Category Archives: WONS

WONS, Kaleidoscope

Followers of the Lord Śākyamuni

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In chapter [11] of the sutra, Śākyamuni’s emanations materialize, having been asked to gather from the ten directions. Chih-i had already suggested that the emanation-bodies of Śākyamuni prove that he had not attained enlightenment only forty years before preaching the Lotus Sutra, otherwise there could not have been so many kalpa-old beings who had received instruction from him. However, Chih-i did not invest Śākyamuni’s emanations with a universal significance, probably because he did not regard Śākyamuni as the only true Buddha of the universe. Nichiren’s declaration that all Buddhas enlightened in the past are emanations of Śākyamuni is of a different nature: it challenges the equality of all Buddhas and, furthermore, operates as a reduction which unifies all Buddhas, not only those appearing in the Lotus Sutra, but also those appearing in other scriptures of the Buddhist canon. It should be noted that this “absolutization” of Śākyamuni, although reminiscent of the idea that “all Buddhas are just one single Buddha” developed by esoteric Tendai in Japan, does not proceed by equating Śākyamuni with another Buddha already defined as universal, like Vairocana, but rather by including all Buddhas (Vairocana, too) in the person of Śākyamuni.

Nichiren discusses at length how all Buddhas are enlightened because of their relation to Śākyamuni Buddha.

If we consider the stage of results, the many Tathāgatas are Buddhas of a past ten kalpas, one hundred kalpas or a thousand kalpas long. Lord Śākyamuni is a Buddha who has [attained] the complete result of subtle awakening as many kalpas ago as five hundred particles of dust. The various Buddhas of the ten directions such as the Tathāgata Vairocana, the Tathāgata Amitābhā and the Tathāgata Bhaisajyaguru are followers of our original teacher, the Lord Śākyamuni. One moon in the sky floats in the water as ten-thousand [moons]. … This Buddha Abundant Treasures, too, is a follower of the Lord Śākyamuni of the chapter “The Long Life of the Tathāgata.

A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Lucia Dolce, Between Duration and Eternity: Hermeneutics of the ‘Ancient Buddha’ of the Lotus Sutra in Chih-i and Nichiren, Page 231
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The Truth Revealed in the Lotus Sūtra.

Although the Buddha sometimes appeared to be willing to grant future Buddhahood to the Two Vehicles, evil people, women, and others, He was not certain about this. After 42 years of preaching, however, the Buddha at the age of 72 expounded the Lotus Sūtra on Mt. Sacred Eagle near Rājagṛha in the kingdom of Magadha. First, He preached the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, in which the Buddha declared, “The truth has not been revealed in the forty years or so,” meaning that His preachings during the pre-Lotus period were provisional while the truth is revealed in the Lotus Sūtra.

Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 34

WONS, Kaleidoscope

Nichiren’s Interpretation: One Single Buddha

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Nichiren’s interpretation of the Śākyamuni of the Lotus Sutra, although it took as its point of departure Chih-i’s theories, was definitively influenced by various hermeneutical patterns that developed in the Japanese exegetical tradition of the Lotus Sutra, and by Nichiren’s personal experience of the reality disclosed in the scripture.

Nichiren reread the entire sutra focusing on the “section of the origin.” From this perspective, he constructed an image of Śākyamuni Buddha as the only true Buddha of all Buddhist systems, and eventually produced an interpretation of the Lotus Sutra very different from that of Chih-i. In Nichiren’s writings we find a sort of dilation of the chapters constituting the second half of the Lotus Sutra, especially the end of chapter 15 and chapter 16, which Nichiren judges to be almost exclusively representative of the meaning of the entire scripture. This corresponds to the dilation of the temporal dimension expressed in those chapters, that is, the distant past in which Śākyamuni obtained his original enlightenment. Nichiren absolutizes this original moment and makes it the only significant time and relates it to the existence of humanity in a certain time and place.

He writes:

The true attainment of buddhahood in the far distant past is the original ground of all the Buddhas. To use a metaphor, if the vast sea is the true enlightenment in the past, the fishes and birds are the thousand two hundred and more Venerables. Had the enlightenment in the past not occurred, the thousand two hundred and more Venerables would be without roots like duckweed. …

When the past [of Śākyamuni] and [his] eternal abiding are disclosed, all Buddhas become Śākyamuni’s emanations. At the time of the earlier sutras and of the first part of the Lotus Sutra, the various Buddhas performed each practice and each discipline side by side with Śākyamuni. … Now it is manifest that the various Buddhas [of other sutras] all are followers of Śākyamuni. … When the Buddha is the Buddha of the far distant past, even the great bodhisattvas of the “trace section” and the great bodhisattvas of other realms are disciples of the Lord of the Doctrine Śākyamuni.

A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Lucia Dolce, Between Duration and Eternity: Hermeneutics of the ‘Ancient Buddha’ of the Lotus Sutra in Chih-i and Nichiren, Page 230
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The Subtle Utility of the Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra has two subtleties. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Lotus Sūtra explains the two subtleties.” They are (1) relative subtlety (sōdaimyō) and (2) absolute subtlety (zetsudaimyō). The relative subtlety means to compare the Lotus Sūtra with the various sūtras expounded in the first four periods of Flower Garland, Āgama, Expanded, and Wisdom, disparaging those various sūtras as “pre-Lotus.” The pre-Lotus sūtras are called “tōbun (for a while)” meaning that they only assess their own sūtras, and therefore, are nothing but expedients. On the other hand, the Lotus Sūtra is called “kasetsu (across a fence)” meaning that the Lotus Sūtra is the supreme teaching revealing the true intent of the Buddha, which He tried to expound throughout His lifetime. The true purpose of the absolute subtlety is to reveal that all the holy teachings of the Buddha are for the purpose of preaching the Lotus Sūtra. Two things concerning this are mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra: one is that provisional teachings are revealed to show the single path to enlightenment, and the other is the revealing of the single path to enlightenment. For example the “open, show, perceive and enter” passage in the second chapter, “Expedients,” of the Lotus Sūtra explaining why Buddhas appeared in this world, or the passage in the same chapter saying, “All have attained Buddhahood;” and the fact that each of the 69,384 letters of the Lotus Sūtra consisting of eight fascicles is equipped with subtlety are all “revealing the single path to Buddhahood.” Those who study Buddhism without knowing the subtle utility of the Lotus Sūtra will only gain the expedient merits of pre-Lotus sūtras.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 92-93

