Monthly Archives: October 2019

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How to Receive a Gohonzon

enshrining-gohonzon-brochure
Nichiren Shu brochure with frequently asked questions about Gohonzons.
Gohonzon_Senchu_Murano
Nichiren Shū Overseas Propagation Promotion Association explanation of the Gohonzon, including details of who is represented on the Mandala.

On Oct. 8, 2019, I received a contact email from Richard, who lives in Sydney, Australia. Richard asked how he might receive a Gohonzon. He said he has been practicing on his own, chanting and reciting the Lotus Sutra. I replied to his contact email, but the email address he provided doesn’t work. So, I’ll post the email here in hopes of reaching Richard in Sydney.

Nichiren writes in “Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra”:

QUESTION: What should a believer of the Lotus Sūtra regard as the Honzon (the Most Venerable One)? How should one perform the Buddhist rites and practice daily training?

ANSWER: First of all, the Honzon could be eight fascicles, one fascicle, one chapter or the title alone of the Lotus Sūtra. This is preached in the “Teacher of the Dharma” and “Divine Powers of the Buddhas” chapters. Those who can afford to may have the portraits or wooden statues of Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures made and placed on both sides of the Lotus Sutra. Those who can further afford to may make the portraits or wooden statues of various Buddhas all over the universe or Universal Sage Bodhisattva. As for the manner of performing the rites, standing or sitting practices must be observed in front of the Honzon. Outside the hall of practice, however, one is free to choose any of the four modes of acts: walking, standing, sitting and lying down. Next, regarding the daily practices, the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra should be chanted, “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” If possible, a verse or phrase of the Lotus Sūtra should respectfully be read. As an auxiliary practice one may say a prayer to Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, the numerous Buddhas throughout the universe, various bodhisattvas, Two Vehicles, Heavenly Kings, dragon gods, the eight kinds of gods and demi-gods who protect Buddhism as one wishes. Since we have many ignorant people today, the “3,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine may be difficult to contemplate from the beginning. Nevertheless, those who wish to study it are encouraged to do so from the start.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 19

Nichiren also writes in “Reply to Lord Nanjō”:

Those who offer a stem of flower or a pinch of incense to the Lotus Sūtra, as precious as this, are as meritorious as those who offered donations to “ten thousand billion” Buddhas in the past.

Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 15-16

If you are going to get a Gohonzon mandala that has been eye-opened by a priest, then you need to establish a relationship with a priest. Being as there are no Nichiren Shu priests in Australia (as far as I know), that leaves you with a number of long-distance relationships.

These priests have an online presence:

I posted this on Facebook’s Nichiren Shu page and received this comment from Guy Chouinard Jr:

Don’t worry about Gohonzon. You actually don’t need it (read ch. 21). Try going outside to chant. Chant to nature and universe. Chant with nature and universe. Chant in nature and universe. Chant odaimoku as the sun rises, just like St. Nichiren did the first time he ever chanted Odaimoku. Don’t limit yourself to “stuff.” This way you can open your mind to the reality of all things.

My opinion: Your personal practice imbues your personal altar with the benefits of your practice. At the very least, light a candle and offer flowers and incense to your copy of the Lotus Sutra. As you chant, it will be as “meritorious as those who offered donations to ‘ten thousand billion’ Buddhas.”

Saicho

Fully Revealing the Buddha’s Ultimate Teaching

Quote

Saichō’s view of the Perfect faculties of the Japanese people was partly based on statements in the Lotus Sūtra that the Buddha’s supreme teaching could be preached during the “latter evil age.” Saichō believed that the faculties of the Japanese people had matured and that they were ready to hear him expound the Buddha’s ultimate teaching found in the Lotus Sūtra. Although the Sanron and Hossō interpretations of the Lotus Sūtra had been studied previously in Japan, Saichō argued that they did not represent the correct interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra. The Tendai teachings concerning the Lotus Sūtra, transmitted directly to Saichō by Chinese T’ien-t’ai masters, were the only explanations of the sūtra which fully revealed it as the Buddha’s ultimate teaching. In order to stress this point, Saichō often referred to his school as the Tendai Hokkeshū (Lotus School), and thus closely linked the terms Tendai and Lotus Sūtra.

Chien-chen had brought the first T’ien-t’ai texts to Japan, but had not actively attempted to spread Tien-t’ai teachings. Instead, he had devoted himself to conducting Ssufen lü ordinations. As a result T’ien t’ai teachings were virtually forgotten several decades after Chien-chen’s death. In contrast, Saichō succeeded in spreading T’ien-t’ai teachings throughout Japan. By Saichō’s time the faculties of the Japanese people had matured. They were ready to listen to the Tendai interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p182
WONS

The True Mahāyāna Teaching

Now it is the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration. Those who should be saved by Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna teachings have disappeared, leaving only those who should be saved by the True Mahāyāna teaching.

You cannot load a big rock on a small boat. Evil and ignorant people are like huge rocks. Such teachings as Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna sūtras and the nembutsu are like a small boat. A large malignant scab cannot be cured easily because it is a severe sickness. For us in the Latter Age of Degeneration, nembutsu is like cultivating a rice field in winter. The time is not at all right.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 142.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 10, 2019

To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathāgata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathāgata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathāgata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathāgata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sūtra. Therefore, keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra, and act according to the teachings of it with all your hearts after my extinction!

