I’m prompted to write this after publishing yesterday’s quote from from The Beginnings of Buddhism, which said in part regarding Nichiren and the other Kamakura period sects:
The ordinary man is not required to perform such research for himself: he need only follow the directions of his religious leader. Indeed, in these sects, theoretical study and speculation are forbidden as hindrances to practical faith. (Page 159-160)
To say “theoretical study and speculation are forbidden” overstates the guidelines of faith set down by Nichiren Shōnin.
Each day, during both my morning and evening services, I recite these words from Nichiren’s Shohō Jissō Shō (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4 p.79):
“Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning. Without practice and learning, Buddhism will cease to exist.”
And in Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3 , Page 2, Nichiren writes:
What is the best way for Buddhists to express their gratitude for the unfathomable kindness that they have received? Mastering Buddhism completely and to be sagacious is the way. How can anyone guide blind persons across a bridge, if he himself is blind? How can a captain, who does not know the direction of the wind, sail his ship to transport many merchants to a mountain of treasure?
But it is true that theoretical study and speculation can be hindrances to practical faith.
In Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119, Nichiren writes:
Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors, or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.
We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.
It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.
Focusing on the odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, as the essence of the Lotus Sūtra does not require that followers remain ignorant of the basic tenets of Buddhism any more than using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays in order to start a fire requires that we know nothing of the sun and the nature of its light.
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi lectures on Ichinen Sanzen and its role in our character.
On Sept. 2, 2018, Ven. Kenjo Igarashi held a followup lesson on Ichinen Sanzen, building upon what he discussed on Aug. 12. The first lesson dealt with the logic; this lesson the character.
“What is our self, our character,” asked Rev. Igarashi. “Where does it come from?”
To set the stage for his lesson, Rev. Igarashi contrasted Western ideas with his own “Oriental” view. (I suppose when a Japanese man describes himself as Oriental it cannot be considered offensive. I’ll stick to Asian in this discussion, however.)
In the west, he explained, a child’s character is molded and shaped by the parents and the immediate environment. It is as if the child is a blank slate or an empty vessel, and character is decoration added from the outside.
In Asia, he explained, “All character comes from the spirit, not from outside.”
Tapping on the chalkboard illustration of Ichinen Sanzen, he said, “That’s why this idea is very important.”
“Our spirit is born in the realm of men and our action is in the realm of men. But also we have Buddha realm, bodhisattva realm,” he said, explaining each person is unique, that our previous life created our current life.
“Perhaps in a previous life our actions were in the realm of asuras or animals, and that’s why we have trouble,” he said. “Or maybe our actions were in the realm of Bodhisattavas or Sravakas and our present life is better.
“Nichiren Shonin said, If you want to know your previous life then look at your present life. If you want to know about your future life, look at your present life.”
“Our character, all our self, comes from our previous life, from our spirit, not just from what happens after we are born,” he stressed. “We cannot make character after we are born through education.”
After the class a young Japanese woman who is new to Nichiren Buddhism asked me whether I agreed with Rev. Igarashi’s comparison of Western and Asian views on character and I said I did.
I feel this is illustrated most clearly by the Western focus on our life as a single event. Nothing happened before therefore only today and tomorrow matter.
The Asian view is nicely illustrated is this quote from the Lotus Sutra in Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva:
“A woman who, wishing to have a boy, bows and makes offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, will be able to give birth to a boy endowed with merits, virtues and wisdom. [A woman] who, wishing to have a girl, [does the same,] will be able to give birth to a beautiful girl who will be loved and respected by many people because of the roots of virtue which the [newly-born] girl planted in her previous existence.
Underscore a boy endowed with merits, virtues and wisdom and a beautiful girl who will be loved and respected by many people because of the roots of virtue which the [newly-born] girl planted in her previous existence.
I find this view of life so much more appealing than the Western view of a God, loving or vengeful, who controls our fate, or creates a plan for our life or abandons us in the illusion of free will.
A floral offering
The following service included a seven-year memorial prayer for a church member’s deceased relative. Rev. Igarashi used his sermon to explain how Ichinen Sanzen comes to bear on our memorial prayers.
In both of his class lectures on Ichinen Sanzen he explained that these 3000 realms in a single moment are not limited to sentient beings. The entire universe – sentient and insentient – is contained within those 3000 realms.
