.
How grand! No discriminations whatsoever. We are all = to the True Buddha. We all have different missions tho and Nichiren commands that respect that he so deserves.
Of course, I do have to say that the above is IMO.
I concur
PassTheDoobie said:
That is the greatness of this Buddhism and this is one of the many things that attracted me to practicing.(not at 1st, of course; solving my problems were my 1st intent).
Nothing is greater than/lesser than oneself and its infinite connections to all things in the universe. This includes all Bodhisatvas, Sages, priests and Buddhas such as Shakyamuni and Nichiren himself. I like to refer to Nichiren as the original 'True Buddha' and his awakening to the mystic law of Nam myoho renge kyo and his mission to propagate that law has now allowed all people who live in todays Latter Day of the Law to become True Buddhas ourselves.
How grand! No discriminations whatsoever. We are all = to the True Buddha. We all have different missions tho and Nichiren commands that respect that he so deserves.
Of course, I do have to say that the above is IMO.
Living Buddhism: True Cause
Living Buddhism: True Cause
Buddhist Concept for Today's Living (35)
True Cause
Perhaps the most important teaching of the Lotus Sutra is that concerning exactly how long Shakyamuni has been a Buddha. "The Life Span of the Thus Come One" (sixteenth) chapter reveals his attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past overturning people's assumption that he attained enlightenment for the first time at around age of thirty, after meditating under the bodhi tree in India. Instead, he says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the place of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [supreme enlightenment]. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood" (The Lotus Sutra, chap. 16, p. 225).
The Buddha then explains with examples on a cosmic scale the astounding magnitude of this "life span" as a Buddha.
This has many profound implications. First, in all his teachings before the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha related stories of his practice in many lifetimes spanning countless kalpas in preparation for his attainment of buddhahood in the current lifetime. With this revelation, however, it becomes clear that he was already a Buddha while caring out these practices. His true identity is that of a Buddha since the inconceivably remote past. Hence his actions as an ordinary person for the sake of others over countless lifetimes were all expressions of, rather than means to attain, Buddhahood. This opens the way for the idea that ordinary persons can themselves be Buddhas who express their enlightenment through their mundane actions, particularly in their efforts to help others.
It also attests to the enduring nature of Buddhahood: Rather than being simply a hard-won state of spiritual attainment, it is an ever-present innate condition that transcends birth and death.
Shakyamuni's revelation of having attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago is an expression of the "mystic principle of true effect." That is, the "truth" of the Buddha's enlightenment (the effect of Buddhist practice) is that he had been enlightened since the remote past. But what of the cause of his enlightenment?
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China identifies another statement in the "Life Span" (16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, "Originally I practiced the bodhisattva way..," (LS16, 227) as referring to the true cause of Shakyamuni's original enlightenment. Shakyamuni, however, does not clarify what this "bodhisattva way" was. T'ien-t'ai interpreted it as a reference to a particular stage of Bodhisattva practice. Nevertheless, there is no precise reference to what practice or teaching enabled the Buddha to attain this state. Thus, the true cause of Shakyamuni's original attainment of enlightenment remained a mystery.
Nichiren Daishonin, however, identified that true cause as the fundamental Law that enables all Buddhas to attain enlightenment, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Regarding the significance of Shakyamuni's revelation he writes: "When we come to the 'Life Span' chapter of the essential teaching, the belief that Shakyamuni attained Buddhahood for the first time [in India] is demolished, and the effects [enlightenment] of the four teachings are likewise demolished. When the effects of the four teachings are demolished, their causes are likewise demolished. 'Causes' here refers to Buddhist practice [to attain enlightenment] or to the stage of disciples engaged in practice. Thus the causes and effects expounded the both the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds in the essential teaching are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It teaches that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood exists in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Tem Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life" ("The Essence of the 'Life Span' Chapter," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 183).
"Original cause and original effect" in this passage are the same as "true cause" and "true effect." The "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra overturns the concept of Buddhahood stated in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings as well as those of the first-half, or theoretical teaching, of the Lotus Sutra. Later in the same letter, Nichiren Daishonin refers to the "true cause" of the Buddha's enlightenment, stating, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the "Life Span" chapter, is the mother of all Buddhas" (WND, 184).
Nichiren Daishonin's teaching is known as the "Buddhism of the True Cause" because it elucidates the fundamental Law or principle by which all Buddhas attain their original enlightenment and by which all people can become Buddhas.
What does this principle of "true cause mean" to us ordinary practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism? Nichiren Daishonin quotes the Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra: "If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present" (WND, p. 279).
In one sense, how we approach life and our Buddhist practice depends on whether we have a perspective of "true effect" or "true cause." A perspective of "true effect," only sees enlightenment, or happiness, a result of past causes. From the perspective of "true cause," enlightenment, or happiness, is an ever-present potential; the cause for bringing it forth can only be made right now, in the present moment. The moment we make the "true cause," enlightenment reveals itself.
From the standpoint of the mystic principle of true cause (Jpn hon'in-myo) past, present and future exist fully in this moment. We cannot change the past, yet there is no reason to let it bind or restrict us. All of us face setbacks, disappointments and crises from time to time, but whatever our circumstances or our past, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with a strong resolve, we are creating a brilliant future in this moment. The true cause for enlightenment and the true effect of enlightenment are fully present at each moment as we exert ourselves in faith and practice.
Regarding the spirit of true cause, SGI President Ikeda said in a dialogue with young people, "The past is the past and the future is the future. You should keep moving forward with a steady eye on the future, telling yourself, "I'll start from today!' 'I'll start afresh from now, from this moment!' This is the essence of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of True Cause, the spirit of starting from the present moment. This is the heart of our daimoku" (World Tribune, November 1, 1996, p.11).
By Jeff Kriger, SGI-USA Study Department Vice Leader
1. Nayuta (Skt): An Indian numerical unit.
2. Kalpa (Skt): An extremely long period of time.
3. In particular, the eleventh of fifty-two stages through which a bodhisattva progresses toward Buddhahood.
4. Four Teachings: They are the Tripitaka, Connecting, Specific and Perfect Teachings.
Living Buddhism: True Cause
Buddhist Concept for Today's Living (35)
True Cause
Perhaps the most important teaching of the Lotus Sutra is that concerning exactly how long Shakyamuni has been a Buddha. "The Life Span of the Thus Come One" (sixteenth) chapter reveals his attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past overturning people's assumption that he attained enlightenment for the first time at around age of thirty, after meditating under the bodhi tree in India. Instead, he says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the place of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [supreme enlightenment]. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood" (The Lotus Sutra, chap. 16, p. 225).
The Buddha then explains with examples on a cosmic scale the astounding magnitude of this "life span" as a Buddha.
This has many profound implications. First, in all his teachings before the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha related stories of his practice in many lifetimes spanning countless kalpas in preparation for his attainment of buddhahood in the current lifetime. With this revelation, however, it becomes clear that he was already a Buddha while caring out these practices. His true identity is that of a Buddha since the inconceivably remote past. Hence his actions as an ordinary person for the sake of others over countless lifetimes were all expressions of, rather than means to attain, Buddhahood. This opens the way for the idea that ordinary persons can themselves be Buddhas who express their enlightenment through their mundane actions, particularly in their efforts to help others.
It also attests to the enduring nature of Buddhahood: Rather than being simply a hard-won state of spiritual attainment, it is an ever-present innate condition that transcends birth and death.
Shakyamuni's revelation of having attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago is an expression of the "mystic principle of true effect." That is, the "truth" of the Buddha's enlightenment (the effect of Buddhist practice) is that he had been enlightened since the remote past. But what of the cause of his enlightenment?
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China identifies another statement in the "Life Span" (16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, "Originally I practiced the bodhisattva way..," (LS16, 227) as referring to the true cause of Shakyamuni's original enlightenment. Shakyamuni, however, does not clarify what this "bodhisattva way" was. T'ien-t'ai interpreted it as a reference to a particular stage of Bodhisattva practice. Nevertheless, there is no precise reference to what practice or teaching enabled the Buddha to attain this state. Thus, the true cause of Shakyamuni's original attainment of enlightenment remained a mystery.
Nichiren Daishonin, however, identified that true cause as the fundamental Law that enables all Buddhas to attain enlightenment, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Regarding the significance of Shakyamuni's revelation he writes: "When we come to the 'Life Span' chapter of the essential teaching, the belief that Shakyamuni attained Buddhahood for the first time [in India] is demolished, and the effects [enlightenment] of the four teachings are likewise demolished. When the effects of the four teachings are demolished, their causes are likewise demolished. 'Causes' here refers to Buddhist practice [to attain enlightenment] or to the stage of disciples engaged in practice. Thus the causes and effects expounded the both the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds in the essential teaching are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It teaches that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood exists in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Tem Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life" ("The Essence of the 'Life Span' Chapter," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 183).
"Original cause and original effect" in this passage are the same as "true cause" and "true effect." The "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra overturns the concept of Buddhahood stated in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings as well as those of the first-half, or theoretical teaching, of the Lotus Sutra. Later in the same letter, Nichiren Daishonin refers to the "true cause" of the Buddha's enlightenment, stating, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the "Life Span" chapter, is the mother of all Buddhas" (WND, 184).
Nichiren Daishonin's teaching is known as the "Buddhism of the True Cause" because it elucidates the fundamental Law or principle by which all Buddhas attain their original enlightenment and by which all people can become Buddhas.
What does this principle of "true cause mean" to us ordinary practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism? Nichiren Daishonin quotes the Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra: "If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present" (WND, p. 279).
In one sense, how we approach life and our Buddhist practice depends on whether we have a perspective of "true effect" or "true cause." A perspective of "true effect," only sees enlightenment, or happiness, a result of past causes. From the perspective of "true cause," enlightenment, or happiness, is an ever-present potential; the cause for bringing it forth can only be made right now, in the present moment. The moment we make the "true cause," enlightenment reveals itself.
From the standpoint of the mystic principle of true cause (Jpn hon'in-myo) past, present and future exist fully in this moment. We cannot change the past, yet there is no reason to let it bind or restrict us. All of us face setbacks, disappointments and crises from time to time, but whatever our circumstances or our past, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with a strong resolve, we are creating a brilliant future in this moment. The true cause for enlightenment and the true effect of enlightenment are fully present at each moment as we exert ourselves in faith and practice.
Regarding the spirit of true cause, SGI President Ikeda said in a dialogue with young people, "The past is the past and the future is the future. You should keep moving forward with a steady eye on the future, telling yourself, "I'll start from today!' 'I'll start afresh from now, from this moment!' This is the essence of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of True Cause, the spirit of starting from the present moment. This is the heart of our daimoku" (World Tribune, November 1, 1996, p.11).
By Jeff Kriger, SGI-USA Study Department Vice Leader
1. Nayuta (Skt): An Indian numerical unit.
2. Kalpa (Skt): An extremely long period of time.
3. In particular, the eleventh of fifty-two stages through which a bodhisattva progresses toward Buddhahood.
4. Four Teachings: They are the Tripitaka, Connecting, Specific and Perfect Teachings.
"When several children are caught in a fire,
though the parents wish to save them all at the same time, having only
two arms, they must decide which child to save first and which to
leave until after. The Lotus Sutra [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] is a parent
with a thousand arms, ten thousand arms, or a million arms" (The
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.442*).
though the parents wish to save them all at the same time, having only
two arms, they must decide which child to save first and which to
leave until after. The Lotus Sutra [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] is a parent
with a thousand arms, ten thousand arms, or a million arms" (The
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.442*).
[The following Gosho and reference material are from the SGI entrance level study material available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/SokaGakkai/Study/Entrance/
The text of the following Gosho is from the original English language translations that were released in the U.S. as a seven volume series by the SGI called “The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin.” These translations have subsequently been supplanted by “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin (WND)”, the source I have used for most of the Gosho that I have posted on this thread to date. The WND translations are easier to read, and have already had the Japanese equivalent of Buddhist names converted to English; hence for example “Taho Buddha” in the Major Writings series is “the Buddha Many Treasures” in the WND.
The page 831 WND translation of this Gosho is available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/831.html
For comparative reference, here is the first paragraph of the Gosho “The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon” found in the WND translation:
“I HAVE received your offerings to the Gohonzon of five thousand coins, one horseload of polished rice, and fruit. To begin with, this Gohonzon was revealed in the last eight years of the fifty that the Buddha preached in this world, and in this period of eight years, in eight chapters [of the Lotus Sutra], from the "Emerging from the Earth" chapter through the "Entrustment" chapter. Now, during the three periods following the Buddha's passing, in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, not even the term "object of devotion of the essential teaching" yet existed. How then could the object of devotion have been revealed? Moreover, there was no one who was able to give it expression. T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyo perceived it in their hearts, but for some reason never put it into words, just as (1) Yen Yüan realized the true meaning of Confucius's teaching, but never gave it expression. Yet the sutra itself and the commentaries of T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo explicitly state that the Gohonzon will appear after two thousand years have elapsed following the Buddha's passing, in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law.”
Notes:
1. Yen Yüan (514-*483 BCE), also called Yen Hui, was one of Confucius's most trusted disciples.]
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/SokaGakkai/Study/Entrance/
The text of the following Gosho is from the original English language translations that were released in the U.S. as a seven volume series by the SGI called “The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin.” These translations have subsequently been supplanted by “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin (WND)”, the source I have used for most of the Gosho that I have posted on this thread to date. The WND translations are easier to read, and have already had the Japanese equivalent of Buddhist names converted to English; hence for example “Taho Buddha” in the Major Writings series is “the Buddha Many Treasures” in the WND.
The page 831 WND translation of this Gosho is available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/831.html
For comparative reference, here is the first paragraph of the Gosho “The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon” found in the WND translation:
“I HAVE received your offerings to the Gohonzon of five thousand coins, one horseload of polished rice, and fruit. To begin with, this Gohonzon was revealed in the last eight years of the fifty that the Buddha preached in this world, and in this period of eight years, in eight chapters [of the Lotus Sutra], from the "Emerging from the Earth" chapter through the "Entrustment" chapter. Now, during the three periods following the Buddha's passing, in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, not even the term "object of devotion of the essential teaching" yet existed. How then could the object of devotion have been revealed? Moreover, there was no one who was able to give it expression. T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyo perceived it in their hearts, but for some reason never put it into words, just as (1) Yen Yüan realized the true meaning of Confucius's teaching, but never gave it expression. Yet the sutra itself and the commentaries of T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo explicitly state that the Gohonzon will appear after two thousand years have elapsed following the Buddha's passing, in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law.”
Notes:
1. Yen Yüan (514-*483 BCE), also called Yen Hui, was one of Confucius's most trusted disciples.]
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The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
- Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji –
I have received your offerings to the Gohonzon of five kan (1) of coins, one horse-load of rice, and fruit. Of the fifty years of teachings in the Buddha's lifetime, only during his last eight was this teaching revealed. The Lotus Sutra, which was expounded during that period, explains the Gohonzon in the eight chapters from the Yujutsu through the Zokurui chapter. After the Buddha's death, in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, not even the term "object of worship of the essential teaching" was mentioned, let alone the object itself being inscribed. Nor was there anyone capable of inscribing it. T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo and Dengyo perceived it in their hearts but for some reason never expounded it, just as Yen Hui (2) realized the true meaning of Confucius' teaching but kept it secret. Yet the sutra itself as well as T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo's annotations explicitly state that the Gohonzon will appear in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law, a little more than two thousand years after the Buddha's death.
Now, over two hundred years have passed since the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law. How awesome that Nichiren was the first to inscribe this great mandala as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra, when even such great masters as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo were unable to do so! This mandala is in no way Nichiren's invention. It is the object of worship which perfectly depicts Lord Shakyamuni in the Treasure Tower and all the other Buddhas who were present, as accurately as the print matches the woodblock. The five characters of the Lotus Sutra's title are inscribed in the center of the Treasure Tower, while the Four Heavenly Kings are seated at the four corners. Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas, as well as the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, are lined across the top. Seated below them are the Bodhisattvas Fugen and Monju, and men of Learning, including Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. Beside them are posted the gods (3) of the sun and the moon, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven, the Dragon King and ashura; Fudo and Aizen take up their stations to the south and north, respectively. The devilishly treacherous Devadatta and the Dragon King's ignorant daughter attend, too. The demon Kishimojin appears with her ten daughters, who sap the lives of people throughout the universe. Also present are the guardian deities of Japan: Tensho Daijin and Bodhisattva Hachiman, representing the seven ranks of heavenly gods, the five ranks of earthly gods, and all other major and minor gods in general. As all the gods appear in their essence, so must they appear in their manifestations. The Hoto chapter states, "All the assembly were lifted and present in the air." Dwelling in the Gohonzon are all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas and great saints, as well as the eight groups of sentient beings of the two realms (4) who appear in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship.
