Contents
ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF NICHIREN SHOSHU～ RECOMMENDATION TO RENOUNCE OTHER TEACHINGS AND EMBRACE BUDDHISM ～
Introduction
There are so many kinds of religions in the world and each religion has it own ”Object of worship”to respect and believe as a basis for one’s life.Difference among those religions come from object of worship that each founder chose.For instance,Christianity regards Jesus Christ or God as its object of worship, Islam-Allah,Buddhism-Buddha,etc.
Therefore each believer has faith in the object of worship. But we must consider one important problem: the influence of the object of worship on us.
Once we get along with someone,we come to resemble our friends,and we mutually influence each other’s way of thinking,habits,etc.
In these cases,we are easily influencedeven if we only befriend someone.Then what do you imagine
if we not only develop a friendship but also respect someone or something a great deal?
The more we respect them,the more we are influenced.Indeed,we have a natural tendency to be influenced by the outside world.And the more we believe, the more we are influenced. Therefore ,if we don’t believe or hate,we are scarcely influenced.
Religion is beyond mere respect. In case of religion, we not only respect but also pray. If we pray to the object of worship, we are influenced directly and greatly. It doesn’t stay on the level of respecting a person, because when we believe completely, join our hands together and pray, at last the object of worship and we come to be united. This is a real principle of religion.
Which object of worship we select and have faith in is important for us.If you make bad friends, you may become an evildoer.
The same things is said in faith.We cannot say that every religion is reasonable.When you select a confused one, your personality or life also become thrown into confusion and unhappiness.Many people may think that every religion is good.But their life could depend on what object of worship they respect. If they select a mistaken object of worship, their life could be corrupted.When someone prays to an animal,he or she will have strange experiences. For example,if one’s business becomes brisk,he can foretell danger, such as an earthquake, and in the beginning, this seems to be a good thing.But the person will develop animalistic characteristics and will eventually lose his human qualities. From ancient times,many mysterious occurrences like this have been reported all over the world.
Thus,the most important thing in religion is to select the best principle image.
About 700 years ago,priest in Japan did not know which objects of worship in which in believe. At the time,Nichiren Daishonin, the greatest Buddha,appeared in Japan. He penetrated the essence of religion and said ”The sects of Buddhism have gone astray concerning the objects of worship to believe…
We must believe of worship, ”Showing us how to select the best objects of worship,he decided the best religion by means of religious judgment.
You will find large difference between Buddhism and other teachings. That is”cause and effect”. Buddhism recognizes no doctrine which is unreasonable about cause and effect. But in other teachings,cause and effect is not clear,does not exist,or is ignored. There is no effect without cause, and there is no cause without effect; either it can be also in science. Science is a subject which studies causes and effects in phenomenon we can catch through our five senses. In our daily life,we cannot recognize someone who ignores cause and effect as a sensible person. The same thing is said in religion.
However inviting on the surface or mysterious the religion is,we can pay it no mind. The doctrine is not only against science but also ignores cause and effect. If you say ” Everything was created by God,” How do you answer the question? ”Whom was God created by ?” If you say ”God was the first cause. Never was God created,” It meant that the cause was lost, and cause and effects disappear. And there is another problem: Where did God exist before the world had been created. How could God exist without an environment?
Moreover,in the supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ, how could the dead possibly come back from the grave? How could a virgin become pregnant? According to the Japanese religion, Tenri-kyo,human beings were created from a loach. Animals were created as a result of failure in creating human beings, according to Sekai Mahikari Bunmei Kyodan.Needless to say, these doctrines are all superstitions denying cause and effect.
Buddhism shows us the way to the real happy life,completely base on cause and effect. Thus Buddhism is by far superior to other religions.
What was Shakyamuni’s real intention?
Some 3000 years ago.”Shakyamuni” (born Siddhariha Gautama) made his advent in kingdom of India(now Nepal) as the first Buddha in the history of the earth. He started to teach people ”The Law” (the ultimate and supreme truth) he had realized.
There are many different kinds of Buddhism in today’s world, such as the Jodo sect, Shingon sect,Zen,etc. It seems that those who are not accustomed to Buddhism may think that all Buddhism sects were preached by Shakyamuni and are the same, but they cannot be the same,because they have quite different doctrines and objects of worship.
Shakyamuni must have only one intention. Why,then,are there so many branches of Buddhism? Shakyamuni,in his 50 years, preached a great many doctrines. In one of these doctrines,Muryogi Sutra, at the beginning of his last eight years on earth,hestates.