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Those Without Faith or Wisdom

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets in his Mo-ho chih-kuan (Great Concentration and Insight): “Those without faith in the Lotus Sūtra consider it to be only for sages and to be too difficult for ignorant people like themselves. Those without wisdom become self-conceited considering themselves equal to the Buddha.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 96

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A Laughingstock

I, Nichiren, am a laughingstock, but how can it be said that the Lotus Sūtra, which I believe in, is also a laughingstock? For instance, even if a purse emits a foul odor, the gold in the purse is beautiful. Even if a pond it stagnant and filthy, the lotus flowers that bloom in the pond are pristine. Likewise, though I am the most insignificant being in Japan, the Lotus Sūtra, which I put faith in, is the supreme of all the Buddhist scriptures.

A sensible person who wants to get hold of gold should not discard it just because the purse containing the gold reeks. If one loves the lotus flower, one should not have disdain for the pond where the lotus plant grows. If I, though insignificant, become a Buddha, it proves the great power of the Lotus Sūtra. Accordingly, if the last moment of my life is not positive, I will hurt the reputation of the Lotus Sūtra. If the last moment of my life happens to be negative, I will not only be viewed as evil by everyone in the world but I will also become a very evil person who ruins the name of the Lotus Sūtra.

Nishiyama-dono Goke-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Widow of Lord Nishiyama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 101

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Imaginary Fish Called Himoku

Worms that live in trees eat timber, and fish that live in water drink water. It is said that orchids sigh when a lawn dies, and that an oak is pleased when a pine tree prospers. Even plants are like this. An imaginary bird called hiyoku has two heads in one body with two mouths feeding the single body. Imaginary fish called himoku have only one eye each thus the male and female stay together without separation throughout life. Thus, should be the relationship between a husband and wife. In order to accomplish the faith in the Lotus Sūtra, the wife should not regret being with her husband, even if the result is death. If the wife is of one mind with her husband and struggles with him, she will succeed the dragon girl who attained Buddhahood in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra and become an example of attaining Buddhahood by women in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 84

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Written Pledges of the Gods

It is stated in a sūtra that Śākyamuni Buddha called such heavenly beings as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun, the moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, and dragons of this Sahā World as well as other worlds together and had them make written pledges in front of Himself, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and various Buddhas from other worlds throughout the universe, stating:

“In the Ages of the True, Semblance, and Latter Dharmas after the passing of Śākyamuni Buddha, evil spirits such as the king of devils in the Sixth Heaven and devils will enter the bodies of the king and his subjects, causing trouble to disciples of the Buddha regardless of whether or not they observe precepts or break them. If those heavenly beings who made written pledges to Buddhas see or hear about the troubled Buddha’s disciples but do nothing to punish the king and his subjects, the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra will inevitably send a messenger to the Four Heavenly Kings ordering punishment for them. In case the community deities do not punish the king and his subjects who trouble Buddha’s disciples, such deities will be dealt with by the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra and the Four Heavenly Kings. The same will be true with the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra. The King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra and the Four Heavenly Kings in other worlds will never fail to punish their counterparts in this world, who do not carry out their promised duty. If they don’t, they will be unable to see Buddhas in the past, present and future lives, lose the ranks of the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra forever, and fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering.”

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 261-262

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Call Yourself a Disciple of Nichiren

If you pass away before I, call yourself a disciple of Nichiren, the foremost practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, in front of the King of the Brahman Heaven, Indra, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, King Yama, and so forth. They will not treat you carelessly.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 146.

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Two Different Kinds of Hell

Two different kinds of hell exist beneath the earth. The first is a hell of flame; the fire of this hell is like molten iron, which ignites charcoal, burns fields, and consumes all things. To burn sinners in such a fire is simple, exactly like throwing paper or wood chips into a bonfire. Those who commit arson-robbery, who attack their enemies with fire, or women whose hearts burn with jealousy fall into this flaming hell and must suffer the intense heat.

The second kind of hell is a hell of ice. There are eight hells of ice as explained by the Nirvana Sutra: “Eight hells of ice and cold exist. They are the Ahaha Hell, the Atata Hell, the Arara Hell, the Ababa Hell, the Ubara Hell, the Hazuma Hell, the Kumozu Hell, and the Fundari Hell.” The names of the eight hells of ice and cold arise from sinners’ different screams of pain and their different skin colors caused by the cold. The bitter cold of these hells is like the north wind of Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (Nagano Prefecture) or on Mount Tateyama in Etchū Province (Toyama Prefecture). Imagine the intense cold which causes the birds atop Mount Hakusan of Kaga Province (Ishikawa Prefecture) to huddle with their wings folded. Imagine the lonely cold of the widow’s feet. Imagine the desperate cold of the pheasant, forced down and surrounded by snow. Having to endure the cold, the sinners shiver with their chins chattering, and they say, “ahaha, atata, arara.” The cold causes the sinners’ skins to turn red, a condition called “red lotus” or “great red lotus.”

Those who fall into this hell are those who steal clothes, or who warm themselves while their parents or teachers suffer from the cold in this life.

Otā-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 144-146