By sin Nichiren understood nothing else than estrangement from the truth and the teaching of the Lotus, the falling away of individuals from the primordial oneness of the universal life. But sin was not merely a matter of the individual person, it was a common heritage of all beings, for all had estranged themselves from the unique truth of the Scripture.
History of Japanese ReligionMonthly Archives: January 2019
There Once Lived A Man Named Gyōbō Bonji
There once lived a man named Gyōbō Bonji. He visited numerous countries over the course of 12 years seeking the Buddha’s dharma. However, as the Buddha had not yet appeared in this world, neither His teaching nor any priest spreading the dharma was to be found. Nevertheless, Bonji sought the teaching of the Buddha just as a thirsty man seeks water or a hungry man searches for food.
One day he met a Brahman who told him, “I know a verse of a sacred teaching. If you are really eager to seek the Buddha’s teaching, I will teach it to you.” Bonji replied, “Yes, please.” The Brahman then said, “If you are so anxious to learn it, first peel off your own skin to make a sheet of paper, sharpen your own bone to use as a pen, grind your own marrow to use as ink and draw your own blood to use as water to write it down, then I will teach it to you.” Bonji was glad for the opportunity to hear the dharma and did what he was told to do. The Brahman, however, suddenly disappeared. Looking up at the sky then lying face down on the ground, Bonji bewailed his fate.
The Buddha pitied this man and emerged from underground to preach this verse: “Practice the right dharma, not the wicked dharma. By doing so one will live peacefully both in this life and the life to come.” Bonji attained Buddhahood immediately after hearing this. The words of the Buddha that led Bonji to attain Buddhahood consisted of merely 20 Chinese characters.
Nichimyō Shōnin Gosho, A Letter to Nichimyō Shōnin, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 136-137
Daily Dharma – Jan. 16, 2019
Have faith in the Great Mandala Gohonzon, the Most Venerable One in the entire world. Earnestly endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of many treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the Universe. Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning. Without practice and learning Buddhism will cease to exist. Endeavor yourself and cause others to take up these two ways of practice and learning, which stem from faith. If possible, please spread even a word or phrase of the sutra to others.
Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō about the nature of reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Great Mandala Gohonzon, the Buddhas will provide more protection for us. Another way to read it is that as our faith develops, so does the power we have to protect others, free them from suffering and help them to awaken their Buddha nature. Either way, Nichiren shows us the practical results of our faith.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Five Aspects of 3,000 Realms
The concept of the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment” is not, however, merely an analysis of the structure of reality. It is the “realm of the inconceivable” to be discerned in meditation by the practitioner, who in so doing realizes one’s own identity with the totality of all that is. Kanno Hiroshi, in an essay on ichinen sanzen, lists five soteriological implications of this concept.
- By virtue of the ten suchnesses, which constitute “the true aspect of the dharmas,” all beings in the hierarchy of the ten dharma realms, from hell-dwellers at the bottom to Buddhas at the top, are shown to have a common ontological structure, upon which the mutual inclusion of the ten realms can be asserted. Thus, the ichinen sanzen concept structurally clarifies the basis upon which deluded beings can realize Buddhahood. Specifically, because the Buddha realm is inherent in the human realm, ordinary worldlings can potentially become Buddhas.
- As a corollary, the ontological equality of all beings is established, whatever their place in the hierarchy of the ten dharma realms.
- Just as the Buddha realm is contained even in the hell realm, so the hell realm is contained even in the realm of Buddha. This undergirds the claim that the Tathāgata still possesses the nature of evil innately and thus clarifies the basis of the Buddha’s compassion, upon which his salvation of evil beings can become reality.
- The subjective individual and the objective dharma realm are shown to be nondual; hell-dwellers live in hells, Buddhas in Buddha lands, and so on. Thus, potentially, the individual’s realization of Buddhahood can transform the outer world. As will be noted in chapter 6, this implication of the ichinen sanzen concept undergoes particular development in the teaching of Nichiren.
