Category Archives: WONS

WONS

At the Start of the Latter Age: Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

In the … thousand years of the Semblance Age, the teachings of the Buddha in India gradually were brought to China and Japan. Aeons ago, Śākyamuni Buddha, at the assembly of the Lotus Sūtra entrusted such great bodhisattvas of the theoretical teachings as Medicine King Bodhisattva and great bodhisattvas from other lands with propagating the first fourteen chapters (from the first to the fourteenth “Peaceful Practices” chapter), the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sūtra during the Age of the Semblance Dharma. This, however, was preparatory propagation for great bodhisattvas, disciples of the Original and Eternal Buddha, to spring up from underground in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration in order to inspire all the people in the world to chant, “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” the gist of the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra. The leading masters who propagated the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, were Nan-yüeh, T’ien-t’ai, and Miao-lê in China and Dengyō in Japan.

We are now at the start of the Latter Age, when disciples of the Original and Eternal Buddha such as Bodhisattva Superior Practice should appear to propagate the Lotus Sūtra as predicted by Śākyamuni Buddha.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 70

WONS

T’ien-t’ai and Attainment of Buddhahood by Women

Of all the sūtras preached by all Buddhas throughout the lifetime of the Buddha and the Ages of the True Dharma, the Semblance Dharma, and the Latter Age of Degeneration after His passing, women could not attain Buddhahood without the Lotus Sūtra. This has been pointed out by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai of China, who had been guided directly by the Buddha on Mt. Sacred Eagle in India and attained enlightenment. In the seventh fascicle of his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra T’ien-t’ai declares that the other sūtras mention the enlightenment of men only, not of women, while the Lotus Sūtra explains the enlightenment of everyone regardless of sex, whether or not one is evil.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 47

d16b, WONS, Eyes

Doing the Right Thing for the Sake of the People

Now we come to the conclusion of the Kaimoku-shō. Over the course of this writing Nichiren has reviewed all the reasons why he believes that the Lotus Sūtra alone allows all people to sow the seed of buddhahood and why he believes that it is necessary to refute all those teachings that would cause people to neglect or reject it. He has also addressed the reasons why he and his followers have to face many hardships if they are to uphold the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of the Dharma. Nichiren concludes by reminding the reader that in chapter eleven of the Lotus Sūtra Śākyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures Tathāgata, and the buddhas throughout the universe all came together “for the purpose of making sure that the Lotus Sūtra would spread forever.” (Hori 2002, p. 113) He says of them that “their compassion seems greater than that of parents who see their only child faced with great suffering.” (Ibid, p. 113). Nichiren compares his own efforts to uphold the sūtra and refute those who would negate it to this great parental compassion of the buddhas saying, “l, Nichiren, am like a compassionate parent of everyone in Japan…” (Ibid, p. 114) In a later letter, Nichiren even said of himself that for the people of Japan he was a parent, teacher, and lord because of his efforts as the Buddha’s messenger: “Though I am a fool, I have declared myself to be a messenger of the Buddha and a practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra so that peace and tranquility may be established in Japan. … I am the father and mother of the people in Japan, their lord and their eminent teacher.” (Hori 2010, p. 166) As the Buddha’s messenger, Nichiren felt that he was sharing in the virtues of the Buddha as parent, teacher, and sovereign to those he was trying to correct and lead to the right path. In Kaimoku-shō, we see the thought process that Nichiren went through to come to his conviction that he was doing the right thing for the sake of the people of Japan and ultimately all beings.

Open Your Eyes, p585
WONS

Relative and Absolute Subtleties in the Essential Lotus Sūtra

Two views of the relative and absolute subtleties in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra are not stated in various pre-Lotus sūtras. Neither are they seen in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. Both the pre-Lotus sūtras and the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, somewhat different, seem to suggest that the Two Vehicles eliminate delusions in view and thought, and that bodhisattvas eliminate fundamental ignorance; however, they do not allow for it in the end. From the viewpoint of the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, it should be understood that the Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattvas) have not yet eliminated the three delusions (delusions in view and thought, delusions preventing bodhisattvas from saving others, and delusions about the true nature of life).

Nijō Sabutsu Ji, Obtaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 235

WONS

The Innermost Intention of the Buddha

QUESTION: You have said that for 2,000 years during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, scholar-monks and the so-called four ranks of bodhisattvas who guided the people after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha built temples and pagodas for various Buddhas such as the Buddha of Infinite Life, the Great Sun Buddha, and the Medicine Master Buddha. Some of them built temples and pagodas dedicated to Śākyamuni Buddha preaching the Hinayāna, quasi-Mahāyāna, and pre-Lotus sūtras or the theoretical section (first half) of the Lotus Sūtra. None of them in the three lands of India, China, and Japan—neither a king nor his subjects, however, has ever revered the true Honzon revealed in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the Eternal Buddha with four bodhisattvas waiting on Him. It has startled me and I am just confused because it has never been said by anyone before. I ask you to explain it once more as I wish to hear it in detail.

