kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( Keith Evans) (12/15/90)
> Also, another question: does the Nichiren school teach that >, full enlightenment is possible within this lifetime? That is the idea for practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, to gain full and complete enlightenment in this lifetime. With the other Buddhisms, one won't gain complete enlightenment and if it takes more than one lifetime to do it, it won't happen either. Actually, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon (fundamental object of worship, enscribed by Nichiren, and all believers have a copy, enscribed only by the High Priest, in their home) one is actually in the state of Buddhahood. Here we need to talk about The Great Teacher T`ien-T`ai Chi-CHe (Chih-i) (517?-597) in China, and his doctrine of ichinen sanzen, 3000 life-conditions in a single moment. Ten Worlds: (ten life-conditions) 1. Hell = suffering and despair 2. Hunger = endless selfish desire for wealth, fame, or pleasure.. never truly satisfied. 3. Animality = following the pull of desires and instincts; lacking the wisdom of self-control. 4. Anger = self-conscious and egoistic, trampling on the dignity of others. 5. Humanity/tranquility = temporary control of desire and impulse with reason. 6. Joy/rapture = contentment felt as a result of the satisfaction of some desire. 7. Learning = dedication to the betterment of one's life by learning from the ideas and experiences of one's predecessors and contemporaries. 8. Realization = learning a better way through one's own observation of phenomena and application of that previously learned. 9. Bodhisattva = life-condition of compassion, in which an individual devotes himself to the happiness of others even if he must sacrifice himself. The way to self-perfection lies only in the act of compassion .. saving other people from their suffering. 10. Buddhahood = reached when one gains the wisdom to realize the true essence of his own life, the infinite compassion to constantly direct one's activities toward benevolent goals, a perfected self, and total purity of life which nothing can corrupt. At any one moment, we live in one of these life-conditions, or a combination. This could change at the next moment, depending on the external circumstances. For example, you are at work. You are going to a concert tonight with someone very special to you. You can't wait to leave work and time is going agonizingly slow (the world of Hell). Then,its time to go and you're very happy excited (the world of rapture and maybe even hunger). You start to drive to pick up your date and are listening to the radio (the world of humanity). Some jerk cuts right in front of you and you have to slam on the brakes and obviously you are angry (the world of anger). After your date you come home and start studying (the world of learning), etc, etc. This is a very simplistic example, so don't take too literally. Our minds are unpredictable. One cannot predict what will come to one's mind in reaction to environmental manifestations. It's chaotic, and taking into consideration the uncertainty of life and what's going to happen next, implies multiple previous lifetimes and is a direct proof that God does not and has never existed (although this is not a concern here). All you have to do is look into your own mind to see the proof of this. (This is my own insight not from Buddhist doctrine, although the fact that science verifies its validity, is more proof of the validity of Buddhism). Depending on what happens in your environment, you have different feelings. The idea is not to go live on a mountaintop isolated from everyone else, but to live in the society and make it better. Only the act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon will manifest your Buddha-nature. Then using the wisdom gained in this life-condition, we live our lives trying to make them better and at the same make society better. The idea is not to just practice Buddhism or to just live your life. You have to find the Middle Way, that's best for you and only you can decide that. So initially you don't have to believe, just try with an expectation that something is going to happen. Then you will get your own proof, both subjective and objective. Then you will naturally start believing. When our karma becomes manifest, there is an internal cause and an external cause. The internal cause is our karma (thoughts, words and deeds) from the past and the external cause to attain Buddhahood is the Gohonzon. To verify this, just look into your own mind. -- Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Respectfully, Keith Evans kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov
tilley@acl.kodak.com (David Tilley) (12/18/90)
Keith writes: > > Also, another question: does the Nichiren school teach that > >, full enlightenment is possible within this lifetime? > >That is the idea for practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, to gain >full and complete enlightenment in this lifetime. With the other Buddhisms, >one won't gain complete enlightenment and if it takes more than one >lifetime to do it, it won't happen either. > >Actually, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon (fundamental >object of worship, enscribed by Nichiren, and all believers have a >copy, enscribed only by the High Priest, in their home) one is actually >in the state of Buddhahood. Here we need to talk about The Great Teacher >T`ien-T`ai Chi-CHe (Chih-i) (517?-597) in China, and his doctrine >of ichinen sanzen, 3000 life-conditions in a single moment. There are many sects that aim at complete enlightenment in this lifetime. Zen for one. Dogen speaks of the same idea of pratice that Nichiren does. Except that the practice is different. Dogen reccomends zazen or "sitting" rather than chanting Nam-Myoho-Rege-Kyo, though by no means does he protest against chanting either. Dogen did say that as you practice there is no "other" Buddha. You are Buddha. thanks. dave