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Understanding Kaji Kito

Kito Blessing
Rev. Igarashi performs a Kito Blessing for me as my grandson looks on. My son took the photo.

Today was the monthly kaji kito service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. During the ceremony, Rev. Kenjo Igarashi moves among the congregation. Each prayer is personalized to the individual.

To become qualified to perform the kaji kito ritual requires surviving a brutal 100-day ascetic practice. Rev. Igarashi has endured five of these sessions. The only other priests in the United States who are qualified to perform kaji kito services are Rev. Shokai Kanai, Bishop of the Nichiren Mission of Hawaii, and his son, Shoda Kanai, at the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada in Las Vegas. Rev. Shokai Kanai has completed three 100-day ascetic sessions; Rev. Shoda Kanai has completed two sessions.

Recently I’ve been enjoying the ability to upload source material to Google’s NotebookLM and have the Google’s AI assistant digest the information.

I uploaded the Nichiren Shu brochure on Kito and Kyomi J. Igarashi’s The Development of Kaji Kito in Nichiren Shu Buddhism. (Kyomi is Rev. Igarashi’s daughter.)

My query: Summarize what is kaji kito, incorporating both sources

Kaji Kito: A Blend of Empowerment, Prayer, and the Lotus Sutra

Kaji kito, often translated as “ritual prayer,” is a multifaceted practice deeply embedded in Nichiren Buddhism. Understanding it requires unpacking the layered meanings of its two components: “kaji” and “kito.”

Kaji: The Empowering Connection
“Kaji” represents a connection forged between an individual and a Buddha or a higher deity, often resulting in empowerment and blessings. This connection is closely tied to the concept of “sokushin jobutsu,” achieving Buddhahood in this lifetime, a central tenet of Nichiren Buddhism.

Kukai, a key figure in Japanese esoteric Buddhism, emphasized the reciprocal nature of this connection. He believed individuals could not only receive blessings from Buddhas but also “provide” for them and ultimately merge with them through dedicated practice.

Kito: Transmitting Energy Through Prayer
“Kito” simply means “prayer” and emphasizes the transmission of energy from a higher being to an individual or object. While historically people prayed directly to deities, the belief emerged that a spiritually trained priest could enhance the efficacy of prayers, leading to the merging of “kaji” and “kito.” This highlights the role of a skilled practitioner in facilitating this connection and guiding the flow of energy.

The Lotus Sutra: Foundation of Nichiren Kaji Kito
Nichiren, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, placed the Lotus Sutra at the heart of his understanding and practice of kaji kito. He believed it was the purest and most powerful form of prayer, capable of bringing the greatest benefits.

He compiled the Kito Kyo, a collection of Lotus Sutra passages specifically for kaji kito, believed to hold a special power of prayer. This text is used by Nichiren priests (gyoja) to this day to address physical and spiritual challenges.

The Purpose of Kaji Kito: Happiness, Healing, and Protection
Nichiren emphasized “sokusai enmei” (living a trouble-free life) and “zaisho shometsu” (removing past sins) as central aims of kaji kito. He believed that through prayer and adherence to the Lotus Sutra, individuals could overcome challenges, achieve happiness, and purify their karma.

The sources mention various purposes for kaji kito, including healing, protection from calamities, and support for specific endeavors. This suggests a practical dimension to the practice, aiming to bring tangible benefits to people’s lives.

Kishimojin, a protective deity featured in the Lotus Sutra, is often a focus of kaji kito blessings. Once a child-stealing demon, she repented and vowed to protect all children, embodying transformation and compassion. Her inclusion in kaji kito reflects its aim of safeguarding well-being and fostering positive change.

Beyond Blessings: The Many Forms of Kaji Kito
Nichiren identified four types of kaji kito, encompassing prayers with specific objectives and those without, demonstrating a diverse understanding of prayer’s motivations. His own life exemplified this, as he performed kaji kito for healing, protection, and even to communicate with deities, suggesting a broader scope than just seeking blessings.

The Evolution of Kaji Kito: Integrating Traditions
After Nichiren’s death, different branches of Nichiren Buddhism emerged, each with its own variations on kaji kito, often integrating elements from other Buddhist schools. For example, the incorporation of bokken, a wooden sword-like object, and juzu, a Buddhist rosary, reflects the evolving nature of the practice. While their exact meaning remains unclear, it’s suggested they ward off negative forces (bokken) and invoke benevolent energies (juzu).

Aragyo: The Rigorous Path to Mastery
To become a kaji kito practitioner (gyoja), Nichiren priests undergo 100 days of intensive training called aragyo. The sources describe its harsh conditions: extreme cold, limited food and sleep, continuous chanting, and water purification rituals. This rigorous training purifies the body and mind, preparing the priest to handle the spiritual energy involved in kaji kito.

