Category Archives: LifeAndSoulofBuddhism

LifeAndSoulofBuddhism, Books

The Lotus Sutra Life and Soul of Buddhism

A Modern Introduction to the Lotus Sutra Giving a Better Understanding of the Buddha’s Teachings

Life and Soul of BuddhismNikkyō Niwano’s book, first published in Japanese in 1969 and in English in 1970, is not a book about the Lotus Sutra in the way Buddhism for Today is. Instead, this is a introduction to basic Buddhist teachings. The flyleaf on the book cover offers this handy outline:

This book

  1. gives you a systematic knowledge of the essentials of the Lotus Sutra;
  2. offers you a right view of life and the world from the standpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, and an ideal way of human life based on the Lotus Sutra;
  3. is an indispensable companion for those who desire to promote mutual respect and cooperation among men of religion for the purpose of world peace.

The contents of the book are divided into three broad categories: The Necessity of Religion, The Origin of Buddhism and The Doctrine of Buddhism.

The Necessity of Religion is further broken down into four topics: Ethics Alone Cannot Save Man, Two Missions of Religion, On Science and Religion and Faith to All Men.

The Origin of Buddhism covers The Unrivaled Great Sage, Lord Śākyamuni; First Rolling of the Law-Wheel; Śākyamuni’s Life Devoted to Preaching the Law; Śākyamuni Passes Away; and Creative and Developing Buddhism.

The Doctrine of Buddhism includes The Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, The Twelve-linked Chain of Dependent Origination; Six Perfections, The Void and The Seal of the Three Laws, The Doctrine of the Reality of All Existence and the Three Thousand Realms in One Mind, The Middle Path and Life View of Buddhism.

The reason for the title of the book is explained by Nikkyō Niwano at the conclusion of the book.

It has been traditionally said that there are the three factors (san-in) in the perfection of the buddha-nature: shō-in, ryō-in and en-in.

Shō-in means the buddha-nature that is originally possessed by all the people. It is the truth that they are united with the great life of the universe in a body. Of course, this is the fundamental factor leading them to enlightenment.

Ryō-in indicates wisdom which enables one to realize his original buddha-nature by knowing the truth and comparing with it. The reason why we must hear the teachings of the Buddha and study the truth lies in this fact. This is because if we do not do so, there is often the fear that our valuable buddha-nature will remain undiscovered.

En-in expresses good deeds which help one as a secondary cause to develop his potential buddha-nature. Good deeds are understood in various meanings and they include the “practices of benefiting oneself,” such as making a right living according to the Buddha’s teachings, sutra-reciting, worshiping, meditation and other religious exercises. Good deeds also include the “practices of benefiting others,” such as showing kindness to every person with whom we come in contact, performing conduct useful for society and leading others to the right law.

By accumulating good deeds in this way, our original buddha-nature will be polished and developed more and more. Therefore, as long as we remain only recognizing the fact “we have the buddha-nature,” it does not light up nor develop a strong energy which make others as well as ourselves be saved and elevated.

After all, when we constantly repeat the practice of the way to Buddhahood, namely, “studying Buddhism,” “practicing it,” and “preaching it,” the buddha-nature of others as well as of ourselves will begin to light up and, turning this world into the Pure Land, will be completed by making the buddha-nature of all people be disclosed.

Boiled down to the utmost limit, Buddhism reaches this truth. We can conclude that Buddhism is the teaching that discovers the buddha-nature possessed by all people, discloses it and polishes it. It is the Lotus Sutra that contains this teaching to perfection. This is the reason why I have entitled this book, The Lotus Sutra: Life and Soul of Buddhism.

LifeAndSoulofBuddhism, Blog

Chanting ‘Namu-Amida-Butsu’

I am not a member of Risshō Kōsei Kai, but I have long found the organization founded by Nikkyō Niwano to be a wealth of information on the Lotus Sutra. No other Buddhist organization of which I am aware places as much emphasis on the study of the Threefold Lotus Sutra. I have benefitted from reading a half-dozen books on the Lotus Sutra and Buddhism published by Kōsei Publishing.

Still, I’ve stumbled over aspects of Risshō Kōsei Kai philosophy. The most recent stumble came after reading Nikkyō Niwano’s The Lotus Sutra Life and Soul of Buddhism. Originally published in Japan in 1969 and released in English in 1970, the book is subtitled, A Modern Introduction to the Lotus Sutra Giving a Better Understanding of the Buddha’s Teachings.

