Category Archives: WONS

WONS

Upholders of Lotus Sūtra Are Envied by the King of Devils

Deer are killed by men because the meat is tasty, and tortoises lose their lives because of their good fat. Attractive women are envied by many others. Those who govern a country must worry about defending it against foreign forces, while property owners are susceptible to the dangers of life. Likewise, upholders of the Lotus Sūtra with the assurance of achieving Buddhahood are envied by the king of devils in the Sixth Heaven, who is the lord of the triple world of the unenlightened. It is preached in scriptures that this king of devils will haunt kings, parents, wives and children and envy the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the same way as how people fall victims to epidemics without seeing the disease or how old sake can make people dead drunk without them realizing it. This is exactly what is happening in the world today. I have done nothing wrong, but simply because I chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, I have been hated by people as well as the rulers of Japan for more than twenty years, and chased out of residences and exiled twice until, finally, I retreated to this mountain.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 45

WONS

Revelations of the Lotus Sūtra

Revealing the single path to Buddhahood in the Āgama sūtras, the Lotus Sūtra preaches in chapter two, “Expedients,” “I expounded various Hinayāna sūtras according to the capacities of all living beings. They are the entrance to the Mahāyāna teaching.” Revealing the single path to Buddhahood in the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra states in chapter 16, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” “The gods, men and asura in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Buddhahood. To tell the truth, however, it has been innumerable kalpa (aeons) since I attained Buddhahood.” In the case of the Wisdom Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra states 18 types of voidness in chapter 14, “Peaceful Practices”—the voidness which is expounded in the Wisdom Sūtra is included in the Lotus Sūtra. In the case of the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life, the Lotus Sūtra preaches the doctrine of reaching the Pure Land of Peace in chapter 23, “Anyone who hears this sūtra and acts according to its teaching will be reborn in this Pure Land upon death.” As for practicing virtuous deeds with distracted minds, the Lotus Sūtra reveals the single path by saying in chapter 2, “Expedients,” “Those who chanted just once ‘Namu Buddha’ without concentration in mind, have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.” For all living beings, the Lotus Sūtra says in chapter 3, “A Parable,” “This triple world is My property. All living beings therein are My children.” For the non-Buddhist teachings and writings, the Lotus Sūtra says in chapter 19, “The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma,” “When they expound the scriptures of non-Buddhist schools, or give advice to the government, or teach the way to earn a livelihood, they will be able to be in accord with the right teachings of the Buddha.” Passages that describe the revelation of the single path to Buddhahood in the Tuṣita Heaven or of gods and men are too numerous to write them all down here.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 93

WONS

‘Three Kinds of Enemies of the Lotus Sūtra’

Exactly as the Buddha predicted, there are “three kinds of enemies of the Lotus Sūtra” all over Japan. Nevertheless, we don’t see any practicers of the Lotus Sūtra. Does this mean that the words of the Buddha have been proved untrue? Could this be? After all, who has been abused and despised by the ignorant people for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra? Which monk has been brought to the attention of court nobles and warriors in power? Which monk has often been exiled as predicted in the sūtra? No such man exists in Japan, except for Nichiren. However, as Nichiren has been abandoned by the gods, he probably is not a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. Then, who would be a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra to realize the Buddha’s prediction?

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 98

Kaleidoscope, WONS

‘The Śākyamuni of Subtle Enlightenment Is Our Blood and Our Flesh’

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The accent on the world of enlightenment represented by chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra seems at first to concentrate on the Buddha and on the nature of buddhahood. Yet, the exegesis elaborated within the T’ien-t’ai/Tendai tradition develops a religious view which, in various ways, addresses the position of humanity: a true Buddha cannot exist without human beings (because it is from among humans that a Buddha emerges) and human beings cannot exist without a Buddha (because the Buddha represents the essence of humanity).

Nichiren asserts that the Buddha-world is the only reality and at the same time restores the historical perspective as the only context in which the dimension of the absolute open to human beings is concretized. The Buddha’s enlightenment, that is, “the merits acquired by Śākyamuni through his practice,” is epitomized in the five characters of the title of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, if someone “receives and keeps” the sutra and obtains access to its meaning through the recitation of the title, they will be endowed with these merits. “The Śākyamuni of subtle enlightenment is our blood and our flesh. The merits of his practice, are they not our bones and marrow?” Nichiren writes. Buddhahood becomes a reality of history, not just in history. Nichiren’s emphasis is not on the absolute per se, but on the relative which has to change to become absolute. A shift occurs from the three worlds of universal time (past-present-future) to the actual historical moment, and this gives a social dimension to Nichiren Buddhism. The endowment with the Buddha-world, however, is the exclusive prerogative of the “practitioner of the Lotus”: “One who keeps the sutra is endowed with the Buddha-bodies and performs Buddha’s acts.” The emphasis on a concrete realization of original time leads to the interpretation of the truth represented by the discourse of the Lotus Sutra as a truth which does not exist beyond the confines of history.
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Lucia Dolce, Between Duration and Eternity: Hermeneutics of the ‘Ancient Buddha’ of the Lotus Sutra in Chih-i and Nichiren, Page 235

WONS

‘A Panacea for the Illness of the People in the Jambudvīpa’

In the past there were medical practitioners named Yellow Emperor and Pien Ch’üeh in China and Ch’ih-shui and Jīvaka in India. They were the treasures of the world in those days and master physicians for generations to come. And yet, the Buddha, who preached the “good medicine” that keeps us from growing old and dying is the greatest of physicians who surpasses them both. The “good medicine” refers to none other than the five Chinese characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō. Moreover, the Buddha declared these five characters to be “a panacea for the illness of the people in the Jambudvīpa.”

