The Gohonzon is the Object of Worship of Ninpo-Ika [oneness of Person and Law], the oneness of the person of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and the Law of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. There is no distinction whatsoever between the Person of the Buddha Shakyamuni of the Original Doctrine and the Law of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. We may also say the Gohonzon is the land of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and a representation of the Ceremony in the Air. The Person, the Land, and the Law of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni is the Object of Worship. This is the life itself of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni. Otherwise, the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra, and Nichiren would have taught that images of the Person, Land, and Law of anyone, any Buddha, any Bodhisatva, any Asura or any Mara being could be the Object of Worship. The general and the specific should not be confused. Speaking of the Gohonzon in terms of the Person of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, I present the following:
From the "Kanjin Honzon Sho" ("True Object of Worship"), translated by Senchu Murano:
"During the fifty years of his teaching from the time of his enligthenment under the bo-tree till his attainment of Nirvana under the Sala-tree, the Buddha expounded a great number of sutras. ... Buddha Shakyamuni as the expounder of these sutras is not eternal, because the eternity of the Buddha is for the first time revealed in the latter half of the [Lotus Sutra]. ... In this (saha) world, the Buddha is eternal, has never been extinct, nor is to be reborn. ... The Buddha made no mention of this truth in the first half of the [Lotus Sutra], because he had not yet found hearers intelligent enough to understand it. "
This truth is embodied in the five Words, or rather in the Seven Words, Na-mu-myo-ren-ge-kyo, or 'The Most Honorable Lotus of the Perfect Truth,' which also means 'Adoration be to the Lotus of the Perfect Truth' when taken as the formula of invocation. The Five Words being the expression of the most prfound teaching of the Buddha, the Buddha did not entrust them even to the hitherto most repected Bodisattvas ... instead, he transmitted them to the Bodhisattvas equal to the dust-atoms of one thousand worlds in number who appeared from the gaps of the earth for the first time in the fifteenth chapter of the [Lotus Sutra].
"The true object of worship should be the Buddha at the moment of this transmission. ... "In history, however, no one has ever worshipped the Buddha as revealed in this scene. ... an image of the true object of worship is destined to appear for the first time at the beginning of the Period of Deprivation."
different things but their heart is one. Therefore, when you cast your
eyes upon the words of the Lotus Sutra you should consider that you are
beholding the living body of the Buddha Shakyamuni" (The Pure and Far
Reaching Voice).
"First in Japan and all other countries throughout the world, the object of worship should be Lord Shakyamuni of the Original Doctrine."(Repaying Debts of Gratitude)
the sufferings of birth and death and wish to have an object of veneration
to which they can pay respect, should first of all fashion images of
Shakyamuni Buddha...and make these their object of worship."(The Learned
Shan-wu-wei)
"In the entire land of Jambudvipa, there has never before been a hall or
pagoda that produced the image of Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter
of the Lotus Sutra. How could such an image fail to appear now."(The
Unmatched Fortune of the Law)
"The Shakyamuni of the Juryo Chapter has never been depicted in any
mountain temple or monastery anywhere."(Rebuking Slander of the Law)
"Since the Buddha's passing, two kinds of images, wooden and painted, have
been made of Him..."
"Him", not "it" (The Law). The Law is a part of "Him" as is "His" Land. They are inseparable.
"When the Lotus Sutra is placed before an image (wooden or painted) possessing thirty-one features, the image never fails to become the Buddha of pure and perfect teaching." (Opening the Eyes of Wooden or Painted Images)
"This Buddha of yours, however is a living Buddha." (Consecrating an Image of Shakyamuni Buddha Made By Shijo Kingo) "It is the power of the Lotus Sutra that makes it possible to infuse such paintings and STATUES with a "soul" or spiritual property"(ibid.)
