SGI-USA Study Curriculum
THE ELEMENTARY-LEVEL TEXTBOOK

PART 3: ICHINEN SANZEN

THE TEN WORLDS
- Ichinen Sanzen -

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. --- John Milton, Paradise Lost

It was a quiet Saturday morning when the telegram arrived. John was sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee and reading the morning paper. Across the table, Jane read a magazine. A lazy morning sun beamed quietly through the window .

The tranquility was broken by the front doorbell. John returned to the table with a telegram 'in hand.

As he read it, Jane saw the changes take place. John's pupils dilated and his jaw tightened. His face became flushed and his hands tightened into fists. Suddenly the whole room seemed transformed. The temperature seemed to rise, the air seemed stifling and the sun beaming through the window became a harsh intrusion. Without hearing a word, Jane knew it was upsetting news. If we freeze-frame this scene and examine it, we can observe the mysterious workings of life as it changes from moment to moment. Whatever was in the telegram obviously angered John. But it could just as well have been wonderful news triggering extreme joy, or one of a myriad different emotions.

Just what all these potentials are and how they work are defined in the Buddhist philosophy of life, ichinen sanzen, which states that a single moment of life possesses three thousand realms.

Ichinen means "one thought" or "one mind," which arises from the ultimate reality or true aspect of life that exists at each moment 'in human (and all) life. Sanzen means "three thousand" and refers to the variety of experiences life produces in relation to the environment.

John's experience of the news in the telegram changed not only his inner life but his immediate environment as well. All the variations of life experience are manifestations of the one Law or entity of life.

Our consciousness of "self' forms the framework whereby we support our worldview. Our perceived division of the universe into two parts - self and other, or internal and external - arises from our awareness of self. This consciousness likewise gives rise to other dualities: for example, the duality of mind and body (in which we regard the mind as being our true self whereas the body is not), the duality of the material and the spiritual, or the duality of humankind and nature. Dualistic thinking like this has underlain the evolution of modern civilization, but it is also the root of many of modern civilization's present crises.

Buddhism points the way to the resolution of such crises by demonstrating the truth that our lives are not limited to the self alone but encompass other people, the world and even the universe. Perhaps nowhere do we find a better explanation of this idea, that the individual and the cosmos are inseparable, than in the principle of ichinen sanzen, which has it that an individual moment of life possesses three thousand realms.

The philosophical system of ichinen sanzen was developed in China by that outstanding Buddhist teacher of the sixth century, T'ien-t'ai (formally given the tide Great Teacher by the Imperial Court in China). He based his ideas on the Lotus Sutra, which in eastern Asia gradually came to be, partly due to his efforts, revered as the highest teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. Ichinen sanzen constitutes a worldview that explains the mutually inclusive relationship of all phenomena and the ultimate reality of life.

Of course, there are vastly more than three thousand phenomena in the universe, but here the number is taken to indicate the multitude of phenomena within which the ultimate reality shows itself. The figure of three thousand is derived from a multiplication of ichinen sanzen's component principles, which will be discussed in detail later. Here, though, we can note that those components consist of, first, the ten worlds, or states of life. Each of these possesses all ten within itself, so that one hundred worlds are constituted. Each of these worlds is endowed with ten factors: simple multiplication gives us one thousand factors. Finally, each of these factors operates in three realms - and so we arrive at our total of three thousand realms.

So we see that the principle of ichinen sanzen reveals the moment-by-moment interaction between the phenomenal world and the ultimate reality of life. It teaches also that all phenomena, without exception, exist within each moment of q n individual's life, and that every such life-moment therefore contains infinite potential.

In "On Attaining Buddhahood the Daishonin writes: "Life at each moment encompasses both body and spirit and both self and environment of all sentient beings 'in every condition of life, as well as insentient beings - plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena" (MW-I, 3).

His point is that the individual's ichinen -the individual's life at each moment - simultaneously permeates the entire universe and encompasses within itself all the laws and phenomena of the universe. It is, therefore, literally coextensive with the universe. This relationship between the microcosm of human life and the macrocosm of the universe is mysterious -and marvelous.

If we look at the physical world, we can easily see that even infinitely small. things contain vast potential. All of the vast universe had its origins in a 64 cosmic egg" that physicists believe to have been almost indescribably small - perhaps the size of a subatomic particle. The fusion of minuscule nuclei can produce the vast energies of the hydrogen bomb. Hundreds of millions of "bits" of information are stored in a gene too small to see through the microscope. The human brain is believed to contain about 14 billion neurons, each of which spreads its dendrites to perhaps a thousand other neurons, forming a network of 'incomprehensible vastness.

