derekjuhl

http://www.cebunet.com/nst/layyessence.html

ENGLISH OKO
THE ESSENCE OF THE LOTUS SUTRA -- THE GREAT LAW
THE ESSENCE AND FORM OF THE GREAT LAW IN THE LATTER DAY -- THE
DAI-GOHONZON

REVEREND YOSAI YAMADA
CHIEF PRIEST
JANUARY 12, 1986

An important question for all humanity is: "How, for the duration of
this lifetime, can we live to bring happiness to ourselves, our
children and future generations?"

To find an answer to that question, we do many things. We go to school
to learn many subjects and acquire many skills that we hope will bring
happiness. We may read many ideologies and practice many philosophies,
and end up changing our ideologies and philosophies like the man who
puts on many hats, or goes without, depending upon the weather.
Perhaps we practice a religion, although there are many people who do
not. But although there is universal agreement that everyone wants to
be happy, there is no agreement on how to achieve it.

Some 3,000 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha preached Buddhism in India. He
did this not only for the people of India, but for all of anguished
humanity so that suffering could be eliminated during their lifetimes.
However, on the whole, his teachings have not been successful. In
fact, I think we would probably agree that all religions have failed
miserably on this score. Is there any nation whose people have not
been touched by war, civil strife and other personal and national
tragedies? I think we will find that there have been none. Why did
these teachings fail?

I would like to generally talk about Buddhism this morning, as well as
predict a new day for all of us through the practice of True Buddhism.

Let me begin by urging you to keep in mind that to be Buddha means to
be one truly awakened to the nature of life. He is one who understands
and knows the past through what he sees in the present, and he has the
capability of seeing into the infinite future. But not only that, if
he is a True Buddha, he can teach each man the cause to make amid the
suffering and folly visited upon him because of his past mistakes so
that the next day, the next week, the next year and the next lifetime
are infinitely brighter.

Shakyamuni Buddha of India left behind many teachings. Eighty or
eighty-four thousand teachings have been attributed to him. This
number should not be taken literally, but used to indicate the large
number of his teachings.

Shakyamuni Buddha of India is, of course, the first historically
recorded Buddha.

When he began teaching, he preached from the content of his awakening.
But finding that people could not understand, he began again - and
through- out 42 years of his life, gradually raised the ability of his
followers so they could approach and in essence, achieve his own
awakening.

These 42 years of effort culminated in the preaching of the Lotus
Sutra -- a sutra he indicated as complete and final.

The Lotus Sutra is a very optimistic teaching. It predicts Buddhahood
for every kind of person. But how this is to happen and through what
practice is not clarified. Nor is the entity of the Buddha's life and
its potential in all beings elucidated.

Shakyamuni predicted the decline of his teachings as well as the
ascendancy of the Great Law through which one becomes Buddha. But the
time would be in the distant future -- in the fifth five hundred years
after his death.

This is not to say that people gained no benefit from the volumes of
teachings he left behind outside of the difficult to understand and
difficult to practice Lotus Sutra. They did.

The most famous example is Maghada, which became a civilization known
as the "Cradle of Buddhism". Two hundred years after Shakyamuni's
death, underlying the civil law through which the empire carried out
its daily affairs was the Buddha's teachings. Throughout the empire,
the civil law and Buddhist cannon were carved on 40 foot pillars so
that the people could read and know them.

However, fifty years later, in 250 B.C., King Pushamitra destroyed
Buddhism in Magadha. So, perhaps we should ask, "What happened to\0
Buddhism and to the teaching Shakyamuni Buddha considered final and
complete?"

As you know, Buddhism is divided into three time periods. These time
periods accommodate the rise and decline of various aspects of
Buddhist development.

The first 1000 years after Shakyamuni's death are known as the Former
Day of the Law. During this period there is the power of Shakyamuni's
teachings to help people. The people enjoy a close association with
this Buddha and his teachings.