This manifestation is what the sutra means by "all phenomena reveal the true entity."(5) Miao-lo states, "The true entity is invariably revealed in all phenomena, and all phenomena invariably possess the Ten Factors. The Ten Factors invariably function within the Ten Worlds, and the Ten Worlds invariably entail both life and its environment."(6) T'ien-t'ai states, "The profound principle of 'true entity' is the original Law of Myoho-renge-kyo."(7) The Great Teacher Dengyo wrote, "The entity of ichinen sanzen is the Buddha who obtained enlightenment for himself, and that Buddha assumes no august attributes."(8) Therefore this Gohonzon is the supreme mandala never before known, for it has not appeared until more than twenty-two hundred and twenty years after the Buddha's death.
A woman who devotes herself to the Gohonzon invites happiness in this life; and in the next, the Gohonzon will be with her and protect her always. Like a lantern in the dark, like a strong supporting arm on a treacherous path, the Gohonzon will protect you, Lady Nichinyo, wherever you go. Therefore you should ward off slanderers as you would prevent a courtesan from entering your house. That is the meaning of "Part with bad friends and seek out good ones."(9)
Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness (10), the unchanging reality which reigns over all life's functions. To be "endowed with the Ten Worlds" means that all the Ten Worlds without exception are contained in the one world of Buddhahood. That is why the Gohonzon is called a mandala. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "perfectly endowed" or "cluster of blessings." The Gohonzon is found in faith alone. As the sutra states, "Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood."(11)
Since Nichiren's disciples, both priests and laymen, believe in the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra, which states, "...honestly discarding the provisional teachings"(12) and "Never accept even a single phrase from other sutras,"(13) they can enter the Treasure Tower of the Gohonzon. How reassuring! Make every possible effort for the sake of your next life. The most important thing is to chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and attain enlightenment. All depends on the strength of your faith. To have faith is the basis of Buddhism. That is why the fourth volume of the Maka Shikan states, "Buddhism is a vast ocean, but only those with faith can enter." In interpreting this passage, Miao-lo writes in the fourth volume of his Guketsu, "Even Confucius teaches that faith is first and foremost. This is all the more true with the profound doctrines of Buddhism! Without faith, how can one possibly approach them? That is why the Kegon Sutra defines faith as the basis of practice and the mother of blessings." The first volume of the Maka Shikan further states, "How does one hear, believe in and practice the perfect teaching to attain perfect enlightenment?" Volume One of the Guketsu interprets this: "To 'believe in the perfect teaching' means to awaken faith through doctrine and make faith the basis of practice." A classical document tells of the Emperor of Han, who so implicitly believed his aide's report that he found the river actually frozen. Another relates how Li Kuang (14), eager to revenge his father, pierced with his arrow a boulder hidden in the grass. T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo's annotations make it absolutely clear that faith is the cornerstone. Because the Han emperor believed without doubt in his retainer's words, the river froze over. And Li Kuang was able to pierce a rock with his arrow because he fully believed it to be the tiger which had killed his father. Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism.
Embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo encompass all five practices which the Great Teacher Dengyo personally inherited from Priest Tao-sui (15) when he journeyed to China. This is the primary teaching for Nichiren's disciples and believers. It is the practice which appears in the Jinriki chapter. I will give you more details later.
Respectfully,
Nichiren
The twenty-third day of the eighth month in the third year of Kenji (1277)
Footnotes:
1. Kan: An old monetary unit cosisting of 1000 coins strung together with a cord. The holes in some modern coins are derived from this tradition.
2. Yen Hui (521-490): One of the most favored and trusted disciples of Confucius.
3. Seven ranks of heavenly gods and the five ranks of earthly gods: See p. 92, footnote 10.
4. Two realms: The realms of desire and matter.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
6. Kongobei-ron.
7. Source unknown.
8. Himitsu Shogon-ron.
9. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
10. Ninth consciousness: It indicates the fundamental purifying force that is the essence of our lives -- the law of Nam-myoho- renge-kyo.
11. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
12. Ibid., chap. 2.
13. Ibid., chap. 3.
14. Li Kuang: (d. 119 BC): A general from the Former Han dynasty. See p. 227, footnote 4.
15. Tao-sui: The tenth successor of the T'ien-t'ai sect in China. He studied under Miao-lo and devoted himself to transmitting the doctrines to his followers, including Dengyo from Japan.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol. 1, p. 211.
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
- Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji –
I have received your offerings to the Gohonzon of five kan (1) of coins, one horse-load of rice, and fruit. Of the fifty years of teachings in the Buddha's lifetime, only during his last eight was this teaching revealed. The Lotus Sutra, which was expounded during that period, explains the Gohonzon in the eight chapters from the Yujutsu through the Zokurui chapter. After the Buddha's death, in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, not even the term "object of worship of the essential teaching" was mentioned, let alone the object itself being inscribed. Nor was there anyone capable of inscribing it. T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo and Dengyo perceived it in their hearts but for some reason never expounded it, just as Yen Hui (2) realized the true meaning of Confucius' teaching but kept it secret. Yet the sutra itself as well as T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo's annotations explicitly state that the Gohonzon will appear in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law, a little more than two thousand years after the Buddha's death.
Now, over two hundred years have passed since the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law. How awesome that Nichiren was the first to inscribe this great mandala as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra, when even such great masters as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo were unable to do so! This mandala is in no way Nichiren's invention. It is the object of worship which perfectly depicts Lord Shakyamuni in the Treasure Tower and all the other Buddhas who were present, as accurately as the print matches the woodblock. The five characters of the Lotus Sutra's title are inscribed in the center of the Treasure Tower, while the Four Heavenly Kings are seated at the four corners. Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas, as well as the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, are lined across the top. Seated below them are the Bodhisattvas Fugen and Monju, and men of Learning, including Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. Beside them are posted the gods (3) of the sun and the moon, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven, the Dragon King and ashura; Fudo and Aizen take up their stations to the south and north, respectively. The devilishly treacherous Devadatta and the Dragon King's ignorant daughter attend, too. The demon Kishimojin appears with her ten daughters, who sap the lives of people throughout the universe. Also present are the guardian deities of Japan: Tensho Daijin and Bodhisattva Hachiman, representing the seven ranks of heavenly gods, the five ranks of earthly gods, and all other major and minor gods in general. As all the gods appear in their essence, so must they appear in their manifestations. The Hoto chapter states, "All the assembly were lifted and present in the air." Dwelling in the Gohonzon are all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas and great saints, as well as the eight groups of sentient beings of the two realms (4) who appear in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship.
This manifestation is what the sutra means by "all phenomena reveal the true entity."(5) Miao-lo states, "The true entity is invariably revealed in all phenomena, and all phenomena invariably possess the Ten Factors. The Ten Factors invariably function within the Ten Worlds, and the Ten Worlds invariably entail both life and its environment."(6) T'ien-t'ai states, "The profound principle of 'true entity' is the original Law of Myoho-renge-kyo."(7) The Great Teacher Dengyo wrote, "The entity of ichinen sanzen is the Buddha who obtained enlightenment for himself, and that Buddha assumes no august attributes."(8) Therefore this Gohonzon is the supreme mandala never before known, for it has not appeared until more than twenty-two hundred and twenty years after the Buddha's death.
A woman who devotes herself to the Gohonzon invites happiness in this life; and in the next, the Gohonzon will be with her and protect her always. Like a lantern in the dark, like a strong supporting arm on a treacherous path, the Gohonzon will protect you, Lady Nichinyo, wherever you go. Therefore you should ward off slanderers as you would prevent a courtesan from entering your house. That is the meaning of "Part with bad friends and seek out good ones."(9)
Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness (10), the unchanging reality which reigns over all life's functions. To be "endowed with the Ten Worlds" means that all the Ten Worlds without exception are contained in the one world of Buddhahood. That is why the Gohonzon is called a mandala. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "perfectly endowed" or "cluster of blessings." The Gohonzon is found in faith alone. As the sutra states, "Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood."(11)
Since Nichiren's disciples, both priests and laymen, believe in the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra, which states, "...honestly discarding the provisional teachings"(12) and "Never accept even a single phrase from other sutras,"(13) they can enter the Treasure Tower of the Gohonzon. How reassuring! Make every possible effort for the sake of your next life. The most important thing is to chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and attain enlightenment. All depends on the strength of your faith. To have faith is the basis of Buddhism. That is why the fourth volume of the Maka Shikan states, "Buddhism is a vast ocean, but only those with faith can enter." In interpreting this passage, Miao-lo writes in the fourth volume of his Guketsu, "Even Confucius teaches that faith is first and foremost. This is all the more true with the profound doctrines of Buddhism! Without faith, how can one possibly approach them? That is why the Kegon Sutra defines faith as the basis of practice and the mother of blessings." The first volume of the Maka Shikan further states, "How does one hear, believe in and practice the perfect teaching to attain perfect enlightenment?" Volume One of the Guketsu interprets this: "To 'believe in the perfect teaching' means to awaken faith through doctrine and make faith the basis of practice." A classical document tells of the Emperor of Han, who so implicitly believed his aide's report that he found the river actually frozen. Another relates how Li Kuang (14), eager to revenge his father, pierced with his arrow a boulder hidden in the grass. T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo's annotations make it absolutely clear that faith is the cornerstone. Because the Han emperor believed without doubt in his retainer's words, the river froze over. And Li Kuang was able to pierce a rock with his arrow because he fully believed it to be the tiger which had killed his father. Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism.
Embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo encompass all five practices which the Great Teacher Dengyo personally inherited from Priest Tao-sui (15) when he journeyed to China. This is the primary teaching for Nichiren's disciples and believers. It is the practice which appears in the Jinriki chapter. I will give you more details later.
Respectfully,
Nichiren
The twenty-third day of the eighth month in the third year of Kenji (1277)
Footnotes:
1. Kan: An old monetary unit cosisting of 1000 coins strung together with a cord. The holes in some modern coins are derived from this tradition.
2. Yen Hui (521-490): One of the most favored and trusted disciples of Confucius.
3. Seven ranks of heavenly gods and the five ranks of earthly gods: See p. 92, footnote 10.
4. Two realms: The realms of desire and matter.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
6. Kongobei-ron.
7. Source unknown.
8. Himitsu Shogon-ron.
9. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
10. Ninth consciousness: It indicates the fundamental purifying force that is the essence of our lives -- the law of Nam-myoho- renge-kyo.
11. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
12. Ibid., chap. 2.
13. Ibid., chap. 3.
14. Li Kuang: (d. 119 BC): A general from the Former Han dynasty. See p. 227, footnote 4.
15. Tao-sui: The tenth successor of the T'ien-t'ai sect in China. He studied under Miao-lo and devoted himself to transmitting the doctrines to his followers, including Dengyo from Japan.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol. 1, p. 211.
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
- Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji -
BACKGROUND:
Nichiren Daishonin wrote "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon" at Mount Minobu on August 23, 1277, when he was 56. Its recipient, Lady Nichinyo, is thought to have been either the wife of Ikeganii Munenaka, the elder of the Ikegami brothers, or the daughter of Lady Matsuno. The evidence for her identity is not clear. judging from the two extant Gosho addressed to her - this one and "An Outline of the 'Zokurui' Chapter" written the following year -she appears to have been a middle-aged woman of some culture and position, and rather well versed in Buddhist doctrines.
Almost certainly she was a devout believer, for this letter indicates that she had received the Gohonzon, a privilege granted in those days only to disciples of exceptionally strong faith.
The Dai-Gohonzon, the true object of worship for attaining Buddhahood bestowed upon all people of the Latter Day of the Law, was inscribed on October 12, 1279. However, even before then, after revealing his identity as the original Buddha of the Latter Day during the Tatsunokuchi Persecution on September 12, 1271, Nichiren Daishonin began to inscribe Gohonzon for a few of his most committed followers. These personal Gohonzon inscribed by the Daishonin are called "Gohonzon of specific receptivity and relatedness" (ikki ichien no Gohonzon). In this letter, the Daishonin explains the significance of the Gohonzon and the importance of faith in it.
In the first part of this Gosho, he explains that no one before him had ever inscribed the Gohonzon "in the more than 2,000 years that have passed since Shakyamuni Buddha's death." So fully was the Daishonin enlightened to the eternal Law of life that he could embody his enlightenment - the oneness of his life with the Mystic Law - in a concrete material form that could be transmitted to future generations, thus providing the external cause for all other people throughout the Latter Day of the Law to manifest their ultimate Buddha nature.
The twenty-eight-chapter Lotus Sutra expresses the historical Buddha's enlightenment to the fundamental Law of life in symbolic terms as the magnificent Ceremony in the Air, an event transcending time and space in which Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas sat side by side in the Treasure Tower, and all Buddhas from throughout the universe as well as countless beings of the nine worlds assembled to hear the Buddha's preaching.
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai expressed his enlightenment to the fundamental Law of life as the principle of ichinen sanzen, a comprehensive view of life that clarifies the inter-penetration of the ultimate reality and the phenomenal world. Yet, awe-inspiring as they are, these are merely theoretical expressions of enlightenment.
It was Nichiren Daishonin, though, who first expressed his enlightenment to the Law of life in physical form, so that all other people might attain Buddhahood as well. He did not formulate vast new systems of doctrine or theory but brought what had hitherto been purely theoretical into the realm of actuality. Because he was the true or original Buddha, he could give actual form to the original Law or True Cause for attaining Buddhahood.
The Gohonzon, then, is not a symbol but the actual manifestation of the eternal law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and of the life of the eternal Buddha who is enlightened to it. When we chant daimoku with faith in the Gohonzon, we manifest the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo within ourselves.
This is the attainment of Buddhahood as a common mortal, in accordance with the principle taught by Nichiren Daishonin that "embracing the Gohonzon is in itself enlightenment" Yuji soku kanjin).
This Gosho is called "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon" because it contains a description of what is written on the Gohonzon. Down the center of the Gohonzon are inscribed in Chinese characters the words "Nam-myohorenge-kyo, Nichiren." This indicates that the Gohonzon embodies the oneness of the Law (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the fundamental truth of the universe) and the Person (the original Buddha of beginning-less; time, who appears in the Latter Day of the Law as Nichiren Daishonin).
This central inscription represents the entity of the original Buddha's life. On either side of this central inscription are written the names of the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho, as well as those of the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and other bodhisattvas, shomon disciples, gods, human beings, demons and others, just as described in the magnificent Ceremony in the Air depicted in the Lotus Sutra. These figures represent the ten worlds or all phenomena of the original Buddha's life.
The Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin explains, is the ultimate meaning of the Lotus Sutra's statement that "all phenomena reveal the true entity" (shoho jisso).
- Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji -
BACKGROUND:
Nichiren Daishonin wrote "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon" at Mount Minobu on August 23, 1277, when he was 56. Its recipient, Lady Nichinyo, is thought to have been either the wife of Ikeganii Munenaka, the elder of the Ikegami brothers, or the daughter of Lady Matsuno. The evidence for her identity is not clear. judging from the two extant Gosho addressed to her - this one and "An Outline of the 'Zokurui' Chapter" written the following year -she appears to have been a middle-aged woman of some culture and position, and rather well versed in Buddhist doctrines.
Almost certainly she was a devout believer, for this letter indicates that she had received the Gohonzon, a privilege granted in those days only to disciples of exceptionally strong faith.
The Dai-Gohonzon, the true object of worship for attaining Buddhahood bestowed upon all people of the Latter Day of the Law, was inscribed on October 12, 1279. However, even before then, after revealing his identity as the original Buddha of the Latter Day during the Tatsunokuchi Persecution on September 12, 1271, Nichiren Daishonin began to inscribe Gohonzon for a few of his most committed followers. These personal Gohonzon inscribed by the Daishonin are called "Gohonzon of specific receptivity and relatedness" (ikki ichien no Gohonzon). In this letter, the Daishonin explains the significance of the Gohonzon and the importance of faith in it.
In the first part of this Gosho, he explains that no one before him had ever inscribed the Gohonzon "in the more than 2,000 years that have passed since Shakyamuni Buddha's death." So fully was the Daishonin enlightened to the eternal Law of life that he could embody his enlightenment - the oneness of his life with the Mystic Law - in a concrete material form that could be transmitted to future generations, thus providing the external cause for all other people throughout the Latter Day of the Law to manifest their ultimate Buddha nature.
The twenty-eight-chapter Lotus Sutra expresses the historical Buddha's enlightenment to the fundamental Law of life in symbolic terms as the magnificent Ceremony in the Air, an event transcending time and space in which Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas sat side by side in the Treasure Tower, and all Buddhas from throughout the universe as well as countless beings of the nine worlds assembled to hear the Buddha's preaching.
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai expressed his enlightenment to the fundamental Law of life as the principle of ichinen sanzen, a comprehensive view of life that clarifies the inter-penetration of the ultimate reality and the phenomenal world. Yet, awe-inspiring as they are, these are merely theoretical expressions of enlightenment.
It was Nichiren Daishonin, though, who first expressed his enlightenment to the Law of life in physical form, so that all other people might attain Buddhahood as well. He did not formulate vast new systems of doctrine or theory but brought what had hitherto been purely theoretical into the realm of actuality. Because he was the true or original Buddha, he could give actual form to the original Law or True Cause for attaining Buddhahood.
The Gohonzon, then, is not a symbol but the actual manifestation of the eternal law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and of the life of the eternal Buddha who is enlightened to it. When we chant daimoku with faith in the Gohonzon, we manifest the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo within ourselves.