From a temporal standpoint, life at each moment might be thought of as a cross-section of an unbroken continuum, stretching from the infinite past 'into the infinite future. In this respect, we can think of a person's ichinen as being rather like a television picture. In the space of a second, thirty successive images flash across the television screen, merging to form a coherent moving picture. But the length of a moment, as explained in the Buddhist scriptures, is far shorter than the duration of one of these images. The Great Commentary on the Abhidharma says that there are "sixty-five moments in a single snap of the fingers."

In fact, though, the Buddhist concept of a "moment" implies an almost inconceivably brief duration. Our lifetime is an accumulation of myriad such minuscule moments, which flow without interruption from the past through the present to the future. In a sense, we can view each moment as the product of all previous moments.

Similarly, the cause made in the present moment will help determine the nature of each subsequent moment. Therefore, we can say that past, present and future are contained in each moment -each moment is the condensation of an entire lifetime. The most important thing, then, is one's state of life at each moment. One's state of life from moment to moment determines the overall course his or her life will take.

We can observe the physical and mental activities of our lives to a certain extent through such disciplines as biology, biochemistry, physiology and psychology; but the phenomena with which all these sciences are concerned are merely expressions of life, not life itself. The ultimate reality of life is intangible and invisible, unconstrained by time and space. Nonetheless, in every single moment it manifests itself in the phenomenal world.

Our physical bodies are composed of many millions of cells, which are constantly dying and being replaced. Our minds, too, change, as various emotions and thoughts occur. We are subject to change, then, both physically and mentally, and, as time flows by, we continually repeat the cycle of death and rebirth. The constantly changing circumstances of our bodies and minds are considered to be the inherent workings of a fundamentally unchanging reality.

Birth and death are thus natural expressions of the eternal reality of life; this eternal reality is, in turn, the ever-changing phenomena of birth and death. Freedom from the suffering of change comes only at the moment when we waken to the timeless truth manifest 'in our ichinen. Then, as the Daishonin says, "we repeat the cycle of birth and death secure upon the earth of our inherent enlightened nature" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 724).

Although the moments of our lives appear to flit by, we can see that, from a more profound viewpoint, together they encompass the ultimate reality. Every single moment transcends the bounds of space and time to be simultaneously one with the cosmic life force - the ultimate reality of the universe. All forms of life interrelate endlessly in the vast totality of cosmic life, and yet none of them ever loses its uniqueness. Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest of Nichiren Shoshu, expresses this idea in his work "The Threefold Secret Teaching":

In light of the Lotus Sutra, the phrase "three thousand worlds in a single moment of life" has two meanings: "to include" and "to permeate." The entire universe is included in each moment; and each moment permeates the entire universe. Each moment is a particle of dust that possesses the elements of all lands in the universe, or a drop of water whose essence differs in no way from the vast ocean itself.

Let us turn now to the relationships that exist among the component principles of each moment, or ichinen sanzen. These are the ten worlds, their mutual inclusion, the ten factors and the three realms.

At the beginning of "The True Object of Worship" Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin quotes a passage from T'ien-t'ai's Great Concentration and Insight (Maka Shikan): "Life at each moment is endowed with the Ten Worlds. At the same time, each of the Ten Worlds is endowed with all the others, so that an entity of life actually possesses one hundred worlds. Each of these worlds 'in turn possesses thirty realms, which means that in the one hundred worlds there are three thousand realms. The three thousand realms of existence are all possessed by a single entity of life. If there is no life, that is the end of the matter. But if there is the slightest bit of life, it contains all the three thousand realms" (MW- 1, 45).

When T'ien-t'ai writes, "Life at each moment is endowed with the ten worlds," he means that in every single moment of life there exists the potential for ten conditions: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity (or Tranquillity), Rapture (or Heaven), Learning, Realization, Bodhisattva and Buddhahood. None of the ten worlds is fixed. Life in any of the ten worlds contains all the other worlds within it; in other words, a person in any world has the potential, in each moment, to manifest any of the other nine worlds. This concept is the mutual inclusion, or "mutual possession," of the ten worlds. Again, because each of the ten worlds has all ten worlds within it, we have a total of one hundred worlds.

T'ien-t'ai's expression that "each of these worlds in turn possesses thirty realms" is explained by understanding that each of the ten worlds 'includes the ten factors of life, and each factor in turn possesses the three realms of existence. This could be taken to mean that the ten worlds together have three hundred realms; however, since each of the ten worlds contains the other nine in addition to itself, the total is three thousand realms. The ten factors of life are: appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation (or external cause), latent effect, manifest effect and, finally, their consistency from beginning to end. The three realms of existence are: the realm of the five components of life (form, perception, conception, volition and consciousness), the realm of living beings and the realm of the environment. Three thousand is not a number chosen at random, then; rather, it is an expression of a set of principles that reflects the immensity and diversification of life.

