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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Pure Land (Nembutsu and Jodo) teachings

  1. "Oh, please. By his own account, Nichiren was an ordained NEMBUTSU priest - that's why he reserved his most vehement vitriol for that sect. So typical. Read "Letter from Sado" once - in it, Nichiren totally cops to having been a Nembutsu priest. And he stole their chassis AND their magic chant (the Nembutsu folks chant nam-myoho-renge-kyo along with nam-Amida-Butsu, you know), so naturally he'd then say they were The Worst. Nothing worse for a copy than having the original sitting right there - SOMEbody's bound to notice!

    "The Kamakura reformers were above all concerned with questions of personal salvation, ...and they sought simpler, surer religious ways that were accessible to everyone, whether priest or peasant. In Pure Land and Nichiren teachings, for example, this meant an emphasis on faith and simplified ritual: faith in Amida and chanting the nembutsu in the case of Pure Land, faith in the Lotus Sutra and chanting the title of that sutra in Nichiren." - Robert S. Ellwood and Richard Pilgrim, "Japanese Religion", 1985, p. 77. -- Doris Fromage
  2. Shinran writes in his most important work Jinenhonisho:

    "When we speak of 'Nature' (Jinen), the character Ji means 'naturally' by itself (Onozukara). It is not (the result of) an intention (self assertion or Hakarai) of the devotee. Nen is a word which means to 'cause to come about' (shikarashimu). Shikarashimu (also signifies that it) is not (due to any) effort (Hakarai) of the devotee. Since it is (the result of) the Vow of the Tathagata, we call it Honi i.e., truth. We say of Honi that it 'causes to come about' because it is the Vow of the Tathagata. Since the truth is the Vow of the Tathagata, we say generally that it is not (the result of) the effort of the devotee, and therefore, the power (virtue) of this Dharma is that it 'causes to be'. For the first time, there is nothing to be done by man. This is what we should understand as 'the reason which is beyond reason' (Mugi-no-Gi). Originally Jinen was a word meaning 'to cause to be.' We say Jinen when the devotee does not consider his goodness or evil, in accordance with the fact that Amida has vowed originally (that salvation was to be attained) not by the efforts of the devotee, but by being embraced and caused to rely on the Namu Amida Butsu (his name). In the Vow which we hear, it is vowed that he will cause us (to attain) the highest Buddhahood. 'Highest Buddhahood' signifies to abide in formlessness. Because we are without form, we say Jinen (Nature). When we indicate that there is a form, we do not speak of the highest Nirvana. We heard and learned for the first time that the one who makes known formlessness is called Amida. Amida is the means by which we are caused to know formlessness. After we understand this principle, we should not constantly discuss Jinen (Nature). If we constantly discuss it, the principle that 'what is beyond reason is reason' is made (to conform to) reason. This is the mystery of Buddha-wisdom."

    Buddhahhod without any effort of the devotee? It comes about because of the vow of the Buddha Amida? This Dharma "Causes to be"? "Highest Buddhahood is to abide in formlessness"? "When we indicate form we do not speak of the highest Nirvana"?

    But Rick, a believer in Jodo Shinshu (Shinran) states:

    "Precisely what Shinran Shonin argued against another of Honen Shonin's disciples who was saying that salvation through the Nembutsu occurs only after death. Shinran said, "No! Through the Nembutsu we are saved now, in this life!" It causes a furor among the disciples, and Honen intervened and supported Shinran's position."

    It appears that Rick is again mistaken about the teachings of his own sect or is he distancing himself from the imbecile Shinran?
    ReplyDelete
  3. Pure Land, a repost of an essay by Graham Lamont(1)

    I. The "Last Five Hundred Years" and the Latter Dharma
    (Mappo) An old claim of the Pure Land believers against the
    Hokekyo or Lotus Sutra is that this Sutra, as opposed to
    their Three Pure Land Sutras (Jodo Sambukyo ), is
    inappropriate to our time, the age of the Latter Dharma
    (Mappo). A variant of this contention has now been advanced
    by the claim that the Hokekyo is limited only to the fifth
    five hundred years since the Buddha and is irrelevant to the
    present age, since by the usual reckoning (from 949 B.C.E.)
    this period of the fifth five hundred years has passed. Thus
    once again they try to make the Supreme Sutra as an
    irrelevant teaching when in reality it is the teaching for
    the salvation of the beings of our age and is especially
    left for them. Let us argue following the Sutra-based
    teachings of Nichiren Shonin the Great Bodhisattva who was
    sent by the Eternal Lord Shakya as His Messenger to the
    people of the Latter Dharma to begin the spread of the
    Truth.

    First we shall consider the misinterpretation of the term
    "last five hundred years" by the partisans of the Pure Land
    teaching (which is centered on the Buddha Amida in the Pure
    Land of Gokuraku in the Western Quarter): they assume that
    this expression "last five hundred years" in the twenty
    third chapter of the Hokekyo refers to that period alone,
    but it is clear from other passages in the Sutra that the
    Buddha meant this Hokekyo for the whole of the ten thousand
    years of the Latter Dharma: Directly following upon the
    revelation of the Eternal Shakyamuni in the sixteenth
    chapter, the next chapter says:

    "In the evil era, the time of the Latter Dharma
    Those who can keep this Sutra"

    It imposes no limitation relating to the "last five hundred
    years" of the five five-hundred-year periods as described in
    the Daijikkyo. Clearly the teaching was to begin to spread
    throughout the world when the other teachings were being
    destroyed. Thus the Tendai masters rightly said that the
    literal interpretation of "the last five hundred years" was
    a teaching at first sight, a surface interpretation (ichio)
    and that, in accordance with the Sutra, at second sight
    (saio) it is the whole ten thousand years of the Latter
    Dharma. Again Nichiren Shonin in his "Go gohyaku sai gomon"
    (STN, v. 3, 2293) notes that the verses of the "Chapter of
    Practices of Peaceful Joy"

