….The Treasure Within…. The Treasure Tower makes its appearance in the eleventh (Hoto) chapter of Shakyamunis Lotus Sutra, and its description is awe-inspiring. Arising from the earth, the glistening and fragrant phenomenon eventually transcends the force of gravity and hangs suspended in mid-air. A rough translation of the ancient Indian units of measurement used in its description would indicate that the tower itself would be roughly the size of the whole of this world, if not larger. As befits such a wonderful structure, it is further detailed as being encrusted with all kinds of treasure, from gold and silver to lapis lazuli and giant clam shells. A seat fit for a king, to be sure, and therefore it is small wonder to find that within it sat Taho Buddha, whose name means Buddha of the Many Treasures. Taho, concealed within the closed tower, made his presence known to Shakyamuni and his assembled band of followers with the words: How excellent! How excellent, O Shakyamuni, World-Honored One, that you can preach to the great multitude Myoho-renge-kyo, the teaching which represents the great impartial wisdom which enlightens bodhisattvas, and which Buddhas keep protectively in mind! Verily, verily, O Shakyamuni, World-Honored One, all that you have expounded is the truth. Were such a thing really to exist it would be a landmark of no small significance. In allegorical terms, it was also a landmark: the appearance of Taho Buddha was to validate Shakyamunis teachings in the first ten chapters of the Lotus Sutra, and to prepare the way for the teachings yet to come. Thus, when the tower first appears, it is closed, representing the hidden potential within all life to reveal Buddhahood. Only when it is opened, and Shakyamuni, at Tahos request, takes his own seat inside it, does its true significance become clear. Shakyamuni and Taho, seated side by side in the treasure tower, signifies the fusion of reality and wisdom (kyochi myogo). Shakyamuni represents the Buddhas enlightened wisdom inherent in all people...and Taho the objective and unchanging truth that all people possess the Buddha-nature inherent within their own lives (Yasuji Kirimure, Fundamentals of Buddhism pp-99-100). The entire story of the appearance of the Treasure Tower and all the events surrounding it is known as the Ceremony in the Air. This, too, is of allegorical significance. The fact that the tower hung suspended in the sky relieves it of temporal and spatial limitations and endows it with a universal significance and application. This is important, since Shakyamuni stated that the Treasure Tower would appear whenever someone expresses faith in the Lotus Sutra or Myoho-renge-kyo (The Mystic Law). The imagery in the story is beguiling and beautiful, yet its very richness can make it difficult for us to comprehend. How could a mythical structure in the sky help us to attain enlightenment today? Surely it is just a pretty story, but of little relevance to us trying to battle with the problems of being alive at the dawn of the twenty-first century? Such worries, fortunately, need not become a barrier to our practice; indeed, they were anticipated by Shakyamuni himself. He knew that his teachings would eventually lose their relevance as the minds of human beings became, down through the ages, increasingly polluted with the three poisons of greed, anger and foolishness. With his great foresight he was able to predict that the power of his teachings to relieve human suffering would last throughout his own age, or the Former Day of the Law; only to become, a thousand years later, increasingly obscured by the peoples of the next age, the Middle Day of the Law. By the Latter Day of the Law, which he predicted would start some two thousand years after his death, his teachings would have lost the power to lead people to enlightenment, the people would be riddled with the three poisons, and its opening centuries would be a time of conflict and great suffering, which he termed the age of Mappo. At this time Shakyamuni predicted the appearance of a great Votary of the Lotus Sutra who would define the teaching, The Great Pure Law, which in the Latter Day of the Law, for 10,000 years and on into eternity, would be powerful enough to overcome the harsh problems of that age and lead people to find lasting happiness. Our present age is that of Mappo, and as predicted, Nichiren Daishonin appeared as the Buddha for this time, and on into eternity. So great was his desire to inform humankind that we all have the potential to attain enlightenment that, despite the partisan interests of an oppressive state, he strove to continue propagating his teachings at the risk of his own life. His efforts to transmit his understanding were exhaustive and expansive. Thus, in answering a question from his devoted follower on the nature of the Treasure Tower, the Daishonin states categorically: Abutsu-bo is the Treasure Tower itself, and the Treasure Tower is Abutsu-bo himself. No other knowledge is purposeful. It is the Treasure Tower adorned with the seven kinds of gems-listening