By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p195Since, in his view, the devotion paid to outdated and ineffectual teachings was inviting disastrous social consequences, Nichiren saw the dissemination of his message as a matter of urgency. Accordingly, he stressed the practice of shakubuku, an assertive approach to proselytizing in which one actively rebukes attachment to views deemed inferior or false. Nichiren practiced shakubuku by preaching and writing, engaging in doctrinal debate with fellow clerics, and admonishing officials of the Bakufu, the recently established shogunate or military government that shared power with the imperial court.
Monthly Archives: July 2023
Daily Dharma – July 28, 2023
They also will be able to locate the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas by smelling their bodies from afar. Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Our sense of smell is often unconscious. We associate smells with places, experiences or even people that we like or dislike. These smells can even cause an emotional reaction by causing us to relive a situation associated with that smell. In the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha teaches that our everyday experiences are no different from enlightenment, that his great wisdom is not about how to escape from this world. It is about how to use the senses and abilities with which we are blessed in ways we cannot imagine.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 2
Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion)
Having last month conclude today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory, we return to the top and consider Mañjuśrī’s response to Maitreya’s question.
Thereupon Mañjuśrī said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahasattva and the other great men:
“Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.“Good men! I met many Buddhas in my previous existence. At that time I saw the same good omen as this. Those Buddhas emitted the same ray of light as this, and then expounded a great teaching. Therefore, know this! I think that this Buddha also is emitting this ray of light, and showing this good omen, wishing to cause all living beings to hear and understand the most difficult teaching in the world to believe.
The Daily Dharma from Aug. 15, 2022, offers this:
Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.
Mañjuśrī declares this to Maitreya and all others gathered to hear the Buddha teach in Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had just produced the light from between his eyebrows illuminating the worlds of the ten directions, a sight none but Mañjuśrī had experienced. The great teaching the Buddha was about to expound is the Lotus Sutra. This statement awakens our interest and shows us how to listen to this teaching, as if it were a great cooling rain or the loud call of a conch-shell or drum.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
‘By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree’
For the past 26 days I’ve been reviewing and commenting on the adaptation of Nichiren Buddhism by Chigaku Tanaka. As described by Tanaka’s son, Kishio Satomi, the most significant difference between traditional Nichiren Buddhist doctrine and Tanaka’s Nichirenism was the focus on the “Holy Altar,” the kaidan or precepts platform. This is one of the Three Great Secret Dharmas.
In 2003, Jacqueline I. Stone, at the time a professor of Japanese Religions in the Religion Department of Princeton University, wrote a paper entitled, “By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree: Politics and the Issue of the Ordination Platform in Modern Lay Buddhism.” You can download a PDF copy here. The paper became a chapter in “Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition” edited by Steven Heine and Charles S. Prevish.
As Stone explains:
By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p193-194One aspect of the medieval Nichiren Buddhist vision … has proved difficult for modern practitioners. This is the tradition that, someday, a great ordination platform (kaidan) would be erected “by imperial edict and shogunal decree,” symbolizing the fusion of Buddhism and worldly rule and the conversion of the sovereign and his people to Nichiren’s teaching. One might expect that this ideal, framed in such obviously medieval terms, might be allowed to lapse into obscurity, or be interpreted in purely symbolic fashion. Such has, indeed, been the mainstream tendency within the various Nichiren Buddhist temple denominations. Nonetheless, there have also been two significant attempts within the last century to reframe the goal of establishing the kaidan in a literal sense, in the context of political milieus that Nichiren’s medieval followers never imagined: the militant imperialism of the first part of the twentieth century and the parliamentary democracy instituted after the Pacific War.
Beginning today and running through Aug. 7 I will publish quotes from Stone’s article illustrating the background and nature of Tanaka’s Nichirenshugi and the importance of Manifesting This World as an Ideal Realm.