    13:
    In the Last Era
    The Ones who keep this Sutra
    With regard to the householders and religious
    As well as those who are not Bodhisattvas
    Ought to produce compassion (T.9.39a)

    The term "Last Era" (in the Japanese reading "nochi no sue
    no yo" or "nochi no masse" or "later end/final era") seems
    to emphasize its being the whole or even the later part of
    age of the Latter Dharma. In any case one cannot say that
    this refers to the literal "last five hundred years" alone.
    Further, Nichiren Shonin cites the phrase "within (or in the
    midst of) of the Latter Dharma" (T.9.37c-38a, cited in the
    Kaimoku sho (STN, v.1, 592) and also in the Kyo gyo sho
    gosho (STN, v. 2, 1481) where it is rightly glossed as
    meaning the ten thousand years of the Latter Dharma. If the
    Pure Land partisans wish to limit the spread of the Hokekyo
    to "within" the last five hundred years, meaning the
    beginning of the Latter Dharma, they must accept the spread
    "within" the Latter Dharma since the same "within" or "in
    the midst of" (chu) is used for both expressions. The Tendai
    masters such as Chan-jan (Myoraku Daishi) are thus correct
    in saying the "five hundred" years are "temporarily
    according to the time when the Great Teaching is to spread"
    (Hokke mongu ki 1B (T. 34. 157b))

    cont....
    ReplyDelete
  4. The Daijikkyo clearly emphasizes the destruction of "Pure
    Dharma" meaning the Lesser Vehicle and Provisional Great
    Vehicle Sutras; by contrast, the Lotus Sutra emphasizes the
    "wide proclamation and spreading" (kosen rufu) at the same
    time, the "last five hundred years", which means the
    beginning of the time when this teaching of the Hokekyo
    would spread through the world.

    The Daijikkyo says that the Pure Dharma will sink and be
    hidden and, although it is a sutra previous to the Lotus
    Sutra and, therefore, an expedient, its prophecy is
    confirmed in the Lotus Sutra in the "Chapter of the
    Practices of Peaceful Joy" 14 when it says, "The Bodhisattva
    Mahasattvas who in the Last Era, when the Dharma is about to
    be extinguished, receive and keep, read and recite this
    Sutra Canon are not to harbor a mind of jealousy and envy or
    sycophancy and deception." (T.9.38b) Clearly this
    "extinction" of the Dharma refers to the other teachings,
    for this Sutra is to be spread when the other teachings are
    destroyed at the beginning of the Latter Dharma.

    Now must turn to the relative value of the statements made
    by the Hokekyo and the Pure Land Sutras.

    In the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings (Muryogikyo),
    immediately before preaching the Hokekyo, the Buddha states:
    "For more than forty years I have never yet revealed the
    Truth." (T.9.386b) And with the Previous Teachings,
    expedient teachings. "Passing through immeasurable,
    boundless, inconceivable asamkheya kalpas, they in the end
    were not able to achieve Supreme Bodhi." (T.9.387a) In other
    words, those seeking enlightenment were not able to attain
    the Supreme Bodhi or Enlightenment of the Buddha up to this
    point, following the teachings of the Buddha. This is
    because up to that time He had not revealed the Real
    Teaching but had put forth only Provisional or Expedient
    Teachings, which conformed to the capacities (ki) of a
    particular audience or group of beings. Immediately after
    the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings the Buddha preaches the
    Lotus Sutra or Hokekyo, in which it proclaims: "As to the
    World-honored One's Dharma, after a long time, He is
    certainly going to preach the Truth." ("Chapter of
    Expedience" 2 (T.9.6a))

    Hence we should know that the Truth, formerly withheld in
    the Buddha's temporal career, is only now and of necessity
    going to be revealed in this Sutra. The teachings of the
    other Sutras, before this time, are now abolished as mere
    expedients, temporary, provisional measures to lead people
    onward to the Truth of the One Buddha Vehicle. "I
    forthrightly abandon expedience and only preach the Supreme
    Way." ("Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.10a))

    Note that Chan-jan (Myoraku Daishi) glasses "abandon"
    (she/sha) as "abolish" (fei/hai) (Hokke gengi shakushin 1A
    (T.33.S16c)) Thus we should know that the Buddha is now
    preaching only the absolute truth, the One Vehicle leading
    directly to Buddhahood. Now the Pure Land Sutras are from
    the third period of the Buddha's lifetime, the Hodo
    (Vaipulya) period (roughly thirty years), previous to the
    Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras.

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  5. And as we might expect in the case of all Sutras that are
    provisional, mere expedients for a particular audience, the
    Sutras before the Hokekyo, contradict themselves. The Pure
    Land partisans claim that the Muryojukyo will outlast all
    other Sutras by one hundred years. (T.12.279a11-12) But note
    that another version of this sutra, the Bussetsu Muryo shojo
    byodo kyo states, "After by Parinirvana the Way of the
    Sutras will remain for one thousand years; after a thousand
    years the Way of the Sutras will be cut off; I am
    compassionate to all, and especially retain this Sutra
    Dharma to stay and abide a hundred years; in the midst of
    the hundred years finally then it will cease, stop, and be
    cut off." (T.1Z.299c11-13 and n. 12 from the Ming and Yuan
    editions) (According to some commentators (T.12.279a, n. 3)
    there is also to be another thousand years before that last
    hundred years; this is very interesting because, according
    to the standard reckoning of the time of the Buddha's
    Parinirvana (949 B.C.E.), the two thousand year period plus
    the one hundred years would be in the first part of Honen's
    lifetime (1133-1212), or about 1151 C.E. In other words,
    according to this version the teaching of this Sutra is
    supposed to cease about the time Honen, the great exponent
    of Pure Land (exclusive Nembutsu) is starting on his career!