to the true teaching, believing it, keeping the precept, attaining peace of mind, practicing assiduously, unselfishly devoting oneself, and forever seeking self-improvement. You may think you offered gifts to the Treasure Tower of Taho Buddha, but that is not so. You offered them to yourself...the place wherein you dwell and chant daimoku is the place of the Treasure Tower. (MW1p.4). Thus, the allegory of the Treasure Tower becomes immediate and vital. The potential for Buddhahood is hidden within us, just as Taho Buddha is hidden within the Treasure Tower itself. Once awakened to this truth we open the doors of our lives to enlightenment, just as Shakyamuni opened the doors of the Treasure Tower. Thus, when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Treasure Tower does appear, in our own lives. By extension, it could be said that our bodies are the Treasure Tower, fragile and beautiful vessels which house the ultimate reality of Buddhahood. As Nichiren Daishonin explained: You must never seek any of Shakyamunis teachings or the Buddhas or bodhisattvas of the universe outside yourself. Your mastery of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of mortal sufferings in the least unless you perceive the nature of your own life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, any discipline or good deed will be meaningless (MW1p.4). Though these words may seem very simple, they are, nonetheless, quite difficult for us to understand and believe. Weighed down by daily schedules, and overwhelmed by vital activities to provide for ourselves and our families, it is all too easy to underestimate our own potential. Brought up in and conditioned by a Christian society, it is easy to confuse Buddhahood with Godliness. Thus it is easy to misunderstand that the qualities of the Buddha are not omnipotence and infallibility, which we could never hope to attain, but enlightenment to the existence within us of inexhaustible supplies of courage, wisdom, compassion and life-force which are definitely within our reach. Clearly, the concept was equally difficult for the Daishonins contemporaries in feudal Japan. Living in a strictly hierarchical society, they must have found it extremely hard to believe that because of the universal presence of their Buddha-nature, their lives were equally as precious and valuable as those of their lords. It is a mark of the Daishonins keen and gentle perception that he was able to understand this and did all that he could to encourage their remarkable and courageous efforts to practice his teachings correctly. It is to this end that he wrote Abutsu-bo: Faith like yours is so extremely rare that I will inscribe the Treasure Tower especially for you (MW1p.30). This is, in fact, a promise to inscribe a mandala or an object of worship depicting all the great qualities of Buddhahood represented in the allegory of the Treasure Tower. The Daishonin began to inscribe these shortly after his persecution at Tatsunokuchi, which enabled him to reveal his true identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. In the gosho, The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon, he states: This mandala is in no way Nichirens invention. It is the object of worship which perfectly depicts Lord Shakyamuni in the Treasure Tower and all the other Buddhas who were present, as accurately as the print matches the woodblock (MW1,p.212). Now known as Gohonzon of Specific Receptivity, these Gohonzon were bestowed only on the most devout and sincere of his disciples, to encourage them in their efforts to attain enlightenment. Some of these Gohonzon still survive and bear a marked difference to the Gohonzon many modern believers are fortunate enough to have in their care. Of course, each one bears the characters for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and Nichiren, to demonstrate the Oneness of the Person and the Law; but in other specifics they can differ, bearing the symbols most beneficial to the individual human revolution of the disciple concerned. This may seem strange to us today, but in the light of the time it is perfectly understandable. THE TREASURE TOWER, for example, was written in 1272, a good five years before the Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon. Furthermore, the Daishonin adds a strict warning to Abutsu-bo: You should never transfer [this Gohonzon] to anyone but your son. You should never show it to others unless they have steadfast faith (MW1p.30). The warning was a necessary precaution, as Abutsu-bo must certainly have appreciated. It is also another example of the depth of Nichirens concern for his followers and their safety in those dangerous times, so that they could transmit the heritage of the Law to future generations. As we have seen, his adherence to the truth of Buddhism led to some severe persecutions at the hands of the state and his rivals. As well as the threat of decapitation at Tatsunokuchi, Nichiren Daishonin was subject to physical attacks, verbal abuse and exile to remote and inhospitable territories. Anyone