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Oko Sermon
“How Those Initially
Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood Through the Lotus Sutra”
In kindling a fire, three
things are needed: a
good piece of steel, a good flint, and good tinder. The same is true of
prayer. Three things are required—a good teacher, a good believer, and a
good doctrine—before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from
the land. 1. Background of the Gosho Nichiren Daishonin wrote this Gosho in Minobu, in the first year of Koan (1278), when he was 57 years of age. He reportedly addressed this letter to Myoho-ama, who lived in Okamiya, in the Province of Suruga. It is apparent from the Gosho that Myoho-ama upheld strong faith, striving in the three pillars of faith, practice, and study. This document consists of thirteen questions and answers. The Daishonin’s directions concerning the practice of shakubuku are particularly prevalent in this Gosho. 2. The Essential Significance of the Gosho First, the Daishonin wrote: In kindling a fire, three things are needed: a good piece of steel, a good flint, and good tinder. The same is true of prayer. (ibid.) In modern times, we have useful instruments such as lighters and matches, but in olden days, a person who wanted to make a fire went through the arduous process of striking the edges of a flint-and-metal set, aiming the sparks onto a carbonized outer layer of a wild flax stalk. If even one of these three items—the flint stone, metal, or stalk—was damp or missing, one could not possibly make a fire. This can be compared to the practice of the priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu. When individuals sincerely pray to the Gohonzon, with faith based on the spirit of different bodies but one mind (itai doshin), all their prayers will come true. Next, the Daishonin wrote: Three things are required—a good teacher, a good believer, and a good doctrine—before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from the land.(ibid.) In the same way that these three items were absolutely necessary to produce a fire in olden times, we must bring together the essential elements of a good teacher, a good believer, and a good teaching. Nichiren Daishonin then went on to state the following: A good teacher is a priest who is free from any fault in secular affairs, who never fawns upon others even in the slightest, who desires and is satisfied with little, and who is compassionate; a priest who reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra precisely as it teaches and also encourages and leads others to embrace it. Such a priest the Buddha has praised among all priests as the finest teacher of the Dharma. A good believer is one who does not depend upon persons of eminence or despise those of humble station; who does not rely on the backing of superiors or look down on inferiors; who, not relying upon the opinions of others, upholds the Lotus Sutra among all the sutras. Such a person the Buddha has called the best of all people. As for a good doctrine, the Buddha has told us that this sutra, the Lotus, represents the foremost among all doctrines. Among all the sutras the Buddha “has preached,” among those he “now preaches,” and among those he “will preach,” this sutra is designated as foremost, and therefore it is a good doctrine. (ibid.) 3. Issues As priests and lay believers who uphold faith in the Daishonin’s True Buddhism, the good doctrine, we must embrace the directions of Nichiren Daishonin. As priests, we must devote ourselves to become good teachers, and as lay believers, we must put forth our efforts to become good believers. Based on complete unity between priesthood and laity, we must inspire and encourage one another. By so doing, we will ultimately be able to achieve our great objective of Kosen-rufu, the propagation of True Buddhism throughout the world. At the same time, we will be able to eliminate the great suffering that plagues our nations. In the Gosho, “The Four Debts of Gratitude” (“Shion-sho”), Nichiren Daishonin wrote the following about the mission of the priests: As for the gratitude owed to the priesthood, both the Treasure of the Buddha and the Treasure of the Law are invariably perpetuated by priests. For example, without firewood, no fire generates and without earth, no plants grow. Even if Buddhism exists, if priests do not learn the teaching and propagate it, it shall not be transmitted through the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, down to the Latter Day of the Law.(Gosho, p. 268; MW-5, p. 11) The mission of the Nichiren Shoshu priests is to protect and transmit the True Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, without ever defiling the purity of the doctrines, for generations into the eternal future. The Daishonin stated the following in his Gosho, “The Fourteen Slanders” (“Matsuno-dono go-henji”): In the Theoretical Teaching of the Lotus Sutra, there is a passage which reads, “We do not hold our own lives dear. We value only the supreme Way.” Another passage from the Essential Teaching reads, “They do not begrudge their lives.” The Nirvana Sutra states, “One’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give his life in order to propagate the Law.”