Mentor-Disciple Origins: Shakyamuni

Siddhartha Gautama

In the Lotus Sutra, after Shakyamuni has repeatedly explained that there is only one vehicle and that the wisdom of the buddhas is difficult to understand and difficult to enter, we come to the Ceremony in the Air.  A treasure tower arises from the ground and we meet Many Treasures Buddha who confirms that what Shakamuni is saying is true.  Everyone wonders who will spread this teaching far and wide, and while various groups within the assembly offer to propagate it, it’s only when the ground opens up and the Bodhisattvas of the Earth (Shakyamuni’s students from previous lifetimes) appear that we see the true disciples of the mentor Shakyamuni. 

In the March 2007 “Art of Living” magazine, Barbara Cahill explains that “Shakyamuni himself established the way forward in the ceremony in the air when he passed the baton of propagation to Bodhisattva Superior Practices and to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.  At that point he made it clear that practice to, and reverence for, the idealised image of a remote and superior Buddha must be replaced by the understanding that the cause for Buddhahood exists in every life.” (p37)

Throughout Shakyamuni’s life, Shariputra and others saw themselves as the disciples of the Buddha, but after the Buddha’s death, rather than propagate the Lotus Sutra, many of them returned to the earlier teachings or started to revere Shakyamuni as a God.   Akemi Baynes explains “When his followers lost the spirit of the oneness of mentor and disciple, Shakyamuni became merely an object of worship, a godlike being, rather than a model of what an enlightened person can achieve.”  (Art of Living, September 2007, p30-31)

So as well as the confusion among the various teachings, there is also confusion among the various disciples.  This is why it is essential that the disciples of Buddhism, of Shakyamuni and of Nichiren Daishonin, study and understand the heart of their teachings, their practice and their intent.  Disciples who fail to do this will stray from the path of the mentor’s teachings and run the risk of continuing to spread outdated teachings and  ineffective practices, while at the same time causing confusion and hindering, rather than promoting, the spread of Buddhism, especially the Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra.

In a dialogue on the Lotus Sutra between President Ikeda, and the Soka Gakkai Study Department chief and vice chiefs (published as “The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: Vol. IV”), they discuss India’s first prime minister’s opinion on why Buddhism died out In India:

Ikeda: [Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister] once discussed the question of why Buddhism died out in India with the French author Andre Malraux.   … At one point in their conversation, Nehru remarked: "The genius of the Buddha has to do with the fact that he is a man. The originator of one of the most profound systems of thought in the history of humanity, an inflexible spirit and the most noble compassion. " … After Shakyamuni's death, however, as Nehru deftly observed, "He became deified, he merged with that multitude, which closed round him," in effect, eclipsing his human side. [Andre Malraux, Anti-memoirs, trans. Terence Kilmartin (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), p. 228.]

Saito: … The problem is that as soon as Shakyamuni was deified, the path he had revealed for human beings to attain enlightenment disappeared.

Ikeda: Yes. Fundamentally, Buddhism is a teaching about how to live, a teaching transmitted from mentor to disciple. … But if the Buddha as the mentor ceases to be a human being and becomes a "god," then, practically speaking, the path of mentor and disciple cannot exist. …

Saito: In Hinayana Buddhism, which emerged relatively early after Shakyamuni's death, the people gradually viewed Shakyamuni as a deity. Consequently they felt  it was enough if they could just strive to attain the enlightenment of persons of learning, or voice-hearers (i.e., the stage of arhat).  In Mahayana Buddhism, other than the Lotus Sutra, which was systematized at a later time as a countermovement to Hinayana, a large number of Buddhas are introduced besides Shakyamuni Buddha. These include, for example, Amida, Mahavairochana and Vairochana. But there is an unbridgeable gap between these Buddhas and actual people. They are presented largely as beings to whom people can entrust their hopes for salvation; not as potential mentors.  Thus, the path of mentor and disciple exists neither in the Hinayana nor in the provisional Mahayana teachings.

Ikeda: When "Shakyamuni the human being" was forgotten, Buddhism ceased to be a teaching about how to live the best possible life. The path of mentor and disciple disappeared.  Consequently, Buddhism declined and became authoritarian.

Saito:  When followers fail to continue along the same path as the mentor, the very life of Buddhism is extinguished. One cannot fail to be impressed by Nehru's wisdom in discerning that Buddhism died out in India when Shakyamuni ceased to be viewed as a human being.”  

(Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: Vol. IV p30 – 33)

Saito: Because direct contact with the Buddha was impossible, in time the concept of the "great Buddha" took on a kind of life of its own. People thought that Shakyamuni alone had attained the Buddha's enlightenment, and that it was far beyond them to ever become Buddhas themselves.

Endo: The enlightenment toward which they strove was the highest enlightenment of voice-hearers - the stage of arhat. The state of the Buddha was seen as unattainable.

Suda: In the meantime, the precepts gradually grew in complexity. Also, to maintain the order, the monks created an air of mystery around their temples, going so far as to expound teachings arrogating authority to themselves.  At the same time, they placed the Buddha on a pedestal rending him inaccessible to ordinary people.

Ikeda: Still, things weren't quite as bad as they could have been as long as Shakyamuni's direct disciples were around. The first compilation of sutras is said to have taken place about a century after Shakyamuni's death. By then Shakyamuni's deification may have already been fairly well advanced. …

Saito: The Sanskrit term that, in the Chinese Buddhist canon, is translated as "World-Honored One" is bhagavat, an ancient Indian literary term. This was apparently an appellation that disciples used in addressing a teacher. But as Shakyamuni's deification became solidified, people came to refer to him instead as the "supreme deity" or as the "god of gods."

Amidha Buddha

Suda: When we come to Mahayana Buddhism, we find an emphasis on a personal Buddha as a "savior" figure who leads people to enlightenment. …  The problem is that as a result of this Mahayana Buddhist movement, people came to make light of Shakyamuni, the originator of Buddhism. Instead, they revered imaginary Buddhas [such as Amida, Vairochana and Mahavairochana] as "gods." Ultimately, this closed off the path whereby people could discover the "Law at one with the Buddha" within their own lives.

Endo: Moreover, the teaching of such Buddhas, rather than encouraging people to place importance on their own inherent strength, only reinforced the tendency to depend on the Buddha's compassion for salvation. The Pure Land or Nembutsu school of Buddhism, in which people seek salvation through the benevolence of Amida Buddha, is a case in point.

Ikeda: In short, both the Hinayana and Mahayana teachings completely deviate from the spirit of Shakyamuni’s teaching to make the Law and the self our foundation. … The Lotus Sutra’s spirit  is to resist the dehumanization of religion and religion's tendency to become divorced from reality but instead to steadfastly redirect religion to focus on the human being.

Suda: I recall the Daishonin's declaration in "On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings" that he has "[launched] the battle between the provisional and the true teachings" and "the battle goes on even today" (WND1, p392).   The true legacy of Buddhism can be found only within unceasing spiritual struggle.

Saito: The Daishonin constantly proclaimed: "Return to Shakyamuni!" …

Endo: He condemns as utterly confused those who try to do away with the actual person Shakyamuni while making much of imaginary Buddhas of uncertain origins. …

Ikeda: That suggests just how strong the tendency of religion is to depart from the human being. And when that happens, religion becomes little more than a means for controlling people.

(Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: Vol. IV p44 – 48)

During this conversation, study department chief, Katsuji Saito also explains “[A]fter Shakyamuni's death the Law necessarily becomes fundamental. That is inevitable. The only way to attain Buddhahood is to have a direct connection with the Law and, in effect, make the Law one's mentor.”  (Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra: Vol. IV p43)

And in “Buddhism Day by Day”, Daisaku Ikeda writes, “The highest offering to the Buddha is not to worship something reminiscent of the Buddha.  Rather, it is to inherit the Buddha’s spirit.  In other words, the highest offering lies in struggling to manifest, as one’s own way of life, even a part of the spirit of the Buddha, who upheld the philosophy that everyone is a Buddha and tirelessly strove to save all from suffering.”  (p297)

Previously... On Mentor-Disciple Day

Over the last few years I have written several posts on the significance of the SGI’s Mentor-Disciple Day and the mentor-disciple relationship.

Please click on the links below to go to previous posts:

Building Our Own Future - Spirit of 3rd July

Mentor-Disciple Day

Leaders of the Park (see Part IV)

The Oneness of Mentor and Disciple

Why a Mentor-Disciple Day?

“Only one person can make a breakthrough,

the second and a third will follow.

This is the formula for victory! 

Become a pioneer of the new era

and shine in your community.”