Kaji Kito in the Modern World: Enduring Relevance
Despite growing skepticism towards traditional practices, kaji kito continues to resonate because it addresses fundamental human needs for healing, protection, and connection to something greater. The practice might need to adapt to contemporary concerns, bridging ancient rituals with modern anxieties, to ensure its continued relevance in the future.

ai-podcast

Google’s NotebookLM also allows you to create an audio dialogue, essentially a podcast, based on the sources. Below is what NotebookLM offered.

I have several complaints with this. For example, the podcasters erroneously say that priests are required to attend Aragyo five times. They also mangle the pronunciation of Nichiren’s name to a point that it’s sometimes unrecognizable. The concluding discussion is very disappointing. It aimlessly wanders between talking about the priest and the priest’s training to the prayer and its effects.

One of the “features” of working with NotebookLM is the ability to direct the focus of the AI assistant. In the first audio I only suggested that the AI speak to non-members of Nichiren Shu. Unhappy with the result, I deleted that and asked the AI to discuss the priest training while focusing on what it means to experience the kaji kito prayer.

This time NotebookLM came up with a podcast of just under 15 minutes. I noticed no factual errors this time and the topical confusion of the first effort is missing from this version.

Listen on NoteboookLM

Tamura-Intro, Blog

The Buddha’s Practices

Yoshiro Tamura has a curious interpretation of the Lotus Sutra’s Chapter 16 in his book, “Introduction to the Lotus Sutra.”

Tamura writes:

Chapter 16, “The Lifetime of the Tathagata,” as it has been traditionally understood, reveals the eternal life of Shakyamuni Buddha. But the occasion for doing this was provided by a question raised in the previous chapter: How could the innumerable bodhisattvas who have emerged from below the earth have been taught and led to the Buddha way over the short span of the Buddha’s life? The answer is given that the innumerable bodhisattvas have been authentic disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. That is, in view of the fact that Shakyamuni Buddha only recently became awakened and became a buddha, how could he have so many disciples? Chapter 16 reveals that in reality Shakyamuni Buddha became a buddha an infinitely long time ago, thus an infinite amount of time has passed since he became Buddha. In this way we can see that the advocacy of the Buddha’s universality is related to bodhisattvas.

The important thing to notice in chapter 16 is the way in which the Buddha’s everlasting life is revealed. The text says:

Thus, since I became Buddha, a very long time has passed, a lifetime of innumerable countless eons of constantly living here and never entering extinction. The time that I have devoted to walking the bodhisattva way is not finished even now, but will be twice as many eons as have already passed.

This means that the eternal life of the Buddha is shown through infinite, never-ending bodhisattva practice. The everlasting or eternal life is realized by endlessly doing bodhisattva practice in this actual world.

Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p52-53

Tamura’s quote from Chapter 16 has a note indicating that it comes from Reeve’s 2008 English translation of the Lotus Sutra. However, it is not a direct quote from Reeve’s translation, which states:

Thus, since I became Buddha a very long time has passed, a lifetime of innumerable countless eons of constantly living here and never entering extinction. Good sons, from the beginning I have practiced the bodhisattva way, and that life is not yet finished, but will be twice as long as what has already passed.

I stumbled over Tamura’s quote because this is not how Senchu Murano translates this portion of Chapter 16. Murano offers:

“Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time as previously stated.

Clearly, the Bodhisattva practices preceded Śākyamuni’s enlightenment. There’s no suggestion that he continued these Bodhisattva practices.

Leon Hurvitz’s 2009 translation is even clearer on this point:

O good men ! The life-span I achieved in my former treading of the bodhisattva path even now is not exhausted, for it is twice the above number.

None of the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra suggests an unceasing practice of the bodhisattva way by the Buddha.

The BDK English Tripiṭaka translation offers:

O sons of a virtuous family! The lifespan that I first attained through practicing the bodhisattva path has not yet expired. It is twice as great as the number previously mentioned.

The Rissho Kosei-Kai Modern Translation says:

Good children, the life span I gained through my long practice of the bodhisattva way is still unending and will continue for twice the duration that I described before.

Burton Watson, in his translation for Soka Gakkai in 1993, offers:

Good men, originally I practiced the bodhisattva way, and the life span that I acquired then has yet to come to an end but will last twice the number of years that have already passed.

Tamura declares that the eternal life of the Buddha is shown through infinite, never-ending bodhisattva practice. That seems too narrow to me. The entire Lotus Sutra – Myōhōrengekyō – is realized by endlessly doing bodhisattva practice in this actual world. This is how Namu Myōhōrengekyō is put into practice daily.

As for the Buddha:

I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”

The eternal life of the Buddha is realized in this vow.

Tamura-Intro, original, Blog

Yoshiro Tamura and Original Enlightenment Thought

Search for Yoshiro Tamura on this website and you’ll find that he is “famous” for his views on Original Enlightenment. (He’s also one of the translators of Rissho Kosei-kai’s 1975 edition of The Threefold Lotus Sutra.)

