Oko Sermon March 2009
Reverend Shogu Kimura
March 8, 2009
The Significance of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice
It is said that Nichiren’s Daishonin’s life begins and ends with the Rissho ankoku-ron (Treatise on Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism). The Daishonin is the True Buddha who illuminates the darkness of the ten thousand years and eternity of the Latter Day of the Law and brings salvation to all mankind. He denounced the erroneous religions and heretical teachings that cause people worldwide to suffer, and he revealed the one and only true Buddhism that is appropriate for the Latter Day of the Law.
In the Rissho ankoku-ron, the Daishonin taught that we can enable the people to achieve happiness, and we can bring peace and stability to the nation by propagating the true teachings throughout the world. Furthermore, he taught the path to establish ever-lasting peace for all mankind.
Rissho literally means, “to establish the truth.” In the Annotations on the Rissho ankoku-ron” (Rissho ankoku-ron guki), Nichikan Shonin, the Twenty-sixth High Priest of the Head Temple, clearly explained the following about the nature of the truth that must be established:
Sho–truth–refers to the three secret Laws. (Commentary on the Gosho [Gosho mondan], p. 9)
In other words, the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws is the single true Law that must be established and upheld in the Latter Day of the Law.
Nikken Shonin, our Sixty-seventh High Priest of the Head Temple, provided us with the following instructions:
The character symbolizing “truth” (sho) in Rissho ankoku-ron and the same character symbolizing “truth-justice” in the phrase “Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice” (shogi ken’yo) is comprised of two characters: “one” (ichi) and “to stop” (todomu). What does “one” represent? In Buddhism, the singular “one” refers to the foremost center of the truth, in a vast teaching that combines various expedient means in its instruction. While Shakyamuni expounded his five thousand and seven thousand sutras, including the Agama, Expansion, and Perfection of Wisdom sutras, only the Lotus Sutra represents the single Buddha vehicle. Since it signifies the foremost center, it possesses the meaning of “stopping at the singular one,” which forms the character for “truth.”
Furthermore, based on the Buddhism of the sowing of our master Nichiren Daishonin, the “one” in “stopping at the singular one” refers to the infinite past of kuon-ganjo… According to the principle of “the infinite past of kuon-ganjo is equal to the Latter Day of the Law” (kuon soku mappo), we must uphold the supremely profound Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching, the heart of the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin who appeared in this world as the essential entity of the True Buddha of the infinite past of kuon-ganjo. Herein lies the fundamental significance of “truth.” True Buddhism does not exist apart from this. (Dai Nichiren, Vol. 684)
Based on Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism of the sowing, “one” refers to the infinite past of kuon-ganjo. The significance of this is contained in the following phrase from the Gosho, “On the Meaning of the True Entity of Myoho-Renge-Kyo” (“Totaigi-sho”):
This wonderful single Law which simultaneously possesses both cause and effect. (Gosho, p. 695; MW-7, pp. 65-66)
Accordingly, based on the principle of the infinite past of kuon-ganjo is equal to the Latter Day of the Law (kuon soku mappo), we must uphold the Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching, the fundamental teaching of Nichiren Daishonin, who appeared in this world as the True Buddha.
Nichikan Shonin wrote the following:
Both characters – “to establish” (ritsu) and “truth” (sho) – contain the three secret laws. (Commentary on the Gosho [Gosho mondan], p. 6)
These refer to the Three Great Secret Laws consisting of the True Object of Worship of the Essential Teaching; the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching; and the Daimoku of the Essential Teaching.
The fundamental source of the Three Great Secret Laws is none other than the Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching, which has been securely protected by the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin, the Third High Priest Nichimoku Shonin, and the successive High Priests. The Dai-Gohonzon is currently enshrined in the Hoando at Head Temple Taisekiji.
Thus, establishing the truth (rissho) means to establish and uphold the Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teaching and to achieve kosen-rufu. This is the only way we can secure the peace of the land (ankoku).
Nichiren Daishonin wrote the following in the Rissho ankoku-ron:
When I, with my limited knowledge, read the sutras, I find that all people have gone against the correct Law and become wholly devoted to evil doctrines. This is why all the guardian deities have abandoned this country and sages have left this land, not to return. Seizing this opportunity, devils and demons rush in, bringing disasters and calamities. (Gosho, p. 234)
The Daishonin revealed that all the people in society were deeply immersed in slanderous teachings, and did not uphold the great pure Law. He explained that they were actually committing slander and, as a result, all the guardian deities had forsaken them and evil demons had taken up residence in their stead. This caused chaos and disasters to occur in the world.
