Category: qa-murano

Pieters (May 23, 1996)
Nichiren was intolerant towards the other Buddhists. Buddhists should be tolerant and gentle towards others. Why was Nichiren so intolerant?

Murano (June 6, 1996)
Nichiren was intolerant only towards the Buddhists who ignored the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha and slandered the Lotus Sutra in which the eternity of Sakyamuni Buddha is expounded. Very few worshiped the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha in the time of Nichiren. Even the adherents of the Tendai Sect worshiped the Buddhas other than Sakyamuni. Nichiren criticized the Tendai Sect of the day. Therefore, Nichiren was thought to be intolerant towards everybody. He was gentle towards the people who did not know of the Lotus Sutra. He kindly taught them with smiles and humor.

Pieters (May 23, 1996)
Some say that Nichiren priests do not keep precepts; therefore, they cannot be called real Buddhists. What do you think of this?

Murano (June 6, 1996)
Very few of us are vegetarians. Vegetarianism is conceived in Japan differently from that in India. I visited India and saw that there were two kinds of restaurants: vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Vegetarianism in India allows the use of eggs and milk products while Japanese vegetarianism means food of plant origin only. There is a large Soto Zen temple called Sojiji in Yokohama. When the World Fellowship of Buddhists’ Conference was held in Tokyo in 1952, many Theravada bhikkhus put up at Sojiji and were treated with vegetarian dishes without eggs and milk products. Worse still, Theravada formalism prohibits taking food in the afternoon. They take their full day volume of food by noon. Japanese temples, however, do not have such a food supplying system. They complained of food shortage. A Theravada bhikkhu told me, “We are a pitiable minority.”

Abandoning celibacy is a trend of Japanese Buddhism, although some lamas and Korean priests marry. Some Japanese priests are celibates. Nipponzan Myohoji priests do not marry. Two Nichiren priests in Kamakura are celibates. The chief priest of Myogyoji at Baraki, Chibaken, does not marry. Some Japanese Zen priests are celibates. The late chief priest of Komyoji Temple of the Jodo Sect in Kamakura did not marry.

I think that the most interesting thing to the Buddhists outside Japan is that most of the Japanese priests are in laymen’s attire in their everyday life. Theravada bhikkhus, lamas and Chinese priests wear priestly robes for 24 hours a day. Some new religion Buddhist priests in Korea wear laymen’s attire, but all the other Korean priests are in priestly robes. On the contrary, most of the Japanese priests wear priestly robes only during ceremony. Many Japanese priests work outside temples in laymen’s appearance. They work as school teachers, city office clerks or business company employees. When working outside temples, priests do not mind being treated as laymen. One who has been initiated into priesthood should be called Reverend even before he is ordained, but it is suitable for him to be called Mister when he works outside his temple.

Pieters (May 23, 1996)
Some say that the Lotus Sutra does not contain the true words of the Buddha, and that the Mahayana sutras were compiled by others later than the Buddha. What do you think about it?

Murano (June 6, 1996)
Theravada Buddhists say that the true words of the Buddha are contained in their canon only. This shows that they ignore the history of Buddhism. After the Parinirvana of the Buddha, his disciples met and compiled the words of the Buddha into sutras. The sutras were transmitted orally. Soon afterwards, heated controversies were raised as to the accuracy of some words of the Buddha. Buddhism split into twenty sects. About 400 years after the Parinirvana of the Buddha, these twenty sects were rearranged into two divisions: Theravada and Mahasanghika. Theravada Buddhism sticked to formalism. Mahasanghika Buddhism developed spiritually, and established Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism promoted philosophical interpretations of the words of the Buddha. If Buddhism ceased to develop and confined itself in Theravada formalism, Buddhism would have died out long time ago, leaving only a historical record that there was once a local religion in India called Buddhism. Buddhism became a universal religion, thanks to the great Mahayana philosophers such as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, and so on.

Pieters (May 23, 1996)
Why do Nichiren Buddhists not practice zazen whereas the Buddha recommends it to us in the Lotus Sutra?

