Lotus SeedsUnlike previous Buddhist forms of contemplation, which depended upon one’s own ability to perceive the true nature of reality, Nichiren Shonin taught that the true nature of reality makes itself known to us as the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha in the form of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. In other words, Buddhahood is not some thing that we cultivate through our own self-conscious efforts. Rather, the true nature of reality is conveyed to us by the spiritual presence of the Eternal Buddha within our lives, which we awaken to through our faith in Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. All of this unfolds naturally when we focus our whole being upon the Gohonzon and chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Category Archives: 800years
800 Years: Abandoning Doubts
Lecture on the Lotus SutraUltimately, faith is the key to following the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. If we think that we can sit on the sidelines and ponder our way to enlightenment then we have missed a fundamental message from Chapter II. Faith opens up the path to us by freeing us from doubting the truth of the teaching. When we abandon doubts and free ourselves from the hindrance of needing to rationalize all things then we are able to begin to practice with joy. As we practice we begin to see the theories manifest as truths in our lives that are beyond words and transcend to the realm of actualization. After all, the theory of Buddhism has no value beyond what we actually practice and apply to our own lives.
800 Years: Through Faith Alone
QUESTION: Do you have scriptural proof that even those who believe without comprehension can attain Buddhahood?
ANSWER: The Nirvana Sūtra, fascicle 32, states, “There are many causes of attaining Buddhahood; faith, however, is all-inclusive.” Fascicle 9 in the same sūtra also preaches, “Upon hearing this sūtra, everything becomes the cause and by-cause of attaining enlightenment. The Buddha’s voice of preaching and rays of light emitted by the Buddha all enter through pores necessarily enabling listeners to attain enlightenment.” And the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 3 on the “Parable,” preaches that one can “gain entrance to Buddhahood through faith alone.”
Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 136.
800 Years: The Cause of the Great Purpose
In 1989, when I first chanted the Daimoku, I was encouraged to chant in order to get stuff. Didn’t matter what stuff. Chanting was magical. Have faith, I was told.
Since leaving Soka Gakkai, my understanding of faith has shifted 180 degrees. This was true on Nov. 15, 2015, when I published a blog post following an on-line service with Rev. Ryusho Jeffus. And it is even truer today.
My understanding of faith today has grown from my appreciation of the purpose of the Buddha’s teaching. That purpose is succinctly explained in Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra:
“Śāriputra! The purpose of the various teachings that the Buddhas expound according to the capacities of all living beings is difficult to understand. I also expound various teachings with innumerable expedients, that is to say, with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses. [The purpose of the various teachings of the Buddhas is difficult to understand] because the Dharma cannot be understood by reasoning. Only the Buddhas know the Dharma because the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds only for one great purpose.
“Śāriputra! What is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds? The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to enter the Way to the insight of the Buddha. Śāriputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”
“The Buddha said to Śāriputra:
“The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, teach only Bodhisattvas. All they do is for one purpose, that is, to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings, to cause them to obtain the insight of the Buddha.”
We are not asked to sit idly and intellectualize the meaning of the teaching of the Buddha. No, the Buddha seeks to cause us to act.
“The Tathāgatas save all living beings
With innumerable expedients.
They cause all living beings to enter the Way
To the wisdom-without-āsravas of the Buddha.
Anyone who hears the Dharma
Will not fail to become a Buddha.“Every Buddha vows at the outset:
‘I will cause all living beings
To attain the same enlightenment
That I attained.’ ”
Our role is to gather enough faith to step through the gate of the Buddha’s wisdom and with each subsequent step to advance along the path the Buddha has laid before us – to enter the Way to the same enlightenment.
As I wrote back in 2015, “Eliminating suffering in my life by awakening my inherent enlightenment is the reason for chanting, not getting stuff.”
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800 Years: Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva
Faith is a personal aspect. It has no relationship to others. My faith is mine; yours is yours. This is something I don’t believe many people appreciate.
In Chapter 1, Mañjuśrī tells a short story about the previous life of Maitreya. It seems the Buddha-to-be wasn’t always a perfect example of a man of faith.
“There was a lazy man
Among the disciples
Of Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma.
The lazy man was attached to fame and gain.“Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Seeking.”
No criticism of Fame-Seeking is offered. Instead, we learn:
“But he later did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.
