jdoskow@spiff.Tymnet.COM (Jonathan Doskow) (12/14/90)
This is the text of an article published in the Friday, July 24, 1987 issue of the World Tribune, the weekly journal of NSA, the American association of lay practitioners of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. I've searched the entire paper for a copyright notice and can't find one. My apologies if I've overlooked some well known convention for newspapers. The relevance to various discussions on this news group will, I think, be evident. The footnotes were prepared with the aid of A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts, NSIC, Tokyo, 1983. jd Jon Doskow jdoskow@Tymnet.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- footnotes [1] T'ien-t'ai (538-597): Also called Chih-i. The founder of the Chinese T'ien-t'ai school, commonly referred to as the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai. His name and title were taken from Mt. T'ien-t'ai where he lived. He lived during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period and the Sui dynasty. He was a native of Hua-jung in Ching-chou, where his father was a senior official in the Liang dynasty government. The fall of the Liang dynasty forced his family into exile. He lost both parents soon thereafter and at the age of eighteen entered the Buddhist priesthood under Fa-hsu at Kuo-yuan-ssu temple. He then went to Mt. Ta-hsien where he studied the threefold Lotus Sutra. At the age of twenty-three he visited Nan-yueh on Mt. Ta-su to study under him, and as a result of intense practice, he is said to have attained an awakening through the Yakuo (twenty-third) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This awakening is called the "enlightenment on Mt. Ta-su." After seven years of practice under Nan-yueh, T'ien-t'ai left the mountain and made his way to Chin-ling, the capital of the Ch'en dynasty, where he lived at Wa-kuan-ssu temple and lectured on the Lotus Sutra and other texts for eight years. His fame spread and he attracted many followers. However, deploring the fact that fewer and fewer people were possessed of insight, he retired to Mt. T'ien-t'ai in 575. Thereafter, at the imperial request, he lectured on the Daichido Ron and the Ninno Sutra at the imperial court in Chin-ling. In 587 at Kuang-che-ssu temple in Chin-ling he gave lectures on the Lotus Sutra which were later compiled as the Hokke Mongu. After the downfall of the Ch'en dynasty, he returned to his native Ching-chou and there expounded the teachings of the Hokke Gengi in 593 and the Maka Shikan in 594 at Yu-ch'uan'ssu temple. He returned to Mt. T'ien t'ai, where he died at the age of sixty. Ti'en-t'ai refuted the scriptural classifications formulated by the ten major Buddhist schools of his day, which based themselves either on the Kegon or Nirvana Sutra, and devised the classification of the five periods and eight teachings, thereby establishing the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. He also expounded the theory of ichinen sanzen. Because he systematized both its doctrine and method of practice, he is revered as the founder of the school, though the lineage of the teaching itself is considered to have begun with Hui-wen or even Nagarjuna. T'ien-t'ai's lectures were recorded by his disciple and successor Chang-an. His most important teachings were compiled as the three major works of the T'ien-t'ai school - the Hokke Gengi, the Hokke Mongu, and the Maka Shikan. Other lectures were compiled as the Kannon Gengi, Konkomyo Gengi (Profound Meaning of the Konkomyo Sutra) and other commentaries. [2] the Latter Day of the Law: Also Mappo. The last of the three periods following Shakyamuni Buddha's death when Buddhism falls into confusion and Shakyamuni's teachings lose the power to lead people to enlightenment. It is said to last for ten thousand years and more. According to the Chugan Ron Sho (Annotations on the Chu Ron) and the Hokke Genron, the Latter Day begins two thousand years after the Buddha's passing. The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law also corresponds to the fifth of the five five-hundred-year periods following Shakyamuni's death that are described in the Daishutsu Sutra. The Daishutsu Sutra predicts that this fifth period will be an "age of conflict," when monks will disregard the precepts and feud constantly among themselves, heretical views will prevail, and Shakyamuni's Buddhism will perish. In contrast, the Lotus Sutra views the Latter Day, when Shakyamuni's teachings lose their power of redemption, as the time when the essence of the Lotus Sutra transferred to Bodhisattva Jogyo at the Ceremony in the Air will be propagated. T'ien-t'ai states in the Hokke Mongu, "In the fifth five hundred years, the Mystic Law shall spread and benefit mankind far into the future," and Dengyo says in the Shugo Kokkai Sho, "The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand." Though modern research tends to place Shakyamuni's death around 500 B.C., Asian Buddhist tradition holds that he passed away in 949 B.C. Calculating from this date, Japanese Buddhists believed that the Latter Day of the Law had begun in 1052. During the first period, the Former Days of the Law, the first thousand years following Shakyamuni Buddha's death, the spirit of Buddhism prevailed and people were able to attain enlightenment through its practice. This period corresponds roughly to the Asoka period in India, a period of unification, trade, and cultural developments characterized by concern on the part of the government for the welfare of the common people. During the second period, the Middle Day of the Law, Buddhism became firmly established in society while gradually becoming formalized and rigid. Consequently, fewer people were able to benefit from it's practice. This period corresponds roughly to the rise and fall of Buddhism in China from about 200 A.D. to 1200 A.D. and to the T'ang dynasty (618 A.D. - 907 A.D.) The great poets, Li Po (701-762) and Tu Fu (712-770) were active during this period. Of interest, too, is that the practice of foot binding is thought to have originated during the 13th century. [3] Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282): The founder of what is now known as Nichiren Shoshu, which regards him as the original Buddha who appears in the Latter Day of the Law to open the way to Buddhahood for all people. At the age of 12 he entered a Tendai temple where he studied both Buddhist and secular teachings. He studied at the major centers of learning at Mt. Hiei, Mt. Koya, Mii-dera temple, and others in the Kyoto and Nara areas becoming familiar with the teachings of all of the sects existing at that