Murano (June 6, 1996)
Zazen is a good practice. You can do zazen. But zazen needs a proper place and time. It is limited to selected people. Nichiren was always thinking of the people who were busy in the daily life. The 1964 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. There was a Zen temple near the stadium. Some Americans tried to do zazen at that temple, but in vain. That temple had no room for zazen. Only 20 percent of the Zen temples have facilities for zazen while the smallest Nichiren temple is the proper place for chanting the Daimoku. I once visited a danka (member, supporter) of my temple for sutra-chanting. An old woman in the neighborhood happened to be there. She complained that the priest of her temple would never visit her home for sutra-chanting. I asked her, “What sect is your temple?’ She said, “Nembutsu.” I asked her again, “What is the name of your temple?” The name of the temple given to me was a Zen temple. She did not know sect difference. Common people chant the Nembutsu at any temple except Nichiren temples. In the minds of the common people, there are only two sects: the sect of the Nembutsu and the sect of the Daimoku. Very few of the danka of Zen temples practice zazen. If you stick to zazen, you lose the bulk of the people.

Montgomery (February 6, 1986)
In the Teaching Valid for the Latter Day, which is a letter to Nanjo Tokimitsu dated April 1, 1278, Nichiren says, “Now in the latter day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor any other sutras lead to enlightment. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo alone can do so.” Is this an accurate translation? What does that mean?

Murano (February 24, 1986)
The Ueno-dono-gohenji, dated April 1, 1278, was a reply to Nanjo Tokimitsu, who had reported to Nichiren on the death of the daughter of Ishikawa. According to the report, she had been ill in bed for a long üme, and chanted the Daimoku on her deathbed. The passage means, “Now is the Age of Degeneration. The chanting of the whole of the Lotus Sutra is no longer of any use in this age. Only the chanting of the Daimoku is helpful to you.

Pieters (December 15, 1995)
The Buddha denies the existence of a soul. There is no self, ego, Anatman. I encounter the expression “the soul of Nichiren”. Did Nichiren have a soul?

Murano (February 1, 1996)
I think that this expression is a translation of “Nichiren-ga-tamashii”. A soul is thought to be left over after one’s death. According to Buddhism, a soul transmigrates from one to another of the six regions, rambling around the world of birth-and-death. We never say “the soul of the Buddha.” The same should be said of Nichiren. Tamashii is usually translated as “soul,” but “soul” is in more cases a translation of reikon. Yamato-damasii means “the Japanese spirit.” We never say “Yamato-reikon.”

“Mitsugo-notamashii-hyaku-made-mo” means, “The tamashii of a three-year-old child will not change even when it grows one hundred years old.” If you say “mitsugo-no-reikon”, you will make us to think that the child died when he was three years old. A soul is in popular usage not for a living person except a timid soul. “Nichiren ga tamashii” does not mean the soul of Nichiren. It means, “What I, Nichiren, have in mind,” or “My true intention.”

Rei or reikon, meaning soul, is more abusively used in Japanese than in English. When you want to dedicate a new book to the person who is already dead, you write in front page, “To the Memory of.” We write “To the Soul of.” On the monument to the war dead, we write “This monument is dedicated for the purpose of consoling the souls of the war dead,” while you write only “To an Unknown Soldier” at Arlington Cemetery. The name of Reiyukai is beautifully translated as “Spiritual Friends Society,” but the society was primarily organized in the notion of “The Society of Friends of Souls”. There is no word corresponding to the soul in the Lotus Sutra.

Murano (February 17, 1983)
The word shu is usually translated as “sect”. I do not like this translation. Nor do I like “Order”, either. “Denomination” may be better, but I have never found this word in the proper names of any religious organizations. What is the best word for shu?

Montgomery (March 11, 1983)
I agree with you that the terms “Sect” and “Order” are both inadequate. “Sect” has a derogatory connotation in English, as does “sectarian.” “Order’ implies a monastic order, one of many possible in a given church. “Church” would be the best translation for shu, were it not so intimately connected with Christianity. The Jews, who never use the term “church”, use society, association, alliance, union, assembly, council or organization. These terms are also used by some Christians. Some Christians also use faith, conference, fellowship, congregation, movement, meeting, convention, unity, federation or synod. Episcopalians use episcopate. I agree that the term “denomination” might be the best translation for shu. It is a long and clumsy word, but it is specific and neutral. The use of the term implies neither approval nor disapproval, whereas “sect” has a rather unpleasant ring to it, implying a break-off from some larger body. To say Nichiren Denomination would be accurate, although perhaps in this country it might be better to add the word “Buddhist” for clarification: thus “Nichiren Buddhist Denomination.”