Manifesting This World as an Ideal Realm
By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p194-195Nichiren taught a doctrine of exclusive devotion to the Lotus Sūtra and stressed as a primary practice the chanting of its daimoku or title in the formula, “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō.” In medieval Japan, the Lotus Sūtra, with its promise that “all shall achieve the Buddha Way,” was widely revered as the highest of the Buddha’s teachings, reconciling all others within itself. For Nichiren, however, the Lotus Sūtra was not simply one teaching supreme among many but the sole Dharma that could lead to Buddhahood now in the Final Dharma age (mappō), preached by the Buddha expressly for the people of this degenerate time. In his estimation, the other Buddhist forms current in his day—Pure Land, Zen, and the esoteric teachings—being provisional and incomplete, no longer led to liberation in the mappō era; to embrace them and reject the Lotus Sūtra was a pernicious inversion of high and low, a form of “disparaging the Dharma” (hōbō) that could only invite suffering. Drawing on traditional Mahāyāna ideas of the nonduality of individuals and their container world, the “realm of the land” (kokudo seken), Nichiren insisted that it was precisely this evil, a neglect of the Lotus Sūtra’s perfect teaching, that had brought down on the populace the calamities of his day: drought, famine, earthquakes, and the threat of invasion by the Mongols. Conversely, Nichiren held that the spread of exclusive faith in the Lotus Sūtra would banish such disasters and manifest this world as an ideal realm:
When all people throughout the land enter the one Buddha vehicle, and the Wonderful Dharma [of the Lotus] alone flourishes, because the people all chant Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō, the wind will not thrash the branches nor the rain fall hard enough to break clods.
The age will become like the reigns of [the Chinese sage kings] Yao and Shun. In the present life, inauspicious calamities will be banished, and the people will obtain the art of longevity. There can be no doubt of the sūtra’s promise of “peace and security in the present world.
Nyosetsu shugyō shō
Daily Dharma – July 27, 2023
I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.
The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. At the beginning of this Sūtra, the Buddha held back from teaching because he thought people might not be ready to hear it. He also said that the Dharma he teaches cannot be understood by reasoning. We need both faith and understanding to practice the Wonderful Dharma. The Buddha also reminds us to appreciate how difficult faith and understanding are, both for ourselves and others.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month considered the Buddha’s expounding of the Sutra of Innumerable Teachings and what happened afterward, we consider Maitreya’s response to seeing eighteen thousand worlds in the east.
The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlightenment by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvana. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the śarīras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva thought:
“The World-Honored One is now displaying a wonder [, that is, a good omen]. Why is he displaying this good omen? The Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into a samadhi. Whom shall I ask why he is displaying this inconceivable, rare thing? Who can answer my question?”
He thought again:
“This Mañjuśrī, the son of the King of the Dharma, has already met innumerable Buddhas and made offerings to them in his previous existence. He must have seen this rare thing before. Now I will ask him.”
At that time the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings thought, “Whom shall we ask why the Buddha is emitting this ray of light, that is, why he is displaying this wonder?”
At that time the congregation included the four kinds of devotees: bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās. They also included gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings. Maitreya Bodhisattva, wishing to have his doubts removed, and also understanding the minds of the congregation, asked Mañjuśrī:
“Why is the World-Honored One displaying this good omen, this wonder? Why is he emitting a great ray of light, illumining eighteen thousand worlds to the east, and causing us to see those beautifully-adorned worlds of the Buddhas?”
A Religion Founded With A Future Aim
This is last of a series of daily articles concerning Kishio Satomi’s book, “Japanese Civilization; Its Significance and Realization; Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles,” which details the foundations of Chigaku Tanaka’s interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism and Japan’s role in the early 20th century.
Kishio Satomi’s Nichirenism departs from traditional Nichiren doctrine in its focus on the Holy Altar and how that Kaidan would bring about an ideal world. For Satomi, this was something Nichiren had left till the end.
[By the time Nichiren’s exile on Sado ended, he] had done everything which he ought to do, and he had also proclaimed everything which he had to announce. He fought a severe and a long fight throughout his life for righteousness’ sake, and now one thing remained, namely to prepare for the future. The signification of the Sacred Title was revealed in the days of Kamakura, and the Supreme Being, too, was established during his exile in Sado. And then, one point among the Three Secret Laws still remained unrevealed. …
Now, the time was at hand for a new movement, so Nichiren firmly made up his mind to retire to some tranquil place in order to undertake the education of his followers and disciples, and also for the sake of something important.
Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles, p173
In Satomi’s telling, it was Mt. Fuji that attracted Nichiren to Minobu.
Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles, p175More than half of his extant works were written in Minobu days. Moreover, he started technical lectures for students in order to educate his followers. But the most important signification consists in his long-cherished desire for preparation of the establishment of the Holy Altar at a certain future. He, indeed, thought of Mt. Fuji as the ideal place for the establishment of the Holy Altar of the Honmon Centric Hokekyo. Therefore, he selected this recess of Minobu, which is close to Fuji, in order to view it and encourage his great ideal. Therefore, he once climbed Fuji and buried rolls of Hokekyo in order to reveal its symbolical signification. The reasons and signification of his retirement to Minobu were unresearched during seven hundred years. According to Tanaka’s opinion these were his objects, and this is now the acknowledged view since Tanaka’s theory appeared. There actually exist at the present day the remains of the concrete preparation for the establishment of the Holy Altar in the outskirts of Mt. Fuji.
