Nichirin's Three Secrets
Author(s): Paul O. Ingram
Source: Numen, Vol. 24, Fasc. 3 (Dec., 1977), pp. 207-222
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Numen, Vol. XXIV, Fasc. 3
NICHIRIN'S THREE SECRETS
by
PAUL 0. INGRAM
Tacoma,WashingtonU. S. A.
One of the most interesting, and yet little understood figures in
the history of Japanese Buddhism is Nichiren (1222-1282), the founder
of a unique Buddhist tradition which bears his name (Nichiren Shu).
Perhaps the most charismatic personality in the history of Japanese
religions, he has been labled everything from "prophet"1) and "true
Buddha"2) to "personal and tribal egotist" 3). However, since his
teachings and personality have in our century spawned the largest,
most powerfully influencial, and dynamic religious mass movement in
contemporary Japanese history, the Value Creation Society of the
Orthodox School of Nichiren Buddhism (nichiren shosha soka gakkai),
it would appear that Nichiren's life and thought should be reassessed.
Consequently, the purpose of this study is to join with interested
scholars in this enterprise by focusing attention upon Nichiren's
abridgment and simplification of traditional Buddhist doctrine and
practice in terms of his "Three Great Secret Laws" (sandai hiho).
The Context of Nichiren's Teachings
Even though it is true for all religious teachers, and especially
I) Cf. MasaharuAnesaki, Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet (Gloucester, Massachusetts:
Peter Smith, 1916), pp. 3-II.
2) The "theological"position of Nichiren Sh6shi Soka Gakkai. Cf. H. Neill
Mc Farland,The Rush Hour of the Gods (New York: The MacmillanCompany,
I967), pp. 194-202 and Kiyoaki Murata, Japan's New Buddhism, An Objective
Account of Soka Gakkai (New York: Weatherhill, 1971), chapters5-6.
3) Perhaps Edward Conze's evaluationof Nichiren is typical of those which
are most negative: "Nichiren suffered from self-assertiveness and bad temper
and he manifested a degree of personal and tribal egoism which disqualify him
as a Buddhist teacher".Buddhism, Its Essence and Development (New York:
Harper Torchbooks, 1959), p. 206. James B. Pratt was a little less negative in
his comment that, "In positive philosophical insight, Nichiren had little to
contribute".The Pilgrimage of Buddhism(New York: The MacmillanCompany,
1928), p. 646.
Paul 0. Ingram
Nichiren, that their lives and what they taught cannot be considered
separately, we shall not attempt a biography of Nichiren here. This
has already been done, and in fact, more is probably known about
Nichiren's biography than any other pre-modern Japanese Buddhist
teacher4). We shall, however, make references to his life experiences
as these are involved in the development of his Three Great Secret
Laws. In this regard, three important facts must be kept in mind
from the beginning.
First, the time in which Nichiren lived and taught (that era of the
Kamakura Period known as the H6jo Regency, I219-I333) was a time
of tremendous social, political, economic, moral, military, and religious
upheaval. In his Rissho Ankoku Ron (Discourse on the Establishment
of the True Teachings for the Security of the Country), written and
presented to the Hoj6 government on August 24, I26o, Nichiren
described the conditions of the times as follows:
We have seen many signs in heaven and earth; famine, plague, and the
whole country filled with misery. Horses and cows are dying on the roads,
and so are men, and there is no one to bury them. Half of the population
has been stricken, and there is no householdthat has escaped.
Therefore, many minds are turning towards religious teachings. Some
say, "A sharp sword is the name of Amida",and turn in prayerto the Lord
of the Western Land. Others take up magical formulas and charms as
protection against disease which belong to the Lord of the Eastern Quarter...
Others, again in accordance with the secret teachings of Shingon,
use many sprinklingsof water from the five vases. Then again, some enter
into escatic meditationand with a calm mind meditate upon the truth free
from all care. Some write the names of the seven gods of luck on pieces
of paper and place them on the door posts of their houses, while others
do the same with images of the Five Great Powerful Ones and the various
(Shinto) deities of heaven and earth... But let men do as they will, famine
and plague rage; there are beggers everywhere, and unburiedcorpses line
the roads5).
4) The following works are among the most important: Anesaki Masaharu,
Hokke-kyo gyoja Nichiren [Nichiren, the Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra]
(Tokyo; 1933); Masutani Fumio, Shinran, Dogen, Nichiren (Tokyo: 1956);
Yamakawa Chio, Hokke shiso shijo no Nichiren Shonin [Saint Nichiren in the
History of Lotus Ideologies] (Tokyo: 1936); Anesaki, Nichiren, the Buddhist
Prophet; and George B. Sansom, "Nichiren", in Sir Charles Eliot, Japanese
Buddhism (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1934), pp. 416-43I.