Nikkyō Niwano, while writing on the topic Religion Purifies the Inmost Part of Man’s Mind, uses the example of Dr. Kiyoshi Oka, a mathematician.

His religious life, chanting “Namu-Amida-Butsu,” is a practice in which the exercise of the conscious mind is mostly suspended and the soul of man enters a spiritual state of perfect selflessness. It is not difficult to imagine that as he continued to do this practice everyday, his mind became so extremely serene that he attained a spiritual state of mind seen in the world of the store-consciousness. Thus we can understand how Dr. Oka perceived a mathematical truth through a kind of inspiration or revelation.

In all times and places, there have been numerous instances where scholars and artists have made a great discovery by inspiration when they attained a spiritual state of perfect selflessness. Such instances teach us that we must reconsider our present situation which has been too biased by a materialistic way of life.

Lotus Sutra Life and Soul of Buddhism, p25-26

Later, in discussing how to overcome obstacles that prevent us from following “the Buddhist Way left to us by Śākyamuni,” Nikkyō Niwano writes:

So long as our mind is filled with this egoistic attachment, there is no room to receive the “truth that gives life to all things.” However hard we may try to understand Buddhism, without such room in our minds, the truth runs idly around and does not permeate into the mind. Therefore, our salvation and happiness cannot be achieved by our egoistic attachment.

Unlike Buddhist priests or monks, however, we who lead ordinary lives have egoistic attachments which always appear or disappear. This is because man cannot escape his destiny when it is based on his illusion that he cannot overcome the struggle for existence without his egoistic attachment. If we leave our mind untreated, it never fails to be filled with the egoistic attachment. Accordingly, it is necessary for us to sit down quietly before a Buddhist altar for a fixed time in the morning and evening, and recite the sutras and repeat the Daimoku, the sacred title of the Lotus Sutra, or invoke the name of Amida Buddha.

We can extinguish our egoistic attachment while devoting ourselves to these practices. We can attain a spiritual state of so-called perfect selflessness. When we attain such a state of mind, the light of the truth streams spontaneously through our mind and permeates into its depth.

Lotus Sutra Life and Soul of Buddhism, p53-54

As a Nichiren Shu practitioner, I was startled by Nikkyō Niwano’s repeated suggestion that invoking the name of Amida Buddha was a recommended practice. I was immediately reminded of the quote from Nichiren’s letter “Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude”:

Chanting “Namu Myōhōrengekyō” swallows up the functions of “Namu Amidabutsu (Buddha of Infinite Life),” “Namu Dainichi shingon (Great Sun Buddha’s mantras),” and “Namu Kanzeon bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva)” as well as of all the Buddhas, sūtras, and bodhisattvas. All these will be of no use without the functions of the Lotus Sūtra. This can be seen by everyone, for it has been realized in front of everyone. I, Nichiren, recite “Namu Myōhōrengekyō,” the function of “Namu Amidabutsu (Buddha of Infinite Life)” disappears just as the moon wanes, the tide ebbs, grasses in autumn and winter wither and ice melts under the sun.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, p53.

I have been attending a 34-week Rissho Kosei-kai in North America (RKINA) advanced course on the Threefold Lotus Sutra, and I took the opportunity to ask Rev. Takashi Yoshizawa, the instructor, about this idea that Namu Amida Butsu was somehow equivalent to Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. In answer he invoked Rissho Kosei-kai’s interfaith doctrine. Essentially, the Truth is one. Imagine that truth as the summit of a mountain. The various religious practices – Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike – are simply different paths to that summit.

I’m not unfamiliar with the “Truth is one” concept and its value. For example, Shinjo Suguro’s Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this:

Although the ultimate Truth is one in essence, human beings have various conflicting ideas about it. Nevertheless, we are able to advance toward a higher truth, overcoming conceptual conflicts, since we all believe firmly that the Truth is only one. Indeed, human progress is possible only because we are confident of the existence of a Universal Truth. After all, it is our confidence in the ultimate Truth that leads to the formation of our attitudes toward faith.

Not all paths reach the summit of a mountain, and some paths will be more direct. While I embrace the idea that all religions can have beneficial effect, I’m not prepared to accept that all religious practices are essentially equal.

This is not my first foray into the interfaith question. In May 2020, I wrote four lengthy blog posts on the topic:

LifeAndSoulofBuddhism, b4today, Blog

Caleb Michael Bodine

Last known photo of Caleb Michael Bodine, born 11-1-1992 and died 11-23-2021

During my celebration of Higan here this month, I used Nikkyō Niwano’s definitions of the Six Pāramitā from his Buddhism for Today. I was very unhappy with his discussion of wisdom.

