So timely for those of us who took part in the recent study exams (congratulations to all!). This one took me a while, I admit, but I'm there now :) Study is truly part of my daily practice, thanks to Sensei's inspirational guidance which has helped me so much to really 'live' the Gosho, as opposed to merely reading it. You may also enjoy this post on study from earlier this year Making study our passion!
"Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and
study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only
persevere yourself; you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise
from faith. Teach others to the best of your ability, even if it is only a
single sentence or phrase."
(The True Aspect of All Phenomena - The Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 386) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=383&m=0&q= Selection source: Together with the Gosho
- Encouragement by President Ikeda, Seikyo Shimbun, August 15th, 2012
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter to Sairen-bo Nichijo
while at Ichinosawa on Sado Island in the fifth month of the tenth year of
Bun’ei (1273). For some reason Sairen-bo was also in exile on Sado, where he had
been converted by the Daishonin in the second month of 1272. A former Tendai
priest, he already knew something about “the true aspect of all phenomena” ; it
was a fundamental concept in the Tendai school of Buddhism. He could not,
however, satisfactorily come to grips with this concept through T’ien-t’ai’s
theory alone, so he asked the Daishonin for an explanation. The True Aspect of
All Phenomena is the Daishonin’s reply.
Though comparatively short, this document elucidates two important elements
of the Daishonin’s Buddhism. It was completed a month after Nichiren Daishonin
wrote The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, in which he explained the
Gohonzon, the object of devotion that can lead all people in the Latter Day of
the Law to enlightenment. True Aspect of All Phenomena begins with a passage
from the “Expedient Means” chapter - the heart of the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra - that implies
that no phenomenon is in any way different from the true aspect, or
Myoho-renge-kyo. It also implies that all the innumerable forms and realities
that exist, both concrete and abstract, are manifestations of Myoho-renge-kyo.
The Daishonin then explains the essence of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho-renge-kyo, and
its embodiment, the Gohonzon. This is the first element - the object of devotion
in terms of the Law.
After clarifying the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin
states that Bodhisattva Superior Practices, the leader of the Bodhisattvas of
the Earth, will propagate that teaching, and that he himself is carrying out the
mission entrusted to that bodhisattva. In light of his own behavior and his
fulfillment of the predictions in the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren Daishonin suggests
that he himself is Bodhisattva Superior Practices. A more profound
interpretation, however, identifies him as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the
Law, whose purpose was to establish the Gohonzon for the enlightenment of all
people in the Latter Day. Thus True Aspect of All Phenomena also explains
the object of devotion in terms of the Person. This is the second element.
Referring to both the Person and the Law, the Daishonin clarifies the
fundamental object of devotion for the people of the Latter Day. He brings
together the points he expounded in The Opening of the Eyes completed in 1272,
which focuses on the second element, and in The Object of Devotion for Observing
the Mind, which focuses on the first element.
The latter half of this letter explains to Sairen-bo that those who devote
themselves to propagating the correct teaching in the same spirit as the
Daishonin are themselves Bodhisattvas of the Earth. The Daishonin predicts that
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread widely in the future, and concludes by setting
forth the key elements of Buddhist practice in the Latter Day of the Law—
namely, faith, practice, and study.
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