Every day, people around the world enjoy the benefits of technology. They can keep cool during the summer and warm during the winter. Even in such a world, however, there are people who are homeless and suffer from starvation. It is also a fact that there are countries and regions where infant mortality is extremely high.
Even though the Cold War between East and West may be over, violent fighting over territories and natural resources has never stopped. Bloodshed continues today, and precious lives are lost through civil wars and terrorist attacks. The financial crisis that originated in the United States has affected the entire world, and there are early signs of a possible global recession of a magnitude that we have not experienced since the Great Depression.
Furthermore, environmental destruction has caused global warming which, in turn, has led to abnormal weather conditions. The consumption of oil by developing nations has wildly escalated and threatens to cause not only air pollution but also the rapid exhaustion of petroleum resources. Indeed, the earth itself is consumed and afflicted by a mortal disease, but in the current situation, there are no effective countermeasures to resolve these problems.
We can see these conditions right before our eyes. We must lead the people as quickly as possible to a positive life, based on the benefits of embracing the true principles of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. We must eliminate the fear and apprehension that cloud the nation and society; we must establish peace that permeates all humanity; and we must construct a peaceful and tranquil way of life that will continue from now throughout the future for all people.
In other words, as priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, we must propagate the doctrines of true Buddhism revealed by Nichiren Daishonin and lead people to them. This will enable them to awaken their Buddha nature from within their lives of delusion and confusion. Nichiren Daishonin wrote the following in his Gosho, “The Selection of the Time” (“Senji-sho”):
When two people, three people, ten people, and eventually ten-thousand-billion people come to recite the Lotus Sutra and transmit it to others, then they will form a Mount Sumeru of the final stage of enlightenment, a great ocean of nirvana! (Gosho, p. 868; MW-3, p. 172)
Nichiren Daishonin revealed the correct doctrines, and it is our mission to propagate true Buddhism and achieve kosen-rufu precisely according to his instructions.
Intriguingly, this happens to be the 750th year since Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, revealed the truth and upheld justice through his submission of the Rissho ankoku-ron on the 16th day of the seventh month of the first year of Bun’o (1260).
Let us use this occasion to confirm and renew our determination to refute heresy and reveal the truth (haja kensho) and to achieve great advancements in shakubuku. Together, let us advance with great devotion toward achieving kosen-rufu for the sake of the world and the sake of all people. This will enable us to act upon the objectives set forth by Nikken Shonin, “to double the number of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and to form the Great Assembly with even more individuals in 2009, on the occasion of the 750th Anniversary of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice, through the Submission of the Rissho ankoku-ron.”
The financial crisis that originated in the United States last September and simultaneously affected the entire world is beginning to manifest aspects similar to the Great Depression. An executive of a large bank, who was asked to comment on what he thought was the cause for the failure of Lehman Brothers in the United States, responded with just one word: “Greed.” Indeed, this word—greed—points directly to the cause of the majority of calamities, misfortune, and misery.
Our High Priest Nichinyo Shonin, who received the transmission of the Heritage of the Law and began his tenure as the Sixty-eighth High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu in December of 2005, has presented us with instructions on several occasions on the importance of doing shakubuku.
On the occasion of the eighth section of Hokkeko Summer Training Meeting last year, High Priest Nichinyo Shonin stated the following:
When we compare the domestic and international conditions of confusion and chaos today with those in the time of the Daishonin, there are all too many similarities. I keenly feel that now is, indeed, the time when we must seek to actualize true world peace and the happiness of all people, based on the principles set forth in the Rissho ankoku-ron. We must sow the seeds of the Daishonin’s true Buddhism—the secret Law for the salvation of all mankind—into the hearts of as many people as possible and as quickly as possible and enable them to form a karmic bond with it; we must hasten to shakubuku these people. (Daibyaku-ho, Vol. 698)
As priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, we must all believe in and follow these directions of the High Priest. Furthermore, we must form great unity characterized by many in body, one in mind (itai doshin) based on these directions, and advance together with wholehearted devotion.