Throughout history, people have realized that all natural phenomena are elusive and uncertain, and so they have set out to seek the eternal, unchanging truth of life. Different teachers have offered different explanations of the relationship between this absolute truth and the ephemeral world we experience. Some have suggested that the ultimate truth governs this world from a higher plane; others, that it lies beyond or behind phenomena, or that phenomena are in fact mere illusion and that the ultimate truth alone is real. A similar dualistic tendency is found in some of the Buddhist teachings predating the Lotus Sutra; these generally hold that the mind is the basis of A phenomena, and that all phenomena arise from the mind.

By contrast, the principle of ichinen sanzen, based on the Lotus Sutra, has it that the mind (or each moment of our lives) and the phenomena of the universe are "two but not two. " All phenomena are manifestations of the ultimate reality, and the ultimate reality exists only in changing phenomena: in other words, neither can exist independently of the other. Thus all of the events in the universe, being manifestations of our ichinen, are integrated to form a single entity, so that every individual being is directly connected with everything else in the universe.

Every moment of each being's life pervades the three thousand realms, and the three thousand realms are encompassed in every one of those moments. It is as a result of their interrelation that all of the phenomena of the universe derive their form.

Under the principle of ichinen sanzen, every human being has the potential to become a Buddha, awakened to the eternity and boundlessness of life. However, what people actually experience is rather different from this potential.

The principle, thus, can be further broken down into two types: theoretical ichinen sanzen and actual ichinen sanzen. Theoretical ichinen sanzen, refers to the lives of common mortals, or unenlightened people, through the nine worlds from Hell to Bodhisattva, in which Buddhahood remains dormant. By contrast, actual ichinen sanzen indicates the life of Buddhahood; that is, the life in which Buddhahood is fully active and manifest.

The ichinen sanzen described in "Hoben," the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, is identifiable as theoretical because it explains Buddhahood as a potential inherent in people of the lower nine worlds. The ichinen sanzen indicated in the sixteenth chapter, 'Juryo," is described as actual because it presents Buddhahood as a reality manifested in Shakyamuni's life. According to Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, however, even the version of ichinen sanzen described in the sixteenth chapter is incomplete, because it is explained only as an effect, that is, as the enlightenment Shakyamuni attained in the remote past.

Since the description of ichinen sanzen in this sixteenth chapter fails to reveal the cause that enabled Shakyamuni to attain his original enlightenment, it falls short of a full clarification of the ultimate reality. Nichiren Daishonin was the person who identified the original cause of Shakyamuni's enlightenment - and, indeed, of the enlightenment of all Buddhas - as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, or the Mystic Law. In "The Essence of the Juryo' Chapter," he writes: "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the Juryo chapter, is the mother of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and the three existences of past, present and future" (MW-3, 35).

The question we must ask is: How can common mortals of the lower nine worlds awaken to and manifest their latent Buddhahood? T'ien-t'ai's Buddhism was, and is, extremely difficult to understand, and the meditation practices it prescribes for "observing the mind," or perceiving the three thousand realms within oneself, were hardly feasible for the vast majority of people, being suited only to a small monastic elite.

Furthermore, these practices focused solely on the inner workings of life and had little relevance to the outer world -the lives we all have to live in society. Nichiren Daishonin, on the other hand, sought to establish a way of realizing ichinen sanzen that would be open to all, a practice that would not only illumine the inner realm of life but would also transform the world we live.

Accordingly, he embodied his enlightenment to the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 'in the form of a mandala. called the Gohonzon, which, in his teaching, is the fundamental object of worship. The Daishonin teaches that belief in the Gohonzon and the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in themselves constitute the "observation of the mind" or the attainment of Buddhahood. So, through the inscription of the Gohonzon, he established a way whereby all people, equally, could realize ichinen sanzen and attain Buddhahood in their ordinary lives.

To use an analogy, we may know nothing about electronics or the workings of a television set, but we can still enjoy watching television simply by turning on the set. Faith in the Gohonzon is analogous to the act of turning on the television and selecting the 'Channel; the picture we then watch can be likened to the Buddhahood we enjoy as it manifests itself from within our lives.

Nichiren Daishonin, therefore, gives concrete and practical expression to the Buddhist philosophy taught by Shakyamuni and later systematized by T'ien-t'ai.

