SGI-USA Study Curriculum
THE ENTRANCE-LEVEL TEXTBOOK

PART 1: Gosho Study

"ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD"
- Issho Jobutsu Sho -

BACKGROUND

FREEDOM COMES FROM BEING UNITED WITH THE ETERNAL WITH-IN OURSELVES

In these few lines, Nichiren Daishonin stated the fundamental problem of human existence as Buddhism defines it and offers his unique solution, one that for the first time brought Buddhahood within reach of all people.

The expression "sufferings of birth and death" has been explained in many ways, but here we may understand it as those sufferings arising from what Buddhism calls the truth of impermanence. In the eye of Buddhism, birth and death are not simply the opposite ends of one's lifetime; rather birth and death occur continuously. Everything is forever changing and does not stay the same even for a moment.

Particle physics tells us that at the subatomic level, we cannot speak of fixed or solid matter but only of constantly shifting energy patterns. Buddhism also teaches that everything is in constant flux, but with a very different aim in so doing. Rather than striving to clarify the nature of the physical world, Buddhism seeks to illuminate the human condition. The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence teaches that the things upon which people so often rely for their fulfillment are not ultimately all that reliable. Nothing lasts forever -not wealth, not youth, not the love of another person, not even our own bodies and minds. Even if we can retain our powers and possessions until the last moment of our lives, death strips us of everything in the end. People who seek fulfillment solely in the realm of transient phenomena are vulnerable, dependent for their sense of identity or self-worth on fragile circumstances that are virtually certain to change.

However, as long as people remain in ignorance of the eternal, unchanging truth, they are condemned to grasp for their security at fleeting externals in lifetime after lifetime. This state of being at the mercy of changing phenomena is called "the sufferings of birth and death" and describes the human dilemma as Buddhism sees it.

At the risk of oversimplification, we may say that all forms of Buddhism represent attempts to free people from "the sufferings of birth and death" But in how they define that freedom and what disciplines they teach to achieve it, the different streams of Buddhism differ markedly.

To give just one example, the early or Hinayana Buddhists took "freeing oneself from the sufferings of birth and death" to mean literally extricating oneself from the facts of being born and dying. In other words, they sought to escape the cycle of rebirth and never again be born into this world. This goal was called "stopping the wheel of birth and death." Toward this end, serious practitioners would make every effort to free themselves from attachments to the changing, phenomenal world, abandoning possessions and family ties to enter the Buddhist Order. Since suffering arises from clinging to impermanent things, these Buddhists reasoned, one should ruthlessly sever all attachment to transient phenomena, including one's own body and mind. The state one was said to attain thereby was called nirvana, literally, "to be blown out," meaning that the sufferings of birth and death have been extinguished- From this viewpoint, the goal of Buddhist practice - enlightenment -is something quite removed from the everyday lives of ordinary people.

With this as a background, we can more fully appreciate the radically different view Nichiren Daishonin teaches in the above Gosho passage. For him "freedom from. the sufferings of birth and death" meant not an escape from. the realm of changing phenomena but the discovery of an absolute point of reliance within oneself. That absolute point of reliance is the "mystic truth" or Myoho-renge-kyo, the eternal and unchanging ultimate law of life, which is also the universal Buddha nature. Since time without beginning, the truth has been inherent in the lives of all people. Because we are ignorant of this truth, we remain bound by the constantly fluctuating realm of "birth and death." But when we awaken to this truth the Daishonin taught, we can move with perfect freedom through the world of changing phenomena because we possess an unshakable security within.

Nichiren Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teaching) reads, "We repeat the cycle of birth and death secure upon the earth of our intrinsically enlightened nature" (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 724). In chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin taught us, we do not stop the wheel of birth and death but profoundly transform the way we experience it.

That is, when illuminated by "the mystic truth within our lives:' the sufferings of birth and death, just as they are, become enlightenment. We continue to experience life's joys and sorrows, rejoicing, for example, when we receive a promotion or grieve when a cherished relationship comes to an end. But all the while, because of our practice, we feel a growing sense of confidence and freedom that comes from being united with the eternal in ourselves. And in the face of that awareness, no circumstances, not even death, can fundamentally threaten our security.

Thus, in the above Gosho passage, Nichiren Daishonin sets forth the theoretical basis for common mortals attaining enlightenment in this mundane world. He also defines the practice that makes this possible, a practice by which all people regardless of lifestyle, level of education, intelligence, ability and so forth can grasp their innate Buddha nature.

