All,

I was wondering if anyone could expound on the following part of this short gosho:

"The greatest prince in the land
of Jambudvipa would be of less consequence
than a blade of grass if he died
in childhood. If he died young, even a
person whose wisdom shone as brilliantly
as the sun would be less than
a living dog."

Also,

"The persons mentioned
above were men, not women, but they
prolonged their lives by practicing the
Lotus Sutra."

and finally:

"Write down your name and age
yourself and send your messenger with
it to me so that I can pray to the gods
of the sun and moon."


I'm just trying to keep the following three elements of this gosho levitating in harmony, but I'm having a hard time:

so, I'm getting

1. quantity of life versus accumulated wisdom

2. man's ability to uphold lotus sutra and attain benefits vs. women's ability or seemingly 'natural' ability to do the same

3. Gods of the Sun and Moon vs. One Vehicle

My head has most likely split into seven pieces at this point and am foolish to use the "versus" tool, but......





namaste

friend cosmiclocksmith

In various Gosho writings that Nichiren address to , you may need to make the distinction the different level of truth to suit his different audients

i) value from the perspective of subjective self vs value from the perspective of kosen rufu

ii) secular social context in those time / relative truth vs ultimate truth

iii) preach according to the deluted mind of audience vs preach according to the enlightened mind revealed by the Buddha

ASN

Ansanna,

Thanks. I'm trying to digest that, but, in addition, what is meant by this

"honestly discarding expedient means"

My understanding is that this means "seeing the true purpose" (honestly) of the expedient means and three vehicles as the One Vehicle

.......

I can be sort of helpful. There is a lot of lore and even some authentic references in the gosho to 蘇生 sosei, meaning prolonging life. He even made a sosei amulet for his mother. the original Soseino Amulet of 1264 was lost. However, a copy was made by the 33rd abbot of Kuon-ji, and this is extant. The original Soseino Amulet made by Nichiren, based on a report from someone who has seen a photo of the copy; "looks quite different [from the one depicted below] - it's a bit difficult to read - but looks like a simple mandala in abbreviated style with some passages of the Lotus Sutra."

There is another sosei amulet, not by Nichiren, connected with Nichiren Buddhism. That Mandala appears to depict four {4} Odaimoku swirling around Gatten & Nitten-- the Moon & the Sun; with a copy of Nichiren's large signature and seal below.

So there is some connection with Nitten {suryadeva] and gatten {chandadeva] to healing and possibly to bodhisattva yakuo. Someone familar with Japanese mikkyo might have more on that.

More: Sosei 蘇生 [Resurrection] Amulet of 1264

"honestly discarding expedient means" would refers to one who wanted to learn about true cause that the Buddha himself attained full Buddhahood in the remotest past.

Which means you have to empty all your preconception on your earlier learning about Buddha Dharma , so that you could accept whole heartedly on what the Buddha going to reveal, and to practice it without reservation.

This would refers to those who want to become a true practitioner according to the Lotus Sutra basing on the solely with the perspective of ultimate truth.

there are also three level of expedient means in the Lotus Sutra. i) preach according to level of audience,ii) teachings lead towards the ultimate teaching, iii) the ultimate secret and wonderful teaching of the Dharma principle itself.

So when you read on Nichiren writing such as Rissho Ankokuron, who is addressing to the secular ruler of Japan during the Kamkura era, Nichiren also used the relative truth according to the level of understanding of ruler's belief system.

When Nichiren wrote to those who unable to travel the long distance to visit him or who close one have passed away, he also wrote that they could see their close one's face watching over them in the surface of the moon , such are the wisdom and compassion exercised by Nichiren.

Only when Nichiren writings he exchanged with his fellow senior practitioners Tendai monks , or teaching to his senior disciples, he could used the level of realm of ultimate truth without hintrance.

ASN

Ansanna,

Great, thanks.

My take on the Three vehicles and one vehicle is below. I am confused how this relates to life prolonging?


