Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra PDF

BUDDHIST CONCEPTS 3 'fhiS teaching of the Lotus Sutra is founded on two...

BUDDHIST CONCEPTS 3 'fhiS teaching of the Lotus Sutra is founded on two ·oes: the "true aspect of all phenomena" and the doctr_1-_n,ent of Buddhahood in the remote past." "attaJJu.. True Aspect of All Phenomena and the Attainment of 8 1· Thdh hood in the Remote Past sud 8 -r. e Aspect of All Phenomena The ,,u Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra ,.-;:;. Lotus Sutra, which consists of 28 chapters, ~ an.?: t.lhe. ·ded mto two d 1s. tinet - parts: th e t}:leoreticaL.teaching, · d1Vl ~ - - which equates to the_ first _14 chapters, ~d the essential The Lotus Sutra ~ §e latter 14 chapterD tea awo doctrines centra1 to the theoretical tPacbiog (the ~ r&~ T h e Lotus Sutra is a.scripture I that embodies th h Mahayana Buddhism. t teac ~s unequivocaU e essen ce of. first hJh.are the "true aspect of all phenomena" an~ ,, attainment of Buddh~!l,029..\:.>_y persons s,f the _tw£..;'e~ es. peo P ie can attain Buddhahood. This section will Y t~at · d octnnes 1 an he true aspect of all phenomena is a principle. ificance and ma1or · o f the Lotus Sutexp ain the ounded in th~ Expedient Means' (2nd) chapter of the sign h d" 11 The Lotus Sutra as ra 1ca y changed th ra.B exP sutra. "All phenomena ,, h ere means the world around us ~~ of life and of Buddhahood. The sutras S~ kUddhist and its various workings, including the affairs of life and vi. th th a Yarntt. preached during ~ more an 40 years before the lo l"\i society. "True aspect" means their ultimate reality or true Sutra teach that ordinary people cannot attain Buddhah hls essential nature.. in this lifetime. Moreover, they stay in one of nin ·1 th e °0 World d - The truth or reality of all things that Buddhas, through other than Buddhahoo unti d ey die and only th s their vast and profound wisdom, are able to perceive is move to another m. reb 1"rth Therefore, en can if people wish t called the true aspect of all phenomena. Once one perceives attain Buddhahood, they have to carry out Buddhist pr t· 0 this reality,one understands that all phenomena and their ,:£ tiin ·1 th ac ices true aspect are not two separate things, but that all through n~erous ~e e~ ~ti ey eradicate all of their earthly desires, purify their lives, and obtain benefit and phenomena are in fact manifestations or expressions of the virtue worthy of Buddhas. Then and only then can they true aspect. Therefore, all phenomena and their true aspect attain Buddhahood. When they succeed, the sutras state can never be divided or_separated. Based on the commentaries of the Great Teacher none of the nine worlds remain in their lives because the; Tien-t'ai, Nichiren Daishonin clarified that " all phenomena''. are replaced by Buddhahood. refersspecifically to all living beings of the~ Worlds and ~ Ho in the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni reveals the their respective environments, whereas the "true aspect" truth c1hahood exists inherently in the lives of refers to Myoho-renge-kyo. and that everyone can attain Buddhahood · git forth from within their lives. Inhis. work 'The T~e Aspect of All Phenomena' , the Daishonin states that " all beings and environments in the  F NICHIREN BUDDHISM 4 THE 9ASICS 0 BUDDHIST CONCEPTS 5 orlds, from hell, the lowest, to B Tenh ~ are without exception manifestatddhaho k hig es o" (WND-t, 383). tons of ~d, lh w1s ' · l'fe and. dom inherent equally in everyone' s 1 , hi · d O m In t s rens;: teaching of the true aspect of all Ph Yoh; 5 0 dd.ha t Buddhist practice based on that w1s fr£ only Buddhas, but the beings fenoll\ena to carry ou ·m to enable all people to achieve a state o J e that not b o th rev worlds are all equa 1 ecause e~ch of the e Other e~ls waY, theY a;t of the Buddhas themselves. This is co~veyed ses all of the ten and are essentiaU - l'en \.V t'ltt)(I equal to th Sutra by Shakyamuni's statement of his long- passes - l. \. elllbo. Ott in the Lo~~to make all persons equal to me, without any ~yoho-renge-kyo_:i. d1°'etus c:ls ~ Prior to the t:otus Sutra, 1t was thought th Of.on between us" (LSOC2, 70) · This is the fundamental h eld. vow. nrio ntable a lay between _at a Ptac:r d isttnctJ of Buddhi sm. 1nsu h 1. f and · - tcc111 purpose pe rson that is, bereen_t e1g__state of Buddh - an orclin..J o er nine worlds. - - - ~ the L otus Sutra takes th - - --.c.: ~~o~ 11~ '>'a ~th(I. TheAttamm ent of Buddhahood in the Remote Past ,..---However, ?PP0 site \r'.. l central to the essential teaching (the latter half) Whi le Buddhas and ordinary people of thee nine tew A prUlOLP etus Sutra is the revelation of Shakyamuni' s on different appearances and qualities inter Worlds tc1k · 0 f the 0. ent of Buddhahood in the remote past. and behavior in the real world, on the level rnfs _of their to\ e "th o hfe it es attaiJUll the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings up through the are essentially the same, w1 no distinction b self the In. al teaching (the first half) of the Lotus Sutra,. worId s, w h atever their p etween thelttY theoretic. f Beings of the rune k muni is described as follows: He was born a prmce o £ 11.. resent co cl.. or state of Ii1e, are a m principle capabl n ttion Sha ya try of the Shakya clan in ancient India, but left home Buddhahood. e of