discovered worshipping a Gohonzon would have been at similar risk, and unless their faith was strong, such a challenge could incite them to the grave slander of forsaking or betraying the Mystic law. During the times of Nichiren Daishonins persecutions, he showed great concern that his disciples might be inclined to forsake or waver in their beliefs. A crucial change in the strength of purpose amongst the lay believers came about in the early autumn of 1279. On 21 September, twenty peasant farmers in the Atsuhara region were arrested for their active support of Nichiren Daishonin and his teachings. Despite being tortured mercilessly, they refused to give up their faith. Even when three of their number were beheaded, the remaining farmers held firm in their faith. Only on seeing the wonderful strength of faith of such ordinary believers could Nichiren Daishonin fulfill his ultimate purpose, which was to inscribe the Dai-Gohonzon. This he did on 12 October 1279, three days before the Atsuhara Martyrs were executed. Reassured that ordinary people understood that they had to defend their right to reveal Buddhahood against all the might of the state, he was able to create the true object of worship for all people, embodying within it the Treasure Tower, knowing that it would be protected for all time. Since the Dai-Gohonzon is the blueprint, as it were, for people in all states of life to attain enlightenment, it is extremely comprehensive in its detail. It encompasses all the Ten Worlds, from Buddhahood to Hell. Down the center is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the true entity of all phenomena, which enables all other aspects of life to assume their enlightened perspective. Its relevance is universal and absolute, as Yasuji Kirimura notes: In the lower left-hand corner of the Dai-Gohonzon is a dedication to a fictional common believer, used to represent the common people of the world, who could now realize their own Buddha nature. On the right are the words, ichiembudai soyo- bestowed upon the entire world. So, far from being an individual Gohonzon, the Dai-Gohonzon is a gift to all people for all time, i.e., the fundamental principle for them to wrest control of their destinies and create peace and prosperity (The Life of Nichiren Daishonin, p.96). For those of us today who have the good fortune to be entrusted with the care of a Gohonzon, the Dai-Gohonzon remains the supreme object of worship. We have in our own homes, and in major centers where members meet, Gohonzon which might be likened to substations of the major powerhouse of the Dai-Gohonzon itself. The power of the Dai-Gohonzon and all the other Gohonzon is the same; only the number of believers each Gohonzon serves is different. As such, we have the opportunity to invite others into our homes or centers to feel the warmth of the Dai-Gohonzon itself. We also have a great responsibility. Nichiren Daishonins Buddhism is not exclusive, nor is it the property of the elite alone. To change metaphors, the Gohonzon may be considered in relation to a work of art. In the hands of a private collector, the power of any work of art to invigorate and uplift the human spirit is limited to those few privileged people he invites to see it. In the hands of a servant of the community its power is wonderfully augmented. However, any work of art is but a representation of a part of life itself. The Gohonzon, on the other hand, is the embodiment not only of Nichiren Daishonins life but of the power inherent within all human beings to manifest the same life-state of Buddhahood. Those of us who have the Gohonzon possess a dynamic exposition of the purest force of life - a mirror reflecting our own life in the highest state of Buddhahood. As Nichiren Daishonin wrote: Never seek this Gohonzon outside of yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within this mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (MW1p.213). Whether we have the Gohonzon yet or not, the same is true for all of us. Anyone chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can reveal the power of the Mystic Law in his or her own life. Some of us are currently able to practice to a Gohonzon in our own homes, some are not. Nonetheless, we all possess the seed of Buddhahood, and are therefore all absolutely equal, each fulfilling his or her own perfectly suited and unique mission. As Daisaku Ikeda explains: We did not just happen to encounter the Daishonin’s Buddhism in this lifetime. Nichiren and we have been master and disciples since the infinite past.....The infinite past is here and now. Let us always remember that we, united by bonds we established in the infinite past, must advance as brothers and sisters of Buddhism....Believing this, let us continue to enlarge our circle of itai doshin (many in body, one in mind) studying together, respecting and encouraging one another. (Selected Lectures on the Gosho Vol.1, pp.91-92). John Delnevo UKE March 92
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 04:34:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015