In his lectures, he used a piece of chalk to illustrate this. Sunday he picked up a pencil.
“This pencil has Ichinen Sanzen, too,” he said. “This pencil can’t act but if I use it to write down something about Buddhism and someone reads what was written and understands Buddhism, this pencil, therefore, makes good actions. If this pencil is used to poke someone in the eye, this pencil’s action is pretty bad. That’s how this pencil has Ichinen Sanzen and bad karma and good karma.”
The deceased relatives can be likened to the pencil. When they die they lose the ability to act on their own behalf.
“This is like the pencil,” he said. “It cannot do anything. But we can pray and pass on our merit. Eventually that spirit will gain our benefit of chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo and reciting the Lotus Sutra.
“That’s why we perform memorial services for deceased people.”
It has taken me a week to go through the hour-long recording of last week’s adult study class and the sermon that followed the service. While that does disappoint me, the purpose here is to make the information available. Even a week later.
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi explains the logic of 3000 realms in a single moment.
I have seen many diagrams of the concept of Ichinen Sanzen (this, for example) but Rev. Igarashi’s offered an excellent starting place for what he described as “The logic of Ichinen Sanzen. The theory of Ichinen Sanzen. Noumenon. A kind of study.” It was not, he stressed, a deep exploration of the topic.
“Today I just explain the logic of Ichinen Sanzen,” Rev. Igarashi begain. “We already know the 10 realms – Buddha, Bodhisattva, Pratyekabuddha, Śrāvaka, Heavingly Beings, Man, Asura, Animals, Hungry Spirits, and Hell. So this is the 10 realms.”
He then walked though the chart showing how each realm contains the other realms.
“The Buddha – his mind, his spirit, his action – all the time everything is in Buddha,” he explained. “Nichiren Shonin, his actions all the time Bodhisattva. He has Buddha nature too. The Pratyekabuddha — also Engaku — he is walking all the time in Pratyekabuddha mind and action. Also Śrāvaka walking all the time in Śrāvaka world, Śrāvaka spirit. These are the four enlightened worlds. Before Lotus Sutra the Pratyekabuddha and Śrāvaka they never become Buddha. Then in the Lotus Sutra they also are kind of enlightened people. That’s why some day they are going to get enlightenment in the Buddha world.”
The grid of 10 realms by 10 realms creates a 100-realm matrix. Within each of these 100 realms, are the 10 suchnesses outlined in Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra:
Nyoze-sō, or appearances as such,
Nyoze-Shō, or natures as such,
Nyoze-tai, or entities as such,
Nyoze-riki, or powers as such,
Nyoze-sa, or activities as such,
Nyoze-in, or primary causes as such,
Nyoze-en, or environmental causes as such,
Nyoze-ka, or effects as such,
Nyoze-hō, or rewards and retributions as such,
Nyoze-honmatsu-kukyō-tō, or equality as such despite these differences.
“So we develop in the mother’s body we make forms little by little,” Rev. Igarashi explained. “Little by little make forms. Then born from the mother. At that time their nature already exists as humans. After growing the body like humans – embodiment. If body growning and got muscle. If we have got muscle we can do anything. You want to do anything. Then make functions notions. This is very important because if you make functions and our actions make cause. Cause makes condition. And condition make effect. If you make good action then you get good retribution.”
Applying the 10 suchnesses to the 100 realms produces 1000 things at any single moment.
“These 1000 things are not limited to only humans,” Rev. Igarashi explained.
At this point I’m going to borrow from the Lotus Seeds explanation of how these 1000 things are universally applicable:
The 1,000 worlds resulting from the multiplication of the one hundred worlds with the ten factors are made universal by the Three Realms. The Three Realms consist of the individual, who is composed of the Five Aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness); the community of all beings, who are transmigrating through the Ten Worlds; and the land in which they all live. These Three Realms show that the one thousand worlds are present in and manifest themselves through all things without exception. That is, the possibilities that they point to are possessed by individuals, societies, and even non-human and inanimate phenomena.
