Category Archives: Higan

Higan

The Practice of Higan

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.

Below is a 2016 newsletter article on Higan by Ven. Kenjo Igarashi of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

Higan is the practice of leaving our deep attachments in order to reach the world of enlightenment. Specifically, Higan is a practice comprised by six components. They are: charity, observing precepts, perseverance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. There is a story I would like to share with you concerning this practice. In the 9th century, a monk named Kyoukai wrote a series of books called Nippon Reiiki. Spanning three volumes long, these books contained stories concerning his experiences that seemed to transcend the logic and understanding of this world. This particular story I would like to share with you comes from this book, in the second volume of the series in the 38th chapter.

During the era in which Emperor Shomu ruled, there was a monk who lived in a temple in the mountains of Maniwa, located in the city of Nara. That monk had told his disciples upon his deathbed, “After my death, you must not open the entrance to my room for three years.” Saying this, he passed away. Forty-nine days after his death, a venomous snake had appeared before the deceased monk’s door, coiled in place, refusing to move. The disciples quickly realized that this snake was the reincarnation of their master. By chanting towards the snake, the disciples were able to move it, and enter the monk’s room. In the room, the disciples discovered thirty kan (currency used at the time, equaling approximately $30,000 today) saved up and hidden away. Realizing that their master had reincarnated as a venomous snake to protect this money, the disciples used the money to invite many ministers and hold a memorial service for him.

Kyoukai realizes that this particular monk was so desperate to protect his money, that he reincarnated into a snake in order to protect it. Kyoukai says, “No matter how high the mountain, we are able to see its peak. The mountain residing in humans called greed however is so great, that we cannot see its peak.” In other words, the greed and desire residing in humans is so vast and ever-growing, that it has no limit. Higan is a very important practice which aims to rid this greed and desire within us.

Ven. Kenjo lgarashi
March 2016

Higan, perfections

Getting Past Anger and Hatred

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.

Each of the days before and after the equinox are devoted to one of the Six Paramitas, the practice of perfection taught to Bodhisattvas. Today we consider the third perfection, Tolerance.

A variety of techniques is offered in the sutras and other texts for getting past anger and hatred. Calming meditation is considered the most effective because its focus is on state of mind, especially on bringing passions such as anger to a still point. But there is also a variety of techniques related to insight meditation, techniques that encourage the practitioner to transform his or her understanding of the situation in a way that dissipates passionate antipathy. The three most common are (l) meditative reflection on the thought that every negative thing that is done to us is a direct karmic result of our own past actions; (2) contemplative reflection on the idea that those who treat us unjustly and with malice are, unbeknownst to them, serving us as our teachers in the perfection of tolerance; and (3) reflection on the basic Buddhist concepts of “dependent arising” and “no-self” in order to depersonalize interpersonal relations.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 101-102
Higan, perfections

Where the Path to Morality Begins

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.

Each of the days before and after the equinox are devoted to one of the Six Paramitas, the practice of perfection taught to Bodhisattvas. Today we consider the second perfection, Morality.

The fact that the ideal motivation for moral action is selfless compassion toward others does not mean that other more worldly motives do not play a significant role. Indeed, Mahayana sutras and other writings sometimes appear to feature what might seem to be selfish motivations for a moral life. It is true that moral life tends to bring many mundane and worldly benefits—the respect, trust, and goodwill of other people, worldly success and plentitude, enlightenment for oneself, to name just a few – and these are not insignificant. The fact that these are just the beginning of the “wealth” that morality confers on its practitioners does not invalidate them. This is where the path begins and, given the fact that the sutras are written to inspire initiating the journey, this is where they often focus their attention. Thus the texts frequently point to the reward of a good rebirth or the respect and fame that truly moral people receive.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 61
Blog, Higan, perfections

Seeking Authentic Generosity

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.

Each of the days before and after the equinox are devoted to one of the Six Paramitas, the practice of perfection taught to Bodhisattvas. Today we consider the first perfection, Generosity.

The … three dangers inherent in the practices of giving – servility, contempt, and poor judgment about the effects of giving – show us something important: they make clear that, although vital, “selflessness” is not all there is to the perfection of generosity. Being unselfish is certainly the most important condition for admirable forms of generosity; we should not underestimate its centrality. But beyond selflessness, there are other essential conditions that are not generally recognized in traditional Buddhist texts. Perhaps this is understandable. Self-centeredness is so pervasive and so powerful an illusion that most energy and ethical strategy has gone into overcoming it. But if it is not the only illusion, then the possibility remains that, in the effort to overcome the pervasive illusions of selfishness, we fail to recognize other imperfections that stand in the way of authentic generosity.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 37
Higan, perfections

Six Perfections: The Character of Wisdom

This is the final day of Paramita Week

Eschewing emphasis on afterlife as a primary concern, Buddhists have carefully examined the character of human existence, the complex human setting of desire, suffering, impermanence, relativity, and uncertainty, which is exactly the sense we have about the life-world in which we live. Wisdom is needed precisely because we do not know timeless truths, because we do not have direct access to a metaphysical order underwriting the world in which we live.