In terms of the Lotus Sutra, the Former Day of the Law, also indicates
the nature of the highest teaching and the Buddha who preached it.
Shakyamuni Buddha is the Buddha of the Lotus Sutra -- the scripture
that bears his name. This scripture contains an accurate picture of
enlightenment, but no definition of the entity through which it is
achieved, or the practice upon which universal enlightenment can be
based.

The second 1000 years are called the Middle Day of the Law. The person
or Buddha enlightened to the nature of the universal law of life
during this period is T'ien-t'ai of China.

When Buddhism moved along the Silk Route into China, Shakyamuni was
not there to guide its spread. Over a thousand years had passed since
his death. Few could say which teachings were provisional and which
final and complete.

T'ien-t'ai is said to have awakened to his own Buddhahood through the
23rd chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Thereafter, he put the sutras in


through which one becomes a Buddha. The theory of 3,000 worlds and
their mutual possession demonstrated in theory how everyone comes to
possess the potential for Buddhahood.

However, although the T'ien-t'ai school became established in China,
this school which teaches meditation to find the Buddha within one's
own mind, practiced a way to Buddhahood that common people could not
undertake. This is also a period of temple building and other
development as well as the decline in practice.

But Shakyamuni's predictions proved correct. He said the Great Law
would rise in the fifth five hundred years after his death. the period
of T'ien-t'ai is a little more than a thousand. And although
T'ien-t'ai greatly contributed to the clarification of the Great Law
through which one becomes a Buddha, in 575 A.D., he retired,
despairing of the lack of human capacity to understand the teaching.

You should not be surprised. The Lotus Sutra illuminates the essential
nature of universal life. What is amazing is that it was expounded
3,000 years ago and that another could begin clarification of it a
little over a thousand years later without such words as molecules,
atoms and elementary particles. It is not surprising that we should
have to wait for the developing capacity of humanity and for someone
else to establish it in a form every man can practice.

But the Lotus Sutra of Shakyamuni is a very important scripture for
other reasons. It is important, first of all, because this sutra is
not transferred to any of his immediate disciples. After this sutra is
preached, he summons another group of bodhisattvas from, as the sutra
says, "under the earth" and transferred the essence of the sutra to
them.

It is interesting to note that the sutra says, "from under the earth".
What could this possibly mean?

It could mean that they came from a place far away.

It could also mean that they were not yet of this earth, but because
the essence of the sutra was transferred to them, it indicated their
future appearance.

The Lotus Sutra also indicates the appearance of another's advent.
This person would also appear in the future. The sutra says that this
man, knowing the teachings of this sutra, together with its reason and
process would expound it according to its true meaning. The Jinriki
chapter of the Lotus Sutra states:

"This man, working in the world, can dispel the darkness of the
living, just as the light of the sun and moon in the sky dispel the
darkness."

Shakyamuni also predicted what conditions would exist in the world at
the time of this advent. These prophecies indicate that this votary
would have a difficult time. The sutra indicates:

"Since hatred and jealousy abound even during the lifetime of the
Buddha, how much worse will it be in the worl after his passing."

The sutra also states: "The people will be full of hostility and it
will be extremely difficult to believe."

It also predicts ignorant people who will vilify and attack the votary
with swords and staves, and indicates that he will be banished again
and again. The world would be plagued with all kinds of impurities and
pestilence, disasters and internal strife would characterize the time
when the teachings and practice of the Buddhism of the Former Day of
the Law reached their decline.

It was into these kind of conditions in 13th Century Japan that
Nichiren Daishonin was born. The year was 1222. He entered the
priesthood at 12 and as he grew into full manhood, the conditions in
Japan worsened.

Soon after his ordination at 16, he expressed his earnest desire to
study Buddhism in Kamakura, then the nation's political center. From
his writings, we can understand that he also obtained a deep knowledge
of the social and political conditions existing in the country.

His studies took him to other Buddhist centers and he reached the
conclusion that the essence of Buddhism was lost in Japan. He declared
the essence of the Great Law, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo on April 28, 1253 at
the age of 32 and as was customary, he gave his first sermon on the
same day at the temple he had entered at 12.