“Everything has 3000 things,” said Rev. Igarashi. “So that’s why we have to worry about our actions. We are men. Or spirit is men. But we also find some time we’ll make an action in anger, or like hungry spirit – wanting more, more, more, or our actions will be like hell. That’s why we have to be careful. We try to make our actions like a Bodhisattvas or Buddha. If our action is Buddha or Bodhisattvas we can make good actions. That’s why Nichiren Shonin said, If you want to know your future life watch your present life. If you want to know your previous life, watch your present life because your present life makes your future life and your previous life makes your present life. …
“This is only the logic of the 3000 realms, the logic of Ichinen Sanzen, only study. Nichiren Shonin said that the phenomena of Ichinen Sanzen is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Everything is contained in Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. That’s why if you chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo your spirit already understand Ichinen Sanzen. When we chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo our actions automatically become good actions. …
“The logic of Ichinen Sanzen comes from Tendai. But we need to more than just understand. You must understand in your life, in your practice. Your practice is more important.
“This is not deep. This is just a shallow study. If everyone understand fine. So if you only understand a little bit that’s fine. Only chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. The phenomenon of Ichinen Sanzen is more important.”
The Aug. 12, 2018, beautiful floral offering.
Rev. Igarashi’s sermon was in response to the passing of a priest who had returned to secular life.
Rev. Igarashi explained that he came from a lay family. He’s explained before that many young priests are the children of priests and have been raised to be priests. He, instead, had to study and pray.
“I asked Nichiren Shonin to please give me a minister’s job. When I was at Minobusan College student I visited Nichiren Shonin’s grave site all the time and prayed and chanted Namu Myoho Renge Kyo every day. Then after that I transferred to Rissho University and graduated. Then I joined the 100-day ascetic practice.
“During the ascetic practice the first time it’s very hard. No sleeping time. No food. No clothes. Almost nothing. And it is held during the wintertime so it’s very cold. Only food twice a day. Only rice porridge and some pickles. Everybody hungry. Everyone kind of like hungry spirit. For 100 days I just pray the same thing: If I can continue to minister job, please give me a minister’s job, otherwise if I change mind to turn to a secular life, please take my life during ascetic practice 100 days. …
“After 80 days I had fasted for one week. No food. Only water. So it’s very hard because I have to do everything with the other ministers – chanting, pouring water seven times a day. No sleeping time. …
When Rev. Igarashi found himself still alive after a week’s fasting, he took it as a sign.
“So that’s why I thought maybe I had some kind of minister’s job. Then after that I finished my 100 days ascetic practice. …
“Someone told me, Why don’t you go overseas? At the time my master was still young so that’s why I thought I would go overseas to the United States for three or four years. I told my master that after three or four years I would come back to Japan and help him.
A lot of things happened in California that prevented his return to Japan.
“So that’s why my master get angry,” he said. “So that’s why I was excommunicated.”
Rev. Igarashi began this sermon mentioning that he came to Los Angeles and something happened, and so he moved to San Francisco. Something happened there but he stayed there until he finally came to Sacramento. Always in his mind was the thought that he would return to Japan and return to secular life.
“I had a lot of chances to return to secular life, but I did not. I became a minister and I prayed, Give me my missionary job. I thought this is my missionary job. That’s why I just continued my missionary work. …
“So that’s why I have been here for over 43 years in the United States. Otherwise I think I’d return to secular life like other ministers. It’s a bit hard. The missionary job in the United States. But I pray and maybe Nichiren Shonin, and Śākyamuni Buddha and the protective Deities all the time support me. That’s why I’m here. …
“Please continue to pray. If you pray all the time Śākyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Shonin and the Deities will guide you and protect you. So please continue your practice of Nichiren Buddhism.”
I have 90 quotes that I expect to publish from The Beginnings of Buddhism. In the past when I’ve finished a book, I’ve added all to the quotes to the website and scheduled one to be published per day until they run out. I don’t want to do that this time because of the nature of the topic. These quotes, while valuable in understanding the roots of early Buddhism, need to be kept in perspective of the Ultimate Truth revealed in the Lotus Sūtra.
With regard to the Four Teachings, Chih-i argues that the positions of the Tripiṭaka, the Common, and the Separate Teachings must be abandoned. This is because, once they have fulfilled their roles as tentative positions, i.e., after one has progressed from these three teachings to the Perfect Teaching, and attained the ultimate position of the Perfect Teaching, these tentative positions are no longer needed. Moreover, at the moment when these tentative positions hinder one’s attainment of the ultimate position on the path of religious practice, they must be abolished too.
“Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts” by Hajime Nakamura is sold by the Nichiren Buddhist International Center under the heading “General Buddhism.”
If the point of the book wasn’t clear in the subhead – A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts – the author makes his intent in writing this book explicit when he opens his Preface with:
“My central concern in this volume is to elucidate how Gotama Buddha, or Sakyamuni, the historical figure revered as the teacher of humankind, lived his life and taught his doctrine.”
Having read this book, I’m at a loss to understand why the official Nichiren Shu organization tasked with the promotion of Nichiren Buddhism in the English-speaking world would find this book appropriate.
Keeping in mind that all Nichiren Buddhists view the Lotus Sūtra as Śākyamuni’s great vehicle capable of carrying everyone to the other shore, why does a Nichiren organization promote a book that has this to say of Mahāyāna Buddhists:
“In one sense Buddhism is a ‘founded religion,’ and in another sense it is not. Mahāyāna Buddhists rely on the one who teaches the Dharma, whether it be the bodhisattva Maitreya, Buddha Amitābha, or some other figure. They do not rely on Śākyamuni the individual. It was on this philosophical foundation that Mahāyāna Buddhism was able to declare its orthodoxy as the Buddha’s teaching.”
Page 261
The Lotus Sūtra does not rely on Śākyamuni, the individual?
There were a few tidbits in “Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts” that I felt merited keeping.
The Mahābodhi Society built a large modern temple at Sārnāth, called the Mūlagandha-kutī Vihāra, in 1931. Just coincidentally that’s the same year five families in Sacramento founded their Nichiren Church. In addition, a Japanese artist, Kōsetsu Nousu, was invited to paint the murals depicting the life of the Buddha. This task required four years.
This is the description of the interior of the temple:
The central part of the temple enshrines relics discovered in Taxila. The innermost altar contains a replica of the fifth-century statue of the seated Buddha delivering his first discourse discovered in Sārnāth. (The original is in the Archaeological Museum in Sārnāth.) It is surrounded by banners and offerings of flowers and candles. There are also relics from Mirpur Khas and Nāgārjunakovda. Placed below the pedestal of the statue to the left is a long, narrow plaque inscribed with the words “Homage to the Lotus Sutra.”
Page 268
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, indeed.
Also of interest was this quote:
[The naga king Muchalinda sheltered the Buddha from rain for seven days while he was deep in meditation. When the storm had passed the naga] appeared in the form of a youth, venerating the Blessed One with the palms of his hands together and standing before him. Then the Blessed One, understanding the meaning of it, recited the following verse of uplift: “His solitude is happy, he who is content, who has heard the teachings, who has seen the Truth. Happy is freedom from malice toward others and self-restraint toward all living beings. Happy it is to be rid of all creed toward the world and to transcend all desires. The greatest happiness is control of the pride that comes of the thought ‘I am!’ ”
Page 222
Two points of interest. First is the “verse to uplift” itself. Reading these are what make such books interesting. The second point is the idea of a naga as a deity in the form of a cobra, with a great hood that shielded the Buddha from the rain. The Sanskrit means “serpent” but, as I’ve read before, the Chinese, not knowing what to make of this idea, transformed the naga into dragons. Of course, that gets picked up Japan. Nichiren, in discussing the Dragon King’s Daughter, says, “The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body.” (Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennici, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Pages 146-147)
Finally is the discussion of Śākyamuni’s visit home and his response when his father, the king, chides him for embarrassing his family by begging:
“Your lineage, O King, is the lineage of kings, but ours is that of the buddhas, extending from Dīpaṃkara and Koṇḍan͂n͂a down to Kassapa. These, and thousands of other buddhas, have begged for alms and lived on their alms alone.” And standing in the middle of the road, he recited this verse:
“Rouse yourself! Be not idle! Follow the Good Way! One who acts correctly rests in ease In this world and the next.”
When Gotama had finished reciting that verse, the king attained the first stage of the sage. He attained the second stage on hearing this verse:
“Follow the Good Way! Do not that which is evil! One who acts correctly rests in ease In this world and the next.”