5) Nichiren Shonin Zenshi [The Complete Works of Nichiren Shonin],
3 vols. (Tokyo: Nichiren Shf Zensho Shuppanso, 1911), pp. 1-2, hereafter
abbreviatedNSZ. All translations of Nichiren's works cited in this essay are
my own, unless otherwise indicated.
208
Nichirin's three secrets
Everything that Nichiren taught was directed to not only helping
persons caught up in the conditions of this age experience a sense of
hope for salvation, but also towards reforming the entire nation
socially and politically so that Japan itself could be transformed into
a Buddha Land. He was a political and religious reformer who traced
the causes of the terrible sufferings of the times to immoral political
leadership and a lack of religious unity throughout the country. He
thus sought to convince the secular authorities to impose his interpretation
of the Lotus Sutra 6) upon the land as the religion of the
state, at the same time calling for governmental suppression of all
other forms of Buddhism and Shinto 7).
Secondly, the fundamental presupposition behind everything Nichiren
taught and wrote is a cyclic theory of history centering upon the
notion of mappo ("latter days of the law"), the last of three periods
of gradual decay of Sakyamuni Buddha's Dharma. At the same time,
it must also be noted that this theory of history was the starting point
for the teachings of other twelfth and thirteenth century Buddhist
reformers as well, especially the leaders of the Japanese Pure Land
movement, Honen and Shinran. Variations of this theory were also
6) The Lotus Sutra (Sanskrit, Saddharna-pundarika-sitra), known as Myoho
renge kyo in Japanese,was first translatedinto Chineseby Dharmaraskaduring
the Western Tsin Dynasty (265-316), and was again translated by Kumarajiva
in 407. Nichiren prefered Kumarajiva'stranslation and interpretedit according
to Tendai exegesis. For an old, but reliable English translation of the Sanskrit
text, see H. Kern (trans.), SaddharmaPundarika (vol. 21 of The Sacred Books
of the East, ed. Max Miiller, 50 vols. Oxford: The ClarendonPress, 1898). The
most recent revised English translationof Kumarajiva's Chinese text is Bunno
Kato (trans.), Myoho Renge Kyo: The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the
Wonderful Law, rev. by W. E. Soothill and Wilhelm Schiffer (Tokyo: Kosei
Publishing Company,1971). All references to the Lotus Sutra cited in this essay
are from Sakamoto Yukio and Iwamoto Yutaka (eds.), Hokke-kyo, 3 vols.
(Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1962-76). This edition of the sutra is particularly
valuablebecause it consists of two texts of the sutra: a translation from
Sanskrit into Japanese by Iwamoto and a translation from Kumarajiva's text
into Japaneseby Sakamoto,which are printed on facing pages for contrast and
comparison.Kumarajiva'sChinese text is printed on the top half of the pages
on which the Japanesetranslationsare printed.
7) See the entire text of RisshoiAnkoku Ron, NSZ, pp. 1-25. Arthur Lloyd
has translated the complete text of this discourse in his The Creed of Half
Japan (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1912), pp. 307-328. In Rissho
Ankoku Ron, Nichiren was especially critical of the Pure Land teachings of
Honen (1133-1212).However, throughouthis voluminouswritings, he also bitterly
attackedthe Shingon, Zen, and Ritsu schools.
14
209
Paul 0. Ingram
assumed by the Japanese people in general because the contemporary
political and social conditions of the time seemed to be its empirical
justification 8). Although the theory of mappo is found in several
Mahayana sfitras, and therefore there are several versions of it,
Nichiren seems to have based his interpretation of it upon a collection
of Mahayana texts called the Dajikyo (Great Collection of Sutras)9).
The three-fold scheme of periodization as Nichiren interpreted it
is as follows (we shall only use the Japanese names) 10): the first
period, called shobo, is the period of "correct doctrine", and it lasted,
counting from the date of Gautama the Buddha's death, for one
thousand years; the second period, zobo, the period of "counterfit
doctrine", lasted for the next one thousand years; and mnappo,the
period of final termination and decay of the effectiveness of Sakyamuni's
teachings, lasting for the next ten thousand years. Connected
with this conception of the gradual breakdown of the effectiveness
of S.akyamuni's teachings is the theory that the Buddha invented
various methods of teaching appropriate to the capacities and abilities
of persons living in each of these three ages. Consequently, what is
appropriate discipline and practice for persons living in one age will
not be appropriate for persons living in the other two ages. This idea,
called upaya ("skill in means"), is especially set fort in the Lotus
Sutra 11), the text which Nichiren believed contained the only teachings
suitable to the capacities of corrupted beings living in the age of
mappo. Since according to traditional Chinese and Japanese calculations,
the Buddha died in 949 B.C., the beginning of the age of
zobo was dated 51 B.C., and the beginning of the age of mappo was
dated Io5I A.D., precisely the time in Japanese history which marked
8) Cf. Watanabe Shoko, Nihon no Bukkyo [Japanese Buddhism] (T6kyo:
Iwanami Shinso, 1964), pp. 64-140 and Akamatsu Shinshu, Kamakura Bukkyo
no Kenkya [Studies in KamakuraBuddhism] (Kyoto: Byorakuji Shoten, 1957),
pp. I-Io.
