Ichinen Sanzen
The Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds
PART II
Today I want to talk about the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds. But before I begin, I want you accept, on faith, the definition of the entirety of human life and all its activities as Ichinen Sanzen. I am asking this, because I do not expect you to "know" it yet as the Buddha does. Why don't I expect you to fully comprehend this? It is because Ichinen Sanzen is the profound law inscrutable in its workings, not only in every aspect of our lives but in the total aspect of all life in the universe. Yet, the Buddha "knows" this Law as the essence of his life. He also has the infinite wisdom derived from it. And from this wisdom comes his capacity to teach and save all living beings.
We need to retain a sense of humility, so I want to quote Shakyamuni's words of caution to his most clever disciple, Sharihotsu. We recited them this evening and do so every time we do Gongyo. The Hoben Chapter says:
"Sharihotsu, the wisdom of the Tathagata is all-encompassing and profound. His mercy is infinite and his teaching knows no bounds. Endowed with power, fearlessness, concentration, freedom [from karma and desires] and the capacity to meditate, he dwells in the boundless and awakes to the never-before-realized Law. Sharaihotsu, the Tathagata has the power to perceive which among the various teachings is suited to his audience, to preach the teachings in a skillful way, and to gladden the hearts of people with warm and tender words. That is to say, Sharaihotsu, the Buddha has realized the infinite, boundless and unparalleled Law."
Now, we may be some of those attributes, but certainly not all of them. Is anyone here free from karma and desires, yet? But I would be wrong if I did not give you warm encouragement from the writings of the Daishonin, who knew the various teachings but taught the only one appropriate for the Latter Day of the Law.
The "Gift of Rice" Gosho reads:
"Yet even common mortals can attain Buddhahood if they cherish one thing: earnest faith. In the deepest sense, earnest faith is the will to understand and live up to the spirit, not the words, of the sutra." (MWN vol 2, p. 268)
Now I want to talk to you about the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds and why practice to Gohonzon is the way to the human reformation that will in turn make world peace possible. The Daish- onin's Gosho, "The Opening of the Eyes," states:
"The concept of ichinen sanzen begins with an understanding of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds or states of existence." (MWN vol. 2, p. 80)
This principle was formulated by T'ien-t'ai. It is based on the Lotus Sutra and states that each of the Ten Worlds contains the potential for all ten. This is the second component principle of Ichinen Sanzen. The first component is the concept of the Ten Worlds which we talked about last time. The second component, the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds, means that our thoughts and emotions are not fixed in any one world but can exhibit any of the ten from Hell to Buddhahood at any given moment.
This concept also explains that each of us tends toward one or more of the ten states, although the poten- tial for any of them is always present. For example, a person who has the basic life tendency of Hunger may exhibit Rapture or Bodhisattva at any moment because his life possesses those two of the Ten Worlds. Only one of them appears in a given moment; the other nine worlds are dormant. But that person always returns to the basic life condition of Hunger, and his life activities consequently center around this state.
Another example is that, at any one moment, a person may experience the joy of Heaven, but at the next moment, some factor in his circumstances may suddenly change, and he is thrown into the depths of Hell. This does not mean, however, that the world of Heaven has ceased to exist. Rather, it means that it has shifted from a state that we can witness to a latent and potential condition. With the appropriate influences from the environment, it will emerge again, and we will find this person happy and smiling -- temporarily. In this way, the ten states from Hell to Buddhahood are activated by one's relationship with the outside world, and we are able to see them in ourselves and others as they surface in response to changes in our environment. Furthermore, they are manifested in both the physical and spiritual aspects of all human activities.
Please remember shiki shin funi. A person whose spirit and mind are in Hell will show it in his appear- ance. Another concept to remember is esho funi. One whose mind and body are in Hell will create Hell in his environment. It cannot be otherwise, if that is his basic tendency, because body and mind are not sep- arate. They are combined in one entity; and this entity cannot be separated from its environment. The environment is an extension of the human being.
I had mentioned that Nichiren Daishonin knew the beliefs of the other sects of his day and the sutras on which they were based. All of you are also learning that Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, expounded provisional teachings for some forty or forty-two years before he preached the supreme Buddhist teaching, the Lotus Sutra. Eventually, you will also learn that, when it was preached, many of his disciples walked out of the assembly and continued to practice the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. The Daishonin says that all of the sutras, except the Lotus Sutra, are the wrong teachings to practice. Why? In "The Opening of the Eyes," the Daishonin states:
"All provisional sutras such as the Kegon, Hannya and Dainichi not only conceal the fact that people in the two realms of shomon [Learning] and engaku [Realization] can attain Buddhahood, but they also fail to make clear that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless aeons in the past. These sutras are guilty of two errors. First, because they teach that the ten worlds of existence are separate from one another, they fail to move beyond the provisional doctrines and reveal the doctrine of ichinen sanzen as it is expounded in the theoretical chapters of the Lotus Sutra." (MWN vol 2, p. 103)
Vasubandhu's Kusho Ron says that Hell exists one thousand yojani under the ground. The Shonen Sutra states that the world of Hunger exists five hundred yojani under the ground. Those in Animality live in water, on land, and in the air. Those in the world of Humanity dwell on earth, those in Rapture on a mountain, and so on. But from everyday life, we can observe that Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Rapture, and Humanity are walking the streets at this very moment.
