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17. January
2005 The Gohonzon’s Significance Lies in Observing
Our Inherent Buddhahood Through Faith
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The following article
by Haruo Suda, Soka Gakkai vice Study Department Chief,
appeared in the Novermber 11,1993 Seikyo Shimbun.
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1)
Meaning of observing one’s mind in the Daishonin’s
Buddhism is to chant daimoku with faith in the Gohonzon.
2) If people lack faith and neglect practice, the
Gohonzon’s power of the Buddha and the Law
will not manifest, and the Gohonzon will lose its
significance as an object of worship.
3) Although Nichikan Shonin and the Daishonin emphasized
faith in the Gohonzon, th current Nichiren Shoshu
priesthood has gone against their teachings and
lost faith in the Gohonzon.
4) The SGI’s conferral of the Gohonzon, which
was inscribed for all people, signifies the return
of the Gohonzon to the people. |
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With the SGI’s conferral of the
Gohonzon, the original significance of the Gohonzon as
“the object of worship to observe one’s mind”
(kanjin no honzon) has been stressed. This article will
attempt to confirm the meaning of kanjin, or “observing
one’s mind.”
The concept of observing one’s mind was originally
used mainly in T’ien-t’ai’s Buddhism,
referring to the Buddhist practice in which practitioners
sought enlightenment through pondering and mediating on
the nature of their minds. Observing one’s mind
thus came to be used to describe Buddhist practice as
opposed to Buddhist doctrine or philosophy (kyoso).
Regarding the concept of observing one’s mind, Nichiren
Daishonin states in “The Object of Devotion for
the observing the Mind..,” “The observation
of the mind means to observe one’s own mind and
to find the Ten Worlds within it. This is what is called
observing the mind.” (The Writing of Nichiren Daishonin,
page 356).
Commenting on this Gosho passage, Nichikan Shonin, the
twenty-sixth high priest of Taiseki-ji, states: “From
the standpoint of literal interpretation, [this passage]
refers to ‘observing one’s mind’ in
the T’ien-t’ai school. From the standpoint
of its fundamental meaning, however, it refers to ‘observing
one’s mind’ in this school” (Selected
Commentaries of Nichikan Shonin, p.471). He further comments:
“’To observe one’s mind’ is to
believe in the object of worship. ‘To find the Ten
Worlds within it’ is to invoke the Mystic Law”(ibid.,
p.471).
In other words, Nichikan Shonin clarifies that the basic
meaning of observing one’s mind in the Daishonin’s
Buddhism is to chant daimoku with faith in the Gohonzon.
The profound meaning of observing one’s mind, therefore,
lies in faith in the Gohonzon. In the same commentary
on “The Object of Devotion..,” he also indicates:
“’Observing one’s mind’ in this
school is not to observe one’s mind on his own but
to achieve its meaning through the beneficial power of
the object of worship”(ibid., p.481).
Put another way, kanjin in the Daishonin’s Buddhism
is not a process through which practitioners try to mediate
on their minds. Rather, observing our minds becomes possible
through the power of the Buddha and the Law embodied in
the Gohonzon. It is important, however, to realize that
what draws this power from the Gohonzon is nothing but
practitioner’s power of faith and practice. For
this reason, the Daishonin admonishes us: “It will
no doubt depend on the strength of your faith”(WND,
832).
If people lack faith and neglect practice, the Gohonzon’s
power of the Buddha and the Law will not manifest, and
the Gohonzon will lose its significance as an object of
worship. As the Daishonin states, “The Gohonzon
also is found only in the two characters for faith”(WND,
832), only through faith will the object of worship come
into existence. To those who lack faith, the Gohonzon,
stated bluntly, is nothing but paper and ink.
Although Nichikan Shonin and the Daishonin emphasized
faith in the Gohonzon, the current Nichiren Shoshu priesthood
has gone against their teachings and lost faith in the
Gohonzon. This is the reality. It has been pointed out
that some priest instead of giving guidance in faith to
those suffering from illness only recommend health food.
Furthoermore, others say that some priests and Hokkeko
members enshrine the Gohonzon along with heretical object
of worship as if the Gohonzon were merely a decoration.
The Nichiren Shoshu priesthood disrespectfully treats
the Gohonzon as a “commodity.” Examples are
too numerous to mention. Some may possess the Gohonzon,
but if they lack faith, they do not truly embrace the
Gohonzon and thus receive no benefit.
In contrast to the priesthood, the Soka Gakkai (SGI) has
been carrying through with strong faith based on the Gohonzon
and courageous practice for kosen-rufu. It is the SGI
that has been trying to teach all people of the Gohonzon’s
great benefit and help them manifest the beneficial power
of the Mystic Law in their lives. The Gohonzon’s
great benefit has been proven for the first time in the
realities of society through the appearance of the SGI.
As a result, the Daishonin’s Buddhism has spread
not only in Japan but throughout the world.
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How has your prayer to Gohonzon
helped you see yourself differently? How has this
changed your view of others? |
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“The Gohonzon also is
found only in the two characters for faith”—how
do you put this passage from Daishonin’s writings
into practice? |
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Without the SGI’s practice based on the Gohonzon,
the Daishonin’s prophecy of world kosen-rufu would
have become a falsehood. This is no exaggeration. The
undeniable fact that the SGI actualized the Daishonin’s
prophecy clearly proves that the SGI is the group of harmoniously
united believers predicted to appear to carry out the
Buddha’s intent and decree.
The Gohonzon, as we have seen, is the object of worship
to observe one’s mind or the object of worship revealed
through faith. Therefore, the qualification to confer
the Gohonzon is, naturally, having steadfast faith in
accord with the Daishonin’s spirit. Conversely speaking,
if anyone, even the high priest, betrays the Daishonin
and slanders his teachings, he or she will lose all qualifications
to administer the handling of the Gohonzon.
In this regard, the conferral of the Gohonzon by the SGI
exactly accords with the Gohonzon’s original meaning
as the object of worship to observe one’s mind.
The SGI’s conferral of the Gohonzon, which was inscribed
for all people, signifies the return of the Gohonzon to
the people. The era in which the Gohonzon’s brilliant
benefit illuminates the people the world over is now unfurling
at an accelerated speed.
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