Oct 2023 Discussion Meeting Gosho-- On the Buddha’s Prophecy

 Oct 2023 Discussion Meeting Gosho

Supplementary Resources for Leaders Sharing the Discussion Meeting Gosho

[Slide1]
 Oct 2023 Discussion Meeting Gosho-- On the Buddha’s Prophecy

[Slide2]
 On the Buddha’s Prophecy

The moon appears in the west and sheds its light eastward,1 but the sun rises in the east and casts its rays to the west. The same is true of Buddhism. It [the Buddhism of Shakyamuni] spread from west to east [making its way from India to Japan] in the Former and Middle Days of the Law, but [the great Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] will travel from east [Japan] to west in the Latter Day.
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol 1, p. 401)

[Slide3]
(A) Background

• Nichiren Daishonin wrote this Gosho at the age of 52 on May 11, 1273 at Ichinosawa on Sado Island.

• This Gosho : “On the Buddha’s Prophecy” concerns mainly with fulfilling or actualizing the Buddha’s prophecy for the future.

• The Daishonin reveals that he who has appeared at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law and endured through various persecutions to propagate the Mystic Law, is the votary of the Lotus Sutra.

• He “will establish and spread abroad widely throughout the world , the object of devotion of the essential teaching, or the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo” ,thereby fulfilling Shakyamuni Buddha’s prophecy.

 

[Slide4]
(B) Key Points for Sharing

Key Learning Points of the Gosho Passage:

1. A Teaching Where Each Person Comes to Shine as a Sunlike Presence
2. Spreading Buddhism Means to Make Efforts To Do One’s Human Revolution
3. Nichiren Buddhism Enables All People to Cause the Sun of Happiness to Rise in Their Hearts

[Slide5]
1. A Teaching Where Each Person Comes to Shine as a Sunlike Presence

The title of this writing, “On the Buddha’s Prophecy” was given by Nichiren Daishonin. The word “prophecy” refers to the future envisioned through the Buddha’s words. 

In the passage preceding this passage that we are studying this month, Nichiren Daishonin says, “By denouncing Nichiren, you would make lies of the Buddha’s prophecies.” (WND-1, p. 401) 

The Daishonin reveals here that he has, through his actions and life, actualized Shakyamuni Buddha’s prophecy, preventing it from becoming a lie.

The Daishonin then reveals his prophecy from the standpoint of the original Buddha of the Latter Day that Nichiren Buddhism will spread from Japan to the world without fail to lead all people in the Latter Day to happiness.

 [Slide6]

The passage that we are studying this month is where the Daishonin makes this prophecy.

The “moon” in the phrase, “The moon appears in the west and sheds its light eastward...” that opens this passage, refers to the Buddhism of Shakyamuni. 

The Buddhism of Shakyamuni was transmitted from the west to the east, from India to Japan via China and the Korean peninsula.

The Daishonin then continues, “....but the sun rises in the east and casts its rays to the west”. In other words, the Daishonin is declaring that Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism of the sun will spread westwards from Japan to China and back to India, and eventually encompassing the entire world.

[slide7]

The Buddhism of the sun, which elucidates the heart of the Lotus Sutra, is a teaching that each person puts into practice through their own volition and active efforts. It is a teaching where each person comes to shine as a sunlike presence. 

And it was the Soka Gakkai that revived the Daishonin’s Buddhism in this modern age by putting his teachings into practice in the correct spirit, thereby actualizing this prophecy of the Daishonin. 

It was through the dedicated efforts of the mentors and disciples of the Soka Gakkai that the Daishonin’s Buddhism has spread to 192 countries and territories today.

[Slide8]

2. Spreading Buddhism Means to Make Efforts To Do One’s Human Revolution

Interestingly, no recipient is specified for this Gosho. This would seem to indicate that this work is an important writing meant as a will and testament addressed to all his followers in the present and future.

Already while on Sado, the Daishonin had composed “The Opening of the Eyes” and “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind”, which clarify that the Mystic Law, the fundamental law of universe, is the teaching for the enlightenment of all humanity in the Latter Day and that this Mystic Law is revealed and embodied in the form of the Gohonzon, the object of devotion.