               Daisaku Ikeda, "To My Friends", 3 July 2014

Gongyo Style (독경 스타일)

THE DAIMOKU (NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO) 

“Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is only one phrase or verse, but it is no ordinary phrase, for it is the essence of the entire sutra. ... Included within the title, or daimoku, of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the entire sutra … Truly, if you chant this in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra.  Chanting daimoku twice is the same as reading the entire sutra twice, one hundred daimoku equal one hundred readings of the sutra, and one thousand daimoku, one thousand readings of the sutra.  Thus, if you ceaselessly chant daimoku, you will be continually reading the Lotus Sutra.”   (“The One Essential Phrase”, WND-1, p922-923)

“So, even though the beginners in Buddhist practice may not understand their significance, by practicing these five characters, they will naturally conform to the sutra’s intent.”   (“On The Four Stages of Faith”, WND-1, p788)

“The Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law says that, if one hears this sutra and proclaims and embraces its title, one will enjoy merit beyond measure.”    (“Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra”, WND-1, p143)

“Only the ship of Myoho-renge-kyo enables one to cross the sea of the sufferings of birth and death.”                                                               (“A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering”, WND-1, p 33)

  

DAILY RECITATION OF CHAPTERS 2 AND 16 OF THE LOTUS SUTRA

In 1264, Nichiren Daishonin replied to a question from the wife of Daigaku Saburō concerning how to perform gongyo. 

“You say that you used to recite one chapter of the Lotus Sutra every day, completing the entire sutra in the space of twenty-eight days, but that now you read the “Medicine King” chapter once a day. You ask if you should simply read each chapter in turn, as you were originally doing.” (WND-1, p68)

“Though no chapter of the Lotus Sutra is negligible, among the entire twenty-eight chapters, the “Expedient Means” chapter and the “Life Span” chapter are particularly outstanding. The remaining chapters are all in a sense the branches and leaves of these two chapters. Therefore, for your regular recitation, I recommend that you practice reading the prose sections of the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” chapters.  … As for the remaining chapters, you may turn to them from time to time when you have a moment of leisure.”  (WND-1, p71)

It’s clear from this letter that the Daishonin had already established the daily practice of reciting extracts from these two chapters of the Lotus Sutra…

 COMPREHENSIVE, ABBREVIATED AND ESSENTIAL PRACTICE

“To accept, uphold, read, recite, take delight in, and protect all ... twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra is called the comprehensive practice. 

To accept, uphold, and protect the “Expedient Means” chapter and the “Life Span” chapter is called the abbreviated practice.

And simply to chant one four-phrase verse or the daimoku, and to protect those who do so, is called the essential practice.

Hence, among these three kinds of practice, comprehensive, abbreviated, and essential, the daimoku is defined as the essential practice.   (WND-1, p143)

Nichiren on Sado Island

After being saved from execution at Tatsunokuchi Beach, Nichiren was held at Echi, near the Teradomari harbour, where he would set sail for Sado Island.  It took more than a week before the sea was calm enough to cross, but it was still a dangerous journey.  In the picture below you can see Nichiren calming the sea by chanting daimoku.

Nichiren was nearly fifty when he was exiled to Sado Island and on the 1^st November 1271, three days after arriving on the island, Nichiren was taken to an abandoned field that was used as a graveyard and given a small dilapidated hut.  He writes:

“The chances are one in ten thousand that I will survive the year or even the month.”  (WND-1. P402)

“Among those sent to Sado, most die; few live. And after I had finally managed to reach my place of exile, I was looked upon as someone who had committed a crime worse than murder or treason.”(WND1, p519)   

“The hearts of the people are like those of birds and beasts; they recognize neither sovereign, teacher, nor parent. Even less do they distinguish between correct and incorrect in Buddhism, or good and evil in their teachers.”  (WND1, p213)

“There, true to the nature of that northern land, I found the wind particularly strong in winter, the snows deep, the clothing thin, and the food scarce.”  (WND1, p519)

“I lived in a graveyard called Tsukahara, at a place between the meadows and the mountains that was far removed from human habitation. I lived in a small hut [Sammai-dō] built with four posts. The roof boards did not shut out the sky, and the walls were crumbling. Rain came in as though there were no roof at all, and the snow piled up inside.”  (WND2, p773-774)

“[T]he walls did not keep out the wind. Day and night the only sound reaching my ears was the sighing of the wind by my pillow; each morning the sight that met my eyes was the snow that buried the roads far and near. I felt as though I had passed through the realm of hungry spirits and fallen alive into one of the cold hells.    (WND1, p519)

“There was no image of the Buddha, and no trace of matting or other floor covering. But I set up the figure of Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, that I have carried with me from times past, and held the Lotus Sutra in my hand, and with a straw coat around me and a straw hat on my head, I managed to live there.”  (WND2, p774)