We should also take note of the Daishonin's statement that one can attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. According to the traditional view, Buddhahood was obtained only after many successive lifetimes of severe practice. In contrast, the Daishonin taught the practice of chanting Nam-myohorenge-kyo as the "direct path" to Buddhahood. That is, it enables all people to manifest immediately the truth within them and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime. Here we can see the profundity of his teaching, in that it enables us to accomplish in one lifetime what would otherwise take countless aeons to complete.

LIFE AT EACH MOMENT IS ENDOWED WITH THE BUDDHA NATURE

Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha's highest teaching. The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai (538-597), an outstanding Chinese scholar who systematized the entire body of Buddhist teachings, divided the sutras into provisional teachings, which reveal partial aspects of the truth, and the true teaching, or Lotus Sutra, which reveals the truth in its entirety. The Lotus Sutra, he said, encompasses all truth within itself; therefore it is called the king of sutras and the wisdom of all Buddhas. Not only does the Lotus Sutra contain all truth within itself, T'ien-t'ai asserted, but the essence of the entire Lotus Sutra is contained within its title, Myoho-renge-kyo.

For Nichiren Daishonin, Myoho-renge-kyo was not merely the title of a sutra but a direct expression of the ultimate reality itself. Thus he says, "Its words are the reality of life, and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (myoho). " We find a similar statement in the Gosho "Thus I Heard":

Our contemporaries think of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo only as a name, but this is not correct. It is the entity, that is, the heart of the Lotus Sutra.... Myoho-renge-kyo is neither the scriptural text nor its meaning but the heart of the entire sutra. (MW-3, 248)

We can also interpret the passage, "Its words are the reality of life" in terms of the Gohonzon, the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law. The Gohonzon inscribed with characters is not a mere symbol or representation of anything else, but, just as it is, embodies Nichiren Daishonin's enlightenment to the ultimate reality that is the Mystic Law.

The Daishonin writes in the above passage that the Lotus Sutra explains "the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena." "Life" here means the "one mind" or ultimate reality that manifests itself at each moment in the lives of common mortals. "Phenomena" indicates the changing phenomenal world that we perceive through our senses.

The Lotus Sutra teaches that all phenomena -in the entire universe are inherent in the life-moment, and the life-moment permeates and reveals itself In all changing phenomena. This relationship is stated in the second or "Hoben," chapter as "all phenomena manifesting the true aspect" (shoho jisso).

Unlike other teachings, which hold that the ordinary reality of common mortals and the ultimate truth occupy separate dimensions, the Lotus Sutra teaches that they are inseparable and ultimately one. This relationship is beyond our intellectual comprehension; therefore it is called "mystic."

Based on the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai developed this concept of the "mutually inclusive nature of life and all phenomena" as the principle of ichinen sanzen.

Nichiren Daishonin elaborates on this concept in the next paragraph of the Gosho. He explains that the life-moment manifests itself as both body and spirit, as both self and environment, and as both sentient and insentient beings. Possessing all ten worlds within itself, it permeates the universe and is contained completely in a speck of dust. The all-inclusive nature of our lives at each moment is further elucidated in the Daishonin's "Sokamon Sho" (On the Teachings Affirmed by All Buddhas Throughout Time):

When we examine the nature of mind, we will find no beginning which necessitates birth and no end which requires death; rather we will discover the true mind, which is free from birth and death. This mind cannot be consumed by flames at the kalpa's end, nor can it be washed away by floods. It cannot be cut by swords, nor shot by arrows. Although it can fit inside a mustard seed, the seed does not expand, nor does the mind contract.

Although it fills the vastness of space, space is not too wide, nor is the mind too small. (GOSHO ZENSHU, P 563)

With our senses we perceive our lives as limited in both time and space, and separate from the greater cosmos. However, in the eye of Buddhism, this is not a complete view. When we "grasp the mystic truth within us" we come to realize that our own lives encompass the entire universe.

As in "The True Object of Worship," quoting Miao-lo, the Daishonin writes, "When we attain Buddhahood, according to this principle [ichinen sanzen], our life pervades the entire universe both physically and spiritually" (MW-I, 65).

Ichinen sanzen though is complex and not easy to grasp. In essence, we can interpret it to mean that all life at each moment is endowed with the Buddha nature. The Daishonin refers to it, in the context of this Gosho, to stress that no truth or power exists outside oneself; all potential is contained in one's own life. All that he has stated thus far forms the theoretical basis for the guidance in faith he gives next.

