Category Archives: WONS

WONS

T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō and the Lotus Sūtra

Generally speaking, only these two, T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō, were practicers of the Lotus Sūtra in the 1,800 years after the death of the Buddha. Grand Master Dengyō, therefore, cites in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra the words of the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 11 on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” which states that lifting up Mt. Sumeru and throwing it to numerous Buddha lands is not as difficult as spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration after the death of the Buddha. Interpreting this, he then declares: “Śākyamuni Buddha said that it is easy to uphold the sūtras, which are shallow in meaning, but it is difficult to uphold those sūtras profound in meaning. Therefore, it is natural for men of valor to believe in the Lotus Sūtra, which is profound in meaning, just as Grand Master T’ien-t’ai following the wishes of Śākyamuni spread the Lotus School in China in the past; and today we on Mt. Hiei, following the teaching of T’ien-t’ai, are propagating the Lotus School in Japan.”

The meaning of this interpretation is that suppose there was a short man, five feet tall, living in between the ninth small kalpa within the Kalpa of Continuance when the human life span was 100 years and decreasing, and the last fifty years of Śākyamuni Buddha’s life and 1,800 years after His death. Even if such a man can throw a gold mountain, 168,000 yojana or 6,620,000 ri in height, over the Surrounding Iron Mountains as though it were a one or two inch piece of tile thrown a few hundred yards at a speed faster than a sparrow, it would be more difficult to expound the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration the way the Buddha did during His lifetime. Only Grand Masters T’ien t’ai and Dengyō spread it in a way similar to that of the Buddha.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 215-216

Eyes, d16b, WONS

Nichiren and the Precepts

It is clear that Nichiren was no longer advocating even the Mahāyāna precepts of the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra. He believed that the practice of revering the true spirit of the Lotus Sūtra by invoking its title transcended any precept codes or particular Buddhist practices or lifestyles inherited from the past as those were all just provisional methods based on provisional teachings that were no longer efficacious. The following statements of his in other writings also express his view that faith in the Lotus Sūtra is what leads to buddhahood and not the observance of precepts:

Speaking of Ajātaśatru and Devadatta: “I am convinced that ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration commit sins more or less. Whether or not such a man can reach Buddhahood depends not on how serious his sin is but whether or not he believes in the Lotus Sūtra. (Hori 2002, p. 188)

It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, the “Appearance of the Stūpa of Treasures” chapter, ‘Upholding this sūtra is what is called observing the precepts.’ (Hori 2004, p. 214)

Open Your Eyes, p467-468
WONS

Mutually Possessed Characteristics of the Ten Realms

QUESTION: Does the passage in the Flower Garland Sūtra that states there is no difference among mind, Buddha, and people attest to the truth of the Mutually Possessed Characteristics of the Ten Realms (Each of the ten realms mutually contains characteristics of the other nine)?

ANSWER: Following this passage in the Flower Garland Sūtra it is preached that the Great Medicine King Tree cannot grow in two places: śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha. According to this, it is clear that the attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles is not allowed in the Flower Garland Sūtra. The Flower Garland Sūtra appears to express the doctrine of Mutually Possessed Characteristics of the Ten Realms. However, since this sūtra does not actually preach the attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles, it does not allow the Mutually Possessed Characteristics of the Ten Realms. Moreover, the content of the pre-Lotus sūtras should be evaluated according to the Lotus Sūtra, which states that those who have mastered Hinayāna Buddhism are excluded from attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, it is clear that the Flower Garland Sūtra tells bodhisattvas that there is no attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles. The same is true with sūtras of the Hōdō period and the Wisdom Sūtra.

Nijō Sabutsu Ji, Obtaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 226-227

WONS

Worshiping Wooden Icons and Portraits

QUESTION: If even insentient beings possess “ten aspects, does it mean that even grass and trees possess senses so that they can obtain Buddhahood just like sentient beings?

ANSWER: This is difficult to comprehend and difficult to believe in. In fact, T’ien-t’ai is hard to understand and hard to believe in two aspects: one is his theology, and the other his spiritual contemplation. What is difficult in his theology are the seemingly contradictory statements found in Buddhist scriptures preceding the Lotus Sūtra and in the Lotus Sūtra itself, which were preached by one person, the Buddha. The pre-Lotus sūtras hold that the two groups of Hinayāna sages called śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha (Two Vehicles) and icchantika (those without the Buddha-nature) will never reach Buddhahood, and that Lord Śākyamuni achieved Buddhahood for the first time in this life.