9) Chinese,Ta-chi-ching,a sixty-fascicle Mahayanasutra collectionwhose full
title is Daihodo Dijikyo (Chinese, Ta-fang-teng-ta-chi-ching). The sutras collected
in the Daijikyo were first brought together under this tittle in the Korean
edition of the Mahayana Canon. Cf. Ui Hakuji (ed.), Bukkyo Jiten [Buddhist
Dictionary] (Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha,I965), p. 696.
IO) The Sanskrit names for these three periods are saddharma,pratirapadharma,and
paschimadharmarespectively.
II) See especiallychaptertwo, hoben or "expedientmethod",Hokkekyo,vol. I,
pp. 66-133.
210
Nichirin's three secrets
the beginning of a long series of civil wars over the question of unifying
the country under one warrior clan, and which did not end until the
establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate in I603.
During the age of shobo, monks and lay followers of the Buddha's
teachings were able to understand his Dharma, successfully practice it,
and with relative ease attain nirvdna. Human beings lived longer than
they do now, and their mental, physical, moral, and spiritual capacities
were strong enough to allow them to practice the extremely difficult
meditational and ethical disciplines leading to enlightenment. Evil in
the form of pride, lust, and greed had not yet begun to dominate the
human spirit. But as this age "ran down" to the age of zobo, evil begins
to take a firmer grip upon the world, so that human beings become
more and more governed by neurotic cravings and desires (tanha)
over which they have no control. Thus, even though many monks and
laypersons practice the correct disciplines, very few understand the
Buddha's Dharma and thereby attain enlightenment. Finally, in the
age of mappo, no correct doctrine is taught, Buddhism exists only in
a corrupted state, and no person achieves enlightenment through its
practice. In this age, man's mental, physical, moral, and spiritual
capacities have been totally corrupted so that he is completely dominated
by his egoistic drives and desires. He is thereby caught in a
chain of negative karmic effects from which he cannot escape, and
is therefore incapable of freeing himself from the ever recurring
round of rebirths in the painful realm of samsaric existence. As can
be seen, the basic assumption of this view of history is that the age
into which one is born determines one's capacities and potential, and
thereby one's destiny.
Essential to Nichiren's understanding of the theory of mappo was
his interpretation of chapter fifteen of the Lotus Sutra12). The
message of this chapter, entitled "Springing out of the Earth", is that
Sakyamuni Buddha, who is pictured here as the Lord, that is, as
absolute Buddhahood who is the "father" of all worlds and future
Buddhas, took form as Gautamathe historical Buddha so that sentient
beings could be led to nirvana. Stated in more traditional Buddhist
language, Sakyamuni's human form as the historical Buddha (nirmanakdya)
was only a limited manifestation of Sakyamuni as
12) Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 284-322.
211
Paul 0. Ingram
dharmakaya (Japanese, hosshin or "law body"). Therefore, since the
Truth (Sakyamuni) is eternal, the historical person who embodies
this truth and teaches it to sentient beings is "eternal", so that Master
and disciple have an original and "primal" kinship. It is for this
reason that the "Bodhisattvas springing out of the earth" mentioned
in this chapter are Sakyamuni's "original disciples" whose mission it
will be to propogate the dharma to all sentient beings during the age
of mappo by "skillful means". The particular Bodhisattva who is given
charge of this mission is Jogyo Bosatsu (Sanskrit, Visistacdritrabodhisattva),
or the "Bodhisattva of Eminent Conduct". The point
to be made here is that Nichiren gradually came to believe that he
was an incarnation of Jogyo Bosatsu, since only he, he believed, was
preaching the Lotus Sutra as the sole means of salvation in a way suitable
to the capacities of beings living in this degenerate age. Nichiren's
first definite statement in this regard is found in a letter addressed
to one of his lay followers, Lord Toki, dated shortly after he had
arrived on the island of Sado to begin his second exile in 1271.
During the nearly two months since my arrival on the island of Sado, icy
winds have been continually blowing, and though some-times the snowfall
is interrupted,sunlight is never seen. My body is penetrated by the cold,
whereof, as is told concerningthe cold hells, there are eight kinds.As I have
written you, during the two thousandtwo hundredyears since the Buddha's
death,various masters have appearedin the world and laboredto perpetuate
the Truth, knowing its purport, and yet adapting it to the needs of the
times. The great masters, Tendai and Dengy6, made explicit the purport
of the truth... and yet they did not propogateit. One who is to fulfill this
task shall appearin this country. If so, may not Nichiren be this man? The
Truth has appeared and omens are already clearly more manifest than
ever before 13).