    We may also note that this alternate translation with the
    actual years is an older translation (supposedly by
    Chih-ch'ien from the Later Han) than the more standard
    version of the Muryojukyo in use by Pure Land partisans now;
    although the thousand year passage occurs only in the Yuan
    and Ming versions, if this is, indeed, a slightly older
    version then the actual calculation of the years were
    deleted for some reason from the standard version translated
    by K'ang Seng-k'ai in the Ts'ao Wei period (220-280).

    But even leaving this aside, Nichiren Shonin points out
    (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, '00-102) that the
    pronouncements of the sutras previous to the Lotus Sutra are
    not determinate, because, for example the Ninnokyo or Sutra
    of the Benevolent Kings predicts it will last eight thousand
    years past the age of the Latter Dharma.

    By contrast, the words of the Hokekyo are final and we have
    shown its destiny is to be propagated throughout the age of
    the Latter Dharma beginning with the fifth five hundred
    years. Nichiren Shonin explains the text "After My
    Extinction within the five hundred years after (or the last
    five hundred years) they shall widely proclaim and spread it
    and not allow it to be cut off." "The character 'after'
    [last] following on 'After My Extinction' is the character
    'after' (go) in 'after the various sutras of the more than
    forty years are completely extinguished.'" (Shugo kokka ron,
    STN, v. 1, 102 l. 14) In other words, Nichiren Shonin
    interprets the last five hundred years as "after" the other
    (merely provisional) Sutras have run their course and
    disappear or virtually disappear because they are no longer
    of any effect. (N.B. The rendering of the kambun text with
    the word "after" instead of "last ' fits Nichiren Shonin's
    reading in this instance; both renderings are perfectly
    legitimate; the problem is more with the word order and
    vocabulary of English than with the original Chinese. This
    particular rendering is also in the future tense as a
    prophecy but it can also be read as,an imperative, which
    really does not affect the sense here.)

    II. The Pure Land (Nembutsu) Followers claim that Amida is
    Our Savior The Pure Land believers advance the claim that
    the Buddha Amida is the special savior of the people of this
    Saha World in the age of the Latter Dharma. But let us note
    the Eighteenth Vow of Amida in (Muryojukyo), which is
    central to Rebirth (ojo) in the Pure Land faith:

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  6. "Even though I should obtain Buddhahood, when the beings of
    the Ten Directions believe and rejoice with all their heart,
    desiring to be born in my country, if they are not born
    [there], I shall not accept True Enlightenment; only
    excepting the Five Rebellious Sins and Blasphemy against the
    True Dharma." (T.12.268a26-28)

    The Pure Land patriarchs have developed various clever
    arguments to undo the obvious meaning of this sutra text:
    that Amida in His central vow excludes from His Pure Land
    all those who commit the Five Rebellious Sins and those who
    commit blasphemy against the Dharma. Now Pure Land
    commentators tried to use texts of the Great Parinirvana
    Sutra (Daihatsunehangyd) (T.12.554a-b, 574c) to show that
    the people of our age, the "Ever sinking" and those "Who
    emerged from the sea but then sank back again", were saved
    by the Buddha Amida and those above this level were saved by
    the Buddha Shakya. This idea appears to have come from
    Shan-tao's interpretation but following an interpretation by
    Genshin (942-1017), one of the greatest exponents of Pure
    Land doctrine in the Tendai Sect,1 Nichiren Shonin
    demonstrates that these two Watanabe Hoyo, "Nichiren Shonin
    no shukyo ni okeru 'hobo' no igi" ("The Significance of
    'Blasphemy against the Dharma' in Nichiren Shonin's
    Religion" in Miyazaki Eishu and Motai Kyoko, eds. Nichiren
    Shonin kenkyu, 96 classes of those "ever sinking" and
    "emerging, then sinking back" are, in fact, those who
    blaspheme against the Dharma and those guilty Of the Five
    Rebellious Sins, but as we have just seen, the Buddha Amida
    excludes these very people. (Note also the phrase in the
    "Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.9c), "...the multitudes of
    beings, sinking in suffering, unable to believe this Dharma,
    because they destroy the Dharma, not believing, will fall to
    the Three Evil Ways [of Rebirth]." This shows that the
    beings sinking in the sea of suffering here do so because of
    unbelief in the Truth and efficacy of this Sutra.) By
    contrast, the Concluding Sutra of the Hokekyo, the Fugengyd,
    actually proclaims that these excluded sinners, those who
    commit the Five Rebellious Sins and Blasphemy against the
    Dharma, to be the very capacities for the Hokekyo :

    "If kings, great ministers, brahmins, householders, wealthy
    householders, officials, these people and so on, greedily
    seeking with no revulsion, commit the Five Rebellious Sins,
    blaspheme the Hodo Sutra and are possessed of the Ten Evils,
    the retribution for these Great Evils is to fall to the Evil
    Ways of Rebirth surpassing a torrential rain: they must
    certainly be going to fall to the Avici Hell. If they desire
    to extinguish and be rid of these karmic hindrances, they
    ought to give rise to repentance and change and do penance
    for their sins." (T.9.394a) (N.B.: the terms Hodo Sutra
    applies to!his Hokekyo in this instance, as is generally
    acknowledged.)

    Among the tive types of repentance which are mentioned there
    is this: "they should only profoundly believe in the Cause
    and Effect, the Way of the One Reali1y, and know that the
    Buddha is not Extinguished." (T.9.394b)

    There can be no doubt that this particular form of
    repentance is centered on the principal teaching of the
    Hokekyo: the One Reality revealed in the "Chapter of
    Expedience" 2 and the Eternal Buddha revealed in the
    "Chapter of the Measure of Life of the Tathagata" 16. In
    other words, among the various types of repentance
    recommended by the Concluding Sutra of the Hokekyo is the
    very faith preached by Nichiren Shonin. The response to
    Blasphemy against the Dharma and all other types of sins is,
    indeed, the repentance by believing in the true Hokke faith!

