Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life PDF

T hou san d Realms in a s· Three IOgfe Mom ent o f Life re e thou sa nd real m s in a single moment Of 1Ife. '' · "T h al s how ordina 1...

T hou san d Realms in a s· Three IOgfe Mom ent o f Life re e thou sa nd real m s in a single moment Of 1Ife. '' · "T h al s how ordina 1sa t teac hi ng th at re ve Buddhis attain B ud dh ah oo d. S~ dy in ~ this.teaching~!:°P~ can N 1chiren Bud ~ens th e w ay m w hic~ understanding of tam enlightenrnen~lti le fo r al l pe op le to at makes it possib (1] The Significance of "a Single Moment of Life" and "Three Thousand Realms" th e ph ilo so ph ic al pr in ciples forming the bas · One of in g N ic hi re n D aish on i1 f s inscription of the Gohonzo; underly ob je ct of devotion for -re ng e- ky o - th e of Nam-myoho of the Law to attain op le of th e La tte r D ay enabling all pe 11 ree thousand realmsin d - is th e do ctrin e of th Buddhahoo a single moment of life." is w as fo rm ul at ed by the Gr~at Teacher Tien-t'ai Th i) of C hi na in hi s w or k G reat Co1JcentratioJJ__g nd Insight (Chih- 's d~ r to _he lp pe op le pu t into practice the L~tus Sutra ll!__ or Jeaching that all eeop_!e can attain Buddhah~ gl e m om en t of lif e7 ,- ii id kates one' s life.as it exists sin sand realms" refers to all I~ n m om en t. "T hr ee th ou ta y give a - ~ th _ in gs an d. th eir varied functiO!!S· ~e en gle moment of life e th ou sa nd re al m s in a sin....,_of thre le m om e~ t of life in clud es three thousand t a si ng at ea ch m om en t pe rm ea tes and pervades all life  BUDDHIST CONCEPTS 19. ~ , limitles s potential. Lt·feat each moment contains When raosforms the state of ones Jif~ at this otte. t..11'1ent that surrounds it also chan'1es. h~Ohllllent, the \Tito,~··.--- h o.; , w 1c can even etlv~chan~e 1n t e entire world. Thus th d. ~ t lll~ d l ~-- , e octnne of ~ re: ~:..,.!_~ ~-- ~ingle moment of life" ~ ~ a n d transforrri.atio"' sc1·p... ~ g-~:."::=~~~- ;·: ·.-... ~----~-·:---~ n, p _J _ resident Ikeda · IS a of this principl... d escnb1ng ,cpres the s1gn1£1cance ~ses. - e in ethe theme of his. The Human. novel.. "'A great Revolut ion.... T'I revolution in J':,lSt a single individual -11 h 1 urn~ ·. 0. ve a.change 1n t e eshny of a nation and fu th · e.p h d... w1 achie -. h d , , r er, w1 11 enable a chang~ int e estiny of all humankind." [ ] The Struc_ture of Three Thousand Realms in a Single 2 r.,ornent of Life In his wor~ 'The _Obje~t of Devotion for Observing the Jdind', Nichiren J?aishorun q~otes a passage from T'ien-t'ai's Concentration and Insight that describes the three d realms in a single moment of life: t each moment is endowed with the Ten At. the same time, each of the Ten Worlds is with all Ten Worlds, so that an entity of y possesses one hundred worlds. Each of rids in tum possesses thirty realms, which in the one hundred worlds there are realms. The three thousand realms all possessed by life in a single is no life, that is the end of the is the slightest bit of life, it thousand realms. (WND-1, 354) one is alive, one's life at each usand realms," each of which others. comes from multiplying Worlds (10 worlds x 10 of life and then by the  THE BASICS Of NICHIREN BUDDHISM 20 thtt'C realms of existence (100 x 10 x 3 ~ 3 Worlds, the ten foct~rs, and the three rcatrn, OOO). 