The ten worlds, the first of the component principles of ichinen sanzen, are the ten states or conditions of life we experience. The ten worlds, taken together, make up an analysis of the conditions an individual life manifests over the course of time. The idea of the ten worlds describes the subjective sensations experienced by the self at the most fundamental level of life. As we have seen, the ten worlds - from the lowest to the highest - are: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity, Rapture, Learning, Realization, Bodhisattva and Buddhahood.

The idea of the ten worlds had its origins in a cosmological theory; that is, it was thought that there were ten distinct realms into which people were reborn, the particular realm being determined by the nature of an 'individual's accumulated karma. For example, Humanity denoted the world of human beings; Animality, the realm of beasts; Rapture, the dwelling of the gods; and Hell, an underground prison.

However, in the doctrine of ichinen sanzen, the ten worlds are viewed not as physical locations but rather as states or conditions inherent in each of us, and which we experience moment by moment through our interaction with the environment.

Nichiren Daishonin discusses this view of the first six worlds in "The True Object of Worship": "When we look from time to time at a person's face, we find him sometimes joyful, sometimes enraged, and sometimes calm. At times greed appears in the person's face, at times foolishness, and at times perversity. Rage is the world of Hell, greed is that of Hunger, foolishness is that of Animality, perversity is that of Anger, Joy is that of Rapture, and calmness is that of Humanity (MW-I, 52).

The four higher worlds are likewise inherent in life. According to Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, Hell, Rapture and even Buddhahood are potential conditions in life: "As to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra says that hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. However, closer examination reveals that both exist in our five-foot body" (MW-I, 271).

As we can see, all of the ten worlds exist within our ordinary daily lives.

The first world, Hell (Jigoku), indicates a state utterly devoid of freedom, a condition of extreme suffering and despair in which one is spurred by rage to destroy oneself and others. Buddhist sutras describe various kinds of hells - such as the eight hot hells, the eight cold hells and the sixteen minor hells.

Much in the same way as Dante described in his Divine Comedy the nine levels of Hell, the nine levels of Purgatory and the ten levels of Paradise - a scheme typical of medieval Christian cosmology - the twenty-sixth high priest, Nichikan, likewise refers to traditional cosmology when he writes in his "The Threefold Secret Teaching": "Hell is a dwelling of red-hot iron and Hunger, a place 500 yojana beneath the human world. Those 'in Animality live in the water, on the land and 'in the air. Anger dwells at the ocean-side or on the sea floor. Humanity is life on Earth, and beings of Rapture reside 'in a palace."

However, as we have noted, the concept of the ten worlds can be viewed not only as a cosmological system but as a schema of the potentials inherent in all life. In this sense the statement that "Hell is a dwelling of red-hot iron" may be understood as describing the 'inescapable torment we suffer when we are in the state of Hell.

The second world is Hunger (gaki). In this state, we are governed by constant cravings for objects or certain experiences, such as wealth, fame, power and pleasure. The causes of this state are to be found in such tendencies as greed, miserliness and jealousy. Originally the world of Hunger was viewed as a realm inhabited by the spirits of the dead, who were thought to be suffering from starvation as karmic retribution for the greed and selfishness they had displayed while alive; in art they are often depicted with distended bellies and needle-thin throats. In his "Treatise on Accordance with the Correct Doctrine," the Indian scholar Samghabhadra, who lived during the fifth century, describes three kinds of hungry spirits, each of which is further subdivided into three; the Sutra of Meditation on the True Law lists thirty-six kinds. The realm inhabited by these hungry spirits was said to be located 500 yojana beneath the surface of the Earth. (A yojana was a unit of measurement used in ancient India: estimates as to its length vary from 9.6-24 km.) The image of a dark, narrow dwelling, deep underground, vividly conveys the restrictions of the state of Hunger, in which we are imprisoned by our insatiable desires.

The third world is that of Animality (chikusho). In this state we are like an animal driven by survival instincts, lacking any restraining virtues such as reason or morality. People 'in this state observe only the "law of the jungle." They take advantage of those weaker than themselves and submit to those who are stronger.

Fourth of the worlds is Anger (shura). The first three states - Hell, Hunger and Animality - are collectively known as the "three evil paths"; life in these states is dominated by instinctive desires and passions. In this next state, Anger, there is an awareness of ego - but it is a ravening, distorted ego, determined to succeed over others, whatever the cost, and seeing everything as a potential threat to its survival. This state was said to be characterized by asuras, contentious demons found in ancient Indian mythology. As we saw, High Priest Nichikan wrote that "Anger dwells at the ocean side"; the crashing waves of the ocean and its fearsome potential to overwhelm anything 'in split seconds can be thought of as representing the belligerent and overbearing ego that is the hallmark of Anger. In this state we value only ourselves, holding everyone else 'in contempt. We believe we are superior to everybody else and cannot bear to be found inferior to anyone in any respect. The three evil paths, taken together with Anger, are called the "four evil paths" or the four lower worlds.