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  7. Moreover, Blasphemy against the Dharma is the very worst of
    diseases, incurable save by "the One Buddha Lord Shakya's
    Excellent Medicine of the Sublime Sutra" (Ota nyuo dono
    gohenji or "Reply to the Tonsured Layman Ota", STN, v, 2,
    1116 l. 8), for it is written in the "Chapter of the
    Original Matter of the Bodhisattva Yakuo" 23, "This Sutra is
    the Excellent Medicine for the Diseases of the people of
    Jambudvipa: if persons have a disease and get to hear this
    Sutra, the disease at once shall be extinguished. "
    (T.9.54c25-26) It is this Sutra alone which can cure the sin
    of Blasphemy against the Dharma, which is unbelief or wrong
    belief.

    The Great Parinirvana Sutra (Daihatsunehangyo) says, "If
    there are those who have disparaged and blasphemed this True
    Dharma, they can themselves change and do penance, returning
    to the Dharma ... except for this True Dharma there is no
    further salvation and protection; for this reason they ought
    to return to the True Dharma." (T,12.425b, cited by Nichiren
    Shonin in the "Reply to the Tonsured Layman Ota", STN, v. Z,
    1116) It is clear. as both the Tendai Masters and Nichiren
    Shonin have shown from the Sutra texts, that this Great
    Parinirvana Sutra is, in fact, the Diffusion Section to
    Lotus Sutra . (E.g., the Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1,
    130-132, noting especially the passage where the Great
    Parinirvana Sutra (T.12.420a) points back to the salvation
    of the unsavable Shravakas in the Lotus Sutra; so the Great
    Parinirvana Sutra is the "gleaning" to the "great harvest"
    of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra alone has saved the
    Shravakas, thus fulfilling the vows of all Bodhisattvas to
    save all beings and alone has revealed the True Attainment
    of Buddhahood in the Most Distant Past, that is to say, the
    Eternal Life of the Buddha Shakyamuni.) When it refers to
    this True Dharma, it is referring back to the Supreme Lotus
    Sutra.

    Now what is Blasphemy? The Pure Land (Nembutsu) people and
    others will argue that they do not "disparage and blaspheme"
    the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.

    Let us answer from the Sutra text in the "Chapter of the
    Parable" 3: first, the Buddha Shakyamuni proclaims, "Now
    these three worlds are all my own; the beings therein are
    all my children. But now this place has many calamities and
    hardships; I alone can guard and save them." (T.9.14c26- 28)
    (Note that this applies not only to the Buddha Shakyamuni's
    Historical Manifestation in the first half of the Lotus
    Sutra (the Shakumon) but also in the second half (the
    Hommon) where the Buddha proclaims, "I likewise am the
    Father of the World, The One who saves from the various
    sufferings and travails." ("Chapter of the Measure of Life
    of the Tathagata" 16) Thus it is the Buddha Shakyamuni,
    revealed as the Eternal Buddha, who is our true savior, the
    rescuer of the unsavable!

    Thus far from being alien to all beings (as well as the
    non-sentient support retribution) of this Saha World, as
    some Pure Land teachers and others claim, the Buddha Shakya
    is the Lord, Teacher, and Parent of this World from the Most
    Distant Past. So He has revealed Himself as uniquely the
    Parent and Savior of us beings. Note that even in the
    intermediate period after His True Enlightenment in the
    inconceivable past it is the Buddha Shakyamuni who,
    manifested as the Brahmacarin Hokai (Hokai bonji) performing
    the Bodhisattva practice made a vow that "gathering the
    multitudes of beings driven forth from the Pure Lands of the
    Ten Directions, I shall save them." (From fasc. 6 the
    Hikekyo or Sutra of the Flower of Compassion) cited in the
    "Letter to Jorembo" or Jorembo gosho) (STN, v. 2, 1076; also
    "Epistle to Lord Matsuno" (Matsuno dona goshosoku), STN. v,
    2, 1277 and cf. Nichiren Shonin ibun jiten, 1004a) Contrast
    the vows of the Bodhisattva Hozo who as the Buddha Amida
    abandons this Saha World and also its people excluding those
    who commit Blasphemy and the Five Rebellious Sins.

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  8. The Buddha Shakya has said, as we noted above, that it is
    this Sutra, the Hokekyo, that is His revelation of the
    Truth, and yet, He continues immediately afterwards in the
    same "Chapter of the Parable" 3, "Though I again teach and
    (decree, yet they do not do not believe and receive."
    (T.9.14c28-29) Likewise He urges: "I for the sake of beings
    by means of this parable preach the One Buddha Vehicle; if
    you [plural] can believe and accept these words, all in
    every case are going to become able to obtain the Buddha
    Way. This Vehicle is subtle and sublime, pure and foremost,
    in the various worlds there is none superior." (T.9.15a5-8)

    He then warns against disbelief: "If persons do not believe
    and disparage and blaspheme this Sutra, then they cut off
    all the worlds' Buddha seeds. (Or again if they frown and
    harbor doubts and confusions, you should hear preached the
    retribution of this person's sin . "These persons at life's
    end will enter Avici Hell for fully one kalpa and, when the
    kalpa is exhausted, will again be born like this turning on
    to numberless kalpas and emerging from hell will fall to the
    beasts...." (T.9.15b2Z-c2) clearly disbelief is the source
    of all this; as faith is the source of salvation, so lack of
    faith and doubt are the source of evil retribution. (We must
    note despite the length of this terrible punishment in Avici
    and other evil places of rebirth, this is not eternal
    damnation.)

    According to the buddha in His Real (non-expedient)
    Teaching, unbelief, harboring doubts, in regard to this
    Sutra will lead to retribution in the Avici (Unremitting)
    Hell and other evil states of rebirth through countless
    aeons.