This is the attainment of Buddhahood as a common mortal, in accordance with the principle taught by Nichiren Daishonin that "embracing the Gohonzon is in itself enlightenment" Yuji soku kanjin).
This Gosho is called "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon" because it contains a description of what is written on the Gohonzon. Down the center of the Gohonzon are inscribed in Chinese characters the words "Nam-myohorenge-kyo, Nichiren." This indicates that the Gohonzon embodies the oneness of the Law (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the fundamental truth of the universe) and the Person (the original Buddha of beginning-less; time, who appears in the Latter Day of the Law as Nichiren Daishonin).
This central inscription represents the entity of the original Buddha's life. On either side of this central inscription are written the names of the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho, as well as those of the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and other bodhisattvas, shomon disciples, gods, human beings, demons and others, just as described in the magnificent Ceremony in the Air depicted in the Lotus Sutra. These figures represent the ten worlds or all phenomena of the original Buddha's life.
The Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin explains, is the ultimate meaning of the Lotus Sutra's statement that "all phenomena reveal the true entity" (shoho jisso).
Gosho Study: "THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
Gosho Study: "THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
"THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
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Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself... the unchanging reality which reigns over all life's functions.
THE SUPREME POTENTIAL LIES WITHIN US
This is a very well-known and important passage. In it, the Daishonin dispels the idea that Buddhahood exists anywhere apart from our own lives and the reality in which we live. Herein lies the greatness of his Buddhism, which is unsurpassed in bridging the gap between ultimate truth and the ordinary person.
The Gohonzon, as we have stated, embodies the life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. However, the fundamental Law of life to which the Daishonin was enlightened also exists within ourselves. Thus there is no essential difference between the Buddha's life and the life of common mortals. There is, however, a definite difference in terms of life-condition. The Buddha realizes that one's own life is the Mystic Law, while common mortals, blinded by delusion, do not. As the Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon so that we, common mortals, could awaken to the Mystic Law within ourselves and attain the same life-condition as himself. Because his aim was to awaken us to the entity of our own lives, he admonishes, "Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself." If we thought of the Gohonzon as some external or supernatural power that we must beseech for help, that would hinder us from discovering the ultimate truth within ourselves. The Daishonin therefore cautions us against this attitude in several Gosho. In "On Attaining Buddhahood," for example, he writes:
Even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching.... Therefore, when you chant the Mystic Law and recite the Lotus Sutra, you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself. (MW-I, 3-4)
To give an analogy, no matter how perfect our eyesight, we cannot see our own faces. Only when we look into a mirror can we see what we look like. Similarly, being common mortals of limited wisdom, we cannot see our own Buddha nature. However, when we face the mirror of the Gohonzon, we can discover the treasure of Buddhahood (the Gohonzon) within.
Herein we find a significant point of difference between the Daishonin's Buddhism and those religious teachings in which people are taught to depend on supernatural powers outside themselves, either begging their aid or seeking to avert their wrath. Historically, this perceived gap between people and their object of worship has not only blinded them to the truth within their own lives but opened the way for those claiming to be intermediaries of the deity to gain and exercise power over the lives of others. Nichiren Daishonin's teaching denies any essential gap between human beings and the ultimate reality. Instead, it teaches that the supreme potential lies within us and shows us how to manifest it "within our mortal flesh" by embracing the Gohonzon.
The Gohonzon is the sole, perfect manifestation of the Mystic Law in our environment, placed there by the compassion and wisdom of Nichiren Daishonin. When we fuse our lives with the Gohonzon by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can witness the reality of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo emerging in our own lives, in both their internal and external dimensions. This happens by what Buddhism terms "the interaction of the four powers." The Gohonzon embodies the powers of the Buddha and the Law, which are absolute. However, these powers can be activated only by our own powers of faith and practice. By believing in and chanting daimoku to the Gohonzon, we can manifest its power in every aspect of our lives.
The fusion of our lives with the Gohonzon can be described as the tapping of the nine consciousness. The doctrine of the nine consciousnesses represents a Buddhist analysis of the functions of mind. Briefly, the first five consciousnesses correspond to the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness, mind, integrates the impressions of the five senses into coherent images, so that one can make judgments about the outer world.
The seventh or mano-consciousness is the realm of abstract thought. Spanning both conscious and unconscious realms, it also entails attachment to self extending even below the conscious level.
The eighth, alaya-consciousness, is an unconscious realm where all experiences of the present and past lifetimes - karma - are stored. This consciousness undergoes change from one moment to the next as one continually performs new actions, whether positive or negative. The karmic content of the alaya-consciousness affects the perceptions of the first seven consciousnesses, and these perceptions in turn predispose us to our own particular karmic patterns. The alaya-consciousness forms the framework of individual existence and is that which undergoes the cycle of birth and death.
Some earlier Buddhist traditions, such as the Consciousness-Only school, regard the alaya-consciousness as the basis of all life's functions. However, the T'ien-t'ai school posited a ninth consciousness, the amala-consciousness or "fundamental pure consciousness" lying beneath the alaya-consciousness. Untainted by karmic accretions, it is the imperishable, unchanging realm of the universal Buddha nature, endowed with the four virtues of true self, eternity, purity and happiness.
In saying, "The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness " Nichiren Daishonin emphasizes that the potential for Buddhahood exists within us. He taught that by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can gain access to this ninth consciousness, the ultimate depth of life. Activated by our daimoku, its light, so to speak, floods upward to illuminate the workings of the other eight conscious times, so that the entire interlocking network of causes and effects forming our individual existence comes to be based on enlightenment. By tapping the Buddha nature or the ninth consciousness within, we can fundamentally change our karma for the better and establish an unshakable state of life.
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To be "endowed with the Ten Worlds" means .... .. Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood"
THROUGH FAITH, ONE CAN ACQUIRE BUDDHA WISDOM AND ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT
The Gohonzon is called a mandala, a Sanskrit word translated into Chinese and meaning "perfectly endowed" or "cluster of blessings." Here the Daishonin interprets these expressions to mean that the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds. As mentioned above, the various figures inscribed to the right and left of "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren" in the center of the Gohonzon represent the ten worlds of the original Buddha's life.
For example, Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas represent his world of Buddhahood; the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as well as the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching, such as Fugen and Monju, represent his world of Bodhisattva; Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the two vehicles; the various Buddhist gods, the world of Heaven; the Ashura king, the world of Anger; and Devadatta, the world of Hell. All ten worlds of the Daishonin's life are present without exception.
Earlier in the Gosho, the Daishonin writes: "Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship" (MW-I, 212). Mandalas used as objects of worship in other sects, such as Shingon, depict only Buddhas and bodhisattvas, reflecting the shallow, incomplete view that we rid ourselves of the lower states when we attain enlightenment. But the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds.
The Daishonin taught that each of the ten worlds has all ten within itself, meaning that even the so-called "evil paths" of Hell, Hunger, and Animality contain the potential for enlightenment. The ten worlds of the original Buddha's life embodied in the Gohonzon are all "illuminated by the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" and work in an enlightened way to create value and lead others to happiness.
The great difference between the Daishonin and us is that, left to our own devices, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo would never be at the center of our lives. A graphic representation of our lives might show the Ashura king in the center, indicating Anger, or the demon Kishimojin, indicating Hunger. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo might be somewhere off in a corner, so to speak.
But through the practice of gongyo and daimoku, we bring Nam-myoho-renge-kyo back to the center of our lives. Then, all our inherent states of life from Hell to Buddhahood come to be illuminated by the Mystic Law, rather than being shrouded by delusion and out of harmony with one another.
Similar to the way in which an ordinary piece of metal becomes magnetized through repeated contact with a magnet, as we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, our ten worlds align themselves with the ten worlds of the original Buddha's life and begin working in the most positive way to benefit both ourselves and others.
In his commentary on "The True Object of Worship," Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest of Nichiren Shoshu, writes, "If only one believes in the Gohonzon and chants the Mystic Law, then the ten worlds of his or her own life will become those of the object of worship."
The fusion with the Gohonzon that enables our innate Buddha nature to well forth is possible only through our faith. Thus the Daishonin admonishes, "This Gohonzon is found in faith alone." Provisional sutras often stressed the development of wisdom as the key to attaining Buddhahood. However, in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's enlightenment is shown to be so profound that no ordinary wisdom could possibly grasp it.
The opening passage of the "Hoben," or second chapter, of the Lotus Sutra, which we recite every morning and evening during gongyo declares: Sho-but chi-e. jinjin muryo. Go chi-e mon. Nange nannyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. Shofu no chi. (The wisdom of all Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable. The portal to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Neither men of Learning (shomon) nor men of Realization (engaku) can comprehend it.) - let alone, of course, common mortals. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra stresses faith as the key to attaining enlightenment.
Even Shariputra, the Buddha's most outstanding shomon disciple famed as the "foremost in wisdom" could attain enlightenment only when he took faith in the Buddha's teaching. The third chapter, "Hiyu," reads: "Even you, Shariputra, where this sutra is concerned, gained entrance through faith. How much more so the other shomon disciples!" Thus the Lotus Sutra emphasizes, "Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood."
Nichiren Daishonin also teaches the principle of "gaining wisdom through faith," which means that through faith, one can acquire the Buddha wisdom and attain enlightenment. In the Gosho "Shishin Gohon Sho" (The Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice) he writes: "And because our wisdom is inadequate, he teaches us to substitute faith, making this single word 'faith' the foundation.... While faith is the cause for wisdom" (mw-6, 216).
From another perspective, we can say that faith in the Gohonzon is itself an expression of one's innate Buddha nature. As Nichiren Daishonin says in "The True Object of Worship," "That common mortals born in the Latter Day of the Law can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of Buddhahood is present in the world of Humanity" (MW-I, 53).
And Nichikan Shonin says in his "Sanju Hiden Sho" (Threefold Secret Teaching), "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."
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Since Nichiren's disciples, both priests and laymen,... Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism.
FAITH DEEPENS THROUGH THE SPECIFIC ACTIONS OF PRACTICE AND STUDY
This portion of the Gosho elaborates from various angles on the fundamental importance of faith, citing T'ien-t'ai's Maka Shikan, Miao-lo's commentary on it, and also the Chinese classics. First, the Daishonin indicates that an important component of faith is the ability to "honestly discard the provisional teachings." The provisional teachings are those expounded before the Lotus Sutra, which reveal only partial aspects of the truth and were valid only during the Former and Middle Days of the Law - a relatively short time of human history.
In contrast, the Lotus Sutra, which is called the "round" or perfect teaching (engyo), reveals the truth in its entirety and is valid for all time. In inscribing the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the truth implicit in the Lotus Sutra in practicable form for this, the Latter Day of the Law.
To cling to the provisional teachings once this true teaching has been revealed, he taught, is to commit slander; in effect, we would be mistaking the part for the whole and thus base ourselves on a distorted view of life.
The Daishonin's contemporary followers came from other sects of Buddhism, which were based on the provisional sutras. He adamantly insisted that they forsake all misleading prayers, beliefs and notions associated with these incomplete teachings, emphasizing that enlightenment can be attained only by devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the complete teaching found in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws.
For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the West, slander caused by attachment to provisional Buddhist teachings does not pose the problem that it did for people of thirteenth-century Japan. Nevertheless, we may still carry with us various attitudes, outlooks or other habits of thought and behavior incompatible with what the Daishonin teaches us about faith in the absolute power of the Gohonzon and our own Buddha nature.
For example, we may fall into thinking that we cannot be happy until others change, or we may expect some outside force to magically solve our problems. Since mistaken attitudes of this sort will hinder our development, when we recognize them in ourselves, we should strive to "honestly discard" them and "chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as the Daishonin teaches, relying more fully on the power of our faith in the Gohonzon. Then we can more fully manifest the unimaginable potential we have within, establishing good fortune both for this life and the life to come.
Our sincere faith, the Daishonin says, will allow us to "enter the Treasure Tower of the Gohonzon." This means to enter the world of Buddhahood. In this connection, we can note something very interesting about the aspect of the Gohonzon itself. Because the Gohonzon is inscribed on paper or wood, it appears flat, but the ceremony it depicts is three-dimensional, centered around Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, as we sit facing the Gohonzon, the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho are facing outward, toward us, while Bodhisattva Jogyo and the other representatives of the nine worlds are facing in the same direction as ourselves.
In the act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we take part in the ceremony with them and enter the Gohonzon's world. The Buddha's life, which is embodied in the ceremony of the Gohonzon, and which wells up within us and our environment as we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, fills the entire universe. It is indeed "a vast ocean" as T'ien-t'ai says. But without faith in the Gohonzon -that is, without actually chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo - we cannot enter and experience it.
In studying this part of the Gosho, it may be helpful to remember that the development of faith is an ongoing process. No one has unwavering faith from the outset. At the very beginning of our practice, faith might perhaps be thought of as the spontaneous will to trust or to believe, or simply as the expectation or even the hope that life will become happier as a result of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This spontaneous will to believe is inherent in all people, a natural expression of the Buddha nature. In this sense, even the newest member may be said to have faith. As we continue to chant daimoku, we receive benefit and experience our prayers being answered, and our faith accordingly deepens to include the aspect of conviction in the truth and power of the Gohonzon. This conviction in turn impels us toward further efforts in practice and study. Over the months and years, our conviction deepens toward absolute faith, the faith of which Nichikan Shonin says, "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."
Nichiren Daishonin fully understood that developing one's faith is a lifelong process. That is why he continually urged even strong believers to further deepen their faith. As he writes in the Gosho, "The Embankments of Faith," "You must bail the sea water of doubt and slander out of the ship of your life and solidify the embankments of your faith" (MW-I, 159). As anyone who has ever sailed knows well, bailing demands persistent effort.
We need not torment ourselves with guilt or anxiety because we experience doubts or feel insincere from time to time; rather, the important thing is that we continue striving to resolve our doubts through earnest prayer and action. In this way, we can steadily deepen our faith.
It is also important to bear in mind here that faith deepens through the specific actions of practice and study. Nichiren Daishonin touches on the relationship of these three fundamental elements in citing the passage from Miao-lo's Guketsu: "To 'believe in the perfect teaching' means to awaken faith through doctrine and make faith the basis of practice." Practice and study are integral to faith.
The Daishonin himself makes this point in a famous passage from "The True Entity of Life": "Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself, you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith" (MW-1, 95).
Faith does not exist as an abstract mental state, but finds expression in practice, both for ourselves and for others, and in study, which in turn serve to deepen faith. Our deepened faith then motivates us to make more serious efforts in practice and study. In this process, our enlightenment emerges.
With the two examples from Chinese history, the Daishonin teaches us that faith, though itself invisible, is a very real power that produces visible results. The first story concerns the founder of the Later Han dynasty. Once, when the future emperor was still struggling for power, he was retreating from a battlefield in the dead of winter, hard pressed by the enemy.
Knowing that a wide river lay ahead, he dispatched his most reliable captain to see if it could be forded. The officer found the river uncrossable, but, not having the heart to convey such devastating news, he reported that it was frozen over. According to tradition, because the future emperor had complete faith in this report, when he arrived at the river with his army he found it solidly frozen and crossed in safety.
The second story is known to many of us from the Gosho "General Stone Tiger." General Li Kuang of the Former Han dynasty, believing a boulder in the grass to be the tiger that had killed his father, shot an arrow into solid rock. These two stories teach that the power of faith can make the impossible a reality "Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism" the Daishonin says, because it is based on an immutable Law.
Especially when tired or discouraged, it may be human to wonder at times if we can ever overcome our problems, or if the great task of kosen-rufu can ever be achieved. However, when we give in to such doubts, we ourselves limit our capacity to manifest the Gohonzon's boundless benefit. The greatness of faith lies in its power to let us see beyond the limitations and sufferings of the present into the unlimited and joyous future that we are creating through our prayer and our action based upon it.
The Daishonin urges us to use our given circumstances, whatever they may be, as an opportunity to strengthen our faith in the Gohonzon, so that we can more fully manifest our Buddha nature and thus bring a more enlightened reality into being.
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Embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting.. will give you more details later
EMBRACING THE GOHONZON IS IN ITSELF ENLIGHTENMENT
Nichiren Daishonin taught that in the Latter Day of the Law, embracing the Gohonzon is in itself enlightenment (Yuji soku kanjin), and that this single practice contains the benefit of all other good practices. As he writes in "The True Object of Worship": "Shakyamuni's practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the single phrase, Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in that phrase, we shall naturally be granted the same benefits as he was" (MW-I, 64).
The "five practices" mentioned above are to embrace, read, recite, teach and transcribe the Lotus Sutra. The "Hosshi" chapter says that one who embraces, reads, recites, teaches or transcribes even a single verse of the sutra will without fail attain Buddhahood. In the Latter Day of the Law the Daishonin declares, all five practices are contained in the single practice of "embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo," which can be understood to mean practice as the Buddha taught - exerting ourselves in the three aspects of practice: faith, practice (for oneself and others) and study.