Continente (August 18, 1995)
I have still doubts regarding the equality of the Mandala to a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. How is it possible not to confuse the Buddha of the Juryo Chapter with the physical appearance of the historical Prince of the Sakya Clan? This is why I find more direct and perfect the Mandala which depicts exactly the Entity of the Eternal Buddha whose very heart contains all the worlds, and therefore depicts perfectly the Supreme Being.

Murano (February 16, 1996)
I think you are asking me, “I do not understand that the Mandala is equal to a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha of Juryo Chapter cannot be confused with the Historical Sakyamuni Buddha. How is it possible? The Mandala depicts exactly the Entity of the Eternal Buddha. All the worlds are contained in the heart of the Eternal Buddha. Therefore, the Mandala depicts perfectly the Supreme Being. Am I right in saying all this?”

First of all, I do not know who says that the Mandala is equal to a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. If anyone says so, he is wrong. The Mandala depicts the Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. You can see the name Sakyamuni Buddha in the Mandala. He is the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha because he is accompanied by his four Bodhisattva-disciples: Jogyo, Muhengyo, Jogyo, and Anryugyo, in the Mandala. But the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is in reality not different from the Historical Sakyamuni Buddha. The Historical Sakyamuni Buddha announced in the Juryo Chapter that he is eternal. The Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha manifested himself as the Historical Sakyamuni Buddha to save people from suffering. The Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is the Original Buddha of all the other Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters in the past, present and future. All these Buddhas are emanations of the Original Sakyamuni Buddha. He is the Original and Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. We simply call him the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha or Eternal Buddha.

You can worship a statue of the Buddha as the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha instead of the Mandala. Nichiren carried a small statue of the Buddha with him, and worshiped it as that of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. But he created the Mandala afterwards to teach others because something must be done to differentiate the statue of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha from that worshiped by those who do not know the originality and eternity of Sakyamuni Buddha.

You can make a set of statues: a Buddha accompanied by four Bodhisattvas, and worship him because a Buddha accompanied by four Bodhisattvas is no one else than the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. This arrangement of master-and-disciples is never revealed in any other sutra than the Lotus Sutra. But this set of statues is still insufficient to represent the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha because the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is the same in appearance with that worshiped by those who do not know the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

The most perfect way to represent the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is to write his name in the depiction of his Pure World. Here the Mandala was made.

You may ask me, “If the Mandala is the depiction of the Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha, why is the name Sakyamuni Buddha not put in the center? Since he is the Lord of his Pure World, his name should be placed in the center. The Daimoku is written in the center, instead. Is anything like a monument with the inscription of the Daimoku erected in the center of the Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha?”

Yes, to the eyes of Nichiren, inspirationally. According to the Lotus Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha and Prabhutaratna (Taho) Buddha are sitting side by side in the Stupa hanging in the sky. Don’t be surprised at this fantasy. Taho is the representative of all the past Buddhas. The congregation is also staying in the sky below the stupa. All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters are sitting on the ground.

Nichiren saw the Daimoku between the two Buddhas in the stupa. The Daimoku literally means ‘title.” Myoho Renge Kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra. But when it is placed in the center of the Mandala in the form of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, it ceases to be merely the title of a book. It has become the Dharma itself, the Highest Teaching of the Lotus Sutra that the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha manifested himself as the Historical Sakyamuni Buddha to save people from suffering.

Nichiren furthermore established the Daimoku not only as the Dharma itself but also as the symbol of the Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. The Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is the Purified Saha World we live in. The Purified Saha World is the residence of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha. The Daimoku is the name plate put on the front door of his residence. The Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is the King of the Dharma. The Daimoku is the Royal Standard fluttering on the roof of the Palace of the King of the Dharma. The Palace of the King of the Dharma has all the windows open to us so that we can see who is where.
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The Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha is represented most perfectly in the Mandala having the Daimoku in the center. Without the Daimoku, he will be mistaken just for one of the present Buddhas by a careless Buddhist.