The publisher’s description of Jacqueline Stone’s “Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism” explains what’s meant by “original enlightenment”:

Original enlightenment thought (hongaku shiso) dominated Buddhist intellectual circles throughout Japan’s medieval period. Enlightenment, this discourse claims, is neither a goal to be achieved nor a potential to be realized but the true status of all things. Every animate and inanimate object manifests the primordially enlightened Buddha just as it is.

In Tamura’s “Introduction to the Lotus Sutra,” he explains original enlightenment in this way:

Saicho skillfully merged the Lotus Sutra’s comprehensive and unifying view of truth with the Flower Garland Sutra’s fundamental and purifying view of the truth. In his thought, the Lotus Sutra’s worldview, which encompasses the actual world, is united with the worldview of the Flower Garland Sutra, which shines with the ideal. This is a unity of the ideal and the actual. In further developments along this line, thinkers after Saicho combined typical Mahayana Buddhist ideas from the Lotus Sutra, the Flower Garland Sutra, the esoteric sutras, Zen, and so forth, eventually achieving the ultimate in philosophical theory—the Tendai doctrine of original enlightenment. The Tendai doctrine of original, innate or intrinsic, enlightenment is the culmination of Buddhism, subsuming all Buddhist teachings on the basis of Tendai Lotus Sutra doctrine. In general, it makes it clear that breaking through the bounds of right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness—human relative and dualistic thought and judgment—so thoroughly breaks through that barrier that it discloses a very different absolute and monistic world. Here, the boundary between heaven and earth vanishes, the distinction between above and below disappears, and only infinite cosmic space and eternal absolute time remain. From this standpoint, there is a radical affirmation that the actual world is like a dynamic pulsation of ideal light in which a moment is like an eternity. Life and death and everything else come to be affirmed as the activity of eternal life. Tendai doctrine includes such teachings as “The eternal sun and moon, today’s sun and moon, and the future sun and moon are all one sun and moon,” “The wonderful coming of noncoming, the true birth of nonbirth, the perfect going of nongoing, and the great death of nondeath,” and “All things in the universe have the life span of the original Buddha.”

Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p121-122

In “Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism,”Stone explains her understanding of Tamura’s theory:

Tamura [Yoshirō] … characterizes Tendai original enlightenment thought as “absolute affirmation of reality” and the “climax” of Buddhist philosophy, a synthesis of Tendai, Kegon, esoteric, and Zen elements that carried to the farthest possible point the denial of any separation between ordinary worldlings and the Buddha’s enlightened reality. Tamura himself terms original enlightenment thought a teaching of “absolute nonduality” (zettaifuni) or “absolute monism” (zettai ichtgen ron), a term now commonly used in Japanese scholarly writing in reference to Tendai hongaku thought. By “absolute monism,” Tamura means not a single entity or essence underlying all phenomena, but that the realm of the Buddha’s enlightenment (i.e., the realm of principle, or ri) and the conventional realm of changing phenomena (ji) are thoroughly conflated. This identification is on the one hand ontological, consistent with classic Madhyamaka teachings about the emptiness of the dharmas and the nonduality of ultimate and conventional truth, as expressed in the phrase “saṃsāra is nirvāṇa.” But in Tendai hongaku thought, the identification holds on the existential level as well: the deluded thoughts of ordinary beings as such are the Buddha’s enlightenment. In Tamura’s terms, both the “existential aspect” and “illusional aspect” of reality are “absolutely affirmed. ”

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


The controversy surrounding this theory is summarized in the publisher’s description of Stone’s book:

Scholars and commentators have long recognized the historical importance of original enlightenment thought but differ heatedly over how it is to be understood. Some tout it as the pinnacle of the Buddhist philosophy of absolute non-dualism. Others claim to find in it the paradigmatic expression of a timeless Japanese spirituality. According to other readings, it represents a dangerous anti-nomianism that undermined observance of moral precepts, precipitated a decline in Buddhist scholarship, and denied the need for religious discipline. Still others denounce it as an authoritarian ideology that, by sacralizing the given order, has in effect legitimized hierarchy and discriminative social practices. Often the acceptance or rejection of original enlightenment thought is seen as the fault line along which traditional Buddhist institutions are to be differentiated from the new Buddhist movements (Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren) that arose during Japan’s medieval period.

In Gene Reeves’ Introduction to Tamura’s book, he writes:

Some might think that the section of this book dealing with Tendai thought should be updated somehow to reflect how Tamura would have responded to recent critiques of Tendai original enlightenment thought. In fact, we can only speculate on how Tamura might have responded to such developments. My own guess is that he would have rejected any form of monistic ground, while supporting the affirmation of the reality of all things, a notion found both in the Lotus Sutra and some forms of Tendai original enlightenment thought. But, since this is simply speculation on my part, it would seem inappropriate to change Tamura’s text to reflect developments of which he was not a part.

