The Kingdom of Buddha and the Holy See

This conception of the transfiguration of the world is very important for the understanding of Nichiren’s idea of the Catholic Buddhist Church, and to make it still clearer we may quote another passage from the dictated portions of his lectures on the Lotus [Ongi Kuden].

“It is said in the [Lotus Sutra]: ‘At that time I shall appear on Vulture Peak, together with my congregation.’ Here, ‘time’ means the age of the Latter Law, when the spiritual communion (between us and Buddha) shall be realized; ‘I’ means Śākyamuni; ‘with,’ the Bodhisattvas; ‘congregation,’ the community of Buddha’s disciples; ‘together’ implies the ten realms of existence; and ‘Vulture Peak’ is the Land of Serene Light. … ‘Appear’ means to make a manifestation at Vulture Peak, while ‘Vulture Peak’ means the manifestation of the Supreme Being, that is, the abode of Nichiren’s followers who utter the Adoration of the Lotus of Truth. …

“Any place where men practice the faith in the Sole Road [One Vehicle] of Adoration, the adoration of the Lotus of Truth, there is the castle of the eternal Serene Light, which is Vulture Peak. … Yet the primeval (entity) of Vulture Peak is nowhere else than in this very Sahā world, especially in Japan, the Land of Sunrise; the Sahā world furnished with the perfection of the primeval stage, where the Lotus of Truth is to be realized; the place where the unique Maṇḍala will be revealed and established – the Maṇḍala embodying the primeval import of what is taught in the chapter on the Life-duration, or the Eternal Life, of the Tathāgata.”

Where there lives a true Buddhist, there is manifest in his spirit and life, the Maṇḍala, the cycle embodying the cosmic truth. Where the Truth is manifest, there, is realized the eternal light of Buddhahood, and therefore the place is a paradise. A natural corollary to this idea is that the whole realm of existence ought to be the stage of this realization. But Japan, where the prophet of this gospel has appeared, should be the center of the Kingdom of Buddha. The man has appeared, and the stage is determined. A definite organization must now be provided for effecting the transformation according to the instructions given by the Prophet. This idea gradually crystallized in Nichiren’s mind into a definite plan for establishing the center of the universal church, the Holy See, the Kaidan. He had cherished this idea since his days in Sado, and expressed it, as we have seen, in the first writing after his retirement. More definite expression was given it in “The Perpetuation of the Three Great Mysteries,” which he wrote on the eighth of the fourth month, the day believed to be the birthday of Buddha, in 1281. It is also interesting to notice that this year was made memorable by the remarkable prediction Nichiren made to his followers concerning the threatening Mongol invasion. Of this prediction we shall speak later.

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NICHIREN: THE BUDDHIST PROPHET

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