The third important point to bear in mind about Nichiren is that
from all indications he wanted to restore and reform the Tendai
(Chinese, T'ien T'ai) School. In fact, he accepted in toto the Tendai
conception of ichinen sanzen, or the doctrine that the "three thousand
13) I have for the most part followed Anesaki's translation in Nichiren, The
Buddhist Prophet, pp. 62-63, emphasis supplied. Also note the following passage
in his Shoji Ichidai Kechimyoku Sho (Treatise on the Heritage of the Sole
Great Thing Concerning Life and Death, written on March 12, 1272: "Will
the Bodhisattva Visistacaritra appear in the Latter Days of the Law to open
wide the gate of truth, or will he not appear? The Sutra tells us he will (appear).
Yet, will it surely happen? Will the Bodhisattva appear or not? At any rate,
I Nichiren, have accomplished the pioneering work". NSZ, p. 250.
212
Nichirin's three secrets
(sanzen) realms of existence" are contained in "one thought moment"
(ichinen). More specifically, it was Saich6's interpretation of this
doctrine that provided the metaphysical underpinnings for Nichiren's
specific interpretations of the Lotus Sutra. Thus, each of the "ten
realms of living beings" (jikkai) 14) includes the other nine in itself,
making a total of one hundred realms of living beings. Each of these
one hundred realms possesses "ten factors" (janyoae) 15), thus increasing
the total of the realms of existence to one thousand. In turn,
each of these realms are involved in the three conditions of life in
phenomenal existence (samsara): the realms of sentient beings,
nonsentient beings, and the five skandha ("groups"), making a total
of three thousand realms of existence. The main thrust of this doctrine
is that all things exist in a state of monistic interdependence, so that
"one thought moment" on the part of any sentient being, no matter
what the quality of that thought moment may be, involves the entire
structure of existence 16).
For the purposes of this study, it is not necessary to offer a more
detailed analysis of the doctrine of ichinen sanzen, but only to note,
as we have already done, that Nichiren appropriated it as the metaphysical
justification for everything he taught. Consequently, we shall
only be concerned with elaborating Nichiren's use of it in his Three
Great Secret Laws 17).
14) That is, hell, the worlds of hungry spirits, animals, asuras, human beings,
heavenly beings, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. See Japanese-English
Buddhist Dictionary (Toky6: Daito Suppansha, I965), p. I35.
15) That is, form, nature, substance, power, activity, primary causes, environmental
causes, effects, rewards, and retributions, and the totality of the above
factors. Ibid., p. I53.
I6) Cf. Junjiro Takakusu, The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1956), pp. I24-I41.
J7) On the other hand, Nichiren's specific approach to religious and secular
matters was more similar to the other schools of Kamakura Buddhism. As
Joseph M. Kitagawa has noted, "...he disregarded the validity of the transmission
of the charisma of ecclesiastical offices. To him, the transmission of the
Lotus Sutra was based on a 'spiritual succession' from one charismatic person
to the next, even though there might be a long time span between them.
Thus Nichiren considered himself, on the one hand, the successor of SakyamuniCh'i
[founder of the T'ien T'ai School in China] -Dengyo line, and, on the other,
also an incarnation of Visistacaritra Bodhisattva... to whom Sakyamuni is said
to have entrusted the Lotus Sutra". Religion in Japanese History (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1966), p. 120.
213
Paul 0. Ingram
The Three Great Secret Laws
From the time of its introduction to Japan, the Lotus Sutra has
maintained a central place of honor and renown. However, Nichiren's
fascination with this text was, and perhaps still is, unparalleled in the
history of Japanese Buddhism. Consequently, his Three Great Secret
Laws represent his attempt to establish a simplified form of Buddhist
doctrine and practice centering upon faith in the Lotus Sutra as man's
only option for salvation in the age of mappo. But a religious teaching
must not only be "true,", he taught, it must also embody truth in
forms suitable to the needs and abilities of those being taught. Therefore,
any religious teaching must meet "five principles" (goko), a
notion which Nichiren appropriated from Tendai the Great's commentary
on the Lotus Sutra: kyo (sftra), ki (the readiness of persons
to respond to the suitra), ji (time), koku (country), and kyoho
rufu no sengo (the sequence in which religious teachings and practices
are to be propogated) 18).
