Hi Everybody,
Hope you're enjoying this beautiful spring.
We're talking about the Gohonzon and we're re-affirming if you like Nichiren's famous declaration; ' I Nichiren have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in this Gohonzon with with your whole heart.'
We've talked about the meaning of the word Gohonzon itself. We've talked a bit about what seems to be going on when we chant in front of it, that transformation of the spirit. And we've talked about what the inscription itself means. That's where we pick it up.
The Gohonzon is said to depict in its complex calligraphy all the aspects of our ordinary human life. The good the bad and the ugly, the positive and the negative, the light and the dark. All those aspects of our everyday life are there, and Nichiren's too of course , for he was after all an ordinary human being. The ten life states that we discussed in an earlier chapter are set out clearly on the Gohonzon. But they are illuminated...that's the key word... illuminated by the principle that can enable us, however strong our anger, or however deep our despair, to move our lives towards the life state of Buddhahood that Nichiren captured in sumi ink. Nothingn is excluded. No life state is rejected. We don't have to get rid of anything, or feel guilty about anything. The characters on the Gohonzon are there to make clear that ther eisn't a life state or a condition that a human being can experience, that would in some way prohibit that journey towards our better self. Everything can be transformed.
That is the huge scale of the promise.
That's a big promise to absorb. So enough for today.Enough to dwell on and think over.
See you next week.
Best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and on Kindle. Good value!!!
Thursday 21 April 2016
Monday 11 April 2016
my Buddhist blog number 130
Hi Everybody,
We're talking about the Gohonzon, what it is and what it does and we've come to the famous passage from Nichiren's letters when he writes.
' I Nichiren have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so beleive in this Gohonzon with your whole heart.'
I have inscribed nothing less than my life he says, his life as a Buddha. With that simple phrase Nichiren sums up the scale of the task he has accomplished; he regarded the creation of the Gohonzon as the fulfilment of his life -long mission as a teacher of men. The characters on the scroll, in Chinese and Sanskrit script are held to represent the reality of human life. Right down the centre of the Gohonzon in bigger and bolder characters than the rest, and as it were illuminating all of the human life those characters represent are the characters, nam myoho renge Nichiren.
That bold central inscription is the key to understanding the nature and the intent of the Gohonzon. When Nichiren wrote these words he was, as I've said, talking about his life as a Buddha or in the state of Buddhahood. So when we are chanting we have it there in front of us, a representation of what it is that we are seeking to draw out from within our own life, our highest life state, our Buddha nature. It is his great legacy if you like to all of humanity, this representation of the Buddha Nature, and in that sense it embodies the fundamental principle first revealed in the Lotus Sutra, namely that all ordinary human beings have the potential for Buddhahood inherent within their lives.
It is difficult to think of a meaningful analogy that come sclose to expressing what it is that is going on when we chant in front of the Gohonzon. One that might come close is perhaps the musical one. When Beethoven or Mozart for example sat down to write a piece of music, they too were expressing their life state, their passion, their spirit, their elation or their melancholy, at that moment in time. A supremely inner world transmuted into bold marks in black ink on whit epaper. Wgatever happens subsequently to that piece of paper, the spirit that flowed through the writer's inner world has been indelibly inscribed on it for all of time. The sheet of paper with the ink marks could rest unnoticed on a dusty library shelffor decades on end. It could be copied out lovingly by a clerk's hand, or it could be put through a digital copier to churn out a thousand copies. But whatever journey it travels, when the thousandth copy is placed in fron tof a musician and played, then the spirit embodied in the original ink marks all those years ago is, to a greater or a lesser extent, brought back to life, to fill the room with its sound and its vibration, and to recreate in those who hear it, some measure of the spirit that went into it when it was first written.
The Gohonzon in this analogy, is the musical score that presents to us the life state of the writer when he first wrote it. We occupy the role of the musician seeking to recreate to the very best of our ability...no more can be asked of us...the spirit or the life state embodied in the original. '
Enough for one episode. I have to say I love that analogy, and it took so long to find it in my head!!
