"How Rare To Encounter This Teaching"
Myogyoji News, May/June 1994
By Reverend Shoshin Kawabe, Myogyoji Temple, West Chicago
Nichiren Daishonin states in "Letter To Niike":
"What joy to have been born in the Latter Day of
the Law and to have shared in the propagation of true Buddhism! How pitiful
are those who, though born in this time, cannot believe in the Lotus Sutra!
No one can escape death once he is born as a human being, so why do you
not practice in preparation for the next life? When I observe what people
are doing, I realize that although they profess faith in the Lotus Sutra
and clasp its scrolls, they act against the spirit of the Sutra and thereby
readily fall into the evil paths.
To illustrate, a person has five major internal organs, but should
even one of them become diseased, it will infect all the others and eventually
he will die. The Great Teacher Dengyo stated, "Even though one praises
the Lotus Sutra, he destroys its heart." He meant that even if one
embraces, reads and praises the lotus Sutra, if he betrays its intent,
he will be destroying not only Shakyamuni but all other Buddhas in the
universe. The sum of our worldly misdeeds and evil karma may be as great
as Mount Sumeru, but once we take faith in this sutra, they will vanish
like frost or dew under the sun of the lotus Sutra. However, if one commits
even one or two of the fourteen slanders set forth in this sutra, his offense
is almost impossible to expiate. Killing a single Buddha would be a far
greater offense than destroying all living beings in the universe, and
to violate the sutra's spirit is to commit the sin of destroying all Buddhas.
One who commits any of these fourteen is a slanderer." (MW1-253)
Good morning everyone. I sincerely respect everyone for participating in today's Oko Ceremony in spite of your busy lives. I have respectfully offered your Gokuyo to the Gohonzon and I prayed for your peace and happiness and for everyone's shakubuku efforts, strong faith, good health and the eradication of all slanders. Beginning this month, I will frequently be using passages from the "Letter To Niike" for my lectures, The present day is the Latter Day of the Law. This may be hard to understand because people in this country are not familiar with general Buddhism. It is not part of their background. Three thousand years ago, (by Buddhist reckoning) Shakyamuni Buddha was born and preached Buddhist teachings to save all people from suffering and lead them to enlightenment.
Shakyamuni Buddha states in the Daishutsu Sutra: Two thousand years after the Buddha's passing, Buddhist teaching will fall into ruin and wars and conflicts will run rampant. This passage indicates that Shakyamuni's preaching and teachings were limited. That is because Shakyamuni's teachings were beneficial only for the people who already received the original true teaching in the past (Kuon) but discontinued their practice and had to repeat their Buddhist training over a long period of time.
I spoke about this in my last two Oko lectures. Therefore, Shakyamuni had limits, or a limited ability to teach Buddhism. True to the words of Shakyamuni, about 2,100 years after his death, Indian Buddhism had fallen into ruin due to the aggressive spread of Islam. Also, at that time, portions of Europe were threatened by the Mongolian invasion that sought to control the entire world. Elsewhere in Europe, many people died as a result of the Crusades which carried on over a period of two hundred years. It is also a miserable reality that there was a Children's Crusade composed of young boys and girls, most of whom either died on the way or were captured as slaves. In Japan, the emperor had been exiled to an island and samurai warriors controlled the government. Wars continued and the bodies of those who died from epidemics and famine littered the streets of cities and villages. Across the world it was exactly as the Daishutsu Sutra had predicted.
Today we are living in the world of science and cultural progress. But if you really look at the state of the world, the actual truth is that we are still in the same mess we were nine hundred years ago. Today there are many Buddhist sects introducing their Buddhist teachings but all of these teachings (except Nichiren Shoshu) have already lost their power. Only the empty forms still remain and they are not true teachings because they ignore what Shakyamuni Buddha himself predicted for the age after his passing. Shakyamuni Buddha states (about Bodhisattva Jogyo) in the twenty-first chapter of the Lotus Sutra: As the light of the sun and moon can banish all obscurity and gloom, so this person as he passes through the world can wipe out the darkness of living beings, causing immeasurable numbers of bodhisattvas in the end to dwell in the single vehicle.
Reading this passage, there is no doubt that the True Buddha Nichiren Daishonin was the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Jogyo when we examine the actions of his entire life. Also, Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is the only true religious teaching for today, the Latter Day of the Law.
Why is the Daishonin's Buddhism the root of Buddhist teaching? It is because Shakyamuni's Buddhist teaching was the Buddhism of the Harvest, while Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhist teaching is the Buddhism of the Sowing. There can be no harvest in the autumn (effect) without the sowing (cause). Shakyamuni Buddha, himself, and his teachings derived from the original source of all Buddhist teaching. Therefore, his teachings have limits. The Daishonin's Buddhism, however, is the very essence of the true teaching, the origin, and the root of all Buddhist teaching.