Though Tamura does discuss Tendai thought in this book, it is really about the Lotus Sutra, and very little of what is known about the Lotus Sutra has changed since Tamura wrote it.

Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p5
Tamura-Intro, Blog, Books

Yoshiro Tamura’s Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

tamura-introduction-bookcover
Available at Amazon

Yoshiro Tamura’s Introduction to the Lotus Sutra was originally published in 1969 in Japan. Michio Shinozali and Gene Reeves translated the book into English, which was published in 2014. Rissho Kossei-kai holds the copyright.

Reeves offers this about Tamura in his Introduction:

Tamura was not a popular writer. When we met (in 1983) he was a professor at Rissho University, Nichiren-shu’s university in Tokyo. This followed his retirement from the University of Tokyo in 1982, where he held the chair in Japanese Buddhism. He was an academic and a historian. Yet he also had a kind of layman’s love of the Lotus Sutra, which is reflected in his Preface to this book. He knew as well as anyone that the Lotus Sutra was not merely something fit for academic scrutiny, but a religious text very much alive in the contemporary world.

His small book, first published in Japan in 1969, was intended for a popular audience. It introduces the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, some of the scholarly work on its composition, and the role it has had in East Asian, especially Japanese, history. Part of a popular but sophisticated series, the book was intended to inform educated, nonspecialist Japanese readers about the Lotus Sutra and its uses and evaluations in history. Since the Lotus Sutra is the primary Buddhist text for several traditional Japanese Buddhist denominations of the Nichiren and Tendai traditions, as well as for several new Buddhist organizations that emerged in the twentieth century, particularly for the Reiyūkai, Rissho Kosei-kai, and Soka Gakkai, the number of potential readers in contemporary Japan would have been very substantial. Well over twenty million Japanese recite regularly from the Lotus Sutra.

So the audience Tamura intended for his book was not made up of his fellow academics—at least not primarily—but of serious lay Buddhists who already had some familiarity with the Lotus Sutra.

Underscore Reeves description of Tamura as an academic and a historian. Yet he also had a kind of layman’s love of the Lotus Sutra….

Tamura’s Preface offers an academic overview of the Lotus Sutra and its development, but what I want to focus on is this:

Soon after entering university in December of 1943, I was sent to the front as a student soldier. I wondered if I were allowed to bring but a single book on the trip, possibly to my death, which would I want to bring? Many of my fellow student soldiers were thinking the same thing. We all worked at part-time jobs in order to be able to buy books, and we often lent them to each other. Yet we were perplexed by the idea of selecting only one. One fellow insisted on bringing Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Some Christian students, not surprisingly, chose the Bible, as was natural for Christians.

Since in those days my own interest was shifting from Western philosophy to Buddhist thought, I decided to select one appropriate book from among the many related to Buddhism. It was the Lotus Sutra. …

Leaving ten soldiers behind, my military unit was moved to the Philippines and suffered a crushing defeat just before landing there. I was one of the ten who remained behind. As he was leaving, the commander of my company asked me to teach him a few passages from a sutra that would be suitable for mourning the dead. I gave him some famous verses taken from chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, “The Lifetime of the Tathagata.” I imagine that that company commander died with his soldiers before he had time to mourn them. Later, I was ordered to transfer several times, and I sometimes had to face death. But I was never without the Lotus Sutra. When I was discharged, my copy of the sutra was more worn out than I was.

I am filled with deep emotion as I set out to explain the Lotus Sutra, the book that has been the most important in my own life.

End of June 1969
Yoshiro Tamura

Tamura’s book has a great deal of background on the development of the Lotus Sutra. I’ll be posting quotes which I want to keep available. After that, I’ll be posting his chapter-by-chapter comments on the Lotus Sutra, which I’ll also incorporate into my annotated Lotus Sutra.

Before that, I want to address two topics:

LS32, Blog

A Century of the Lotus Sutra in a Decade


I began using the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized as my morning service in March of 2015. Each morning I would recite that day’s portion of the Lotus Sutra in Shindoku. After 32 days, the cycle starts again.

On Sept. 14, 2015, I added to my evening practice reading aloud in English the same portion of the Lotus Sutra that I had recited in Shindoku in the morning. I would then post a short comment on the day’s reading. That was day-1-1. The next day was day-2-1 and then day-3-1 until reaching day-32-1. When the cycle restarted on Oct. 16, 2015, that was day-1-2.

Today I have reached day-1-100.

This is my 10th year of practicing Nichiren Shu Buddhism in this manner. I believe I have received a great benefit from having read the Lotus Sutra daily, but the familiarity has bred a laziness. I find my mind wandering as I recite the words. I can go minutes and suddenly realize I don’t recall what I just read.

I am planning on changing my practice next year. I’ll have more details on my plans as the New Year approaches.