Thank you for reading thus far.
See you next time,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available, in Englsh and Spanish now on Amazon, or as a download on Kindle.
We're talking about the Gohonzon, what it is and what it does and we've come to the famous passage from Nichiren's letters when he writes.
' I Nichiren have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so beleive in this Gohonzon with your whole heart.'
I have inscribed nothing less than my life he says, his life as a Buddha. With that simple phrase Nichiren sums up the scale of the task he has accomplished; he regarded the creation of the Gohonzon as the fulfilment of his life -long mission as a teacher of men. The characters on the scroll, in Chinese and Sanskrit script are held to represent the reality of human life. Right down the centre of the Gohonzon in bigger and bolder characters than the rest, and as it were illuminating all of the human life those characters represent are the characters, nam myoho renge Nichiren.
That bold central inscription is the key to understanding the nature and the intent of the Gohonzon. When Nichiren wrote these words he was, as I've said, talking about his life as a Buddha or in the state of Buddhahood. So when we are chanting we have it there in front of us, a representation of what it is that we are seeking to draw out from within our own life, our highest life state, our Buddha nature. It is his great legacy if you like to all of humanity, this representation of the Buddha Nature, and in that sense it embodies the fundamental principle first revealed in the Lotus Sutra, namely that all ordinary human beings have the potential for Buddhahood inherent within their lives.
It is difficult to think of a meaningful analogy that come sclose to expressing what it is that is going on when we chant in front of the Gohonzon. One that might come close is perhaps the musical one. When Beethoven or Mozart for example sat down to write a piece of music, they too were expressing their life state, their passion, their spirit, their elation or their melancholy, at that moment in time. A supremely inner world transmuted into bold marks in black ink on whit epaper. Wgatever happens subsequently to that piece of paper, the spirit that flowed through the writer's inner world has been indelibly inscribed on it for all of time. The sheet of paper with the ink marks could rest unnoticed on a dusty library shelffor decades on end. It could be copied out lovingly by a clerk's hand, or it could be put through a digital copier to churn out a thousand copies. But whatever journey it travels, when the thousandth copy is placed in fron tof a musician and played, then the spirit embodied in the original ink marks all those years ago is, to a greater or a lesser extent, brought back to life, to fill the room with its sound and its vibration, and to recreate in those who hear it, some measure of the spirit that went into it when it was first written.
The Gohonzon in this analogy, is the musical score that presents to us the life state of the writer when he first wrote it. We occupy the role of the musician seeking to recreate to the very best of our ability...no more can be asked of us...the spirit or the life state embodied in the original. '
Enough for one episode. I have to say I love that analogy, and it took so long to find it in my head!!
Thank you for reading thus far.
See you next time,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available, in Englsh and Spanish now on Amazon, or as a download on Kindle.
Saturday 2 April 2016
my buddhist blog number 129
Hi Everybody,
We can't leave this brief account of thr daily practice of Nichiren Buddhism without a touching upon the meaning and the implications of the Gohonzon as a central feature of that practice. The Gohonzon is a simple rice paper scroll, and it marks out Nichiren Buddhism from all other Buddhist schools. It is its distuingishing characteristic. Hinayana or Theravada Buddhism is very much focused on the person of Shakyamuni Buddha and the worshipping or honouring of him as a unique human being, almost to the point of deifying him. Mahayana Buddhism, which embraces Nichiren Buddhism is, by contrast, very much more concerned to bring Buddhist teachings into the daily of ordinary people everywhere. That in essence is what Mahayana means, it translates as roughly the greater vehicle. And in Nichiren Buddhism, the Gohonzon as a point of focus, and as we've seen over the past few episodes, the chanting of the title of the Lotus Sutra, myoho renge kyo, make up the primary means of achieving that aim.
The word ' go' in classical Japanese means ' worthy of honour,' and the word ' honzon' means ' object of fundamental respect.' So it is clearly an object that is held in the highest esteem in Nichiren Buddhism. With it's bold and graceful calligraphy it is also I have to say, a work of considerable beauty.
The Dai Gohonzon ( dai means 'great' or 'original' )was inscribed by Nichiren on 12th October 1279. The original Gohonzon that he inscribed is still extant in Japan at a place not far from Tokyo, but anyone who is prepared to make the commitment to practice in accordance with the principles of Nichiren Buddhism , and to look after their own Gohonzon as an object of fundamental respect receives a smaller block print version to enshrine in their own home, as a focal point for the daily practice. This is how members of the Soka Gakkai practice. Soka Gakkai means esentially Value Creating Organisation, and it's important to emphasise that it is an entirely lay organisation. No priests, no temples. Nichiren himself during his lifetime established this pattern of committed individuals receiving a personal Gohonzon to make it easier for them to practice in a place of their own chosing. Not long afterwards he wrote in one of his letters,
' I Nichiren have insctibed my life in sumi ink, so believe in this Gohonzon with your whole heart.'
Sumi is the form of ink used particularly in Japanese calligraphy, and with this immensely simple phrase Nichiren sums up the scale of the task he had accomplished; he regarded it as nothing less than the fulfilment of his life-long mission as a teacher of Buddhist principles.
Enough for today I think.
Thanks for reading thus far.
Next week we discuss the symbols inscribed on the Gohonzo scroll.
Best wishes,
William
The case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
We can't leave this brief account of thr daily practice of Nichiren Buddhism without a touching upon the meaning and the implications of the Gohonzon as a central feature of that practice. The Gohonzon is a simple rice paper scroll, and it marks out Nichiren Buddhism from all other Buddhist schools. It is its distuingishing characteristic. Hinayana or Theravada Buddhism is very much focused on the person of Shakyamuni Buddha and the worshipping or honouring of him as a unique human being, almost to the point of deifying him. Mahayana Buddhism, which embraces Nichiren Buddhism is, by contrast, very much more concerned to bring Buddhist teachings into the daily of ordinary people everywhere. That in essence is what Mahayana means, it translates as roughly the greater vehicle. And in Nichiren Buddhism, the Gohonzon as a point of focus, and as we've seen over the past few episodes, the chanting of the title of the Lotus Sutra, myoho renge kyo, make up the primary means of achieving that aim.
The word ' go' in classical Japanese means ' worthy of honour,' and the word ' honzon' means ' object of fundamental respect.' So it is clearly an object that is held in the highest esteem in Nichiren Buddhism. With it's bold and graceful calligraphy it is also I have to say, a work of considerable beauty.
The Dai Gohonzon ( dai means 'great' or 'original' )was inscribed by Nichiren on 12th October 1279. The original Gohonzon that he inscribed is still extant in Japan at a place not far from Tokyo, but anyone who is prepared to make the commitment to practice in accordance with the principles of Nichiren Buddhism , and to look after their own Gohonzon as an object of fundamental respect receives a smaller block print version to enshrine in their own home, as a focal point for the daily practice. This is how members of the Soka Gakkai practice. Soka Gakkai means esentially Value Creating Organisation, and it's important to emphasise that it is an entirely lay organisation. No priests, no temples. Nichiren himself during his lifetime established this pattern of committed individuals receiving a personal Gohonzon to make it easier for them to practice in a place of their own chosing. Not long afterwards he wrote in one of his letters,
' I Nichiren have insctibed my life in sumi ink, so believe in this Gohonzon with your whole heart.'
Sumi is the form of ink used particularly in Japanese calligraphy, and with this immensely simple phrase Nichiren sums up the scale of the task he had accomplished; he regarded it as nothing less than the fulfilment of his life-long mission as a teacher of Buddhist principles.
Enough for today I think.
Thanks for reading thus far.
Next week we discuss the symbols inscribed on the Gohonzo scroll.
Best wishes,
William
The case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
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