In the Mushimochi Gosho ("New Year's Gosho"), the Daishonin writes:
"First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. However, careful thought will reveal that both exist in our fivefoot body. The reason I think so is that hell is in the heart of a man who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother... You may question how is it that the Buddha can reside within us when our bodies, originating from our parents' sperm and blood...But repeated consideration shows the validity of my claim. The pure lotus flower blooms out of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood tree grows from the soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees, the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei was born of a maidservant, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them." (MWN vol 1, pp. 271-272)
The Lotus Sutra teaches that people in Learning and Realization, women, evil men, virtually everyone, can attain enlightenment. By contrast, all the other sutras fall short. They do not provide the absolute freedom and equality for all humanity to attain Buddhahood. But the Dai-Gohonzon has been estab- lished and impartially sheds its compassion on all who accept it, thus ensuring our enlightenment.
You probably know Christianity, Islam and Judaism much better than I do. Because you do, you can probably see more similarities to the preLotus Sutra teachings than I. Therefore, you are able to under- stand why Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism considers all teachings, except the true teachings of the Lotus Sutra, provisional. But I want to caution you. Any religion attempts to establish a basic morality through which order can be brought to society. There are many "don'ts" in the teachings of Hinayana Buddhism and in other religions that exist to tell people what they shouldn't do, so that they don't make bad causes. These are not necessarily "bad" teachings.
"The Nirvana Sutra remarks: 'All scriptures or teachings, from whatever source, are ultimately the reve- lation of Buddhist truth. They are not non-Buddhist teachings.'" (MWN vol 2, p.77)
In the same Gosho, he quotes T'ien-t'ai:
"In the Konkomyo Sutra it is recorded that 'All the good teachings that exist in the world derive from this sutra. To have a profound knowledge of this world is itself Buddhism.'" (MWN vol. 2, p.75)
But although these teachings can be considered "revelations of Buddhist truth," they do not reveal the Supreme Truth of Buddhism. Furthermore, they have failed to bring peace. They do not elucidate the innate Buddhahood possessed by all beings and phenomena (Ichinen Sanzen--"three thousand worlds in a momentary state of existence"), nor do they teach how to maintain a basic life condition that extends to all people.
Please remember that I said, "...the Ten Worlds respond to events and things in our environment." When you accept Gohonzon, you are accepting the entity of the Law as Ichinen Sanzen and the Buddha into your environment. The Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds is inscribed in the Gohonzon. It therefore exists in environments that are hellish or full of anger, animality, hunger, tranquility and fleeting rapture, as well as in the arrogant worlds of Learning and Realization. This is because it acknowledges the presence of Buddhahood in all of these worlds. Accepting the Gohonzon into any of these environments is accepting the object that stimulates and develops Buddhahood as a barr lifo tendency.
There is not time to talk about how one goes about his human reformation. But I want you to remember the story about the woman who didn't know that she possessed a cellar filled with gold. First, she had to be told about it. Second, she had to vigorously and continuously dig away the dirt that hid it. Then she was able to find the gold and use it to improve her daily circumstances. In the same way, we must begin to reform our own lives. We have to be told that we have; Buddha nature. And, if we want to actualize world peace, we have to tell others that they possess this potential, too. Then we have to teach others vigorously and continue ously how to do the same with faith practice and study. We have to bravely practice this way until Buddhahood is established as a basic tendency of our lives.
Now perhaps you might be thinking, "Maybe I don't want to be a Buddha. It all sounds rather strange."
However the most important implication of Ichinen Sanzen to remember and understand is that all common mortals of the nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood, and a Buddha retains the lower nine worlds and is not separate from common mortals. So you will live in these worlds, but with a difference. You will be angry sometimes, perhaps hungry, too. You will experience Rapture and Hell, but the quality will be different. You will manifest the lower worlds, but will no longer be controlled by them. The things that you get angry and are hungry for will be of a high order. You will look better and feel better and know to chant to the Gohonzon first, to acquire the wisdom needed to face your lower worlds and all obstacles to happiness.