Here the Daishonin admonishes us not only to understand theoretically but also to have faith that our own lives are the entity of the Mystic Law. The reason is that, even if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and believe in its validity, if we think of it as a power outside ourselves, then although we are embracing the Mystic Law with our bodies and mouths, our minds cling to a lesser concept of the truth and hinder us from experiencing fully the joy and freedom that the Daishonin's Buddhism offers.

Nichiren Daishonin defines "inferior teachings" as those that separate the common mortal from the ultimate truth, holding, for example, that human beings are dependent on gods or other supernatural powers for their salvation, or that enlightenment can be attained only in some other time or place removed from one's life at present. Such views are "inferior" because they blind people to the "mystic truth" or boundless potential inherent in their own lives and force them into a position of subservience to forces outside themselves. The Gosho teaches that adherence to such views acts to block "the direct path to enlightenment" which lies in tapping one's own Buddha nature.

In the final analysis, all of Buddhism was expounded to let people "perceive the nature of their lives" - that is, to realize that one's own life at the most fundamental level is Buddhahood. To study Buddhism or practice good deeds while believing that the truth is outside ourselves is like a poor person trying to get rich by counting a neighbor's money - it will not help us awaken to the true aspect of our lives, and thus it cannot free us from the sufferings of birth and death. Only when one "perceives the nature of his life" - brings forth the Buddha nature - will such efforts contribute to that person's enlightenment.

Nichiren Daishonin as the original Buddha inscribed the Gohonzon so that we can do just this. Based upon the emergence of the Buddha nature that comes about through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, all efforts in Buddhist study and all virtuous deeds come to life, so to speak, furthering one's happiness and enlightenment.

This passage also has something vital to say about the attitude in faith of those who already embrace the Gohonzon.

Many of us come from a religious background that taught us to implore the mercy and assistance of a deity higher than ourselves. Therefore, even subconsciously, we may sometimes tend to regard the Gohonzon as an external power that sits in judgment on us and decides whether we deserve a particular benefit. Eventually, however, this attitude may lead to anxiety and resentment because we feel we are practicing not for ourselves but for someone else. Rather, if we can understand that the Gohonzon, the perfect embodiment of enlightenment, lets us bring forth unlimited power and wisdom from within ourselves, we can experience boundless joy and appreciation and begin to move toward independence.

The "Ongi Kuden" reads, "To know that one's own mind is the Buddha of original enlightenment is called 'great joy"' (GOSHO ZENSHU, P. 788). Now that we embrace the Mystic Law and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the only thing that prevents us from experiencing this "great joy" to an ever-increasing extent is our own attitude in thinking that "the Law is outside" ourselves.

In practical terms, to think that the Law is outside ourselves means to seek the fundamental source and solutions to our suffering in the environment. To compare ourselves continually to others, whether we evaluate ourselves negatively or make catalogues of their faults; to think that other people should be responsible for our happiness, to think that we cannot be happy until someone else changes; or to think that our bank balance, our colleagues' opinion of us or some other transient circumstance completely determines our self-worth, might all be called examples of seeking the Law "outside oneself."

Whenever we start thinking in this way, then, in terms of our attitude, we allow ourselves to be governed by externals, and in effect, deny the power of our inherent Buddhahood to transform our destiny. At such moments, even though we chant to the Gohonzon, our views revert to those of non-Buddhists, and our practice does indeed begin to feel like an "endless, painful austerity." Conversely, when we feel that our practice has become an "endless, painful austerity," it generally indicates that we are overlooking the power of the Gohonzon to let us manifest boundless power and wisdom from within, and that we have slipped into thinking some temporary, external circumstance defines our value in life.

This is why the Daishonin urges us that in chanting to the Gohonzon, we should "summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is our life itself." We can see his compassion and understanding of human nature in the words "summon up deep conviction." It is easy to see our limitations; it is hard to "see" our Buddha nature. But the Daishonin points out that we can nevertheless strive actively to have confidence in our own Buddha nature and make developing that confidence a focus of our prayer. Strengthening the conviction that our own lives are Myoho-renge-kyo is equivalent to "perceiving the nature of one's life" and will enable us to experience overwhelming delight.