1'h thill each approach hfc nnd the law of c s Ore c" C> ~~h ' 'ff. ' ausalit vnc ,, within it from a dt crcnt perspective. "l'h YoPer c,.Pts rcillrns in a single moment of life" incorp ree tho ~11n8 ' b f orates Us~ perspectives, and there y o fers an encom all of th l\q one's life nnd the world as a wholE;,J Passing "ie C>sC> \v Of 1. The Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds The core principle underlying three thousa d. smgle ~oment of l'f 1e 1s. t11e mutual possessi n real ms ll\. Worlds. The Da1s. l10nm. wp.tes, "The doctrine of th on of the lea realms in a single moment.o 1e begins with three th0usanql\ -. , f l'f the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds" ('Thee~onc~pt of the Eyes', WND-1, 224) and "[The Buddha] also expoJening of doctrine of thr~e thousand realms in a single mome~:ed '.he explaining that the nine.worlds have the potenr°~ hfe, Buddhahood and that ~uddhal:10od retains the nin ta for. e Worlds'' ('The Selection of the rime', WND-1, 539).. The Ten Worlds represent ten states of life They - ~ - · · are the worlds of (1) hell, (2) llungry spirits (hunger), (3) animal (animality), (4) _asuras (anger), (5) h_ulllan beings (humani~: (6) heavenly beings (heaven), (7) vo_ice-hearers (learnm )' (8) cause-awakened ones (realization), (9) bodhisattv~~ ~odhisattva), and (10) Buddhas (Buddhahood). The sutras other than the Lotus Sutra teach that each of Ten Worlds is a distinct and separate realm, or a fixed n of life, and that one cannot move from any one of Worlds to another until after one dies, at which time reborn into another of the Ten Worlds. Lotus Sutra fundamentally overturns this idea, eople in any of the nine worlds other than ossess the world of Buddhahood. rid of Buddhahood is endowed with all ion of the Ten Worlds means that a one of the Ten Worlds possesses a11  NCEPTS 21 BUDDHIST CO a t s e n s e B u ddha s and all I s. In th o p e of -r.en World ' d W ith a ll th p e f tJte i e worlds a r e equally e n d o w e e Ten Worlds o ,nin e q u a l. a re th e re fo re essentially tfa e ' 1 · 1 s d 1· splaying a p t· U 1ar one o f if sttd A , 5 0, o n e s h ' 11 £ e a r IC th. e n t, it h a s te n ti a l to ld ~n W o r s a t t 1s m.. o m e p o fe. u ndition o r infl ence, another o f e th _:tost U1 r e s p o n s e to a c o h e x t m o m e n t. It follow s th at anyone.r n a ia u Worlds a t t e n. " ' t conditions, ""en W Id s e to th e ri g h the i f ~ e Ten o r s, in respon hahood a d become a itl any o th e w o r ld o f Budd n ft'l a ru fe st can v.. e s s io n of th e -r1en d d h a. a l p o s s Bu o f th th e mutu 's state of life The p n n a p ie. 1a m s at o n e ca n e le v a te o n e World s , th e n , e x ~ e n to B u d d h ahood in the d ev th a t o f b o ~ ~ a tt v a s a n to e. co. urse o f this lifetim z. n,8 Ten factors of life m m o n to a ll life in any of co are ten a s p e c ts o r factors to the w o r ld of There rl d o f h e ll en W o rld s. F r o m th e w o T e n W o r ld s equa lly the T in a n y o f th e ood, all lives e te n fa c to rs d escribe the f life. Thes e te n fa c to rs o th e c h a n g e s in one's state k b e h in d usality a t w o r e a n s ' (2 n d ) chapter of p e d ie n t M ·o n o f th e 'E x re c ite e v e ry day during m e m b e rs of all u tr a th a t SGI b e s th e ✓/ true aspect scri o f g o n g y o de e a s p e c t o f all phenomen a e tr u follows: "Th e tw e e n b u d dhas. This h a re d b e r s to o d a n d s n a tu re , entity, power, ran c e , o f th e appea n t e ff e c t, manifest effect, , la te.cause, relation e n d." (Lsoc2, 57) g in n in g to fr o m be tr u e aspect of all z e th e conceptuali ri butes o r facto rs. c e s te n a tt a in tr o d u o u n c ed nyoze in , p ro n d b y a term o r "thus." this," "such," is the outward a p p e a ra n c e " ctors, " t to c h ange from s u b je c being th a t is  l NICHIREN BUDDHISM 22 THE 9A5JCS Of ,, is the innate and consiste "Nature nt ch.. sic attributes... araq~ iJ\~En tity'' is the thmg or being itself, \Vh. t tlt arance and nature 1 _.