”Once I was deep in meditation under a linden tree, spiritually awakened and came to know the truth,determined to preach it to the people,but I gave up the plan of preaching it directly.Because I understood people those days lack the capacity to understand my doctrine and were all different,I decided to preach each part of my doctrines considering the culture level of my listeners first.
Thus,the doctrines which I have already taught are only temporary expedients, and I have not told the truth completely.”
On the other hand,in the Lotus Sutra (Hokkekyo), taught during the last eight years of his life,Shakyamini stated that it might be hard for people to understand the truth hidden under temporary expedients, and he declared that he was now ready to tell people the supreme doctrine that he had ever and would ever teach ( Lotus Sutra,Hoben or 2nd chapter);
”I have been preaching a large number of doctrines.But the Lotus Sutra is the most excellent sutra of the past,the present,and the future” (Lotus Sutra,Hossi,or Chapter10).
Skakyamuni affirmed that the Lota Sutra was his great doctrine,the only one that revealed his Truth directly. To cite an analogy,elementary school students learn easy subjects at first,such as addition or subtraction,and,step by step,according to their capacity, they eventually reach a level where they can understand advanced mathematics like differential or integral calculus.
Similarly,Shakyamuni began to teach from the lowest level doctrine according to people’s capacity, and finally,he taught the Lota Sutra, the highest doctrine. The Lota Sutra is comparable to a building, and the other doctrines of Buddhism are temporary scaffolding. Once the building is completed, scaffolding set for the construction have to be dismantled. Otherwise they become obstructions.
In a similar way, we must renounce the provisional doctrines that precede the Lotus Sutra. It is not only useless but harmful to adhere to the provisional doctrines.Shakyamuni,in fact,told us to do so. It is plain that the Lotus Sutra embodies real Buddhism, since it adheres to Shakyamini’s intention.
However,priest ignorant of Buddhism selfishly organized their sects against Shakyamini’s intention based on the adherence to provisional doctrines that he taught for 42 years.
One said,”I think this part of Buddhism is good,”whereas another said,”No, I prefer that one.” This way,the Jodo sect,Zen sect, Shingon sect,and other Buddhist sects were organized.Even if they insist that they believe in Buddhism they are incorrect; it is pseudo Buddhism,since it is against the Buddha’s intention. Actually,priests who organized these sects and spread them had wretched deaths. If the priests had believed the true doctrine,they couldn’t have died so miserably.
Therefore,we select the Lotus Sutra・・out of the great number of Buddhist doctrines・・as the highest one.
Shakyamuni made a prophecy that approximately 2000 years after his passing ; an age called ”the Latter day of the Law” would come.In that age,the teaching would lose its power to save people.
But Shakyamuni also predicted that instead of himself, a person in the direction of ” north east ” from India would spread Myohmo,the Supreme Law hidden in the depths of the Lotus Sutra；Just as the Sun illuminates darkness , this person will face great persecution only because he spreads, the True teaching” (Lotus Sutra, Chapters 13，14,１７, 21).
A medicine might work well for a patient with a slight disease, but it doesn’t follow that the medicine works well for someone with a severe illness. Shakyamuni’s Buddhism loses its power completely in ” the Latter days of the law.”
But who would appear and how would he tell us the Greatest Buddhism?
People in the degenerate age can be saved ,because Shakyamuni started that the greatest Buddhism would appear in the Latter Day of the Law.There are detailed answers in the Lotus Sutra’s Kanji(13th chapter),Nyorai-jinriki (23ed) Chapter,and others.
Only Nichiren Daishonin, who was born in Japan in 1222, fulfilled Shakyamuni’s prophecy in the Sutras by spreading the Lotus Sutra and facing all the persecutions described in the Sutra. In other words,Nichiren Daishonin is the only one who its the description.So True Buddhism for Latter Day of the Law (in which we now live) is taught by Nichiren Daishonin, who is the True Buddha for this time. And Nichiren Daishonin pointed out that all over denominations are confused about what to worship.
Where is Nichiren Daishonin’s True Buddhism now?
Today,750 years have passed since Nichiren Daishonin appeared.So many sects style themselves ”the Nichiren sect.”
Many of the religions which mushroomed after World War II are probably saying that you just have to say ’Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.They are featuring it,preaching it selfishly, and pretending to be a sect worthy of Nichiren Daishonin.
