Daily Gosho - Reply to Kyo'o

We recently studied this Gosho in our Mother & Baby meetings (study notes at Reply to Kyo'o). Wonderful Gosho, filled with compassion and conviction from Nichiren Daishonin. So for this blog post, let's look at the Gohonzon - the sumi ink representation of Nichiren Daishonin's lifestate.

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it's very easy for me to think - "right, let's start gongyo", in a practical way - what I am really striving to do more of, is "Right, I'm starting gongyo - I am connecting with the lifestate of Nichiren Daishonin, I AM a Buddha, and with Nam Myoho Renge Kyo at the centre of my life - what is there that cannot be achieved..."

I think the old-style gongyo allowed me that time to get into the zone, as it were, whereas now I need a certain amount of daimoku before I'm really focused. Would love to hear how other members feel when they start gongyo and daimoku...thank you.

"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."

(Reply to Kyo'o - http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=412 The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 412) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, October 24th, 2012


Background
This brief letter was written in the eighth month of the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273) and was addressed to Kyo’o, Shijo Kingo’s infant daughter. Since Kyo’o was then only one year old, however, it may be assumed that the letter was meant for Shijo Kingo and his wife, Nichigen-nyo. They had two children, Kyo’o (Sutra King) and another daughter, Tsukimaro (Full Moon), who was a year older. Both were apparently named by Nichiren Daishonin.
This letter was written in response to news that Kyo’o had become seriously ill. At this time the Daishonin was living in exile on Sado Island.
The Daishonin explains the significance of the Gohonzon, the object of devotion. At the Tatsunokuchi Persecution in 1271, the Daishonin revealed his identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. Only after this did he begin to inscribe the Gohonzon and bestow it on his followers, particularly those who had staunch faith in his teachings.
In this letter, the Daishonin says that the boundless benefits of the Gohonzon will surely cure Kyo’o’s sickness and urges Kingo and his wife to believe firmly in the Gohonzon.

Daily Gosho - On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

We know what to do! Deep breath, firm determination, open up that butsudan...and polish that mirror!

"Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime  - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 4) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=3  Selection Source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shinbun, October 5th, 2012

Background

This letter was written to Toki Jonin in the seventh year of Kencho (1255), two years after Nichiren Daishonin established his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. At the time of this letter, the Daishonin was thirty-four years old and was living in Kamakura, the seat of the military government. Toki was a staunch follower of the Daishonin who lived in Wakamiya in Shimosa Province. He received some thirty letters, including Letter from Sado and one of the major treatises, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind. A retainer of Lord Chiba, the constable of Shimosa, Toki had become a follower of the Daishonin around 1254.

Of all his writings from the mids, On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime focuses most clearly on the tenets of the Daishonin’s Buddhism; many of the other works of this period are aimed chiefly at refuting the erroneous doctrines of other schools and discussing theoretical questions. This short essay not only reflects the theories T’ien-t’ai formulated based on the Lotus Sutra, but also reveals the concrete practice for attaining Buddhahood—namely, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—that is missing in T’ient’ai’s theoretical framework.

Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, but to the Daishonin it is much more; it is the essence of the sutra, the revelation of the supreme Law itself. Apparent in this work are both the depth of his thought and his conviction that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the only teaching that can lead people to Buddhahood in this lifetime.

Daily Gosho - The Opening of the Eyes

OK, no doubt! I WILL transform this suffering due to my current situation. No matter what!

"Although I and my disciples may encounter various difficulties, if we do not harbour doubts in our hearts, we will as a matter of course attain Buddhahood."

(The Opening of the Eyes, The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. I, page 283) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=220&m=0&q= Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, October 1st, 2012

