Central to the doctrine of the practice of Buddhism that Nichiren Daishonin taught are the Three Great Secret Laws. The first of these is invocation or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The second is the Gohonzon literally object of fundamental respect and the third is sanctuary – or the place where the Gohonzon is enshrined. The early followers of Nichiren Daishonin were taught to simply chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. They learnt about Buddhism through their relationship with Nichiren Daishonin . Relationship is an important concept in Buddhism. The Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon as a focus for the practice of those people who followed his teachings.

At first he inscribed Gohonzon for individual people, then ultimately he inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon on October 12th 1279.

The standard Gohonzon that all people receive is called a woodblock Gohonzon (okatagi) because originally they were printed by wood block although today and for the last 50 plus years they have been printed by modern printing methods.

The Gohonzon is a depiction of what is called the ceremony in the air which is at the heart of the Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren taught was the ultimate teaching of Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. On the Gohonzon are represented all the aspects of life which themselves are recorded as being at this extraordinary ceremony which was Shakyamuni’s expression of the incredible greatness of the Law of life to which a Buddha is awakened.

Why is the Gohonzon necessary?
1. In the first place its name indicates its function object of fundamental respect. It is a focus for our lifetime. To most people there is some object of devotion – to some it is money. To others their family, to others status – possibly a car, a football team, the list is endless. For many people what they are devoted to dictates many of their actions and the way that they live. However, important though they may be, none of these things are stable or permanent things to base ones life on. The Gohonzon is something unchanging, constant and absolute.

2.The Gohonzon enables us to reveal the Buddha state that is inherent in our own lives. Our relationship with it, through chanting, enables us to draw the Buddha state from our life. The universal wisdom, the courage, the compassion that each of us has within our life. This is because Nichiren Daishonin depicted his own state of life in the Gohonzon. He wrote ‘I have inscribed my life in sumi (ink).’ We prove the validity of this object of fundamental respect by using it and gaining results over and over again.

3. The Gohonzon acts as a mirror. One of its titles is Object of Worship for Revealing one’s Mind. The word mind here refers to one’s whole life – including all its potentiality.
As we constantly practice to the Gohonzon as well as read the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, we naturally begin to compare our life with that of Nichiren Daishonin and gradually, and naturally reveal our own enlightenment. The Gohonzon acts as a mirror as it were. Constantly returning to this point – observing our mind, determining and steadily transforming our lives is a process we call human revolution.

How can a paper object affect our life?
Many things can draw a state from our life – an artists picture, a £50 note, a letter from a lover, a letter from the Inland Revenue. Each one is only a piece of paper, but it has been worked on and can draw something from us by our relationship with us. Certainly quite what is happening in the case of the Gohonzon is not so easy to see. This is because as appears often in the Lotus Sutra the wisdom of the Buddha is not easy to fathom.

Physical Appearance
Size, black Chinese characters on white paper. In large bold characters down centre is Nam Myoho Renge Kyo – Nichiren. This is the Law of the Universe, the entity which links all life, the fundamental creative and harmonising force of life.
Around this central Law are all aspects of life.
Buddhas – Shakyamuni and Taho
Bodhisattvas – True self, eternity, happiness and purity
All 10 worlds represented – i.e. the dark and light in life, but the positive aspect transformed through Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Natural protective forces of life – sun and moon etc.
‘Heavenly Kings’ protective forces in society
Sanskrit characters left and right
Aizen - sufferings of life and death =nirvana (enlightenment)
Fudo – earthly desires = enlightenment

The Gohonzon is not a power or charm, or anything outside of us. The power that we generate exists within our lives. In this sense the Gohonzon is a tool or instrument which enables us to see our lives and use the power within us.

Because it can do all this we treat the Gohonzon with utmost care, protecting it and daily cleaning and attending to the area in our home where it is enshrined.

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This page was last modified on Sunday, August 20, 2006.