BELIEVERS PROPAGATE BUDDHISM BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ONENESS OF LIFE AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

At the beginning of this passage, Nichiren Daishonin urges us to practice with the confidence that all sincere efforts based on faith in the Gohonzon will accumulate good fortune and become causes for our happiness. "Chant the Buddha's name" here means to chant daimoku. As the "Ongi Kuden" reads, "The honorific name of the Buddha originally endowed with the three enlightened properties is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" (GOSHO ZENSHU, R 752). "Reciting the sutra" refers to our offering of the "Hoben" and "Juryo" chapters in morning and evening gongyo. Gongyo and daimoku to the Gohonzon form the basic cause for activating our Buddha Nature. "Offer flowers and incense" may be understood as representing all additional expressions of our sincere devotion.

When we devote ourselves to such acts, we manifest our inherent enlightened nature as common mortals and thus transform the sufferings of birth and death into nirvana, (shoju soku nehan). Practically speaking, this principle means that our Buddhist practice will allow us to tap the strength and wisdom, not only to overcome all problems but to transform them into sources of growth and benefit, thus enabling us to face life with supreme joy and confidence.

The second part of this paragraph, beginning, "If the minds of the people are pure..." is often quoted. Developing the concept that the Law is not outside oneself, the Daishonin explains here that there is no ideal, enlightened realm apart from where one dwells at present. Wherever someone chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and strives for kosen-rufu, that place is itself the Buddha land.

Nichiren Daishonin upheld human dignity and firmly opposed any notion that the ultimate truth exists apart from oneself. The entire universe, he said, is inherent in one's life at this moment. If people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, bringing forth their Buddha nature, then they simultaneously manifest Buddhahood in the places where they live, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment (Esho Funi).

In saying that the difference between pure and impure land "lies solely in the good or evil of our minds," the Daishonin is not speaking of good and evil in the moralistic sense. Rather, we may understand "evil" as indicating the lower states, especially the six lower worlds, in which one remains blind to "the mystic truth within" and merely reacts to external circumstances, while "good" corresponds to the higher states, specifically the world of Buddhahood, wherein one's life is based on the eternal Law. Just as individuals have the potential for all ten worlds, so does the environment. Since people and their environment are inseparable, their basic state of life will be manifested in their environment. With this principle, the Daishonin taught how we can transform our surrounding by elevating our own state of life.

To illustrate, suppose we are presently immersed in conditions of suffering, such as extreme poverty or difficult human relationships. Even though others may in fact be responsible, if we merely blame circumstances for our unhappiness, we put ourselves in a position where we cannot be happy until the environment changes - which might take a very long time. But if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, determined to manifest our Buddha nature powerfully enough to transform our destiny, two things happen. First, we find we have tapped a joy independent of circumstances and a sense of tremendous inner freedom - even though the situation itself may remain less than ideal. But the Daishonin's Buddhism is the teaching of actual proof, and its benefit does not stop with inner freedom alone. As we strengthen our tendency toward Buddhahood, our objective circumstances actually change for the better, just as a shadow follows a body. Those who are poor find their material fortune improving, those despised by others find people coming to respect them, and so forth.

Nichiren Daishonin taught that, in accordance with the principle of the oneness of life and its environment, faith in the Gohonzon will allow us to transform not only our immediate situation but the broad realms of society and the natural World. A well-known passage from "On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings" describes this process:

In that time because all people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together, the wind will not beleaguer the branches or boughs, nor will the rain fall hard enough to break a clod. The world will become as it was in the ages of [the ideal sage-kings] Fu Hsi and Shen Nung in ancient China. Disasters will be driven from the land, and the people will be rid of misfortune They will also learn the art of living long, fulfilling lives (MW-Vol.-2).

It is based upon the principle of the oneness of life and its environment that we speak of propagating Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism for of peace.

ATTAINING ENLIGHTENMENT IN THIS LIFETIME

Just as there are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves, so there is no essential difference between a Buddha and a common mortal. This is one of the most difficult points to grasp about the Buddhist teaching. One way or another, our religious upbringing, our own sense of imperfection or ultimately, Buddhism would say, our fundamental delusion causes us to think that the state of Buddhahood is completely separate from what we are at present. Here, however, the Daishonin clearly asserts that the only difference is one of life-condition: A Buddha is a human being who has awakened to the truth that his or her own life is the Mystic Law, while a common mortal is one who has not. In a lecture on the Gosho "The True Entity of Life," SGI President Ikeda clarifies this point:

All religions in the past regarded God or Buddha as a sacred, superhuman being- Human dignity was recognized only as long as the individual was enveloped in God's grace or the Buddha's mercy... I believe that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism - the religion that teaches that humans themselves are the entity of the Mystic Law and as such are innately endowed with ultimate sanctity - can provide a clear-cut answer to the questions humanity asks itself.

