The equinox occurs twice a year, once during spring and again in autumn, specifically the day in which night and day are equal in length. The exact day upon which the equinox lands varies from year to year, but the vernal or spring equinox basically occurs during March and the autumnal equinox during September. In Japan, we refer to the seven-day period – that is, the equinox, including the three days prior and following the equinox – as higan.
Higan is understood by most in Japan as a seven-day period that happens twice a year. As such, higan has taken on a secular meaning, gradually shedding its original significance. Whereas, higan is in fact deeply ingrained within Buddhism. For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds. Have our words hurt anyone around us? Are our actions serving ourselves more than others? How can we be productive for the sake of society? Are our decisions creating a world of strife rather than peace? Does our lifestyle encroach upon the liberty or happiness of others? Are we aware of how our actions may adversely affect our environment – the soil, air, plants, insects, fish, birds, and animals? In sum, the basic question from a Buddhist point of view is whether or not we are following the right path. Higan serves as an opportunity to consciously readdress some of these basic questions so that we may perhaps reinitialize our thoughts and actions should we be veering off Buddha’s path. In this sense, it is indeed a very important time of the year.
Buddhism is About Practice
Higan then is a period of shugyo or practice. We are often unaware that we are ourselves the cause of many problems. Oftentimes, though we may not intend to slight anyone, our words and deeds can be construed in different ways depending on how and by whom it is received. Therefore, during the period of higan, we try to be extra careful that we do not disrupt things and create problems for others.
The Buddha’s enlightenment can often be characterized as a state of being completely aware. For the Buddha, this may appear to be effortless and second nature. However, these attributes are ones that even the Buddha has nurtured by practicing the right way of living, consciously over a very long period of time. Actually practicing the right path in overcoming mishaps that create confusion and poor judgment eventually lead to a life that is harmonious with our surroundings, and ultimately to peace for all. By theory, should we earnestly follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, there is no reason why we cannot eventually approach the Buddha’s level of awareness.
Buddha’s Way
In any discipline, its practitioners are inclined to try and reach a certain objective. Exactly what that goal is and how it can be reached may vary in its scope and application. Nevertheless, there exists something to aim for. Buddhism is no different in this respect. Without debating the minor differences that we may each value, we as Buddhists are blessed with the metaphor of higan in helping us to visualize our advancement toward this goal.
Higan arrives from the Sanskrit word, pāramitā. A Chinese transliteration for this word was “dao bi an.” In Japanese, these characters would be read “tou hi gan”. tou means to “go to” or to “arrive.” hi means “that” or “there.” gan is “bank” or “shore.” This metaphor asks us to imagine our present station to be associated with “this shore,” called shigan in Japanese. “This shore” is one that is characterized by delusion and repeated suffering. Buddhism posits that there is another bank on the other side of the river or body of water. The other shore represents a goal to which we as Buddhists should aspire. It is characterized by understanding and assurance. This distant shore is called higan. Higan represents wisdom, liberty, and compassion. In our respective ways, we as Buddhists are all striving to reach the other shore, that is, to become like the Buddha. Pāramitā, then, involves crossing over from the shore of ignorance to the other shore of enlightenment. The word pāramitā has come to describe the basic components necessary to attain this.
Although there may be many ways of grasping the concept of pāramitā, it is generally understood to be composed of six basic components. The six pāramitās are as follows:
fuse means to offer one’s self wholeheartedly and unconditionally, without any expectation of its return.
jikai is to follow and maintain the general precepts of the Buddha.
nin-niku suggests a resilience to persevere through hardship.
syojin refers to the necessity of conscientious effort in accomplishing one’s goals.
zenjo points to qualities existent in meditation, calling upon one’s concentration, adjoined by calmness and poise.
Chie is the Buddha’s wisdom, reinforced with its practical application.
Each of these six are complementary with each other. The awareness, application, and internalization of all six of these general practices is thought to be requisite to approach the completeness of the Buddha. Thus, the pāramitās are also referred to as bodhisattva practices, or the necessary stepping stones upon one’s way to becoming a Buddha. The most important thing to note is that these concepts must be put into practice. Without application, it is not Buddhism. Higan, then, is a time to reaffirm and sincerely practice the six pāramitās.
