Category Archives: WONS

WONS

As Much as the Soil on a Fingernail

In explaining the difficulty to be born a human being and to encounter the teaching of the Buddha, the Nirvana Sūtra, fascicle 33, states:

“The Buddha then picked up a small portion of soil placing it on a fingernail and asked Kāśyapa whether or not this was more than the soil in the worlds all over the universe. Kāśyapa Bodhisattva answered the Buddha, “World Honored One, the amount of soil on a fingernail cannot be compared to that in the worlds all over the universe.”

“With this simile in mind, the Buddha preached to Kāśyapa, “Gentleman, it is as rare as the amount of soil on a fingernail for a man to be reborn as a man or for those in the three evil realms to be reborn in the human realm equipped with all six organs in the central land of Buddhism, and furthermore to have the correct faith, study the way of the Buddha, attain freedom by practicing the correct way, and then to enter Nirvana. On the contrary, it is as vast as an occurrence as the soil in the worlds throughout the universe for human beings to fall into the three evil realms after death, for those in the evil realms to be reborn in those evil realms again, and for those who were born to the human realm without having six organs properly functioning, to be reborn in remote corners where Buddhism is unknown, to believe in evil ideologies or to practice evil ways without ever attaining freedom or Nirvana.”

Many teachings are condensed in this passage, so some words of explanation are needed. The number of human beings who will be reborn in the human realm after death is as small as the amount of the soil on a fingernail while those who will fall into the three evil realms are as vast as the soil in the worlds all over the universe. The number of those in the three evil realms who will be born after death in the human realm is as little as the amount of soil on a fingernail while those who will be reborn in the three evil realms after death are as immeasurable as the soil in all the worlds of the universe. Those who will be born human beings are as numerous as the soil in the worlds of the universe, but those who will be born human beings with six senses functioning properly are as small in number as the soil on a fingernail. Of those born human with six senses properly functioning, those born in remote areas are as numerous as the soil in the worlds all over the universe but those born in the center of the land are as small in number as the soil on a fingernail. Even though those born in the center of the land are as numerous as the soil in the worlds all over the universe, those who encounter Buddhism are as minute as the soil on a fingernail.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 53-54

2buddhas, d17b, WONS

Guaranteed Buddhahood For Women

In Nichiren’s reading, the predictions of future buddhahood that Śākyamuni Buddha confers at the beginning of [Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra] on the remaining śrāvaka disciples — Mahāprajāpatī, his aunt and foster mother, and Yaśodharā, his former wife and the mother of Rāhula — were further evidence that the Lotus, unlike other Mahāyāna sūtras, guaranteed buddhahood to women, a point he stressed to his female followers. To one woman he wrote that she, practicing as she did in the present, troubled world, far surpassed Mahāprajāpatī, who had vowed in this chapter only to “extensively expound this sūtra in other lands.”

Two Buddhas, p162
WONS

Heavenly Support

Having studied most sūtras of Buddhism, I have no doubt that I, Nichiren, am a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. However, it seems that there are three reasons why I have not had any heavenly support. First, the deities may have abandoned this awful country because it is filled with people without faith in the Lotus Sūtra. Secondly, as the deities have not heard the sound of the Lotus Sūtra for a long time, they grew powerless. Thirdly, powerful devils have gotten into the minds of the three kinds of strong enemies of the Lotus Sūtra and controlled them, so deities such as the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra cannot do much.

Toki-dono Go-henji, A Response to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 118-119

2buddhas, d17b, WONS

Just As Poison Can Be Turned Into Medicine

In the development of Tendai Buddhism after Saichō, the implications of the nāga princess’s achievement were analyzed and disputed from many angles. Was the enlightenment to be realized “with this body” full or partial? To which of the stages of bodhisattva practice did it correspond? Was this kind of immediate realization accessible to all, or only to those who had cultivated practice in prior lifetimes? With some exceptions, later Tendai thinking shifted away from Saichō’s notion of attaining buddhahood within three lifetimes to an emphasis on direct realization of buddhahood in one’s present body. By Nichiren’s time, one strand of scholastic argument held that, at least in principle, even ordinary deluded persons might be able to access buddhahood at the beginning stages of faith and practice. Nichiren taught that embracing the Lotus Sūtra would make this a reality: “The Lotus Sūtra is the Buddha’s teaching and the Buddha’s wisdom. When one puts faith in even a single character or brushstroke, one immediately becomes a buddha in one’s present body. … , so [the Lotus Sūtra] transforms ordinary beings into buddhas. That is why it is called the wonderful dharma.”

Two Buddhas, p158-159
WONS

An Omen of Great Virtue

The growth of the worst kind of evil is an omen of great virtue. Therefore, when we witness the entire Jambudvīpa (whole world) filled with evil and confusion to the same extent we can expect to see the dissemination of the Lotus Sūtra throughout the world.