Myōshin-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Myōshin Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 102

WONS

Under Protective Wings of Bodhisattvas

Looking at the present world, we see the three sorts of resentful enemies of the Lotus Sūtra in front of our own eyes, but none of the eight hundred thousands, millions, and nayuta of bodhisattvas who made the vow to spread the Lotus Sūtra in front of the Buddha Śākyamuni can be seen. This is a situation in which we feel something amiss like the ebb tide that does not rise or the waned moon which does not wax. When the water becomes clear and tranquil, the moon naturally reflects upon it. When trees are planted, birds come to live. Nichiren, who preaches on the Lotus Sūtra in place of the eight hundred thousands, millions and nayuta of bodhisattvas, is under the protective wings of those bodhisattvas.

Teradomari Gosho, A Letter from Teradomari, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 13

2buddhas, LS32, d8b, WONS

A Seed that Flowers and Bears Fruit in the Very Moment of Its Acceptance

The concept of sowing, maturing, and harvesting suggests a linear process developing over time. Mahāyāna thought traditionally maintained that fulfilling the bodhisattva path requires three incalculable eons. However, as we have seen, Nichiren drew on both Tendai and esoteric notions of realizing buddhahood “with this body” to argue that buddhahood is accessed in the very act of chanting Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō. The daimoku, in other words, is a “seed” that flowers and bears fruit in the very moment of its acceptance. This goes to the heart of how Nichiren understood the Final Dharma age. In the age of the True Dharma and the age of the Semblance Dharma, people practiced according to a linear model, gradually eradicating delusions and accumulating merit, eventually culminating in the attainment of buddhahood after countless lifetimes of practice. But in chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, the practice for the mappō era, practice and enlightenment, sowing and harvest, occur simultaneously, and buddhahood is realized in this very body. In other words, in the Final Dharma age, the direct realization of buddhahood becomes accessible to ordinary people. Nichiren’s claim paradoxically inverts the negative soteriological implications of the benighted mappō era and makes it the ideal time to be alive. “Rather than be great monarchs during the two thousand years of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma ages, those concerned for their salvation should rather be common people now in the Final Dharma age,” he wrote. “It is better to be a leper who chants Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō than to be chief abbot of the Tendai school,” the highest position in the religious world of Japan at the time.

Two Buddhas, p119-120
d14b, WONS

Abusing a Faithful Believer

As I reflect on things, it is preached in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, “Suppose there is an evil person with a wicked mind who ceaselessly slandered a Buddha for as long as a kalpa (aeon). The sin of such a person would still be considered minor when compared to a person who abused with just a word a faithful believer, clergy or laity, who reads or recites the Lotus Sūtra.” Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this passage stating, “We can say this because the Lotus Sūtra is profound in doctrine and excellent in merit. We cannot say the same about other sutras.”

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 43

WONS

When a Sage Appears and Preaches the Lotus Sūtra

As a tiger roars, wind blows hard; as a dragon howls, clouds surge up. However, winds do not blow nor do clouds appear if it is only a rabbit crying or a donkey braying. Likewise, if only the foolish read the Lotus Sūtra, and the wise merely lecture about it, nobody makes noise and nothing happens in the country. It is believed, however, when a sage appears and preaches the Lotus Sūtra as the Buddha did, the country will be excited and persecutions more severe than those in the Buddha’s lifetime will occur.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 112

Kaleidoscope, WONS

The Past of Śākyamuni Is Reflected in the Past of His Disciples

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For Nichiren, the revelation of the original Buddha which takes place in the sixteenth chapter has two meanings: that of a theory of the nature of the Buddha, and that of a speculation on the situation of humankind. Śākyamuni’s “original causes and original results” become the turning point which allows postulating the contemporaneity of human beings to the Buddha. Human beings, in their spatial and temporal limitations, share the temporality of Śākyamuni in this world. Nichiren uses a theory elaborated by Chih-i according to which the past of Śākyamuni is reflected in the past of his disciples. This is the tie established, in the original time, between Śākyamuni and those who listen to the sutra or are willing to accept it. From here Nichiren draws the certainty of buddhahood for human beings:

We living beings of this land are since as many kalpas ago as five hundred particles of dust Śākyamuni’s beloved children. [The relation] between a Buddha with ties and the living beings [bound] by karmic ties can be compared to [the reflection of] the moon in the sky floating on clear water. A Buddha without ties in relation to sentient beings is like a deaf man listening for the sound of thunder or a blind man turning to sun and moon.

A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Lucia Dolce, Between Duration and Eternity: Hermeneutics of the ‘Ancient Buddha’ of the Lotus Sutra in Chih-i and Nichiren, Page 233