Higan as Observed in Japan
With the practice of the pāramitās, Higan in Japan has incorporated the tradition of acknowledging one’s ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. Although there are many ways of observing higan, many will go to their temples, gravesites of their loved ones, or sit in front of their family alters to offer their prayers in memory of their loved ones. Many will also prepare a unique offering of sweet azuki-bean rice cakes as an offering to be placed on the alters of their loved ones. These azuki-bean rice cakes are called ailed bota mochi in spring and o-hagi during autumn.
Today is the final day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
Today we consider the Perfection of Wisdom. To that end I’m returning to Jan Nattier’s translation of The Inquiry of Ugra.
“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, when the householder bodhisattva sees a beggar, he will fulfill the cultivation of the six perfections.
“O Eminent Householder, if as soon as the householder bodhisattva is asked for any object whatsoever, his mind no longer grasps at that object, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of giving will be fulfilled.
“If he gives while relying upon the spirit of enlightenment, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of morality will be fulfilled.
“If he gives while bringing to mind loving-kindness toward those beggars and not producing anger or hostility toward them, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of endurance will be fulfilled.
“If he is not depressed due to a wavering mind that thinks ‘If I give this away, what will become of me?’ in that way his perfection of exertion will be fulfilled.
If one gives to a beggar and, after having given, is free Of sorrow and regret, and moreover he gives [these things] up from the standpoint of the spirit of enlightenment and is delighted and joyful, happy, and pleased, in that way his cultivation of the perfection of meditation will be fulfilled.
And if, when he has given, he does not imagine the dharmas [produced by his giving] and does not hope for their maturation, and just as the wise do not settle down in [their belief in] any dharmas, just so he does not settle down [in them], and so he transforms them into Supreme Perfect Enlightenment—in that way his cultivation of the perfection of insight will be fulfilled.
“O Eminent Householder, in that way when the householder bodhisattva sees a beggar he will fulfill the cultivation of the six perfections.”
Today is the sixth day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
Today we consider the perfection of meditation.
“Emptiness” is the meditation that yields freedom, whether this meditation is performed in Buddhist or non-Buddhist terms. If you do not understand how the choices you make are conditioned by your background and the context within which you face them, you will have very little freedom in relation to these conditioning factors. If you do not understand that your political views are largely a function of the particular influences that have been exerted on you from early life until now, you will have no way of seeing how other worldviews give justification to other views just as yours does for you, and therefore no way of even beginning to adjudicate between them except by naively assuming the truth of your own.
If you do not realize that what seems obvious to you seems that way because of structures built into your time and place and the particularities of your life, you will have very little room to imagine other ways to look at things that stretch the borders of your context and imagination. You will have no motive to wonder why what seems obvious to you does not seem obvious to others in other cultures or languages, and to wonder whether you might not be better off unconstrained by those particular boundaries of worldview. The extent to which you are limited by your setting is affected by the extent to which you understand such constraints both in general (anyone’s) and in particular (yours). The way you participate in your current given worldview shapes the extent to which you will be able to see alternatives to it and be able to reach out beyond it in freedom.
“Emptiness” and similar non-Buddhist meditations on the powers of interdependence and contextuality are among the most fruitful means of generating sufficient freedom to live a creative life. Reflexively aware, we are more and more able to see and act on alternatives that would never occur to us otherwise. In reflexive meditation, we come to embrace the finitude of all acts of thinking as a way to liberate us from dogmatism and certitude. Understanding the uncertainty that is constitutive of our human mode of being, we develop the flexibility of mind necessary to be honest with ourselves about our own point of view.
Today is fifth day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
Today we consider the perfection of energy.
Desire is the basis of motivation. It is the source of our energy. Without wanting something enough to motivate our will and energize our action, we are unlikely to pursue or get it. Imagine what it would be to eliminate all desire while still living a human life. Without desires we would be inactive and impotent. Lacking ambition, we would be without purposes and plans. Existing in so dispassionate a way that we desire nothing, we would be indifferent to any outcome; we would not care – about anything. Apathetic, that is, lacking pathos and passion, we would be devoid of feelings of any kind as well as the activities and spiritedness that follow from them. Although it is no doubt true that there have been a few aspirants who have understood the Buddha’s enlightenment to be a state of complete desirelessness, this is not the image of the compassionate and energized bodhisattva that we are likely to imagine and admire. A richer and more complete conception of Buddhist enlightenment encompasses and elevates desire rather than rejecting it.
