Otaiya Sermon
10/8/94
Rev. Dosho Sakata
Myogyoji Temple
Nichiren Daishonin states:
"You must never seek any of Shakyamuni's teachings
or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself. Your
mastery of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of mortal sufferings
in the least unless you perceive the nature of your own life. If you seek
enlightenment outside yourself, any discipline or good deed will be meaningless.
For example, a poor man cannot earn a penny just by counting his neighbor's
wealth, even if he does so night and day. That is why Miao-la states, 'Unless
one perceives the nature of his life, he cannot eradicate his evil karma.'
He means here that unless one perceives the nature of his life, his practice
will become an endless, painful austerity. Miao-la therefore condemns such
students of Buddhism as non-Buddhist. He refers to the passage in the Maka
Shikan, 'Although they study Buddhism, their views revert to those of non-Buddhists.'"
(On Attaining Buddhahood, MW1-4)
Good evening everyone. I sincerely thank you for making pilgrimage to the Otaiya Oeshiki Ceremony at the temple to express gratitude to the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin; especially those of you who came a long distance from out-of-town. I have offered your Gokuyo to the Gohonzon and prayed for the successful activities of all the Hokkeko members. Tonight, I would like to talk about the difference between Nichiren Shoshu and other Nichiren sects.
At present, I think there are over more than 100 Nichiren sects, including this one, in the world today. But, needless to say, it is only Nichiren Shoshu which has passed down the true teaching from Nichiren Daishonin for 700 years with the true Heritage and Transmission of the Law from master to disciple through each successive High Priest.
I think you may remember that at in last month's sermon Rev. Kawabe told us, "there are no miracles in Buddhism." Of course, because Buddhism teaches the exactness of cause and effect, if you make a cause in your daily life, you will have an exact effect regardless of random probability. Therefore, when you make a choice to take faith in the wrong religious teaching or ritual, even if that religion is a Nichiren sect, it is a matter of course that you will have the effect of experiencing unhappiness. So it is important to know about the level of right or wrong, depth or shallowness of other religions and Nichiren sects.
People often say, "It doesn't matter which kind of religious teachings you believe in because every religion's goal is the same". Please think about this. For example, a group of people hire a captain to sail them across the sea to a new land. The sea is very wide. If the crew is sailing with an inaccurate map and broken compass, they will sail off course even if their goal is to have a safe voyage. If they encounter a hurricane during this voyage, they will wind up completely adrift at sea and it will be almost impossible to reach to their destination. All the people who believe in the captain and crew and join them for the voyage will also wind up adrift at sea.
It is the same thing when you believe in the wrong religious teaching and take faith in the words of its founder. The effect will be that you wind up adrift in your life and fall into delusion and suffering even if you had strong faith and the goal of happiness.
Other Nichiren sects and other religions usually say, "Ours is the best teaching," but it is impossible to have many best teachings. The second chapter of the Lotus Sutra stated. "There is only the Law of the one vehicle; there are not two, there are not three."
Other Nichiren sects and similar religions preach wrong teachings because they misinterpret the meaning of the one vehicle and their understanding of the Gohonzon is completely mistaken. For example, the Minobu Nichiren sect's temples contain many diverse objects of worship such as a "gohonzon", a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, a fox or Kishimojin (A female demon). Members may chant Daimoku to ail of them. Such being the case, they even sell the "gohonzon at the store by their temple. Another sect, the Rissho-Kosei-Kai, has changed their "gohonzon" least 5 or 6 times. This is so ridiculous. This is not Nichiren Daishonin's original Buddhism anymore even though they still chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo like us. They cannot create real benefit and enlightenment based an the True Object of Worship.
Next, we must not forget to respect the three treasures when practicing Buddhism. The three treasures are: the Buddha, which is Nichiren Daishonin; the Law, which is the object of worship of True Buddhism or the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Dai-Gohonzon; and the Priesthood, which is Nikko Shonin and all the high priests.
But all the other Nichiren sects, including the Minobu sect, have a different meaning for the three treasures. For these sects, the three treasures are: the Buddha, which is Shakyamuni and Taho (two Buddhas); the Law, which is the five words of Myoho-renge-kyo; and the Priesthood, which is Nichiren Daishonin. These treasures are completely mistaken.