Even if these sects or religions groups are chanting ”Nam-Myoho-Renge-kyo,” their object of worships are radically different from that of Nichiren Shoshu.Why did this deplorable confusion about Buddhism arise? It is caused by disregard for ”Soden”(inheritance of the Buddhism), which is of utmost importance. Even when a doctrine is far superior to others,if there’s no follower to hand down it,it must decline.
Therefore,the most serious consideration has been paid to this factor in Buddhism since the time of Shakyamuni. The Soden of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism was initiated by the founder, Nichiren Daishonin,as a transmission to the second High Priest Nikko Shonin, and it has been transmitted correctly and uninterruptedly from Nikko Shonin to the third High Priest,Nichimoku-Shonin, up to the 68th High Priest Nichinyo Shonin. This has only occurred at the Head Temple Taiseki-ji.
Therefore the orthodox denomination of Nichiren Daishonin is only Nichiren Shoshu, the only sect that has the absolutely correct doctrine and the right Dai-Gohonzon (honorable object of worship) of Nichiren Daishonin.
The Gohonzon established by Nichiren Daishonin
Nichiren Daishonin’s object of worship can be called ”the life of Buddha itself.”Perhaps,you associate ”Buddha” with a dead person or a golden statue of Buddha.But originally in Buddhist doctrine,”Buddha”means ”the superlative vitality.” latent in one’s life. Nichiren-Daishonin established this substance of the Buddha’s great life in the form of the Dai-Gohonzon.
When you have faith in the Dai-Gohonzon, the Dai Gohonzon inevitably causes a response in your life, and the Buddha’s supreme power appears in your body. Taking it a mainspring of daily activity, you can solve every kind of problem, and gain a really happy life-birth physically and spiritually.
Negative influence of other religions
Naturally,most religions insist that there is the best one.However,it is quite another thing to conclude,after objective evaluation,that one’s religion is the best.It is the reasonable to say there’s only one best religion,not two or three.Shakyamuni says:There is only one law that shows us the truth,not only two or three”. (Lotus Sutra-Hoben Ch.2) As mentioned before, and Nam-Myoho-Re-nge-Kyo is superior to Shakyamuni’s Lotus Sutra.
Then one can recognize Nichiren Shoshu,which has been handing down this doctrine correctly, is the best and highest and most proper of all the various religions.
All the other religions turn out to have an unreasonable teaching and object of worship.They should be called ”false religions” because they obscure the existence of the correct religion and lead their believers to unhappiness through their incorrect objects of worship.
Almost all religions say”The purpose of our religion group is world peace and making people happy.”;this conforms to the current of the times.
This is the proper purpose,and people who hear it will think,”Their sermons are splendid,” without noticing the doctrine’s inaccuracy.Besides,they’ll say ”Every religion has a good purpose,and you should not call it false.
There are many paths to climb to the top of a mountain.You can take any route or you like,because you will finally reach the top.”But,no matter possible to wonderful the purpose is,if the means to an end is wrong,it’s not possible to achieve the goal.Even though you want to climb a mountain,if you use a bad map,you will not only fail to reach the top but may also have an accident and die.The same may be said of religion.
Many kinds of sects preach moral platitudes like ”Renounce worldly desires,””You should be thankful for any situation,”and ”You should always have peace of mind.”Everybody has learned these things since childhood,but following this advice is almost impossible.
Even if we try to renounce worldly desires,they will pop up again.If we force ourselves to ignore them,we could become a dissembler or a split personality.
We need a powerful religion so that we can control even our desires for the sake of true happiness,not hypocritical talk. Almost all people who become believers in a false religion are cajoled hypocritically or deceived. They become drunk with rapture to discover a ”new world” or obtain a small benefit in the beginning,but when they are pulled in,they are powerfully influenced by a false object of worship,and their life is gradually corrupted.There can’t recognize unhappiness for what it is.
You may be unconcerned about the discussion above about the evil of false religion, because you have no particular faith.
However,please think about this.First,from where was our body produced? It is from our parents.Even from a medical viewpoint, our body is not separate from those of our parents.Through heredity,we possess various features and attributes of our parents or our ancestors.Parents and children often have similar faces,characters,and blood types.
Further,human being are said to form the basis of character by encountering and absorbing their parents character from birth until age three. Therefore,we have inherited so much physically from parents and other relatives through heredity and mental through education during childhood.
Moreover,it can be said that our lives are connected with those of our ancestors. And if our ancestor or parents believed false religions, the evil that deeply tainted their lives do not disappear with that generation,but flow on in future generations.
