"The object of worship is one with the body of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra." (Ongikuden The Document of Oral Teaching).
Good Morning. Thank you for attending today's Oko in honor of Nichiren Daishonin. I have respectfully offered your gokuyo to the Gohonzon. I also prayed for your ever increasing faith.
Today I'd like to continue my lecture series on the Gohonzon and Gongyo. The "Hyaku-rokka-sho" by Nichiren Daishonin contains a passage which states:
"The Law does not spread by itself. The person spreads the law, therefore both the Law and the Person are valuable." (Gosho zenshu-856)
In this passage "the Law" means 'Myoho-renge-kyo". The "person" means an actual incarnation of a Buddha as a particular person. Last month I spoke about how the True Buddha and the Common Mortal have an active/receptive relationship. This was called No (Active) and Sho (Receptive). If I delve even further into this idea I can also say that the "Law" has both active and receptive principles. Also, the "Person", similarly is both active and receptive.
The Daishonin said, "All Buddhas of the three existences, too, attain Buddhahood by virtue of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo" (MW6-208).
The Law is No (active). The Buddha is Sho (receptive). However, when he reveals and spreads the Law, the Buddha becomes active and the law becomes passive. Therefore, in terms of the True Buddha's life, active and receptive and the Law and the Person become one. This is known as "the oneness of the Person and the Law." (Nimpo ikka)
In the life of the True Buddha, this "oneness of person and law" can also be called "kyochi myogo (fusion of the objective reality and the subjective wisdom)". Here 'kyo" means law and "chi" means the Buddha's wisdom, or the person. The True Buddha is the one whose mind and body are actually the existence of the True Law (kyo) of Myoho-renge-kyo and whose self-realization (chi) exists "since the beginningless beginning" (is not limited by the dimension of time as perceived in physical reality). Ultimately, the life of the True Buddha can be called "kyochi myogyo" or "the attainment of enlightenment by oneself."
The following passage is found in "Admonitions Against Slander":
"Reality means the entity of all phenomena in the universe, and wisdom means the perfect manifestation of this entity in the individual's life." (MW 1-163)
Further, the "Letter to Jakunichi-bo" states, "Giving myself the name Nichiren signifies that I attained enlightenment by myself" (MW1-236).
The nature of the True Buddha is, then, both master and disciple; for he is at once his own master and his own disciple. Without a master and a practice, however, Provisional Buddhas and common mortals can never become aware that they possess the Buddha nature and can never become enlightened.
While the True Buddha's Buddhahood and our Buddhahood are both Buddhahood, in terms of "relative" and "absolute" they are extremely different. The life of the True Buddha is absolute in that his profound "oneness of person and law", or "kyochi myogo" means he is eternally the master of the Latter Day of the Law. It is this absoluteness of the life of the True Buddha which is inscribed as the Dai-Gohonzon.
Last month I heard it reported that the head of a certain religious organization stated, "Since the Gohonzon is only material, someday it will be gone. So only the "Law of Kuon" (Myoho-renge-kyo) is valuable." He gave guidance like this. This is very slanderous because it completely ignores the concept of shiki shin funi (the oneness of the material and the spiritual). A person like this is not qualified to explain Buddhism or give guidance.
The relationship of the Law to its material substance is that of "oneness". Without material substantiality there is also no time or space. Whenever there exists material substance, there exists the Law. Conversely, whenever the Law exists, there is material substantiality in some form. In fact, if the universe lacked substance, then the entire universe could not exist. In addition, the workings of the universe are strictly the manifestations of natural Law. For example, the earth rotates around the sun, but earth cannot decide it wants a change of scenery one day and suddenly leave to rotate around Jupiter, instead.
Let's consider this from the standpoint of active and receptive as well. If we say that the Law exists within the substance, then the substance is active and the law is receptive. If we say that the substance is created by the Law, then the Law is active and the substance is receptive. What is true is that there is a oneness of Law and substance. A substance and a Law exist at the same time -- this is called "gubi" (to be endowed with) in Buddhism.
People tend to want to think that first there was a Law (or god, etc.) and it then created material substance. But this is simply not true. Neither one arose from the other. It's just like the old riddle, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
So as you can see, in Buddhism, to slight the substance and value only the Law is very slanderous. The reason we can enjoy a happy life is because of our material body (substance).