"The practice which appears in the Jinriki chapter" refers to a passage from the twenty-first chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which reads: "After my death, one should embrace this sutra. Concerning that person's attainment of Buddhahood, there can assuredly be no doubts." The Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) interprets this as follows: "It is clear from this passage that in the Latter Day of the Law, when the Pure Law has become obscured and lost, Bodhisattva Jogyo will make his advent and, abbreviating four of the five practices, will attain Buddhahood by the single practice of embracing the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo."
As the original Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the "five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" in concrete form as the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws. Embracing the Gohonzon is a universally feasible practice that anyone, regardless of ability or circumstances, can carry out. In this way, he brought the possibility of attaining Buddhahood within reach of all people. Having been fortunate enough to meet this teaching, we can have full confidence that so long as we adhere to the single practice of embracing the Gohonzon and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin teaches, we are certain to attain enlightenment in this lifetime.
Gosho Study: "THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
"THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
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Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself... the unchanging reality which reigns over all life's functions.
THE SUPREME POTENTIAL LIES WITHIN US
This is a very well-known and important passage. In it, the Daishonin dispels the idea that Buddhahood exists anywhere apart from our own lives and the reality in which we live. Herein lies the greatness of his Buddhism, which is unsurpassed in bridging the gap between ultimate truth and the ordinary person.
The Gohonzon, as we have stated, embodies the life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. However, the fundamental Law of life to which the Daishonin was enlightened also exists within ourselves. Thus there is no essential difference between the Buddha's life and the life of common mortals. There is, however, a definite difference in terms of life-condition. The Buddha realizes that one's own life is the Mystic Law, while common mortals, blinded by delusion, do not. As the Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon so that we, common mortals, could awaken to the Mystic Law within ourselves and attain the same life-condition as himself. Because his aim was to awaken us to the entity of our own lives, he admonishes, "Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself." If we thought of the Gohonzon as some external or supernatural power that we must beseech for help, that would hinder us from discovering the ultimate truth within ourselves. The Daishonin therefore cautions us against this attitude in several Gosho. In "On Attaining Buddhahood," for example, he writes:
Even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching.... Therefore, when you chant the Mystic Law and recite the Lotus Sutra, you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself. (MW-I, 3-4)
To give an analogy, no matter how perfect our eyesight, we cannot see our own faces. Only when we look into a mirror can we see what we look like. Similarly, being common mortals of limited wisdom, we cannot see our own Buddha nature. However, when we face the mirror of the Gohonzon, we can discover the treasure of Buddhahood (the Gohonzon) within.
Herein we find a significant point of difference between the Daishonin's Buddhism and those religious teachings in which people are taught to depend on supernatural powers outside themselves, either begging their aid or seeking to avert their wrath. Historically, this perceived gap between people and their object of worship has not only blinded them to the truth within their own lives but opened the way for those claiming to be intermediaries of the deity to gain and exercise power over the lives of others. Nichiren Daishonin's teaching denies any essential gap between human beings and the ultimate reality. Instead, it teaches that the supreme potential lies within us and shows us how to manifest it "within our mortal flesh" by embracing the Gohonzon.
The Gohonzon is the sole, perfect manifestation of the Mystic Law in our environment, placed there by the compassion and wisdom of Nichiren Daishonin. When we fuse our lives with the Gohonzon by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can witness the reality of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo emerging in our own lives, in both their internal and external dimensions. This happens by what Buddhism terms "the interaction of the four powers." The Gohonzon embodies the powers of the Buddha and the Law, which are absolute. However, these powers can be activated only by our own powers of faith and practice. By believing in and chanting daimoku to the Gohonzon, we can manifest its power in every aspect of our lives.
The fusion of our lives with the Gohonzon can be described as the tapping of the nine consciousness. The doctrine of the nine consciousnesses represents a Buddhist analysis of the functions of mind. Briefly, the first five consciousnesses correspond to the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness, mind, integrates the impressions of the five senses into coherent images, so that one can make judgments about the outer world.
The seventh or mano-consciousness is the realm of abstract thought. Spanning both conscious and unconscious realms, it also entails attachment to self extending even below the conscious level.
The eighth, alaya-consciousness, is an unconscious realm where all experiences of the present and past lifetimes - karma - are stored. This consciousness undergoes change from one moment to the next as one continually performs new actions, whether positive or negative. The karmic content of the alaya-consciousness affects the perceptions of the first seven consciousnesses, and these perceptions in turn predispose us to our own particular karmic patterns. The alaya-consciousness forms the framework of individual existence and is that which undergoes the cycle of birth and death.
Some earlier Buddhist traditions, such as the Consciousness-Only school, regard the alaya-consciousness as the basis of all life's functions. However, the T'ien-t'ai school posited a ninth consciousness, the amala-consciousness or "fundamental pure consciousness" lying beneath the alaya-consciousness. Untainted by karmic accretions, it is the imperishable, unchanging realm of the universal Buddha nature, endowed with the four virtues of true self, eternity, purity and happiness.
In saying, "The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness " Nichiren Daishonin emphasizes that the potential for Buddhahood exists within us. He taught that by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can gain access to this ninth consciousness, the ultimate depth of life. Activated by our daimoku, its light, so to speak, floods upward to illuminate the workings of the other eight conscious times, so that the entire interlocking network of causes and effects forming our individual existence comes to be based on enlightenment. By tapping the Buddha nature or the ninth consciousness within, we can fundamentally change our karma for the better and establish an unshakable state of life.
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To be "endowed with the Ten Worlds" means .... .. Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood"
THROUGH FAITH, ONE CAN ACQUIRE BUDDHA WISDOM AND ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT
The Gohonzon is called a mandala, a Sanskrit word translated into Chinese and meaning "perfectly endowed" or "cluster of blessings." Here the Daishonin interprets these expressions to mean that the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds. As mentioned above, the various figures inscribed to the right and left of "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren" in the center of the Gohonzon represent the ten worlds of the original Buddha's life.
For example, Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas represent his world of Buddhahood; the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as well as the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching, such as Fugen and Monju, represent his world of Bodhisattva; Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the two vehicles; the various Buddhist gods, the world of Heaven; the Ashura king, the world of Anger; and Devadatta, the world of Hell. All ten worlds of the Daishonin's life are present without exception.
Earlier in the Gosho, the Daishonin writes: "Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship" (MW-I, 212). Mandalas used as objects of worship in other sects, such as Shingon, depict only Buddhas and bodhisattvas, reflecting the shallow, incomplete view that we rid ourselves of the lower states when we attain enlightenment. But the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds.
The Daishonin taught that each of the ten worlds has all ten within itself, meaning that even the so-called "evil paths" of Hell, Hunger, and Animality contain the potential for enlightenment. The ten worlds of the original Buddha's life embodied in the Gohonzon are all "illuminated by the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" and work in an enlightened way to create value and lead others to happiness.
The great difference between the Daishonin and us is that, left to our own devices, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo would never be at the center of our lives. A graphic representation of our lives might show the Ashura king in the center, indicating Anger, or the demon Kishimojin, indicating Hunger. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo might be somewhere off in a corner, so to speak.
But through the practice of gongyo and daimoku, we bring Nam-myoho-renge-kyo back to the center of our lives. Then, all our inherent states of life from Hell to Buddhahood come to be illuminated by the Mystic Law, rather than being shrouded by delusion and out of harmony with one another.
Similar to the way in which an ordinary piece of metal becomes magnetized through repeated contact with a magnet, as we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, our ten worlds align themselves with the ten worlds of the original Buddha's life and begin working in the most positive way to benefit both ourselves and others.
In his commentary on "The True Object of Worship," Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest of Nichiren Shoshu, writes, "If only one believes in the Gohonzon and chants the Mystic Law, then the ten worlds of his or her own life will become those of the object of worship."
The fusion with the Gohonzon that enables our innate Buddha nature to well forth is possible only through our faith. Thus the Daishonin admonishes, "This Gohonzon is found in faith alone." Provisional sutras often stressed the development of wisdom as the key to attaining Buddhahood. However, in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's enlightenment is shown to be so profound that no ordinary wisdom could possibly grasp it.
The opening passage of the "Hoben," or second chapter, of the Lotus Sutra, which we recite every morning and evening during gongyo declares: Sho-but chi-e. jinjin muryo. Go chi-e mon. Nange nannyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. Shofu no chi. (The wisdom of all Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable. The portal to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Neither men of Learning (shomon) nor men of Realization (engaku) can comprehend it.) - let alone, of course, common mortals. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra stresses faith as the key to attaining enlightenment.
Even Shariputra, the Buddha's most outstanding shomon disciple famed as the "foremost in wisdom" could attain enlightenment only when he took faith in the Buddha's teaching. The third chapter, "Hiyu," reads: "Even you, Shariputra, where this sutra is concerned, gained entrance through faith. How much more so the other shomon disciples!" Thus the Lotus Sutra emphasizes, "Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood."
Nichiren Daishonin also teaches the principle of "gaining wisdom through faith," which means that through faith, one can acquire the Buddha wisdom and attain enlightenment. In the Gosho "Shishin Gohon Sho" (The Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice) he writes: "And because our wisdom is inadequate, he teaches us to substitute faith, making this single word 'faith' the foundation.... While faith is the cause for wisdom" (mw-6, 216).
From another perspective, we can say that faith in the Gohonzon is itself an expression of one's innate Buddha nature. As Nichiren Daishonin says in "The True Object of Worship," "That common mortals born in the Latter Day of the Law can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of Buddhahood is present in the world of Humanity" (MW-I, 53).
And Nichikan Shonin says in his "Sanju Hiden Sho" (Threefold Secret Teaching), "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."
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Since Nichiren's disciples, both priests and laymen,... Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism.
FAITH DEEPENS THROUGH THE SPECIFIC ACTIONS OF PRACTICE AND STUDY
This portion of the Gosho elaborates from various angles on the fundamental importance of faith, citing T'ien-t'ai's Maka Shikan, Miao-lo's commentary on it, and also the Chinese classics. First, the Daishonin indicates that an important component of faith is the ability to "honestly discard the provisional teachings." The provisional teachings are those expounded before the Lotus Sutra, which reveal only partial aspects of the truth and were valid only during the Former and Middle Days of the Law - a relatively short time of human history.
In contrast, the Lotus Sutra, which is called the "round" or perfect teaching (engyo), reveals the truth in its entirety and is valid for all time. In inscribing the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the truth implicit in the Lotus Sutra in practicable form for this, the Latter Day of the Law.
To cling to the provisional teachings once this true teaching has been revealed, he taught, is to commit slander; in effect, we would be mistaking the part for the whole and thus base ourselves on a distorted view of life.
The Daishonin's contemporary followers came from other sects of Buddhism, which were based on the provisional sutras. He adamantly insisted that they forsake all misleading prayers, beliefs and notions associated with these incomplete teachings, emphasizing that enlightenment can be attained only by devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the complete teaching found in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws.
For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the West, slander caused by attachment to provisional Buddhist teachings does not pose the problem that it did for people of thirteenth-century Japan. Nevertheless, we may still carry with us various attitudes, outlooks or other habits of thought and behavior incompatible with what the Daishonin teaches us about faith in the absolute power of the Gohonzon and our own Buddha nature.
For example, we may fall into thinking that we cannot be happy until others change, or we may expect some outside force to magically solve our problems. Since mistaken attitudes of this sort will hinder our development, when we recognize them in ourselves, we should strive to "honestly discard" them and "chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as the Daishonin teaches, relying more fully on the power of our faith in the Gohonzon. Then we can more fully manifest the unimaginable potential we have within, establishing good fortune both for this life and the life to come.
Our sincere faith, the Daishonin says, will allow us to "enter the Treasure Tower of the Gohonzon." This means to enter the world of Buddhahood. In this connection, we can note something very interesting about the aspect of the Gohonzon itself. Because the Gohonzon is inscribed on paper or wood, it appears flat, but the ceremony it depicts is three-dimensional, centered around Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, as we sit facing the Gohonzon, the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho are facing outward, toward us, while Bodhisattva Jogyo and the other representatives of the nine worlds are facing in the same direction as ourselves.
In the act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we take part in the ceremony with them and enter the Gohonzon's world. The Buddha's life, which is embodied in the ceremony of the Gohonzon, and which wells up within us and our environment as we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, fills the entire universe. It is indeed "a vast ocean" as T'ien-t'ai says. But without faith in the Gohonzon -that is, without actually chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo - we cannot enter and experience it.
In studying this part of the Gosho, it may be helpful to remember that the development of faith is an ongoing process. No one has unwavering faith from the outset. At the very beginning of our practice, faith might perhaps be thought of as the spontaneous will to trust or to believe, or simply as the expectation or even the hope that life will become happier as a result of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This spontaneous will to believe is inherent in all people, a natural expression of the Buddha nature. In this sense, even the newest member may be said to have faith. As we continue to chant daimoku, we receive benefit and experience our prayers being answered, and our faith accordingly deepens to include the aspect of conviction in the truth and power of the Gohonzon. This conviction in turn impels us toward further efforts in practice and study. Over the months and years, our conviction deepens toward absolute faith, the faith of which Nichikan Shonin says, "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."
Nichiren Daishonin fully understood that developing one's faith is a lifelong process. That is why he continually urged even strong believers to further deepen their faith. As he writes in the Gosho, "The Embankments of Faith," "You must bail the sea water of doubt and slander out of the ship of your life and solidify the embankments of your faith" (MW-I, 159). As anyone who has ever sailed knows well, bailing demands persistent effort.
We need not torment ourselves with guilt or anxiety because we experience doubts or feel insincere from time to time; rather, the important thing is that we continue striving to resolve our doubts through earnest prayer and action. In this way, we can steadily deepen our faith.
It is also important to bear in mind here that faith deepens through the specific actions of practice and study. Nichiren Daishonin touches on the relationship of these three fundamental elements in citing the passage from Miao-lo's Guketsu: "To 'believe in the perfect teaching' means to awaken faith through doctrine and make faith the basis of practice." Practice and study are integral to faith.
The Daishonin himself makes this point in a famous passage from "The True Entity of Life": "Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself, you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith" (MW-1, 95).
Faith does not exist as an abstract mental state, but finds expression in practice, both for ourselves and for others, and in study, which in turn serve to deepen faith. Our deepened faith then motivates us to make more serious efforts in practice and study. In this process, our enlightenment emerges.
With the two examples from Chinese history, the Daishonin teaches us that faith, though itself invisible, is a very real power that produces visible results. The first story concerns the founder of the Later Han dynasty. Once, when the future emperor was still struggling for power, he was retreating from a battlefield in the dead of winter, hard pressed by the enemy.
Knowing that a wide river lay ahead, he dispatched his most reliable captain to see if it could be forded. The officer found the river uncrossable, but, not having the heart to convey such devastating news, he reported that it was frozen over. According to tradition, because the future emperor had complete faith in this report, when he arrived at the river with his army he found it solidly frozen and crossed in safety.
The second story is known to many of us from the Gosho "General Stone Tiger." General Li Kuang of the Former Han dynasty, believing a boulder in the grass to be the tiger that had killed his father, shot an arrow into solid rock. These two stories teach that the power of faith can make the impossible a reality "Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism" the Daishonin says, because it is based on an immutable Law.
Especially when tired or discouraged, it may be human to wonder at times if we can ever overcome our problems, or if the great task of kosen-rufu can ever be achieved. However, when we give in to such doubts, we ourselves limit our capacity to manifest the Gohonzon's boundless benefit. The greatness of faith lies in its power to let us see beyond the limitations and sufferings of the present into the unlimited and joyous future that we are creating through our prayer and our action based upon it.
The Daishonin urges us to use our given circumstances, whatever they may be, as an opportunity to strengthen our faith in the Gohonzon, so that we can more fully manifest our Buddha nature and thus bring a more enlightened reality into being.
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Embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting.. will give you more details later
EMBRACING THE GOHONZON IS IN ITSELF ENLIGHTENMENT
Nichiren Daishonin taught that in the Latter Day of the Law, embracing the Gohonzon is in itself enlightenment (Yuji soku kanjin), and that this single practice contains the benefit of all other good practices. As he writes in "The True Object of Worship": "Shakyamuni's practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the single phrase, Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in that phrase, we shall naturally be granted the same benefits as he was" (MW-I, 64).
The "five practices" mentioned above are to embrace, read, recite, teach and transcribe the Lotus Sutra. The "Hosshi" chapter says that one who embraces, reads, recites, teaches or transcribes even a single verse of the sutra will without fail attain Buddhahood. In the Latter Day of the Law the Daishonin declares, all five practices are contained in the single practice of "embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo," which can be understood to mean practice as the Buddha taught - exerting ourselves in the three aspects of practice: faith, practice (for oneself and others) and study.
"The practice which appears in the Jinriki chapter" refers to a passage from the twenty-first chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which reads: "After my death, one should embrace this sutra. Concerning that person's attainment of Buddhahood, there can assuredly be no doubts." The Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) interprets this as follows: "It is clear from this passage that in the Latter Day of the Law, when the Pure Law has become obscured and lost, Bodhisattva Jogyo will make his advent and, abbreviating four of the five practices, will attain Buddhahood by the single practice of embracing the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo."