Fifth of the ten worlds is that of Humanity (nin). This world is symbolized by the stability of the vast, flat Earth. Humanity is a state in which we can use reason to control our instinctive desires so that the more truly humane qualities such as love and benevolence can emerge. People in the state of Humanity experience peace of mind, and in general live a calm existence.

The sixth of the worlds is that of Rapture (ten). This state can best be understood by thinking of the intense joy we experience when, for example, we have the satisfaction of attaining something we have long desired, or when long term suffering has finally been relieved. Although it is intense, the joy experienced in this state is short-lived and extremely vulnerable to external influences.

These first six states, from Hell to Rapture, are collectively called the "six paths," or the six lower worlds. All of them have 'in common one thing: they are brought about through either the fulfillment or the thwarting of various desires and impulses. Their appearance or disappearance is therefore governed by external circumstances. Buddhism points out that most people spend their lives; shuttling back and forth among these six states without ever realizing they are completely at the mercy of their reactions to their environment. Any happiness of satisfaction that we may gain in these states is entirely governed by circumstances and is therefore transient. But when we are trapped in the six lower worlds we fail to realize this, instead basing our entire happiness - indeed, the whole of our identity - on external factors that are by definition beyond our control.

However, when we recognize that everything experienced in the six lower worlds is impermanent, a recognition that prompts us to begin a search for lasting truth, we enter the next two states, Learning and Realization. These two states, along with the final two, Bodhisattva and Buddhahood, are called the "four noble worlds." Unlike the six paths, which in essence constitute our passive reactions to the environment, these four higher states are attained only through deliberate and continued effort.

In the state of Learning, we seek truth vicariously through the teachings or experiences of other people. The Japanese word for this state, shomon, can be translated as "voice hearer." Originally, it was used for those of the Buddha's disciples who had heard him preach in person. Beyond Learning is the eighth world, Realization (engaku). This state is similar to that of Learning, except that here we seek the truth not through other people's teachings but through our own direct perception. The Sanskrit word for this state, pratyekabuddha, denotes a person who arrives independently at an understanding of Buddhist truths. Learning and Realization are together described as the "two vehicles." In these states, having realized the impermanence of all things, we have won a measure of independence: no longer are we slaves to our reactions to the environment, as we were when traveling in the six lower worlds.

But things are far from perfect. People of the two vehicles are often contemptuous toward those who have yet to reach their level of understanding - that is, those who are still trudging along in the six paths. In addition, their pursuit of truth is largely a matter of self-interest; so people in these two states may retain a measure of egotism.

Beyond them is the ninth world, that of Bodhisattva (bosatsu). This state, in contrast to the two vehicles, is characterized by compassion and altruistic behavior. Bodhisattvas, although they aspire to supreme enlightenment, at the same time are determined that all other human beings, too, should reach the same understanding. Conscious of the bonds that link us to everyone else, when we are in the Bodhisattva state, we realize that any happiness we enjoy solitarily is illusory and only partial, and so we devote ourselves to alleviating other people's suffering - even if it should cost us our lives. When we are in this state we find that our greatest satisfaction comes from altruistic behavior.

Nichiren Daishonin pinpoints the aim and spirit of the Bodhisattva in one sentence of the "Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings": 'Joy means that both oneself and others rejoice" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 761). Dr. Hans Selye, in his book The Stress of life (1956), emphasizes the importance of expanding one's personal horizons; he says 'in effect that transforming one's selfish impulses into altruistic deeds, thereby arousing a sense of gratitude in other people, is the path to true inner security. This concern for others is characteristic of the state of Bodhisattva.

The states from Hell to Bodhisattva are collectively known as the "nine worlds" The term is often used to indicate the unenlightened condition of common mortals, as contrasted with the tenth of the ten worlds, Buddhahood (butsu). The state of Buddhahood implies a condition of perfect and absolute freedom, the supreme state in which we are awakened to the perfect and ultimate truth that is the reality of all things. The ten epithets or honorific tides of the Buddha, which appear in Nagarjuna's Commentary on the Ten Stages, are believed together to describe the great power, wisdom, virtue and competence unique to those in the state of Buddhahood.