And in addition to this, the Daishonin reveals in this Gosho, “On the Buddha’s Prophecy”, that the Daishonin’s Buddhism will certainly spread widely throughout the world. However, we must be reminded that in order to ensure the perpetuation of the Law throughout the ten thousand years and more in the Latter Day, our struggle for kosen- rufu to lead all people of the Latter Day to happiness must continue on eternally.

[Slide9]

In the paragraph that follows the passage that we are studying this month, the Daishonin stresses the importance of successors, stating: “Even when . . . [Buddhist] priests set out from Japan to take some sutras [back] to China, no one was found there who could embrace these sutras and teach them to others.” (WND-1, p. 401)

In other words, people who “embrace these sutras and teach them to others” are indispensable. The undeniable reality is that no group or organization will endure without people who “embrace and teach” its ideals to others — in other words, without successors.

[Slide10]

In terms of our daily practice of faith, what does it actually mean to “embrace” and “teach” others?

Ikeda Sensei teaches us in his guidance:
Concretely speaking, to embrace and teach Buddhism is for each individual to believe in the infinite potential of their own life and continue to make efforts in their human revolution.

(From Ikeda Sensei’s Study Lecture Series, “Buddhism of the Sun, Illuminating the World”)

Every member in our Soka family is a person who “embrace these sutras and teach them to others” – that is, a successor who transmits Buddhism to future generations. 

By practicing the correct teachings of Nichiren Buddhism and making efforts in our human revolution, the eternal path for the future of worldwide kosen-ruifu is forged and will infinitely open forth far and wide.

[Slide11]

3. Nichiren Buddhism Enables All People to Cause the Sun of Happiness to Rise in Their Hearts

This year marks the 770th anniversary of the declaration of the establishment of Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching when he proclaimed Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be the sole correct Buddhist teaching for leading all people in the Latter Day of the Law to enlightenment. From around this time, he adopted the name Nichiren (literally, sun lotus) in order to identify himself with the sun that illuminates the darkness shrouding the lives of the people.

In this Gosho passage, the Daishonin states, “[the great Law of Nam-myoho-renge- kyo] will travel from east [Japan] to west in the Latter Day”.   

This expresses the Daishonin’s absolute conviction that in accord with the “westward transmission of Buddhism”, the great Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will certainly spread throughout the world.

At the same time, it also reveals the universality of the Daishonin’s Buddhism as the Buddhism of the sun that leads all people, without any exception, to happiness.

The Daishonin’s time was plagued with continuous natural disasters and epidemics. Amidst such turmoil, the Daishonin boldly chanted and spread the daimoku of Nam-myoho- renge-kyo, striving to his utmost to illuminate the lives of the people. 

The Daishonin’s Buddhism not only enables us to cause the sun of Buddhahood to rise in our own lives, it is also a teaching that brings the sun of happiness to rise in the lives of all people.

[Slide12]

Ikeda Sensei teaches us in his guidance:

It [Buddhism of the sun] turns the life of each person into a "field of good fortune" of the Mystic Law, and it causes society and the world to bloom fragrantly with "human flowers" of the Mystic Law. The goals of the Buddhism of the sun are human revolution, the establishment of the correct teaching for the peace of the land, and worldwide kosen-rufu.

(From Ikeda Sensei’s Discussion on “The World of Nichiren Daishonin’s Writings”)

[Slide13]

Let's revisit the Key Learning Points of the Gosho Passage:

1. A Teaching Where Each Person Comes to Shine as a Sunlike Presence
2. Spreading Buddhism Means to Make Efforts To Do One’s Human Revolution
3. Nichiren Buddhism Enables All People to Cause the Sun of Happiness to Rise in Their Hearts

Our world today that is filled with division and conflicts can be said to be shrouded by the state of fundamental darkness. Now, this present moment, is precisely the time for all of us to practice the teachings of the Buddhism of the sun and illuminate the lives of the people around us with the light of hope.

[Slide14]

Thank you for your kind attention. :) 

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Prepared by SGS Study Department