Category Archives: WONS

WONS

Failing to Understand with Faith

It is stated in the Expenses and Food for Bodhisattva Way by Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna: “The World Honored One expounds the five rebellious sins, sinners of which are destined to fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering. … If someone does not understand with faith the profound dharma and harbors an evil opinion regarding it, the sin of this person, compared to the one who commits the five rebellious sins, is many times, even hundreds of times heavier.”

Toki-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 116-117

2buddhas, WONS

Shoju or Shakubuku

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Buddhist sūtras specify two approaches to teaching the dharma: shōju, or leading others gradually without criticizing their present stance, and shakubuku, or actively rebuking attachment to false views. The choice between them, Nichiren said, should depend on the time and place. In his view, in Japan at the beginning of the Final Dharma age — a time and place where the Lotus Sūtra was being rejected in favor of provisional teachings — the confrontational shakubuku method should take precedence over the more accommodating shōju approach.

Two Buddhas, p86
WONS

Study Sūtras Before Choosing Your Sect

Grand Master Dengyō praises his own sect in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “The superiority of the Tendai (T’ien-t’ai) Lotus Sect to other Buddhist schools stems from the superiority of its basic sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra. I am not praising our own and slandering other schools. Wise gentlemen, please study the sūtras before choosing your sect.” He also declares in this writing, “The person who upholds the Lotus Sūtra is foremost among all the people. This is what the Buddha preached. How can it be my own fanciful words of self-praise?”

Ōta-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lord Ōta, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 201-202.

2buddhas, WONS

Then and Now

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In the contemporary world, where the violence and suffering brought about by religious conflict are so starkly evident, Nichiren’s emphasis on the exclusive truth of the Lotus Sūtra and his assertive mode of proselytizing sometimes provoke antipathy, as they fly in the face of ideals of tolerance and religious pluralism. Both traditional temple organizations and long-established lay groups of Nichiren Buddhism tend to be more accommodating and to take a milder approach in spreading their teachings, in keeping with Nichiren’s admonition that the method of propagation should accord with the times. Nichiren, however, lived in a very different world, where his conviction of the Lotus Sūtra’s sole efficacy in the age of the Final Dharma demanded resolute opposition to other Buddhist forms. This stance sharply differentiated him from the Buddhist mainstream of his day. Though it drew hostility, it may well have enabled his fledgling community to survive beyond his lifetime by carving out a unique religious identity.

Two Buddhas, p32
WONS

The Only Way Seemingly Leading to Buddhahood

The only way seemingly that leads to Buddhahood is the “3,000 in one thought” doctrine of T’ien-t’ai. However, we in the Latter Age of Degeneration do not possess the intelligence to understand it; nevertheless, among all the sūtras preached by Śākyamuni during His lifetime, only the Lotus Sūtra embodies the gem of the “3,000 in one thought” doctrine. Doctrines of other sūtras may look like gems, but in actuality they are merely yellow rocks. Just as, no matter how hard you squeeze sand, you will not get oil, or barren women will never have children, even wise men will not be able to attain Buddhahood by means of other sūtras. As for the Lotus Sūtra, even ignorant persons will be able to plant the seed of Buddhahood.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 108-109