However, the Lotus Sūtra, both essential (hommon) and theoretical (shakumon) sections, denies this, stating that even the Two Vehicles and icchantika can become Buddhas in the future and that the Lord Śākyamuni is in fact the Eternal Buddha. Thus one Buddha claimed two views, as far apart as fire and water. How could anyone believe in Him? This is the most difficult doctrine to understand and to put faith in.

The second difficulty in the T’ien-t’ai doctrine is his spiritual contemplation regarding his doctrine of “1,000 aspects contained in 100 realms” and “3,000 existences contained in one thought.” It is founded on the concept of “ten aspects,” maintaining that insentient beings such as grass, trees, and land possess ten aspects, that is to say, even insentient beings have mind as well as body. This is hard to believe. However, worshiping wooden icons and portraits as honzon has been allowed in Buddhism as well as other religions. This is acceptable only through the T’ien-t’ai doctrine. Unless grass and trees possess both matter and spirit and the principle of cause and effect, it does not make sense at all to worship wooden icons and portraits.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 130-131

Eyes, WONS

Repaying Debt of Gratitude to the Eternal Śākyamuni

Quote

For Nichiren, Śākyamuni Buddha surpasses our worldly rulers, teachers, and parents, because he is the lord who presides over our awakening, the teacher who leads us to awakening, and the parent who sees us as his children and who are the inheritors of his awakening.

Śākyamuni Buddha is equipped with the three virtues of a lord, master, and parent. As a lord, he protects the people; as a teacher he guides the people; and as a parent, he loves the people. It is only he who is perfectly equipped with these three virtues. (Hori 2004, p. 244 modified. See also Gosho Translation Committee 2006, p. 1039)

When Nichiren spoke of repaying debts of gratitude to our rulers, teachers, and parents, he also means that we must realize and requite our debt of gratitude to the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha above all, and in doing so repay the worldly debts as well.

Open Your Eyes, p15-16
WONS

Encouraged and Not Disheartened

For the last 20 years or so beginning in the summer of the 5th year of the Kenchō Era (1253), I alone have chanted the daimoku as earnestly as people these days chant the nembutsu. Everyone ridiculed me as a result. In the end they maligned me, beat me, attacked me with a sword, exiled me, and even tried to behead me. Such persecutions as these did not just occur once or twice, or for a day or two, or a month or two, or a year or two, but were unremitting and unbearable indeed. However, when I open the Lotus Sūtra, it is preached that King Suzudan allowed his body to be Asita’s seat for 1,000 years and served him. Never Despising Bodhisattva did not cease to spread the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra for many years all the while he was abused and spoken ill of, attacked by swords and sticks, and had stones and pieces of tiles thrown at him. Medicine King Bodhisattva once burned his own body for 1,200 years, and burned his elbow as a light to the Buddha for as long as 72,000 years. Whenever I read these scriptural statements, I am encouraged not disheartened.

Matsuno-dono Goshōsoku, Letter to Lord Matsuno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 65-66

Eyes, WONS

The Highest Form of Meditation

Quote

Nichiren’s conviction is that the highest form of meditation is not found in a special transmission confined to an elite lineage of Zen masters or any other select group of people. Rather, it is to be found expressed by Śākyamuni Buddha himself in the Lotus Sūtra, but the sutra’s teaching must come alive for us in and through actual contemplation of the Wonderful Dharma, here expressed in terms of the “threefold contemplation in a single thought” and the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment.” This goes beyond any conceptual teaching or otherworldly piety. This points to actual contemplation of the true nature of mind … .

The connection between this kind of contemplation based on the Lotus Sūtra and the practice of Odaimoku is stated in the Treatise on the Ten Chapters (Jisshō-shō):

What we should chant all the time as the practice of the perfect teaching is ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,’ and what we should keep in mind is the way of meditation based on the truth of ‘three thousand realms in a single thought-moment.’ Only wise men practice both chanting ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō’ and meditating on the truth of ‘three thousand realms in a single thought moment.’ Lay followers of Japan today should recite only ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.’ As the name has the virtue of reaching the body that it represents, when one chants ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,’ one will not fail to receive all the merit of the Lotus Sütra.

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō fulfills the same function as calming and contemplation practice in Nichiren’s view, as it allows anyone to contemplate the Wonderful Dharma and receive the merit of the Buddha’s highest teaching. In Nichiren’s time, very few lay people would have had the opportunity to study the Tiantai teachings or had the time to engage in meditation practice. It was very important that a way of practice suitable to ordinary working people be provided if Buddhism was truly to be a Great Vehicle for all beings. Though Nichiren encouraged those who could to practice the Tiantai method of meditation, he clearly saw it as practically superfluous compared to the great merit of chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, which Nichiren and his disciples and followers found could itself calm the mind and open it to the great insight of the Buddha.