What Nichiren meant was that it is important to judge which of
the numerous sutras preached by the Buddha was the supreme and
final statement of the dharma. Here, Nichiren remained within the
Tendai tradition which placed the Lotus Sutra at the apex of the
Buddhist canon 19). Yet even the Lotus Sutra cannot be taught without
regard to the readiness of persons to understand and accept it - hense
the second principle (ki). According to Nichiren, corrupted persons
living in the age of mappo need a simplified form of faith in the
Lotus Sutra as their only means of salvation. The third principle, ji,
has to do with the correct time for preaching the sutra, which is, of
course, the age of mappo. Fourth, true Buddhist teaching and practice
must be propogated in the correct country (koku), and Nichiren believed
Japan was the place in which true Buddhist faith would be once
and for all established, and from Japan spread throughout the whole
world. Finally, anyone trying to propogate Buddhist faith must know
i8) Cf. Kyokijikoku Sho (Treatise on Doctrine, Method, Time, and Country,
NSZ, pp. 1243-1249.
I9) "OnewhopropogateBuddhisttruth,beingconvincedof theFivePrinciples,
is entitledto becometheleaderof the Japanesenation.Onewhoknowsthatthe
Lotusof Truthis thekingof all sutrasknowsthe truthof religion... If there
were no one who readthe Lotus of Truth,there wouldbe no leaderof the
nation.If thereis no leader,the nationcanonlybe bewildered...andfall into
the deepesthells as a result of slanderingthe truth".Ibid., pp. 1245-1246.
2I4
Nichirin's three secrets
what kind of religion previously prevailed. Thus, in a country
where Buddhism had not yet been established, the "provisional"
Theravada tradition might be suitable for propogation. But in the
case of Japan, where the Mahayana tradition had been established
for centuries, faith in the Lotus Sutra should be established as the
culmination of Buddhist doctrine and practice.
Nichiren offered "three proofs" (sansho) to show that only his
teachings fulfilled the conditions of the "five principles"20). The
first "proof" has to do with written language (monsho), meaning a
doctrine is true if it has documentary support in the sutra literature.
This is why, for example, Nichiren regarded Zen Buddhism as a
heretical teaching because of its supposed rejection of written language
in general and the sitras in particular21). The second "proof" is a
proof by logic (risho). By this, Nichiren meant that true religion must
be logical in its teachings and practices. In the age of mappo, a religion
must be rigorously based upon an empirical and logical analysis of the
human condition, and he believed only his interpretation of the Lotus
Sutra met this condition. Lastly, there is the "proof of reality"
(gensho), which Nichiren regarded as the most important proof. By
this criteria, he meant that the truth of a religious teaching must be
measured by the concrete benefits and results its practice brings to
the devotee (a pragmatic theory of truth). Accordingly, since only
faith in the Lotus Sutra can bring the benefit of salvation in the age
of mappo, only this religious practice conforms to "reality", meaning
the way things "really are" in this degenerate age.
The "five principles" and the "three proofs" provided Nichiren
with a rationale for his interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, the central
elements of which are his Three Great Secret Laws. The first secret
law is the law of daimoku, or "title", meaning the five Chinese characters
of the title of the Lotus Sutra, pronounced in Japanese as mnyoho,
ren, ge, kyo, to which he added namu, literally "to take refuge in".
The law of daimoku is thus the practice of meditatively repeating
over and over again the phrase namu myoho renge kyo, "I take refuge
in the Lotus of the Wonderful Law Sutra"22).
20) Ibid., p. 1247.
21) Anesaki, op. cit., pp. io-II.
22) Althoughthe Three GreatSecretLaws are mentionedelsewherein his
wriings,Nichiren'smostsystematicstatementis his SandaiHiho Sho (Treatise
on the Three Great Secret Laws), NSZ, pp. 2610-2615.
215
Paul 0. Ingram
Behind the law of daimoku, as well as the other two great secret
laws, was Nichiren's use of the concept of "Buddha Mind" (bodhicitta)
23), again appropriated from the Mahayana-Tendai tradition.
According to this doctrine, all sentient beings possess the potentiality
for becoming actual Buddhas, even in the age mappo, because all
sentient beings possess "Buddha Mind", which Nichiren located in
what Western psychology is apt to call the "unconscious mind". For
this reason, enlightenment is latent in all persons. But during the age
of mappo, the traditional practices of meditation and ethical discipline
are not effective in raising the bodhicittato conscious awareness. Only
the practice of daimoku, in conjunction with the honzon, the second
great secret law, can accomplish this. In other words, to fervently
chant daimoku is an act of faith which raises the unconscious bodhicitta
to conscious awareness, which in turn results in the experience of
enlightenment. This is possible because the five words of the Sutra
are themselves embodiments of the truth and power of the whole
Sutra. That is, on the basis of the doctrine of ichinen sanzen, the mere
sounds of the title of the Sutra embody the truth and power of the
entire text, so that merely meditatively repeating the words of the
title creates an "energy" within the devotee which "raises" his unconscious
Buddha Mind to conscious awareness, thereby transforming
him into an actual Buddha.