The ten epithets are:

1. "Thus Come One" - This refers to someone who has come from the world of truth. A Buddha embodies the fundamental truth of all phenomena and grasps the law of causality that permeates past, present and future.
2. "worthy of offerings" - This means a person who is qualified to receive offerings from both human and heavenly beings.
3. "right and universal knowledge" - This implies one who comprehends all phenomena correctly and perfectly.
4. "perfect clarity and conduct" - This tide describes a person who understands the eternity of past, present and future, and who carries out good deeds to perfection.
5. "well gone" (or "goodness attained") - This means a person who has reached the world of enlightenment.
6. "understanding of the world" - This implies a person who, through his or her grasp of the law of causality, understands all secular and religious affairs.
7. "unexcelled worthy" - A person who stands supreme among all other human beings.
8. "trainer of people" - This tide describes someone who instructs and leads all people to enlightenment.
9. "teacher of human beings" - In other words, a teacher who can guide all human and heavenly beings.
10. "Buddha, World-Honored One" - This title signifies a person endowed with perfect wisdom and virtue who can win the respect of all people. Buddhism constitutes a practical system of teachings that together provide a means for realizing this ideal state of Buddhahood.

Today, we see evidence everywhere of the remarkable achievements of science and technology over the past few decades, and yet, ironically, these same advances often work to restrict our freedom, leaving the impression that we are just cogs in the huge machine of a bureaucratic society. Moreover, illnesses born from the nature of our modern civilization -such as the stress-related diseases and various emotional disorders - are endemic. Despite our gains, then, we have yet to free ourselves from the sufferings of the six lower worlds.

Buddhahood entails the wisdom to recognize the ultimate reality of our lives, infinite compassion, a perfected eternal self, and a total, incorruptible purity of life. According to Buddhist teachings, it is only when we -have established as our basis this highest state, Buddhahood, that we can bring about a reformation of our entire existence, directing all the physical and mental activities of our nine worlds toward altruistic and valuable goals.

Nichiren Daishonin, in "The Opening of the Eyes (I)," writes: "The concept of ichinen sanzen begins with an understanding of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds or states of existence" (MW-2, 80). Mutual possession, or mutual inclusion, means that each of the ten worlds encompasses all of the other worlds within itself. We can interpret this to mean that all ten states are inherent in every individual; a person experiencing the state of Humanity 'in one moment may, in the next, either remain 'in that state or manifest one of the other nine worlds. What this principle tells us, then, is that life is not fixed in any one of the ten conditions but at any moment can manifest any of the ten, and also that life in any one of the conditions possesses all of the other conditions latent within itself.

The idea of mutual possession explains the interrelationships of the ten worlds as one or another of them moves from dormancy to active manifestation or from active manifestation back to dormancy. For example, at one moment we may be experiencing the joy of Rapture, but in the next moment some factor in our surroundings may suddenly change so that we plunge into the depths of Hell. But this does not mean that the state of Rapture in us has ceased to exist; it has simply shifted from a manifest state to a latent one and, with the appropriate external stimulus, will emerge again from dormancy.

In such a way, the ten states from Hell to Buddhahood can be activated by our relationship with the external world, manifesting themselves in both the physical and spiritual aspects of our every activity. Within a single individual the ten worlds, although they are of course each different from the other, are at the same time unified in their potential to shift from dormancy to activation and back again.

We can see, then, that the idea of the mutual possession of the ten worlds is a concept that describes the dynamic structure of life in an all-embracing way. Nichiren Daishonin explains the concept in his "The True Object of Worship": "Even a heartless villain loves his wife and children. He too has a portion of the Bodhisattva world within him" (MW-1, 53). Thus the state of Bodhisattva - like all the other states - exists even in the world of Hell.

Konrad Lorenz (an Austrian behavioral scientist) pointed out that although animals normally act solely in accord with their instincts, some will assist an ailing fellow creature. We can take this as an example of the world of Bodhisattva existing in the world of Animality.

Which of the ten worlds will manifest itself at a given moment depends not only on external influences but also on one's basic tendencies. A given external influence will not necessarily bring out the same world in two different people. Of course, our conditions fluctuate from one moment to the next but, from a broader perspective, there is always one condition or set of conditions around which our activities center and to which we most likely revert. For example, some lives revolve around the three evil paths, some shuttle back and forth among the six lower worlds, and some people's primary motivation is the quest for truth, which characterizes the two vehicles.

Ultimately, the concept of the mutual possession of the ten worlds - which clarifies the fundamental equality and infinite potential of every human being -explains that every individual possesses the potential to elevate his or her basic tendencies. In other words, through continuing effort in Buddhist practice, we can gradually raise our basic tendencies until we eventually establish the supreme state of Buddhahood as our foundation.