As the original Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the "five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" in concrete form as the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws. Embracing the Gohonzon is a universally feasible practice that anyone, regardless of ability or circumstances, can carry out. In this way, he brought the possibility of attaining Buddhahood within reach of all people. Having been fortunate enough to meet this teaching, we can have full confidence that so long as we adhere to the single practice of embracing the Gohonzon and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin teaches, we are certain to attain enlightenment in this lifetime.
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To cling to the provisional teachings once this true teaching has been revealed, he taught, is to commit slander; in effect, we would be mistaking the part for the whole and thus base ourselves on a distorted view of life.
The Daishonin's contemporary followers came from other sects of Buddhism, which were based on the provisional sutras. He adamantly insisted that they forsake all misleading prayers, beliefs and notions associated with these incomplete teachings, emphasizing that enlightenment can be attained only by devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the complete teaching found in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws.
For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the West, slander caused by attachment to provisional Buddhist teachings does not pose the problem that it did for people of thirteenth-century Japan. Nevertheless, we may still carry with us various attitudes, outlooks or other habits of thought and behavior incompatible with what the Daishonin teaches us about faith in the absolute power of the Gohonzon and our own Buddha nature.
For example, we may fall into thinking that we cannot be happy until others change, or we may expect some outside force to magically solve our problems. Since mistaken attitudes of this sort will hinder our development, when we recognize them in ourselves, we should strive to "honestly discard" them and "chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as the Daishonin teaches, relying more fully on the power of our faith in the Gohonzon. Then we can more fully manifest the unimaginable potential we have within, establishing good fortune both for this life and the life to come.
The Daishonin's contemporary followers came from other sects of Buddhism, which were based on the provisional sutras. He adamantly insisted that they forsake all misleading prayers, beliefs and notions associated with these incomplete teachings, emphasizing that enlightenment can be attained only by devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the complete teaching found in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws.
For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the West, slander caused by attachment to provisional Buddhist teachings does not pose the problem that it did for people of thirteenth-century Japan. Nevertheless, we may still carry with us various attitudes, outlooks or other habits of thought and behavior incompatible with what the Daishonin teaches us about faith in the absolute power of the Gohonzon and our own Buddha nature.
For example, we may fall into thinking that we cannot be happy until others change, or we may expect some outside force to magically solve our problems. Since mistaken attitudes of this sort will hinder our development, when we recognize them in ourselves, we should strive to "honestly discard" them and "chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as the Daishonin teaches, relying more fully on the power of our faith in the Gohonzon. Then we can more fully manifest the unimaginable potential we have within, establishing good fortune both for this life and the life to come.
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Thanks PTD
Thanks PTD
What a wonderful post to wake up to on sunday morning. To know that it just takes our faith, and to read it again strengthens our resolve to practice and study.We are so fortunate to be born in the Latter Day. So fortunate to have discovered the Gohonzon.
nam myoho renge kyo!
Thanks PTD
What a wonderful post to wake up to on sunday morning. To know that it just takes our faith, and to read it again strengthens our resolve to practice and study.We are so fortunate to be born in the Latter Day. So fortunate to have discovered the Gohonzon.
nam myoho renge kyo!
Dude--You are a Buddha! Your perfect attitude will lead you, without fail, to perfect enlightenment (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi) in this lifetime. The others that listen to, and are inspired by your example, are very fortunate to have found such a noble leader. You must not fail them! Never regress!
Forward! And from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your inspiration!
Thomas
Forward! And from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your inspiration!
Thomas
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Practice
Practice
A Practice for Revitalization
When we do Gongyo and chant daimoku, we conduct a ceremony in which we praise the Gohonzon and the great Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. On one level, it could be said that Gongyo is a poem or a song of the highest and utmost praise for the Buddha and for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the fundamental law of the universe. At the same time, when we do Gongyo, we praise the eternal life of the universe and the world of Buddhahood in our own lives.
President Toda once said:
When we turn to the east and salute the Buddhist gods, then and there the Buddhist gods within our own hearts soar out into the universe. Then, when we face the Gohonzon during the second prayer, the Buddhist gods all take their seats behind us.
If I were to salute the Buddhist gods right now, then, regardless of whether it was night or day, they would all take their seats behind me and salute the Gohonzon. And these Buddhist gods would all work to bring about what I desire.
When we worship the Gohonzon, right then and there the doors of the microcosm within us open completely to the macrocosm, and we can experience a sense of serene and great happiness, as though gazing out over the entire universe. We sense tremendous fulfillment and joy, and gain access to a great and inexhaustible source of wisdom. The microcosm that has been embraced by the universe in turn embraces the universe.
Gongyo is an invigorating "ceremony of time without beginning" that revitalizes us from the very depths of our being. Therefore, the important thing is to do Gongyo each day filled with a feeling of rhythm and cadence --- like a horse galloping through the heavens. I hope you will do Gongyo when you are relaxed and refreshed in both body and mind, and that you will perform this practice in such a manner that you can experience great satisfaction and fulfillment.
Practicing the "King of Sutras" Makes People Strong and Wise
The Lotus is the "king of sutras," the "scripture that calls out to all people." It is a scripture "living" right now; it embodies the Buddha's compassion and egalitarian outlook. It is a "renaissance scripture," overflowing with the spirit of revitalization, that makes human beings strong and wise. And the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters are the "eye" of the sutra.
No practice is as universally accessible to all people as the practice that Nichiren Daishonin set forth of reading the sutra and chanting daimoku. This is the Buddhist practice most accessible to all people.
During the Daishonin's lifetime, both priests and lay people assiduously recited the sutra and chanted daimoku. In modern society, however, for many people in Japan, sutras have become something distant and remote; the only exposure that most people in Japan have to the sutras is when they hear a priest intoning them at a funeral.
This state of affairs, this tendency to depend on priests --- which has come to be regarded as so natural that no one questions it --- has produced a spiritual foundation of blind obedience to religious authority. And it is the "fundamental evil" that has allowed members of the clergy to grow arrogant and decadent.
Today, however, as a result of the development of the Soka Gakkai International, people not only in Japan but in countries throughout the world are joyously chanting the Mystic Law and reciting the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters. This is a grand undertaking wholly without precedent in the history of Buddhism. This represents the great religious revolution of the 20th century.
Nichiren Daishonin's "people's Buddhism" is generating a great light of peace and happiness throughout the world. Millions are experiencing the beneficial power of the Mystic Law and are acting out the wonderful drama of their human revolution. More than anything else, it is this fact that most eloquently attests to the correctness of the SGI, which carries on the spirit of the Lotus Sutra in the present age.
Nam myoho renge kyo
Practice
A Practice for Revitalization
When we do Gongyo and chant daimoku, we conduct a ceremony in which we praise the Gohonzon and the great Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. On one level, it could be said that Gongyo is a poem or a song of the highest and utmost praise for the Buddha and for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the fundamental law of the universe. At the same time, when we do Gongyo, we praise the eternal life of the universe and the world of Buddhahood in our own lives.
President Toda once said:
When we turn to the east and salute the Buddhist gods, then and there the Buddhist gods within our own hearts soar out into the universe. Then, when we face the Gohonzon during the second prayer, the Buddhist gods all take their seats behind us.
If I were to salute the Buddhist gods right now, then, regardless of whether it was night or day, they would all take their seats behind me and salute the Gohonzon. And these Buddhist gods would all work to bring about what I desire.
When we worship the Gohonzon, right then and there the doors of the microcosm within us open completely to the macrocosm, and we can experience a sense of serene and great happiness, as though gazing out over the entire universe. We sense tremendous fulfillment and joy, and gain access to a great and inexhaustible source of wisdom. The microcosm that has been embraced by the universe in turn embraces the universe.
Gongyo is an invigorating "ceremony of time without beginning" that revitalizes us from the very depths of our being. Therefore, the important thing is to do Gongyo each day filled with a feeling of rhythm and cadence --- like a horse galloping through the heavens. I hope you will do Gongyo when you are relaxed and refreshed in both body and mind, and that you will perform this practice in such a manner that you can experience great satisfaction and fulfillment.
Practicing the "King of Sutras" Makes People Strong and Wise
The Lotus is the "king of sutras," the "scripture that calls out to all people." It is a scripture "living" right now; it embodies the Buddha's compassion and egalitarian outlook. It is a "renaissance scripture," overflowing with the spirit of revitalization, that makes human beings strong and wise. And the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters are the "eye" of the sutra.
No practice is as universally accessible to all people as the practice that Nichiren Daishonin set forth of reading the sutra and chanting daimoku. This is the Buddhist practice most accessible to all people.
During the Daishonin's lifetime, both priests and lay people assiduously recited the sutra and chanted daimoku. In modern society, however, for many people in Japan, sutras have become something distant and remote; the only exposure that most people in Japan have to the sutras is when they hear a priest intoning them at a funeral.
This state of affairs, this tendency to depend on priests --- which has come to be regarded as so natural that no one questions it --- has produced a spiritual foundation of blind obedience to religious authority. And it is the "fundamental evil" that has allowed members of the clergy to grow arrogant and decadent.
Today, however, as a result of the development of the Soka Gakkai International, people not only in Japan but in countries throughout the world are joyously chanting the Mystic Law and reciting the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters. This is a grand undertaking wholly without precedent in the history of Buddhism. This represents the great religious revolution of the 20th century.
Nichiren Daishonin's "people's Buddhism" is generating a great light of peace and happiness throughout the world. Millions are experiencing the beneficial power of the Mystic Law and are acting out the wonderful drama of their human revolution. More than anything else, it is this fact that most eloquently attests to the correctness of the SGI, which carries on the spirit of the Lotus Sutra in the present age.
Nam myoho renge kyo
[The following Gosho and reference material are from the SGI entrance level study material available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/lib...Study/Entrance/
The text of the following Gosho is from the original English language translations that were released in the U.S. as a seven volume series by the SGI called “The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin.”
The page 3 WND translation of this Gosho is available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/3.html
For comparative reference, here is the first paragraph of the Gosho “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime” found in the WND translation:
“IF you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life.”]
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/lib...Study/Entrance/
The text of the following Gosho is from the original English language translations that were released in the U.S. as a seven volume series by the SGI called “The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin.”
The page 3 WND translation of this Gosho is available at:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/3.html
For comparative reference, here is the first paragraph of the Gosho “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime” found in the WND translation:
“IF you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life.”]
On Attaining Buddhahood
On Attaining Buddhahood
- Issho Jobutsu Sho –
If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you. Myoho-renge-kyo is the king of sutras, flawless in both letter and principle. Its words are the reality of life, and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (Myoho). It is called the Mystic Law because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena. That is why this sutra is the wisdom of all Buddhas.
Life at each moment encompasses both body and spirit and both self and environment of all sentient beings in every condition of life (1), as well as insentient beings -- plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching. "Inferior teachings" means those other than this sutra, which are all provisional and transient. No provisional teaching leads directly to enlightenment, and without the direct path to enlightenment you cannot attain Buddhahood, even if you practice lifetime after lifetime for countless aeons. Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime is then impossible. Therefore, when you chant the Mystic Law and recite the Lotus Sutra, you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself.
You must never seek any of Shakyamuni's teachings or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself. Your mastery of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of mortal sufferings in the least unless you perceive the nature of your own life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, any discipline or good deed will be meaningless. For example, a poor man cannot earn a penny just by counting his neighbor's wealth, even if he does so night and day. That is why Miao-lo states, "Unless one perceives the nature of his life, he cannot eradicate his evil karma." (2) He means here that unless one perceives the nature of his life, his practice will become an endless, painful austerity. Miao-lo therefore condemns such students of Buddhism as non-Buddhist. He refers to the passage in the Maka Shikan, "Although they study Buddhism, their views revert to those of non-Buddhists."
Whether you chant the Buddha's name (3), recite the sutra or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits in your life. With this conviction you should put your faith into practice. For example, the Jomyo Sutra says the Buddha's enlightenment is to be found in human life, thus showing that common mortals can attain Buddhahood and that the sufferings of birth and death can be transformed into nirvana. It further states that if the minds of the people 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.
It is the same with a Buddha and a common mortal. While deluded, one is called a common mortal, but once enlightened, he is called a Buddha. Even a tarnished mirror will shine like a jewel if it is polished. A mind which presently is clouded by illusions originating from the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but once it is polished it will become clear, reflecting the enlightenment of immutable truth. Arouse deep faith and polish your mirror night and day. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
What then does myo signify? It is simply the mysterious nature of our lives from moment to moment, which the mind cannot comprehend nor words express. When you look into your own mind at any moment, you perceive neither color nor form to verify that it exists. Yet you still cannot say it does not exist, for many differing thoughts continually occur to you. Life is indeed an elusive reality that transcends both the words and concepts of existence and nonexistence. It is neither existence nor nonexistence, yet exhibits the qualities of both. It is the mystic entity of the Middle Way that is the reality of all things. Myo is the name given to the mystic nature of life, and ho to its manifestations.
Renge, the lotus flower, symbolizes the wonder of this Law. Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others. That realization is the mystic kyo, or sutra. It is the king of sutras, the direct path to enlightenment, for it explains that the entity of our minds, from which spring both good and evil, is in fact the entity of the Mystic Law. If you have deep faith in this truth and chant Myoho-renge-kyo, you are certain to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. That is why the sutra states, "After my death, you must embrace this sutra. Those who do so shall travel the straight road to Buddhahood."(4) Never doubt in the slightest, but keep your faith and attain enlightenment in this lifetime. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Respectfully,
Nichiren
Footnotes:
1. In every condition of life: In any of the Ten Worlds, or ichinen sanzen.
2. Maka Shikan Bugyoden Guketsu, vol. 4.
3. Buddha's name: As used here, it denotes Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
4. Lotus Sutra, Chap. 21.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5.
On Attaining Buddhahood
- Issho Jobutsu Sho –
If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you. Myoho-renge-kyo is the king of sutras, flawless in both letter and principle. Its words are the reality of life, and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (Myoho). It is called the Mystic Law because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena. That is why this sutra is the wisdom of all Buddhas.
Life at each moment encompasses both body and spirit and both self and environment of all sentient beings in every condition of life (1), as well as insentient beings -- plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching. "Inferior teachings" means those other than this sutra, which are all provisional and transient. No provisional teaching leads directly to enlightenment, and without the direct path to enlightenment you cannot attain Buddhahood, even if you practice lifetime after lifetime for countless aeons. Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime is then impossible. Therefore, when you chant the Mystic Law and recite the Lotus Sutra, you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself.
You must never seek any of Shakyamuni's teachings or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself. Your mastery of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of mortal sufferings in the least unless you perceive the nature of your own life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, any discipline or good deed will be meaningless. For example, a poor man cannot earn a penny just by counting his neighbor's wealth, even if he does so night and day. That is why Miao-lo states, "Unless one perceives the nature of his life, he cannot eradicate his evil karma." (2) He means here that unless one perceives the nature of his life, his practice will become an endless, painful austerity. Miao-lo therefore condemns such students of Buddhism as non-Buddhist. He refers to the passage in the Maka Shikan, "Although they study Buddhism, their views revert to those of non-Buddhists."
Whether you chant the Buddha's name (3), recite the sutra or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits in your life. With this conviction you should put your faith into practice. For example, the Jomyo Sutra says the Buddha's enlightenment is to be found in human life, thus showing that common mortals can attain Buddhahood and that the sufferings of birth and death can be transformed into nirvana. It further states that if the minds of the people 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.
It is the same with a Buddha and a common mortal. While deluded, one is called a common mortal, but once enlightened, he is called a Buddha. Even a tarnished mirror will shine like a jewel if it is polished. A mind which presently is clouded by illusions originating from the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but once it is polished it will become clear, reflecting the enlightenment of immutable truth. Arouse deep faith and polish your mirror night and day. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
What then does myo signify? It is simply the mysterious nature of our lives from moment to moment, which the mind cannot comprehend nor words express. When you look into your own mind at any moment, you perceive neither color nor form to verify that it exists. Yet you still cannot say it does not exist, for many differing thoughts continually occur to you. Life is indeed an elusive reality that transcends both the words and concepts of existence and nonexistence. It is neither existence nor nonexistence, yet exhibits the qualities of both. It is the mystic entity of the Middle Way that is the reality of all things. Myo is the name given to the mystic nature of life, and ho to its manifestations.
Renge, the lotus flower, symbolizes the wonder of this Law. Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others. That realization is the mystic kyo, or sutra. It is the king of sutras, the direct path to enlightenment, for it explains that the entity of our minds, from which spring both good and evil, is in fact the entity of the Mystic Law. If you have deep faith in this truth and chant Myoho-renge-kyo, you are certain to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. That is why the sutra states, "After my death, you must embrace this sutra. Those who do so shall travel the straight road to Buddhahood."(4) Never doubt in the slightest, but keep your faith and attain enlightenment in this lifetime. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Respectfully,
Nichiren
Footnotes:
1. In every condition of life: In any of the Ten Worlds, or ichinen sanzen.
2. Maka Shikan Bugyoden Guketsu, vol. 4.
3. Buddha's name: As used here, it denotes Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
4. Lotus Sutra, Chap. 21.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, pg. 3-5.
On Attaining Buddhahood
- Issho Jobutsu Sho –
BACKGROUND:
Some two years after he first proclaimed Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren Daishonin was living in Kamakura. That city was the seat of the military government (shogunate), and this letter was addressed to an official serving there on the military tribunal. His name was Toki Jonin and he was a staunch follower of the Daishonin throughout his life. Thirty other letters, including the "Letter from Sado" and "The True Object of Worship," were addressed to him or his wife. "On Attaining Buddhahood" was written in 1255.
