"Nowadays, those who seek the way no doubt hope for a better existence in their future lives. Yet they cast aside the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha, while never failing even for an instant to revere Amida Buddha and call upon his name. What kind of behavior is this? Though they may appear to the eye to be pious people, I do not see how they can escape the charge of rejecting their own parent and devoting themselves to a stranger. A completely evil person, on the other hand, has never given his allegiance to any Buddhist teaching at all, and so has not committed the fault of rejecting Shakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, if the proper circumstances should arise, he might very well in time come to take faith in Shakyamuni."
Who might that be? Certainly it is not the disciples and believers in Nichiren.
ReplyDelete“Once more he will gain hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of dharanis of repetition and far and wide will see immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of buddhas. Each of these world-honored ones will stretch out his right hand, pat the practitioner’s head, and speak these words: ‘Excellent, excellent! You practice the great vehicle, you have set your mind on great adornment, you keep the great vehicle in your thoughts. In the past, when we set our own minds on the attainment of enlightenment, we were all like this. You must be diligent and attentive and never falter.
ReplyDelete“‘Because in previous existences we practiced the great vehicle, we have now acquired pure bodies of right and universal knowledge. You must now pursue your efforts without slackening. This great vehicle sutra is the treasure storehouse of the buddhas, the eye of the buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences, the seed from which spring the thus come ones of the three existences. - Universal Worthy Sutra
With regard to the three bodies of a Buddha, the Universal Worthy Sutra states: “A Buddha’s three types of bodies are born from this correct and equal sutra, which is the great seal of the Law that assures entry into the sea of nirvana. It is from this sea that a Buddha’s three types of pure bodies are born. These three types of bodies are fields of good fortune for human and heavenly beings and are highest among those worthy of alms.”
DeleteThe three bodies are as follows: first, the Dharma body of a Thus Come One; second, the reward body of a Thus Come One; and third, the manifested body of a Thus Come One. These three types of bodies of a Thus Come One are invariably possessed by all Buddhas. If we use the moon as an illustration, we may say that the moon itself is comparable to the Dharma body, its light to the reward body, and its reflection to the manifested body. Just as a single moon has these three different aspects, so a single Buddha possesses the virtues of these three different bodies.
These doctrines of the five types of vision and the three bodies are not expounded anywhere outside of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai has said, “The Buddha consistently possesses the three bodies throughout the three existences. But in p.684the various teachings, he kept this secret and did not transmit it.”3 In this passage of commentary, the phrase “in the various teachings” refers not only to the Flower Garland, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom sutras, but to all sutras other than the Lotus Sutra. And the phrase “he kept this secret and did not transmit it” means that, throughout the entire body of scriptures outside of the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, concealed and avoided expounding it. Therefore, in performing the eye-opening ceremony for painted or wooden Buddha images, the only authority to rely on is the Lotus Sutra and the T’ien-t’ai school.- Consecrating an Image of Shakyamuni Buddha