Although the state of Buddhahood is impossible to describe - impossible even to imagine - we can think of it as a condition of absolute joy and confidence experienced in the very depths of our beings, and expressing itself through the nine worlds of everyday life.

During the process of raising our basic tendencies, our perceptions and values are certain to change. In a letter to his disciple Soya Kyoshin, Nichiren Daishonin writes:

Hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita (divine nectar). The water itself is the same, but it appears differently according to the karmic capacity of individuals. (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 1050)

The Daishonin is saying that a life in the state of Hunger perceives the waters of the Ganges as if they were its own self-consuming flames of greed, whereas a life in a different state has a totally different perception. Although the passage refers only to perception in the states of Hunger, Humanity and Rapture, the same principle obviously applies to all the other states as well. In the final analysis, then, when we establish Buddhahood as our immutable foundation so that our individual lives fuse with the Buddhahood of the cosmos, we will be certain to create a life of limitless joy and absolute freedom.

Each of the ten worlds has its own unique characteristics -Hell, for example, being very different from Learning. The ten factors (junyoze), on the other hand, are the mechanism by which one state changes to another with each passing moment. Life in Hell, Hunger, Animality or any of the other ten worlds, possesses the same ten factors. The word nyoze, literally "like this" is prefixed to names of the ten factors as recited in the "Hoben" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The ten factors explain how life shifts from one of the ten worlds to another.

The ten factors are:

1. Appearance (nyoze-so): Those aspects that can be perceived or discerned from the outside. Appearance includes such attributes as color, form and behavior, and in the terms of human beings points to the physical side of our existence, including the body and its functions.
2. Nature (nyoze-sho): The inherent disposition or those qualities that cannot be discerned from the outside. In terms of human life, nature indicates such spiritual aspects as mind and consciousness.
3. Entity (nyoze-tai): The entity or essence of life that manifests itself as external appearance and inner nature but is itself, neither. It is the entity of life in any of the ten worlds.

These first three factors describe life from a static viewpoint. They analyze what life is and also form the theoretical foundation for the Buddhist concept of the oneness of body and Mind (shiki shin funi).

The next six factors analyze the dynamic functions of life. Power and influence describe life's workings in terms of space, while internal cause, relation, latent effect and manifest effect all deal with causality and explain life's functions in terms of time.

4. Power (nyoze-riki): Life's inherent capacity to act, its potential strength or energy to achieve something. Each of the ten worlds has its corresponding power Life in the state of Anger has the power to destroy value, while life 'in the state of Bodhisattva has the power to alleviate others' suffering.
5. Influence (nyoze-sa): The action or movement produced when life's latent power is activated. It is the exertion of influence, whether good or evil, in thought, deed or action.

These two factors, power and influence, presuppose the existence of some external object toward which movement or action is directed. Entity, when accompanied by the dynamic factors of power and influence, may be thought of as an autonomous self that can act 'in relation to other existences.

Furthermore, power and influence are not necessarily proportional to each other. One's inherent power may be great, but the influence small; or one's inherent power small, but the influence great. A person of great talent (inherent power) who is in a state of Hell where the life force is negligible, will exert very little influence on the environment. Whereas, a person who may have average talent but is in a higher state of life such as Humanity or Bodhisattva will reveal a greater proportion of his or her inherent power and impact the environment to a greater degree.

The next four factors explain how the actions of the self cause it to shift from one of the ten worlds to another.

6. Internal cause (nyoze-in): The cause latent in life that simultaneously contains a potential effect. Good causes produce good effects and bad causes, bad effects.
7. Relation (nyoze-en): The auxiliary cause or environmental stimulus that helps karma (internal cause) to produce its effect. Though also called external cause, it is not the environment itself but the connection between life and the environment. When activated by relation, an internal cause undergoes a change and Simultaneously produces a new latent effect. It is also through the function of relation that latent effects become manifest.
8. Latent effect (nyoze-ka): The potential effect produced in the depths of life when the internal cause is activated by relation. Since both internal cause and latent effect are dormant in the depths of life, there is no time gap between the two such as that which often occurs between an action and its perceivable result.
9. Manifest effect (nyoze-ho): The concrete, perceptible result that emerges after the passing of time as a consequence of internal cause and latent effect.