    Now the Pure Land followers still say they have not
    "blasphemed and disparaged" yet it is clear that they do not
    believe in the efficacy of this Sutra for people of this
    Latter Age; rather they harbor doubts about it and teach at
    variance to what the Buddha has said in a final and
    authoritative way in this very Lotus Sutra; for do they not
    follow Shan-tao in saying "not one in a thousand" attain by
    the Hokekyo and other sutras when this Sutra proclaims all
    shall attain by this One Vehicle? Do they not follow Honen's
    famous prescription in the Senchahu shu to "abandon, close,
    put aside, cast away' (sha hei kaku ho) the Lotus Sutra
    among the other sutras'? Is this what the Lotus Sutra
    teaches: that we should abandon it now in this age, far from
    the time of the historical Buddha? Now the Pure Land
    partisans will most probably argue in one or the other of
    two ways

    1) They claim that, in following Honen, they never intended
    to criticize the Hokekyo but merely meant that "the truth
    [of the Lotus Sutra] is profound and the understanding [of
    the people of our age of the Latter Dharma] is slight" (ri
    jin ge mi); the Lotus Sutra, they claim, is only for great
    sages and not for ordinary unenlightened worldlings: its
    practices are too difficult.

    Let us see what the Diffusion Section (ruzubun) within the
    Sutra (as opposed to the separate Diffusion Section Sutras,
    the Fugengy6 and the Daihatsunehangyo) has to say: "Still
    further, after the Extinction of the Tathagata, if they hear
    this Sutra and do not disparage it but give rise to the mind
    of following joy, you should know it is already the aspect
    of profound faith and understanding." (The "Chapter of the
    Distribution of Merits" 17 (T.9.45b22- 24))

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  9. Now this passage describes the Five Ranks (gohon) after the
    Extinction of (the historical manifestation of) the Buddha.
    The person who hears and does not blaspheme against this
    Supreme Dharma but has the joy of following in faith
    already has the aspect of profound faith and understanding.
    Note that understanding is not a prerequisite for this but
    only "following joy", the very first stage of the spiritual
    journey. Clearly the Buddha intends this Sutra for beings
    such as ourselves. (Note that in this same chapter this is
    in the period of the Latter Dharma for in the next stage of
    faith, "keeping" this Sutra, it is specifically said to be
    "in the evil era at the time of the Latter Dharma"
    (T.9.46a13).)

    Moreover, in the "Chapter of Following Joy" the vast merit
    of one who has heard this Sutra even at fiftieth hand is
    proclaimed by the Buddha yet this person is clearly even
    less spiritually advanced than the person who first heard it
    in the Buddha's congregation and has not yet even entered
    the level of the Identity of Contemplation and Practice
    (kangyo soku) but is at the level of the Identity of Name
    (myoji soku) where real understanding or practice have not
    yet really begun. (Note that, unlike the first forty-nine,
    this fiftieth person has not even preached the Dharma to
    someone else and so is at the most elementary level.) Yet
    such "shallow" merit is actually vastly superior to that of
    the great sages of the teachings of the Previous Sutras.
    (Tayu sakan dono gohenji, STN, v. 2, 1852) That this should
    be so is explained by the well-known principle, "Because the
    more the teaching is Real, the more the [spiritual] level is
    lowered.") The Sutra itself says: "When there are beings
    who, hearing that the Buddha's Lifespan is of such great
    length, can produce so much as one thought of faith and
    understanding, the merit which they obtain shall have no
    limit or measure. If there are good sons or good daughters
    who for the sake of Anuttara- samyak-sambodhi practice the
    Five Paramitas, the Dana Paramita, the Sila Paramita, the
    Kshanti Paramita, the Virya Paramita, and the Dhyana
    Paramita, excluding the Prajna Paramita, when one compares
    this merit to the former merit, it does not reach one part
    of a hundred parts, a thousand parts, or one hundred
    trillion parts and it is something even calculations and
    similes cannot know. If there are good sons or good
    daughters who have merit such as this, there would be no
    instance of backsliding in Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi."
    (T.9.44cl 8-29)

    Although this passage is technically within the Four Faiths
    (Four Levels of Belief with increasing levels of
    understanding and practice), which are practiced in the
    Buddha's Lifetime, Chan-jan (Janran, Myoraku, the sixth
    Chinese Patriarch of the Tendai (T'ien-t'ai) Sect) in the
    Hokke mongu ki points out that the Four Faiths and Five
    Ranks are practically the same, so that "one thought of
    faith and understanding" is applicable to the time after the
    historical Buddha; thus a single thought of faith in this
    Sutra and specifically in the Buddha's Immeasurable
    Lifespan, as preached in the Sixteenth Chapter, is superior
    to all Five Paramitas or Perfections except the Prajna
    Paramita or Perfection of Wisdom since that is identical to
    this Sutra itself. Such faith is at least as "easy" as the
    Nembutsu but is surely superior in merit. (Incidentally the
    verse paraphrase of the above passage affirms that it is
    "one thought of faith" without any mention of understanding
    as a prerequisite (T.9.45a26). And Chan-jan also affirms in
    the Hoke mongu ki 9B (T.34.342b) that the first faith has no
    understanding.

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  10. Clearly this Lotus Sutra is not something meant for great
    sages alone; it has nothing to do with entering into a
    trance (samadhi) and so on. Thus the Fugenqyo says one who
    practices "though not entering samadhi, only recites and
    keeps" (T.9.389c) and the sixth patriarch of the Tendai
    Sect, Myoraku Daishi (Chan-jan) glosses, "With
    unconcentrated (lit., "scattered") minds reciting the Dharma
    Flower (Hokke) without entering trance and samadhi, sitting,
    standing, or walking single-mindedly think on the characters
    of the Dharma Flower. " (Maka shikan bugyo den guketsu 2-
    2.18v (T.46.192c). Nichiren Shonin that this is surely the
    easy practice for the unenlightened worldlings of the Latter
    Dharma, for it makes no distinction as to our behavior and
    has nothing to do with trance but demands single-minded
    devotion and he says, "'Think on the characters of the
    Dharma Flower' means that this Sutra does not resemble the
    characters of the various sutras; though one recites one
    character, it encompasses the characters of the Eighty
    thousand Jewelled Stores [of the Buddha Dharma] and gathers
    in the merit of all the Buddhas." (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v.
    1, 110)