However, in spite of Nichiren's special condemnation of Honen's
nembutsu and Shingon's use of mantra, namu myoho renge kyo
differs very little in structure from other mantra. It in fact
functions as a mantra as fully as the Tantric om mane padme
hume. Mantras (man, "to think" or "to reflect") are of vedic origin,
and were used both as objects of meditation and as magical defenses
against calamities24). Both functions occur in Nichiren's daimoku.
This is clear from the following "word interpretation" of the Title
which he wrote in Hokke Daimoku Sho (Treatise on the Sacred
Title of the Lotus Sutra):
23) Japanese,bodaishin.The literal meaningof this term is "aspirationto
enlightenment"or "mindaspiringto enlightenment".Cf. Ui, BukkyoJiten,
p. 947.
24) Cf. AgehanandaBharati,The TantricTradition(New York: Anchor
Books, I970), pp. 9-34 and S. B. Dasgupta, An Introduction to Tantric Buddhism
(Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, I950), pp. I-33.
216
Nichirin's three secrets
The character nyo is written as sad in Sanskrit, and miao in Chinese. It
means "being fully endowed", and therefore "perfection". Each character
of the Lotus Sutra is fully endowed with the blessings of the 69, 384 characters
(of the whole text), just as the ocean is composed of drops of
water from all the rivers of the world, or just as any wish-granting-jewel,
even though as amall as a poppy seed, rains down all the treasures of such
jewels in the universe25).
In this way, the words of the Title "participate" in, and therefore
embody the truth of the entire text.
Question: Even if the heart of the Lotus Sutra is not understood,merely
by chantingthe five or seven charactersnamumyoho renge kyo once a day,
once a year, once every ten years, or even only once in a life time, is it
possible to not give in to one's evil karma or fall into the four evil paths
and attain the stage of universal faith?
Answer: Yes, it is! 26).
Hense, the practice of chanting daimoku while believing that the Lotus
Sutra is the key to salvation, even though the devotee may not even
be able to read or understand the content of the text. The metaphysical
foundation of this notion, as we have already indicated, is the doctrine
of ichinen sanzen. On this basis, Nichiren could say:
Chanting daimoku twice is to read the entire Sutra twice; one hundred
daimoku, one hundred times; one thousand daimoku one thousand times.
Therefore, if you chant diamoku without ceasing, you will be continually
reading the Lotu. Sutra... In the age of mappo one should embrace and
place one's faith in the Lotuts Sutra... Even though one neither reads nor
studiesthe Sutra, its will bring him good fortune27).
Chanted over and over again, daimoku becomes, as Harry M. Buck
has noted 28), incarnate in the honzon, the second of the Three Great
Secret Laws. Accordingly, daimoku and honzon complement one
another, for chanting daimoku places the devotee at the "center" of the
honzon (hon, "origin", "source"; zon, "supremacy"). Therefore, as
daimoku is a verbal embodiment of the entire truth and saving power
25) NSZ, pp. 452-453.
26) Ibid., p. 447.
27) Myoshin Ama Gozen Gohenji (A Letter of Reply to Myoshin Anma),
dated July 3, 1278, Ibid., pp. 2295-2296.
28) Harry M. Buck, "The Lotus Scripture in the Nichiren Tradition", (unpublishedpaper
delivered at the national meeting of the American Academy of
Religion at Atlanta, Georga, 197I). Professor Buck's paper is included in the
section papers Asian Religions: 197I (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: The
American Academy of Religion, I971), p. 30.
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Paul 0. Ingram
of the Lotus Sutra, the honzon is a visual embodiment of this same
truth and power because it is a calligraphic representation of daimoku
in mandala form, again an extension of the principle of ichinen
sanzen.
Nichiren enscribed the honzon during his second exile on the
island of Sado. In fact, he enscribed several versions of it, but all
follow the same basic plan. It is an elongated calligraphic rendition of
daimnokufrom the top to the bottom of a rectangle followed by Nichiren's
signature. Places of honor at the top right and left are filled with
the names of Sakyamuni Buddha and Taho Buddha respectively29).
The names of the deva kings of the four quarters occupy positions
around both sides of the daimoku, and the remaining space is filled
with the names of notable Bodhisattvas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra.
There are no pictorial representations nor symbols, but only words
and names. Therefore, the honzon is essentially a merger of mantra
and mandala. This is clear from the following passage:
Theauguststateof the SupremeBeing(Svadi-devata)is this: theHeavenly
Shrine is floating in the sky over the Saha-world (i.e., the abode of
mankind) ruled by the Primal Master, the Lord Sakyamuni. In the Shrine
is seen the sacred title of the Lotus of Perfect Truth, on either side of
which are seated the Buddhas Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna, and also on
the sides, at a greater distance, the four Bodhisattva leaders, VisiSta-caritra,
and others. The Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Maitreya are seated further
down, as attendants to the former, while innumerable hosts of Bodhisattvas,
enlightened by the manifestations of (Sakyyamuni), sit around the central
group like a great crowd of people looking up towards court nobles surrounding
the throne 30).