“I am sending back some of the young priests. You can ask them what this province is like and about the circumstances in which I live. It is impossible to describe these matters in writing.”  (WND1, p214)

“Please tell the young priests that they should not neglect their studies. You absolutely must not lament over my exile.”   (WND1, p214)

Nichiren always stressed to his followers that “from the very day you listen to [and take faith in] this sutra, you should be fully prepared to face the great persecutions of the three types of enemies" (WND1.p391) but wrote “although my disciples had already heard this, when both great and small persecutions confronted us, some were so astounded and terrified that they even forsook their faith. (ibid.)  

Even worse though, were that some disciples tried to persuade other followers to reject the Daishonin:  “When persecutions befell me, [Shō-bō, Noto-bō, and the lay nun of Nagoe] took advantage of these to convince many of my followers to drop out.”  (WND1, p800)

Nichiren also wrote about the journey from Kamakura to Sado Island being “more than a thousand ri  [450km / 280 miles]  over treacherous mountains and raging seas. There are sudden onslaughts of wind and rain, bandits lurk in the mountains, and pirates lie in wait on the sea. The people at every stage and every post town are as bestial as dogs or tigers” (WND1, p325)

This is the route that his closest disciples would have had to follow to deliver food, paper and religious texts to him, and then they would return back the same way with his letters of encouragement and guidance for other disciples.  This really shows the depth of commitment that Nichiren Daishonin and his early disciples had to ensure the continued flow of Nichiren Buddhism. 

In this modern age of e-mails it can be difficult enough to reflect on the good old days of writing letters, buying stamps and finding a post-box, let alone the physical and emotional hardships of delivering food and communication between the capital city and an inhospitable island via a dangerous and demanding trip over “treacherous mountains and raging seas”.

Inherit the Buddha's Spirit

“The highest offering to the Buddha is not to worship something reminiscent of the Buddha.  Rather, it is to inherit the Buddha’s spirit.  In other words, the highest offering lies in struggling to manifest, as one’s own way of life, even a part of the spirit of the Buddha, who upheld the philosophy that everyone is a Buddha and tirelessly strove to save all from suffering.” 

Daisaku Ikeda (Buddhism Day by Day, p297)      

Happy New Year 2015

While there are many special days throughout the year - religious, secular, birthdays and personal anniversaries – which we may attach significance to as new beginnings, most people have universally accepted that New Year’s Day is a day of fresh starts, renewals and making fresh determinations in their lives.  

In his New Year Gosho, Nichiren writes “New Year’s Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year, and the start of spring.”  (WND-1, p1137)  and we can see from this that New Year’s Day is actually a day of four beginnings – a new day, a new month, a new year, and, according to the old lunar calendar in Japan, a new season.

I’m sure an examination of Nichiren’s life would reveal a lifetime of new beginnings and fresh departures, but as a brief overview we can see four key firsts:

(i)       He may have claimed “I, Nichiren, am not the founder of any school” (WND-1. p669), but through his studies, teachings, treaties and letters, he did lead the way in re-focusing attention on the heart of Shakyamuni’s teachings and devotion to the Lotus Sutra - a journey which led to the start of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan.

(ii)     He introduced the practice of daimoku to Japan and wrote “In the entire country of Japan, I am the only one who has been chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo”  (WND-1, p672)

(iii)   He was the first to inscribe the Gohonzon, a mandala based on the “Ceremony in the Air” from the Lotus Sutra and writes “I was the first to reveal as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra this great mandala that even those such as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu, T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo were unable to express.”  (WND-1, p831)

(iv)  Finally, Nichiren led the way when it came to propagating the Lotus Sutra and ensuring that the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra would spread far and wide, writing “At first only Nichiren chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but then two, three, and a hundred followed, chanting and teaching others.”  (WND-1, p385)

Later in the New Year Gosho, the Daishonin writes:

“The sincerity of making offerings to the Lotus Sutra at the beginning of the New Year is like cherry blossoms blooming from trees, a lotus unfolding in a pond, sandalwood leaves unfurling on the Snow Mountains, or the moon beginning to rise.” (WND-1, p1137)

So what new departures can we initiate on this day of new beginnings, and how can we make sincere offerings to the Lotus Sutra? 

In most things the greatest offering we can make is not necessarily financial, but the commitment of ourselves.  And, when it comes to the Lotus Sutra, I think the greatest offering we can make is the commitment of our time, our energy, our hearts and our lives.  

