SGI-USA Study Curriculum

THE ENTRANCE-LEVEL TEXTBOOK

PART 2: Gosho Study

"THE REAL ASPECT OF THE GOHONZON"
- Gohonzon Somyo Sho -

BACKGROUND

THE SUPREME POTENTIAL LIES WITHIN US

This is a very well-known and important passage. In it, the Daishonin dispels the idea that Buddhahood exists anywhere apart from our own lives and the reality in which we live. Herein lies the greatness of his Buddhism, which is unsurpassed in bridging the gap between ultimate truth and the ordinary person.

The Gohonzon, as we have stated, embodies the life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. However, the fundamental Law of life to which the Daishonin was enlightened also exists within ourselves. Thus there is no essential difference between the Buddha's life and the life of common mortals. There is, however, a definite difference 'in terms of life-condition. The Buddha realizes that one's own life is the Mystic Law, while common mortals, blinded by delusion, do not. As the Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon so that we, common mortals, could awaken to the Mystic Law within ourselves and attain the same life-condition as himself. Because his aim was to awaken us to the entity of our own lives, he admonishes, "Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself." If we thought of the Gohonzon as some external or supernatural power that we must beseech for help, that would hinder us from discovering the ultimate truth within ourselves. The Daishonin therefore cautions us against this attitude in several Gosho. In "On Attaining Buddhahood," for example, he writes:

Even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching.... Therefore, when you chant the Mystic Law and recite the Lotus Sutra, you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself. (MW-I, 3-4)

To give an analogy, no matter how perfect our eyesight, we cannot see our own faces. Only when we look into a mirror can we see what we look like. Similarly, being common mortals of limited wisdom, we cannot see our own Buddha nature. However, when we face the mirror of the Gohonzon, we can discover the treasure of Buddhahood (the Gohonzon) within.

Herein we find a significant point of difference between the Daishonin's Buddhism and those religious teachings in which people are taught to depend on supernatural powers outside themselves, either begging their aid or seeking to avert their wrath. Historically, this perceived gap between people and their object of worship has not only blinded them to the truth within their own lives but opened the way for those claiming to be intermediaries of the deity to gain and exercise power over the lives of others. Nichiren Daishonin's teaching denies any essential gap between human beings and the ultimate reality. Instead, it teaches that the supreme potential lies within us and shows us how to manifest it "within our mortal flesh" by embracing the Gohonzon.

The Gohonzon is the sole, perfect manifestation of the Mystic Law in our environment, placed there by the compassion and wisdom of Nichiren Daishonin. When we fuse our lives with the Gohonzon by chanting Nam-myohorenge-kyo, we can witness the reality of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo emerging in our own lives, in both their internal and external dimensions. This happens by what Buddhism terms "the interaction of the four powers." The Gohonzon embodies the powers of the Buddha and the Law, which are absolute. However, these powers can be activated only by our own powers of faith and practice. By believing in and chanting daimoku to the Gohonzon, we can manifest its power in every aspect of our lives.

The fusion of our lives with the Gohonzon can be described as the tapping of the nine consciousness. The doctrine of the nine consciousnesses represents a Buddhist analysis of the functions of mind. Briefly, the first five consciousnesses correspond to the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness, mind, integrates the impressions of the five senses into coherent images, so that one can make judgments about the outer world.

The seventh or mano-consciousness is the realm of abstract thought. Spanning both conscious and unconscious realms, it also entails attachment to self extending even below the conscious level.

The eighth, alaya-consciousness, is an unconscious realm where all experiences of the present and past lifetimes - karma - are stored. This consciousness undergoes change from one moment to the next as one continually performs new actions, whether positive or negative. The karmic content of the alaya-consciousness affects the perceptions of the first seven consciousnesses, and these perceptions 'in turn predispose us to our own particular karmic patterns. The alaya-consciousness forms the framework of individual existence and is that which undergoes the cycle of birth and death.

Some earlier Buddhist traditions, such as the Consciousness-Only school, regard the alaya-consciousness as the basis of all life's functions. However, the T'ien-t'ai school posited a ninth consciousness, the amala-consciousness or "fundamental pure consciousness" lying beneath the alaya-consciousness. Untainted by karmic accretions, it is the imperishable, unchanging realm of the universal Buddha nature, endowed with the four virtues of true self, eternity, purity and happiness.

