Hi Everybody,
Brilliant sunny day. All's right with the world. Had a brilliant intro to Buddhism meeting here last night.
Some really interesting discussions with people who hadn't encountered Buddhism before about the kinds of things that can change fundamentally how we feel about our lives. Anyway here we are very close to the end of this book, talking about the meaning of the Gohonzon.
' The characters on the Gohonzon are there to make clear that there isn't a life state or a condition that a human being can experience that would in some way prevent that journey towards our greater self. Everythign but everything can be transformed.
That is the scale of the promise.
And that really is the Gohonzon's basic purpose. It is something physical to focus on. It is that practical. Something to keep our wandering mind on the task in hand, namely chanting. Nichiren has given us this picture of what it is we are seeking to achieve. It is nothing more than that. Nor, it's important to remember nothing less. It is sometimes described as a mirror that reflects back at us our true nature. And just as we cannot see our face without a mirrored surface to reflect it back to us, so Nichiren argues, we cannot really perceive our Buddhahood without the ' mirror' of the Gohonzon to reflect its image.
Does it really happen? Yes, undoubtedly, and for many thousands, millions indeed, of ordinary people.
Can we clearly say why? I do not believe so. '
Lets leave it there. On the cliff edge so to speak.
Back next week with the last episode in this series.
Thank you for reading thus far.
all my best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon as a paperback and on Kindle as a download.
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