time, the best known of which today are Zen and Jodo, or Pure Land. He became convinced that the highest of Shakyamuni's teachings is the Lotus Sutra, that the Great Pure Law which leads directly to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law is implicit in that sutra, and that his was the mission of Bodhisattva Jogyo who was entrusted with the task of propagating the Law in the Latter Day. On the occasion of first declaring the result of his studies, that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the only teaching in the Latter Day of the Law which enables all people to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime, he renamed himself Nichiren (Sun Lotus). The local lord, a devout Jodo adherant, was in attendance and ordered him arrested: thus from the beginning his career as an advocate of the Lotus Sutra met with official opposition, as the Sutra itself predicted. Buddhism was well entrenched in Japanese society at that time with many temples receiving patronage from the government directly, or indirectly from officials and courtiers. Thus, a challenge on doctrinal grounds inevitably entailed a threat to livelihood. Whereas, during the Middle Day of the Law Chinese emperors staged debates to determine which opposing view was correct, during the Latter Day of the Law oponents used political connections to harass each other. This is precisely what happened to Nichiren, exactly in accordance with the predictions in the Lotus Sutra. In 1260, Nichiren Daishonin submitted a treatise, the Rissho Ankoku Ron, to government officials. It set forth overwhelming documentary proof from the Sutras that the disasters which repeatedly assailed Japan at that time had their origin in the peoples' adherence to misleading philosophies. Of the disasters predicted in Shakyamuni's teachings, the ones remaining to occur were those of rebellion and foreign invasion. The invasions by Khubilai Khan in 1274 and 1281 and the revolt of Hojo Tokisuke in 1272 were seen as fulfilling these conditions. For his trouble, the Daishonin was exiled to the Izu peninsula. He returned to Kamakura to continue his activities propogating the Lotus Sutra and further incurring the wrath of officials who attempted to have him executed and, failing that, exiled him once again to Sado Island. Following the execution attempt, which failed due to the fortuitous appearence of a large meteor, he revealed his identity as the True Buddha described in the Lotus Sutra under whom Shakyamuni had attained enlightenment in the remote past, wrote many still extant works detailing his doctrine, and began inscribing Gohonzons (see below) for individual disciples. Although exile to Sado Island was considered virtually a death sentence, the Daishonin survived and eventually converted many people there to his teachings. When he was pardoned in 1274 he was offered a government subsidy if he would stop causing trouble. Replying that he would only modify his teachings upon encountering a more profound teaching, he retired to Mt. Minobu to insure that his teachings would be handed down to posterity. Official gave up harassing the Daishonin during this period and concentrated pressure on his followers. In 1279, for example, 20 farmers were arrested in the Atsuhara region and 3 were eventually beheaded. A dispute over temple land rights were at the bottom of this incident. Seeing the determination with which common people followed his teachings, Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon so that all people in the Latter Day of the Law could attain enlightenment, thus fulfilling the purpose of his advent. He died peacefully in 1282. [4] Gohonzon Honzon means object of respect or worship. Go is an honorific prefix. Literally, the Gohonzon takes the form of an inscription on a scroll or wooden plack on which is written a representation of the Ceremony in the Air described in the eleventh through twenty second chapters of the Lotus Sutra which Shakyamuni used as a metaphor to describe his enlightenment. Nichiren Daishonin inscribed his enlightenment using this metaphor to create the ideal environment for people in the Latter Day of the Law to manifest their buddha nature. In a general sense, I find the concept of honzon, that which one respects or devotes ones time to, useful as the basis for a broad definition of religion. If a person attends church on Sunday and devotes all of his other time to making money, then his honzon is primarily money. If a person believes that ultimate fulfillment will be found in the inevitable triumph of the working class, that is his religion. Clearly, ones choice of honzon is a determining factor in the quality of ones life. It might be helpful to think of the Gohonzon as a letter or a map. Writing a personal letter, you commit something of yourself to a pattern of ink on paper so that a reader can sense something of your life condition. A map can be useful finding a place whose existence you may be aware of but not know how to get to reliably. [5] Nam-myoho-renge-kyo The core of Nichiren Daishonin's teachings, the expression of the fundamental law of the universe. It is often translated, "devotion or correct relationship to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound or vibration." The Daishonin stated emphatically that the recitation of this phrase enabled one to manifest his enlightened nature without fail. [6] Ten Worlds A system of describing states of life developed by T'ien-t'ai based on Shakyamuni's teachings. The ten worlds are hell, hunger, animality, anger, tranquility, rapture, learning, absorbtion, aspiration to enlightenment or boddhisattva, and enlightenment. The first six are familiar. In the strict sense, a person who studies from a buddha is in the state of learning. Someone who attempts to attain enlightenment through the observation of natural phenomena is in the state of absorbtion. A boddhisattva is one whose enlightenment consists of teaching others the law so that they can overcome the suffering in their daily lives. Enlightenment <to be brief and un-complicated> can be thought of as the ability to create value in whatever circumstances one finds oneself. Life exhibits one of these ten conditions at any given moment; the other nine are in a state of latency, or ku. The theory of the Ten Worlds is part of the principle of Ichinen Sanzen, or one moment of life contains three thousand possibilities, which explains how a given life moves from one state to another. [7] Gosho The collected writings and teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. Of the writings, over 400 letters and treatises are extant as well as summaries of his lectures.