Mentor-Disciple Dialogue #3

Here is the next instalment of the mentor-disciple dialogue.  Check out part one (here) and part two (here)

FINDING THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT

AM:     But do we need a mentor to show us the way?  I have my Gohonzon, the Gosho and the Mystic Law, isn’t that enough?

DL:       Yes and no.  We could practice without a mentor, but our fundamental darkness could cloud our minds, and Shakyamuni encourages us that if we stay “close to the teachers of the Law, one will speedily gain the bodhisattva way” (Burton Watson, The Lotus Sutra and Opening and Closing Sutras, p208).  

I remember a few years ago at Taplow Court I wanted to visit the Mentor-Disciple Room, but when I got to the main entrance, the others had already gone to the room, so I asked the receptionist for directions.  Unfortunately, I hit a dead-end, but bumping into another member that had also got lost we retraced our steps comparing the instructions we had been given and came across another office. 

With a new set of directions, we again ended up in an area where we could see the room we wanted, but couldn’t get to it, and then another member that was passing, took us directly to the Mentor-Disciple Room. 

The room and its exhibits were interesting, but the real benefit of this experience was that I finally got it.   The journey to find the Mentor-Disciple room showed me how President Ikeda supports us in our journey of faith.  I have the Lotus Sutra and the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and I know my mission as a Bodhisattva of the Earth, but without someone to guide us, it’s easy for us (and the teaching) to get lost.  President Ikeda, through his writings, speeches, encouragement and example in faith, shows us the clearest path to attaining Buddhahood and achieving kosen-rufu. 

Even Nikko Shonin, the founder of the Nichiren Shoshu Temple, said “In the teaching of the Daishonin, one attains Buddhahood by correctly following the path of mentor and disciple. If one errs even slightly in the path of mentor and disciple, then though one may uphold the Lotus Sutra, one will fall into the hell of incessant suffering.” (Translated from Japanese. Nikko, “Sado no Kuni no Hokkekoshu no Gohenji” (Reply to Believers in Sado Province), in “Documents of the Kamakura Period”, compiled and edited by Rizo Takeuchi (Tokyo: Tokyodo Shuppan, 1988), vol. 37, p. 25.)

AM:     Hmmm!  I do respect President Ikeda, but how can I choose a 91 year old Japanese man I’ve never met as a mentor?  

DL:       The first SGI book I read said “[The mentor and disciple] do not necessarily have to live together in the same time and place.  Their relationship goes beyond the limitations of time and space” (Yasuji Kirimura, Fundamentals of Buddhism (NSIC, 1984), p 179)   

From this, and Nichiren’s encouragement that “Although I and my disciples may encounter various difficulties, if we do not harbour doubts in our hearts, we will as a matter of course attain Buddhahood” (WND – 1, p283), I understood that while my experiences of life are different, and my struggles, persecutions, challenges and difficulties aren’t the same as Nichiren Daishonin or President Ikeda, I can maintain a steadfast faith in the practice, the Gohonzon and my Buddhahood with the same courage and determination as they have done.  

Former SGI-UK General Director, Robert Samuels, shared his thoughts on this, writing “Each of us expresses the [Mystic] Law in our own way.  What the mentor teaches is the spirit and the single mind for the happiness of people through our propagation of the Law.  We don’t try to copy anyone or be a particular way, but aspire to the same spirit of selfless devotion to the happiness of even one person.” (“Art of Living” Nov. 2004, p22). 

AM:     So, the “Mentor-Disciple” relationship isn’t about imitating a 91 year old Japanese man, fawning over him or being attached to him as a person, but it is about learning from his example in faith, and embodying his determination and dedication in our practice as it relates to our own unique lives and personalities.

DL:       Exactly.  That’s basically all the mentor-disciple relationship is in a nutshell.

(Part 4 coming soon)