The Buddha makes this declaration to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Two, the Buddha told those gathered to hear him teach that his highest teaching could not be attained by reasoning alone. These two passages show us faith to look beyond the words in this book to find the Buddha Dharma in every aspect of our lives, and the ever-present Buddha leading us all to enlightenment.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Day 9 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni explain how he reveals the Dharma with the Simile of the Herbs, we conclude Chapter 5.

Both the Śrāvakas and the cause-knowers,
Who live in mountains or forests,
Who have reached the final stage
of their physical existence,
And who have attained enlightenment by hearing the Dharma,
May be likened to the herbs
Which have already grown up.

The Bodhisattvas
Who resolve to seek wisdom,
Who understand the triple world,
And who seek the most excellent vehicle,
May be likened to the short trees
Which have already grown up.

Those who practice dhyāna,
Who have supernatural powers,
Who have great joy
When they hear that all things are insubstantial,
And who save all living beings
By emitting innumerable rays of light,
May be likened to the tall trees
Which have already grown up.

As previously stated, Kāśyapa, I expound the Dharma
And lead human flowers
[To the fruits of Buddhahood]
Just as the large cloud waters all flowers
By a rain of the same taste
And causes them to bear their fruits.

Kāśyapa, know this!
I reveal the enlightenment of the Buddha
With various stories of previous lives,
With various parables and similes,
That is, with various expedients.
All the other Buddhas do the same.

Now I will tell you [, Śrāvakas,]
The most important truth.
You, Śrāvakas,
Have not yet attained [true] extinction.
What you are now practicing is
The Way of Bodhisattvas.
Study and practice it continuously,
And you will become Buddhas.

See The Blessings of Faith in the Lotus Sūtra

2buddhas, LS32, d22b, d23b, d26b, d27b, d9b

The Blessings of Faith in the Lotus Sūtra

The promise in this chapter that those who embrace the one vehicle will be “at peace in this world” and in the next, will be “born into a good existence” articulates what most people sought from religion in Nichiren’s day: good fortune and protection in their present existence and some sort of assurance of a happy afterlife. Traditionally, as with other religions, people expected from Buddhism not only wisdom and insight, but also practical benefits: healing, protection, and worldly success. Nichiren often cited this passage to assure followers that faith in the Lotus Sūtra does indeed offer such blessings. “Money changes form according to its use,” he wrote. “The Lotus Sūtra is also like this. It will become a lamp in the darkness or a boat at a crossing. It can become water; it can also become fire. This being so, the Lotus Sūtra guarantees that we will be ‘at peace in this world’ and be ‘born into a good existence in the future.’ “

Two Buddhas, p100-101
Lecture on Lotus Sutra, d20b

Our Daily Celebration

As we gather our thoughts and purify our altar then we sit down to celebrate the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, to hear once again the beautiful teaching of the Buddha telling us of the ever-­existing nature of Buddhahood and of the enlightenment of our own lives, we are engaging in a celebration. It is as if we are going before the Eternal Buddha and asking him not so much what we can get for ourselves but knowing our own lives are secure because of our practice we can focus on the beauty and truth of the message contained in the Lotus Sutra. We are not supplicants going before some great dispenser of benefit. No, we are the golden-hued erect Bodhisattvas who emerge from the ground and bow to the Buddha and fulfill our vow of teaching and practicing the Lotus Sutra in this age in which we live.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Saicho

Faculties Suitable for the Hokke One-Vehicle Teaching

Quote

Saichō used the concept of the maturing of people’s faculties in a different way than Chih-i. Rather than applying the idea to individuals, Saichō argued that the Japanese people as a group possessed mature faculties. Saichō utilized Japan’s place in Buddhist history and the teachings concerning the decline of Buddhism to support his views. In the preface to the Ehyō Tendaishū dated 816, Saichō first presented this idea in several enigmatic, short sentences:

“In Japan the Perfect faculties (enki) of the people have already matured. The Perfect teaching has finally arisen.”

Several years later in his Shugo kokkaishō, Saichō further explained his view:

Now men’s faculties have all changed. There is no one with Hinayāna faculties. The Period of the True and of the Imitated Dharma have almost passed, and the age of mappō is extremely near. Now is the time for those with faculties suitable for the Hokke One-vehicle teaching. How do we know this? Because of what the Anrakugyōbon [Peaceful Practices chapter of Lotus Sutra] teaches about the latter days of the decline of the Dharma.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p181-182
WONS

Unless the Causative Relationship Is Ripe

The moon does not shy away from its own reflection, but it cannot be reflected without water. Even though the Buddha hopes to convert the populace, He cannot show the eight major events in His life unless the causative relationship is ripe. It is like Hinayāna sages of śrāvaka, who have listened to the Mahāyāna teaching and ascended the ladder of the bodhisattva way leading to Buddhahood, until they have reached the step of shoji in the distinct teaching or shojū in the perfect teaching. In the end, however, they have to wait for the future for their Buddhahood. It is because they have listened only to the pre-Lotus sūtras and striven for self-control and self-salvation.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 75

Uncategorized

Daily Dharma – Oct. 9, 2019

Just as the Moon God is brighter than the stars, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma gives us more light than any of the other sūtras numbering thousands of billions. Just as the Sun God dispels all darkness, this sūtra drives away all the darkness of evils.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha uses comparisons from our common experience of the sun, moon and stars to illustrate how this teaching of the Wonderful Dharma is superior to all other teachings. This is not just hyperbole. This teaching illuminates not only the other teachings of the Buddha, but all teachings. It lets us see them for what they are, and use them to do the Buddha’s work of leading all beings to enlightenment.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com