Understanding this as our situation in life, we acknowledge human finitude, the fact of always being immersed in the world in some particular time and place, and experience the reality around us from that specifically shaped and contoured point of view. To be useful for us, therefore, wisdom must be the capacity not to reach outside of our finitude to a permanent order beyond this transitory one but rather to work effectively within it. Although it is tempting to envision a truly wise person as altogether exempt from ambiguity and limited vision, as earlier traditions have done, that would be a state of omniscience, not wisdom. Accepting finitude as the starting point for these meditations, we begin to contemplate wisdom not as the end of uncertainty but rather as a capacity to face uncertain and ambiguous situations with integrity, composure, and reflective insight. Wisdom, therefore, will need to be reconceived as a quality of character that prepares us to function with fine-tuned ethical sensibility in changing contexts of extensive complexity and nuance, while still acknowledging fallibility.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 232
Higan, perfections

Six Perfections: Reflections on Meditation

This is the sixth day of Paramita Week

All types of meditation cultivate and focus on the development of at least one level of human mentality.

What are these levels or structures of human consciousness? We can think of human consciousness – as some modern philosophers have – as composed of three layers or levels of awareness. At the most basic level is immediate experience, direct awareness of some appearance, internal or external. We hear sounds in our environment; we see objects, movements, shades of light, colors; we smell fragrances, taste flavors, and feel the tactile character of our world. …

A second layer of human consciousness – reflective thinking – goes beyond direct awareness. In thought we step back out of immediate awareness in order to inquire and reflect on some dimension of it. When engaged at the reflective level of consciousness, we raise questions about what we have experienced, we deliberate, and make judgments: Is this really what it appears to be; is this tool really the best one for this purpose; does this activity conflict or cohere with my moral or political convictions? By employing the mental tools of critical thinking, the reflective level of awareness enables broader and more nuanced understanding. This expansion of consciousness makes deliberate choice among alternatives possible, and its cultivation enhances our capacity to make sound decisions. …

The third form or level of human consciousness is self-awareness, or reflexive consciousness. At this level, the mind bends back in awareness of itself. Beyond the objects of our awareness at the first level and our thinking about them at the second is the self-awareness of the one whose experience this is. Whereas the things of experience and our thoughts about them can become objects of reflection – we can get them in front of our mind’s eye in order to contemplate them – the one who does this cannot be similarly objectified. This is so because every time you attempt to step back to look at yourself or your current engagement in any activity, the one who steps back to look is the one at whom you hope to look. I cannot see myself as subject – my subjectivity as such – in any direct way because I am always the one doing the seeing. …

These three levels of consciousness constitute the structural options of human awareness, at least so far in human evolution. In immediate experience we are aware of the world. In reflective experience, we step back out of immediacy to question or ponder this world. And in reflexive experience, we encounter or get a sense of the one whose experiences these are. Since everything we experience falls within one of these three domains of awareness, or some combination of them, it is helpful to think of meditation as developing the skills and insights associated with each of these levels.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 182-184
Higan, perfections

Six Perfections: Energy in Ethics

This is the fifth day of Paramita Week

The role of energy in ethics can be highlighted by reflecting on ways in which we might fall short in life. There are two basic ways in which it is possible for a person to fail ethically. The most obvious of these is to act unjustly, to commit crimes against one’s society and oneself, to be a negative, destructive force. But another way is to fail in the positive, failing to live constructively on behalf of oneself and others. This second failure signals a deficiency of energy, a lack of constructive striving toward something worthwhile. Failing in this sense, people may never commit a crime against others or do anything explicitly wrong; their failure consists of not generating the energy of constructive life, thus failing to live a life in keeping with their capacity.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 146
Higan

Fall 2022 Higan

This is the fourth day of Paramita Week, the Fall Equinox. Below is the September 2017 lecture by Ven. Kenjo Igarashi.

As Buddhists, we observe several religious customs throughout the year, many of which involve praying for our ancestors. Most recently, we had the Obon (お盆) service in August, followed by the upcoming Ohigan (お彼岸) service in the fall. While there may be many meanings and reasons behind observing these Buddhist traditions, there are two that I would like to focus on in this article. They include (1) acknowledging life’s impermanence and most importantly, (2) reflecting on the importance of our Buddhist practice.

(1) Recognizing Life’s Transience
There are certain Buddhist customs, including those mentioned above, that remind me of the notion of shogyo mujo (諸行無常), or in English, “the impermanence of worldly things”. I first learned this concept in college when training to become a priest. We are made aware of this impermanence in our daily lives, ranging from daily tasks that we do (e.g. watering plants to prevent them from wilting) to happenings that we hear about from others that are beyond our control (e.g. the unexpected deaths we hear about on the news). However, it is often funerals and memorial services that amplify this notion of impermanence. They evoke a stronger sentiment because of our direct connection to the deceased. It also forces us to face and acknowledge that life on this earth, including our own, is transient.

