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.
simply put, the common mortal reality is only the visible part of the iceberg.
ReplyDeletei have had experience, difficult to explain, when sick, that proves to me that there are indeed other realities.
"The Buddha says this is an illusion. There is no "self" to "attain enlightenment". That's just how we perceive the flow of things." bsm
ReplyDeleteWhat "self " is Buddha referring to ? Do they think that there is no individual alaya consciousness aspect that by rebirth goes through the eternal cycles of birth and death and eventually reaches the state of a 3 bodied Tathagatta
or
The "self " that Buddha may be referring to is the Dharma body that already is the enlightened state, so there is no reason to attain something that already is
"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"
ReplyDeleteHe transcribed the 10 world Gohonzon differently from what he received it at the ceremony in the air because Devadatta and many others weren't there
What makes you think that Devadatta was not in the assembly? The Ceremony in the Air begins with the Treasure Tower Chapter and ends in Chapter 22.
ReplyDeleteWhat chapter does it say that Devadatta was in the Assembly ?
Delete"He explains, without equivocation, that he didn't "invent" the gohonzon but "received" from the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha"
If this is true then why are there Japanese protective deities in the Gohonzon ? There are also things that were mentioned in the ceremony of the air that weren't in the Gohonzon , either way they don't match up
The Ceremony in the Air takes place from the 11th through the 22nd chapter which includes the Devedatta [12th] Chapter. As far as the Japanese protective deities being present, the Lotus Sutra states, for example:
ReplyDelete"At that time the world-honored one, in the presence of the men such as Manjushri, the immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of bodhisattvas mahasattva who from of old had dwelled in the saha world, and the monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, the heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, the human and nonhuman beings—before all these he displayed his great supernatural powers. He extended his long broad tongue upward till it reached the Brahma heaven, and from all his pores he emitted immeasurable, countless, colored beams of light that illuminated all the worlds in the ten directions." [Chapter 21]. Certainly this includes the protective deities of Japan.
It sounds all inclusive, different names for a different time that mean the same thing.
ReplyDeleteJust about everyone that I have heard from say that the 10 worlds are implicit in Myho renge Kyo down the middle,so this is why the 10 worlds don't need to be presented in the Gohonzon
I noticed in120 something gohonzon's chart that the 10 world gohonzons started around number 60. From 60 to the last a large percentage of them were complete 10 world Gohonzon's
Do you know the reason why Nichiren made so many Gohonzon's without the ten worlds present and do you think it matters whether we have a complete Gohonzon or not. Ryuei and the SGI don't think it matters.
Why would Nichikan have inscribed a gohonzon missing 3 worlds.
Nittatsu and Nikken transcribed a 10 world Gohonzon's and I suppose many other high priests did to,from the legendary Dai Gohonzon
One of those unresolved questions, I think. Some believe that since the Ten World Gohonzon came later it was the pinnacle of Nichiren's teachings. Others believe that everything is represented by Namu myoho renge kyo whether implicit or implied.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with the Nichikan Gohonzon [or any Nichiren Shoshu/SGI Gohonzon], as you may already know, is not that it is not a Ten World Gohonzon but that Shakyamuni Buddha does not reside there. Since Nichikan and all Nichiren shoshu priests taught that Shakyamuni was a cast-off Buddha and they inscribed his Gohonzon with that in mind, how could Shakyamuni Buddha ever reside there?
ReplyDeleteMy wife who is an independent practitioner of the Fuji school says "The 10 world Gohonzon is more important than the worship of Shakyamuni or Nichiren. If it wasn't for the Law of ichinen sanzen no Buddha would exist in the first place, as Shakyamuni said worship the Law and not the person
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand even though the we should worship the Law and not the person, the Law doesn't exist outside of the person. Therefore we worship Shakyamuni and Nichiren because they are one with the Law but still overall we really have to understand the Law correctly before we start to worship either of them or any other Buddha's for that matter
If we fail to understand the Law then these Buddha's become distortions of the Law. We should be careful of being Person Worshippers"