SGI-USA Study Curriculum

Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra
by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda

We Met the Gohonzon Because of a Profound Connection

Ze ko nyorai. I hoben setsu. Bi-ku to chi. Sho-bus^shusse. Nan ka chigu. Sho-i sha ga. Sho haku-toku nin. Ka muryo. Hyaku sen man nok-ko. Waku u ken butsu. Waku fu ken sha. I shiji ko. Ga sa ze gon. Sho bi-ku. Nyorai nan ka tokken. Shi shujo to. Mon nyo ze go. Hit^to sho o. Nanzo shi so. Shin ne renbo. Katsu-go o butsu. Ben shu zengon. Ze ko nyorai. Sui fu jitsu metsu. Ni gon metsu-do.

U zen-nanshi. Sho-butsu nyo-rai. Ho kai nyo ze. I do shujo. Kai jitsu fu ko.

"Therefore as an expedient means the Thus Come One says: 'Monks, you should know that it is a rare thing to live at a time when one of the Buddhas appears in the world.' Why does he do this? Because persons of shallow virtue may pass immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of kalpas with some of them chancing to see a Buddha and others never seeing one at all. For this reason I say to them: 'Monks, the Thus Come One is hard to get to see.' When living beings hear these words, they are certain to realize how difficult it is to encounter the Buddha. In their minds they will harbor a longing and will thirst to gaze upon the Buddha, and then they will work to plant good roots. Therefore the Thus Come One, though in truth he does not enter extinction, speaks of passing into extinction."

"Good men, the Buddhas and Thus Come Ones all preach a Law such as this. They act in order to save living beings, so what they do is true and not false." (LS16, 227)

This passage explains that irreplaceable significance and supreme worth go with a life in which one succeeds in forming a connection with the Buddha. It is most rare to live at a time when a Buddha is in the world. People with little accumulated merit may fail to encounter a Buddha, the passage says, even with the passing of "immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of kalpas." This suggests just how difficult it is to form a connection with Buddhism.

Shakyamuni tells his disciples that the Thus Come One is difficult to meet. From this statement ("Monks, the Thus Come One is hard to get to see"), which has the tone of a final testament, we get a sense of Shakyamuni's dauntless spirit.

Buddhism teaches the importance of one's debt to the mentor, who literally channels every ounce of energy into training disciples to enable them to overcome arrogance and dependency and advance along the correct and grand path of "faith equals daily life." This passage brings home the disciples' immense debt of gratitude to the Buddha.

Upon hearing these words, Shakyamuni's disciples no doubt aroused a true seeking mind, solemnly determining to rectify their attitude in their Buddhist practice to receive with their entire being the teaching of the mentor so rarely encountered.

Possessing such a seeking mind itself produces "good roots" in one's life and enables one to establish a state of life of indestructible happiness. By manifesting such a seeking mind, a "person of shallow virtue" becomes a "person of merit and virtue."

This is due to the Buddha's great compassion; this represents the true path to salvation. If the Buddha raised people to be dependent on him, it would not contribute in the least to their actual liberation from suffering. Genuine salvation in Buddhism comes through raising people of correct faith, which is to say, people who possess both an earnest seeking mind and a spirit of self-reliance. Only thus can the Buddha's desire for the liberation of all people from suffering be accomplished.

Chanting Daimoku Is the Greatest Good Cause

From the standpoint of Nichiren Daishonin's teaching, the Buddha, needless to say, is the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Thus Come One, or the Daishonin himself. And "persons of shallow virtue" indicates the people of the Latter Day of the Law.

Nichiren Daishonin prayed for all people of the Latter Day to become "people of merit and virtue," and he entered extinction as an expedient means to guide them along this path. Through his passing, he taught the people of the Latter Day the truth that "the Thus Come One is hard to get to see."

And for all those who could not meet him, the Daishonin manifested the great life of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo --- his true identity-in the form of the Gohonzon, which he bestowed upon all people of the Latter Day. How vast, indeed, is the mercy of the original Buddha!

Accordingly, we should read the passage, "In their minds they will harbor a longing and will thirst to gaze upon the Buddha, and then they will work to plant good roots," as describing us, the people of the Latter Day. A mind that harbors a longing for the Buddha and thirsts to gaze upon the Buddha is a mind of strong faith in the Gohonzon. And to plant good roots-as indicated by the passage in the "Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings," "[Planting] good roots means [chanting] daimoku" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 754) --- is to chant the Mystic Law.

Encountering the Gohonzon is tantamount to meeting the original Buddha. Our having met the Gohonzon is due to a profound and mystic relationship.

The Daishonin says:

It is extremely rare to be born as a human being. Not only are you endowed with human life, but you have had the rare fortune to encounter Buddhism. Moreover, out of the Buddha's many teachings, you have found the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra and become its votary. Truly you have served tens of billions of Buddhas in your past existence's! (The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 235).

We who have encountered the Gohonzon are no longer people of shallow virtue. The original Buddha declares that we are people of great merit and virtue who have formed connections with an incalculable number of Buddhas in the past.

How mystic, indeed, are our lives! What a profound mission we possess! To teach us this, Nichiren Daishonin led a life of great struggle and died as a truly exemplary human being. He conducted himself as he did in order to guide all people; his conduct in every respect qualifies, in the words of the sutra, as "true and not false." The members of the SGI are proving this through their faith.

