Bun’ei era (1263-1274), Kenji era (1275-1277) and Koan era (1278-1288). There are about 128 extant gohonzons, or about a dozen per year. The Mandalas were written in various styles and forms. Each mandala can be exactly dated according to the particular style and form that Nichiren used in each particular year. Thus, the gohonzons of Koan 2 (second year of Koan, or 1279) are all similar. This date (Koan 2, or 1279) is the so-called date of the Taisekiji dai-gohonzon, but the Taiskieji Daigohonzon has the earmarks of Koan 3 (1280), and there is a temple near Taisekiji which has an original Nichiren gohonzon, dated Koan 3 (1280). It is assumed that the so-called “dai Gohonzon” was copied from this authentic gohonzon, but the copyist was not aware of the difference in style ( i.e size of kanji, etc.) between 1279 and 1280.
Nichiren’s gohonzons have been catalogued according to the forms and styles of each year. There is the Abbreviated Style, the Quintessential style and the Expanded Style. The abbreviated style consists of the Title (Daimoku), the two Buddhas (Shakyamuni and Taho), the two “spell kings” (Myoo) i.e. Fudo and Aizen, written in Sanskrit characters. The Quintessential Style means that Nichiren added the Four Original Bodhisattvas. The Expanded Style means that the whole of the Ten Realms (Hell, Hunger, animality, anger, human, celestial, Sravaka [Hearer’s] realm, Pratekyabuddha [self-realized buddhas], bodhisattva and Buddha realms) are included. The six lower realms are the Six ways of Rebirth (deluded or unenlightened), and the four upper realms are the Way of the Saints (enlightened). The Hell Realm is exemplified by Devadatta (eventually the Tathagata Tenno), the Hungry ghost Realm by the Ten Rakshasa Women and Kishimojin (demons), the Animal Realm by the Dragon Girl and the Great Dragon King (Naga), the Anger Realm by the Asura Kings (titans), the Human Realm by King Ajatashatru ( son of Bimbasara), the Celestial Realm by the Great Deva (God) Brahma, the Emperor Shakra, the Four Heavenly Kings. The Hearer’s Realm by Maudgalyayana [Mokure], the Pratyekabuddha Realm by Shariputra and Kashyapa, the Bodhisattva realm by Jyogyo, Jogyo, Anryugyo and Muhengyo, representing the Original Bodhisattvas Out of the Earth, and the Buddha Realm by Shakyamuni and Taho.
The gohonzons of the first par of the Bun’ei Period (1263-1274) have “Namu” affixed to the various dieties. The gohonzons of the Koan Period (1278-1288) have “Namu” affixed to the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho, the Four Original Bodhisattvas, Shariputra,etc. On some gohonzons of the Bun’ei Period, Nichiren wrote the name of other “Branch Body” Buddhas, on the gohonzons of the Koan Period, he did not. Some scholars have further classified the gohonzons as “zui tai i” (following others intentions, the so called “personal gohonzons” of the Bun’ei and Kenji periods) and “zui ji i” (following Nichiren’s own intentions, during the Koan Period). Other scholars have classified the Bun’ei Period as the “Practice period”, the Kenji era as the “Adjustment Period” and the Koan era as the “Perfection Period”. All these classifications are scholarly interpretations, devised long after Nichiren’s death.
Since all the mandalas are in Nichiren’s own handwriting, all of the Gohonzons are the same in merit and benefit, provided that one believes with the right understanding of Nichiren’s teachings.
On a gohonzon of the 11th year of Bun’ei (1274), Nichiren wrote out the following text:
“Since the extinction of the Great Enlightened World Honored One, there have passed in succession more than 2,220 years. Even among the Three countries of India, Han [China] and Japan, there has not year appeared this Great Object of Worship [Dai Honzon]. Either they have known but have not yet spread it, or they have not known it. Our Compassionate Father, by means of the Buddha Wisdom, has hidden and retained it, leaving it for the Latter Age. At the time of the last 500 years, the Bodhisattva Jogyo comes forth in the world and for the first time spreads and proclaims it.”