Background
This treatise is one of Nichiren Daishonin’s five most important writings, in which he reveals his identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent. In the second month of the ninth year of Bun’ei (72), still in exile under harsh conditions on Sado Island, the Daishonin completed this work in two volumes and addressed it to Shijo Kingo, one of his leading disciples in Kamakura and a samurai who was in the employ of the ruling Hojo clan, on behalf of all his followers. When the Daishonin was taken to Tatsunokuchi in Kamakura in , Shijo Kingo accompanied him, having resolved to die by his side, and personally witnessed his triumph over execution. Also, he had journeyed to Sado to visit the Daishonin in exile and sent his messengers to him with writing materials and other necessities.
The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, written in 1273, clarifies, from the viewpoint of the Law, the object of devotion that enables all people to attain Buddhahood. The Opening of the Eyes treats the same subject in terms of the Person; that is, it shows Nichiren Daishonin to be the Buddha who would establish the object of devotion for all humankind to achieve Buddhahood. The object of devotion is the embodiment of the Daishonin’s enlightenment to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Law implied in the depths of the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren Daishonin’s life on the forbidding island of Sado was full of hardship; his hut was open to wind and snow, and he lacked food, clothing, and writing materials. In addition to his physical suffering, he was greatly troubled by the news that many of his followers in Kamakura had abandoned their faith. Feeling himself constantly facing the shadow of death, the Daishonin wrote this treatise to encourage his disciples as though it were his last will and testament.
Nichiren Daishonin later described his motives behind the work in his Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra: “After everyone had gone, I began to put into shape a work in two volumes called The Opening of the Eyes, which I had been working on since the eleventh month of the previous year. I wanted to record the wonder of Nichiren, in case I should be beheaded. The essential message in this work is that the destiny of Japan depends solely upon Nichiren. A house without pillars collapses, and a person without a soul is dead. Nichiren is the soul of the people of this country” ( p. 772).
The title The Opening of the Eyes means to enable people to see the truth, in other words, to free people from illusions and distorted views and awaken them to an understanding of the correct teaching and its correct teacher. The work describes the role the Daishonin played in championing the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and in spreading its teachings, as he himself viewed and experienced it. A passage from this treatise reads: “On the twelfth day of the ninth month of last year, between the hours of the rat and the 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” ( p. 269). It was through the Tatsunokuchi Persecution that Nichiren Daishonin revealed his true identity as the eternal Buddha. This passage refers to the death of a common person named Nichiren and indicates that from then on the Daishonin was to reveal in full his enlightenment as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.
Nichiren Daishonin begins this treatise with the words, “There are three categories of people that all human beings should respect. They are the sovereign, the teacher, and the parent” (p. 220). The three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent are equated with the qualifications of a Buddha. The virtue of sovereign is the power to protect all living beings; the virtue of teacher is the wisdom to lead all to enlightenment, and the virtue of parent means compassion to nurture and support them. These three virtues constitute a theme that runs throughout this treatise, and at the conclusion of this work the Daishonin declares, “I, Nichiren, am sovereign, teacher, and father and mother to all the people of Japan” (p. 287).
At the outset Nichiren Daishonin discusses Confucianism, Taoism, Brahmanism, Hinayana, and provisional Mahayana Buddhism, and then moves on to the Lotus Sutra. He attributes the disasters ravaging Japan to the confusion in Buddhism and the failure by both rulers and subjects to recognize the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. Here he cites two reasons why the sutra is supreme. One is that the theoretical teaching (the first half of the sutra) reveals that people of the two vehicles can attain enlightenment, a possibility utterly denied in the previous forty- two years of the Buddha’s preaching. This substantiates the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds and the statement that Buddhahood is open to all. The other reason is that, in the essential teaching (the latter half of the sutra), Shakyamuni Buddha proclaims that he first attained enlightenment in an unfathomably remote past.
The Daishonin states that Shakyamuni Buddha himself declared that the Lotus Sutra is “the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.” In this sutra the Buddha implied the supreme teaching, as stated: “The doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life is found in only one place, hidden in the depths of the ‘Life Span’ chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra” (p. 224). The Daishonin takes the position that only the revelation of the truth of Buddhism can save the nation and the people. This conviction, he says, has moved him to propagate the essence of the Lotus Sutra in spite of the persecution that he knew he would incur. He realized that his followers might doubt him because of the apparent failure of the gods to protect a votary of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, he stated: “This doubt lies at the heart of this piece I am writing. And because it is the most important concern of my entire life, I will raise it again and again here, and emphasize it more than ever, before I attempt to answer it” (p. 243).
The second part of this treatise discusses the “Emerging from the Earth” and the “Life Span” chapters of the Lotus Sutra, where Shakyamuni Buddha summons forth countless bodhisattvas from beneath the earth and reveals that he actually attained enlightenment in the remote past, and that all the Buddhas of the other sutras are his emanations and all the bodhisattvas, his disciples. Nichiren Daishonin clarifies that the Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter is the teacher of all Buddhas.
At this point, an implicit analogy begins to emerge. The doubt held by Shakyamuni’s disciples about how he could possibly have taught the countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth in this life leads to the revelation of his true identity as the Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago. Similarly, the doubt held by the Daishonin’s followers about why he has been exiled and suffered so many persecutions leads to an understanding of his true identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day.
Then the Daishonin mentions the principle of sowing, maturing, and harvesting. He points to the unsurpassed Law whereby all Buddhas attain enlightenment — Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This Law is what lies in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter. Nichiren Daishonin directly teaches this Law, the true cause for attaining Buddhahood, and his Buddhism is called the Buddhism of sowing because it implants this “seed of enlightenment” in the lives of those who practice it. In this light, he possesses the virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent for humanity as a whole.
Nichiren Daishonin explains that each sutra has its own claim to excellence; he also gives examples of statements in which various sutras assert their own superiority to other teachings. But the Lotus Sutra alone declares that it is supreme among all sutras, and the Daishonin reconfirms its supremacy. The Lotus Sutra speaks of the three powerful enemies of the sutra and prophesies opposition and hostility toward the sutra and its votary. All this the Daishonin had himself encountered; all this is predicted in the sutra. As the votary of the Lotus Sutra, he vows to stake his life on the cause of saving all people, saying: “Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law. . . . I will be the pillar of Japan. I will be the eyes of Japan. I will be the great ship of Japan. This is my vow, and I will never forsake it” (pp. 280 –81). Then he assures his disciples that they will definitely attain Buddhahood as long as they do not permit themselves to be overcome by doubts, even when difficulties befall them.
In the final section of this treatise, Nichiren Daishonin explains that there are two ways to propagate the Lotus Sutra: shoju, or gentle persuasion, and shakubuku, or strict refutation. Here, the Daishonin argues that both methods should be used, because there are two kinds of countries, those whose people are ignorant of the correct teaching of Buddhism and those whose people deliberately oppose it. But Japan, as a nation that slanders the correct teaching, requires the shakubuku method. Then he concludes that to remove suffering and give joy to the people is the Buddha’s teaching. The Daishonin has devoted himself to refuting and rooting out the causes of human misery. For him, the exile to Sado was only a “small suffering” in this life. Indeed, he feels “great joy” because of the results he is confident will come in the future.