Today is the Spring Equinox, the middle of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, the householder bodhisattva who lives at home, by being free of attachment and aversion, should attain equanimity with respect to the eight worldly things. If he succeeds in obtaining wealth, or a wife, or children, or valuables, or produce, he should not become proud or overjoyed. And if he fails to obtain all these things, he should not be downcast or distressed. Rather, he should reflect as follows: ‘All conditioned things are illusory and are marked by involvement in fabrication. Thus my father and mother, children, wife, male and female slaves, hired hands, wage earners, friends, companions, kinsfolk, and relatives—all are the result of the ripening of actions. Thus they are not “mine,” and I am not “theirs.”
” ‘And why? Because my father, mother, and so on are not my protector, refuge, resort, place of rest, island, self, or what belongs to the self. If even my own perishable skandhas, sense fields, and sense organs and their objects are not “me” or “mine,” how much less are my father, mother, and so on “me” or “mine,” or I “theirs”? And why? Because I am subject to my actions and heir to my actions, I will inherit [the results of] whatever I have done, whether good deeds or bad. I will taste the fruit of every one of them and will experience the ripening of every one. And because these people are also subject to their actions and heir to their actions, they too will inherit [the results of] whatever they have done, whether good deeds or bad. They will experience the ripening of every one of them and will taste the fruit of every one.
” ‘It is not my business to accumulate unvirtuous deeds for their sake. All of them are a source of pleasure now, but they will not be a source of pleasure later on. Instead, I should devote myself to what is really mine: that is, to the virtues of giving, discipline, self-restraint, endurance, good character, exertion, vigilance, and the accumulation and production of the factors of enlightenment. That is what is actually mine. Wherever I may go, these qualities will go with me.’ Thinking in this way, he does not accumulate offenses, even for the sake of his own life or for the sake of his wife and son.”
Today is the third day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
Today we consider the perfection of patience.
Modern Western thought has produced something closely related to the realization of “emptiness” – “historical consciousness,” the consciousness or awareness that everything is immersed in history, that everything becomes what it is through the shaping powers of historical conditioning and change whenever constitutive conditions change. The ability and willingness to understand ourselves historically is similar to the ability to see the “empty” character of all things—that is, its relational and always changing character.
In this insight, we realize that everything is a product of history, of dependence and time, including ourselves. Through it, we understand that all human thinking is subject to future doubt and revision, no matter how certain we may be about our knowledge. The upshot of historical awareness is not that we cannot know the truth, but that doubt and openness are essential ingredients to any quest for understanding. Similarly, realizing that all human knowledge is “empty” or “historical” does not in any way amount to saying that knowledge is not valid, or that it is pointless. It is rather a profound look into both the dependent character of everything and the reality of ongoing change that pervades the entire cosmos.
Today is the second day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
Today we consider perfection of discipline:
Like most of us, bodhisattvas at earlier levels of practice assume that things stand on their own and can therefore be grasped in isolation from other things. They take the language of things to validate a certain understanding of things and cannot at the outset think otherwise. But the practice of the perfections is meant to disrupt that understanding and to show how the depth of things is more truthfully disclosed through the “emptiness” of linguistic signs and their referents. …
The realization that all moral rules are “empty” works toward freeing the bodhisattva from an inappropriate attachment to them. Holding the rules in one’s mind without “clinging” to them, without “grasping” them dogmatically, yields a certain degree of latitude in their practice. The moral rules are understood as means, not ends, and when these means come into conflict with important ends, the bodhisattva learns to practice the rules flexibly.
Today is the first day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
The today we consider the Perfection of Generosity. For this I want to return to Jan Nattier’s translation of the “The Inquiry of Ugra,” an early Mahayana sutra that discusses the householder’s Bodhisattva practices and the practices of the renunciant Bodhisattva.