(Gosho, p. 1051; MW-3, pp. 215-216) Thus, the Daishonin explains that the priests must not begrudge their lives in propagating the Law and that they must do shakubuku. Also in the Gosho, “The Fourteen Slanders,” the Daishonin described the mission of the lay believers: Nevertheless, as a lay believer, it is essential that you single-mindedly chant only Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and make offerings to the priests. This, too, is as the sutra says, “Teach to the best of one’s ability.”(Gosho, p. 1051; MW-3, p. 216) As lay believers who practice the True Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin must chant sincere Daimoku for their own happiness and that of others and for the achievement of Kosen-rufu, in order to save all mankind. Furthermore, it is essential that they do daily Gongyo without ever slackening. They must extend their sincere gratitude toward the High Priest, who represents the Treasure of the Priesthood. Moreover, the lay believers must truly appreciate all the priests who set out in the High Priest’s stead to various destinations to instruct the believers. It is important to uphold pure faith. The “offerings” mentioned in the passage refer to the faithful spirit of the believers. The following passage is from Teachers of the Law (Hosshi; tenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra: If one of these good men or good women in the time after I have passed into extinction is able to secretly expound the Lotus Sutra to one person, even one phrase of it, then you should know that he or she is the envoy of the Thus Come One. He has been dispatched by the Thus Come One and carries out the Thus Come One’s work. And how much more so those who in the midst of the great assembly broadly expound the sutra for others!(Hokekyo, p. 320; Lotus Sutra, Watson, p. 162) Furthermore, in The Benefits of Joyful Acceptance (Zuiki kudoku bon; eighteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, a passage reads: There in accordance with what they have heard, they put forth effort in preaching and expounding for the sake of their parents and relatives, their good friends and acquaintances. These persons, after hearing, respond with joy and they too set about spreading the teachings.(Hokekyo, p. 465; Lotus Sutra, Watson, p. 246) Thus, it is essential for us, as individuals who embrace the True Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, to uphold a solid sense of mission to propagate the Lotus Sutra and proceed forth in our shakubuku activities. 4. Conclusion The mission of the priests is to deeply study the profound Buddhist doctrines of Nichiren Daishonin and to do shakubuku to propagate the Law. The priests must uphold the spirit of “never begrudging one’s life for the sake of propagating True Buddhism,” in order to achieve Kosen-rufu. The mission of the lay believers is to support and protect the Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood, and to share True Buddhism with as many people as possible through shakubuku. In the Gosho, “The Eight Winds” (Shijo Kingo-dono go-henji), Nichiren Daishonin wrote: If lay believers and their teacher pray with differing minds, their prayers will be as futile as trying to kindle a fire on water.(Gosho, p. 1118; cf. MW-1 p. 206) We must be completely united as priests and lay believers. Under the direction of our High Priest, let’s advance toward achieving our supreme objective of the ultimate perpetuation of the True Law through Kosen-rufu. Our High Priest stated the following: Kosen-rufu characterizes the unity of priests and lay believers. It can only be achieved when there is total oneness between the priesthood and laity. Accordingly, the priests cannot achieve it on their own. The lay believers also cannot achieve it by themselves. Indeed, Kosen-rufu can only be attained through the solid unity between the priesthood and laity.(Dai Nichiren, 724-92) As “good teachers” and “good believers,” we must be firmly united and pray to uphold our High Priest Nichinyo Shonin’s directions to “successfully achieve, without fail, the doubling the number of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who will congregate at the Great Assembly in 2009, the 750th Anniversary of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice through the Submission of the Rissho ankoku-ron.” Let us advance together with great devotion to achieve our goal without fail. Let us also strive toward the achievement of the ultimate objective of true worldwide Kosen-rufu. Thank you very much for your kind attention. |