The word “Emptiness” can sound very bleak and intimidating. However, the word was not chosen to be comforting. It is used in Mahayana Buddhism to challenge the fixed idea that we can grasp the nature of reality or anything within it, or that we can find any real boundaries between one thing and another. Emptiness means that all people, places, and things are empty of anything we can hold on to as unchanging or separate from everything else. Looked at in a positive way, this means that all of reality is without any real boundaries. As the Lotus Sutra says, “all things are open like the sky.” They are not non-dual, which means that they have no fixed boundaries, because all things are bound up with one another as part of the overall dynamic process of life. So Emptiness is not a dark nothingness. It is a way of helping us to open up our minds to the true nature of reality that transcends the rigid and ultimately false categories of birth and death, of self and other.
Lotus SeedsQuotes
The Unity of the Three Bodies of the Buddha
In the Lotus Sutra, the unity of the Three Bodies in the person of Shakyamuni Buddha is a key teaching. The reason this unity is so important is that none of the three aspects of Buddhahood makes any sense without the others. They are all aspects of one buddha, of one reality. By focusing on only one aspect, we lose sight of the living reality of Buddhahood and are left with mere abstractions. For example, the Dharma-body by itself cannot he perceived through concepts or images, but only through a spiritual intuition of its universal nature. The Enjoyment-body is the embodiment of that intuition in an ideal spiritual form that can impart his awakening to others. But this awakening remains hidden from us until it is expressed in this world by the Transformation-body in the form of the historical Buddha.
Lotus SeedsNichiren Shu Creed
Nichiren Shu creed:
- We base our life on the example of the Lotus Sutra as personally experienced by Nichiren Shonin.
- We put our faith in the Eternal Buddha Sakyamumi, who is the true teacher of wisdom and compassion for all people.
- We train ourselves to attain Buddhahood by upholding Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, both in action and in spirit.
- Our teacher is Nichiren Shonin, who vowed to cultivate the Buddha nature of all people and create the land of the Buddha in this world. We also vow to work for that goal.
- We are all the Buddha’s children, and we will live together peacefully with all people in our search for the Truth.
Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths, a kind of simplified law of causation, are perhaps the best known of all the Buddha’s teachings: all existence is suffering, the cause of suffering is craving and illusion, suffering can be eliminated, and the way to eliminate suffering is to follow the Eightfold Path (ashtangika-marga) consisting of right views, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. As if to indicate their importance, Shakyamuni took the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as the subjects of his very first sermon, celebrated as “setting the Wheel of the Law in motion,” delivered to five ascetics at Deer Park near Benares.
Basic Buddhist ConceptsThe Three Constituents of 3,000
The Three Constituents of the World (San Seken) are:
- Shujō Seken – World of sentient beings; living beings such as human and animals.
- Go-on Seken – World of the five elemental aggregates which form body, mind and environment.
- Kokudo Seken – World of non sentient beings; the land where living beings live.
Each of the constituents has the ten suchnesses, so one thousand suchnesses multiplied by the Three Constituents equal 3,000 realms.
The Paradise of the Buddhas Here
Since all things are one in essence, even Buddha and the common people, the inhabited world is identical with the Paradise where all the Buddhas live. Therefore the Buddha says, “I am ever in this lower world of evils”; and again, “I am ever on the Vulture Peak.” These words signify that the world, which is apparently so full of evils, is in reality not different from the Paradise of all the Buddhas, which is illuminated with Glorious Light.
Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)Enjoying Good Things, Recognizing Struggles
It is not easy, this is true. We don’t realize how much effort we have put into becoming what we are now, or we may not realize how little effort we have put into being who we are. So when we undertake a practice that works on fixing our mistaken views, or tackles our habits, we think it extremely difficult. We boarded a plane to take us to a destination, enlightenment. The Buddha is our pilot, our fellow Sangha members are also passengers along with us. Together we can reach our goal. Let us together enjoy the good things and recognize the struggles, always making efforts to become enlightened and enable others to do the same.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Self-Work Is Critical and Fundamental to Buddhism
Until a person works on his individual enlightenment and self-improvement, the ability to fulfill our bodhisattva vow to enable all others to attain enlightenment will remain out of reach. It will continue to be a challenge to show the benefit of practice to others if the benefit isn’t manifest in one’s life. Self-work is critical and fundamental to Buddhism.
Physician's Good MedicineEmbodiment of the Scripture
Much was written on the Lotus — philosophical treatises, miracle stories, poems, and prayers; the book also inspired many painters and sculptors, and we have a rich store of works of art whose subjects are taken from it. But there was none, until Nichiren “read” the book in his original way, who derived from it such a wonderful power of strenuous, militant life, and thereby lived a life of striving toward the ardent zeal exemplified by primeval disciples of Buddha. Indeed, Nichiren deemed himself to be an embodiment of the Scripture, a personal version of its teachings and prophecies and a living testimony to them.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetOur Mind Meld With The Buddha
Nichiren Shu teaches people to chant Odaimoku, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo on a daily basis. The Lotus Sutra, which is the Buddha’s final teaching, expounds the essence of the Buddha’s enlightenment based on the universal law underlying all things in nature. It is said traditionally, that when we chant the Odaimoku (the title of the Lotus Sutra), with all our hearts, and a sense of faith, the Buddha-nature within our minds will fuse with the Buddha’s mind, and we are able to receive the Buddha’s rewards unconsciously – wisdom, compassion, supernatural powers and enlightenment.
Spring Writings