Blog

QuizWithIt

I’ve been exploring the website QuizWithIt, which allows you to create quizzes from various sources. You can even have the resident AI create the questions and answers from the material you supply.

Here is the AI-produced quiz generated after digesting the Lotus Sutra. Please take this four question quiz. My discussion follows below.

Did you get question No. 4 correct? I must admit that I was taken aback by the “correct” answer, but there’s a case to be made that “the primary speaker in the Lotus Sutra” is the Eternal Śākyamuni revealed in Chapter 16. In the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage, we learn:

“Śākyamuni Buddha is Vairocana – the One Who Is Present in All Places. Where this buddha abides is called Perpetual Tranquil Light, where perpetuity is perfectly achieved, where the perfect truth of self is constituted, where perfect purity casts off the aspects of existence, where perfect happiness is no longer a characteristic that occupies body and mind, where phenomena are no longer perceived as having or not having aspects, where likewise there is serene liberation as well as perfect wisdom.

Since there’s no way to quiz the AI about its choices, we’ll never know why it said the primary speaker is Vairocana.

Interestingly, I got two-out-of-four odd answers when I offered the AI the annotated version of the Lotus Sutra to digest. One AI generated question:

Who is the author of the Annotated Lotus Sutra?

Answer: Kumarajiva

Another questionable answer was offered to the AI-generated question:

Which chapter of the Lotus Sutra emphasizes the concept of skillful means?

The AI offered choices of Chapter 1 through 4 and marked Chapters 3 and 4 the correct answers. Answering Chapter 2, Expedients, would be considered wrong.

If you are interested in creating web-based quizzes that can be embedded in websites, check out QuizWithIt.

QuizWithIt describes itself as “a team of scientists, developers, and media specialists who are passionate about bringing knowledge to the world. This website and app is a spin-off of ‘Science without the gobbledygook,’ a widely popular YouTube channel produced by Sabine Hossenfelder, who also oversees this project.”

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The Output Really Depends on the Input

The old computer proverb “Garbage In; Garbage Out” is why I worry about the output of AI research assistants. One way to get around GIGO is to limit the AI to sources you trust. This is the big selling point of Google’s NotebookLM. The other day I wrote about my early experiments with NotebookLM. (Here). Today I experienced the magic.

For a source on Nichiren and Nichiren Buddhism, I took Jacqueline Stone’s article on Nichiren written for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Religion. A PDF copy can be download here.

I created a “new” Notebook at NotebookLM and uploaded the article to be the source material for the AI.

Here’s some of the magic generated.

Nichiren’s Understanding of the Daimoku

For Nichiren, the Daimoku is far more than a simple title; it represents the core of his teachings and the sole path to enlightenment, especially in the Final Dharma Age (mappō).

Here’s a breakdown of Nichiren’s concept of the Daimoku:

  • “Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō,” the Daimoku: This phrase, chanted in Japanese, combines “Namu” (expressing devotion and taking refuge) with “Myōhō-renge-kyō” – the Japanese pronunciation of the title of the Lotus Sūtra, a scripture revered by Nichiren as the Buddha’s highest teaching.
  • More than a title: Nichiren viewed the Daimoku as encompassing the entire essence of the Lotus Sūtra and the Wonderful Dharma itself. He believed its five characters encapsulate the complete enlightenment of the Buddha and provide a direct link to that enlightened state. This understanding drew upon a tradition of interpreting Buddhist texts through their titles, where the title encapsulates the text’s complete meaning.
  • Embodiment of Ichinen Sanzen: Nichiren connected the Daimoku with the principle of “ichinen sanzen” or “three thousand realms in a single moment of thought”. This concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things, with each phenomenon containing the potential for buddhahood. By chanting the Daimoku, practitioners tap into this interconnected reality and reveal the inherent enlightenment within themselves and the world around them.
  • Accessibility of Buddhahood: Nichiren taught that chanting the Daimoku grants immediate access to the merits accumulated by the primordial Buddha over countless lifetimes. By aligning oneself with the Buddha’s enlightenment through the Daimoku, one achieves “realization of buddhahood with this very body”.
  • Benefits of Chanting: While the ultimate aim is enlightenment, Nichiren also emphasized the tangible benefits of Daimoku chanting. He taught that it brings protection, healing, and positive consequences in this life and the afterlife. More importantly, it cultivates an inner peace and stability that transcends external circumstances.

