"On Dieties" (continued)
August, 1995, NST Myogyoji Temple Magazine
7/9/95 -- The Original Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin, states in the "Niike Gosho,"
"Moreover, since this country is a land of slander,
the protective deities, hungering for the taste of the Law, have abandoned
their shrines and ascended to heaven, so evil demons have entered them
in their stead and provide guidance for many people. Since the Buddhas
have ceased their teaching and returned to the Pure Land, the temples and
shrines have wastefully formed the haunts of demonic karmic relations.
I picture in my mind their roof tiles lined up in rows using state funds
and people's sorrow. These are not my words. They are in the sutras. You
should learn them. The various Buddhas and deities would absolutely never
accept offerings from slanders. Much less should human beings receive them.
The Great Gracious Deity Kasuga proclaimed through an oracle, 'Though I
should have to eat rice ablaze with copper flames, I will not accept objects
belonging to people with defiled hearts. Though I should have to sit on
a seat ablaze with copper flames, I will not go to the houses of people
with defiled hearts. I would rather go to places with weeds in the corridor
and thatched roofs.' And 'Even if sacred straw festoons were hung for one
thousand days, I will not go to a place where there is no faith. Though
it be a house draped in heavy mourning, I will go to a place where there
is faith.' Just as stated, the deities lament over this country of slander
and ascend to heaven.
A 'defiled heart' refers to those who refuse to embrace the Lotus Sutra.
I see this in the fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra. It is deities who call
slanderous offerings copper flames. Still less should we common mortals
consume flames. If someone who killed my parents attempted to give me something,
could I, as their child, accept it? Even wise men and sages would be unable
to avoid the Hell of Incessant Suffering. In addition, you must no associate
with such slanderers. You should greatly fear being implicated in the same
slander." (Gosho, p. 1458)
Good Morning, everyone. It is worthy of respect that all of you Hokkeko members have made a pilgrimage of profound faith on this day, when we hold the monthly Oko lecture in order to repay our debt of gratitude to the Original Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin. I have humbly presented to the Daishonin the offerings all of you have made, and have prayed for the slander and sin of each of you to be extinguished, for the doubling of your faith and practice, for the promotion of your shakubuku, for your good health in body and mind, for the peace and happiness of your families, and for the realization of the Great Desire of kosen-rufu.
On the 25th of last month, the ceremony to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Myogyoji Temple and the General Meeting of the Myogyoji Hokkeko Chapter were successfully conducted. It goes without saying that this was due to the tremendous beneficial power of the Dai-Gohonzon. I am also convinced in my heart that it was also the result of the honest and strong faith of many Hokkeko members, including the Hokkeko officers and the communicators in each area. I salute you in my heart of hearts for cooperating together, displaying true itai doshin (different bodies, same heart). From this point forward, let's be active in the communication networks and meetings in each area, strengthen our trust in each other, and take the next truly firm step toward kosen-rufu, aiming toward the attainment of the great target of the shakubuku of 500 households within the next six years.
Today I will continue my talk from last month. This doctrine concerning deities, or shoten zenjin, is truly profound. Therefore, before I discuss this Gosho passage, I think it's essential to explain deities and shoten zenjin. To summarize the contents of last month's sermon about deities:
1. Ancient people expressed their reverence for natural phenomena in the universe by speaking of them in terms of deities.
2. Among the Ten Worlds, deities reside in the world of Heaven, and they are still deluded people who transmigrate through the Six Worlds.
3. Therefore, deities at times display the world of Anger, fight with each other, suffering as a result, and slaughter many living beings. Such descriptions of deities are documented in the teachings of all religions.
4. Therefore, deities do not sit on the highest throne, that being the Buddha's.
5. Deities are common mortals, but they possess special and tremendous powers when compared with those of people.
6. The virtue of deities is higher than that of people. Therefore, they are strong.
7. The virtue of deities lies in the fact that they never lie. They are perfectly honest. In other words, they become what they are due to the cause of actually putting into practice the precept against reckless speech.
8. The teachings of other religions, such as Christianity, were expounded in order to prepare the way for the spread of Buddhism.
The deities which you believed created the world and control the entire universe prior to your conversion to Buddhism possess tremendous power, but actually, they are common mortals, the same as us. The ancient people ignorant of Buddhism feared the immensity of their power and were under the illusion that they were the supreme rulers of the universe. Among those deities, the shoten zenjin are said to be people of complete honesty, so now I'd like to talk a little bit about the role of the shoten zenjin in Buddhism and the relation to us.
The same "Niike Gosho" later explains,
"Since there exists a votary of the Lotus Sutra who will not begrudge his life, Hachiman dwells in his head." (Gosho, p. 1460)
This shows where the shoten zenjin reside, but in truth it shows that deities actually exist inside the heads of those who honestly believe in and practice Buddhism.