We cannot save others without having wisdom. Let us suppose that there is an impoverished young man lying by the road. And suppose that we feel pity for him and give him some money without reflecting on the consequences. What if he is mildly addicted to some drug? He will grab the money given to him and use it to buy drugs. In this way he may become seriously, even hopelessly, addicted. If we had handed him over to the police instead of giving him money, he would have been sent to a hospital and could start life over again. This is the kind of error we may commit in performing donation without wisdom.

Perhaps in Japan and perhaps in 1976, when Buddhism for Today was first published in English, but not today, and not here in America.

Caleb Michael Bodine was born in 1992 on the first day of November, the third child of Candi and Chris Bodine. Caleb’s older brother, Colin, and my son, Richard, were friends throughout school. The wife and I met Candi and Chris when our children were in kindergarten and we cheered together from the football field stands as our sons graduated from high school.

All three of the Bodine children grew up in a loving and supportive family, but all the love and attention and support and law enforcement intervention could not prevent Caleb from falling into a downward spiral of drugs and petty crime. He died, homeless, on the streets of San Francisco on Nov. 23, 2021. He was only 29 years old.

Four months later, Candi emerged from her grief to publish this notice on Instagram and Facebook:

March 23, 2022. It’s been four months. Four months from today when our hearts broke. Our son Caleb lost his life to the disease of addiction 22 days after his 29th birthday. I am finally coming out of the fog and felt like it was time to talk about it. It was a long hard struggle for him and I missed him every day. The difference is now I will miss him forever. I hope and pray that he is at peace and now out of the pain that addiction causes. The photo I shared is the last picture I have of him. I’m not exactly sure where it was taken but it’s something he sent me about three years ago. I like to imagine that he is up on top of a mountain -healthy and happy and living his best life. Caleb was so smart and funny and interesting, a great athlete and someone that I called a friend. I hate that drugs took him from us but he will forever hold a place in my heart and now he is home with us albeit not in the way we would have wanted. He was a son and a brother and a nephew and a friend and an uncle to 2 amazing little twin nieces that he never got the opportunity to meet. Rest in peace my little buddy. I love you. Caleb Michael Bodine 11/01/92-11/23/21

While Nikkyō Niwano’s explanation of Wisdom is not helpful, his discussion of Buddha Nature in his book The Lotus Sutra Life and Soul of Buddhism suggests a view we should all approach:

The word, Buddha, originally means the Enlightened One, that is, a man who perfected himself spiritually. Accordingly, to take the case of a man in actuality, the buddha-nature means the possibility which makes a man become a person who perfects himself spiritually and frees himself from the bonds of illusion and suffering, although, in a strict sense, it indicates man’s true nature which is united with the universal life in a body.

Sakyamuni saw through the fact that such a possibility is sure to exist in all men. He pointed out and taught this fact by His strong words. It was indeed something to be thankful for.

But for this teaching in this world, those who regard themselves as worthless and sinful men will be prepossessed by the idea that such worthlessness and sinfulness are their own true nature and they will not be able to get rid of this prepossession.

But for this teaching, for example, when we see the evil of another person, we take him for a bad man and hate him. For example, when we see a spiritless man, we conclusively brand him as a useless dullard and shall take no notice of him.

Toward others as well as ourselves, as long as we have such a way of looking at people and adopt such an attitude, we cannot find salvation in this manner. Others as well as we ourselves are covered by dark shadows of agony, hopelessness, desperation, contempt, faithlessness or hatred. The world always treats us coldly and sharply, and unpleasant disputes do not come to an end here.

At that time, if we can awake to the fact that “we have the buddha-nature and we have the possibility of elevating ourselves infinitely,” we shall have the same feeling as if a window were suddenly broken open in a wall of a dark prison and the bright sunlight streamed through it. As soon as we see that light, how much we shall be encouraged by it! We shall certainly stand up in spite of ourselves and shall begin to endeavor to steal out of our prison.

If we can realize the fact that “all other people also have the buddha-nature and that they, too, have the possibility of becoming perfect men,” we completely change our way of looking at them. If we believe the good of another person as being his true nature, while we also admit his wrongs and his defects as they are, we shall have the feeling of respecting him and receiving him as a man without only hating him, excluding him, forsaking him and disregarding him. Such a feeling is called the spirit of tolerance.

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