In addition to its meaning as ultimate truth or principle, Nichiren also used the term honzon in its more conventional sense to mean a physical icon forming the focus of practice, in this case, Lotus Sūtra recitation and the chanting of the daimoku. His honzon in this sense had plural forms. During Nichiren’s lifetime, the honzon most commonly used by his followers appears to have been a calligraphic mandala of his own devising, which he referred to variously as the “great mandala” (daimandara) or the “revered object of worship” (gohonzon). On this mandala the daimoku is written vertically as a central inscription, flanked by the names of Śākyamuni, Many Jewels, and the other personages who were present at the assembly in open space above Eagle Peak where the core of the origin teaching of the Lotus Sūtra was expounded. (Page 274)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismMonthly Archives: March 2019
Experiencing All Minds and All Dharmas
Contemplating mind by going through dharmas (Lei Li-fa Wei-kuan)
Sūtra that is explained by going through dharmas can be approached by contemplating mind. How is this mind contemplation accomplished? This is to identify two opposite aspects as one identical entity, which is of no-distinction of neither this nor that. To be specific, Chih-i points out that if a Mahāyānist contemplates his mind, he contemplates evil mind as being non-evil mind. This means that evil is identical to good and is also neither evil nor good. He contemplates wholesome mind as being non-wholesome mind. This means that non-wholesome is identified with evil and is also neither wholesome nor evil. He contemplates one mind being identical to three minds (i.e., Emptiness, the Provisional Existence, and the Middle Way). With these three kinds of mind that embrace all dharmas, he experiences all minds and all dharmas. In other words, all dharmas are contained in one mind, and mind reflects the true reality that consists of three aspects (Emptiness, the Provisionality, and the Middle Way). One and three is identical to each other, given that three aspects describe one true reality, and one reality consists of three aspects. Such a way of contemplating mind is the foundation for all words, principle and practices. By contemplating mind, each of the meanings sūtra contains can all be embraced by the mind. (Vol. 2, Page 399)
Day 17
Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.
Having last month witnessed the daughter of the dragon-king become a Buddha and concluded Chapter 12, Devadatta, we begin today’s portion of Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sūtra, with Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s vow to uphold the Lotus Sūtra.
Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, together with their twenty-thousand attendants who were also Bodhisattvas, vowed to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, do not worry! We will keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra after your extinction. The living beings in the evil world after [your extinction] will have less roots of good, more arrogance, more greed for offerings of worldly things, and more roots of evil. It will be difficult to teach them because they will go away from emancipation. But we will patiently read, recite, keep, expound and copy this sūtra, and make various offerings to it. We will not spare even our lives [in doing all this].”
Nichiren used this chapter’s prediction of the difficulty in spreading the dharma to explain the troubles he faced. For example, in his Letter to Hōren:
It is most important for a man of wisdom to spread the Lotus Sūtra by keeping the difference of time in mind. For instance, for those who are thirsty, water is just what is necessary, not a bow and arrow or arms. What is needed for a naked person is clothing, not water. One can understand the overarching principle through this one example. If a fierce god spreads the Lotus Sūtra, you should donate your own flesh to him because a fierce god is fond of flesh. It is useless to donate clothing or other food to him. If an evil king tries to destroy the Lotus Sūtra, never obey his order even at the cost of life. When high priests who observe the precepts and are devoted to the pursuit of faith pretend to spread the Lotus Sūtra outwardly, but try to destroy it inwardly, you must reprimand them vigorously. The Lotus Sūtra, “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra” chapter, admonishes us to, “Solely to venerate the Supreme Way without sparing one’s own life.” It is preached in the Nirvana Sūtra, “Even at the cost of life, one should not conceal the king’s orders.” Grand Master Chang-an interprets this in his Annotation on the Nirvana Sūtra, “The reason why it is said that even at the cost of life one should not conceal the teaching is because life is not as important as the Dharma. We must spread the Dharma even at the cost of life.”
Source
Daily Dharma – March 1, 2019
Those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha
Are as various as previously stated.
A kalpa will not be long enough
To describe the variety of them.
The Buddha speaks these verses in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. We may believe that only some kinds of people will hear the teaching of the Buddha. In this passage the Buddha reminds us that we cannot predict who will be able to join us in our practice and who will not. This is why it is so important to maintain our vow as Bodhisattvas to benefit all beings.
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