Since the reference of this passage is to the apocalyptic vision of the
"heavenly stupa" in chapter fifteen of the Lotus Sutra, entitled
"Springing out of the Earth", Nichiren was representing this
"heavenly stupa" in calligraphic form in his honzon.
In a fundamental sense, however, Nichiren's honzon is deeply
rooted within the Indo-Tibetan tradition of mandala Regarding this
29) Prabhutaratna-tathdgata. In the Lotus Sutra, when Sakyamuni expounded
the first ten chapters, this Buddha appeared before Sakyamuni in order to praise
him.
30) Kanjin Honzon Sho (Treatise on the True Object of Worship), NSZ,
pp. 320-321. I have essentially followed Anesaki's translation, op. cit., p. 80.
31) Mircea Eliade, Yoga, Immortality, and Freedom (W. R. Track, trans.,
New York: Bolligen Foundation, 1958), p. 219.
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tradition, Mircea Eliade has observed that mandala may be rendered
as "center" or "that which surrounds"31), so that the Indo-Tibetan
mandala was an "outer enclosure of one or more concentric circles
which in turn enclose figures of squares cut by transversal lines.
These start from the center and reach to the four corners so that the
surface is divided into four triangles" 32). Therefore, the function of
a mandala is to provide a focal point, an axis mundi from which and
to which the devotee may redirect the disintegrative forces of his life
into a unified, integrative "center"33). In this sense, a mandala
symbolically represents both the disintegration of the One into the
many and the reunification of the many back into the One. The deities
symbolized in this way are visualizations of various levels of existence
which the one who meditates on the mandala realizes to be only
psychic manifestations of himself which he must "apprehend and
overcome by integrating them into a midpoint" 34). In short, the
devotee "internalizes" the mandala by using it as an object of medita-
tion.
For this reason, even though Nichiren's mandala is not cyclic in
pattern, its function is fundamentally the same as any mandala. It
graphically represents the "sacred power" of Sakyamuni as absolute
reality, the "disintegration" of this sacred power into specific manifestations
(the various historical Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas), and the
"reintegration" of sacred power back into itself, since all Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas are partial manifestations of the absolute reality of
Sakyamuni. Consequently, by chanting daimoku before the honzon,
the devotee internalizes this sacred power and is thereby able to
reintegrate the forces of fragmentation that are the result of life
in the age of mappo in this "center". For this reason, uttering daimoku
while "fixing the mind" meditatively on the honzon, believing what
the honzon symbolizes - that Sakyamuni, the Lotus Sutra, and the
devotee are one - accomplishes for the devotee what the established
schools of Buddhism attempted by the traditional practices of meditation
and ethical discipline. As Anesaki has noted, the honzon as "the
object of worship... is to be sought nowhere but in the inner most
32) GueseppiTucci, The Theory and Practice of Mandala (London: Rider,
I96I), p. 39.
33) Ibid.
34) Bharati, op. cit., chapter i.
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Paul 0. Ingram
recesses of every man's nature, because the final aim of worship is
the complete realization of Supreme Being (i.e., Sakyamuni) in ourselves"
35).
The last of the Three Great Secret Laws, kaidan, was a notion
which Nichiren developed towards the end of his life during his final
retreat at Mount Minobu. Essentially, a kaidan ("precepts platform")
is a place for receiving the precepts of Buddhist discipline at the time
of the ordination of monks. In Japan, the first kaidan was established
at T6daiji Temple in Nara in 754 in order to guarantee the continuing
orthodox "succession" of Buddhist tradition. Later, on Mount Hiei,
where Nichiren had studied, a second kaidan was established by Saicho
exclusively dedicated to the "succession" of the Mahayana-Tendai precepts.
The kaidan as the last of the Three Great Secret Laws is essentially
an expression of Nichiren's concern that the "succession"
of his teachings be preserved and continued 'in the future after his
death. He thus dreamed of establishing a national center with his own
"ordinationplatform" from which his teachingswould eminate throughout
the whole world, and for this purpose, he selected his final retreat,
Mount Minobu. He died before he could accomplish his dream.