In saying, "The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness " Nichiren Daishonin emphasizes that the potential for Buddhahood exists within us. He taught that by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can gain access to this ninth consciousness, the ultimate depth of life. Activated by our daimoku, its light, so to speak, floods upward to illuminate the workings of the other eight conscious times, so that the entire interlocking network of causes and effects forming our individual existence comes to be based on enlightenment. By tapping the Buddha nature or the ninth consciousness within, we can fundamentally change our karma for the better and establish an unshakable state of life.

THROUGH FAITH, ONE CAN ACQUIRE BUDDHA WISDOM AND ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT

The Gohonzon is called a mandala, a Sanskrit word translated into Chinese and meaning "perfectly endowed" or "cluster of blessings." Here the Daishonin interprets these expressions to mean that the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds. As mentioned above, the various figures inscribed to the right and left of "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren" in the center of the Gohonzon represent the ten worlds of the original. Buddha's life.

For example, Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas represent his world of Buddhahood; the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as well as the bodhisattvas of the theoretical. teaching, such as Fugen and Monju, represent his world of Bodhisattva; Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the two vehicles; the various Buddhist gods, the world of Heaven; the Ashura king, the world of Anger; and Devadatta, the world of Hell. All ten worlds of the Daishonin's life are present without exception.

Earlier in the Gosho, the Daishonin writes: "Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship" (MW-I, 212). Mandalas used as objects of worship in other sects, such as Shingon, depict only Buddhas and bodhisattvas, reflecting the shallow, incomplete view that we rid ourselves of the lower states when we attain enlightenment. But the Gohonzon is endowed with all ten worlds.

The Daishonin taught that each of the ten worlds has all ten within itself, meaning that even the so-called "evil paths" of Hell, Hunger, and Animality contain the potential for enlightenment. The ten worlds of the original Buddha's life embodied in the Gohonzon are all "illuminated by the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" and work in an enlightened way to create value and lead others to happiness.

The great difference between the Daishonin and us is that, left to our own devices, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo would never be at the center of our lives. A graphic representation of our lives might show the Ashura king in the center, indicating Anger, or the demon Kishimcjin, indicating Hunger. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo might be somewhere off in a corner, so to speak.

But through the practice of gongyo and daimoku, we bring Nam-myoho-renge-kyo back to the center of our lives. Then, all our inherent states of life from Hell to Buddhahood come to be illuminated by the Mystic Law, rather than being shrouded by delusion and out of harmony with one another.

Similar to the way 'in which an ordinary piece of metal becomes magnetized through repeated contact with a magnet, as we continue to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, our ten worlds align themselves with the ten worlds of the original Buddha's life and begin working in the most positive way to benefit both ourselves and others.

In his commentary on "The True Object of Worship," Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest of Nichiren Shoshu, writes, "If only one believes in the Gohonzon and chants the Mystic Law, then the ten worlds of his or her own life will become those of the object of worship."

The fusion with the Gohonzon that enables our innate Buddha nature to well forth is possible only through our faith. Thus the Daishonin admonishes, "This Gohonzon is found 'in faith alone." Provisional sutras often stressed the development of wisdom as the key to attaining Buddhahood. However, in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's enlightenment is shown to be so profound that no ordinary wisdom could possibly grasp it.

The opening passage of the "Hoben," or second chapter, of the Lotus Sutra, which we recite every morning and evening during gongyo declares: Sho-but chi-e. finjin muryo. Go chi-e mon. Nange nannyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. Shofu no chi. (The wisdom of all Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable. The portal to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Neither men of Learning (shomon) nor men of Realization (engaku) can comprehend it.) - let alone, of course, common mortals. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra stresses faith as the key to attaining enlightenment.

Even Shariputra, the Buddha's most outstanding shomon disciple famed as the "foremost in wisdom" could attain enlightenment only when he took faith in the Buddha's teaching. The third chapter, "Hiyu," reads: "Even you, Shariputra, where this sutra is concerned, gained entrance through faith. How much more so the other shomon disciples!" Thus the Lotus Sutra emphasizes, "Only with faith can one enter Buddhahood."

Nichiren Daishonin also teaches the principle of "gaining wisdom through faith," which means that through faith, one can acquire the Buddha wisdom and attain enlightenment. In the Gosho "Shishin Gohon Sho" (The Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice) he writes: "And because our wisdom is inadequate, he teaches us to substitute faith, making this single word 'faith' the foundation.... While faith is the cause for wisdom" (mw-6, 216).

