The Gohonzon is much more than meets the eye by Bruce Maltz

Lest we get too clever in tossing about words like "gohonzon" or "buddha", let's keep in mind the essential reality that NO ONE (not any high priest or scholar, or the people who read this blog) has a clue what a "gohonzon" or a "buddha" really is. We have Nichiren's word that the "gohonzon" is the ongoing "ceremony in the air" and we have Shakyamuni's word that "only a buddha and a buddha" can know the ultimate reality that the gohonzon embodies. It is a mystery. The absolute mystery.  A plant follows the course of the sun daily. Animals follow the biological clocks of the movement of stars. Neither plants nor animals "understand" why they follow these "laws" or what the stars and the sun mean.  Likewise, we "follow" the Law and we respond to inherent Buddhahood, but we haven't a clue about this ultimate reality. 

So, it's superficial speculation to say that the gohonzon is only a representation of the Eternal Buddha but is not the Eternal Buddha in actuality. If Nichiren says that a gohonzon which has had its "eyes opened" to the Lotus Sutra is imbued with the "soul" (tamashii) of the Eternal Buddha, then it is foolish to determine that the gohonzon is merely a "representation" and  piece of paper. That's relying on our human senses to imply "value" or "reality". Our human senses cannot gauge reality at all, according to the LotusSutra, because human senses are composed of "attachments" and "illusions". What looks like paper and ink to our senses is only what we "think" we see. We also see the birth and death of all things, whereas the Buddha says that this is an illusion. We see "self and others". The Buddha says this is an illusion. There is no "self" to "attain enlightenment". That's just how we perceive the flow of things.

A gohonzon whose eyes are "opened" to the Lotus Sutra is inherently different from a gohonzon whose eyes are "opened" to the "offshoot" teachings of SGI/NST.  In neither case is the gohonzon merely a "piece of paper", waiting to be "activated" by the chanting of practitioner.  Such a prejudice would mean that the "flesh and blood" of a human being is somehow "superior" to the "paper and ink" of the gohonzon. This presupposes that the "matter" or material that constitutes the "outer wrapping" is the "true reality". A similar argument in the secular realm is the deep significance of the Constitution of the United States which transcends the paper and ink of which it is made.The Lotus Sutra teaches that there is only a partial "truth" to material reality. Material reality is an impermanent, constantly changing series of phenomenon.Life which is a synthesis of mind and body is both substantial and non-substantial.   "Buddha-reality" too is neither "substantial" nor "non-substantial", but a "middle way" called "Chu".

"Middle way" has two meanings in Buddhism.  It refers to the superficial concept of "neither extreme" but it also means the deeper concept of  "neither substantial or non-substantial". It is the ninth consciousness that cannot be perceived by the six senses or usual human reasonings.  WE cannot put faith in any conclusions that are drawn by prejudices about material objects, be they made of flesh, crystal, paper or electrons.  The "reality" is not confined or defined  by the "material" we see. 

So, when making sweeping statements about the "gohonzon", the bottom line is, no one alive today can hazard a guess about what it is actually is. "Representation" is a rationalization, but it doesn't reflect the understanding of Nichiren Daishonin.. 

When we chant to a "Nichiren" gohonzon, we really don't know anything about what we're doing, just like the plant which follows the sun doesn't have any conscious understanding about what it's doing.  When we chant to an SGI/NST gohonzon, we don't know what the "difference" is (given our unreliable "senses"). Why take a chance?  Since it is all based on faith, why not take faith as Nichiren "recollected" it when he transcribed the gohonzon, exactly as he received it at the ceremony in the air.  He explains, without equivocation, that he didn't "invent" the gohonzon but "received" from the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha.

Even in arguments about the "True Buddha", the glaring question is bypassed....What is a "Buddha" in the first place? IF that cannot be defined within the limitations of human senses, then what sense is there in saying that Nichiren is the "true" buddha and the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni is a "cast-off" buddha (Taisekiji's theological term). It's a conclusion of profound ignorance, imputed by "interpretation". It's not based on Nichiren's own statements. It's the doctrine based on cryptic translations and interpretations by later priests of questionable intentions.

We take Nichiren at his word, having faith that his Buddhism is "transmitted" directly from the Lotus Sutra, and that his "gohonzon" is not simply some "representation" but a "reality' that transcends the human senses and understanding. One does not "see" the ceremony in the air like one "sees" the skyline of New York nor should one dismiss the gohonzon as a mere "representation" of abstract Buddhist theory.  Otherwise, why would Nichiren say that a "soul" inhabits the gohonzon, and that the orientation of an "object of worship" is the most important thing of all?  It obviously is much more that it seems.  It's not just ink on rice paper.  There are 128 extant Nichiren gohonzons. They aren't just paper "manifestation" mandalas.

Likewise, the so-called "dai-gonzon" is not just a "hunk of wood". It's much more sinister.  It's a fake, so what "soul" imbues it?  How could it be "the living Nichiren" when it renders "worthless" all authentic Nichiren gohonzons? Nichiren said that ALL of the troubles of Japan stemmed from worshiping the wrong "gohonzon" and replacing the correct "gohonzon" with provisional teachings and their attendant "manifestations" (Buddhas, who are "emanations" of the Original Eternal Shakyamuni).  These are statements that transcend the reach of human intelligence. Nichiren is telling us that there is MUCH more here than meets the eye. In fact, it transcends the eyes, ears, nose and mind.