Category Archives: WONS

WONS

Following the Example of Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains

If something like what is being talked about in the town were to actually happen, it would make me a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million times happier than having my proposals accepted. Should I be exiled again it would be for the third time, and the Lotus Sūtra could not possibly consider me, Nichiren, an indolent practicer. As a result, I would be blessed by the favors of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe, and by the numerous bodhisattva disciples of the Original Buddha that emerged from the earth. I am certain of all this and I am looking forward to the experience. I wish to follow the example of Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains who sacrificed his own body for the Buddhist Dharma, and I wish to sacrifice myself for Bodhisattva Never-Despising, who endured persecution with swords, sticks, pieces of tile and stones. It would be regrettable otherwise to live a useless life and die of an epidemic or old age.

Dannotsu Bō Gohenji, Response to a Follower, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 130-131

Eyes, WONS

A True Monk

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A true monk is one who not only strictly upholds the precepts but who also preaches the True Dharma, even in the face of persecution. Even in pre-Mahāyāna discourses, the Buddha made it clear that he intended for his monks (and even nuns and lay followers) to teach and even to refute false teachings. In the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta the Buddha tells Mara the following:

“Evil One, I will not take final nirvāṇa till I have monks and disciples who are accomplished, trained, skilled, learned, knowers of the Dharma, trained in conformity with the Dharma, correctly trained and walking in the path of the Dharma, who will pass on what they have gained from their Teacher, teach it, declare it, establish it, expound it, analyze it, make it clear; till they shall be able by means of the Dharma to refute false teachings that have arisen, and teach the Dharma of wondrous effect. ” (Walshe, p. 247 adapted)

Nichiren also cites the following passage from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra that likewise emphasizes the duty of true monks to remonstrate with those who are violating the Dharma. The passage reads:

“If a good monk, seeing one who violates the Dharma, does not drive away, reproach, or impeach such a one, know that this monk is the enemy of the Buddha Dharma. If he drives away, reproaches, or impeaches such a one, he is my disciple, a true disciple.” (Yamamoto, p. 67, adapted)

We might recognize in this a Mahāyāna reiteration of the Buddha’s statements in the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta. Nichiren cites a commentary on this passage by Zhiyi’s disciple Guanding (561-632) that makes the point that a true friend will try to prevent a friend from committing evil and so it is more truly compassionate to correct them and in fact lacking in compassionate to remain silent. There are several examples in the Pāli canon of the Buddha remonstrating with monks who were found to be misrepresenting the Buddha Dharma to the detriment of themselves and others. He recognized that there may be times when one has to “be cruel to be kind” as we sometimes put it. There are times when one must speak the truth plainly to those who may not want to hear it.

Open Your Eyes, p554-555
Eyes, WONS

Nichiren’s Well-Reasoned Case

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Nichiren is [sometimes] portrayed as an aggressive and even violent fanatic. The extravagant vows that he makes are sometimes cited as evidence of this. For instance, Nichiren vows to never give up the Lotus Sūtra even if someone offered to make him ruler of Japan or threatened to kill his parents. Is this unreasoning aggressive fanaticism, however? Or is it simply a refusal to cave in to bribes or threats? I would note that Nichiren’s parents had already passed away when he wrote this, so this was a bit of rhetoric on Nichiren’s part. What is often overlooked is Nichiren’s caveat: “… I will not submit to them until a man of wisdom defeats me by reason.” Was this empty rhetoric? Why even put that caveat in there? In fact, the whole of the Kaimoku-shō up to the point where Nichiren expresses this vow is a marshaling of texts to support Nichiren’s case that the Lotus Sūtra is the ultimate teaching of the Buddha that should not be neglected, derided, or subordinated to lesser teachings. Now we may or may not accept Nichiren’s reasoning, and may or may not find his proof-texts and the presumption of scriptural authority they rested upon convincing, but I do think Nichiren put in quite a lot of effort to present a well-reasoned case and that as far as he was concerned no one had provided him with any adequate response to the case he was making for the Lotus Sūtra (and against its detractors). Instead, he had been physically attacked on several occasions, banished twice, and almost been executed.