- All existential possibilities, from the utmost suffering of the hells to the Buddha’s liberation, are implicit in the present thought-moment of the ordinary person; thus, all potential is located within the individual. (Page 181)
The Three Wheels of the Buddha
By presenting the three wheels of the Buddha that represent the Buddha’s teaching and transformation of beings, Chih-i argues that the Buddha’s teaching is not separate from the use of supra-mundane power: the Buddha uses supra-mundane power first before he begins to expound the dharma. Using supra-mundane power is associated with the body-wheel, and expounding the dharma is associated with the verbal turning of the wheel and the wheel of knowing the mind of others. (Vol. 2, Page 276)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 4
Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered how the Buddha knows the natures and desires of all living beings, we consider seeing with the eyes of the Buddha the living beings of the six regions.
Śāriputra, know this!
Seeing with the eyes of the Buddha
The living beings of the six regions, I thought:
“They are poor, and devoid of merits and wisdom.
They incessantly suffer because they are taken
To the rough road of birth and death.
They cling to the five desires
Just as a yak loves its tail.
They are occupied with greed and cravings,
And blinded by them.
They do not seek the Buddha who has great power.
They do not seek the Way to eliminate sufferings.
They are deeply attached to wrong views.
They are trying to stop suffering by suffering.”My great compassion was aroused towards them.
I for the first time sat at the place of enlightenment[,]
[And attained enlightenment].
For three weeks afterwards,
I gazed on the tree,
Or walked about, thinking:
“The wisdom I obtained is
The most wonderful and excellent.
The living beings [of the six regions]
Are dull, attached to pleasures,
And blinded by stupidity.
How shall I save them?”
My observation from June 18, 2017, still applies:
Nothing better describes the problems of the world than Śākyamuni’s observation: “They are trying to stop suffering by suffering.” Imagine awakening to the truth of all things and realizing, “No one is going to believe this.”
Lightening Karmic Retribution
The Nirvana Sūtra preaches a doctrine called “lightening the karmic retribution.” It proclaims that when a retribution accumulated from the evil karma in one’s previous lives is too heavy to be atoned for in this life, one will have to endure the suffering in hell in the future. One may, however, bear hell’s suffering in the present life instead so that one’s suffering in hell in a future life disappears instantly and one will instead be able to receive the blessings of the realm of humanity and that of heavenly beings, as well as the blessings of the Three Vehicles and attain Buddhahood after death. It was not without reason that Never Despising Bodhisattva was spoken ill of, slandered, beaten with sticks and pieces of wood, or had rubble thrown at him. His persecution in this life seems to be the consequences of his slandering the True Dharma in his previous lives. Therefore it is stated in the sūtra, “His sins have been atoned.” I believe it means that Never Despising Bodhisattva’s past sin ceased to exist through his persecution.
Tenjū Kyōju Hōmon, Lightening the Karmic Retribution, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 29
Daily Dharma – Jan. 15, 2019
When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter tells the variety of merits enjoyed by anyone who understands, however briefly, the ever-present nature of the Buddha. This reminder is not just for the great Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya. It is also for all of us who are awakening our Bodhisattva nature through this teaching. It is important for us to treat all people, especially those who share this practice of the Buddha Dharma with us, with the same respect we would give to the Buddha himself.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Mutual Encompassing of the Mind and All Dharmas
As noted in chapter 1, this mutual encompassing of the mind and all dharmas marks an important difference between Chih-i’s thought and that of Hua-yen and other forms of Mahāyāna in which the dharmas are said to arise from the one mind.
Chih-i begins by noting that the mind comprises “ten dharma realms.” These ten realms (jikkai) refer to the ten categories of living beings: hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, asura demons, humans, gods, voice-hearers, condition-perceivers, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. While these ten are ranged hierarchically from the viewpoint of provisional existence, from the viewpoint of emptiness, they lack independent self-nature and therefore co-penetrate, thus making “a hundred dharma realms.” The mutual encompassing or co-penetration of the ten realms (jikkai gogu) collapses any ontological distinction between the Buddha and the beings, implying that the nine realms of unenlightened beings possess the Buddha nature inherently, while the Buddha possesses the nine realms of unenlightened beings. The mutual inclusion of the ten realms represents an important characteristic of Chih-i’s thought: there is no original “pure mind”; good and evil are always nondual and mutually possessed. The most depraved icchantika is endowed the Buddha realm, while the Buddha is still latently endowed with the realms of unenlightened beings. This would eventually give rise to the controversial T’ien-t’ai doctrine of “inherent not being extirpated” even in the mind of the Buddha.