2buddhas, d18b, WONS

Preaching the Exclusive Truth of the Lotus Sūtra

For Nichiren, preaching the exclusive truth of the Lotus Sūtra was not only about leading individuals to enlightenment, but also about saving the country and establishing an ideal buddha land in this world, a task he came to see as his personal mission and responsibility. In declaring the supremacy of the Lotus Sūtra, he found it necessary to rebuke attachment to other, provisional teachings; in consequence, he encountered repeated antagonism. Nichiren was often beset by danger and privation. Out of this experience, he developed what might be called a soteriology of undergoing persecution. The Lotus Sūtra itself speaks of the hostility that will confront its devotees in a latter evil age. Nichiren and his followers therefore understood the persecutions they faced as both fulfilling the sūtra’s prophecies and confirming the veracity of their mission to propagate it. Nichiren also taught that to endure hardships and opposition in spreading faith in the Lotus Sūtra is to repay one’s debt to the Buddha, eradicate one’s past evil karma, fulfill the bodhisattva’s mandate to sacrifice even one’s life, if need be, to save others, and guarantee one’s future buddhahood. Indeed, one could say that Nichiren’s teaching on buddhahood has two temporal modes: immediately manifesting the all-encompassing buddha realm in the act of chanting the daimoku, and realizing buddhahood as an unfolding process in devoting oneself to the daimoku’s propagation.

Two Buddhas, p31-32
WONS

Entering Mt. Minobu and Recalling Hometown

On the eighth day of the fourth month I met with Hei no Saemonnojō Yoritsuna. I was prepared to withdraw into the mountains and forests as my warnings to the government that would save Japan from destruction went unheeded three times. I left Kamakura on the twelfth day of the fifth month and entered Mt. Minobu. Before coming to Minobu I wanted to return to my hometown and visit my parents’ grave. However, as an edict in Confucianism and Buddhism stipulates that one should return home in glory, it would have been unfilial of me to return home without successfully remonstrating with the government. However, just as I was able to return to Kamakura from exile on Sado Island, where I never imagined it possible to leave alive, I hope that the government might someday heed my warnings. I will visit my parents’ grave then, not under the present circumstances. Even so, I miss my hometown and long to return such that whenever winds and clouds come from the east, I go outside of my hermitage just to feel the wind and see the cloud.

Kōnichi-bō Gosho, A Letter to Nun Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 50

WONS

Knowing Whether Scriptures Are Correctly Translated.

It is predicted in the Nirvana Sūtra, in such fascicles as the third and ninth, that in the process of transmission from India to foreign lands, Buddhism would beget many misinterpretations, and as a result few people would be able to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, Grand Master Miao-lê says, “Whether or not there are mistakes in Buddhist scriptures, it all depends on translators. It has nothing to do with the Buddha Himself.” He means that no matter how hard people today try to attain Buddhahood according to sūtras, they would be unable to do so if the sūtras are false, and that they can’t blame the Buddha for it. In studying Buddhism, besides knowing the differences between Mahāyāna, Hinayāna, provisional, real, exoteric, and esoteric teachings, one must first of all know whether or not scriptures are correctly translated.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 212

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Doctrine of Obtaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles

The doctrine of obtaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles is not expounded in sūtras of the first four of the Five Flavors, such pre-Lotus sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Āgama sūtras, Hōdō sūtras (various Mahāyāna sūtras), and the Wisdom Sūtra. Since various pre-Lotus sūtras do not preach the attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles, the attainment of Buddhahood by bodhisattvas is impossible through the Four Teachings expounded in those sūtras. Bodhisattvas say in the Flower Garland Sūtra that their vow will never be completed until all people attain Buddhahood. All bodhisattvas invariably take four great vows. When the first vow “to save all the people” is not fulfilled, the last vow “to attain the supreme teaching of the Buddha” will not be completed. In this respect, the bodhisattvas’ vow is not completed by the pre-Lotus sūtras preached during the first forty years or so which do not expound the attainment of Buddhahood by the Vehicles.

Nizen Nijō Bosatsu Fu-sabutsu Ji, Never-Attaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles and Bodhisattvas in the Pre-Lotus Sūtras, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 219-220

2buddhas, WONS

Inherent Buddhahood

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For Nichiren, the Lotus Sūtra alone fully revealed the inherence of the buddha realm in all nine realms of unenlightened beings: By chanting its title, Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, which instantiates the wisdom of all buddhas, even the most deluded person, he said, can manifest the buddha realm directly. Nichiren likened this to fire being produced by a stone taken from beneath the depths of water or a lamp illuminating a place that has been dark for millions of years.

Two Buddhas, p26