Who exactly was being unreasonable and fanatical about their beliefs? Nichiren, who wrote long essays citing the Buddha’s teachings in order to clarify the Buddha’s true intention? Or those who were trying to silence and even kill him? And what was Nichiren advocating as the ultimate teaching based on the Lotus Sūtra? I rather like the way it is put in Reply to Hoshina Goro Taro (Hoshina Goro Taro-dono Gohenji), a letter attributed to Nichiren.

In Buddhism that teaching is judged supreme that enables all people, whether good or evil, to become Buddhas. Surely anyone can grasp so reasonable a standard. By means of this principle we can compare the various sütras and ascertain which is superior.
(Gosho Translation Committee 1999, p. 156)

Open Your Eyes, p536
d26b, WONS

What the Buddha had in Mind

After entrusting the essential dharma of five characters to the bodhisattvas who appeared from underground, the Buddha ascended from the Stupa of Treasures. Standing in the sky, the Buddha tapped the heads of Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings and others three times, and entrusted them with the expanded and concise teachings of the Lotus Sūtra (though without the essential dharma) as well as all the sūtras preached before and after the Lotus Sūtra. This was for the sake of saving the people in the 2,000-year period of the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. Thereafter, when the Buddha preached the Nirvana Sūtra, He again expounded the Lotus as well as pre-Lotus sūtras, entrusting them to such great bodhisattvas as Mañjuśrī. This was the preaching regarding the benefit of gleaning after the harvest of the Lotus Sūtra.

Thus what the Buddha transmitted was not the same, so the task of propagation after the death of the Buddha was limited according to the content of transmission. Accordingly Kāśyapa, Ānanda and others spread only the Hinayāna sūtras without expounding the Mahāyāna sūtras. Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga and others spread the provisional Mahāyāna sūtras without preaching the One Vehicle true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Even though they preached the Lotus Sūtra, they merely suggested its teaching, or they preached merely a part of the theoretical section without discussing the beginning and ending of the Buddha’s guidance.

Appearing in this world as the avatars of Avalokiteśvara and Medicine King Bodhisattva, Grand Masters Nan-yüeh and T’ien-t’ai expounded both the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna sūtras, provisional and true teachings, the theoretical and essential sections of the Lotus Sūtra, as well as such doctrines as the beginning and ending of the Buddha’s guidance and the eternal relationship between the Buddha and His disciples. Moreover, they advocated the theory of “sūtras which had been preached, are being preached, and will be preached,” claiming that the Lotus Sūtra was supreme among all the holy teachings preached in the lifetime of the Buddha. Their critical classification of teachings is superior to those of commentators in India and many masters in China. Tripiṭaka masters of both old and new translations do not equal to Nan-yüeh and T’ien-t’ai at all. Founders of both exoteric and esoteric Buddhist schools cannot compete with them. The two grand masters, however, were still basing themselves on the whole or parts of the Lotus Sūtra without expounding its essence, the five characters. Although they themselves knew it, they did not convey this to others. It was solely because they correctly remembered what was entrusted to them and respected what the Buddha had in mind.

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 162.

d19b, d20b, WONS

Spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration

The heart of this essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” (an absolute faith in the five-character title of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma), was not transmitted even to the most trusted disciples such as Bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī or Medicine King, and certainly not the lower-ranking bodhisattvas. Instead the Buddha called out numerous bodhisattvas from underground, for whom He expounded it during the preaching of eight chapters following the fifteenth chapter in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra and entrusted them with the task of spreading it in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 148

WONS

‘Honestly Casting Away the Expedient’

Grand Master Dengyō … stated in his Treatise on the Protection of the State: “The Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma have passed and the Latter Age, when the Lotus Sūtra is to spread, is approaching;” “In the home of the One Vehicle Lotus Teaching, the provisional teachings should never be used;” “To those who believe in the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sūtra, the Hinayāna teaching must not be given;” and “Rotten meals should not be served in jeweled dishes.” He also stated: “Even the great arhats were reprimanded by the Buddha when they adhered to Hinayāna teachings in the Buddha’s lifetime. After the death of the Buddha, how can those masters of the dharma, as imperfect and inferior as mosquitoes and horseflies, stick to the Hinayāna teaching against the intention of the Buddha?”