The root of unhappiness
Next,let’s observe the relationship between the true Buddhism and happiness or unhappiness in life.Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is the only way to develop the superlative vitality called the Buddha nature in our life and achieve true happiness.Then,what if we go against the law involving the development of the Buddha nature?
If we do so,it will be obscured and destroyed.Vitality will wither,as a result; one’s business,health,and mental condition will reach a deadlock or deteriorate until the individual experiences anguish.This is the very root cause of unhappiness in life.The Buddhist term,”punishment,” signifies the phenomena in our lives when we face a loss instead of a gain,or when we encounter negative instead of positive things.
Many people tend to grasp the idea of punishment unscientifically, as a punishment given by Buddha or by God.The punishment in Buddhism is not like this sort of superstition.
It is based on the law of”cause and effect,” and thus it is a matter of strictness.For example,traffic regulations are rules by which we live in our present society. Whether you know about traffic regulations or not,when you ignore the traffic lights,it will bring forth various negative phenomena,such as a car accident or fine.Even though one doesn’t know the rules,the penalty is still the same.When we suffer a loss,no other person has caused the loss to happen,nor given a punishment .It is as though one has plunged oneself into unhappiness or loss.
In our everyday life,we have various laws such a country’s regulations and the collective common sense of the public. By going against these rules,one brings forth negative phenomena-an appropriate form of punishment.
Punishment in Buddhism is basically a similar idea.That is,it’s not something to be given,but is born out of one’s own actions,and no one other than that person may receive it.Thus,no one who goes against the truth of Buddhism can evade numerous or saved from unhappiness.Whether they are aware of it or not,people disregarding the truth of Buddhism are continuously receiving various punishments,even if they look happy on the surface. These punishments can be financial losses,illness,family discord,the inability to make reasonable judgment and to think logically,abnormalities,in personality etc.
Because of the accumulation of bad karma in one’s whole lifetime,it is not unusual for a person who does not notice this grave fact or who notices but persists in disregarding it to develop mental illness or die prematurely.
The path to absolute happiness
When we accept and believe in the Gohonzon,the great life of the Buddha nature will well up in the depth of our life. It’s represented by the Four Virtues.
1.Eternity
-Eternal freedom in life’s activities.
2.Bliss
-Absolute happiness (not relative,partial happiness).
3.Self
-Perfect independence that won’t be destroyed by others (not egocentric ”I” but True Self).
4.Purity
– Pure life that won’t be poisoned physically or spiritually by anything.
Through these four virtues,we can get rid of the cause of suffering through Faith,Practice and Study of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism.
Specific instances of happiness described in Buddhist sutras include:
1.Becoming successful in business or work.
2.Increasing earning and eliminating worries about standard of living.
3.Achieving a proper place in society
4.Enjoy good physical health
5.Naturally being cured of serious illness and recovering entirely from minor illness.
6.Living a long life.
7.Changing irritability and a jealous nature into wholesome character.
Financial,physical, and mental well being can all be achieved,and all troubles and suffering can be overcome.Some people may think that this is inconceivable or that a doctor is unnecessary if faith cures one’s illness. However,just consider that we are entire the same foundation of our lives.All acts–working,associating with others–are done by us.Natural healing propertieswithin people can cure them of illness. If the Buddha nature in our selves is developed,it logically improves both our physical and spiritual conditions.
Therefore,those who believe in true Buddhism can solve any troubles or problems in life,and can fulfill their deepest wishes.”The four virtues”described above can transform the circumstances of life to provide relief and freedom,and an overflow of joy and vitality.The individual can develop a splendid character naturally.Such happy circumstances cannot be acquired by any means besides believing in true Buddhism.
If you hear the experiences of people who practice true Buddhism,you may realize that the statements above are the truth.If you have any questions,ask someone who practices strongly.If you practice true Buddhism with us,you will have wonderful results.
/////////////////////////////
The brochure was summarized and translated from “Shaja Kisho no susume” witen by Kazuo Okusa, who is a Koto (representative officer) of Hokkeko group Myokanko “that belongs to Nichiren Shoshu Rikyobo Temple (one of mi- nor Temple Buildings of head temple Taisekij wcoeru.naERRREK BRRORR HIOTTO) SBRL, RRLEB0CT.The all of pictures in this brochure are the buildings of head temple Taisekiji. Cover Wall painting of the interior of The Mieido (image hall) .Published by: GYOSHO 54-3 Nishiogi- kita Suginamt. Tokyo. 167-0042. JAPAN info @ myckan-ko net