    For those who wish to be reborn in a Pure Land, in the
    "Chapter of Devadatta" 12 it says, "The Buddha addressed the
    bhikshus, 'In a future era It there are good sons or good
    daughters who hear the "Chapter of Devadatta" of the Sublime
    Dharma Flower Sutra (Myohokekyo ) and with a pure mind
    believe and reverence, not producing doubts and confusion,
    they shall not fall to the hells, hungry ghosts, or beasts
    but be born before the Buddhas of the Ten Directions and in
    the place where they are born they shall constantly hear
    this Sutra; if they are born among humans or gods they shall
    receive superior and sublime joy. If before a Buddha, they
    shall be born by transformation in a lotus flower.'"
    (T.9.35a14- 18)

    Note that there is no exclusion of Blasphemers against the
    Dharma, because this Sutra is the very Teaching that rescues
    such evil people. Thus this clear promise of the Buddha is
    specifically focused on the chapter where the most evil
    person in Buddhist tradition is shown to attain Buddhahood.
    Moreover, even in excellent heavenly and human rebirths,
    they shall be able to hear this Supreme Lotus Sutra, a fact
    which is most important for in such a rebirth they shall
    always have access to Buddhahood.

    2) They assert that they only meant to combine their
    Nembutsu (believing in and chanting the Name of Amida
    (shomyo)) with the Lotus Sutra and dedicating the merits to
    Rebirth in the Pure Land of Gokuraku presided over by the
    Buddha Amida in the Western Direction. The Lotus Sutra says
    in the "Chapter of the Parable" (T.9.16a), "Only rejoicing
    to receive and keep the Great Vehicle Sutra Canon, not even
    receiving one verse of other Sutras"; since the "Chapter of
    Expedience" 2 (T.9.8a) declares:

    "Now is properly the time;
    I shall determinately preach the Great Vehicle;
    The Nine Sections of the Dharma I
    Preach following and according with the masses of beings:
    Having them enter the great Vehicle is the fundamental And
    for that reason I preach this Sutra,"

    cont...
    ReplyDelete

  11. then, in effect, this Sutra is the True or Real Great
    Vehicle (Mahayana) and none of the other sutras are really
    so; in that sense they are the Lesser Vehicle; we are not
    even to receive (i.e., accept out of faith) a single verse
    of these other sutras, including the "Mahayana" sutras which
    are not truly the Great Vehicle.

    Likewise in the "Chapter of the Divine Powers of the
    Tathagata" 21 states: "For that reason you, after the
    Tathagata's Extinction, should single-mindedly receive and
    keep, read and recite, explain and preach, copy and write,
    and practice in accordance with the preaching." (T.9.52a20-
    21)

    The Sutra says one is to practice it single-mindedly, i.e.,
    to the exclusion of other sutras and teachings.

    Therefore, in the age of the Latter Dharma, the time for
    this Sutra, no other practice or teaching should be employed
    and that restriction applies to the Nembutsu.

    end of part one......
    ReplyDelete
  12. A Refutation of the Nembutsu(2) by Graham Lamont

    Now the Pure Land followers still say they have not "blasphemed and disparaged" yet it is clear that they do not believe in the efficacy of this Sutra for people of this Latter Age; rather they harbor doubts about it and teach at variance to what the Buddha has said in a final and authoritative way in this very Lotus Sutra; for do they not follow Shan-tao in saying "not one in a thousand" attain by the Hokekyo and other sutras when this Sutra proclaims all shall attain by this One Vehicle? Do they not follow Honen's famous prescription in the Senchahu shu to "abandon, close, put aside, cast away' (sha hei kaku ho) the Lotus Sutra among the other sutras'? Is this what the Lotus Sutra teaches: that we should abandon it now in this age, far from the time of the historical Buddha? Now the Pure Land partisans will most probably argue in one or the other of two ways 1) They claim that, in following Honen, they never intended to criticize the Hokekyo but merely meant that "the truth [of the Lotus Sutra] is profound and
    the understanding [of the people of our age of the Latter Dharma] is slight" (ri jin ge mi); the Lotus Sutra, they claim, is only for great sages and not for ordinary unenlightened worldlings: its practices are too difficult.

    Let us see what the Diffusion Section (ruzubun) within the Sutra (as opposed to the separate Diffusion Section Sutras, the Fugengy6 and the Daihatsunehangyo) has to say: "Still further, after the Extinction of the Tathagata, if they hear this Sutra and do not disparage it but give rise to the mind of following joy, you should know it is already the aspect of profound faith and understanding." (The "Chapter of the Distribution of Merits" 17 (T.9.45b22- 24))

    Now this passage describes the Five Ranks (gohon) after the Extinction of
    (the historical manifestation of) the Buddha. The person who hears and does not blaspheme against this Supreme Dharma but has the joy of following in faith already has the aspect of profound faith and understanding. Note that understanding is not a prerequisite for this but
    only "following joy", the very first stage of the spiritual journey. Clearly
    the Buddha intends this Sutra for beings such as ourselves. (Note that in this same chapter this is in the period of the Latter Dharma for in the next stage of faith, "keeping" this Sutra, it is specifically said to be "in the evil
    era at the time of the Latter Dharma" (T.9.46a13).)
    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  13. Moreover, in the "Chapter of Following Joy" the vast merit of one who has heard this Sutra even at fiftieth hand is proclaimed by the Buddha yet this person is clearly even less spiritually advanced than the person who first heard it in the Buddha's congregation and has not yet even entered the level of the Identity of Contemplation and Practice (kangyo soku) but is at the level of the Identity of Name (myoji soku) where real understanding or practice have not yet really begun. (Note that, unlike the first forty-nine, this fiftieth person has not even preached the Dharma to someone else and so is at the most elementary level.) Yet such "shallow" merit is actually vastly superior to that of the great sages of the teachings of the Previous Sutras. (Tayu sakan dono gohenji, STN, v. 2, 1852) That this should be so is explained by the well-known principle, "Because the more the teaching is Real, the more the [spiritual] level is lowered.") The Sutra itself says: "When there are beings who, hearing that the Buddha's Lifespan is of such great length, can produce so much as one thought of faith and understanding, the merit which they obtain shall have no limit or measure. If there are good sons or good daughters who for the sake of Anuttara- samyak-sambodhi practice the Five Paramitas, the Dana Paramita, the
    Sila Paramita, the Kshanti Paramita, the Virya Paramita, and the Dhyana
    Paramita, excluding the Prajna Paramita, when one compares this merit to the former merit, it does not reach one part of a hundred parts, a thousand parts, or one hundred trillion parts and it is something even calculations and similes cannot know. If there are good sons or good daughters who have merit such as this, there would be no instance of backsliding in Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi." (T.9.44cl 8-29)

