Part Two "Only One Buddha; Only One Teaching"
Myogyoji News, Jul/Aug 1994
By Reverend Shoshin Kawabe, Myogyoji Temple, West Chicago
Nichiren Daishonin states in "Letter To Nikke":
"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 teart." He meant that even if one embraces, reads and praises the Lotus Sutra, if he betrays it's 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)
Thank you for coming to the temple today. Although it is very hard to do something once you set your mind to it, by the same token, if you always enjoyed a quiet, easy life you would soon grow fat and lazy. Slowly, you would slip into degradation without even knowing it and eventually you would come to suffer. You would blame your suffering on society or some other person instead of reflecting on your own faults. In this way you would only increase your cause for suffering. So you must be careful to continue your morning and evening Gongyo, shodai, shakubuku and pilgrimage to the temple even when things are going fine. It's difficult but because this is the true Buddhist training it is a difficult thing to do. This is why our practice brings benefit and enlightenment. Nichiren Daishonin teaches us:
"The belief of some is like a fire while that of others is like water. When the former listen to the teachings, their passion flares up like fire, but when by themselves, they are inclined to discard their faith. To have faith like water means to believe continuously without ever regressing. Since you pay frequent visits to me regardless of the difficulties, your belief is comparable to flowing water. It is worthy of great respect." (MW2-296)
So please continue to make pilgrimages to the temple. You can think of Myogyoji as being like the Sho-Hondo of the Midwestern United States. Last month I spoke about how difficult it is to be born in the Latter Day of the Law and to encounter this Buddhism. It may even seem miraculous but although it is not unnatural, it is, indeed, rare. Nikko Shonin also mentions this in his "Twenty-six Admonitions...":
"Ah, how rare it is to meet True Buddhism in this life! It is as rare as seeing the udumbara flower or the one-eyed turtle finding a piece of floating sandalwood. Now we have been fortunate to meet this Buddhism because of our strong connection from the past. We should, therefore, have deep feelings of faith and practice to the Gohonzon. "
Quoting the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai, Nichiren Daishonin stated:
"In the fifth five hundred years, the Mystic Way shall spread and benefit mankind far into the future." (MW 3-91)
The Daishonin continued by citing Dengyo the Great:
"The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand. Now indeed is the time when the One Vehicle expounded in the Lotus Sutra will prove how perfectly it fits the capacities of all people." (MW 3-91)
Dengyo had deep faith in the Lotus Sutra and he was very sad that he never had the opportunity to see the True Buddha in the Latter Day of the Law. We should be especially appreciative of the fact that not only were we born in the Latter Day of the Law but we are able to actually practice the Buddhism of the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin. The Letter To Niike makes another important point:
"The Great Teacher Dengyo states, 'Even though one praises the Lotus Sutra, he destroys its heart.'" (MW1-253)
This means that even though we praise this Buddhism or the Lotus Sutra or say wonderful things about Nichiren Daishonin, without correct faith and actually doing the practice correctly, there's no point to it. Without faith and practice there is no benefit. It's like the example of trying to get rich by counting your neighbor's money. Many Buddhist scholars are also an example of this. They have a fertile knowledge about Buddhist teachings but it is of no true use to them in their actual life. The next example are those people who respect the Lotus Sutra and have faith in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism but never come to understand the correct way to practice it. They have more faith in their own way of doing it. They believe their own particular way of practicing embodies the real essence of the teaching and they never learn to understand the true mind of the Buddha. Ultimately, without the conscience or true mind of the Buddha, they never reveal their enlightenment or achieve benefit and so they fall into hell. For example, a person buys a beautiful luxury car. But this person is possessed by the idea that his driving technique is absolutely perfect even though he's never had a driving lesson in his life and has never even driven a car. He climbs in the car anyway and drives off. Well, I'm afraid this person is going to have a big accident and may die.