At this juncture, it is interesting to note, as Harry Buck has already
explained 36), that the "Three Jewels" of early Buddhism - taking
refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Samgha - are echoed in
Nichiren's Three Great Secret Laws. In the age of mappo, daimoku
and honzon have replaced Buddha and Dharma because fixing the
mind on the sacred title as enscribed in the honzon leads the devotee
to an experience of awakening to his own innate Buddha Nature,
while the honzon itself becomes equivalent to the Dharma to which he
has awakened. Kaidan superceeds samgha ("community") because it
is the place for the establishment of a new Buddhist community in the
age of mappo. Thus, in a treatise dated June 24, I274 in which Nichiren
proclaimed his "three secrets" for the first time, he wrote:
What is the mysterywhichNagarjuna,Vasubandhu,Tendai,and Dengyo
have not revealedfor more than two thousandyears since the Buddha's
death?It is nothingelse butthehonzon,the kaidan,andthe five characters
35) Anesaki,op.cit.,p. 82.
36) Buck,op.cit.,p. 3I.
37) HokkeShuyoSho (Treatiseon SeizingtheEssenceof theLotus),NSZ,
PP.355-356.
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of the daimoku, all according to the truth of eternal enlightenment. Behold,
tribulation and commotion follow one after another. Indeed, these are all
signs of the appearance of the sage Visistacaritra and others. They will
appear and establish the Three Gateways to the truth of eternal enlightenment
[i.e., Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha]. Then throughout the four
heavens and the four quarters, the universal truth of the Lotus of Perfect
Truth will prevail. Can there be any doubt this?37).
In an important sense, the establishment of the kaidan is also an
eschatological event which will not only guarantee the "succession" of
Nichiren's teachings, but will also be a visible sign of the conversion
of the whole to his teachings about the Lotus Sutra.
When in a future time, the unity of secular law and Buddhist Dharma is
established, and harmony between the two completed, both sovereign and
subjects will adhere to the Great Laws. Then the golden age, just as were
the ages during the reigns of the sage-kings of old, will be established in
these days of degenerationand corruptionin the time of mappo. Then the
establishmentof the sacred kaidanwill be completedby imperial grant and
the edict of the dictatorat a spot comparableto Vulture Peak. We have only
to wait for the comingof this time. The morallaw (kaiho) will be established
in the actual life of man. The kaidanwill be the seat of all persons of the
three countries (e.g., India, China,and Japan), and the whole world will be
initiated into the mysteries of confession and expiation. Even the great
deities, Brahma and Indra, will come to the kaidan and participate in the
initiation 38).
However, the future kaidan will not only be a place of ordination,
preservation of the teachings, and a concrete symbol of world wide
faith in the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren also believed that the kaidan is in
fact any place where the devotee receives "in his body" Sakyamuni's
Dharma in the form of daimoku and honzon 39). In this sense, even
though externally the kaidan is a place which will be physically located
at the foot of Mount Minobu, internally the real kaidan, like the center
of Nichiren's mandala, is "located" in the heart of any person at any
time who is totally devoted to the practice of daimoku.
38) Sandai Hiho Sho, Ibid., pp. 2613-2614.
39) "Whenever Nichiren's disciples and followers utter daimoku,being united
in heart and mind, even in separate existences, like the association of existence
between fish and water, there lies the 'heritageof the sole great thing concerning
life and death'. This is the essence of what is promulgatedby Nichiren. If it
should be fulfilled, the great vow of propogating (the truth in the Latter Days
of the Law) over the whole world shall have been achieved". Shoji Ichidaiji
Kechimoku Sho, Ibid., p. 2499.
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Concluding Summary
In summary, we have seen that chanting daimoku while "centering"
oneself in the object of worship, the honzon, leads the individual to
salvation now in the age of mappo. We have also noted that the universal
salvation of the world, marked by the completion of the kaidan, is
an eschatological event of the near future. The question now is what
Nichiren meant by "salvation",and in this regard he taught a message
of hope that is quite traditionalwithin the context of Mahayana soteriological
teachings. That is, he differed from the tradition only in terms
of the method he taught for achieving salvation in the age of mappo,
not in terms of the meaning of salvation. Specifically, "enlightenment"
meant for Nichiren the experience of awakening to the fundamental
unity of all things in existence because all things possess Buddha
Nature. But in the age of mappo, this experience can only be aroused
by awakening the "Buddha Mind" latent within our deepest selves
to conscious awareness (the function of daimoku), as well as by
"perceiving" the actual concrete world as the abode of Skyamuni and
filled with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (the function of honzon). For
this reason, Nichiren could say:
To embrace,read, recite, and take joy in practicing the entire Sutra, consisting
of eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters, is "general practice".
To do the same with the hoben and juyo chapters40) is "outlinepractice".
To exclusively recite a four-verse phrase, or chant daimoku is "essential
practice".Of these practices - general, outline, and essential - daimoku
is the essential practice41).
40) Chapter2, "Expedient Method"and chapter i6, "Durationof the Life of
the Tathagata".
41) NSZ, p. 450.
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