Aug 2020 Discussion Meeting Gosho – Suggested Facilitator Text
Gosho for August 2020 Discussion Meeting
Hell Is the Land of Tranquil Light
One who, on hearing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, makes even greater efforts in faith is a true seeker of the way. T'ien-t'ai states, "From the indigo, an even deeper blue." This passage means that, if one dyes something repeatedly in indigo, it becomes even bluer than the indigo leaves. The Lotus Sutra is like the indigo, and the strength of one's practice is like the deepening blue. (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin vol 1, p 457) |
Background and Outline
This letter, "Hell Is the Land of Tranquil Light" was addressed to lay nun Ueno. And she is the mother of Nanjo Tokimitsu, who lived in the Fuji District (present day Shizuoka Prefecture).
With regard to the date of this letter, it has long been held that it was written around 1274. However, the contents of the letter and recent studies suggest that it was written earlier in 1265.
The reason is because in that year, lay nun Ueno's husband Hyoe Shichiro passed away due to serious illness and we believed that upon receiving the news, the Daishonin immediately wrote this letter to encourage her.
At the time of Hyoe Shichiro's death, his second son Tokimitsu — who later became the head of the Nanjo family was only seven years old. In addition, lay nun Ueno was then pregnant with their fifth son. Her husband was like the pillar and so his passing was a great loss to the family.
The Daishonin could sense the deep grief and sadness inthis female disciple and in order to relieve her suffering, he offered many warm words of encouragement in the letter. Today we are studying middle part of letter.
In beginning part of the letter, the Daishonin related that while her husband was alive, he had strong faith in the Lotus Sutra, which expound the principle of "attaining Buddhahood in one's present form".
And based on this principle and due his own practice, the Daishonin assured lay nun Ueno that her husband had already attained Buddhahood.
The Daishonin next stated, "When he was alive, he was a Buddha in life, and now he is a Buddha in death. He is a Buddha in both life and death." (WND-1, p. 456)
Here the Daishonin again trying to assure lay nun Ueno that her husband's state of Buddhahood attained through his practice is eternal; which will enable him to undergo the cycle of life and death in peace and happiness.
From here on, the Daishonin then shifted his focus to guiding lay nun Ueno on how she should practice her faith just liked what her late husband had shown.
Explanation
Key Message of the Gosho
Key Learning Points of the Gosho Passage:
In Gosho passage we studied today (quote) "One who, on hearing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra..". In this Gosho, the Daishonin was referring the principle of "attaining Buddhahood in one's present form" expounded in the Lotus Sutra which, based on this principle that her husband attained Buddhahood.
And the Daishonin in earlier part of letter also mentioned that both the hell (refers to the state of suffering) and the pure land of Eagle Peak taught in the Lotus Sutra (refers to the supreme state of Buddhahood)exist within our hearts.
By these words, the Daishonin wanted to awaken lay nun to the fact that Buddhahood also exist in her life. No doubt she was in deep suffering and felt hopeless, but theDaishonin assured her that she can transform this state of hell into joy in state of Buddhahood. In order words, the state of Hell is the Land of Tranquil Light (Buddhahood) which is the title of this Gosho.
This the reason why the Daishonin states in earlier part of the letter "Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person".
At this juncture, the Daishonin wanted to impress upon lay nun Ueno that while she facing great challenge at this moment, she must strengthen her resolve i.e. her faith even more.
Key Point # 1
The more challenging the situation, the more we should strengthen our resolve to take on the challenges.
In order to convince lay nun Ueno that she has Buddhahood in her life and she can become a Buddha as taught in the principle of "attaining Buddhahood in this present form" , the Daishonin related an episode in the Lotus Sutra of dragon king's daughter attaining enlightenment in her original form as a dragon.
By doing so, the Daishonin was giving lay nun Ueno a renewed hope and assured her that she will definitely able to attain Buddhahood .
But the important message is no matter how challenging the circumstances, one must make a fresh resolve and strengthen one's faith.
This teaching is applicable to us as well. At this moment, some of us may be facing own challenges which may come in form of illness while others may be badly affected by the Covid19 pandemic of losing their job orother problems.
However, no matter how difficult and hopeless our situation may be, let us remember what the Daishonin teaches us in this Gosho that we all possess the immense life-state of Buddhahood in us. And by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo liked the roar of a lion, we can bring forth limitless power from within us and also all the benevolent functions of the universe will work to support us to overcome all challenges we face.