His first sermon was a serious Shakubuku effort. He told his audience
they were practicing the wrong teachings of Buddhism. This event was
the beginning of his fulfillment of the predictions in the Lotus
Sutra. The people were full of hostility and his teaching was
difficult to believe. Later, he would be beaten with swords and
staves, and banished again and again.

Nichiren Daishonin approached government three times. This, and his
activities after the second time nearly ended in his execution.
Banished to Sado Island after the execution attempt failed, he later
wrote his own thoughts about what he should further do. At age 51, he
wrote in the "Opening of the Eyes":

"But if I utter so much as a word concerning it...." ...meaning the
true practice of Buddhism....

"...then parents, brothers and teachers will surely criticize me and
the government authorities will take steps against me. On the other
hand, I am fully aware that if I do not speak out, I will be lacking
in compassion. I have considered which course to take in the light of
the teachings of the Lotus and Nirvana Sutras. If I remain silent, I
may escape harm in this lifetime, but in my next life, I will most
certainly fall into the hell of incessant suffering.

"If I were to falter in my determination in the face of government
persecutions, however, I would not be able to fulfill my course. In
that case, perhaps it would be better not to speak out...while
thinking this over, I recalled the teachings of the Hoto Chapter on
the six difficult and nine easy acts. Persons like myself who are of
paltry strength might still be able to lift Mt. Sumeru and toss it
about; persons like myself who are lacking in spiritual powers might
still shoulder a load of dry grass and yet remain unburned in the fire
at the end of the kalpa of decline; and persons like myself who are
without wisdom might still read and memorize as many sutras as there
are sands in the Ganges.

But such acts are not difficult, we are told, when compared to the
difficulty of embracing even one phrase or verse of the Lotus Sutra in
the Latter Day of the Law. Nevertheless, I vowed to summon up a
powerful and unconquerable desire for the salvation of all beings, and
never to falter in my effort.

It is already over twenty years since I began proclaiming my doctrine.
Day after day, month after month, year after year, I have been
subjected to repeated persecutions...the most recent one has come near
to costing me my life.

"The Opening of the Eyes" is a long and carefully written refutation
of provisional teachings. With his resolve firm, and fully determined
that he would teach as the True Buddha in the Latter Day of the Law,
in the middle of Tart Two of this do***ent, he acknowledges his full
Buddhahood with these words:

"On the twelfth day of the ninth month of last year, between the hours
of the Rat and Ox (11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.) this person named Nichiren
was beheaded. It is his soul that has come to this island of Sado and,
in the second month of the following year, snowbound, is writing this
to send to his close followers."

This is one way of saying that the personal concern for the body of
Nichiren, the man, no longer existed. Of course the body remains, and
although snowbound and in exile, it is the life of the Original Buddha
from Kuon Ganjo his close followers continue to hear beyond the snow
and banishment.

After this banishment, Nichiren Daishonin did not stop his shakubuku
effort. He approached the Kamakura Government again. Being repulsed a
third time, he withdrew and left shakubuku to his disciples.

In 1279, he inscribed the Great Law in the Dai-Gohonzon and the
practice through which all past Buddhas, all future Buddhas and all
present Buddhas awakened, is established so all humanity can achieve
the same state. It is the same Great Law Shakyamuni practiced but
could not establish for eternity. It is the same Great Law that
T'ien-t'ai theoretically clarified but which caused him to despair
because the capacity of people to under- stand it was not enough.

One becomes a Buddha through the practice of this Law established in
Dai-Gohonzon.

Because humanity still suffers because the promise of Buddhism is not
theirs, we take quite seriously Shakyamuni's exhortation in the Lotus
Sutra:

"In the fifth five hundred years after my death accomplish worldwide
Kosen-rufu and never allow its flow to cease."

And because the Great Law has been established in this form, we truly
understand the great compassion of the True Buddha who said:

"When it comes to understanding the Lotus Sutra, I have only a minute
fraction of the vast ability that T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo possessed. But
in my ability to endure persecution and in my compassion for others, I
believe that I would put them to shame."