He made offerings to them,
Followed them, practiced the Great Way,
And performed the six paramitas.
Now he sees the Lion-Like One of the Sakyas.“He will become a Buddha
In his future life.
He will be called Maitreya.
He will save innumerable living beings.”
The Lotus Sutra is clear on this topic: We are not to criticize those who practice the Lotus Sutra.
In Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, the Buddha warns:
An evil man who speaks ill of me in my presence with evil intent for as long as a kalpa is not as sinful as the person who reproaches laymen or monks with even a single word of abuse for their reading and reciting the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
In Chapter 13, Peaceful Practices, we are instructed:
“A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to keep, read and recite this sūtra in the latter days after my extinction when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should not nurse jealousy against others, or flatter or deceive them. He should not despise those who study the Way to Buddhahood in any way. He should not speak ill of them or try to point out their faults. … He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others..”
In Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, the Buddha warns:
“Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life. Those who laugh at him will have few teeth, ugly lips, flat noses, contorted limbs, squint eyes, and foul and filthy bodies, and suffer from bloody pus of scabs, abdominal dropsy, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases in their successive lives.”
It is not our place to judge others. Never-Despising Bodhisattva did not read or recite sūtras. He only bowed to the four kinds of devotees. When he saw them in the distance, he went to them on purpose, bowed to them, and praised them, saying, ‘I do not despise you because you can become Buddhas.’
Fame-seeking became Maitreya. Never-Despising became Śākyamuni. Our faith grows amid our causes and conditions. We should nurture and encourage others, not criticize.
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800 Years: Making Efforts with Faith
Spring WritingsNichiren Buddhism is called a “positive religion” because the Lotus Sutra instructs us to confront reality positively, and improve our lives by making efforts with faith. Generally, this world is spoken of negatively, and is called a degraded and disordered world. However, Nichiren Buddhism is different. Even though this world seems like it is degraded, and a world filled with deep desire, we are Buddha’s children. We all have Buddha’s nature, as a seed, waiting to become a Buddha and to construct an ideal world, the “Buddha’s world.” Unfortunately, it is difficult to recognize this nature by oneself, even if it is a part of our own mind.
800 Years: Seeing the Real Figure of the Buddha
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra[W]e can see the real figure of the Buddha when we devote ourselves to him in faith. We can attain this faithful state when we devote both our body and our soul to the Buddha and become unselfish. In other words, we reach a state in which our hearts are completely honest and gentle, and we leave all our cares in the hands of the Buddha. A simple fervent feeling of entrusting one’s life to the Buddha is the essence of faith. In the words of [Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata], we “wish to see (him) with all our hearts, and at the cost of our lives.”
800 Years: Realizing Buddhahood Through Faith
Lotus SeedsNichiren Shonin recognized that the eternal life of the Buddha was of crucial importance. Therefore, he taught that we do not need to be born into a pure land after death so that we can come into the presence of the Buddha and thereby awaken to the truth. According to Nichiren Shonin, the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra reveals that we are already in the pure land. We are already in the presence of the Buddha. We are able to directly realize Buddhahood through our faith, because it is already a part of our lives.
800 Years: A Positive Feedback Loop of Faith and Practice
Lecture on the Lotus SutraOne of the four things required in order to obtain the Lotus Sutra is firmness of faith. Firmness of faith here is referring to the kind of faith and practice that is steady and always growing. This is a faith that is a manifestation of the confidence in the truth of the Lotus Sutra. This steadiness of faith is not stagnant but is constantly expanding. You might think of it as entering a positive feedback loop, where faith begins to actually be a motivating force in practice. Initially as we begin to practice we might not have absolute faith in the Lotus Sutra and what we are doing or even if it works. So our practice at first is about building faith based upon changing theory into actual lived experiences. The more we practice the stronger our faith becomes. As our faith grows it becomes the motivation for practice and is no longer the aim of practice.
800 Years: The Basic Way to Buddhahood
The Lotus Sūtra enjoins us to give up the provisional teachings, saying that with faith we can enter the Way to Buddhahood. The Nirvana Sūtra preached last in the śāla forest states that there are numerous ways to get the seed of Buddhahood, but as faith in the Three Treasures include all those ways, it is faith in the Three Treasures that matters most. The basic way to Buddhahood thus lies in faith.
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 36-37