Chie Bōkoku Gosho, Evil Wisdom Destroying the Country, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 87

2buddhas, d17b, WONS

‘Frenemies’

According to the “Devadatta” chapter, the relationship between Śākyamuni Buddha and his treacherous cousin was not purely a matter of this lifetime. The very fact that he has become the Buddha, Śākyamuni says, is due to Devadatta’s past “good and virtuous friendship.” “Good and virtuous friendship” here translates kalyāvamitra (J. zenchishiki, literally, “good friend”), one who teaches or encourages another on the Buddhist path. In view of the traditional accounts of his repeated betrayals, Devadatta would seem to have been no “friend” at all. Nichiren, however, took this passage as teaching not only the inevitability of meeting enemies in one’s efforts to spread the dharma — “the Buddha and Devadatta are like a form and its shadow; in lifetime after lifetime, they are never separated” — but also the importance of appreciating the opportunity for spiritual development that their hostility makes possible. “In this age as well, it is not one’s allies but one’s bitterest enemies who help one improve,” he wrote. In this context, Nichiren expressed gratitude for the clerics and government officials who had persecuted him, adding that, without them, he could not have proven himself as a votary of the Lotus Sutra.

Two Buddhas, p156
2buddhas, d17b, WONS

The Unique Power of the Lotus Sūtra

[T]he “Devadatta” chapter underscores the Lotus Sūtra’s inclusivity by extending the possibility of buddhahood to categories of persons thought to labor under particularly heavy karmic burdens: evil men and all women. Nichiren took the Devadatta story as illustrating the unique power of the Lotus Sūtra to save even the most wicked and depraved.

Two Buddhas, p155
WONS

Nichiren’s Prediction

My prediction in my written opinion (“Risshō ankoku-ron”) has proven to be true. Contemplating the future on the basis of this, I should say that my prediction in it will also not fail to be true in the future. Though this writing of mine has been attested to be true, it is not due to my own power; but rather it is a divine response to the true words of the Lotus Sūtra.

Ankoku-ron Okugaki, Postscript to the “Risshō Ankoku-ron,” Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 155

2buddhas, d16b, WONS

The All Encompassing Wonderful Precept

Toward the end of the [Hotoge] verse passage, the Buddha declares that those who can uphold the Lotus Sūtra in a troubled age following his parinirvāṇa will be praised by all buddhas: they are courageous, persevering, and “are known as those who follow the rules of good conduct.” “The rules of good conduct” here refers to the precepts, the rules of moral discipline to be upheld by Buddhists. In Nichiren’s time, the significance of the precepts was hotly disputed. Hōnen had taught that birth in the Pure Land depends solely upon entrusting oneself to the power of Amitābha Buddha’s vow; whether one keeps or breaks the precepts has no bearing on one’s salvation. Others, such as the monk Eison (1201-1290), held that, precisely because the times were degenerate and adverse, strict observance of the precepts was more essential than ever. Nichiren, following this sūtra passage, maintained that upholding the Lotus Sūtra is itself keeping the precepts. The five characters of the daimoku, the heart of the Lotus Sūtra, he said, form the “all-encompassing wonderful precept” by which all buddhas realize their enlightenment. Nichiren generally endorsed the traditional Buddhist ethic of compassion and generosity, along with its moral principles that discourage such evils as killing, lying, theft, and sexual misconduct. However, he did not see following rules of conduct as a prerequisite to liberation in the age of the Final Dharma. Because the daimoku contains within itself all the countless practices and good acts of all past, present, and future buddhas, he taught, simply to chant it is to uphold the precepts. Nichiren also seems to have believed that this practice would foster upright conduct, for he claimed that “one who chants [the daimoku] as the Lotus Sūtra teaches will not have a crooked mind.

Two Buddhas, p148
WONS

Spreading Buddhism in the way Best Suited to the Situation

Śākyamuni Buddha gave up his land of eternal tranquility for this Sahā World; Venerable Kumārajīva traveled all the way from India to China; Grand Master Dengyō risked his life in going to China to study Buddhism; Bodhisattva Deva was killed by non-Buddhist heretics; Venerable Siṃha was beheaded by the king; Bodhisattva Medicine King burned his elbow to offer it as a light in gratitude for the preaching of the Lotus in the past lives; Prince Shōtoku peeled off the skin on his finger to write in blood the title of the Brahma-net Sūtra, which he copied; when Śākyamuni was a Bodhisattva in the past life, he sold his own flesh in order to make an offering to a Buddha; Gyōbō Bonji (Aspiration for the Dharma) used one of his own bones to write down the true teaching. These are examples of those who spread Buddhism “in the way best suited to the situation,” as Grand Master T’ien-t’ai put it. Keep in mind that Buddhism must be spread according to the times. My exile is merely a trifle in this present life, which is not lamentable at all. Instead, I feel it is a great joy as I am sure I will be rewarded with great happiness in my future lives.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 114-115