The existence of the writing of the Daimoku in the center of the Mandala is so important that, even when only the Daimoku is wrtten without any other writing, we still call it Ippen-shudai-no-gohonzon or the “Mandala with the Daimoku Only.” Because the Daimoku is the symbol of the Pure World of the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha, it represents all the Three Treasures of the Lotus Sutra: the Buddhas (the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha and his emanation-Buddhas), the Dharma and the Samgha (congregation). A Gendai-ki or “O-daimoku Banner” should be regarded as a simplified Mandala. We should see the Buddhas and the Samgha in it. We see a Gendai-seki or “O-daimoku Stone Monument” at the entrance of a Nichiren temple. When you see a Gendai-seki at the entrance of a temple, you can say that the temple is unmistakably a Nichiren temple. Where there is an O-daimoku banner or an O-daimoku stone monument, there is the Eternal Sakyamuni Buddha who manifested himself as the Prince of the Sakya Clan to save people from suffering.

Montgomery (March 11, 1983)
In Nichiren-shu, what importance is given to the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal-Sage? Are they used at all for either doctrinal devotional purpose?

Murano (April 26, 1985)
The Muryogikyo (“The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings”) was translated into Chinese later than the Myoho-renge-kyo by another person than Kumarajiva. The original text was probably composed later than the Myoho-renge-kyo. This sutra has a famous sentence, which Nichiren frequently quoted: Shijuyonen miken shinjitsu, which means, “I have not yet revealed my true teaching for the past forty odd years.” But this saying can be read between the lines of Chapter XVI of the Lotus Sutra, as I inserted in my translation of the sutra. The Kan-fugen-bosatsu-gyobo-kyo (“The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal-Sage”) was also translated later than the Lotus Sutra and not by Kumarajiva. It was apparently intended to be a continuation of the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This sutra carries Jojakko or “Eternally Tranquil Light” as the name of the world of Sakyamuni Buddha. We say that the world of Sakyamuni Buddha is called Jakko-jodo (“the Pure World of Tranquil Light”). The word Jakko is given only in this sutra, and in no other sutras. The setup of this triple sutra: The Muryogikyo as the opening sutra, the Myoho-renge-kyo, and the Kan-fugen-gyo as the closing sutra, had been established long before the time of Nichiren. Nichiren sometimes called them Hokekyo Jikkan or the “Ten Volumes of the Lotus Sutra,” but he usually used the expression: Hokekyo Ichibu Hachikan Niju Happon, which means “The Lotus Sutra, One Book, Eight Volumes, Twenty-eight Chapters.” We usually put the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra in front of the statue of Nichiren.

Pieters (August 20, 1991)
What are the three bodies of the Buddha? These words are contained in the Kaikyoge

Murano (September 11, 1991)
We say that the Buddha has tri-kaya (three-bodies): Sambhoga-kaya, Dharma-kaya, and Nirmana-kaya. When we say that the Buddha is one who has attained Buddhahood after performing the Bodhisattva practices, we say of the Sambhoga-kaya of the Buddha. When we say that the Buddha is the Dharma itself, we say of the Dharma-kaya of the Buddha. When we say that the Buddha is one who saves us, we say of the Nirmana-kaya of the Buddha. The Sambhoga-kaya tells us of the career of the Buddha; the Dharma-kaya, the truthfulness of the Buddha; and the Nirmana-kaya, the compassion of the Buddha.

The Dharma was personified from the outset of Buddhism. When the Buddha was about to pass away, he said to Ananda, “If you think that there will be no teacher after I pass away, you are wrong. The Dharma will be your teacher.”

The Dharma was personified also in another way. The Buddha is one who knows the Dharma, not the creator of it. The Dharma exists first, and then the Buddha appears. Without the Dharma, the Buddha would not be able to attain enlightenment. Therefore, the Dharma is the teacher of the Buddha.

Shingon Buddhism separates the Dharma-kaya from the Sambhogakaya, and gives the name of Mahavairocana to the Dharma-kaya. According to Shingon Buddhism, Mahavairocana Buddha is the Highest Buddha, Sakyamuni being only one of the four Buddhas under him. Nichiren was against Shingon on this point.

Pureland Buddhism establishes Amitabha Buddha as the savior, treating Sakyamuni only as the teacher, not the savior. The parable of Niga-byakudo (Two-rivers-white-road), which was told by Zendo, tells us of all this clearly. There is a river with two large whirlpools of fire and water, severed by a narrow white bridge. There is only one bridge on the river. Sakyamuni stands on this side of the river with people to be saved. He tells them, “Go ahead. Cross the bridge. Don’t be afraid.” On the other side of the river is Western Paradise with Amitabha Buddha as the lord. Amitabha, from afar with a loud voice, calls the people on this side of the river, “Come, and you will be saved.”