Or this…

Nichiren Buddhism: Study Guide

Short-Answer Questions

  1. Explain Nichiren’s central criticism of other Buddhist schools prevalent in Japan during his time.
  2. What are the five characters of the daimoku, and what is their significance in Nichiren Buddhism?
  3. How does Nichiren’s concept of “slander of the Dharma” differ from a simple misunderstanding or misinterpretation of Buddhist teachings?
  4. Describe the relationship between the concepts of “mutual inclusion of the ten realms” (jikkai gogu) and “three thousand realms in a single moment of thought” (ichinen sanzen).
  5. How does Nichiren Buddhism understand the concept of “buddhahood with this very body” (sokushin jōbutsu)?
  6. What role does the gohonzon, or “revered object of worship,” play in Nichiren Buddhist practice?
  7. What is the significance of Nichiren’s two exiles in the context of his understanding of the Lotus Sutra?
  8. How does Nichiren’s concept of the “pure land of Eagle Peak” (Ryōzen jōdō) differ from the Pure Land Buddhism’s
    understanding of Pure Lands?
  9. Why did Nichiren advocate for the confrontational approach of shakubuku over the more gradual approach of shōju in propagating his teachings?
  10. What does it mean to say that Nichiren saw the practice of the Lotus Sutra as a means to transform not only individual lives but also the outer world?

Short-Answer Key

  1. Nichiren believed that while other Buddhist schools and practices, like nenbutsu or Zen, held validity in previous eras, they were inadequate for achieving salvation in the degenerate age of mappō, the Final Dharma Age. Only the Lotus Sutra, in his view, held the profound power needed to liberate people during this time.
  2. The five characters of the daimoku are “Myōhō-renge-kyō,” the Japanese pronunciation of the Lotus Sutra’s title. Chanting the daimoku is central to Nichiren Buddhism, seen as encapsulating the entire truth of the Lotus Sutra and thus capable of directly transferring the Buddha’s enlightenment to the practitioner.
  3. For Nichiren, “slander of the Dharma” goes beyond intellectual disagreement. It refers to the active rejection or dismissal of the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate Buddhist teaching, particularly in favor of provisional teachings deemed insufficient for the Final Dharma Age.
  4. “Mutual inclusion of the ten realms” means that all ten realms of existence—from hell to buddhahood—coexist interdependently within each individual being. This concept expands into the principle of “three thousand realms in a single moment of thought,” suggesting the vastness and interconnectedness of all phenomena within each thought moment.
  5. “Buddhahood with this very body” is the core belief that enlightenment is not a distant goal but an inherent potential within each person, achievable in this lifetime through dedicated practice of the Lotus Sutra, primarily through chanting the daimoku.
  6. The gohonzon serves as a visual representation of the enlightened state, embodying the interconnectedness of all beings and the ultimate reality revealed in the Lotus Sutra. It acts as a focal point for chanting the daimoku and contemplating the principles of Nichiren Buddhism.
  7. Nichiren’s exiles were interpreted by him and his followers as a fulfillment of the Lotus Sutra’s prophecies, which predicted that those who propagated its teachings would face persecution. This “bodily reading” of the sutra reinforced their faith and Nichiren’s self-identification as a true votary of the Lotus Sutra.
  8. Unlike Pure Land Buddhism, which envisions a separate realm of bliss after death, Nichiren’s “pure land of Eagle Peak” is not spatially or temporally distinct. It represents the enlightened state itself, accessible in this lifetime through faith in the Lotus Sutra and manifest wherever it is practiced.
  9. Nichiren believed that the urgency of the Final Dharma Age called for a forceful approach. He saw shakubuku as a compassionate act, as it aimed to awaken people to the truth of the Lotus Sutra even if it meant challenging their existing beliefs and potentially facing resistance.
  10. Nichiren’s teaching emphasizes the non-duality of the individual and their environment. By transforming one’s own life condition through faith in the Lotus Sutra, individuals could positively influence their surroundings and contribute to the creation of a peaceful and enlightened society.

Essay Questions

  • Analyze the role of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren’s teachings. How does his interpretation of this sutra differ from those of other Buddhist schools in Japan during his time?
  • Discuss the significance of the concept of mappō, the Final Dharma Age, in Nichiren Buddhism. How does this concept inform Nichiren’s understanding of the urgency and importance of spreading the Lotus Sutra?
  • Explore the relationship between faith, practice, and the achievement of buddhahood in Nichiren’s thought. How do the concepts of “mutual inclusion of the ten realms” and “three thousand realms in a single moment of thought” contribute to this understanding?
  • Compare and contrast the concepts of shōju (gradual propagation) and shakubuku (confrontational propagation) in the context of Nichiren Buddhism. Why did Nichiren advocate for the use of shakubuku, and what implications did this have for his interactions with other Buddhist schools and authorities?
  • Nichiren believed that the widespread practice of the Lotus Sutra could lead to the realization of an ideal society. Discuss Nichiren’s vision of this ideal society and the role of individual practice in achieving it. What implications does this have for the social and political engagement of Nichiren Buddhists?