But do we have to endure what the Daishonin experienced?

As I mentioned in the new Year's address, your task is to consider
your work the practice of Buddhism, your study the practice of
Buddhism and your family life the practice of Buddhism in terms of the
causes you make. The affairs of the mundane world are itself Buddhism,
and when the cause and effect of the mundane world are illuminated
through the power of faith and practice, all things will become quite
clear.

So, if you have to ask, "Where is the Buddha, and you cannot find him
in the mirror when you shave or comb your hair, you must try again.
But in truth, I know how difficult it is to find the Buddha reflected
in the mirror the first thing in the morning. I have experienced the
same thing. But that is why we have the Gohonzon and chant
Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.

But most of all, you must acquire for yourself the joys of practice
and quickly share them with others. That too is shakubuku.

Finally, Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is represented by the seven
characters of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which includes the Law of the
Universe and, of course, all the 84,000 teachings expounded by
Shakyamuni. But there is a radical difference.

In reply to Kyo-o" the Daishonin wrote:

"I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the
Gohonzon with your whole heart. The Buddha's will is the Lotus Sutra,
but the soul of Nichiren is nothing other than Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo."

This is perhaps another way of saying that Shakyamuni willed into
existence the content of his enlightenment through eighty-four
thousand teachings; but the Daishonin left behind the essence of
enlightenment as Person and Law -- -- the actual state of Buddha, as
well as the invocation and practice of the Law through which this
state is achieved by all people.

No, I cannot promise you a life free of hardships because you practice
Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. But because we can practice true Buddhism,
in the words of T'ien-t'ai, the Buddha of the Middle Day of the Law,
when hardships arise, we find that:

"A wild boar scraping a gold mountain, only makes it glitter; rivers
flowing to the sea increase its volume, fuel added to fire only makes
it burn higher, and the wind inflates the body of a gura."

Thank You.<<<<<

Derek Juhl

marcinmd

The Board Gohonzon kept at Taisekiji has nothing historically or doctrinally
to
do with Nichiren Daishonin. Most NST and SGI member don't realize that it is a
late day addition to the dogma of Taisekiji, added some two hundred years after
Nichiren's lifetime. When it first appeared on the scene the other Nikko
Temples realized it was a fraud and denounced it. Taisekiji was merely trying
to garner a bit of status for itself within the pecking order of the Nikko
Branch. Most likely it was purchased from a local Confraternity who were known
to use large wooden Gohonzons at that time.

Nikko had even prohibited using wooden Gohonzons because he felt that it
desecrated the paper image that would need to be cut through when the wood was
carved. Nichiren never once spoke of such a thing. There is no Gosho about the
DaiGohonzon. Many SGI and NST member are shocked when they learn this. How can
the central object of worship along with it's complicated metaphysics not have
been explained by Nichiren? It is too far fetched to be believed by any
objective thinking person.

It is also important to understand that the metaphysical idea of how the
DaiGohonzon works is lifted from the corrupt Medieval Tendai Shu. NST covers up
the fact that it apostatized to the Tendai Shu and use to send it's Priests to
Mt. Hiei for instructions and even to get Esoteric transmissions outside of
Nichiren's Buddhism. The idea behind the DaiGohonzon is based on magical idea's
Tendai ideas and is used as an Amulet rather than a Mandala. Here is the
difference:

A true Nichiren Mandala is an icon for the Realm of the Buddha. It represents
the Buddha realm and is to be venerated. Nichiren taught the Buddha-Dharma was
the actual Gohonzon.

The DaiGohonzon is directly worshiped, it is not venerated as an icon of the
actual Honzon. The wood itself is thought of as somehow sentient and NST
members often speak in terms of having an "audience" with it. So rather than
worshiping the Eternal Buddha or anything depicted on the Mandala, they have
lowered their practice to Pagan Worship of the material object in and of
itself.

That is most certainly not what Nichiren did nor is what he intended.

Pagan worship is fraught with spiritual dangers and is the lowest rung on
the religion ladder. Nichiren Shoshu members should think carefully about what
they are doing and understand the dire consequences for their lives.