In his message for the 5^th Soka Gakkai HQ Leader’s Meeting in 2014, Daisaku Ikeda recalled a 1954 meeting saying “At that time, President Toda declared that the essence of the Soka Gakkai spirit is “to return to the time of the Daishonin”.  What he meant by this, he said, is for each of us to take the Daishonin’s spirit as our own and strive to help others embrace faith in the Mystic Law and realize genuine happiness.”  President Ikeda then went on to say that we should ensure that this vow – “embodying the Soka Gakkai spirit and directly connected to the spirit of the Daishonin is transmitted to the future and endures for all eternity” (Newsletter 8982)

Today – New Year’s Day 2015 - is an excellent opportunity for us to do just that and we can make sincere offerings to the Lotus Sutra by renewing our vow to “dedicate our lives to the great vow of kosen-rufu, just like the Daishonin” (Newsletter 8538), making a determination to commit time each day to study the Daishonin’s writings, and chanting with renewed energy to feel the power of our daimoku within our own lives and within our communities throughout 2015.  

See Also:

"The Same As Last Year" (from 1st January 2014)

"New Year Resolutions"  (from 1st January 2013)

"Ready, Willing & Able"  (from May 2012)

The Buddha's Warning

Okay, maybe not the last one, but in the Kalama Sutra, Shakyamuni states: 

“Don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, "This contemplative is our teacher."  When you know for yourselves that, "These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness" — then you should enter & remain in them.”

The key point of the Kalama Sutra is to teach us that the source of any information, or even our own reasoning or contemplation, shouldn't be accepted at face value.  It is essential for us to distance ourselves from blind faith and to "know for ourselves" through actual practice and testing the claims of that knowledge or wisdom.  Once we have proved through our own investigation, research, action and results that this practice leads to a state of happiness for ourselves and society, then, and only then, should we adopt and pursue that practice.

Throughout his years of teaching, Shakyamuni taught many different sutras, continually updating the depth and breadth of his teachings in accordance with the growing capacity of his audience.  Finally, after 40 years, he taught the complete truth of the mystic law of the universe that he had awakened to under the Bodhi tree in his penultimate teaching - the Lotus Sutra.

Before he died, Shakyamuni taught one final sutra - the Nirvana Sutra - in which he confirmed that the Lotus Sutra contained his complete and all-encompassing philosophy - the king of all sutra - and that it would never be replaced by a future teaching.  He also issued a final warning to his disciples at that time, and for the future, to focus on the teaching itself and not to be led astray by the words of religious leaders, wise men, other people or one's own thoughts:

FOLLOW THE LAW NOT THE PERSON

  

Shakyamuni's Approval

In the Sahassavagga section of the Dhammapada,  Shakyamuni says:

“Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.

… Better it is to live one day seeing the Supreme Truth than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the Supreme Truth”

This comes from one of Shakyamuni’s earlier teachings and while we know that Shakyamuni revealed his ultimate teaching in The Lotus Sutra, we can also see that this earlier teaching contains universal truths about awakening to the Mystic Law and the reality of all phenomena.

In fact from the teachings of the four noble truths and the eightfold path onwards, Shakyamuni was encouraging us to understand the causes of our suffering and teaching us a path to happiness. 

Since those early days, the Buddha taught many different teachings in relation to the time and capabilities of the hearers, and three key principles became established among future generations of buddhists which were judged to guarantee the authenticity of a doctrine as a Buddhist doctrine. 

These three criteria, also known as the three Dharma seals, were the concepts of impermanence, non-self and nirvana. 

1 IMPERMANENCE (EVERYTHING CHANGES)

Everything is in a constant state of change.  We are born.  We grow old.  We get sick.  We die.  Fruit ripens then spoils.  The movement of the sea erodes coastlines.  A movie star’s career rises or declines.  Fashions change.  Companies go bankrupt.  We fall in love.  We get married.  We grow apart.  We get divorced.  Empires rise and fall. 

Does this mean that impermanence has to be a source of suffering?  Not at all.  It may seem like a negative and pessimistic view of life, but it’s our failure to understand impermanence that causes us suffering.  Once we awaken to this universal truth we are encouraged in two ways.  Firstly, it  allows you to make the most of every moment during the good times.  This could be an opportunity to reconnect with a loved one you have lost touch with or to cherish the person right in front of you.  Secondly, if you are going through bad times, impermanence gives you hope that things will change for the better. 