To clarify how the first three factors (appearance, nature and entity), which make up a human life, demonstrate the subsequent six factors from power to manifest effect, take the example of a fledgling sculptor. Her capacity for artistic dedication (power) finds expression in actual efforts (influence) to perfect the use of hammer and chisel. Through her interaction with wood or stone (relation), her innate artistic ability (internal cause) is stimulated (latent effect), and in time she will become a master artist (manifest effect).

10. Consistency from beginning to end (nyoze-honmatsukukyo-to): The integrating factor that unifies all the other nine factors at each moment in a single entity of life. Where there is one factor, all the other nine will invariably be present. Regardless of which of the ten worlds one is in, the tenth factor states that all the other nine will be consistent with that state. The first three factors are the entity (beginning) and the next six factors are its function (end). Both the beginning and end, that is the entity and function of all phenomena, are inseparable.

The three realms are the last of the component principles of ichinen sanzen. They are the realm of the five components, the realm of living beings and the realm of the environment. We can look at the three realms as being the three dimensions of the phenomenal world in which the ten worlds manifest themselves.

The five components combine to form a living being. Living beings are individual beings that manifest the ten worlds. And the environment is where living beings carry out their activities.

The five components are:

1. Form (shiki): The physical aspect of life that possesses such attributes as shape and color. Form also 'indicates the five senses -sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch -through which one perceives the outer world.
2. Perception (ju): The function of receiving external information through the six sensory organs (the five senses plus the mind, which integrates sensory impressions).
3. Conception (so): The function by which one forms an idea or concept about what has been perceived.
4. Volition (gyo): The will to take action toward what has been perceived. (Action itself would be classified as "form ")
5. Consciousness (shiki): The discerning function of life that can make value judgments, distinguish good from evil, and so forth. Consciousness also functions to support and integrate the other four components.

Form corresponds to the physical aspect of life and the other four to the spiritual aspect. However, since Buddhism holds that the material and spiritual aspects of life are inseparable, there is no form without perception, conception, volition and consciousness, nor can there be consciousness without form, perception, conception and volition. The five components must be understood as a whole and grasped in terms of their interaction.

The differences of the ten worlds are reflected in the workings of the five components. For example, in the state of Hell, one perceives and reacts to a given phenomenon quite differently than he or she would in the state of Bodhisattva. The karma one creates thereby will also differ. In this way, the five components are colored by individual karma formed in successive lifetimes, and they also work to accumulate further karma.

The second realm is that of living beings. All living beings, from those in the state of Hell to those in the state of Buddhahood, are formed by a temporary union of the five components - temporary because it will disintegrate at death. Whichever one of the ten worlds underlies the workings of the five components, it will also be manifested in the living being formed by those five components.

Since living beings are viewed as a temporary union of the five components, the question arises why a separate realm should be established for them apart from the realm of the five components. The answer is that these two realms view the living being from different angles. The realm of the five components analyzes the living being into component physical and spiritual workings, while the realm of the living being views one as an integrated individual capable of interaction with the environment. The realm of living beings can also be interpreted in the plural to mean a group of living beings.

In this sense, the realm of living beings indicates the truth that we live in a state of perpetual interrelation and mutual dependence with other living beings. However, we often fall under the illusion that the "self" is somehow absolute and independent of all others. Buddhism teaches that all suffering ultimately stems from this egocentricity. The idea that "living beings are no more than a temporary union of the five components" was intended to help break this attachment to the idea of oneself as fixed and absolute.

The third realm is that of the environment, the place where living beings dwell and upon which they depend for survival. It includes insentient life forms such as grass, trees, mountains, rivers and so on. Whichever of the ten worlds a living being manifests, that world will also be manifested in the environment.

As explained earlier, the ten worlds were originally conceived of as distinct physical environments. Hell was thought to be below the ground, Heaven atop the mythical Mount Sumeru and so forth. According to the theory of ichinen sanzen, however, the land itself, like living beings, possesses all ten worlds. The only difference is that the environment has no independent life-condition; it manifests one or another of the ten worlds in response to the life-condition of the living beings inhabiting it. For example, those in Hunger will experience a given environment 'in a different way than they would in a state of Humanity The most significant implication here is that the human beings can transform the environment by elevating their own states of life. There is no special realm where the Buddha dwells. Rather, by bringing forth their innate Buddhahood, human beings can make the immediate environment a Buddha land.

While the ten worlds and ten factors are common to all beings, the three realms explain that no two beings are alike. The most basic differences expressed in the three realms are those of the ten worlds. However, there are further, individual differences. Even among living beings in the same world of Learning, no two will have exactly the same physical form, and no two will perceive, conceive and respond to the world in exactly the same way. Nor will they have exactly the same environment, for each person interacts uniquely with the rest of the world.