With the analogy of the mirror, Nichiren Daishonin clarifies what it is that keeps us, as common mortals, from realizing that we have the potential for Buddhahood. It is called "fundamental delusion" or "the darkness innate in life" and ultimately means ignorance of the Buddha nature. Like tarnish on a mirror, it prevents us from perceiving that our own lives embody the Mystic Law. According to Buddhism, this delusion is a fundamental source of suffering.

Because we are ignorant of the inherent dignity of our lives, we often act in ways that degrades it and consequently bring pain to ourselves and others. How much anguish could be eliminated from the world if only we were deeply convinced of our own Buddha nature! Never again could we be ruled by feelings of hopeless inadequacy, fear or guilt. Never again could we fundamentally despise ourselves or imagine that our own worth could be threatened, let alone defined, by circumstances. Moreover, as the Daishonin goes on to say in the concluding paragraph of this Gosho: "Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others." If we truly understood that everyone we meet is ultimately a Buddha, we could never take pleasure in another's suffering or think that we could be happy at their expense. The more deeply we are convinced that we and everyone else are entities of the Mystic Law, the less we will tend to hurt or belittle ourselves and others, and the more we will be prompted toward considerate and humane conduct.

In urging us to "polish your mirror, night and day," the Daishonin teaches us to continue our practice so that we may dispel the fundamental darkness innate in life and allow the light of our inherent Buddha nature to shine forth. In the very act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are, at that moment, in the state of Buddhahood. But when we finish chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and go do something else, we revert to the nine worlds of daily life. However, by continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, day by day and month after month, we gradually establish Buddhahood as our fundamental tendency in life. Upon this basis, all the other nine worlds begin to function in an enlightened way, working to benefit both ourselves and others. This process of establishing Buddhahood as our basic life-condition. constitutes "attaining enlightenment in this lifetime." Or, from another perspective, we can say that continuing to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo throughout life is in itself an enlightened way to live.

BUDDHAHOOD IS NOT AN EXTERNAL GOAL BUT A POTENTIAL WE ALREADY POSSESS

Here Nichiren Daishonin interprets each of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate reality of life and the universe. This reality utterly transcends our words and concepts; that is why it must be grasped through faith. At the same time, however, it is our very life itself. The ultimate reality of life cannot be explained in terms of either existence or nonexistence.

Because the truth is beyond all words and concepts, Buddhist texts often refer to it in negative language. For example, the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, is said to have attained his great insight that "Buddha is life" on the basis of a passage from the Muryogi Sutra that refers to the ultimate reality as "neither existence nor nonexistence, neither cause nor circumstance, neither self nor other, neither square nor round, short nor long," and so on, continuing to a total of thirty-four negatives.

This quality of being beyond a verbal categories is called myo, meaning mystic or wondrous, or beyond conception. At the same time, this inscrutable reality manifests itself moment to moment as the phenomenal world of our ordinary experience, displaying such readily comprehensible and expressible qualities as "existence" or "nonexistence." This manifestation of the ultimate reality as the observable world is called ho (ho means both "Law" and "phenomena"). Became the ultimate reality transcends all such categories as "existence" or "nonexistence," yet manifests itself nowhere apart from such phenomena, it is called "the mystic entity of the Middle Way."

Because the Mystic Law is extremely difficult to understand, the Buddha explained it using the lotus blossom, renge, as a metaphor. The lotus is unique in that it produces both seeds and flowers at the same time. Similarly, life simultaneously contains both cause (then nine worlds) and effect (Buddhahood) at every single moment. Through faith in the Gohonzon, we can realize the Buddhahood eternally inherent in our lives. And, as the Daishonin says, when we realize that our own lives are the Mystic Law, we must inevitably understand that so are the lives of all other people and existences. This universality of Buddhahood is the message of the supreme sutra (kyo), the Lotus.

As mentioned earlier, in the Daishonin's teaching, Buddhahood is not an external goal to be approached over the course of lifetimes of practice but a potential we already possess. By having confidence in this and chanting daimoku, we can directly awaken to the Mystic Law that is life itself. This is the "straight road to Buddhahood

The important thing, as the Daishonin teaches in the conclusion, is that, regardless of life's hardships, we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo while deepening our faith that the Mystic Law lies nowhere apart from our own lives. Then, just as stated in the Gosho, we are certain to develop an enlightened state of life here in this world.