From: Who is the Eternal Buddha? link

There are actually three kinds of Buddhas. The Enlightenment is the same in all cases; it is only the way they attain Enlightenment that differs. Sam-yak-sam- buddhas attain Arhatship; which is the same as Enlightenment or Nirvana, by their own efforts. They also work for the salvation of all beings, from their first stage of stream enterer. Therefore, they earn the merit of preaching, and can start a new Dharma Dispensation, when the time is ready. The next one for this world is said to be Mettaya a.k.a Maitreya, who appears in the distant future, only after Shakyamuni's revealed Dharma is completely vanished.

The next kind is the Pratyeka-Buddha. Like the Samyaksam buddhas, the Pratyekas enter the dharma stream, and eventually become arhats, by themselves. However, they only work for their own salvation, and do not earn the merit of preaching. If they teach at all, it is not the Buddha Dharma. The third kind are the Shravaka-Buddhas. They enter the stream via the Dharma Dispensation of a Samyaksambuddha a.k.a an historical Buddha.

The early Mahayana Sutras sort of distort these distinctions, by deliberately conflating the concept of the Samyaksambuddha with Enlightenment itself. The Shravakas in provisional Mahayana are shown to be sad, because they became stream enterers under Shakyamuni, and therefore can never become a [Samyaksam] Buddha; they can only become arhats {that also distorts the original meaning of arhat}.

The Lotus Sutra corrects that by pointing out, in the absolute sense, there are not three vehicles at all, just one. It makes absolutely no difference how one attains Buddhahood; by way of the path of Bodhisattva {in the specific sense of a future Sam yak sam buddha}, Pratyeka, or Shravaka. They all attain the same Awakening. The Lotus Sutra then goes beyond that. Rather than stressing the different ways of attaining Buddhahood, and the different kinds of Trace Buddhas; it talks about the nature of Enlightenment Itself, the earned merits {acquired enlightenment} and innate virtues {original enlightenment}.

Thank you for expounding.

A classification of Shakyamuni's teachings into three categories, set forth by T'ient'ai (538-597) in The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.

In that work, T'ient'ai interprets the title of the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, "Expedient Means," with his three types of expedient means.

Expedient means indicates the teachings the Buddha expounds in order to lead people to the true and supreme teaching. The first category is known as "adaptations of the Law expedient means" ( Jpn hoyu-hoben ), the teachings that were preached in accordance with the people's capacities. The second is called "expedient means that can lead one in" (notsu-hoben), indicating the teachings the Buddha preached as a gateway to the true teaching.

These first two expedient means correspond to the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and constitute provisional teachings. They are what the Buddha refers to in the "Expedient Means" chapter where he says, "Honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way."

The third category, or "secret and wonderful expedient means"(himyo-hoben), is the teaching that contains the truth. This expedient means indicates that the Buddha concealed, or kept secret, the truth for the first forty-two years of his preaching life, expounding it only in the Lotus Sutra. When viewed from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra, however, all the provisional teachings are included in the sutra as partial explanations of the truth. This inclusion is termed "wonderful" (myo). Unlike the first two expedient means, the third category is not only a means that leads people to the truth, but also the truth itself.

Nichiren explains "secret and wonderful expedient means" with the parable of the jewel in the robe from the "Five Hundred Disciples" (eighth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in which a poor man has a precious jewel sewn inside his robe but is unaware of it. Because he is unaware, the jewel is "secret," but because he owns it, it is "wonderful." The jewel sewn in the robe indicates that Buddhahood is inherent in all people (wonderful), and the poor man's ignorance of it, that ordinary people are unaware of their own Buddha nature (secret).

http://www.sgilibrary.org/search_dict.php?id=2321

Ah, thank you for this further explanation. It is very strange that sometimes I feel I completely understand these concepts and at other times it is like my own reflection in the clear water is blocking the moon. As long as the water is clear, I will try to stay out of the moon's path. The whole of the law is truly beyond words much of the time.

peace

Hey Friend Cosmiclocksmith , you have a email from your teacher Nichiren.

Forwarded mail :




Respectfully
Ansanna