According to Satomi, all of this ultimately would create the foundation upon which an ideal world would be established.
Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles, p114-116Nichirenism … taught us the most sincere vow for dear life in order to render life significant and truly happy, and now the modern Nichirenism teaches us how to realize such an ideal in the world.
Thus a Nichirenian’s idealism is not a mere spiritualism, but a concrete motion with material forces, it is possible therefore for direct action to follow in an emergency.
Imaginative gods, fanciful views of reality, superstitions, and egoistic faith are, all of them, denied in Nichirenism. These Three Great Secret Laws [the Gohonzon , the Kaidan and the Odaimoku] are the key to the future civilization. Recent civilization has brought about the freedom of the masses and equality by depriving the nobility of their freedom. Although people may call their own action righteousness, it is, indeed, merely freedom and equality of the commons just as it was arbitrariness in the case of the nobility. In Nichiren’s thought such one-sided righteousness is denied absolutely.
Nichiren expected to establish his ideal country, heaven on earth, by the incessant efforts of all his followers in the future. But the world will fall into evil ways, nay into folly with its struggles; for instance, capitalism against labor, socialism against aristocratism, individualism against nationalism, diabolism against humanism, etc., while religion or ethics is constantly somniloquising. Finally, the world might fall into extreme confusion just like modern Russia. Should it happen thus, all human beings and all countries would awaken and heed Nichiren’s warning, so thought Nichiren. He speaks the following words:
“At a future time, a war more stupendous than any before will be waged, when it comes all beings under the light of the Sun and Moon will pray for mercy to all manner of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas out of fear of the ruin of their countries or lives : If in spite of that they do not receive divine favor, then, for the first time, innumerable priests and all the great kings will believe the hated priestling (i.e. Nichiren himself), and all people will call upon the Sacred Title, making the sincerest vows and joining hands, just as when the Buddha performed the Ten Mysterious Powers (miracles) in Chapter XXI of the Hokekyo, and all existence without exception in the ten directions, shouted ‘Adoration to the Buddha Shakyamuni, Adoration to the Buddha Shakyamuni and Adoration to the Perfect Truth of the Hokekyo, Adoration to the Perfect Truth of the Hokekyo ‘ towards this world loudly in the same breath ” (Works, p. 111; and see Tanaka : “Nichiren’s Doctrine”).
Nichiren’s religion was founded with such a future aim and was not well understood at that time nor even at the present day. But the time is drawing nigh when this religion will be accepted. The Great War, in a sense, may be an omen that Nichiren mentioned when he said the greatest war on record. To the problem between the country and religion, or that of ethics and religion, the Key of possible solution is given here, I think.
And yet an even greater war that featured weapons more dreadful than any before destroyed Japan and we still do not see “all people [calling] upon the Sacred Title, making the sincerest vows and joining hands.”
Daily Dharma – July 26, 2023
Bhikṣus, know this! I can enter skillfully deep into the natures of all living beings. Because I saw that they wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and that they were deeply attached to the five desires, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa to them. When they heard that teaching, they received it by faith.
The Buddha gives this explanation to the Bhikṣus (monks and nuns) gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. As difficult as it is to hear the Buddha’s highest teaching, he would not give it to us unless we were ready to receive it. Still, we who would receive it must set aside his earlier teachings as a means to our personal happiness, and see them as preparations to learn how to benefit all beings. Our faith in the Buddha is the confidence that we will become as enlightened as he is, and that he is helping all of us on the path to that enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1
Having last month considered second of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.
“O you of good intent! Third, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra— whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—they will gain awareness of hundreds of millions of myriads of meanings. Then, even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.
A person with great strength can bear and carry all manner of heavy things. So it is also with people who keep faith with this sutra: they can shoulder the great responsibilities of ultimate enlightenment, and they can carry living beings away from the path of recurring births and deaths. They are capable of ferrying others even though they still cannot ferry themselves. Suppose a ship’s captain is rendered immobile by a serious affliction and must therefore remain on shore. But he has a fine, reliable vessel that is always equipped with everything needed to ferry others, which he makes available and on which they embark. So it is also with those who keep faith with this sutra: while enduring the circumstances of living in the five conditions of existence—the whole of their being constantly beset by one hundred and eight serious afflictions, one after another— they remain on this shore of ignorance, aging, and death. But they have this fine, reliable, all-ferrying sutra, equipped with infinite meanings, that is able to rescue living beings: those who practice it as expounded will attain deliverance from the cycle of births and deaths. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the third beneficial effect of this sutra.
Underscore: Even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.