Open Your Eyes, p416-417
d14b, WONS

Reasons Why the Lotus Sūtra Is Supreme

Now let us compare the merit of worshiping our Lord Preacher Śākyamuni Buddha, not for an hour or two or a day or two but for as long as a kalpa (aeon) by putting the palms of our hands together before Him, looking up at His face with two eyes, bowing our heads and forgetting all other things, as if trying to extinguish the fire in one’s own head, as if a thirsty person thinks of only water and hungry people think of nothing but food—merit of ceaseless devotion to the Buddha as along as a kalpa—to the merit of praising and giving alms to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration without sincerity, as if a stepmother praises a stepchild. It is stated in the Lotus Sūtra that the merit of praising or giving alms to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration, even if not from a believing heart, is a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and hundred million times superior to the merit of the physical, verbal and mental devotion to the Buddha for as long as a kalpa. Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this, “His merit is superior to the merit of devoting to a Buddha worthy of the ten epithets for the Buddha.” The ten epithets are the ten titles of the Buddha praising His virtue. Miao-lê is saying that the merit of devoting to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra is superior to the merit of devoting to the Buddha equipped with the ten epithets. This is one of the 20 reasons why the Lotus Sūtra is supreme among all the Buddhist scriptures enumerated by Grand Master Miao-lê.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 48-49

WONS

The Treasure of a Pure Mind

It is useless to stack up a pile of treasures in your storehouse if you are in poor health. Therefore, the value of a healthy body is more precious than treasures in the storehouse. At the same time, however, a healthy body means nothing if your mind is not pure. This is why we can say that our most precious treasure is our mind itself. Upon reading this letter, please try to accumulate the treasure of your mind.

Sushun Tennō Gosho, The ‘Emperor Sushun’ Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 123

2buddhas, d31b, WONS

The Importance of a ‘Good Friend’ on the Buddhist Path

In [Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva], the Buddha recounts that, once awakened to the dharma, King Śubhavyūha said that his two sons were his “good friends,” because they had enabled him to meet the Buddha. The Buddha underscores the point, saying: “You should know that a good friend is indeed the great spur [literally, “the great cause and condition”] that brings inspiration to others, causing … the thought of highest, complete enlightenment to awaken in them.” This passage has often been quoted to stress the importance of a “good friend” on the Buddhist path. This expression (Skt. kalyāvamitra; J. zenchishiki), also translated as “teacher” or “spiritual advisor,” broadly refers to one who assists another on the Buddhist path. Zhiyi, for example, divides “good friends” into the three categories of patrons, fellow practitioners, and teachers. The term has been variously interpreted. For example, in premodern Japan, in addition to its broader meaning of one who assists another’s practice, a “good friend” meant the ritual attendant who assisted someone at the time of death, helping that person to focus his or her thoughts on a buddha — usually Amitābha — in order to achieve birth in his pure land.

Nichiren gave considerable thought to the concept of a “good friend” and interpreted it in light of his understanding of the Final Dharma age. In an early but important essay called “On Protecting the Country,” he poses the question: In this deluded age, the Buddha has departed, and great teachers such as Nāgārjuna or Zhiyi no longer make an appearance. How then can one escape samsaric suffering? Because there are no worthy human teachers, Nichiren concluded that, in this age, the Lotus and Nirvāṇa sūtras are to be accounted “good friends,” in accord with Zhiyi’s statement: “At times following a good friend, and at times following the sūtra scrolls, one hears … the single truth of enlightened wisdom.” Nichiren’s insistence that the Lotus Sūtra is the “good friend” for the present age is perfectly in line with his frequent admonition, drawn from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, to “rely on the dharma and not on the person.”

What one should most avoid, Nichiren asserted, were “evil friends,” teachers such as Kūkai, who had said that the Lotus Sūtra was inferior to the esoteric teachings, or Hōnen, who had insisted that the Lotus should be set aside as beyond human capacity to practice in the latter age. When Nichiren spoke of such people as “evil friends,” he meant, not that they were morally corrupt or insincere, but that they were promoting incomplete teachings that, in his understanding, no longer led to buddhahood in the Final Dharma age. Occasionally he cited a passage from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, which says that “evil friends” are more to feared than mad elephants. It states, “Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them. A mad elephant is merely an enemy of one’s person, but an evil friend is an enemy of the good dharma. Therefore, bodhisattvas, you should at all times distance yourselves from evil friends.” For his part, Nichiren expressed the fervent hope that people would “not mistakenly trust in evil friends, adopt false teachings, and spend their present life in vain.” This was the impetus behind his assertive proselytizing.

Two Buddhas, p256-257