These are not arbitrary words that Grand Master Dengyō thought up himself, but they are based on the Buddhist scriptures. That is to say, it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra: “Honestly casting away the expedient, I am going to preach the supreme of all teachings, the Lotus Sūtra.” In the Nirvana Sūtra it is said: “Until they listened to the Lotus Sūtra, they all held onto wrong ideas.” “The wrong ideas” or “the expedient” in these passages stand for such sūtras as the Flower Garland, the Great Sun Buddha, the Wisdom and the Amitābha preached during the forty years or so before the Lotus Sūtra was preached. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said that “casting away” meant “abandon,” that is to say, “abandon the expedient teachings.”

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 69

WONS

‘Wonderful’

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in the sixth fascicle of the Great Concentration and Insight, “The icchantika has a slim possibility to attain Buddhahood because he has some mind left, but the Two Vehicles cannot because they want their mind and body annihilated. In the Lotus Sūtra, however, the Two Vehicles are allowed to attain Buddhahood, so the sūtra is called ‘myō’.” Grand Master Miao-lê also says in the sixth fascicle of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Various sūtras call themselves ‘great,’ not ‘wonderful’ because they can lead those with heart, but not without heart, to Buddhahood. The Lotus Sūtra, however, can lead those without heart to Buddhahood, so it is called the ‘wonderful’ sūtra.” These passages mean that only the Chinese character for “great,” not that for “wonderful,” was put on each title of such sūtras as the Great Flower Garland Sūtra, the Sūtra of Great Assembly, the Great Wisdom Sūtra and the Great Nirvana Sūtra. These sūtras can save only people who are still alive but not dead ones, while the Lotus Sūtra can save dead people as well, which is why the sūtra is called “wonderful.” Therefore, those who are entitled to attain Buddhahood cannot do so by various other sūtras, while even those who have difficulty in attaining Buddhahood can become Buddhas by the Lotus Sūtra, let alone those who are easily capable of doing so. Accordingly, no one should rely on various other sūtras after the Lotus Sūtra was expounded.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 46

WONS

‘Good Friends’ Today

QUESTION: According to the Flower Garland Sūtra, Bodhisattva Good Treasures met some fifty “good friends,” in search of the way. Among his “good friends” were such distinguished bodhisattvas as Universal Sage, Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara (Kannon) and Maitreya. Ever Weeping Bodhisattva, King Spotted Feet, King Wonderful Adornment and King Ajātaśatru were led to emancipation from the illusion of life and death respectively by Bodhisattva T’an Wu-chieh, King Fumyō, King Wonderful Adornment’s wife and two sons, and Minister Jivaka.

These teachers were, however, great sages, and difficult to encounter after the passing of the Buddha. After the extinction of the Buddha there lived such great teachers as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu in India, but they died, and such teachers as Nan-yūeh (T’ien-t’ai’s teacher) and T’ien-t’ai of China are no longer here. How can we then sever the chain of life and death?

ANSWER: “Good friends” (reliable teachers) exist even in the Latter Age; they are the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvana Sūtra.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 58

Eyes, WONS

Subtle and Complex Interplay of Karma

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Based upon the teachings of the sūtras and the classic treatises explaining Buddhist cosmology and the working of karma, Nichiren believed that the fruition of karma was not just an individual matter but also something that unfolded in terms of whole societies, even nations. This is what we would today call “collective karma.” He also believed that the effects of karma could occur in conspicuous or obvious ways, such as when there are wars or tragic accidents; however, it could occur in more subtle and inconspicuous ways, such as the slow and quiet progress of an illness. Nichiren also taught that the effects of karma can unfold in the present life, in the next life, or even be deferred to some other future lifetime. The intertwining of wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, the intermingling of individual and collective karma, and the uncertainty of when causes and conditions will bring about the karmic effects of past deeds all combine to make the unfolding of the karmic law of cause and effect quite subtle and complex.

Open Your Eyes, p519
d21b, WONS

The Eternal Pure Land

[W]hen the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, this world of endurance (Sahā World) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction, and emptiness. Śākyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this Pure Land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past, present, and future. All those who receive His guidance are one with this Eternal Buddha. It is because each of our minds is equipped with the “3,000 modes of existence” and the “three factors,” namely, all living beings, the land in which they live, and the five elements of living beings (matter, perception, conception, volition and consciousness).

This truth was not made clear in the first fourteen chapters of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. Perhaps it was because the time was not ripe at this stage of preaching the Lotus Sūtra; and capacity of comprehension on the part of the listeners was not yet sufficient.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 148