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Sunday, November 15, 2020

"Not one of these is other than [a provisional manifestation of] Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings!"

"In the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says, “Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others.” The Buddha Good Virtue of the eastern region, the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana of the center, the Buddhas of the ten directions, the seven Buddhas of the past, the Buddhas of the three existences, Bodhisattva Superior Practices and the other bodhisattvas, Manjushrī, Shāriputra and the others, the great heavenly king Brahmā, the devil king of the sixth heaven, the heavenly king Shakra Devānām Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the morning star god, the seven stars of the Big Dipper, the twenty-eight constellations, the five planets, the seven stars, the countless eighty-four thousand other stars, the asura kings, the heavenly gods, earthly gods, gods of the mountains, gods of the seas, household gods, village gods, and the rulers of all the various countries of the world—not one of these is other than [a provisional manifestation of] Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings! The Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman—both these in their original form are Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings.

Shakyamuni Buddha is like the one moon in the sky, and the various other Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and beings are like the reflections floating on ten thousand different bodies of water. Thus a person who fashions a single image of Shakyamuni Buddha is in effect making images of all the Buddhas of the worlds in the ten directions." - Concerning the Buddha Statue Fashioned by Nichigen-nyo (1279)

3 comments:

  1. Is the original Shakyamuni Buddha the same thing as the original Law of Myoho renge Kyo and the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha that manifests the 3 body Tathagatta Thus Come One is the one that keeps on reincarnating as a fully the fully cultivated Shakyamuni Buddha throughout the Kalpas?

    "The profound principle of 'true entity' is the original Law of Myoho-renge-kyo." The Great Teacher Dengyo wrote, "The entity of ichinen sanzen is the Buddha who obtained enlightenment for himself, and that Buddha assumes no august attributes." Therefore this Gohonzon is the supreme mandala never before known, for it has not appeared until more than twenty-two hundred and twenty years after the Buddha's death.

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  2. Difficult to believe and difficult to understand. By the principle of individuation, the Eternal Original Buddha can manifest in a myriad of ways. Namu Myoho renge kyo is the teaching, merit, and virtue of the Eternal Buddha. his very enlightenment.

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