Let's talk more about material substances. Take, for example, the seed of a tree. It falls to the ground and after dozens of years, it becomes a huge tree. A woodcutter decides to cut this tree. If he gives the tree to a carpenter, it will become a house. If he gives this tree to a paper factory, it will become paper and books. If a great sculptor receives this tree, then it will go down in history as a great piece of art. Maybe the wood will be used by a warrior to fashion a spear. On that occasion, this tree might kill a human being.
In modern times, we have gas and electric heat, but in ancient times, that wood might have been the only piece of firewood in a very cold place and might have saved someone's life and kept them from freezing to death.
So we see that one tree could become a house, or a work of art, or in the hands of a Buddha, it might even become a Gohonzon which possesses the life of Buddhahood.
Sometimes a person's entire life can be changed by one book. You might read a book about Albert Schweitzer and decide to dedicate your life to the same kind of work. A book which decides a person's destiny this way can be seen to function as a living being.
Things like a house or a book, in Buddhism, are considered living beings but are called "insentient beings." In contrast, human beings who can express feelings and act with free will are considered "sentient beings". From the perspective of the True Buddha there is nothing in this world without life. Even a stone by the side of the road would have life.
Nichiren Daishonin wrote in his "Letter to Soya Nyudo":
"Each character of this sutra is without exception a living Buddha of supreme enlightenment, but we ordinary people, viewing the sutra with the eyes of common mortals, see it as a mere succession of characters. Hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita. The water itself is the same, but it appears differently according to the karmic capacity of individuals. The blind cannot see the characters of this sutra. To the eyes of common mortals, they are but written words. People of the two vehicles perceive them as the emptiness of space. Bodhisattvas look on them as innumerable teachings. However, the Buddha recognizes each character as a golden Lord Shakyamuni. This is the meaning of the statement that "[one who is able to hold this sutra thereby holds the Buddha's body." (MW5-164)
If a person sees an apple falling, he may think only of an apple. But, according to the legend, Sir Isaac Newton saw "universal gravitation" when he saw an apple fall. When a person from another religion sees this Gohonzon, he sees mere wood or paper. If he can read Chinese characters, then he sees the characters. But if a Buddha sees this Gohonzon he understands that this Gohonzon is a living Buddha who possesses the life of the True Buddha. Therefore, wood or paper are the oneness of Ichinen Sanzen.
The Gosho "Wooden Or Painted Images" states:
"The physical and spiritual, which are one in essence, manifest themselves as two distinct aspects; thus the Buddha's mind found expression as the written words of the Lotus Sutra. These written words are the Buddha's mind in a different form." (MW4, P 32)
Also found in the "Somoku Jobutsu Guketsu" (On The Enlightenment Of Plants and Trees):
The Law of Ichinen Sanzen, having been weeded out and rinsed, and inscribed is this mandala.
This means the Gohonzon was inscribed by the True Buddha. It is not merely wood or paper, it is ultimately the life of Ichinen Sanzen; it is surely the body and life of the Buddha. This is the meaning of the "enlightenment of plants and trees."
I opened this morning with a quotation from the Ongikuden:
"The object of worship is one with the body of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra."
The Daishonin stated this teaching directly.
We enjoy living in houses and reading books. We receive benefit by worship to the Gohonzon. It would be foolish to live outside when a house is available. It would be foolish to refuse to read a book when it contains important knowledge. Likewise, it would be foolish to forfeit the Gohonzon which it is the life of Buddhahood No matter what happens, never doubt and continue to chant gently and earnestly to this Gohonzon. This Gohonzon is a clear mirror. Soon your Buddhahood will be polished and you will see your true life with your own eyes. You will understand what is correct.
A passage from the Jigage portion of Gongyo translates this way: "My relics they revere. Then with pure receptive faith, they yearn and thirst for me. In heartfelt desire to see the Buddha, they do not begrudge their lives."
You must have doubt-free faith and be honest. If you are not, you cannot receive benefit The Gohonzon is a minor, No matter how much Daimoku you may chant, if you have doubt or egotistical judgment or are filled with spite, these are the things that will rerum to you. This is the "reflection" you will see in the "mirror." Beginning in August, I would like to start speaking about Gongyo.
Thank you very much
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