In summary:

1. The Daigohonzon is not taught about in the Gosho. That seals the fate of the
thing 95%. That's just too big an oversight to be believed.

2. When the Gosho is studied and we find Nichiren's view of Gohonzons, his most
basic metaphysical understanding simply doesn't match what Taisekiji teaches
about the Ita Mandala. The two points of view are at odds Richard Torgerson
has posted an excellent essay http://members.aol.com/rtorgerson/replytoroy.htm
where he walks you through step by step Nichiren view of Mandala's. He then
copied right off Taisekiji published materials their doctrine of the
DaiGohonzon and the two views simply don't match. They are in fact two
different religions, like the
view of God by Jews as opposed to the view of God by Mormons. Richard could
have gone much further and brought in several other central Gosho and piled on
more proof of Nichiren Shoshu heresy if he had wished to.

3. Since the Daigohonzon is such a contrarian doctrine, had it really been
around during Nichiren and Nikko's time, it would not only would have been
taught about and the change in course explained but it also (with absolute
certainly) would have been hotly discussed. We know great details about the
earliest generation of believers down to Nichiren's colon polops. The Ita
Mandala remains totally and utterly uncorroborated by contemporary witnesses
even though Taisekiji claims that it was the Principal Object of Worship
enshrined at Kunonji (Nichiren's Temple on Minobu).

Nichiren Shoshu simply cant get around this.

No witnesses. No arguments over it . No discussions. No contemporary mention of
it what-so-ever. One decent quote by Toki Jonin, or Abutsubo or Shingo Kingo or
Nichizo would do nicely. Without some corroboration, the DaiGohonzon myth is
sunk and reasonably so.

4.The DaiGohonzon is a terrible fraud foisted on naïve people ****ed in by
the oldest trick in the book It's a Pagan Idol that they hope will solve their
personal problems. It's nothing more than a magic amulet right out of the Chuko
Tendai Shu playbook and unrelated to anything Nichiren Daishonin did, said, or
taught. In fact it leads people away from True Buddhism.