“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, by living at home, the householder bodhisattva should accomplish a great deal of giving, discipline, self-restraint, and gentleness of character. He should reflect as follows: ‘What I give away is mine; what I keep at home is not mine. What I give away has substance; what I keep at home has no substance. What I give away will bring pleasure at another [i.e., future] time; what I keep at home will [only] bring pleasure right now. What I give away does not need to be protected; what I keep at home must be protected. [My] desire for what I give away will [eventually] be exhausted; [my] desire for what I keep at home increases. What I give away I do not think of as “mine”; what I keep at home I think of as “mine.” What I give away is no longer an object of grasping; what I keep at home is an object of grasping. What I give away is not a source of fear; what I keep at home causes fear. What I give away supports the path to bodhi; what I keep at home supports the party of Māra.
“What I give away knows no exhaustion; what I keep at home is exhausted. What I give away is pleasurable; what I keep at home is painful, because it must be protected. What I give away leads to the abandoning of the corruptions; what I keep at home will cause the corruptions to increase. What I give away will yield great enjoyment; what I keep at home will not yield great enjoyment. Giving things away is the deed of a good man; keeping things at home is the deed of a lowly man. What I give away is praised by all the Buddhas; what I keep at home is praised by foolish people.’ Thus he should reflect. O Eminent Householder, in that way the bodhisattva should ‘extract the substance’ [from the insubstantial].
I began Higan Week with quotes from a Tibetan stream outside the ocean of the Lotus Sutra. Standing on the stream bank I wondered why Nichiren’s teaching on the Lotus Sutra doesn’t include the deep Bodhisattva practices that appear so beneficial.
In the Nichiren Shu brochure about Higan, the seven-day period that occurs twice a year at the Equinox, it states plainly that Buddhism is About Practice, a sentiment that fit nicely with my question.
But does the Lotus Sutra really teach that individual practice is the path to enlightenment?
On the same day that I bemoaned a lack of focus on the Six Perfections in Nichiren Buddhism, my daily reading of the Lotus Sutra covered Chapter 17, which discusses the merits one receives from understanding that the Buddha’s lifetime is beyond measure and that any discussion of his death is just an expedient used to bring listeners to the wisdom of the Buddha.
Consider these gāthās from Chapter 17:
Suppose someone practiced
The five paramitas
For eighty billion nayuta kalpas
In order to attain the wisdom of the Buddha.
Throughout these kalpas he offered
Wonderful food and drink,
Excellent garments and bedding,
And monasteries made of candana
And adorned with gardens and forests
To the Buddhas,
To the cause-knowers, to the disciples,
And to the Bodhisattvas.
Throughout these kalpas he made
These various and wonderful offerings
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.
He also observed the precepts,
Kept purity and faultlessness,
And sought the unsurpassed enlightenment
Extolled by the Buddhas.
He was patient, gentle,
And friendly with others.
Even when many evils troubled him,
His mind was not moved.
He endured all insults and disturbances
Inflicted upon him by arrogant people who thought
That they had already obtained the Dharma.
He was strenuous and resolute in mind.
He concentrated his mind,
And refrained from indolence
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.
He Lived in a retired place
For innumerable kalpas.
He sat or walked to avoid drowsiness
And to concentrate his mind.
By doing so, he became able to practice
Many dhyāna-concentrations.
His mind was peaceful, not distracted
For eighty billion kalpas.
With these merits of concentration of his mind,
He sought unsurpassed enlightenment, saying:
“I will complete all these dhyāna-concentrations,
And obtain the knowledge of all things.”
He performed
The meritorious practices
As previously stated
For hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas.
The good men or women who believe my longevity, Of which I told you, Even at a moment’s thought Will be able to obtain more merits than he.
Those who firmly believe [my longevity], And have no doubts about it Even for a moment, Will be able to obtain more merits [than he].
On the second day of Higan week, my daily reading covered Chapter 18: The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sūtra, which begins with a discussion of the merits to be received by the 50th person who rejoices at hearing even a phrase of the sutra. Here, again, we find actual deeds superseded by simple faith.
Suppose there was a great almsgiver.
He continued giving alms
To innumerable living beings
For eighty years according to their wishes.
Those living beings became old and decrepit.
Their hair became grey; their faces, wrinkled;
And their teeth, fewer and deformed.
Seeing this, he thought:
“I will teach them because they will die before long.
I will cause them to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.”
Then he expounded the truth of Nirvana to them
As an expedient, saying:
“This world is as unstable
As a spray of water,
Or as a foam, or as a filament of air.
Hate it, and leave it quickly!”
Hearing this teaching, they attained Arhatship,
And obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
And the eight emancipations.