Glossary of Key Terms

Term
Definition
Daimoku
The Japanese pronunciation of the title of the Lotus Sutra, “Myōhō-renge-kyō,” chanted as a central practice in Nichiren Buddhism. It is believed to embody the essence of the Lotus Sutra and lead to enlightenment.
Gohonzon
The revered object of worship in Nichiren Buddhism, often a calligraphic mandala inscribed by Nichiren or his successors. It represents the assembly of the Lotus Sutra and serves as a focal point for chanting the daimoku.
Honzon
A general term for an object of worship in Buddhism, including statues, paintings, mandalas, etc. In Nichiren Buddhism, the gohonzon is considered the primary honzon.
Ichinen Sanzen
“Three thousand realms in a single moment of thought,” a core Tiantai/Tendai principle adopted by Nichiren, expressing the interconnectedness and interpenetration of all phenomena within each thought moment.
Jikkai Gogu
“Mutual inclusion of the ten realms,” a Tiantai/Tendai doctrine embraced by Nichiren, explaining that all ten realms of existence—from hell to buddhahood—are interconnected and contained within each other and every being.
Kaidan
The ordination platform in Buddhism, traditionally a place for receiving precepts and becoming a monk or nun. In Nichiren Buddhism, the meaning and realization of the kaidan have been subject to debate.
Kanjin
“Mind contemplation,” a term used by Nichiren to describe the practice of chanting the daimoku as a means of aligning one’s mind with the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Lotus Sutra
A highly revered Mahayana Buddhist scripture believed by Nichiren to be the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, capable of leading all beings to enlightenment.
Mappō
The “Final Dharma Age,” a period of Buddhist decline when traditional practices are believed to be less effective. Nichiren saw the Lotus Sutra as the only true path to salvation during this time.
Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō
The full phrase chanted in Nichiren Buddhism. “Namu” signifies devotion and taking refuge, while “Myōhō-renge-kyō” is the title of the Lotus Sutra.
Shakubuku
A confrontational approach to propagating Buddhist teachings, often involving direct refutation of other views. Nichiren advocated for this approach as necessary for the Final Dharma Age.
Shōju
A more gradual and accommodating approach to Dharma teaching, emphasizing respect for diverse viewpoints.
Slander of the Dharma (Hōbō)
The act of rejecting or dismissing the Lotus Sutra, particularly in favor of teachings considered provisional by Nichiren.
Sokushin Jōbutsu
“Buddhahood with this very body,” the belief that enlightenment can be achieved in this lifetime and with this physical body through the practice of the Lotus Sutra.

The problem, of course, is that you can’t get a PDF copy of every piece of source material that might be useful. The use of URLs as source material at NotebookLM is problematic, as I explained the other day, because only the content of a single page is used – related pages, links to other material, all of that is ignored.

Still, this is really promising. Maybe I can get a PDF copy of the Writings of Nichiren as published by Nichiren Shu. That would be fun.

Blog

An Artificial Discussion of the Innumerable Meanings Sutra

Listen to this podcast at notebooklm.google.com

 

I’ve been having fun applying AI tools to my Buddhist exploration. There’s been “A Little AI Magic” and last year’s “Compare and Contrast Tendai Teachings and Nichiren Doctrine” and even back in 2020, AI and Buddhism.

Today I ran across the ZD Net article Google’s hidden AI tool turns your text into stunningly lifelike podcasts – for free. Listen for yourself

Google’s NotebookLM allows you unload a document and have the NotebookLM work it’s magic on that material. But it also allows you to specify the website you want to use for the source material. This, unfortunately, is not as thorough as I’d like. For example, if I give NotebookLM my root URL – 500yojanas.org – NotebookLM only looks at the content displayed on that page, it does not follow the links to subsequent pages or include the content found under each of the menus. To get around that limitation, you need to focus on content that is self-contained. That’s why I chose the URL 500yojanas.org/lotus-sutra/full-text/sutra-of-innumerable-meanings/ for my Podcast example above.

As for the podcast product produced, I am quite impressed with the presentation and general quality of the discussion. We are a long way away from the days when computer generated talking was easily identifiable.

However, this is not a perfect system. As an example of the limitations listen to this NotebookLM podcast discussing “Daimoku.” For source material I gave the URL 500yojanas.org/blog/?s=Daimoku This brings up the 10 most recent blog posts in which I’ve discussed Daimoku.

(Listen on NotebookLM)

The failure to pronounce “ren ge” – Lotus Flower – is a killer for me. But much of the remainder of the discussion is equally off. It just feels fake. That’s probably a product of NotebookLM failing to use the full articles and instead summarizing the 10 summaries.

I plan to experiment more, but obviously this is a very new world we live in today.

See The Output Really Depends on the Input

Blog

The Wonder of Childhood

Kito Blessing
Couldn’t resist posting this photo of my grandson looking up at Rev. Igarashi as he performs a Kito Blessing for me at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church on Sept. 15. My son took the photo.
Śrimālā, Feminine Ideal, Blog, Books

The Sutra of Queen Śrimālā of the Lion’s Roar

queen_srimala_bookcover
Download PDF copy

The Sutra of Queen Śrimālā of the Lion’s Roar (Śrimālādevisimhanāda-sūtra) is one of three texts brought to Japan in 552 CE from Paikche, a kingdom in Korea. As explained in The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy:

In 594 the Prince Regent, Shōtoku Taishi (574-622) declared Buddhism the state religion.