From another perspective, we can say that faith 'in the Gohonzon is itself an expression of one's innate Buddha nature. As Nichiren Daishonin says in "The True Object of Worship," "That common mortals born in the Latter Day of the Law can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of Buddhahood is present in the world of Humanity" (MW-I, 53).

And Nichikan Shonin says in his "Sanju Hiden Sho" (Threefold Secret Teaching), "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."

FAITH DEEPENS THROUGH THE SPECIFIC ACTIONS OF PRACTICE AND STUDY

This portion of the Gosho elaborates from various angles on the fundamental importance of faith, citing T'ien-t'ai's Maka Shikan, Miao-lo's commentary on it, and also the Chinese classics. First, the Daishonin indicates that an important component of faith is the ability to "honestly discard the provisional teachings." The provisional teachings are those expounded before the Lotus Sutra, which reveal only partial aspects of the truth and were valid only during the Former and Middle Days of the Law - a relatively short time of human history.

In contrast, the Lotus Sutra, which is called the "round" or perfect teaching (engyo), reveals the truth in its entirety and is valid for all time. In inscribing the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the truth implicit in the Lotus Sutra in practicable form for this, the Latter Day of the Law.

To cling to the provisional teachings once this true teaching has been revealed, he taught, is to commit slander; in effect, we would be mistaking the part for the whole and thus bases ourselves on a distorted view of life.

The Daishonin's contemporary followers came from other sects of Buddhism, which were based on the provisional sutras. He adamantly insisted that they forsake all misleading prayers, beliefs and notions associated with these incomplete teachings, emphasizing that enlightenment can be attained only by devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the complete teaching found in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws.

For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the West, slander caused by attachment to provisional Buddhist teachings does not pose the problem that it did for people of thirteenth-century Japan. Nevertheless, we may still carry with us various attitudes, outlooks or other habits of thought and behavior incompatible with what the Daishonin teaches us about faith in the absolute power of the Gohonzon and our own Buddha nature.

For example, we may fall into thinking that we cannot be happy until others change, or we may expect some outside force to magically solve our problems. Since mistaken attitudes of this sort will hinder our development, when we recognize them in ourselves, we should strive to "honestly discard" them and "chant only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as the Daishonin teaches, relying more fully on the power of our faith in the Gohonzon. Then we can more fully manifest the unimaginable potential we have within, establishing good fortune both for this life and the life to come.

Our sincere faith, the Daishonin says, will allow us to 96 enter the Treasure Tower of the Gohonzon." This means to enter the world of Buddhahood. In this connection, we can note something very interesting about the aspect of the Gohonzon itself. Because the Gohonzon is inscribed on paper or wood, it appears flat, but the ceremony it depicts is three-dimensional, centered around Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, as we sit facing the Gohonzon, the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho are facing outward, toward us, while Bodhisattva Jogyo and the other representatives of the nine worlds are facing in the same direction as ourselves.

In the act of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we take part in the ceremony with them and enter the Gohonzon's world. The Buddha's life, which is embodied in the ceremony of the Gohonzon, and which wells up within us and our environment as we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, fills the entire universe. It is indeed "a vast ocean" as T'ien-t'ai says. But without faith in the Gohonzon -that is, without actually chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo - we cannot enter and experience it.

In studying this part of the Gosho, it may be helpful to remember that the development of faith is an ongoing process. No one has unwavering faith from the outset. At the very beginning of our practice, faith might perhaps be thought of as the spontaneous will to trust or to believe, or simply as the expectation or even the hope that life win become happier as a result of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This spontaneous will to believe is inherent in all people, a natural expression of the Buddha nature. In this sense, even the newest member may be said to have faith. As we continue to chant daimoku, we receive benefit and experience our prayers being answered, and our faith accordingly deepens to 'include the aspect of conviction in the truth and power of the Gohonzon. This conviction in turn impels us toward further efforts in practice and study. Over the months and years, our conviction deepens toward absolute faith, the faith of which Nichikan Shonin says, "Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is itself Buddhahood."

Nichiren Daishonin fully understood that developing one's faith is a lifelong process. That is why he continually urged even strong believers to further deepen their faith. As he writes in the Gosho, "The Embankments of Faith," "You must bail the sea water of doubt and slander out of the ship of your life and solidify the embankments of your faith" (MW-I, 159). As anyone who has ever sailed knows well, bailing demands persistent effort.