And from another perspective, the Daishonin Buddhism also teaches that we should regard facing difficulties in the course of our Buddhist practice as "peace and comfort" taught in the Lotus sutra. Because through overcoming these difficulties, we can forge a state of absolute happiness in our lives.
But all these start from making a fresh determination to strengthen our faith when facing challenges in life.
Key Point # 2
The more we exert ourselves in faith, the more we can grow! This is the sweetest reward of our Buddhist practice.
Returning to the Gosho text, the Daishonin stated: "One who, on hearing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, makes even greater efforts in faith is a true seeker of the way." (unquote) . Here the Daishonin next focus how she must practice in order to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.
In the practice of Nichiren Buddhism, one's seeking spirit plays a crucial role. It is one's earnest spirit to seek the teachings of Buddhism that will help forge a firm belief in one's heart that the life state of Buddhahood resides in one's own life and ultimately leads one to "attain Buddhahood in this lifetime".
And seeking spirit can be expressed in actions which may be continuous and repetitive in nature. Continually exerting oneself in such actions are crucial in all any endeavors; more so in Buddhist practice to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.
To emphasize on this point, the Daishonin illustrate by citing the words of the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China: "From the indigo, an even deeper blue."
To illustrate, in order to make a blue dye, the juice is extracted from the leaves of the indigo plant. But the juice itself is not deep blue in colour. However, if something (eg a piece of cloth) is soaked in the dye extracted from the leaves, it will become a deep, vibrant blue. And the more we soaked it repeatedly, the deeper blue the cloth becomes.
Our practice for attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime is the same. The Lotus Sutra that expounds the principle of "attaining Buddhahood in one's present form" can be likened to the leaves of the indigo plant which has a little light blue color. On the other hand, practicing Nichiren Buddhism can be likened to repeatedly soak in the dye produced from the leaves which will become more and more blue as time goes by.
In other words, in the Daishonin's Buddhism, when we deepen our faith through hearing the teachings and strive ever harder in our Buddhist practice, we can manifest our Buddhahood in our lives and attain enlightenment in this existence.
View from this perspective, our daily practice for oneself and for others or engaging in ACTION 1-2-3 – how we repeatedly exert ourselves in this endeavor and deepen our faith, it is liked repeatedly soaking our own cloth of life in blue dye with hue of Buddhahood.
What is of crucial importance is to continue practicingfaith with ever greater resolve – to renew our resolve again and again to make more efforts in our Buddhist practice? It is to continue pressing forward based on faith and daimoku no matter what our situation.
Return to the Gosho, after receiving this letter, lay nun Ueno's life continued to face many storms due to her karma, however, she continued to maintain unwavering faith and fostered her son, Tokimitsu, into a remarkable successor of kosen-rufu.
SGI President, Ikeda explains this passage in this manner: "The struggle between the Buddha and devilish functions within our own lives is not an easy one to win. To beat devilish functions, we have to make unceasing efforts to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and teach others to do the same, and to strengthen and deepen our faith. In this letter, the Daishonin uses the metaphor of "bluer than indigo itself" to describe the process of deepening our faith. Striving and exerting ourselves in our Buddhist practice day after day to realise our wishes and goals strengthens our prayers and deepens our faith."
In conclusion, we can view faith to be the same as having the spirit to continue making tireless efforts to develop ourselves and take on challenges.
Let's continue advancing with a strong seeking spirit every day as we strive to advance kosen-rufu and achieve further growth in our lives.
Allow me to end this sharing with the following Sensei guidance.
SGI President Ikeda's Guidance
Chanting Daimoku Brings Us the Infinitely Profound Benefit of Inner Transformation
Chanting daimoku is our fundamental Buddhist practice for carrying out our human revolution, or inner transformation. To chant with a strong vow or commitment — thereby deepening our own determination and conviction, activating the protective functions of the universe, and achieving absolute victory — is the essence of chanting in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.
The Daishonin writes: "There is no true happiness for human beings other than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." (WND-1, p. 681) Chanting daimoku brings us the infinitely profound and vast benefit of inner transformation. This is the greatest happiness — something that countless members of the SGI around the world today deeply recognise and savour.
(From SGI President Ikeda's Study Lecture Series, Learning from the Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin: The Teachings for Victory, "King Rinda")
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