alias

Snip of uninformed drivel

atheramari

Snip of uninformed drivel

~~~

The gosho states, that it's no fault of Nichiren's if the person has no faith.

D

marcinmd

Snip of uninformed drivel<

Really?

Where is the Gosho that teaches about it?

marcinmd

The Board Gohonzon kept at Taisekiji has nothing historically or doctrinally to
do with Nichiren Daishonin. Most NST and SGI member don't realize that it is a
late day addition to the dogma of Taisekiji, added some two hundred years after
Nichiren's lifetime. When it first appeared on the scene the other Nikko
Temples realized it was a fraud and denounced it. Taisekiji was merely trying
to garner a bit of status for itself within the pecking order of the Nikko
Branch. Most likely it was purchased from a local Confraternity who were known
to use large wooden Gohonzons at that time.

Nikko had even prohibited using wooden Gohonzons because he felt that it
desecrated the paper image that would need to be cut through when the wood was
carved. Nichiren never once spoke of such a thing. There is no Gosho about the
DaiGohonzon. Many SGI and NST member are shocked when they learn this. How can
the central object of worship along with it's complicated metaphysics not have
been explained by Nichiren? It is too far fetched to be believed by an
objective thinking person.

It is also important to understand that the metaphysical idea of how the
DaiGohonzon works is lifted from the corrupt Medieval Tendai Shu. NST covers up
the fact that it apostatized to the Tendai Shu and use to send it's Priests to
Mt. Hiei for instructions and even to get Esoteric transmissions outside of
Nichiren's Buddhism. The idea behind the DaiGohonzon is based on magical idea's
Tendai ideas and is used as an Amulet rather than a Mandala. Here is the
difference:

A true Nichiren Mandala is an icon for the Realm of the Buddha. It represents
the Buddha realm and is to be venerated. Nichiren taught the Buddha-Dharma was
the actual Gohonzon.

The DaiGohonzon is directly worshiped, it is not venerated as an icon of the
actual Honzon. The wood itself is thought of as somehow sentient and NST
members often speak in terms of having an "audience" with it. So rather than
worshiping the Eternal Buddha or anything depicted on the Mandala, they have
lowered their practice to Pagan Worship of the material object in and of
itself.

That is most certainly not what Nichiren did nor is what he intended.

Pagan worship is fraught with spiritual dangers and is the lowest rung on
the religion ladder. Nichiren Shoshu members should think carefully about what
they are doing and understand the dire consequences for their lives.

In summary:

1. The Daigohonzon is not taught about in the Gosho. That seals the fate of the
thing 95%. That's just too big an oversight to be believed.

2. When the Gosho is studied and we find Nichiren's view of Gohonzons, his most
basic metaphysical understanding simply doesn't match what Taisekiji teaches
about the Ita Mandala. The two points of view are at odds Richard Torgerson
has posted an excellent essay http://members.aol.com/rtorgerson/replytoroy.htm
where he walks you through step by step Nichiren view of Mandala's. He then
copied right off Taisekiji published materials their doctrine of the
DaiGohonzon and the two views simply don't match. They are in fact two
different religions, like the
view of God by Jews as opposed to the view of God by Mormons. Richard could
have gone much further and brought in several other central Gosho and piled on
more proof of Nichiren Shoshu heresy if he had wished to.

3. Since the Daigohonzon is such a contrarian doctrine, had it really been
around during Nichiren and Nikko's time, it would not only would have been
taught about and the change in course explained but it also (with absolute
certainly) would have been hotly discussed. We know great details about the
earliest generation of believers down to Nichiren's colon polops. The Ita
Mandala remains totally and utterly uncorroborated by contemporary witnesses
even though Taisekiji claims that it was the Principal Object of Worship
enshrined at Kunonji (Nichiren's Temple on Minobu).

Nichiren Shoshu simply cant get around this.

No witnesses. No arguments over it . No discussions. No contemporary mention of
it what-so-ever. One decent quote by Toki Jonin, or Abutsubo or Shingo Kingo or
Nichizo would do nicely. Without some corroboration, the DaiGohonzon myth is
sunk and reasonably so.

4.The DaiGohonzon is a terrible fraud foisted on naïve people ****ed in by
the oldest trick in the book It's a Pagan Idol that they hope will solve their
personal problems. It's nothing more than a magic amulet right out of the Chuko
Tendai Shu playbook and unrelated to anything Nichiren Daishonin did, said, or
taught. In fact it leads people away from True Buddhism.

delete

Makes you wonder where they got the idea in the first place,
eh? The Japanese are not innovators, they are copiers. They also would
have been afraid to create wooden Gohonzon if they had not seen that
it had been done by the Daishonin.


Mark Porter

I spread this teaching because I, too, "heard thus"

marcinmd

Makes you wonder where they got the idea in the first place,
eh? The Japanese are not innovators, they are copiers. They also would
have been afraid to create wooden Gohonzon if they had not seen that
it had been done by the Daishonin.
<<

Thank you for your speculation....

The main point is that there is no credible evidence Nichiren had anything to
do with it, plus it's metaphysics contradict what he did teach

alias

Of course Marc thinks he knows what the Daishonin taught when he really
doesn't. Nor does he know what Nichiren Shoshu really teaches. What he has
left, then, is his opinion based on what other sects say about NST and his
grudge and, voilá, you have the same broken record -- what he heard from
Lamont and other biased "scholars" -- played over and over again
interspersed with his hateful, grudge-filled infantile dares and boasts.

He also will not reveal what he believes in now which fits in with his
egocentric need for attention so he can show everyone how clever and
knowledgeable he is when the real reason is that he doesn't want to, heaven
forbid, lose face.
--

rob

in article brvmsh$83mvq$1@ID-137389.news.uni-berlin.de, Alias at


Pretty funny. He has no problem insulting others beliefs, but will not come
clean on his own, therefore avoiding insults directed toward him.