-orts of appe. ch h ~rii. e first three factors, appearance, nature as tL 1,. te the existence and essence of the liv· ' ¾ct el\. constitu. t t tng b. "ijt1... seven factors, m con ras , express the elrtg. "h'' renaiJUllS IH Work ~, functions of that e. tngs "Power" means intern al energy or inner Pote. or "Influence" is the outwa rd expression of inte~hal, e influence of that power on other h al Pow and th e next four factors, ·t I life or Pen Th m erna cause rel t· 0rnenler , a ion - ~ and manifest effect, expres s the law of ca ~ Iaten~. C::UC\.'-1 f 1· r. USaJ1h, 1 overns the workin gs o tie. ·1 that g ,,.. "Internal cause 1s a prima ry or uect cause inh a· life that produ ces an effect or result. erent~ "Relation" refers to an extern al condition or infl that stimulates the intern al cause, functioning as a supp:~ce or auxiliary cause to bring about an effect. rting ''Latent effect" is the intrinsic, imperceptible. ti" f arising from the mtera c on o the mtem. al cause andresult the telation, or external cause. "Manifest effect" is the eviden t result that emerges from latent effect in respon se to the time and to external or conditions. Pinally, "consi stency from beginn ing to end" means all the other factors are consis tent from ·the beginning firs~ factor, appea rance - to the end - the ninth , manif est effect. For examp le, a life presently in the of Buddh ahood will have the appearance of ld.lUlJlood, the nature of Buddh ahood , all the way through est effect of Buddh ahood , and the same principle the Ten World s. World s is equall y endowed wiih w of causality that governs. a life while displaying I.has the potenti 'al tO other influence, any  BUDDHIST CONCEPTS ll.. change in one's heart and mind affects every aspect of one's life Apositt~e...,,ent Gaipur, Feb 2024) and envir0,i.u f the Ten \'Yorlds. It follows, then, that anyone in any of the ~ Worlds can, in response to the right conditions, manifest world of Buddhahood and become a Buddha. Realms of Existence realms of existence" are the realm of the five the realm of living beings, and the realm of the &ch of the Ten Worlds distinctly expresses three realms.. r ·:..·I ·J' s are classified according to their states of Ten Worlds, from moment to moment. The ings reflects the differences between these a living being as a temporary union such, living beings have no fixed or their own, but are in a constant state , that changes or distinctions in.. rt s, that is, in which of the Ten  F NICHIREN BUDDHISM 24 T~E BASICS 0 th manifest, are also evident in th. Worldsh temyake un those living_pei~gs. J e hv~ co ents t 3 n r'he tive.:.eoropon~nts ,ar~ f~~m, p~ r- --- !t\h ~ c~ption t'~ · a nd c_gt · _uso ess isc19 ___ --- ,-con n..-- - ,j - s~P.ti VO1I tiO,!.!f. h. 1 "F t f 1·.,. orm" is the p ys1ca aspec o 1fe' the bOd --;,:Cl~, hfSical attributes.. P..,~"Perception" is the function of receiving clr\dy and i~ information from and about the outside World th sens~ "six sense organs" (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body roug h th& ✓ Conception" 1s · the fu nc t·ion of f orming irn ' at\d.rn;~. d -·~,d)e ideas about what has been. perceive. press1. ons or ✓Volition" is what hnks t~e conception of perceived to action. It accords ·11with the various w~khat is lhe heart and mind, such as wi , wants, and desireor.in. , gs. of