As I work my way through books on Buddhism, I’m constantly weighing them against Nichiren’s writings and the Lotus Sūtra. In introductory books such as Basic Buddhist Concepts and The Beginnings of Buddhism, I find pieces of Buddhist concepts implied in the Lotus Sūtra but glossed over. I wonder how this all fits together.
Chih-i has stressed the unique feature of the Lotus Sūtra by comparing the Lotus Sūtra with other sūtras:
“All these various sūtras aim at catering to the will of others [i.e., living beings], causing others to gain benefits. They do not discuss the intention of the Buddha, and to where his intention tends. The present [Lotus] Sūtra is not so. Regarding the doctrines [which make up the Buddhist] system [of thought], the Mahāyāna and Hinayāna methods of contemplation, the ten powers and [four forms of] fearlessness [of the Buddha], and various rules and customs [of the Buddhist religion], [the Lotus Sūtra] does not discuss them at all, for they have already been stated in the previous sūtras. [The Lotus Sūtra] only discusses the original career of the Tathāgata’s preaching, how he resorted to the sudden and gradual [methods of the teaching] in [his] middle career, and how he finally approached [his] end career [by revealing] the great cause [of universal salvation]. [The Lotus Sūtra exhibits] the framework of [the Buddha’s] teaching, and [makes known] the expedient means [the Buddha employs] to universally transform [sentient beings].
Mou Tsung-san also reiterates the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra, in a way which is akin to Chih-i’s viewpoint. Its superiority is demonstrated by the fact that it is not concerned with expressing certain doctrines, but it only establishes the merging and ultimate teaching in order to reveal the real intention of the Buddha for universal salvation of sentient beings underlying his various teachings. Mou Tsung-san considers this nature of the sūtra as belonging to the level of the transcendent. This is to say that the Lotus Sūtra is concerned with wisdom and insight into the Ultimate Truth. In order for one to understand this Truth, one first has to acquire the basic knowledge stated in other Buddhist scriptures.
Hurvitz has also indicated a similar view when he comments on the nature of the Lotus Sūtra. He states that the Lotus Sūtra takes the existence of a formulated Hinayāna philosophy (Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, substantiality of the dharmas, insubstantiality of the ego, personal release, etc) and of an equally formulated Mahāyāna philosophy (insubstantiality of the dharmas, bodhisattvahood, the Six Perfections, etc) for granted.
And as I read I discover the threads of Buddhism taken for granted and acquire some of the basic knowledge merged in the Ultimate Truth contained in the Lotus Sūtra.
Facebook stopped allowing third parties to post to Facebook profiles at the end of July. This prevented me from posting content from this website. Facebook, however, allows posting to pages and allows creating a “profile page.” Hence, I’ve created https://www.facebook.com/500yojanas/.
Notes from Ven. Kenjo Igarashi‘s sermon following the July 29, 2018, Kaji Kito service.
“What is the religion? What is the faith?” Rev. Igarashi began.
When Rev. Igarashi first came to the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church he would visit the homes of each of the members at the end of the year. He recalled one occasion when he tried to start chanting the Lotus Sutra before the family altar but was interrupted by an elderly woman chanting Namu-Amida. He explained to the woman that he was a Nichiren minister and he was holding a Nichiren Buddhist service and she was supposed to chant Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. The woman apologized for her mistake. In other homes he would find both the Nichiren Shu mandala and another mandala in a butsudan.
“I think everyone doesn’t know what is our faith,” Rev. Igarashi said. “What is the religion. Religion is your spirit and your spirit is just one. If you have two or three or five spirits, then maybe you can believe a lot of other religions. But everyone has just one spirit and just one faith.”
Those people who travel from church to church ignore the teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Shonin, he said.
“Everybody has Buddha nature. Everybody will become a Buddha. If you chant Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo you will get enlightenment. That’s one religion for one spirit. People who don’t understand this have two or three religions.”
Rev. Igarashi then mentioned the March 20, 1995, terrorist sarin attack on the Tokyo subway by members of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo. (Wikipedia), explaining that the cult leader took advantage of young people, especially college students. Earlier this month, the members of the cult who had been on death row since their convictions were executed by hanging. (See news reports)
“If young people have strong faith, if the young ones know we have just one spirit and one religion, then I believe that they would never join this kind of cult,” Rev. Igarashi said. “That’s why I like to talk about how you have to have strong faith. Your spirit has one spirit. You have one spirit. One spirit with one religion is fine. So otherwise all the time you are thinking this religion is good or that religion is good. So that’s all the time your spirit and mind moves along. And that’s why all the time you have a chance to get caught up with a cult. So that’s why you have to be careful.