Buddhism at this time was quite devoid of the distinction of sects or schools, although the difference of Mahayana and Hinayana was clearly recognized. The Prince himself strictly adhered to Mahayana and wrote commentaries upon three Mahayana texts. The fame of these excellent annotations spread abroad, and one of them was chosen as a subject of commentaries by a Chinese savant.

The particular type of Mahayana that was adopted by the Prince may be seen from a consideration of the texts which were chosen. The first is the Lotus of the Good Law, a text devoted to the Ekayāna (One Vehicle) doctrine, indicating the idea of the good law. The second is the Discourse on the Ultimate Truth by Vimalakirti, a lay Bodhisattva of Vaisali, while the third is the Book of the Earnest Resolve by Srimala, a lady Bodhisattva, the Queen of Ayodhya. The central idea of this non-sectarian period was the doctrine of the Great Vehicle (Mahayana) as expressed in these three texts. This idea has remained the dominating feature of Buddhism throughout its history in Japan.

The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy, p17

The Sutra of Queen Śrimālā of the Lion’s Roar was translated into English for the BDK English Tripiṭaka by Diana Mary Paul. In her Translator’s Introduction, she writes:

The story of Queen Śrimālā has a simple and beautiful theme, full of lush imagery and metaphors. The bodhisattva is the essential agent through whom living beings are instructed in the profound teaching of the tathāgatagarbha (“womb of the Buddha”). A future Buddha who is still embracing the teachings and instructing others, Queen Śrimālā becomes a bodhisattva who explains the doctrine of the tathāgatagarbha in the presence of the Buddha, after her parents send her a letter requesting that she study the teaching (Dharma). Awakening to the thought of enlightenment (bodhicitta), meditating upon the Buddha, she visualizes him and expresses the wish to follow the bodhisattva path. Receiving the prediction of her future Buddhahood from the Buddha, she enters the path of the True Dharma and thus begins her bodhisattva practice.

Queen Śrimālā, who had the “lion’s roar “—or eloquence—of a Buddha, first converts the women of her kingdom, then her husband, a non-Buddhist, and finally the men. Śrimālā is praised for her intelligence and compassion, not for her beauty or wealth, which are implicit. She is proficient in explaining the Dharma and is charismatic, as are all the bodhisattvas throughout Buddhist literature. Queen Śrimālā describes the True Dharma using four metaphors: 1) the great cloud, which is the source of all good merits pouring forth on living beings; 2) the great waters, which are the source for creating all good meritorious acts; 3) the great earth, which carries all things just as the True Dharma supports all living things; and 4) the four jewel storehouses, which are the four types of instructions that living beings accept and embrace.

The text raises the question of the possibility of female Buddhas. This question had continually vexed Buddhist scholars and commentators, who attempted to come to terms with the possibility of a relationship between the notion of the ultimate spiritual perfection or Buddhahood and the feminine. Such a relationship was viewed with ambivalence. This question was raised only by Mahayana Buddhists, particularly those who proclaimed the one path to universal Buddhahood. For these Buddhists, all men and women equally had the nature of the Buddha. If women were truly capable of having Buddha-nature in this lifetime without denying their female gender, this would implicitly indicate that women were not biologically determined as religiously, psychologically, and physically inferior to men.

One popular theme in Mahayana Buddhist texts had been the teaching of transformation from female to male, providing a means, both literary and spiritual, for women to become bodhisattvas and Buddhas. Other texts and commentaries suggest that there is no need to undergo a gender change through either vowing to despise the female nature or through rebirth as a male after death as a female.

The controversy that arose among scholars concerning Queen Śrimālā’s level of spiritual attainment may reflect continual controversy among Buddhists with regard to the bodhisattva ideal and the image of Buddhahood as female.

The entire tone of the text, in which the bodhisattva is the supporter, acceptor, and compassionate Dharma mother, suggests female imagery. The question of whether or not women were ever recognized as potential or imminent Buddhas remains unanswered.

The Sutra of Queen Śrimālā of the Lion’s Roar, p5-7

The_Buddhist_Feminine_Ideal-bookcoverIn 1974, Diana Mary Paul published her PhD dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This in turn was reprinted as Number 30 in the American Academy of Religion Dissertation Series edited by H. Ganse Little Jr. and published in 1980 under the title, The Buddhist Feminine Ideal.

In reading this sūtra and Diana Mary Paul’s thesis, I was impressed by the sutra’s important lessons emphasizing that Bodhisattvas are Bodhisattvas not just for themselves but for everyone.

Over the next several days I will be publishing quotes from the sūtra and the thesis that illustrate this point. For Fall Higan, I will be using Queen Śrimālā to illustrate the Six Perfections.