The superiority of the merits of the fiftieth person
Who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā [of this sūtra]
To the merits of this [great almsgiver]
Cannot be explained by any parable or simile.
At this point it seemed fair to suggests that other sutras may focus on the practice of Buddhism, but faith, not practice, is key in the Lotus Sutra. This observation was tempered slightly by the Daily Dharma from Sept. 24:
Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observes the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We often think of merits as bonus points we get for good deeds. Good karma we create to offset the bad karma that came from our less skillful actions. Another way of looking at merits is as a measure of clarity. The more merit we gain, the more we see things for what they are. When we offer our merits for the benefit of all beings, we resolve to use this clarity to enhance the lives of others.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
But any suggestion that practice is remotely comparable to faith in Nichiren Buddhism, was put to rest by the Quote of the Day on Sept. 20:
It is said that the merit of all the Buddhist scriptures (except the Lotus Sutra) is that men can become Buddhas after they have done good deeds, which means that attainment of Buddhahood remains uncertain. In the case of the Lotus Sutra, when one touches it, one’s hands immediately become Buddhas, and when one chants it, one’s mouth instantaneously becomes a Buddha.
This daily quote comes from the Raihai Seiten, a Nichiren Shu Service Book Companion compiled by the Los Angeles Nichiren Buddhist Temple’s Nichiren Shu Beikoku Sangha Association. This was compiled in 2001-2002 when Rev. Shokai Kanai was the head priest.
This particular letter appears among the Writings of Nichiren Shonin in Volume 7, Followers II. This idea that faith, not practice, is essential is underscored in the letter. Following the above quote it says on page 59:
For example, when the moon rises above the eastern mountain, its reflection immediately shows on the water. Sound and resonance also occur simultaneously. It is written [in the Lotus Sutra] that one who listens to the Lotus Sutra will never fail to attain Buddhahood. The meaning of this passage is that whether there be 100, or even 1,000 people, all those who believe in this sutra [the Lotus Sutra] attain Buddhahood.
This Higan week has been a cautionary tale. Books from other streams of Buddhism – waters that lack the salty taste of the ocean of the Lotus Sutra – need to be viewed through the lens of the Buddha’s ultimate teaching.
Today is the final day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
The today we consider the Perfection of Wisdom.
Several realizations make wisdom more difficult to imagine than the other five ideals we have examined. Wisdom differs from the others in the extent to which it is readily identifiable and noticeable. When we look for acts of generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, and meditation, we know roughly where to look. Acts of generosity, for example, are located in a certain sphere of our lives; they are easily identified wherever something beneficial is intentionally and freely transferred from one person or group to another. But where do we look to find examples of wisdom? Nowhere in particular, or anywhere. There is no specific domain of wisdom. You can be wise or unwise in any dimension of life. Wisdom can be found at work in all of the other perfections and in everything we do, rather than in its own domain. There is wise giving, wise tolerance, wise eating, wise shopping, and so on. Wisdom appears at a more comprehensive level than the other perfections, and this is how it can guide, encompass, and perfect the other perfections.
Today is the sixth day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:
For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.
The today we consider the Perfection of Meditation.
The ideal of this fifth perfection is to live in a meditative frame of mind regardless of whether we happen to be meditating. The goal, therefore, is not always to be meditating, always to be practicing a preparatory activity, but rather to live in the spirit of composure and insight that the practice has produced.
Higan arrives from the Sanskrit word, pāramitā. A Chinese transliteration for this word was “dao bi an.” In Japanese, these characters would be read “tou hi gan”. tou means to “go to” or to “arrive.” hi means “that” or “there.” gan is “bank” or “shore.” This metaphor asks us to imagine our present station to be associated with “this shore,” called shigan in Japanese. “This shore” is one that is characterized by delusion and repeated suffering. Buddhism posits that there is another bank on the other side of the river or body of water. The other shore represents a goal to which we as Buddhists should aspire. It is characterized by understanding and assurance. This distant shore is called higan. Higan represents wisdom, liberty, and compassion. In our respective ways, we as Buddhists are all striving to reach the other shore, that is, to become like the Buddha. Pāramitā, then, involves crossing over from the shore of ignorance to the other shore of enlightenment. The word pāramitā has come to describe the basic components necessary to attain this.