The second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, once remarked, "We should deeply appreciate and take pride in our being able to spend the remaining 20 or 30 years, or perhaps 40 or 50 years, of our lives filled with joy in having met the Dai-Gohonzon, which is rarely encountered even once in millions or tens of millions of years."

Throughout our lives, let us advance with dignity along the path of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, further deepening our unique relationship with the Buddha and working to accomplish the Buddha's decree.

The Buddha Is the "King of Physicians ' Curing the Fundamental Sufferings

Hi nyo ro-i. Chi-e so-datsu. Myo ren ho-yaku. Zen ji shubyo. Go nin ta sho shi-soku. Nyaku ju niju. Nai-shi hyaku-shu. I u ji-en. On shi yo-koku.

"Suppose, for example, that there is a skilled physician who is wise and understanding and knows how to compound medicines to effectively cure all kinds of diseases. He has many sons, perhaps ten, twenty, or even a hundred. He goes off to some other land far away to see about a certain affair." (LS16, 227-28)

Parables Are Expressions of the Buddha's Compassion

This is the beginning of the famous parable of the skilled physician and his sick children.

In the "Expedient Means" (2nd) chapter, Shakyamuni says, "I have through various causes and various similes widely expounded my teachings" (LS2, 24); the Buddhist scriptures are indeed replete with parable, allegory and metaphor. To enable people to grasp his profound teaching and make it readily accessible, the Buddha explained it using a variety of brilliantly-conceived illustrations and comparisons.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; and it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars."1 The Buddha was truly a genius at discourse.

Using common sense illustrations and metaphors to explain things makes it possible to move people's hearts. When people are moved, they can change their state of life. The Buddha's parables are an expression of his compassionate desire to try, by any means available, to help people change themselves and become happy. They are also the crystallization of his wisdom.

In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni's skill as a master at dialogue is fully displayed. There are in fact a great many parables in the Lotus Sutra. Among these, seven are particularly important: These are known as "the seven parables and similes." Along with the parable of the excellent physician and his sick children that we are about to study, the seven include: the parable of the three carts and the burning house; the parable of the wealthy man and his poor son; the parable of the three kinds of medicinal herbs and two kinds of trees; the parable of the phantom city and the treasure land; the parable of the gem in the robe; and the parable of the priceless gem in the topknot.

Of these seven parables, only the parable of the excellent physician and his sick children is expounded in the sutra's essential teaching, or second half. The rest are all contained in the earlier, theoretical teachings.

At this point in "The Life Span of the Thus Come One" (16th) chapter, the ultimate teaching of the Buddha's eternal life has already been expounded. But that is not in itself sufficient. As I pointed out in the last lecture (Dec. 8 World Tribune), the Buddha's true objective is to enable people to practice this supreme teaching themselves and come to fully embody its truth.

As the ultimate expedient he employs toward this end, the Buddha appears to enter extinction. The parable of the excellent physician and his sick children expresses "as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana" (LS16, 229) in the form of a parable.

The parable of the excellent physician and his sick children also indicates how, at the time of his extinction, the Buddha expounds the Mystic Law to save the people of later ages. Its aim is to help people after the Buddha's passing in the Latter Day understand that it was for their sake that the Buddha preached the Mystic Law.

The parable begins with the introduction of the principal characters. There is a great physician who possesses brilliant wisdom, and who excels in compounding medicines and curing people's illnesses. He has many children, who are said to number "ten, twenty, or even a hundred." Shakyamuni then indicates that the physician goes elsewhere to attend to some matter.

The excellent physician represents Shakyamuni, who attained enlightenment in the remote past. He is a Buddha endowed with infinite wisdom. Compounding medicines symbolizes expounding teachings.

While it seems extraordinary that the physician should have a hundred children, they are meant to represent all people, who are like children to the Buddha.

The physician's journey is a metaphorical description of how in the past Shakyamuni, following his attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past, left this world for an interval in order to appear in other worlds.

The Buddha is often described as the "king of physicians," a physician of unparalleled skill. Just as a physician provides appropriate curative methods according to the condition of the patient, the Buddha understands the most appropriate means for curing people of their sufferings. That is why the Buddha is represented as a physician.

There are various kinds of illnesses. Taking cold medicine for a toothache won't do you any good. Nor will applying eye medicine to treat a stomachache. An excellent physician is one who thoroughly understands the relationships between medicine and disease.

As an example of the typical Japanese attitude toward religion, you often hear Japanese say that all religions are the same. Continuing with the medical analogy, that would be like saying that it's fine to take any medicine to treat any ailment. Doesn't this suggest an appalling lack of responsibility for one's own life? I believe people should closely examine how particular religions impact their lives.

Moreover, the Buddha is not simply an "excellent physician"; he is the "king of physicians." He understands the wonderful medicine for "curing" fundamental darkness, which is the root cause of all suffering. And this ultimate teaching that the Buddha left behind for all people of future generations is the Mystic Law contained in the depths of the "Life Span" chapter.

1. The Basic Works of Aristotle, ed. Richard McKeon (New York: Random House, 1941), p. 1479.

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