    Although this passage is technically within the Four Faiths (Four Levels of
    Belief with increasing levels of understanding and practice), which are
    practiced in the Buddha's Lifetime, Chan-jan (Janran, Myoraku, the sixth Chinese Patriarch of the Tendai (T'ien-t'ai) Sect) in the Hokke mongu ki points out that the Four Faiths and Five Ranks are practically the same, so that "one thought of faith and understanding" is applicable to the time after the historical Buddha; thus a single thought of faith in this Sutra and specifically in the Buddha's Immeasurable Lifespan, as preached in
    the Sixteenth Chapter, is superior to all Five Paramitas or Perfections except the Prajna Paramita or Perfection of Wisdom since that is identical to this Sutra itself. Such faith is at least as "easy" as the Nembutsu but is surely superior in merit. (Incidentally the verse paraphrase of the above passage affirms that it is "one thought of faith" without any mention of understanding as a prerequisite (T.9.45a26). And Chan-jan also affirms in the Hoke mongu ki 9B (T.34.342b) that the first faith has no understanding.

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  14. Clearly this Lotus Sutra is not something meant for great sages alone; it has nothing to do with entering into a trance (samadhi) and so on. Thus the
    Fugenqyo says one who practices "though not entering samadhi, only recites and keeps" (T.9.389c) and the sixth patriarch of the Tendai Sect, Myoraku Daishi (Chan-jan) glosses, "With unconcentrated (lit., "scattered") minds reciting the Dharma Flower (Hokke) without entering trance and samadhi, sitting, standing, or walking single-mindedly think on the characters of the Dharma Flower. " (Maka shikan bugyo den guketsu 2- 2.18v (T.46.192c). Nichiren Shonin teaches that this is surely the easy practice for the unenlightened worldlings of the Latter Dharma, for it makes no distinction as to our behavior and has nothing to do with trance but demands single-minded devotion and he says, "'Think on the characters of the Dharma Flower' means that this Sutra does not resemble the
    characters of the various sutras; though one recites one character, it
    encompasses the characters of the Eighty thousand Jewelled Stores [of the Buddha Dharma] and gathers in the merit of all the Buddhas." (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, 110)

    For those who wish to be reborn in a Pure Land, in the "Chapter of Devadatta" 12 it says, "The Buddha addressed the bhikshus, 'In a future era It there are good sons or good daughters who hear the "Chapter of Devadatta" of the Sublime Dharma Flower Sutra (Myohokekyo ) and with a pure mind believe and reverence, not producing doubts and confusion, they shall not fall to the hells, hungry ghosts, or beasts but be born before the Buddhas of the Ten Directions and in the place where they are born they shall constantly hear this Sutra; if they are born among humans or gods they shall receive superior and sublime joy. If before a Buddha, they shall be born by transformation in a lotus flower.'" (T.9.35a14- 18)

    Note that there is no exclusion of Blasphemers against the Dharma, because this Sutra is the very Teaching that rescues such evil people. Thus this clear promise of the Buddha is specifically focused on the chapter where the most evil person in Buddhist tradition is shown to attain Buddhahood. Moreover, even in excellent heavenly and human rebirths,
    they shall be able to hear this Supreme Lotus Sutra, a fact which is most important for in such a rebirth they shall always have access to Buddhahood.

    2) They assert that they only meant to combine their Nembutsu (believing in and chanting the Name of Amida (shomyo)) with the Lotus Sutra and dedicating the merits to Rebirth in the Pure Land of Gokuraku presided over by the Buddha Amida in the Western Direction. The Lotus Sutra says
    in the "Chapter of the Parable" (T.9.16a), "Only rejoicing to receive and keep the Great Vehicle Sutra Canon, not even receiving one verse of other Sutras"; since the "Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.8a) declares:

    "Now is properly the time; I shall determinately preach the Great Vehicle; The Nine Sections of the Dharma I Preach following and according with the masses of beings: Having them enter the great Vehicle is the fundamental And for that reason I preach this Sutra,"

    cont...
    ReplyDelete

  15. Then, in effect, this Sutra is the True or Real Great Vehicle (Mahayana) and
    none of the other sutras are really so; in that sense they are the Lesser
    Vehicle; we are not even to receive (i.e., accept out of faith) a single verse of these other sutras, including the "Mahayana" sutras which are not truly the Great Vehicle.

    Likewise in the "Chapter of the Divine Powers of the Tathagata" 21 states: "For that reason you, after the Tathagata's Extinction, should single-mindedly receive and keep, read and recite, explain and preach, copy and write, and practice in accordance with the preaching." (T.9.52a20- 21)

    The Sutra says one is to practice it single-mindedly, i.e., to the exclusion of
    other sutras and teachings.

    Therefore, in the age of the Latter Dharma, the time for this Sutra, no other
    practice or teaching should be employed and that restriction applies to the
    Nembutsu.
    ReplyDelete
  16. A Refutation of the Nembutsu(3)

    Thus we can conclude from the main text of the Hokekyo, from the Fugengyo, and also from the Great Parinirvana Sutra the remedy for the spiritual illness of Blasphemy, which is, in essence, the denial of the supremacy, relevance, and efficacy of the Hokekyo to save all beings and
    especially the beings of the Latter Dharma.