We need not torment ourselves with guilt or anxiety because we experience doubts or feel insincere from time to time; rather, the important thing is that we continue striving to resolve our doubts through earnest prayer and action. In this way, we can steadily deepen our faith.

It is also important to bear in mind here that faith deepens through the specific actions of practice and study. Nichiren Daishonin touches on the relationship of these three fundamental elements in citing the passage from Miao-lo's Guketsu: "To 'believe in the perfect teaching' means to awaken faith through doctrine and make faith the basis of practice." Practice and study are integral to faith.

The Daishonin himself makes this point in a famous passage from "The True Entity of Life": "Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself, you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith" (MW-1, 95).

Faith does not exist as an abstract mental state, but finds expression -in practice, both for ourselves and for others, and in study, which 'in turn serve to deepen faith. Our deepened faith then motivates us to make more serious efforts in practice and study. In this process, our enlightenment emerges.

With the two examples from Chinese history, the Daishonin teaches us that faith, though itself invisible, is a very real power that produces visible results. The first story concerns the founder of the Later Han dynasty. Once, when the future emperor was still struggling for power, he was retreating from a battlefield in the dead of winter, hard pressed by the enemy.

Knowing that a wide river lay ahead, he dispatched his most reliable captain to see if it could be forded. The officer found the river uncrossable, but, not having the heart to convey such devastating news, he reported that it was frozen over. According to tradition, because the future emperor had complete faith in this report, when he arrived at the river with his army he found it solidly frozen and crossed in safety.

The second story is known to many of us from the Gosho "General Stone Tiger." General Li Kuang of the Former Han dynasty, believing a boulder the grass to be the tiger that had killed his father, shot an arrow into solid rock. These two stories teach that the power of faith can make the impossible a reality "Faith is still more powerful in the world of Buddhism" the Daishonin says, because it is based on an immutable Law.

Especially when tired or discouraged, it may be human to wonder at times if we can ever overcome our problems, or if the great task of kosen-rufu can ever be achieved. However, when we give in to such doubts, we ourselves limit our capacity to manifest the Gohonzon's boundless benefit. The greatness of faith lies 'in its power to let us see beyond the limitations and sufferings of the present into the unlimited and joyous future that we are creating through our prayer and our action based upon it.

The Daishonin urges us to use our given circumstances, whatever they may be, as an opportunity to strengthen our faith in the Gohonzon, so that we can more fully manifest our Buddha nature and thus bring a more enlightened reality into being.

EMBRACING THE GOHONZON IS IN ITSELF ENLIGHTENMENT

Nichiren Daishonin taught that 'in the Latter Day of the Law, embracing the Gohonzon is in itself enlightenment Yuji soku kanjin), and that this single practice contains the benefit of all other good practices. As he writes 'in "The True Object of Worship": "Shakyamuni's practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the single phrase, Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in that phrase, we shall naturally be granted the same benefits as he was" (MW-I, 64).

The "five practices" mentioned above are to embrace, read, recite, teach and transcribe the Lotus Sutra. The "Hosshi" chapter says that one who embraces, reads, recites, teaches or transcribes even a single verse of the sutra will without fail attain Buddhahood. In the Latter Day of the Law the Daishonin declares, all five practices are contained in the single practice of "embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo," which can be understood to mean practice as the Buddha taught - exerting ourselves in the three aspects of practice: faith, practice (for oneself and others) and study.

"The practice which appears in the Jinriki chapter" refers to a passage from the twenty-first chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which reads: "After my death, one should embrace this sutra. Concerning that person's attainment of Buddhahood, there can assuredly be no doubts." The Daishonin's "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) interprets this as follows: "It is clear from this passage that in the Latter Day of the Law, when the Pure Law has become obscured and lost, Bodhisattva Jogyo will make his advent and, abbreviating four of the five practices, will attain Buddhahood by the single practice of embracing the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo."

As the original Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin embodied the "five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" in concrete form as the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws. Embracing the Gohonzon is a universally feasible practice that anyone, regardless of ability or circumstances, can carry out. In this way, he brought the possibility of attaining Buddhahood within reach of all people. Having been fortunate enough to meet this teaching, we can have full confidence that so long as we adhere to the single practice of embracing the Gohonzon and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Daishonin teaches, we are certain to attain enlightenment in this lifetime.