On this particular gohonzon, Nichiren has called himself Bodhisattva Jogyo, since it is Nichiren who proclaims and spreads this gohonzon for the first time. In another letter [The Deposition of Yorimoto, STN v.2, p.1358], Nichiren refers to himself as “His Reverence Nichiren Shonin is the Bodhisattva Jogyo, Messenger of the Lord of the Three Worlds, the Father and Mother of all Beings, the Tathagata Shakya.” This is Nichiren’s own description of himself, in his own words. He never refers to himself as a Buddha or the Original Buddha in ANY of his writings. The Eternal Original Buddha is Shakyamuni of the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, according to ALL of Nichiren’s authenticated writings. Only obvious forgeries impute anything else, and the great majority of those forgeries are produced many years after Nichiren’s death.
Since all the mandalas are in Nichiren’s own handwriting, all of the Gohonzons are the same in merit and benefit, provided that one believes with the right understanding of Nichiren’s teachings." Bruce Maltz
ReplyDeleteTrue however why not practice with a Nichiren Gohonzon that's not from the Bun’ei Period as the “Practice period”, the Kenji era as the “Adjustment Period” but rather from the Koan era as the “Perfection Period”.
<> "...those with the heart of a lion king are sure to attain Buddhahood. Like Nichiren, for example." Letter from Sado. Is this a forged Gosho?
DeleteUnsure Don but this is a similar passage fromOn Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas as the Object of Devotion:
Delete"Since I had doubts about the matter, I consulted passages of the Lotus Sutra, and they reveal why this object of devotion has not yet appeared. The sutra clearly states that it should not be established before the predicted age of quarrels and disputes2 in the Latter Day of the Law. Those Buddhist scholars and teachers who appeared in this world during the Former and Middle Days of the Law did not establish this object of devotion because they honored the Buddha’s prohibition. Had an object of p.977devotion of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, who attained enlightenment in the remote past and his attendants ever been made during the Former and Middle Days, it would have been like the sun appearing at night or the moon shining during the day. Because Bodhisattva Superior Practices would certainly appear and establish this object of devotion in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day, those four ranks of scholars and teachers3 who appeared during the Former and Middle Days did not even describe it in words. Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu knew of it in their hearts, but did not speak about it to others. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che also knew of it, but as he was a bodhisattva of the theoretical teaching,4 though he taught it in part, he did not expound its true meaning. He taught it indistinctly, like the cry of a cuckoo that one hears just before waking from a dream. Other Buddhist teachers did not say so much as a single word about it. For at Eagle Peak, Shakyamuni Buddha strictly prohibited those scholars and teachers who were bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching, and who would appear during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, from disclosing prior to the Latter Day of the Law even indirectly anything about Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching, who attained enlightenment in the remote past, and the four Bodhisattvas of the Earth led by Superior Practices, who have accompanied him ever since."
ReplyDelete"The 10 worlds are still there if people can actually see them. As explained in Chapter 11, it's a ceremony in the air, where its 6 lower paths had been cleared 3 times."-Gustavo Böhm
The first 5 of the lower Worlds haven't been depicted in Dai-Honzon/Gohonzon#16 however "Since all the mandalas are in Nichiren’s own handwriting, all of the Gohonzons are the same in merit and benefit, provided that one believes with the right understanding of Nichiren’s teachings." Bruce Maltz
So now if we accept Dai - Honzon #16 with the right understanding of the Ten worlds,ichinen sanzen then we can accept all Nichiren inscribed Gohonzons as 10 world Gohonzons whether they are present or not because it's through faith that is in the realm of the unseen that all things are possible!
Now when it comes to who inscribed the Gohonzon which is another matter which is the most important issue in relation to the object of Devotion is if that person wasn't one with the Law of Myoho Renge Kyo then the transcribed or inscribed object of Devotion could be possesed by Demons according to Nichiren!
http://juhoukai.la.coocan.jp/mandara/016.html
Unless one who has grasped the essence of the Lotus Sutra conducts the eye-opening ceremony for a wooden or painted image, it will be as if a masterless house were to be occupied by a thief or as if, upon a person's death, a demon were to enter his body. When, in present-day Japan, eye-opening ceremonies for the Buddha images are conducted according to the Shingon rite, demons occupy them and deprive people of their lives, for a demon is also known as a "robber of life." Moreover, devils enter those images and deprive people of benefits, and another name for a devil is a "robber of benefit." Because the people worship demons, they will bring the country to ruin in their present lifetime, and because they revere devils, they will fall into the hell of incessant suffering in their next existence.
ReplyDeleteNichiren