ANSWER: The Lotus Sūtra consists of eight fascicles and twenty-eight chapters. Four steps of teaching (sūtras of the first four tastes) were preached before the Lotus Sūtra was, and the Nirvana Sūtra after it. These lifetime preachings of the Buddha can be bound in one sūtra. Those preached before the Lotus Sūtra, from the Flower Garland Sūtra, which was preached upon His attainment of Buddhahood at Buddhagayā, to the Great Wisdom Sūtra, comprise the preface. The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning (Muryōgi-kyō), the Lotus Sūtra, and the Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva (Kan Fugen Bosatsu Gyōbō-kyō), ten fascicles in all, serve as the main discourse while the Nirvana Sūtra constitutes the epilogue.

The ten fascicles of the main discourse can further be divided into three parts. The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning and the first “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra constitute the preface. The fifteen and one-half chapters of the Lotus Sūtra from the second chapter on “Expedients” to the nineteen-line verse in the seventeenth chapter, the “Variety of Merits,” mark the main discourse. The eleven and one-half chapters of the Lotus Sūtra from the last half of the “Variety of Merits” chapter, where the four stages of faith during Śākyamuni’s lifetime are preached, to the twenty-eighth (last) chapter of the sūtra, plus the one-fascicle of the Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva make up the epilogue.

Furthermore, the ten fascicles of the threefold Lotus Sūtra (Sūtra of
Infinite Meaning, Lotus Sūtra, and Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva) can be divided into two sections, theoretical and essential, each of which contains a preface, main discourse, and epilogue. First, in the theoretical section, the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning and the first “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra compose the preface; the eight chapters of the Lotus Sūtra from the second chapter on “Expedients” to the ninth chapter, “Assurance of Future Buddhahood” inclusive, represent the main discourse; and the five chapters from the tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” to the fourteenth chapter, “Peaceful Practices, comprise the epilogue.

The Lord who preached this teaching is Śākyamuni Buddha, who had attained Buddhahood for the first time in this world under the bodhi tree at Buddhagayā. He preached the truth of 1,000 aspects contained in 100 realms which had never been revealed before. It is the True Dharma which transcends all the sūtras which had been preached (pre-Lotus sūtras), are now being preached (Sūtra of Infinite Meaning), and are to be preached (such as Nirvana Sūtra). It is the innermost intention of the Buddha, which is difficult to have faith in and comprehend.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 149-151

WONS, Eyes

The Personal Choice of Embracing or Subduing

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I would now like to share my own personal understanding of the ways of embracing and subduing. It seems to me that the way of embracing is the way of peacefully minding one’s own business and contemplating the Dharma in private while still being prepared and able to teach others if they ask about Buddhism in a way that will encourage them where they are in their own understanding and according to their own ability. The way of subduing is the way of public witness to the truth, and that may include denouncing corrupt or false teachings and practices that are going by the name of Buddhism. The way of subduing does not cater to limited views and understandings of Buddhism but more forthrightly challenges or even goads fellow Buddhists to aim for the ultimate realization and actualization of buddhahood. It is a way based on compassion and courage that may provoke hostility in those who do not wish to have their views challenged. The way of subduing also allows for the legitimate and lawful defense of those who speak the truth from violence and oppression.

I feel that, going by Nichiren’s criteria, the circumstances of today more often than not require the method of embracing as most people are simply ignorant about Buddhism and are not slanderers of the Lotus Sūtra, which is to say Buddhists who are trying to get people to neglect or reject the Lotus Sūtra. We are all now countries of “evil and ignorant people” who do not know enough about Buddhism to be considered slanderers.

Open Your Eyes, p581-582
d15b, WONS

Precious Items

It is said that Mt. Kunlun is rich with jewels but there are no pebbles. This Mt. Minobu lacks salt. At a place where there are no pebbles, a pebble is more precious than a precious stone. Likewise, salt is more precious than rice here on Mt. Minobu. The Ministers of the Left and Right are the treasures of the king and they are called salt and miso (fermented soybean paste). Just as we cannot make a living without miso and salt, the king cannot govern his country without the Ministers of the Left and Right.

Regarding oil, it is stated in the Nirvana Sūtra, “People catch cold when there is no oil, and they do not catch cold when they have oil. Oil is the best medicine to cure a cold.”

Thank you very much for sending me these precious items. I do not know how to express my gratitude for the great kindness shown to me. Ultimately, this is the result of the fervent faith of your late father (Lord Nanjo Hyōeshichirō) in the Lotus Sūtra, isn’t it? A proverb says this, “The king’s ambition is stated by his subjects, and parental aspirations are expressed by their children.” How happy your late father must be!

Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 18

d7b, WONS, Eyes

Teaching Skill

Another issue to be addressed is the appropriateness of insisting on teaching the Lotus Sūtra to those who do not wish to hear it, or who are not able to really appreciate its significance. Isn’t this unskillful? Wouldn’t it be better to just let people learn and practice those Buddhist teachings that they find meaningful and encourage them in that, as the way of embracing suggests? Then, when they are ready they may come to the Lotus Sūtra on their own, and until then they will not feel any antagonism towards it because it has not been used to challenge their own beliefs and practices. Nichiren also addresses this issue in Treatise on the Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country (Kyō Ki Ji Koku Shō).