    The claim of the Pure Land partisans is epitomized in a famous remark of
    Shan-tao that with Sutras such as the Hokekyo "not one in thousand" attains Enlightenment or Rebirth in the Pure Land because these Sutras are for sages. Against this "not one in thousand", Nichiren Shonin cites the promise of the Hokekyo: "If they hear the Dharma there is not one who does not attain Buddhahood." (The "Chapter of Expedience" (T.9.9b)) and he asks the simple but profound question: whom do you wish to believe: the Buddha or the human teacher Shan-tao? As Nichiren Shonin explains
    later, it means that "of the people who keep this Sutra a hundred of a hundred, a thousand of a thousand, not missing even one person, become
    Buddhas." ("Reply to the Lady Nun Ueno" (Ueno ama gozen gohenji), STN, v, 2, 1890) (Likewise we can cite from the same chapter, "Be they Shravakas or Bodhisattvas. hearing even one verse of the Dharma that I preach, they shall all attain Buddhahood (or "become Buddhas") without doubt (or "there is no doubt".)" (T.9.8a)

    (A number of the above arguments also follow the "Letter to Jorembo" (Jorembo gosho) (STN, v, 2, 1075) and the also the Nembutsu mugen jigoku sho (STN, v. 1, 37) and the Hoon sho (STN, v. 2, 1231))

    Now one more tactic of the Pure Land advocates, especially the Jodo Shinshu, is to claim that the Pure Land Sutras were preached at the same period as the Lotus Sutra; however, this argument does not
    work for the Buddha's words defeat them:

    "'Of the various sutras I have preached, Among these sutras, The Dharma Flower (Hokke) is the very foremost.'

    At that time the Buddha further announced to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Yakuo, "The Sutra Canons which I preach are immeasurable thousands of tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands, those I have already preached, those I am now preaching, those I am going to preach. Yet among those this Dharma Flower Sutra is the very most difficult to believe and difficult to understand." (The "Chapter of the Dharma Teacher" 10: T.9.31b)

    cont...
    ReplyDelete
  17. From this we see that of all Sutras, including those now being preached, this Lotus Sutra is Supreme and surpasses all the Sutras, including the Pure Land Sutras, even if we allow that the Three Pure Land Sutras were preached at this same time as the Hokekyo ! It overrules all other Sutras with the Final Truth which the Lord Buddha preached. (incidentally this unique pronouncement of Lord Shakya that this Lotus Sutra surpasses any other of His other preachings also overrules any other preachings such as those claimed by the Tibetan Buddhists, who have lured away foolish people from the True Dharma by claiming that since there are even higher Esoteric (Tantric) forms of Buddhism than the ones known to Nichiren
    Shonin, these overrule the Hokekyo and invalidate Nichiren's teaching; however, the Buddha's pronouncement is absolute and final and applies to everything He ever preached or would preach; it does not depend on whether Nichiren Shonin knew or did not know of a particular Esoteric transmission. Moreover, Nichiren Shonin actually anticipates such an argument since he points out in the Hoon sho (STN, v. 2, 1196-1197) that the above phrase, "those I have already preached, those I am now preaching, those I am going to preach", summed up in the words, "already, now, about (to)" (in kambun, "i kon to"), includes any sutra of any kind not transmitted into China (and hence to Japan) or hidden in some place such as the palaces of the celestial gods or dragons, since the Buddha has pronounced these words in the "Chapter of the Dharma Teacher" 10 and has had them confirmed as "all true" by the Buddha Tahe from the Past (Chapter 11) and again by the Buddhas of the Ten Directions Who extend Their Miraculous Tongues (Chapter 21) with the various celestial and other gods (present from the "Chapter of the Preface" 1 as witnesses. Where
    could there be any sutra superior to this very Hokekyo?) 3) The Pure Land
    believers claim that a reference in the


    "Chapter of Yakuo" 23 (T,9.54b29-c2) supports their position:

    "If there is a woman who hears this Sutra Canon and practices it in
    accordance with the preaching, when her life ends here, she shall at once go to the abode of the Buddha Amida of the Anraku World..."

    However, note that this passage does not refer to the practices of the Pure
    Land Sect, the Nembutsu (shomyo or chanting the name of Amida) and so on but says that one must practice according to the preaching of this Lotus Sutra; we have already seen that such a correct practice is to be single-minded. excluding other Sutras and their practices (as we saw above) and, therefore, there is no question of mixing the practices or calling them equal: "The Kangyo [Kan Muryojukyo] is a Provisional Teaching; the Hokekyo is the Real Teaching: they cannot at all be equal." (Hokke shoshin jobutsu sho, STN, v. 2, 1428)

    Furthermore, Myoraku affirms, "One need not point further to the Kangyo and others." (Hokke mongu ki 10 (T.34.355b) In other words, the causal practice for Rebirth in the Pure Land Amida is the proper practice of the Hokekyo and not the Nembutsu or anything else. "Only the power of the Hokekyo alone measures up" to the task of saving women in this age
    of the Latter Dharma. (On the Rebirth of Woman (Nyonin ojo sho), STN, v. 1,349)

    cont...
    ReplyDelete

  18. Moreover, the phrase from Myoraku refers not merely to causal practice but the effect (Buddhahood) for neither the Buddha Amida nor the Pure Land of Anraku mentioned here are identical to that described in the Kangyo. In effect this Buddha and His Land are manifestations of a type of Pure Land from the eternal Pure Land revealed in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

    We can conclude that it is, indeed, the Lotus Sutra that is the Sutra that
    teaches the Way to Rebirth and Enlightenment in this age of the Latter Dharma beginning with the fifth five hundred years and it shall not be cut off into the future until Lord Ajita (i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya comes forth in the world. (STN, v. 3, 2477 (fragment 2))

    Author Graham Lamont from the Kempon Hokke archives
    ReplyDelete

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