Nichiren’s famous words of encouragement in his letter “Happiness in This World” are “Suffer what there is to suffer.  Enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens.  How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law?  Strengthen your power of faith more than ever.”   (WND1, p681)

His advice isn’t just to go with the flow of life and to suffer and enjoy whatever life brings, but to “see” the impermance of all phenomena and wake up to the true reality of our suffering and joy.   Nichiren is teaching us to use our faith and practice to make the most of every moment of our life.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh explains that “The Buddha implored us not just to talk about impermanence, but to use it as an instrument to help us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain liberating insight. … Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can we transform our suffering if things are not impermanent?  How can our daughter grow up into a beautiful young lady? How can the situation in the world improve?  We need impermanence for social justice and for hope.”

2 NON-SELF (AN ETERNITY OF NON-INDEPENDENCE)

The concept of non-self is based on the view that our present identity is not eternal, and even though we will be reborn with a new identity based on our eternal entity’s accumulated causes and effects, there is no eternal independent self that will continue life on another plane of existence, such as the Christian concept of heaven or hell. 

Also it’s impossible to live a life where we exist independently from others and our environment, and we are constantly influencing, and are influenced by, our environment and the people we come into contact with, both directly and indirectly (through TV, literature, blogs, etc.). 

3 NIRVANA (ETERNAL HAPPINESS)

When unenlightened our ignorance, greed and anger, and our inability to clearly understand IMPERMANENCE and NON-SELF, leads us to a life of suffering, but when we awaken to these realities that life, and even our own identity, are changeable and that everything is connected, we can achieve the highest state of calm and serenity – NIRVANA.

THE LOTUS SUTRA AND THE ONE DHARMA SEAL

The SGI Dictionary of Buddhism describes the THREE DHARMA SEALS  “ as standards to determine whether or not a sutra or a doctrine was valid”  and continues that within Chinese Mahayana Buddhism these three seals were seen as a concept of early Buddhism.  “It established instead the one Dharma seal, which was the principle of the ultimate reality, or the true aspect of all phenomena.  The Dharma seal of the ultimate reality is based on the Lotus Sutra, which sets forth this true aspect of all phenomena.”

2005 PEACE PROPOSAL

Every year since 1983 President Ikeda has written a Peace Proposal (see also For the Sake of Peace) with a Buddhist perspective on how to bring peace to society through committees, treaties and dialogue. 

  

In his 2005 Peace Proposal, ”Towards a New Era of Dialogue: Humanism  Explored”,  he summarised the Buddhist concept of these three Dharma seals:

“The impermanence of all phenomena (shogyo-mujo) explains that all things, events and experiences can be understood as an unbroken continuity of change and transformation.  Because everything changes, there is nothing that has a fixed, independent existence or substance (shoho-muga).  The enlightened state realized through the fully developed capacity to discern this reality is referred to as the tranquility of nirvana (nehan-jakujo).

This describes the initial awakening achieved by Shakyamuni when he realized that all things arise in the context of their interrelatedness;  this is a world woven of the rich threads of diversity, as all things exist in a web of interdependence, each serving as the cause or connection by which all other things come into being.”

(Daisaku Ikeda, 2005 Peace Proposal, p5)

Most Buddhist schools claim they are following Shakyamuni’s true intent through their own faith and practice of one or more of his teachings, so Shakyamuni also gave a warning of who to trust in the future…  

Nichiren Daishonin's RPE

NICHIREN'S LEVEL OF EXERTION

Some people may recognize RPE as the abbreviation for Gunnar Borg’s Rating of Perceived Exertion – a scale used in medicine to document a patient’s level of exertion during a test, and by sports coaches to assess the intensity of training and competition.

I prefer to think of it in terms of the level of exertion of Nichiren Daishonin and the intensity of his steadfast faith and courage throughout a life of REMONSTRATIONS, PERSECUTIONS and EXILES. 

How much heart, soul, spirit and dedication did Nichiren commit to the propagation of Buddhism? 

This can be seen through his steadfast faith, courage and determination to REMONSTRATE with the government, his resolve to overcome any and all PERSECUTIONS, and his commitment to not only survive the harshest of EXILES, but to make the most of every moment of them by continuing to propagate his Lotus Sutra Buddhism and to support his followers by writing some of his most important letters.  

When it comes to your faith, practice and study of Nichiren Buddhism, what's your Rating of Perceived Exertion?  

Light Activity, Vigorous Activity or Max Effort Activity?