"Shijo Kingo Moto Gobun" ("Shijo Kingo's Home") states,
"The Great Bodhisattva Hachiman vowed as Shakyamuni in India that he would preach the Lotus Sutra and honestly discard all expedient means, and in Japan he vowed to dwell in the heads of honest people. When I consider the reason he, in spite of his vow, razed his shrine at the Hour of the Rat on this past November 14 and ascended to heaven, it was because this deity had vowed to reside in the heads of honest people, and since there are no such heads of honest people, he had no place to dwell, and lacking a residence, he ascended to heaven." (Gosho, p. 1524)
The motions of the universe exist nowhere apart from the principle of cause and effect. When we ponder this with our extremely narrow understanding and senses, we think that these movements are completely mechanical and therefore quite natural, but this is completely mistaken. Life's Ten Worlds do not exist just within living beings. Everything which exists in the universe is endowed with them. How did life appear on this planet? It was because there is life within this planet itself, and because the universe, in which this planet exists, is itself a single tremendous entity of life. The entire universe is a single, fused entity, and within it there also exist objects which are separate from one another. In other words, we as individuals are "two but not two," i.e. separate but not separate.
This planet, the moon and the sun possess life and hearts. To think that the intelligence and hearts such as we possess are the only things that experience feelings itself is a sign of arrogance replete with a sense of discrimination as well as a sign of a heart which is truly narrow. Such matters can never be understood through the power of science, which only views objects materially and superficially. These can never be seen with the eyes of humans which is one of the five types of eyes, but the eye of the Buddha clearly and truly understands these things.
When Devadatta fell into the Hell of Incessant Suffering because he violated the Five Cardinal Sins, the deity of the earth spoke in the following manner to Shakyamuni.
"I (the earth) support everything above ground. Up to now, nothing has ever felt heavy to me. When Devadatta fell into the Hell of Incessant Suffering, I wanted to save him somehow, and tried with all my might to support the ground under his feet, but his sins were extremely heavy, and I was completely unable to hold him up. I truly felt pity for him."
It's said that Shakyamuni then consoled the deity of the earth for his efforts, saying,
"You're right. You're right."
There is a saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." This means that those with similar characters gather together, but in Buddhism this is called kanno-myo (the mysteriousness of similar sensations). This principle of course applies to everything. The most powerful characteristic of the shoten zenjin is their honesty. Accordingly, the humans which the shoten zenjin protect are only those with that same characteristic of honesty. As shown in the previous words of the deity of the earth, even if you think the shoten zenjin will protect you, they can never protect dishonest people.
The Japanese word for honesty is shojiki. However, this word is slightly different in meaning from the English word honesty. The word shojiki is formed from the characters which mean "correct" and "honest." The character for "correct" is composed of the character meaning "one" and the character meaning "limited to." The character for "one" indicates the truth, and when put all together, the character for honesty means "the truth is only one, and I will limit myself to this truth and never stray from it." The character for "honest" means "completely straight," and means to "never part from the road upon which one is advancing." In short, the Japanese word shojiki means to "advance completely straight along the road of the one and only absolute truth."
I see people who misconstrue this meaning by saying. "I'm honest. I truly love whiskey, so I drink whiskey everyday," and "I will honestly act in accordance with whatever I think." This is dishonest and is not honesty. Words and actions based upon ones's selfish desires and one's arbitrary, egotistical views, failing to bear in mind the good or evil of things, is not honesty, even if one's thoughts and actions are in perfect accord. An honest person is one who "advances completely straight along the road of the one and only absolute truth" without being defeated by one's own desires or egotistical views.
The Hoben Chapter states, "Honestly discarded the expedient means, I expound only the supreme path." As this indicates, true Buddhism exists nowhere apart from the one and only Lotus Sutra. The Buddha himself explained this. In the Dharani Chapter, the shoten zenjin pledged to Shakyamuni when he preached the Lotus Sutra that they would protect those who practice and propagate the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. This pledge is absolutely not a lie. In accordance with the principle of kanno-myo, the various deities reside in the heads of honest people, so the places where we sincerely and honestly devote ourselves to faith and practice and where we do shakubuku are definitely protected by the shoten zenjin. I think all of you know this even better than me because of your own experiences.
Understanding this point, I think you will understand the Gosho passage we read last month and this month, even though it may have been unclear before. The sun, which is called the Great Sun Emperor of the Heavens, and the moon, which is called the Great Moon Emperor of the Heavens, understand very well that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is the truth.
Next month I would like to continue with this same passage,
and speak a little more about the shoten zenjin, interjecting some comments
about the silent prayers of Gongyo. I now conclude today's lecture with
a prayer for everyone to double their faith and for everyone's good health.
Thank you for your kind attention.