The letter opens with the Daishonin equating Myoho-renge-kyo, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the truth of life. Throughout history, most religions have theorized that the supreme law or being transcends the physical world. Buddhism teaches that the law and the phenomena we observe around us are inseparable. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the law of life, gives rise to all phenomena, and all phenomena are manifestations of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That is what is implied by the reference in this letter to "the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena."
According to the Jodo doctrine, this world is impure, but a magnificent, pure land lies far beyond the western horizon. This was the only paradise to which humans could aspire, and then only in death. Therefore, the title of this Gosho, which implies enlightenment in this lifetime, had a remarkably fresh ring to it.
The Daishonin frankly rejects the distinction between the Buddha and human beings by saying that there are no fundamental differences between a Buddha and a common mortal.
However, a person suffering from delusion is called a common mortal, but the same person, once enlightened, is called a Buddha. A further explanation is to be found in "The True Entity of Life": All people have the potential for Buddhahood within, and that is why "On Attaining Buddhahood" says, "You must never seek any of Shakyamuni's teachings or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself." He rejects the concept of a distant "pure land" and the condemnation of this world that it implies. A land is pure or impure only to the degree that the people who inhabit it are Pure. Both purity and impurity exist in any land and vary according to the life-condition of the population, hence the Buddhist law of the oneness of life and environment (Esho Funi)
Nichiren Daishonin then stated that the only means to rid ourselves of illusions and awaken to the unchanging truth of life is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. By so chanting we form an indissoluble bond with the life of the original Buddha, through which the precious heritage of enlightenment can flow. He next defines the literal meaning of myoho or the Mystic Law, which is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Life is eternal and continually repeats the two phases of life and death. In the manifest state (life) it exhibits the quality of "existence," and in the latent state (death) it exhibits the quality of "nonexistence. " But the true nature of life is far more profound than anything conveyed by either of those two concepts. Myo, meaning mystic, indicates the essence of life, which cannot be grasped logically or perceived through the senses. Ho, or law, indicates the manifestations of life, which function in accordance with various natural principles. The Daishonin explains that life itself is the entity of the Middle Way, which is the reality of all things - in other words, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. All these concepts, which constitute the core of his philosophy, must be pondered and then utilized in practice if we are to illuminate the innate darkness of our lives and become enlightened in this lifetime.
- Issho Jobutsu Sho –
BACKGROUND:
Some two years after he first proclaimed Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren Daishonin was living in Kamakura. That city was the seat of the military government (shogunate), and this letter was addressed to an official serving there on the military tribunal. His name was Toki Jonin and he was a staunch follower of the Daishonin throughout his life. Thirty other letters, including the "Letter from Sado" and "The True Object of Worship," were addressed to him or his wife. "On Attaining Buddhahood" was written in 1255.
The letter opens with the Daishonin equating Myoho-renge-kyo, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the truth of life. Throughout history, most religions have theorized that the supreme law or being transcends the physical world. Buddhism teaches that the law and the phenomena we observe around us are inseparable. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the law of life, gives rise to all phenomena, and all phenomena are manifestations of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That is what is implied by the reference in this letter to "the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena."
According to the Jodo doctrine, this world is impure, but a magnificent, pure land lies far beyond the western horizon. This was the only paradise to which humans could aspire, and then only in death. Therefore, the title of this Gosho, which implies enlightenment in this lifetime, had a remarkably fresh ring to it.
The Daishonin frankly rejects the distinction between the Buddha and human beings by saying that there are no fundamental differences between a Buddha and a common mortal.
However, a person suffering from delusion is called a common mortal, but the same person, once enlightened, is called a Buddha. A further explanation is to be found in "The True Entity of Life": All people have the potential for Buddhahood within, and that is why "On Attaining Buddhahood" says, "You must never seek any of Shakyamuni's teachings or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself." He rejects the concept of a distant "pure land" and the condemnation of this world that it implies. A land is pure or impure only to the degree that the people who inhabit it are Pure. Both purity and impurity exist in any land and vary according to the life-condition of the population, hence the Buddhist law of the oneness of life and environment (Esho Funi)
Nichiren Daishonin then stated that the only means to rid ourselves of illusions and awaken to the unchanging truth of life is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. By so chanting we form an indissoluble bond with the life of the original Buddha, through which the precious heritage of enlightenment can flow. He next defines the literal meaning of myoho or the Mystic Law, which is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Life is eternal and continually repeats the two phases of life and death. In the manifest state (life) it exhibits the quality of "existence," and in the latent state (death) it exhibits the quality of "nonexistence. " But the true nature of life is far more profound than anything conveyed by either of those two concepts. Myo, meaning mystic, indicates the essence of life, which cannot be grasped logically or perceived through the senses. Ho, or law, indicates the manifestations of life, which function in accordance with various natural principles. The Daishonin explains that life itself is the entity of the Middle Way, which is the reality of all things - in other words, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. All these concepts, which constitute the core of his philosophy, must be pondered and then utilized in practice if we are to illuminate the innate darkness of our lives and become enlightened in this lifetime.
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Gosho Study: "ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
Gosho Study: "ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
"ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
- Issho Jobutsu Sho -
If you wish to free yourself from.... Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you.
FREEDOM COMES FROM BEING UNITED WITH THE ETERNAL WITH-IN OURSELVES
In these few lines, Nichiren Daishonin stated the fundamental problem of human existence as Buddhism defines it and offers his unique solution, one that for the first time brought Buddhahood within reach of all people.
The expression "sufferings of birth and death" has been explained in many ways, but here we may understand it as those sufferings arising from what Buddhism calls the truth of impermanence. In the eye of Buddhism, birth and death are not simply the opposite ends of one's lifetime; rather birth and death occur continuously. Everything is forever changing and does not stay the same even for a moment.
Particle physics tells us that at the subatomic level, we cannot speak of fixed or solid matter but only of constantly shifting energy patterns. Buddhism also teaches that everything is in constant flux, but with a very different aim in so doing. Rather than striving to clarify the nature of the physical world, Buddhism seeks to illuminate the human condition. The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence teaches that the things upon which people so often rely for their fulfillment are not ultimately all that reliable. Nothing lasts forever -not wealth, not youth, not the love of another person, not even our own bodies and minds. Even if we can retain our powers and possessions until the last moment of our lives, death strips us of everything in the end. People who seek fulfillment solely in the realm of transient phenomena are vulnerable, dependent for their sense of identity or self-worth on fragile circumstances that are virtually certain to change.
However, as long as people remain in ignorance of the eternal, unchanging truth, they are condemned to grasp for their security at fleeting externals in lifetime after lifetime. This state of being at the mercy of changing phenomena is called "the sufferings of birth and death" and describes the human dilemma as Buddhism sees it.
At the risk of oversimplification, we may say that all forms of Buddhism represent attempts to free people from "the sufferings of birth and death" But in how they define that freedom and what disciplines they teach to achieve it, the different streams of Buddhism differ markedly.
To give just one example, the early or Hinayana Buddhists took "freeing oneself from the sufferings of birth and death" to mean literally extricating oneself from the facts of being born and dying. In other words, they sought to escape the cycle of rebirth and never again be born into this world. This goal was called "stopping the wheel of birth and death." Toward this end, serious practitioners would make every effort to free themselves from attachments to the changing, phenomenal world, abandoning possessions and family ties to enter the Buddhist Order. Since suffering arises from clinging to impermanent things, these Buddhists reasoned, one should ruthlessly sever all attachment to transient phenomena, including one's own body and mind. The state one was said to attain thereby was called nirvana, literally, "to be blown out," meaning that the sufferings of birth and death have been extinguished- From this viewpoint, the goal of Buddhist practice - enlightenment -is something quite removed from the everyday lives of ordinary people.
With this as a background, we can more fully appreciate the radically different view Nichiren Daishonin teaches in the above Gosho passage. For him "freedom from the sufferings of birth and death" meant not an escape from the realm of changing phenomena but the discovery of an absolute point of reliance within oneself. That absolute point of reliance is the "mystic truth" or Myoho-renge-kyo, the eternal and unchanging ultimate law of life, which is also the universal Buddha nature. Since time without beginning, the truth has been inherent in the lives of all people. Because we are ignorant of this truth, we remain bound by the constantly fluctuating realm of "birth and death." But when we awaken to this truth the Daishonin taught, we can move with perfect freedom through the world of changing phenomena because we possess an unshakable security within.
Nichiren Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teaching) reads, "We repeat the cycle of birth and death secure upon the earth of our intrinsically enlightened nature" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 724). In chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin taught us, we do not stop the wheel of birth and death but profoundly transform the way we experience it.
That is, when illuminated by "the mystic truth within our lives: the sufferings of birth and death, just as they are, become enlightenment. We continue to experience life's joys and sorrows, rejoicing, for example, when we receive a promotion or grieve when a cherished relationship comes to an end. But all the while, because of our practice, we feel a growing sense of confidence and freedom that comes from being united with the eternal in ourselves. And in the face of that awareness, no circumstances, not even death, can fundamentally threaten our security.
Thus, in the above Gosho passage, Nichiren Daishonin sets forth the theoretical basis for common mortals attaining enlightenment in this mundane world. He also defines the practice that makes this possible, a practice by which all people regardless of lifestyle, level of education, intelligence, ability and so forth can grasp their innate Buddha nature.
We should also take note of the Daishonin's statement that one can attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. According to the traditional view, Buddhahood was obtained only after many successive lifetimes of severe practice. In contrast, the Daishonin taught the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the "direct path" to Buddhahood. That is, it enables all people to manifest immediately the truth within them and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. Here we can see the profundity of his teaching, in that it enables us to accomplish in one lifetime what would otherwise take countless aeons to complete.
Myoho-renge-kyo is the king of sutras... One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship.
LIFE AT EACH MOMENT IS ENDOWED WITH THE BUDDHA NATURE
Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha's highest teaching. The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai (538-597), an outstanding Chinese scholar who systematized the entire body of Buddhist teachings, divided the sutras into provisional teachings, which reveal partial aspects of the truth, and the true teaching, or Lotus Sutra, which reveals the truth in its entirety. The Lotus Sutra, he said, encompasses all truth within itself; therefore it is called the king of sutras and the wisdom of all Buddhas. Not only does the Lotus Sutra contain all truth within itself, T'ien-t'ai asserted, but the essence of the entire Lotus Sutra is contained within its title, Myoho-renge-kyo.
For Nichiren Daishonin, Myoho-renge-kyo was not merely the title of a sutra but a direct expression of the ultimate reality itself. Thus he says, "Its words are the reality of life, and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (myoho). " We find a similar statement in the Gosho "Thus I Heard":
Our contemporaries think of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo only as a name, but this is not correct. It is the entity, that is, the heart of the Lotus Sutra.... Myoho-renge-kyo is neither the scriptural text nor its meaning but the heart of the entire sutra. (MW-3, 248)
We can also interpret the passage, "Its words are the reality of life" in terms of the Gohonzon, the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law. The Gohonzon inscribed with characters is not a mere symbol or representation of anything else, but, just as it is, embodies Nichiren Daishonin's enlightenment to the ultimate reality that is the Mystic Law.
The Daishonin writes in the above passage that the Lotus Sutra explains "the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena." "Life" here means the "one mind" or ultimate reality that manifests itself at each moment in the lives of common mortals. "Phenomena" indicates the changing phenomenal world that we perceive through our senses.
The Lotus Sutra teaches that all phenomena in the entire universe are inherent in the life-moment, and the life-moment permeates and reveals itself in all changing phenomena. This relationship is stated in the second or "Hoben," chapter as "all phenomena manifesting the true aspect" (shoho jisso).
Unlike other teachings, which hold that the ordinary reality of common mortals and the ultimate truth occupy separate dimensions, the Lotus Sutra teaches that they are inseparable and ultimately one. This relationship is beyond our intellectual comprehension; therefore it is called "mystic."
Based on the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai developed this concept of the "mutually inclusive nature of life and all phenomena" as the principle of ichinen sanzen.
Nichiren Daishonin elaborates on this concept in the next paragraph of the Gosho. He explains that the life-moment manifests itself as both body and spirit, as both self and environment, and as both sentient and insentient beings. Possessing all ten worlds within itself, it permeates the universe and is contained completely in a speck of dust. The all-inclusive nature of our lives at each moment is further elucidated in the Daishonin's "Sokamon Sho" (On the Teachings Affirmed by All Buddhas Throughout Time):
When we examine the nature of mind, we will find no beginning which necessitates birth and no end which requires death; rather we will discover the true mind, which is free from birth and death. This mind cannot be consumed by flames at the kalpa's end, nor can it be washed away by floods. It cannot be cut by swords, nor shot by arrows. Although it can fit inside a mustard seed, the seed does not expand, nor does the mind contract.
Although it fills the vastness of space, space is not too wide, nor is the mind too small. (GOSHO ZENSHU, P 563)
With our senses we perceive our lives as limited in both time and space, and separate from the greater cosmos. However, in the eye of Buddhism, this is not a complete view. When we "grasp the mystic truth within us" we come to realize that our own lives encompass the entire universe.
As in "The True Object of Worship," quoting Miao-lo, the Daishonin writes, "When we attain Buddhahood, according to this principle [ichinen sanzen], our life pervades the entire universe both physically and spiritually" (MW-I, 65).
Ichinen sanzen though is complex and not easy to grasp. In essence, we can interpret it to mean that all life at each moment is endowed with the Buddha nature. The Daishonin refers to it, in the context of this Gosho, to stress that no truth or power exists outside oneself; all potential is contained in one's own life. All that he has stated thus far forms the theoretical basis for the guidance in faith he gives next.
However, even though you chant and believe... Although they study Buddhism, their views revert to those of the non-Buddhist.
DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE AS THE FOCUS OF OUR PRAYER
Here the Daishonin admonishes us not only to understand theoretically but also to have faith that our own lives are the entity of the Mystic Law. The reason is that, even if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and believe in its validity, if we think of it as a power outside ourselves, then although we are embracing the Mystic Law with our bodies and mouths, our minds cling to a lesser concept of the truth and hinder us from experiencing fully the joy and freedom that the Daishonin's Buddhism offers.
Nichiren Daishonin defines "inferior teachings" as those that separate the common mortal from the ultimate truth, holding, for example, that human beings are dependent on gods or other supernatural powers for their salvation, or that enlightenment can be attained only in some other time or place removed from one's life at present. Such views are "inferior" because they blind people to the "mystic truth" or boundless potential inherent in their own lives and force them into a position of subservience to forces outside themselves. The Gosho teaches that adherence to such views acts to block "the direct path to enlightenment" which lies in tapping one's own Buddha nature.
In the final analysis, all of Buddhism was expounded to let people "perceive the nature of their lives" - that is, to realize that one's own life at the most fundamental level is Buddhahood. To study Buddhism or practice good deeds while believing that the truth is outside ourselves is like a poor person trying to get rich by counting a neighbor's money - it will not help us awaken to the true aspect of our lives, and thus it cannot free us from the sufferings of birth and death. Only when one "perceives the nature of his life" - brings forth the Buddha nature - will such efforts contribute to that person's enlightenment.
Nichiren Daishonin as the original Buddha inscribed the Gohonzon so that we can do just this. Based upon the emergence of the Buddha nature that comes about through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, all efforts in Buddhist study and all virtuous deeds come to life, so to speak, furthering one's happiness and enlightenment.
This passage also has something vital to say about the attitude in faith of those who already embrace the Gohonzon.
Many of us come from a religious background that taught us to implore the mercy and assistance of a deity higher than ourselves. Therefore, even subconsciously, we may sometimes tend to regard the Gohonzon as an external power that sits in judgment on us and decides whether we deserve a particular benefit. Eventually, however, this attitude may lead to anxiety and resentment because we feel we are practicing not for ourselves but for someone else. Rather, if we can understand that the Gohonzon, the perfect embodiment of enlightenment, lets us bring forth unlimited power and wisdom from within ourselves, we can experience boundless joy and appreciation and begin to move toward independence.
The "Ongi Kuden" reads, "To know that one's own mind is the Buddha of original enlightenment is called 'great joy"' (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 788). Now that we embrace the Mystic Law and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the only thing that prevents us from experiencing this "great joy" to an ever-increasing extent is our own attitude in thinking that "the Law is outside" ourselves.
In practical terms, to think that the Law is outside ourselves means to seek the fundamental source and solutions to our suffering in the environment. To compare ourselves continually to others, whether we evaluate ourselves negatively or make catalogues of their faults; to think that other people should be responsible for our happiness, to think that we cannot be happy until someone else changes; or to think that our bank balance, our colleagues' opinion of us or some other transient circumstance completely determines our self-worth, might all be called examples of seeking the Law "outside oneself."