“We have the supreme teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha and Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Shonin doctrine. If you chant Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo your Buddha nature is going to open and you are going to get enlightenment. Then you’ll never come back to this suffering world. …
“You have just one spirit, one religion. We have Nichiren Buddhism, Lotus Sutra, and chant Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Everybody can get enlightenment. Everybody has Buddha nature. … That’s why if you chant Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo you are going to get enlightenment someday, maybe today or tomorrow or it takes a hundred years or 1000 years later. We don’t know but you have to keep upholding Nichiren Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra.”
So I continue the quest to tame my foster kittens. It took me several tries today to find their hiding places. The carrier was easy enough, but the wire raceway under my desk was a stroke of genius – a black kitten hidden in the darkest corner under the desk.
My wife and I have decided to leave them alone since every time we touch them they decide they must find a new hiding place. Instead, we are only giving them food when we are in the room and withholding it when we leave. We’ll see how that works.
Now I’m killing time, allowing the kittens an opportunity to eat. No takers yet.
I’ve been reading The Beginnings of Buddhism and gathering quotes that I’ll eventually reprint here. I enjoy the early teachings of Buddhism, considering them in the context of the Lotus Sūtra. Today, for example, I set aside a quote explaining the concept of karma as understood before Buddhism.
[W]hen Shakyamuni was teaching in a town named Devadaha, the issue of karma was being discussed. In those times, in India, there were five explanations for the causes of present happiness and unhappiness:
Everything, happiness and unhappiness, is determined by karma from previous existences.
All fate is determined by the will of an all-powerful deity who created and controls the world.
Human fate is determined by the good or bad ways in which the elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—constituting the fleshly body are combined.
The fate of the entire life of an individual is determined by the social class and family into which he was born.
Human fate does not depend on any of these definite causes but is determined, from minute to minute, by completely accidental occurrences.
From the Buddhist standpoint, all of these explanations either are deterministic and fatalistic or rely purely on chance and therefore deny the significance and value of education and training and fail to take into account the importance of free will in efforts to determine and develop fate. For the sake of a correct interpretation of cosmic workings, Buddhism proposed doing away with these explanations and offered in their place the Law of Causation and the Four Noble Truths as accurate explanations of the world and of human life.
And so I gather up the cat food as I prepare to leave and offer the kittens the value of education and training and the importance of free will. No food until you come out of hiding.
So I’m killing time in my home-office-slash-foster-kitten-shelter. The Sacramento SPCA had some kittens needing socialization before they can be put up for adoption. They hiss and run away when approached. I volunteered to see if I could socialize them. Right now I’m just being present, working quietly, trying not to make them anxious. They are sleeping now, which I’ll call progress.
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi lights candle in front of altar.
Last Sunday, July 22, was the Obon service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. This was my fourth Obon service since joining the church and the first in which Ven. Kenjo Igarashi moved the stupas to the front of the altar. Normally these stupas are hidden off to right of the altar.
The rack of stupas represent all of people for whom Rev. Igarashi has held memorial services. In the photo above I’ve highlighted the stupa Rev. Igarashi made for my parents, Mary and Edwin Hughes, and my wife’s father, Richard Buchin. I can’t locate without help the stupa he created for my wife’s mother, Mary Buchin, since we asked him to use her Japanese name, Michiko Wada.
Due to an operator error, I failed to record Rev. Igarashi’s sermon, which was an interesting lesson that included a bomb scare (locked box left on porch; eventually found to contain discarded SGI Gohonzon and other SGI material), unwanted discarded SGI books (the church is not in the recycling business) and a dragon fly who flew into the church one hot summer day to practice the Lotus Sutra, stayed the night and left the next morning when the priest’s assistant opened the doors. Really wish I had that recording.
Nichiren Shōnin in front of Śākyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Buddha in the Stupa of Treasures.
I’ll close out this post with a photo I downloaded from Facebook. It was posted by Chen Hsiongcai of Singapore.