The three treasures are, in fact, not three but one. We may call this the Ittai-Funi of the Three Treasures which signifies their oneness and non-duality. The Three Treasures have the same fundamental nature. For example, the ordinary person and the Buddha are different, but yet they are both fundamentally human beings with the same human nature.The other Nichiren sect's three treasures show an inconsistency between the meaning of the Buddha and the Law.
Further, when they teach that Nichiren Daishonin is the Priesthood of the three treasures, they show their complete lack of understanding that Nichiren Daishonin is the True Buddha in the Latter Day of the Law. Nichiren Daishonin, himself, stated:
"The two buddhas, Shakyamuni and Taho, are merely functions of the true Buddha, while Myoho-renge-kyo actually is the true Buddha." (The True Entity Of Life, MW1-90)
And he also states:
"There can be no room to doubt that I, Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra in all of Japan. Indeed, from this we may assume that, even in China and India and throughout the entire world, there is no one who can stand side by side with me."(MW3- 163)
From these Goshos, we can see that Nichiren Daishonin, whose life is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo, is the Buddha of the Three treasures in the
Latter Day of the Law. Nichiren Daishonin also teaches about the object of worship of True Buddhism:
"The five characters of the Lotus Sutra's title are inscribed in the center of the Treasure Tower, while the Four Heavenly Kings are seated at the four corners....Dwelling in the Gohonzon are all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas and great saints, as well as the eight groups of sentient beings of the two realms who appear in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship." (The Real Aspect Of The Gohonzon. MW1, 212)
When one studies this Gosho, they find proof about the object of worship of true Buddhism, the Dai-Gohonzon. Unfortunately, other sects disrespect the Gohonzon when they chant to a Gohonzon that they understand to be "Shakyamuni Buddha etc", the true Buddha in their teachings. They also make slanderous claims about the validity of the Dai-Gohonzon in order to prove the validity of their teaching.
Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon on October 12, 1279, the second year of the Koan era. Nichiren Daishonin inscribed many Gohonzons, but he identified every one of them by writing directly on the Gohonzon an inscription such as: "I grant this Gohonzon to [a specific person's name]" or "I inscribe this Gohonzon for [a specific purpose]".
It is the same with the Dai-Gohonzon, the object of worship of true Buddhism. On the Dai-Gohonzon is inscribed: "This is the object of worship of true Buddhism. Name of applicant is Yashiro-Kunishige and the Hokkeko members".
There is also a passage in the Nikko Ato Jo Jo no Koto (On The Articles After Nikko) which states: "I, Nikko, transfer the Dai-Gohonzon, inscribed in the second year of Koan, which I received [directly from Nichiren Daishonin] to Nichimoku."
This indicates that the exact and true object of worship has been handed down within Nichiren Shoshu since the Daishonin inscribed it. So there is no doubt about the object of worship of True Buddhism regardless of what other Nichiren sects are saying. By the way, we have also preserved the Nikko Ato Jo Jo no Koto in Nikko Shonin's own handwriting, at the Head Temple, Taiseki-ji. Maybe you will see it during the Omushibarai Ceremony, the Airing of the Scrolls held every April at the Head Temple.
Therefore, even If other Nichiren sects claim you only need to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to directly receive the holy teaching, you must realize that their idea is not based on the Dai-Gohonzon or even a correct understanding of Gohonzon and the Ittai Funi of the Three Treasures.
Please impress deeply upon your heart that only Nichiren Shoshu has the true teaching and the true Heritage of the Law transmitted from master to disciple directly from Nichiren Daishonin. Be proud that you practice this faith and are Hokkeko members.This Hokkeko was found by Nichiren Daishonin. Try to do your best to shakubuku one person per year and hold fast to the end.
In conclusion, I would like to read a part of the Gosho and finish tonight's Otaiya Oeshiki Ceremony. Nichiren Daishonin states:
"Although in your heart you are of the same mind
as Nichiren, your person is in service to your lord, thus it would seem
extremely difficult for you to avoid the offense of complicity in slander,
Nevertheless, you have communicated this teaching to your lord and urged
him to take faith In it. How admirable! Even though he may not accept it
now, you have been able to avoid the offense of complicity."
(MW6-91)
I sincerely pray for your peace and happiness, your good health, increasing faith and shakubuku efforts. Thank you very much.
SEE ALSO: