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.
Monday, 9 May 2016
Thursday, 21 April 2016
my buddhist blog number 131
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!!!
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!!!
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.
Sunday, 27 March 2016
MY BUDDHIST BLOG NUMBER 128
Hi Everybody,
Easter Sunday. A time for peace and friendship. Lets hope in the next few months we see peace breaking out in Syria and the pain and suffering of so many people brought to an end.
The ground we've covered in the past dozen or so episodes has been a necesssarily brief account of the many meanings locked up within nam myoho renge kyo. But having a more comprehensive understanding of those meanings isn't really the key to unlocking the value that it embodies. The fact is that it's this practice focused around the chanting of this phrase that is Nichiren's great legacy to all of us. Nichiren was in many ways a great modernist, and he makes it clear in his writings that this practice was fashioned for ordinary people no matter what place or period they inhabit, 13th Century Japan or 21st century Europe. People with busy everyday lives and much else to grab their attention, to enable them to get to grips with the values and the principles of Buddhism, and so to understand that even in the very midst of life's difficulties and challenges, it is possible to build lives filled with hope and optimism and resilience, and yes...great happiness too.
That's it. Done for today. It's shorter than normal I know but it brings us to a neat end for the discussion of nam myoho renge kyo, and next time we can launch off into a discussion about the gohonzon.
Hope to see you then.
All my best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Very soon out in Spanish!!!
Easter Sunday. A time for peace and friendship. Lets hope in the next few months we see peace breaking out in Syria and the pain and suffering of so many people brought to an end.
The ground we've covered in the past dozen or so episodes has been a necesssarily brief account of the many meanings locked up within nam myoho renge kyo. But having a more comprehensive understanding of those meanings isn't really the key to unlocking the value that it embodies. The fact is that it's this practice focused around the chanting of this phrase that is Nichiren's great legacy to all of us. Nichiren was in many ways a great modernist, and he makes it clear in his writings that this practice was fashioned for ordinary people no matter what place or period they inhabit, 13th Century Japan or 21st century Europe. People with busy everyday lives and much else to grab their attention, to enable them to get to grips with the values and the principles of Buddhism, and so to understand that even in the very midst of life's difficulties and challenges, it is possible to build lives filled with hope and optimism and resilience, and yes...great happiness too.
That's it. Done for today. It's shorter than normal I know but it brings us to a neat end for the discussion of nam myoho renge kyo, and next time we can launch off into a discussion about the gohonzon.
Hope to see you then.
All my best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Very soon out in Spanish!!!
Sunday, 20 March 2016
my buddhist blog number 127
Hi Everybody,
Hope all is well with you.
We're closing in on the end of this chapter and this book. Only half a dozen pages to go.
I've just learned that the Spanish version is about to be published! Which is really great news. It makes the book available to the huge Spanish speaking audience in the US and in South America.
Right well we've been explorign the meaning of the mantra that Nichiren Buddhists chant, nam myoho renge kyo. It is the title of the Lotus Sutra, which contains the key teachings of Mahaayna Buddhism in classical Japanese. Over the past few episodes we've looked in detail at the underlying meanings of nam, and myoho and renge. So you can revisit those episodes if you wish to refresh your memory, and in this one we're talking about kyo.
So justas with myoho and renge, the word kyo embodies many meanings. It is literally translated as ' sutra' or the voice or teaching of the Buddha. But it also measn vibration or sound, so can be taken to represent the vibrations that spread out from someone in the process of chanting. Indeed there is a well-known Buddhist saying that ' the voice does the Buddha's work,' and there is no question that the sound or the vibration that is created by a group of people chanting, even quite a small group, can be very powerful.
I can still recall with great clarity for example, the very first Buddhist meeting I went to, some time before I actually started practising. It was a dark cold winter's evening I remember and we were walking along this street of narrow Victorian houses in West London, with me thinking not particularly positive thoughts such as, ' Oh well, it can't last much more than an hour this meeting!' And then, as we turned up the short garden path to the house, coming through the closed front door was this wonderful resonant sound. Strong. Confident. Vibrant. It actually made the hair tingle on the back of my neck I recall. A sound produced by just a dozen or so ordinary people, chanting nam myoho renge kyo.'
Enough for today I think.
I have to say re-writing that passage I can still recall that first meeting. And I've been chanting every day since then. When I say that this practice has profondly changed my life, I mean precisely that. It has changed my life in more ways than I can recount, all of them immensely beneficial.
See you next time,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Hope all is well with you.
We're closing in on the end of this chapter and this book. Only half a dozen pages to go.
I've just learned that the Spanish version is about to be published! Which is really great news. It makes the book available to the huge Spanish speaking audience in the US and in South America.
Right well we've been explorign the meaning of the mantra that Nichiren Buddhists chant, nam myoho renge kyo. It is the title of the Lotus Sutra, which contains the key teachings of Mahaayna Buddhism in classical Japanese. Over the past few episodes we've looked in detail at the underlying meanings of nam, and myoho and renge. So you can revisit those episodes if you wish to refresh your memory, and in this one we're talking about kyo.
So justas with myoho and renge, the word kyo embodies many meanings. It is literally translated as ' sutra' or the voice or teaching of the Buddha. But it also measn vibration or sound, so can be taken to represent the vibrations that spread out from someone in the process of chanting. Indeed there is a well-known Buddhist saying that ' the voice does the Buddha's work,' and there is no question that the sound or the vibration that is created by a group of people chanting, even quite a small group, can be very powerful.
I can still recall with great clarity for example, the very first Buddhist meeting I went to, some time before I actually started practising. It was a dark cold winter's evening I remember and we were walking along this street of narrow Victorian houses in West London, with me thinking not particularly positive thoughts such as, ' Oh well, it can't last much more than an hour this meeting!' And then, as we turned up the short garden path to the house, coming through the closed front door was this wonderful resonant sound. Strong. Confident. Vibrant. It actually made the hair tingle on the back of my neck I recall. A sound produced by just a dozen or so ordinary people, chanting nam myoho renge kyo.'
Enough for today I think.
I have to say re-writing that passage I can still recall that first meeting. And I've been chanting every day since then. When I say that this practice has profondly changed my life, I mean precisely that. It has changed my life in more ways than I can recount, all of them immensely beneficial.
See you next time,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available in paperback from Amazon and as a download on Kindle.
Saturday, 12 March 2016
my buddhist blog number 126
Hi Everybody,
On this beautiful spring day. Well it is in southern England. Clear skies. Soft slightly hazy sunshine. Birds everywhere kicking up a spring-type fuss. Beautiful. Runnning in the park with Gatsby early this morning and we even suprised a few spring baby rabbits back into their burrows! We're in the middle of the detailed explanation of the meaning of the mantra Nichiren Buddhists chant morning and evening, nam myoho renge kyo. We've talked about nam at asome length, and myoho at even greater length, and we're into renge, which means essentially cause and effect.
Basically Buddhism argues that every cause we make, good bad or indifferent, plants a balancingeffect in our lives. Thus there is for all of us an on-going chain of causes and effects. That is if you like the fundamental dynamic of our lives. Good causes good effects. Bad causes bad effects.
I think it's pretty easy to see how even a superficial understanding of this principle can have a powerful effect on our behaviour, on our awareness of the kind of causes that we are making. And since that process of linked causes and effects is going on all the time, you can see that where we are now in our lives, who we are now in our lives, is the sum of all the causes we have made in the past, that have planted effects in our lives.
By the same token the causes that we are making now, Buddhism reminds us, contain the seeds of our future. So you might say, the key factor in shaping our on-going lives is how we respond to the situations and events and encounters that face us now, today and tomorrow and the next day.
What that is saying so powerfully is that however much we might feel it to be the case, we are not simply subject to chance and accident and encounter that come at us out of our environment. The decisive factor is how we respond to those situations. The causes that we make and therefore the effects that we plant in our lives.
The basic message is therefore on eof immense hope and optimism. Whateverhas happened in the past good positive causes made now, will plant good positive effects, into our future.
Enough to absorb for one go I think.
Next time we will be looking at kyo.
All my best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a paper back on Amazon and as a downlaod on Kindle.
The good news is that the Spanish version is about to be launched for all those Spanish speakers in US and South America.
On this beautiful spring day. Well it is in southern England. Clear skies. Soft slightly hazy sunshine. Birds everywhere kicking up a spring-type fuss. Beautiful. Runnning in the park with Gatsby early this morning and we even suprised a few spring baby rabbits back into their burrows! We're in the middle of the detailed explanation of the meaning of the mantra Nichiren Buddhists chant morning and evening, nam myoho renge kyo. We've talked about nam at asome length, and myoho at even greater length, and we're into renge, which means essentially cause and effect.
Basically Buddhism argues that every cause we make, good bad or indifferent, plants a balancingeffect in our lives. Thus there is for all of us an on-going chain of causes and effects. That is if you like the fundamental dynamic of our lives. Good causes good effects. Bad causes bad effects.
I think it's pretty easy to see how even a superficial understanding of this principle can have a powerful effect on our behaviour, on our awareness of the kind of causes that we are making. And since that process of linked causes and effects is going on all the time, you can see that where we are now in our lives, who we are now in our lives, is the sum of all the causes we have made in the past, that have planted effects in our lives.
By the same token the causes that we are making now, Buddhism reminds us, contain the seeds of our future. So you might say, the key factor in shaping our on-going lives is how we respond to the situations and events and encounters that face us now, today and tomorrow and the next day.
What that is saying so powerfully is that however much we might feel it to be the case, we are not simply subject to chance and accident and encounter that come at us out of our environment. The decisive factor is how we respond to those situations. The causes that we make and therefore the effects that we plant in our lives.
The basic message is therefore on eof immense hope and optimism. Whateverhas happened in the past good positive causes made now, will plant good positive effects, into our future.
Enough to absorb for one go I think.
Next time we will be looking at kyo.
All my best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a paper back on Amazon and as a downlaod on Kindle.
The good news is that the Spanish version is about to be launched for all those Spanish speakers in US and South America.
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