With Buddhist teachings, it's the same situation. There are other Buddhist sects and also other Nichiren sects. At present, I think there are about one hundred Nichiren sects (including the very small ones). Can all these different sects hold the true essence of the Daishonin's teaching? Certainly there must be some confusion if everybody claims to be practicing correctly. A mistaken value that is often supported in society is that "All religions are equal, none are right or wrong. You can trust in any of them." Still we have to consider this carefully You have your own "true mind"; that is to say nature or life essence. Every human being has a "true mind" or life essence. It's impossible to have two different natures coexisting at the same time and have them both be true. If a person claims to have many personalities or hears many different voices we call him crazy because we know human beings have one kind of mind or nature only. Even a person who is mentally handicapped has only one kind of mind or nature. In the same way, the Buddha has only one kind of nature or life essence. Because the true mind of the Buddha is so profound it is very difficult for us to comprehend it. Shakyamuni used many kinds of examples to help the people understand but in reality he had only one ultimate truth to teach. It was the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra. There are many other Buddhist sects today that say all the paths to enlightenment are equal but that is because they still don't really understand that the Buddha really teaches only one true law. On the outside they may all appear to worship respectfully but in reality they are making a fool of the Buddha. It's like saying the Buddha was a foolish man with many different minds. All the different Nichiren Sects are the same. On the surface their teachings may all look the same but they are really very different. They cannot all know the true mind of the Buddha. They each have their own interpretation of Nichiren Daishonin's teaching but, in fact, Nichiren Daishonin had only one ultimate teaching. There is only one True Buddha.
As I said in my past lecture there were many emanations of the Buddha but they were merely shadows of the True Buddha's life essence. The True Buddha has only one body, one spirit and one Ichinen (true mind) or life essence. If all the different practices and teachings of Buddhism were to be true or equal, then the True Buddha would have to have all those different minds and there would be many different kinds of Buddhahood. We have to be very careful not to create our own favorite way of doing Buddhist practice. We must not make our own ideas the foundation of our practice. Otherwise, we will be like the person in the car who is convinced he knows how to drive. Our life will be heading for a big crash! We are guaranteed freedom of religion by law. The feeling of Nichiren Shoshu is that politicians and government workers are not the appropriate people to choose the true religion for the society. It's the people's responsibility. Each individual has to choose for himself. It's a very big responsibility. Nichiren Daishonin states:
"But if you should be of two minds, alternately chanting the Nembutsu and reciting the Lotus Sutra, and fear what others may say about you, then, even though you may identify yourself as Nichiren's disciple, they will never accept your word. [If that should happen] do not resent me later." (MW6-33)
This religion is the only true Buddhist teaching by which one can reveal enlightenment and receive benefit. You must not try to practice two different forms of Buddhist teaching. You must not choose religion because of social pressure from your friends or because a religion is more popular or accepted in the society. If you do, you will be going against your conscience and your true nature. You will wind up destroying your heart and your life. Nichiren Daishonin states:
"One should become the master of his mind rather than let his mind master him." (MW1-146)
If that is the case, how are we to know the true religion? The Gosho states:
"We cannot comprehend the Lotus Sutra without the heritage (transmission)." (Gosho Zenshu p. 398)
Today Nichiren Daishonin has passed away because he possessed a human body. After the Buddha's passing, we must spread his teaching correctly or people will never be able to receive benefit and enlightenment and have true happiness. Only one person, however, can receive the transmission or heritage of the essence of true Buddhist teachings. There is only one True Buddha, only one essence. It cannot be divided up into many small pieces to be passed out among the different religious leaders who all hold attachments to their own ideas. We call this "the specific transmission of one master to one disciple". In the "Ubuyu sojo no koto" (Records Concerning the Daishonin's Birth) which Nikko transcribed from the Daishonin's oral teachings, it is written:
"This true transmission of the Law is an initiation into the secrets and is only transmitted to one person." (GZ-880)
The Buddhist teaching will never be transmitted without the specific heritage of the Law from master to disciple. Only Nichiren Shoshu has kept the true transmission of the Law from master to disciple for over 700 years since the True Buddha passed away. This is the proof that Nichiren Shoshu is the only legitimate true teaching. So we can do shakubuku with real confidence and mercy for the people who are still deluded by wrong religions. The Letter To Niike also states:
"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." (MW1-235)
One disease leads to another. When a human being starts to think, "I'm the truth" they are leaving the way open for making up their own teachings and self conceit. This person will destroy the chance for enlightenment even if he chants to the Gohonzon. The Daishonin wrote:
"The gold that a fool possesses is no different from the gold that a wise man possesses; a fire made by a fool is the same as a fire made by a wise man. However, there is a difference if one chants the Daimoku while acting against the intent of this sutra." (MW3-207)
I will pray for everyone's strong faith. Thank you.
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