Throughout my approximate 50-year career as a minister, I have always reflected on this notion of impermanence as a way to help me understand death as a sad, but unavoidable end to the course of one’s life. However, no matter how many funerals I have attended or conducted, it remains one of the most difficult tasks that I must do as a priest.

(2) The Importance of One’s Buddhist Practice
As previously mentioned, many Buddhist customs focus on expressing gratitude and remembering those that have passed. However, some people tend to focus too much on this idea. In fact, many spend little or no time understanding the significance that these traditions play in furthering a person’s Buddhist practice and faith.

Many of Nichiren Shonin’s writings include letters he wrote to his followers who expressed their individual concerns about reaching Enlightenment. As many of you know, in Buddhism we believe that the deceased goes on a 49-day journey after their death, where they will reflect on their lifetime of memories. They will be reminded of the most joyous moments of their life, as well as some of the difficult times. Nichiren Shonin knew of the hardships that one might face throughout this journey, as explained in a letter to one of his followers:

“I, Nichiren, am the world’s utmost devotee of the Lotus Sutra. If you pass away after me, remember that there are many trials that you must undergo (throughout your 49-day journey). Pass each trial by declaring in front of the judge that you are the follower of Nichiren, the world’s utmost devotee of the Lotus Sutra. When you must cross the fast ripples of the deep river, the Lotus Sutra will become your boat. When you must climb the treacherous mountains, it will become your vehicle. And when you must travel along a dark road, it will become that glimmer of light in the darkness. I, Nichiren, will promise to wait for you at the entrance to the Northeast gate to Enlightenment, so that you do not lose your way.”

Nichiren Shonin provides positive reassurance in his letter thus far. Yet his tone changes in the subsequent lines, informing the individual of consequences that could result from lack of Buddhist practice and faith. He continues:

“However, I must warn you of the importance of having faith (in the Lotus Sutra). An individual lacking piety should not expect to receive help upon claiming to be Nichiren’s follower. They will enter into the suffering world as quickly as the large rock that tumbles down the cliff, and the raindrops that fall from the sky and hit the earth.”

Nichiren Shonin’s statement directly relates to the teachings in Chapter 6 of the Lotus Sutra. It states that while everyone has the potential to become the Buddha, whether or not the individual achieves enlightenment depends on his or her level of commitment to practicing Buddhism. The hope is that they do not just rely on praying during services at the temple, but also make an effort to individually practice Buddhism in their daily lives.

Since an individual’s life is transient, we have a limited time (i.e. our individual lifespan) in which we can practice our faith in this world. I am hoping that many of you will try to incorporate both of these ideas as you continue to practice and find ways to deepen your faith in Buddhism.

Ven. Kenjo Igarashi
September 2017

Higan, perfections

Six Perfections: Resilience in the Face of Suffering

This is the third day of Paramita Week

Perhaps the most widely recognized Buddhist phrase is the first noble truth, the Buddha’s initial assertion that “life is suffering.” This claim has prompted a great deal of critical questioning, even rejection of Buddhism, on the grounds that its negative assessment of human life fails to emphasize human happiness and the joy of life. But this response is based on a misunderstanding, a misreading of the way suffering is positioned in Buddhist thinking. The mistake is understandable, though, given the stark form that this pronouncement takes: “Life is suffering.” Without working through the meanings of the Sanskrit suffering – the reasonable tack taken in introductory books on Buddhism – let us simply rephrase the first noble truth in order to get on with the point behind this first meaning of the perfection of tolerance. Suffering in human life is unavoidable; life always entails periods of suffering. All human beings, no matter how privileged their circumstances, will encounter hardship – we will all get sick, we will all injure ourselves, we will all encounter disappointment, we will all face obstacles, we will all feel the pain of depression, and at some point, we will all confront our own death.

Although every one of us knows that, we nevertheless hide from its truth; we wish otherwise, hope otherwise, and invariably become disillusioned when we encounter pain in spite of our best efforts at avoidance. The Buddhist first noble truth is a frank, startling call to awaken from this avoidance and to face the truth of suffering directly and wisely. As the Buddhist teachings unfold around the first truth, we recognize that, far from a passive rejection of happiness in preference for despair, the teachings demonstrate enormous insight into the human situation by outlining paths of action for overcoming the destructive impact of human suffering. Buddhist teachings begin with a stark warning: Life does entail suffering and, unless you face that fact thoughtfully and courageously, your own habits of response to it may deepen the impact or negative effects of suffering, pushing you toward diminished forms of life.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 95-96
Higan, perfections

Six Perfections: The Morality of Compassion

This is the second day of Paramita Week

Buddhists have recognized that all of us begin the cultivation of morality from within whatever quality of self-understanding we happen to have. That means, of course, that our initial motives for moral action will be predominantly self-centered. But as moral practice matures and the accompanying mental transformation progresses, practitioners gradually recognize how the perfection of morality is grounded in compassion and sincere concern for others.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 60