Whenever we start thinking in this way, then, in terms of our attitude, we allow ourselves to be governed by externals, and in effect, deny the power of our inherent Buddhahood to transform our destiny. At such moments, even though we chant to the Gohonzon, our views revert to those of non-Buddhists, and our practice does indeed begin to feel like an "endless, painful austerity." Conversely, when we feel that our practice has become an "endless, painful austerity," it generally indicates that we are overlooking the power of the Gohonzon to let us manifest boundless power and wisdom from within, and that we have slipped into thinking some temporary, external circumstance defines our value in life.
This is why the Daishonin urges us that in chanting to the Gohonzon, we should "summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is our life itself." We can see his compassion and understanding of human nature in the words "summon up deep conviction." It is easy to see our limitations; it is hard to "see" our Buddha nature. But the Daishonin points out that we can nevertheless strive actively to have confidence in our own Buddha nature and make developing that confidence a focus of our prayer. Strengthening the conviction that our own lives are Myoho-renge-kyo is equivalent to "perceiving the nature of one's life" and will enable us to experience overwhelming delight.
Whether you chant the Buddha's name... The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.
BELIEVERS PROPAGATE BUDDHISM BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ONENESS OF LIFE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
At the beginning of this passage, Nichiren Daishonin urges us to practice with the confidence that all sincere efforts based on faith in the Gohonzon will accumulate good fortune and become causes for our happiness. "Chant the Buddha's name" here means to chant daimoku. As the "Ongi Kuden" reads, "The honorific name of the Buddha originally endowed with the three enlightened properties is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P 752). "Reciting the sutra" refers to our offering of the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters in morning and evening gongyo. Gongyo and daimoku to the Gohonzon form the basic cause for activating our Buddha Nature. "Offer flowers and incense" may be understood as representing all additional expressions of our sincere devotion.
When we devote ourselves to such acts, we manifest our inherent enlightened nature as common mortals and thus transform the sufferings of birth and death into nirvana, (shoju soku nehan). Practically speaking, this principle means that our Buddhist practice will allow us to tap the strength and wisdom, not only to overcome all problems but to transform them into sources of growth and benefit, thus enabling us to face life with supreme joy and confidence.
The second part of this paragraph, beginning, "If the minds of the people are pure..." is often quoted. Developing the concept that the Law is not outside oneself, the Daishonin explains here that there is no ideal, enlightened realm apart from where one dwells at present. Wherever someone chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and strives for kosen-rufu, that place is itself the Buddha land.
Nichiren Daishonin upheld human dignity and firmly opposed any notion that the ultimate truth exists apart from oneself. The entire universe, he said, is inherent in one's life at this moment. If people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, bringing forth their Buddha nature, then they simultaneously manifest Buddhahood in the places where they live, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment (Esho Funi).
In saying that the difference between pure and impure land "lies solely in the good or evil of our minds," the Daishonin is not speaking of good and evil in the moralistic sense. Rather, we may understand "evil" as indicating the lower states, especially the six lower worlds, in which one remains blind to "the mystic truth within" and merely reacts to external circumstances, while "good" corresponds to the higher states, specifically the world of Buddhahood, wherein one's life is based on the eternal Law. Just as individuals have the potential for all ten worlds, so does the environment. Since people and their environment are inseparable, their basic state of life will be manifested in their environment. With this principle, the Daishonin taught how we can transform our surrounding by elevating our own state of life.
To illustrate, suppose we are presently immersed in conditions of suffering, such as extreme poverty or difficult human relationships. Even though others may in fact be responsible, if we merely blame circumstances for our unhappiness, we put ourselves in a position where we cannot be happy until the environment changes - which might take a very long time. But if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, determined to manifest our Buddha nature powerfully enough to transform our destiny, two things happen. First, we find we have tapped a joy independent of circumstances and a sense of tremendous inner freedom - even though the situation itself may remain less than ideal. But the Daishonin's Buddhism is the teaching of actual proof, and its benefit does not stop with inner freedom alone. As we strengthen our tendency toward Buddhahood, our objective circumstances actually change for the better, just as a shadow follows a body. Those who are poor find their material fortune improving, those despised by others find people coming to respect them, and so forth.
Nichiren Daishonin taught that, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment, faith in the Gohonzon will allow us to transform not only our immediate situation but the broad realms of society and the natural World. A well-known passage from "On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings" describes this process:
In that time because all people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together, the wind will not beleaguer the branches or boughs, nor will the rain fall hard enough to break a clod. The world will become as it was in the ages of [the ideal sage-kings] Fu Hsi and Shen Nung in ancient China. Disasters will be driven from the land, and the people will be rid of misfortune They will also learn the art of living long, fulfilling lives (MW-Vol.-2).
It is based upon the principle of the oneness of life and its environment that we speak of propagating Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism form of peace.
It is the same with a Buddha.... Only chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo...
ATTAINING ENLIGHTENMENT IN THIS LIFETIME
Just as there are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves, so there is no essential difference between a Buddha and a common mortal. This is one of the most difficult points to grasp about the Buddhist teaching. One way or another, our religious upbringing, our own sense of imperfection or ultimately, Buddhism would say, our fundamental delusion causes us to think that the state of Buddhahood is completely separate from what we are at present. Here, however, the Daishonin clearly asserts that the only difference is one of life-condition: A Buddha is a human being who has awakened to the truth that his or her own life is the Mystic Law, while a common mortal is one who has not. In a lecture on the Gosho "The True Entity of Life," SGI President Ikeda clarifies this point:
All religions in the past regarded God or Buddha as a sacred, superhuman being. Human dignity was recognized only as long as the individual was enveloped in God's grace or the Buddha's mercy... I believe that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism - the religion that teaches that humans themselves are the entity of the Mystic Law and as such are innately endowed with ultimate sanctity - can provide a clear-cut answer to the questions humanity asks itself.
With the analogy of the mirror, Nichiren Daishonin clarifies what it is that keeps us, as common mortals, from realizing that we have the potential for Buddhahood. It is called "fundamental delusion" or "the darkness innate in life" and ultimately means ignorance of the Buddha nature. Like tarnish on a mirror, it prevents us from perceiving that our own lives embody the Mystic Law. According to Buddhism, this delusion is a fundamental source of suffering.
Because we are ignorant of the inherent dignity of our lives, we often act in ways that degrades it and consequently bring pain to ourselves and others. How much anguish could be eliminated from the world if only we were deeply convinced of our own Buddha nature! Never again could we be ruled by feelings of hopeless inadequacy, fear or guilt. Never again could we fundamentally despise ourselves or imagine that our own worth could be threatened, let alone defined, by circumstances. Moreover, as the Daishonin goes on to say in the concluding paragraph of this Gosho: "Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others." If we truly understood that everyone we meet is ultimately a Buddha, we could never take pleasure in another's suffering or think that we could be happy at their expense. The more deeply we are convinced that we and everyone else are entities of the Mystic Law, the less we will tend to hurt or belittle ourselves and others, and the more we will be prompted toward considerate and humane conduct.
In urging us to "polish your mirror, night and day," the Daishonin teaches us to continue our practice so that we may dispel the fundamental darkness innate in life and allow the light of our inherent Buddha nature to shine forth. In the very act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are, at that moment, in the state of Buddhahood. But when we finish chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and go do something else, we revert to the nine worlds of daily life. However, by continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, day by day and month after month, we gradually establish Buddhahood as our fundamental tendency in life. Upon this basis, all the other nine worlds begin to function in an enlightened way, working to benefit both ourselves and others. This process of establishing Buddhahood as our basic life-condition. constitutes "attaining enlightenment in this lifetime." Or, from another perspective, we can say that continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo throughout life is in itself an enlightened way to live.
What then does myo signify?... Nam-myohorenge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
BUDDHAHOOD IS NOT AN EXTERNAL GOAL BUT A POTENTIAL WE ALREADY POSSESS
Here Nichiren Daishonin interprets each of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate reality of life and the universe. This reality utterly transcends our words and concepts; that is why it must be grasped through faith. At the same time, however, it is our very life itself. The ultimate reality of life cannot be explained in terms of either existence or nonexistence.
Because the truth is beyond all words and concepts, Buddhist texts often refer to it in negative language. For example, the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, is said to have attained his great insight that "Buddha is life" on the basis of a passage from the Muryogi Sutra that refers to the ultimate reality as "neither existence nor nonexistence, neither cause nor circumstance, neither self nor other, neither square nor round, short nor long," and so on, continuing to a total of thirty-four negatives.
This quality of being beyond verbal categories is called myo, meaning mystic or wondrous, or beyond conception. At the same time, this inscrutable reality manifests itself moment to moment as the phenomenal world of our ordinary experience, displaying such readily comprehensible and expressible qualities as "existence" or "nonexistence." This manifestation of the ultimate reality as the observable world is called ho (ho means both "Law" and "phenomena"). Because the ultimate reality transcends all such categories as "existence" or "nonexistence," yet manifests itself nowhere apart from such phenomena, it is called "the mystic entity of the Middle Way."
Because the Mystic Law is extremely difficult to understand, the Buddha explained it using the lotus blossom, renge, as a metaphor. The lotus is unique in that it produces both seeds and flowers at the same time. Similarly, life simultaneously contains both cause (the nine worlds) and effect (Buddhahood) at every single moment. Through faith in the Gohonzon, we can realize the Buddhahood eternally inherent in our lives. And, as the Daishonin says, when we realize that our own lives are the Mystic Law, we must inevitably understand that so are the lives of all other people and existences. This universality of Buddhahood is the message of the supreme sutra (kyo), the Lotus.
As mentioned earlier, in the Daishonin's teaching, Buddhahood is not an external goal to be approached over the course of lifetimes of practice but a potential we already possess. By having confidence in this and chanting daimoku, we can directly awaken to the Mystic Law that is life itself. This is the "straight road to Buddhahood."
The important thing, as the Daishonin teaches in the conclusion, is that, regardless of life's hardships, we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo while deepening our faith that the Mystic Law lies nowhere apart from our own lives. Then, just as stated in the Gosho, we are certain to develop an enlightened state of life here in this world.
Gosho Study: "ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
"ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
- Issho Jobutsu Sho -
If you wish to free yourself from.... Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you.
FREEDOM COMES FROM BEING UNITED WITH THE ETERNAL WITH-IN OURSELVES
In these few lines, Nichiren Daishonin stated the fundamental problem of human existence as Buddhism defines it and offers his unique solution, one that for the first time brought Buddhahood within reach of all people.
The expression "sufferings of birth and death" has been explained in many ways, but here we may understand it as those sufferings arising from what Buddhism calls the truth of impermanence. In the eye of Buddhism, birth and death are not simply the opposite ends of one's lifetime; rather birth and death occur continuously. Everything is forever changing and does not stay the same even for a moment.
Particle physics tells us that at the subatomic level, we cannot speak of fixed or solid matter but only of constantly shifting energy patterns. Buddhism also teaches that everything is in constant flux, but with a very different aim in so doing. Rather than striving to clarify the nature of the physical world, Buddhism seeks to illuminate the human condition. The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence teaches that the things upon which people so often rely for their fulfillment are not ultimately all that reliable. Nothing lasts forever -not wealth, not youth, not the love of another person, not even our own bodies and minds. Even if we can retain our powers and possessions until the last moment of our lives, death strips us of everything in the end. People who seek fulfillment solely in the realm of transient phenomena are vulnerable, dependent for their sense of identity or self-worth on fragile circumstances that are virtually certain to change.
However, as long as people remain in ignorance of the eternal, unchanging truth, they are condemned to grasp for their security at fleeting externals in lifetime after lifetime. This state of being at the mercy of changing phenomena is called "the sufferings of birth and death" and describes the human dilemma as Buddhism sees it.
At the risk of oversimplification, we may say that all forms of Buddhism represent attempts to free people from "the sufferings of birth and death" But in how they define that freedom and what disciplines they teach to achieve it, the different streams of Buddhism differ markedly.
To give just one example, the early or Hinayana Buddhists took "freeing oneself from the sufferings of birth and death" to mean literally extricating oneself from the facts of being born and dying. In other words, they sought to escape the cycle of rebirth and never again be born into this world. This goal was called "stopping the wheel of birth and death." Toward this end, serious practitioners would make every effort to free themselves from attachments to the changing, phenomenal world, abandoning possessions and family ties to enter the Buddhist Order. Since suffering arises from clinging to impermanent things, these Buddhists reasoned, one should ruthlessly sever all attachment to transient phenomena, including one's own body and mind. The state one was said to attain thereby was called nirvana, literally, "to be blown out," meaning that the sufferings of birth and death have been extinguished- From this viewpoint, the goal of Buddhist practice - enlightenment -is something quite removed from the everyday lives of ordinary people.
With this as a background, we can more fully appreciate the radically different view Nichiren Daishonin teaches in the above Gosho passage. For him "freedom from the sufferings of birth and death" meant not an escape from the realm of changing phenomena but the discovery of an absolute point of reliance within oneself. That absolute point of reliance is the "mystic truth" or Myoho-renge-kyo, the eternal and unchanging ultimate law of life, which is also the universal Buddha nature. Since time without beginning, the truth has been inherent in the lives of all people. Because we are ignorant of this truth, we remain bound by the constantly fluctuating realm of "birth and death." But when we awaken to this truth the Daishonin taught, we can move with perfect freedom through the world of changing phenomena because we possess an unshakable security within.
Nichiren Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teaching) reads, "We repeat the cycle of birth and death secure upon the earth of our intrinsically enlightened nature" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 724). In chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin taught us, we do not stop the wheel of birth and death but profoundly transform the way we experience it.
That is, when illuminated by "the mystic truth within our lives: the sufferings of birth and death, just as they are, become enlightenment. We continue to experience life's joys and sorrows, rejoicing, for example, when we receive a promotion or grieve when a cherished relationship comes to an end. But all the while, because of our practice, we feel a growing sense of confidence and freedom that comes from being united with the eternal in ourselves. And in the face of that awareness, no circumstances, not even death, can fundamentally threaten our security.
Thus, in the above Gosho passage, Nichiren Daishonin sets forth the theoretical basis for common mortals attaining enlightenment in this mundane world. He also defines the practice that makes this possible, a practice by which all people regardless of lifestyle, level of education, intelligence, ability and so forth can grasp their innate Buddha nature.
We should also take note of the Daishonin's statement that one can attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. According to the traditional view, Buddhahood was obtained only after many successive lifetimes of severe practice. In contrast, the Daishonin taught the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the "direct path" to Buddhahood. That is, it enables all people to manifest immediately the truth within them and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. Here we can see the profundity of his teaching, in that it enables us to accomplish in one lifetime what would otherwise take countless aeons to complete.
Myoho-renge-kyo is the king of sutras... One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship.
LIFE AT EACH MOMENT IS ENDOWED WITH THE BUDDHA NATURE
Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha's highest teaching. The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai (538-597), an outstanding Chinese scholar who systematized the entire body of Buddhist teachings, divided the sutras into provisional teachings, which reveal partial aspects of the truth, and the true teaching, or Lotus Sutra, which reveals the truth in its entirety. The Lotus Sutra, he said, encompasses all truth within itself; therefore it is called the king of sutras and the wisdom of all Buddhas. Not only does the Lotus Sutra contain all truth within itself, T'ien-t'ai asserted, but the essence of the entire Lotus Sutra is contained within its title, Myoho-renge-kyo.
For Nichiren Daishonin, Myoho-renge-kyo was not merely the title of a sutra but a direct expression of the ultimate reality itself. Thus he says, "Its words are the reality of life, and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (myoho). " We find a similar statement in the Gosho "Thus I Heard":
Our contemporaries think of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo only as a name, but this is not correct. It is the entity, that is, the heart of the Lotus Sutra.... Myoho-renge-kyo is neither the scriptural text nor its meaning but the heart of the entire sutra. (MW-3, 248)
We can also interpret the passage, "Its words are the reality of life" in terms of the Gohonzon, the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law. The Gohonzon inscribed with characters is not a mere symbol or representation of anything else, but, just as it is, embodies Nichiren Daishonin's enlightenment to the ultimate reality that is the Mystic Law.
The Daishonin writes in the above passage that the Lotus Sutra explains "the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena." "Life" here means the "one mind" or ultimate reality that manifests itself at each moment in the lives of common mortals. "Phenomena" indicates the changing phenomenal world that we perceive through our senses.
The Lotus Sutra teaches that all phenomena in the entire universe are inherent in the life-moment, and the life-moment permeates and reveals itself in all changing phenomena. This relationship is stated in the second or "Hoben," chapter as "all phenomena manifesting the true aspect" (shoho jisso).
Unlike other teachings, which hold that the ordinary reality of common mortals and the ultimate truth occupy separate dimensions, the Lotus Sutra teaches that they are inseparable and ultimately one. This relationship is beyond our intellectual comprehension; therefore it is called "mystic."
Based on the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai developed this concept of the "mutually inclusive nature of life and all phenomena" as the principle of ichinen sanzen.