attaitting thecoun. f. a religious life, and after a penod o ascetic to pursUe Based on the principle of the true for the practi.ces, attained enlightenment, or Buddhahood,. Phenomena,.. the Lotus Sutra reveals that pers aspect O f c1ll d vehicles (voice hearers an cause-awakened on ) become -B uddhas, although the pre-Lotus ons of th es can. f Sutra e two ll\. c1ct ~= fi t time while seated in meditation under the Bodhi tree on outskirts of Gaya (later called Bodh Gaya). According to those teachings, the causes he had made and accumulated denied their possibility of attaining Buddhahood. teachings through many lifetimes of Buddhist pr~ctice ha~ resulted Furthermore, the Lotus Sutra also guara t in his obtaining the rewards of benefit and virtue that. ddh. n ees th enabled him, in his present life in India, to attain Buddha- attainment of Bu ahood by evil persons as well e · ddh ' as ththe hood. But his revelation that he had actually attained ent of Bu ahood by women - two grou · the poss1'bili'ty o f e nlightenment in the ps pre- at enlightenment in the distant past fundamentally overturned that existing image. As explained earlier, the teaching of the "true aspect of Means' chapter goes on to explain that all phenomena" in the theoretical teaching reveals that which all Buddhas appear in this there is no essential difference between a Buddha and an :of Bud~sdom" for all ordinary person, because both are embodiments of M y oho- :wisdom" to them, to "cause renge-kyo. In other words, while Buddhahood is inherent in wisdom," and to "induce the lives of ordinary people, and anyone can attain Buddha- wisdom" (cf. LSOC2, 64). hood at any time, it would actually require practice over tental wish of Shakyamuni numerous lifetimes to do so. In the theoretical teaching, even ble all people to reveal the Shakyamuni is seen as having attained Buddhahood only  OF NICHIREN BUDDHISM 6 THE 8,ASICS BUDDHIST CONCEPTS 7 an unimaginably long period of a~te~ Jes would naturally have to carry o Practice diSCIP Ut the , ilti as their teacher. sal1le q 's revelation of his original. Pti'lc~¾ 011 tras, t Shakyamuni. ld contrast, the essential teaching, thr lJ1 c t hows that all of the other nme wor s are In · · n1· h ough ~~ · h' l'f Jightenrnen. h' s the world of Buddhahood m 1s k' e. I of Shakyamuni attauung e ig tenrnent in th the el< e Jl wit in ains that Buddhahood , along With othern· e rell) i'lll)Pl jrlherent he was able to appear as a bodhisa~tva. ta mg expl h. Ote ~ rmanently inherent m t e 11ves of all p tne w Pt1st '[herefore, as he carried out Buddhist practice in sub- · · d pe manifest Buddhahood at any mom eople, and thorlqs, i:. forms es in the past. But even while various ·f t· appearing an can ent Und a.t th " t It e im · d ·th· conditions. , er the. ey sequen a bodhisattva, Buddhahood always ex1ste ~1 m The 'Life Span (16th) chapter offers tight acting as thi way he embodied the mutual possession of b I. a descr1pti his Jife. In s riod known as ,,num er ess major Worlds. pe ,, I. th World on of the Ten ru· the Buddha who attained enlightenme nt particle kalpas to exp a~ _e _vastness of the ~Ystel1l a Shakyamu ast ' f time th ql.!st is in fact free from the endless cycle o ssed since Shakyamum ongmally att. te P ' in order to cause people to seek hi s Pa atned B Uddhah as i'lt h ill the rern° d d ath but This overturned the accepted view that S 00 birth _an he p~sses away. He states in the 'Life.Span' attained enlightenme nt for the first time d h_akyarnut\i c!. chings, e tea "As an expedient means I appear to enter mrvana in India, and it revealed him to be the et unng his lifeijhac1 cha~ter, th I do not pass into extinction" (LSOC16, 270-71). had been enlightened since the remote p ernaI Buddha ltte · h h aSt, It al Who but~ ~er, the sutra explains that this eternal Buddha that since that time e as always been so elga1't b peot a dicte ea , otus s P\.lq "Y those _P~e nf _the Time,' writes, "There can l;:!e no room to the Daishonin. endeavored to spread the Lo· lltra. l3e clhist 5 e l ~ Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus eople slandered him ~d attacked him. _tus.Stttr cc11.1~ doubt_th all ~f Japan" (WND-1, 575). In the same work, he also P. d With a., s staves, just as the sutra pred icte. swords '-Ith sutra ~,r, Nichiren, am the forem~st votary. of the Lotus TJle second pow~r6:1l enemy, arro ant ri c1t\q stateS,_ - tlle entire land of Jambudvi:pa [the entire world]"..-.embers of the B1:1ddhist clergy ~ p ests, in...1 sutra tJ'\. u ·.. ersecut "-lCc1 552 )·_ ht of all this, the Lotus Sutra is the Budd~ist Sutra's practitioners. In the Da1shoni , ·. e the l tes {ibid,,.. h. n s hrn Oh. In. ture lig. that predicts th e D a1s. , s appearance and. h onm priests, chngmg to t eir own shallow e, l3uctct ·~s interpretations, slandered the sutra and Views hist scrtP. in the Latter Day of the Law, and by reading the. - persecut elf\ behaVt~r tra with his very life (by fulfilling the predictions The third power~l ene~y, arrogant f ed hil't\ ll _...,i,:- B ddhi t · alse sa ~ · Lotus. uthe sutra), the Daishonin proved that the sutra itself to high:rc11uuug u s priests who pass th · ges, tef rnad~ in O way false, attesting to the validity of Shakyamuni' s sages or saints and use their siatus and infl ernselves of:ts was inn the practitio~ers of the Lotus Sutra. · ~ence to Persecu_