Daily Gosho - The Supremacy of the Law

I can imagine when Nichimyo received this letter from Nichiren Daishonin, she felt as reassured as I do when I read the Gosho. His compassion for his disciples just shines through his writing, urging us to redetermine with every gongyo we do, and daimoku we chant. Doesn't life seem to run more smoothly when we've chanted abundant and vibrant daimoku? Protection abounds from the universe when our lives are in rhythm with the Mystic Law, when our daimoku is based on achieving kosen-rufu and we practice with the same heart as our mentor...

"That is why the Great Teacher Miaolo stated, 'The stronger one's faith, the greater the protection of the gods.' So long as one maintains firm faith, one is certain to receive the great protection of the gods."

(The Supremacy of the Law - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 614) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=613 Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, August 27th, 2012


Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter at Minobu in the eighth month of the first year of Kenji (1275). It was addressed to Oto, the daughter of Nichimyo, an earnest believer living in Kamakura. This letter, though addressed to Oto, was obviously meant for her mother, whom the Daishonin had called the Sage Nichimyo in a letter dated the fifth month of 1272.
Virtually nothing is known about Nichimyo other than that she visited the Daishonin, with her daughter, while he was in exile on Sado Island. The journey to Sado was a dangerous one, and the Daishonin was greatly impressed by the strength of faith she demonstrated.
In this letter, the Daishonin says, “Ice is made of water, but it is colder than water. Blue dye comes from indigo, but when something is repeatedly dyed in it, the color is better than that of the indigo plant.” With this paraphrase of a passage in the well-known Chinese classic, Hsün Tzu, he encourages Nichimyo to strengthen her faith still more so she can gain even greater vitality and good fortune.
The title for this letter derives from a passage in The Annotations on the Nirvana Sutra that reads, “One’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give one’s life in order to propagate the Law.” The Daishonin declares that however much people hate and persecute him, because the Law is supreme, it will spread without fail. Then, after his death, his remains, he adds, will be respected, as will those who have aided him.