Saha-World of the Eternal Buddha. The letters of
myohorengkyo are seen in the center of the Stupa. On either
side of the letters are seen Buddha Sakyamuni and the
Many-Treasures Buddha. Buddha Sakyamuni is accompanied by
the four Bodhisattvas including Manjusri and Maitreya are
sitting in the lower seats. All the other Bodhisattvas,
including those taught by the historical Buddha Sakyamuni
and those who have come from the other worlds of the ten
quarters are also on the ground. This shows that these
Buddhas are the manifestations of the Eternal Buddha
Shakyamuni and that the worlds of theirs are the
manifestations of the Saha-World of the Eternal Buddha
Shakyamuni. We should worship all these Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas in this arrangement. This is the Honzon, or the
true object of worship. This Honzon was not revealed during
the lifetime of the Buddha except when he expounded the
eight consecutive chapters (XV to XXII) of the Lotus Sutra."(Kanjin honzon
Sho, NOPPA)
"I for the first time reveal, as a banner of the spread of
the Hokkekyo the Great Mandala which even Nagarjuna,
Vasubandhu, and so on, and Tendai, Myoraku, and so on did
not reveal. This is not at all something which I, Nichiren
made myself. It is the Object of Worship which is from the
print block of the Great Muni, the World Honored One within
the Stupa of Taho and the Separate-Body Buddhas."(Reply to Lady Nichinyo,
NOPPA)
From the Nirvana Sutra (I believe):
do not believe, call me Gotama, but you call me the Buddha, the
Blessed One, the Teacher. And this is right, for I have in this life
entered Nirvana, while the life of Gotama has been extinguished.
Self has disappeared and the truth has taken its abode in me. This
body of mine is Gotama's body and it will be dissolved in due time,
and after its dissolution no one, neither God nor man, will see Gotama
again. But the truth remains. The Buddha will not die; the Buddha will
continue to live in the holy body of the law.
"The extinction of the Blessed One will be by that passing away in
which nothing remains that could tend to the formation of another
self. Nor will it be possible to point out the Blessed One as being
here or there. But it will be like a flame in a great body of
blazing fire. That flame has ceased; it has vanished and it cannot
be said that it is here or there. In the body of the Dharma,
however, the Blessed One can be pointed out; for the Dharma has been
preached by the Blessed One.
"You are my children, I am your father; through me you have been
released from your sufferings. I myself having reached the other
shore, help others to cross the stream; I myself having attained
salvation, am a savior of others; being comforted, I comfort others
and lead them to the place of refuge. I shall fill with joy all the
beings whose limbs languish; I shall give happiness to those who are
dying from distress; I shall extend to them succor and deliverance.
"I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of
the world. The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to
which I devote myself is truth. The topic of my conversation is truth.
My thoughts are always in the truth. For lo! my self has become the
truth. Whosoever comprehendeth the truth will see the Blessed One, for
the truth has been preached by the Blessed One."
The Law of the eternal Buddha-nature is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. The expounder of this truth is Lord Shakyamuni of the Original Doctrine.
"The Object of Worship of the Doctrine of the Original: it is from the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni (through His Messenger Nichiren Daishonin) that we receive the Daimoku, the principal practice, and we direct it towards that Original, Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni as the Principal (Original or Fundamental) Holy One, the Object of Worship (Gohonzon) in our minds and (where possible) a physical embodiment, such as (1) a mandala written by or modeled on one written by Nichiren Daishonin, (2) a written scroll of "Namu Myoho renge kyo", (3) images of the manifest Buddha Shakya and the ancient Buddha of Witness Taho seated on either side of the Daimoku and surrounded by the Four Chief Bodhisattvas Who Sprang from the Earth, (4) the image of Lord Shakyamuni attended by the Four Bodhisattvas Who Sprang from the Earth or (5) a statue of Shakyamuni with the Hokekyo (Lotus Sutra) placed before it. (All of these are permissible images of the Eternal Buddha but since we have often been persecuted, the mandala is preferred because of ease of movement and concealment.) We do not permit the separate enshrinement of other deities; however, a statue of Nichiren Daishonin may be placed before and below the Gohonzon itself."
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