It is very difficult to meet the essence of Buddhist teaching. That is why the Daishonin states in the opening quotation, "What joy to have been born in the Latter Day of the Law and to have shared in the propagation of True Buddhism." I think you all understand exactly what this means.
Is there anyone who thinks that it is a normal matter of course to be born a human being? Let me ask you, how many stars are there in space? I think there are numberless stars in space. There may also be numberless planets circling those stars. One planet, called Earth, has human life. We still haven't discovered life on other planets with our observations and technology. There are stories about U.F.O.s but I heard that some scientists still believe that only Earth supports living things. Regardless, either way the odds of being born on Earth as a human being are astronomical. Long, long ago, the probability of there being life on Earth at all was even less than your chances of winning the lottery.
How many forms of life now exist on this Earth? Please raise your hand if you know the exact number. I don't think there is anyone in this room who can answer that question exactly. If there is, he might be a liar, because you have to take into account all forms of microbes. The forms of life may be numberless, too. I think everyone can understand that it is, indeed, rare to be born as a human being.
Is anyone being careless with their lifestyle? I think because people don't understand this, the world we are living in is getting very lax. For example, there is no word in any human language that implies the importance of and gratitude for being born a human being. If anyone is expecting more than this out of life, I think they me very foolish.
Nonetheless, despite the incredible improbability, we were all born as human beings. Well, then, how many different countries, types of people and religions are there on Earth? There are also an incredible number of people living on the Earth. How is that you were born to your particular mother and father out of all those men and woman? And why was it you instead of one of those others? This relationship is deeply significant. You must deeply appreciate the fact that you are a human being. You must take care of your life. Also, you must take care of your parents, brothers and sisters, too. Relationships are very important. If you can understand this, you will recognize that drugs and crime are all very ridiculous. You must think about this very deeply.
Now, how many religions are there in the world? There are very many. Today's world population is about four billion. Out of those, only about seven hundred thousand are Hokkeko members. In today's world, most people have never even heard the name of Nichiren Daishonin. But this is understandable. It is very difficult to encounter the truth even though you have been born as a human being. Nichiren Daishonin wrote:
"Thus, encountering this sutra is as rare as the
blossoming of the udumbara flower, which occurs but once in three thousand
years, or the one-eyed turtle finding a floating piece of sandalwood, which
happens only once in innumerable aeons.
Suppose one were to stick a needle in the earth point up and throw
down tiny mustard seeds at it from the palace of King Bonten in the sky.
One could sooner impale a mustard seed on the point of the needle than
encounter the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. Or suppose one were to place
a needle upright on top of the Mt. Sumeru in one world and then, standing
atop the Mt. Sumeru of another world on a very windy day, were to try to
cast a thread so that it reached the other mountain and passed through
the eye of the needle. One could sooner thread a needle in this way than
encounter the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, when you chant the
Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, you should be aware that it is a more Joyful
thing than for one who was born blind to gain his eyesight and see his
father and mother, and a rarer thing than for one who has been seized by
an powerful enemy to be released and reunited with his wife and children."
(MW3-7)
He also states:
"Though the baby fish are many, there are few that grow up to be big fish. Though the flowers of the mango tree are many, there are few that turn into fruit. In like manner, there are many people who set their hearts on enlightenment, but only a few who continue their practice and in fact attain the true Way. The aspiration for enlightenment in common mortals is often hindered by evil influences and easily swayed by circumstances." (MW3-211)
So you see it is next to impossible to meet this True Buddhism. I can't even find the words to express how rare it is. We must take care to have strong, pure faith and be diligent about doing our practice. Nichiren Daishonin states:
"A hundred years of practice in the land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day's practice in this impure world. Two Thousand years of propagating Buddhism during the Former and Middle Days of the Law are inferior to an hour of propagation in this, the Latter Day of the Law." (MW4-272)
I know it is very hard to do Gongyo, Daimoku and Shakubuku every day. But the fact that it is hard means that this is the true Buddhist teaching and there is real benefit in doing this. If this training was very easy to do, we could not say this was the correct Buddhist training. So do not idle away your time trying to get by the easy way in life or you will eventually fall into degradation, corruption and suffering.
Today is the last day of the two hour daily Shodai. But it won't be our final day. This is only the beginning. "To have faith like water" is the most important point for doing this Buddhist training. We will chant Daimoku at least thirty minutes a day from now on. This is my guidance to all Hokkeko members of Myogyoji Temple. I will chant from a minimum of thirty minutes to one hour, too. If you won't chant Daimoku you will never become enlightened. Chanting Daimoku to the Gohonzon is the root of our life. In conclusion, l would like to read a part of the Gosho and finish today's Oko Ceremony. Nichiren Daishonin states:
"All those who are determined to attain the Way should take note of these examples and rejoice! Those concerned about their next life would do better to be common people in this. the Latter Day of the Law, than be mighty rulers during the two thousand years of the former and Middle Days of the Law. Why won't people believe this?" (MW3-93)
I will pray for your good health and strong faith.
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