Nichiren Daishonin elaborates on this concept in the next paragraph of the Gosho. He explains that the life-moment manifests itself as both body and spirit, as both self and environment, and as both sentient and insentient beings. Possessing all ten worlds within itself, it permeates the universe and is contained completely in a speck of dust. The all-inclusive nature of our lives at each moment is further elucidated in the Daishonin's "Sokamon Sho" (On the Teachings Affirmed by All Buddhas Throughout Time):
When we examine the nature of mind, we will find no beginning which necessitates birth and no end which requires death; rather we will discover the true mind, which is free from birth and death. This mind cannot be consumed by flames at the kalpa's end, nor can it be washed away by floods. It cannot be cut by swords, nor shot by arrows. Although it can fit inside a mustard seed, the seed does not expand, nor does the mind contract.
Although it fills the vastness of space, space is not too wide, nor is the mind too small. (GOSHO ZENSHU, P 563)
With our senses we perceive our lives as limited in both time and space, and separate from the greater cosmos. However, in the eye of Buddhism, this is not a complete view. When we "grasp the mystic truth within us" we come to realize that our own lives encompass the entire universe.
As in "The True Object of Worship," quoting Miao-lo, the Daishonin writes, "When we attain Buddhahood, according to this principle [ichinen sanzen], our life pervades the entire universe both physically and spiritually" (MW-I, 65).
Ichinen sanzen though is complex and not easy to grasp. In essence, we can interpret it to mean that all life at each moment is endowed with the Buddha nature. The Daishonin refers to it, in the context of this Gosho, to stress that no truth or power exists outside oneself; all potential is contained in one's own life. All that he has stated thus far forms the theoretical basis for the guidance in faith he gives next.
However, even though you chant and believe... Although they study Buddhism, their views revert to those of the non-Buddhist.
DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE AS THE FOCUS OF OUR PRAYER
Here the Daishonin admonishes us not only to understand theoretically but also to have faith that our own lives are the entity of the Mystic Law. The reason is that, even if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and believe in its validity, if we think of it as a power outside ourselves, then although we are embracing the Mystic Law with our bodies and mouths, our minds cling to a lesser concept of the truth and hinder us from experiencing fully the joy and freedom that the Daishonin's Buddhism offers.
Nichiren Daishonin defines "inferior teachings" as those that separate the common mortal from the ultimate truth, holding, for example, that human beings are dependent on gods or other supernatural powers for their salvation, or that enlightenment can be attained only in some other time or place removed from one's life at present. Such views are "inferior" because they blind people to the "mystic truth" or boundless potential inherent in their own lives and force them into a position of subservience to forces outside themselves. The Gosho teaches that adherence to such views acts to block "the direct path to enlightenment" which lies in tapping one's own Buddha nature.
In the final analysis, all of Buddhism was expounded to let people "perceive the nature of their lives" - that is, to realize that one's own life at the most fundamental level is Buddhahood. To study Buddhism or practice good deeds while believing that the truth is outside ourselves is like a poor person trying to get rich by counting a neighbor's money - it will not help us awaken to the true aspect of our lives, and thus it cannot free us from the sufferings of birth and death. Only when one "perceives the nature of his life" - brings forth the Buddha nature - will such efforts contribute to that person's enlightenment.
Nichiren Daishonin as the original Buddha inscribed the Gohonzon so that we can do just this. Based upon the emergence of the Buddha nature that comes about through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, all efforts in Buddhist study and all virtuous deeds come to life, so to speak, furthering one's happiness and enlightenment.
This passage also has something vital to say about the attitude in faith of those who already embrace the Gohonzon.
Many of us come from a religious background that taught us to implore the mercy and assistance of a deity higher than ourselves. Therefore, even subconsciously, we may sometimes tend to regard the Gohonzon as an external power that sits in judgment on us and decides whether we deserve a particular benefit. Eventually, however, this attitude may lead to anxiety and resentment because we feel we are practicing not for ourselves but for someone else. Rather, if we can understand that the Gohonzon, the perfect embodiment of enlightenment, lets us bring forth unlimited power and wisdom from within ourselves, we can experience boundless joy and appreciation and begin to move toward independence.
The "Ongi Kuden" reads, "To know that one's own mind is the Buddha of original enlightenment is called 'great joy"' (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 788). Now that we embrace the Mystic Law and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the only thing that prevents us from experiencing this "great joy" to an ever-increasing extent is our own attitude in thinking that "the Law is outside" ourselves.
In practical terms, to think that the Law is outside ourselves means to seek the fundamental source and solutions to our suffering in the environment. To compare ourselves continually to others, whether we evaluate ourselves negatively or make catalogues of their faults; to think that other people should be responsible for our happiness, to think that we cannot be happy until someone else changes; or to think that our bank balance, our colleagues' opinion of us or some other transient circumstance completely determines our self-worth, might all be called examples of seeking the Law "outside oneself."
Whenever we start thinking in this way, then, in terms of our attitude, we allow ourselves to be governed by externals, and in effect, deny the power of our inherent Buddhahood to transform our destiny. At such moments, even though we chant to the Gohonzon, our views revert to those of non-Buddhists, and our practice does indeed begin to feel like an "endless, painful austerity." Conversely, when we feel that our practice has become an "endless, painful austerity," it generally indicates that we are overlooking the power of the Gohonzon to let us manifest boundless power and wisdom from within, and that we have slipped into thinking some temporary, external circumstance defines our value in life.
This is why the Daishonin urges us that in chanting to the Gohonzon, we should "summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is our life itself." We can see his compassion and understanding of human nature in the words "summon up deep conviction." It is easy to see our limitations; it is hard to "see" our Buddha nature. But the Daishonin points out that we can nevertheless strive actively to have confidence in our own Buddha nature and make developing that confidence a focus of our prayer. Strengthening the conviction that our own lives are Myoho-renge-kyo is equivalent to "perceiving the nature of one's life" and will enable us to experience overwhelming delight.
Whether you chant the Buddha's name... The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.
BELIEVERS PROPAGATE BUDDHISM BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ONENESS OF LIFE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
At the beginning of this passage, Nichiren Daishonin urges us to practice with the confidence that all sincere efforts based on faith in the Gohonzon will accumulate good fortune and become causes for our happiness. "Chant the Buddha's name" here means to chant daimoku. As the "Ongi Kuden" reads, "The honorific name of the Buddha originally endowed with the three enlightened properties is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P 752). "Reciting the sutra" refers to our offering of the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters in morning and evening gongyo. Gongyo and daimoku to the Gohonzon form the basic cause for activating our Buddha Nature. "Offer flowers and incense" may be understood as representing all additional expressions of our sincere devotion.
When we devote ourselves to such acts, we manifest our inherent enlightened nature as common mortals and thus transform the sufferings of birth and death into nirvana, (shoju soku nehan). Practically speaking, this principle means that our Buddhist practice will allow us to tap the strength and wisdom, not only to overcome all problems but to transform them into sources of growth and benefit, thus enabling us to face life with supreme joy and confidence.
The second part of this paragraph, beginning, "If the minds of the people are pure..." is often quoted. Developing the concept that the Law is not outside oneself, the Daishonin explains here that there is no ideal, enlightened realm apart from where one dwells at present. Wherever someone chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and strives for kosen-rufu, that place is itself the Buddha land.
Nichiren Daishonin upheld human dignity and firmly opposed any notion that the ultimate truth exists apart from oneself. The entire universe, he said, is inherent in one's life at this moment. If people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, bringing forth their Buddha nature, then they simultaneously manifest Buddhahood in the places where they live, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment (Esho Funi).
In saying that the difference between pure and impure land "lies solely in the good or evil of our minds," the Daishonin is not speaking of good and evil in the moralistic sense. Rather, we may understand "evil" as indicating the lower states, especially the six lower worlds, in which one remains blind to "the mystic truth within" and merely reacts to external circumstances, while "good" corresponds to the higher states, specifically the world of Buddhahood, wherein one's life is based on the eternal Law. Just as individuals have the potential for all ten worlds, so does the environment. Since people and their environment are inseparable, their basic state of life will be manifested in their environment. With this principle, the Daishonin taught how we can transform our surrounding by elevating our own state of life.
To illustrate, suppose we are presently immersed in conditions of suffering, such as extreme poverty or difficult human relationships. Even though others may in fact be responsible, if we merely blame circumstances for our unhappiness, we put ourselves in a position where we cannot be happy until the environment changes - which might take a very long time. But if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, determined to manifest our Buddha nature powerfully enough to transform our destiny, two things happen. First, we find we have tapped a joy independent of circumstances and a sense of tremendous inner freedom - even though the situation itself may remain less than ideal. But the Daishonin's Buddhism is the teaching of actual proof, and its benefit does not stop with inner freedom alone. As we strengthen our tendency toward Buddhahood, our objective circumstances actually change for the better, just as a shadow follows a body. Those who are poor find their material fortune improving, those despised by others find people coming to respect them, and so forth.
Nichiren Daishonin taught that, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment, faith in the Gohonzon will allow us to transform not only our immediate situation but the broad realms of society and the natural World. A well-known passage from "On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings" describes this process:
In that time because all people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together, the wind will not beleaguer the branches or boughs, nor will the rain fall hard enough to break a clod. The world will become as it was in the ages of [the ideal sage-kings] Fu Hsi and Shen Nung in ancient China. Disasters will be driven from the land, and the people will be rid of misfortune They will also learn the art of living long, fulfilling lives (MW-Vol.-2).
It is based upon the principle of the oneness of life and its environment that we speak of propagating Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism form of peace.
It is the same with a Buddha.... Only chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo...
ATTAINING ENLIGHTENMENT IN THIS LIFETIME
Just as there are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves, so there is no essential difference between a Buddha and a common mortal. This is one of the most difficult points to grasp about the Buddhist teaching. One way or another, our religious upbringing, our own sense of imperfection or ultimately, Buddhism would say, our fundamental delusion causes us to think that the state of Buddhahood is completely separate from what we are at present. Here, however, the Daishonin clearly asserts that the only difference is one of life-condition: A Buddha is a human being who has awakened to the truth that his or her own life is the Mystic Law, while a common mortal is one who has not. In a lecture on the Gosho "The True Entity of Life," SGI President Ikeda clarifies this point:
All religions in the past regarded God or Buddha as a sacred, superhuman being. Human dignity was recognized only as long as the individual was enveloped in God's grace or the Buddha's mercy... I believe that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism - the religion that teaches that humans themselves are the entity of the Mystic Law and as such are innately endowed with ultimate sanctity - can provide a clear-cut answer to the questions humanity asks itself.
With the analogy of the mirror, Nichiren Daishonin clarifies what it is that keeps us, as common mortals, from realizing that we have the potential for Buddhahood. It is called "fundamental delusion" or "the darkness innate in life" and ultimately means ignorance of the Buddha nature. Like tarnish on a mirror, it prevents us from perceiving that our own lives embody the Mystic Law. According to Buddhism, this delusion is a fundamental source of suffering.
Because we are ignorant of the inherent dignity of our lives, we often act in ways that degrades it and consequently bring pain to ourselves and others. How much anguish could be eliminated from the world if only we were deeply convinced of our own Buddha nature! Never again could we be ruled by feelings of hopeless inadequacy, fear or guilt. Never again could we fundamentally despise ourselves or imagine that our own worth could be threatened, let alone defined, by circumstances. Moreover, as the Daishonin goes on to say in the concluding paragraph of this Gosho: "Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others." If we truly understood that everyone we meet is ultimately a Buddha, we could never take pleasure in another's suffering or think that we could be happy at their expense. The more deeply we are convinced that we and everyone else are entities of the Mystic Law, the less we will tend to hurt or belittle ourselves and others, and the more we will be prompted toward considerate and humane conduct.
In urging us to "polish your mirror, night and day," the Daishonin teaches us to continue our practice so that we may dispel the fundamental darkness innate in life and allow the light of our inherent Buddha nature to shine forth. In the very act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are, at that moment, in the state of Buddhahood. But when we finish chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and go do something else, we revert to the nine worlds of daily life. However, by continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, day by day and month after month, we gradually establish Buddhahood as our fundamental tendency in life. Upon this basis, all the other nine worlds begin to function in an enlightened way, working to benefit both ourselves and others. This process of establishing Buddhahood as our basic life-condition. constitutes "attaining enlightenment in this lifetime." Or, from another perspective, we can say that continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo throughout life is in itself an enlightened way to live.
What then does myo signify?... Nam-myohorenge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
BUDDHAHOOD IS NOT AN EXTERNAL GOAL BUT A POTENTIAL WE ALREADY POSSESS
Here Nichiren Daishonin interprets each of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate reality of life and the universe. This reality utterly transcends our words and concepts; that is why it must be grasped through faith. At the same time, however, it is our very life itself. The ultimate reality of life cannot be explained in terms of either existence or nonexistence.
Because the truth is beyond all words and concepts, Buddhist texts often refer to it in negative language. For example, the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, is said to have attained his great insight that "Buddha is life" on the basis of a passage from the Muryogi Sutra that refers to the ultimate reality as "neither existence nor nonexistence, neither cause nor circumstance, neither self nor other, neither square nor round, short nor long," and so on, continuing to a total of thirty-four negatives.
This quality of being beyond verbal categories is called myo, meaning mystic or wondrous, or beyond conception. At the same time, this inscrutable reality manifests itself moment to moment as the phenomenal world of our ordinary experience, displaying such readily comprehensible and expressible qualities as "existence" or "nonexistence." This manifestation of the ultimate reality as the observable world is called ho (ho means both "Law" and "phenomena"). Because the ultimate reality transcends all such categories as "existence" or "nonexistence," yet manifests itself nowhere apart from such phenomena, it is called "the mystic entity of the Middle Way."
Because the Mystic Law is extremely difficult to understand, the Buddha explained it using the lotus blossom, renge, as a metaphor. The lotus is unique in that it produces both seeds and flowers at the same time. Similarly, life simultaneously contains both cause (the nine worlds) and effect (Buddhahood) at every single moment. Through faith in the Gohonzon, we can realize the Buddhahood eternally inherent in our lives. And, as the Daishonin says, when we realize that our own lives are the Mystic Law, we must inevitably understand that so are the lives of all other people and existences. This universality of Buddhahood is the message of the supreme sutra (kyo), the Lotus.
As mentioned earlier, in the Daishonin's teaching, Buddhahood is not an external goal to be approached over the course of lifetimes of practice but a potential we already possess. By having confidence in this and chanting daimoku, we can directly awaken to the Mystic Law that is life itself. This is the "straight road to Buddhahood."
The important thing, as the Daishonin teaches in the conclusion, is that, regardless of life's hardships, we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo while deepening our faith that the Mystic Law lies nowhere apart from our own lives. Then, just as stated in the Gosho, we are certain to develop an enlightened state of life here in this world.
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Particle physics tells us that at the subatomic level, we cannot speak of fixed or solid matter but only of constantly shifting energy patterns. Buddhism also teaches that everything is in constant flux, but with a very different aim in so doing. Rather than striving to clarify the nature of the physical world, Buddhism seeks to illuminate the human condition. The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence teaches that the things upon which people so often rely for their fulfillment are not ultimately all that reliable. Nothing lasts forever -not wealth, not youth, not the love of another person, not even our own bodies and minds. Even if we can retain our powers and possessions until the last moment of our lives, death strips us of everything in the end. People who seek fulfillment solely in the realm of transient phenomena are vulnerable, dependent for their sense of identity or self-worth on fragile circumstances that are virtually certain to change.
"Buddhism is not just a compilation of abstract, theoretical
teachings. It is a dynamic guide to a better life, the way to live
most humanely, and how to reform ourselves. While it is true that
Buddhism embodies a profound philosophy of life, and we must not
depreciate the intellectual side, in its essence Buddhist doctrines
enlarge on the Buddha's own enlightenment — enlightenment which can be
acquired only through practice."
—Daisaku Ikeda
What is 'Practice'??? Nam myoho renge kyo!!!
teachings. It is a dynamic guide to a better life, the way to live
most humanely, and how to reform ourselves. While it is true that
Buddhism embodies a profound philosophy of life, and we must not
depreciate the intellectual side, in its essence Buddhist doctrines
enlarge on the Buddha's own enlightenment — enlightenment which can be
acquired only through practice."
—Daisaku Ikeda
What is 'Practice'??? Nam myoho renge kyo!!!
At that time the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas who had emerged from the
earth, numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, all in the
presence of the Buddha single-mindedly pressed their palms together,
gazed up in reverence at the face of the Honored One, and said to the
Buddha: "World-Honored One, after the Buddha has entered extinction,
in the lands where the emanations of the World-Honored One are
present, and in the place where the Buddha has passed into extinction,
we will preach this sutra far and wide. Why? Because we ourselves wish
to gain this great Law, true and pure, to accept, uphold, read,
recite, explain, preach, transcribe and offer alms to it."
earth, numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, all in the
presence of the Buddha single-mindedly pressed their palms together,
gazed up in reverence at the face of the Honored One, and said to the
Buddha: "World-Honored One, after the Buddha has entered extinction,
in the lands where the emanations of the World-Honored One are
present, and in the place where the Buddha has passed into extinction,
we will preach this sutra far and wide. Why? Because we ourselves wish
to gain this great Law, true and pure, to accept, uphold, read,
recite, explain, preach, transcribe and offer alms to it."
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