“Question: How should we comprehend the statement in chapter three, ‘A Parable,’ of the Lotus Sūtra, ‘You should not expound this sutra to ignorant people?’

“Answer: This applies to wise masters, who are able to discern the capacity of people, not to ordinary masters in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

“We should also solely expound the Lotus Sūtra to those who slander the Dharma. This would establish the connection of a poisonous drum between the unfaithful people and the Lotus Sūtra as it is said that the sound of a drum smeared with poison kills a man who hears them. It is like the practice of Never Despising Bodhisattva preached in the ‘Never Despising Bodhisattva’ chapter of the Lotus Sūtra.

“If a person has the capacity of a wise man, though, we should teach him the Hinayāna sūtras first of all, then the provisional Mahāyāna sūtras, and finally the true Mahāyāna sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra. If a man is deemed ignorant, however, we should teach him the true Mahāyāna sūtra from the start, as it can plant the seed of buddhahood in both believers and slanderers.” (Hori 2004, pp. 97-98)

Nichiren is saying that if one is a truly skillful teacher who is teaching someone who has the ability to understand Buddhism on a very deep level and who is open to learning then certainly Buddhism should be taught systematically starting with the basics taught in the pre-Mahāyāna teachings, proceeding on to the Mahāyāna developments, and finally arriving at the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren assumes a very different set of circumstances, however. He says that those who are not skillful teachers in the Latter Age of the Dharma who is encountering people who are incapable of understanding Buddhism on a deep level or who are even opposed to the Lotus Sūtra because they cling to lesser teachings should simply proclaim the Lotus Sūtra at the start so that people can at least make a connection with it, even if it might initially be a negative one. Otherwise, they would lose their opportunity to hear and connect with the sūtra at all.

Open Your Eyes, p575-576
WONS

Inheritors of the Life of Buddhas in the World

[T]he Buddhas in all the worlds throughout the universe have attained Buddhahood by making the “jiga-ge” verse their True Teacher. The “jiga-ge” is, therefore, like the parents of all beings in the world. Accordingly, those who uphold the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra can be said to be the inheritors of the life of Buddhas in the world. Is there any Buddha who would abandon the upholders of the Lotus Sūtra, through which He attained enlightenment? Should any Buddha abandon them, is He not in turn abandoning Himself. We infer from this that he who stands against a woman who has 3,000 children as powerful as Sakanoue Tamuramaro or Fujiwara Toshihito, will fight against 3,000 military commanders. Likewise, standing against he who upholds the “jiga-ge” verse of the Lotus Sūtra fights against the various Buddhas in the past, present, and future.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 56

WONS, Eyes

Nichiren’s Compassion

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People were, and continue to be, put off by Nichiren’s prophetic warnings about the dire fate Japan faced of invasion by the Mongols if the Japanese people did not turn away from the provisional teachings and uphold the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren was well aware that people thought he was just issuing hateful threats. His motivation was the compassionate one of correcting error so that people would not have to suffer such an invasion. To Shijō Kingo he wrote:

“When I say this, the ruler of the country might think that I am issuing threats, but I do not say this out of hatred. I say this out of compassion; I hope to save them from the torment of the Hell of Incessant Suffering in future lives by enduring light retribution in this life. Great Master Zhang’an states in his Annotations on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, ‘To remove the evil of another is to be like a compassionate parent. ‘ According to this I am the mother and father of the ruler of the country and the teacher for all the living beings. ” (Hori 2010, pp. 128129 adapted)

Nichiren felt that it was compassionate and kind to speak seemingly harsh words if it would get people to reconsider their positions, avoid slander, and embrace a more authentic path, whereas it was actually cruel to say only what is agreeable to the listener. In this Nichiren is in agreement with the Buddha who had advised that one should only speak in a timely manner what is true and beneficial, regardless of whether it is agreeable or not. What is agreeable should not be spoken if it is untrue or not of any benefit. In a letter attributed to Nichiren, the writer says:

“Even though one may resort to harsh words, if such words help the person to whom they are addressed, then they are worthy to be regarded as truthful words and gentle words. Similarly, though one may use gentle words, if they harm the person to whom they are addressed, they are in fact deceptive words, harsh words. (Gosho Translation Committee 1999, p. 178)

People may question whether Nichiren was really compassionate or just dogmatic and self-righteous. That is something that no one can possibly judge. Obviously, those of us who are his modern-day followers give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word that his motivation was compassion, and that his denunciation of other monks was rooted in his earnest desire to correct error and proclaim the True Dharma. The important thing for us is to keep in mind that when we discuss Buddhism with others, we must always make sure that we are speaking out of compassion and not some lesser and more egotistic motivation.

Open Your Eyes, p574-575