Each of the ten realms further possesses the ten suchnesses (jūnyoze) that constitute the “true aspect of the dharmas” as set forth in the following passage of the Lotus Sūtra:
“Only a Buddha and a Buddha together can fathom the true aspect of the dharmas, that is to say, the suchness of their characteristics, the suchness of their nature, the suchness of their essence, the suchness of their power, the suchness of their activity, the suchness of their causes, the suchness of their conditions, the suchness of their effects, the suchness of their recompenses and the suchness of their ultimate equality from beginning to end.”
Chih-i explains these ten suchnesses as follows:
” ‘Characteristics’ has its point of reference externally. What can be distinguished by being seen is called ‘characteristics.’ Nature has its point of reference internally. That which intrinsically belongs to oneself and does not change is called ‘nature.’ That which is the central quality [of something] is called ‘essence.’ The ability to influence is called ‘power.’ That which constructs is called ‘activity.’ Repetitive causes are called ‘causes’ [i.e., karma]. Auxiliary causes are called ‘conditions.’ Repetitive results are called ‘effects.’ Retributive effects are called ‘recompenses.’ The first, ‘characteristics,’ is called the ‘beginning’; the ninth, ‘recompense,’ is called the ‘end’; and the place to which they belong is ‘ultimately equal.’ ”
Each of the ten realms contains the ten suchnesses. The ten dharma realms, interpenetrating to form a hundred realms that each simultaneously possesses the ten suchnesses, comprise the thousand suchnesses.
Moreover, each of the ten dharma realms may be understood in terms of the three realms (san seken): the realm of the five skandhas or aggregates, the realm of sentient beings, and the realm of the land. The “realm of the five skandhas” represents an analysis of the sentient being in terms of its psychosomatic constituents: forms, perceptions, conceptions, volitions, and consciousness. The “realm of living beings” views the living being as an independent existent that can be said to belong to one or another of the ten dharma realms. The “realm of the land” is the objective realm in which the beings dwell. Because each of the ten dharma realms, which embodies the ten suchnesses, can also be understood in terms of these three categories, Chih-i says, “One realm comprises thirty kinds of realms.” Thus, the ten dharma realms, co-penetrating, yield a hundred realms; multiplied times the ten suchnesses they yield a thousand suchnesses; and multiplied times the three realms they equal three thousand realms.
The number three thousand is itself arbitrary; the point is that “all of reality is an integrated, interdependent unity,” as Paul Swanson puts it. (Page 179-181)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismThe Subtlety of Empathy and Response
In order to teach and transform others, the connection between the Buddha and living beings has to be established. The establishment of this connection is based on the empathy of living beings toward the Buddha. The empathy and response are interactive. On the one hand, only if there is empathy of beings, can they receive the Buddha’s response. On the other hand, the Buddha’s response is everywhere in approaching beings with their wholesomeness that is about to rise. As there are different capacities of beings, empathy of beings is also different. Accordingly, the Buddha’s responses are also different that are suitable to different beings in different circumstances. This is demonstrated by Chih-i in terms of different phases of correspondence between the capacities of beings with different types of empathy and different responses of the Buddha. The most important cases of correspondence are the four primary phases and the thirty-six phases between Chi and Ying. When these thirty-six phases are in the context of the Ten Dharma-realms, there are total number of sixty-four thousand and eight hundred phases of correspondence between Chi and Ying. Chih-i’s detailed elaboration of these different phases of correspondence exhausts all possible interactive relationship between beings and the Buddha and reflects his perfect harmonization philosophy that enables him to present every aspect of Buddhism comprehensively. With Chih-i’s vivid description of empathy and response, the Buddha’s teaching and transformation of beings is no longer a historical event that only happened in the past but is happening in the present and will happen in the future. What Chih-i asserts through this category Subtlety of Empathy and Response is that the Buddha’s entering into Nirvāṇa does not mean that his activity of saving beings ends. The Buddha is always present, and his response is always available regardless of time and space. Therefore, one’s goal of striving for Buddhahood is not far fetching, considering that one is always benefited by the response of the Buddha. This can be seen in different phases of correspondence between Chi and Ying, whether hidden or manifest, and whether in the past, present and future. (Vol. 2, Page 275)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism