Background for Study: Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra part 2
Mark A. Grasso

In part one of the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra dialogue, President Ikeda and the
other participants introduce the teaching of the Lotus Sutra in the context of
the overall theme of this discussion; "a discussion of the role of religion in
the 21e century".

Religion defines the relationship of the individual to oneself, to other
people, society, the environment and the universe in general. These deeply held
views shape our perceptions and expectation of life. They lie at the core of a
person's heart and exert a tremendous influence which can be either positive or
negative. Religion has the potential to empower and unite people or to drain
their vitality and divide them.

This dialgoue on the Lotus Sutra took place over four years in the mid-1990's
during the Balkans war. This provided a chilling example of how religion can
tragically be used as a demonic force to divide people.

President Ikeda in particular describes the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of
Nichiren Daishonin which uphold its principle of universal equality as a great
teaching of the heart. The Lotus Sutra, he says, reveals the vast potential
that lies within each person's heart. He says that the Lotus Sutra reveals that
a change in our heart or attitude can change everything.

It is Nichiren Daishonin's teaching of the Gohonzon and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
which gives each person the possibility of putting the principles revealed in
the Lotus Sutra into practice in order to revolutionize their life at the
deepest level.

In the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, part 2, the discussion focuses on second Soka
Gakkai president, Josei Toda's enlightenment to the heart of the Lotus Sutra
while imprisoned for "thought crimes" (opposition to the State) in Japan during
the second World War.

It was Josei Toda's revelation in prison, based on his deep contemplation of
the Lotus Sutra, that the original "Buddha" described in the Lotus Sutra was in
fact, life itself.

Although this conclusion may seem simple in some respects, it wsa the result of
his arduous, even life and death struggle, to grasp the core of the Lotus
Sutra's meaning as a reality existing within his own life and the lives of all
people. This is far different from the contemplation of abstract theory. His
"living" revelation is now seen as the very prime point of the Soka Gakkai and
the modern day movement for kosen-rufu.

The philosphy of life that Josei Toda taught derived from his deep
understanding of the Lotus Sutra and the practice of the Daishonin's Buddhism.
The ultimate conclusion of this "philosophy of life" is that each person is
Buddha, no exceptions, just as they are, with unrestricted access to all the
resources of life itself.

There are no deadlocks in Buddhism. No person can ever be defeated when they
base themselves upon the Gohonzon, the manifest truth of the Lotus Sutra. This
philosophy of life contains the potential to liberate each individual.

The philosophy of life is made up of several components which we have studied
and discussed at various times. In a book written by President Ikeda in 1974,
"Buddhism the Living Philosophy", he includes a chapter where he gives a
summary of the components that make up the Buddhist philosophy of life that we
practice by chanting daimoku to the Gohonzon.

As a preparation for a discussion of part 2 of the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, I
would like to use President Ikeda's explanations to examine these components of
the philosophy of life.

These include: Life and matter: "shikishin funi" [oneness of body and mind] and "esho funi" [the oneness of self and environment].

Manifestations of life: Buddhism makes no distiction between animate and inanimate, but divides everything in the universe into "ujo" [sentient] and "hijo" [insentient].

Life eternal and all pervasive:The eternity of life which manifests the inherent and eternal cycle of birth and death.

The perception of the living world, The theory of "santai":

Our perception of the world can be summarized into three main categories,
"ketai", the perception of temporary forms or material phenomena, "kutai",
the perception of the void or spiritual phenomena, and "chutai", the true
nature of all things which manifests itself as ketai and kutai.

The organization of life, "ichinen sanzen" [three thousand realms in a single
thought-moment]:

According to President Ikeda, the term "ichinen sanzen", "is an intensely
concentrated expression of the T'ien-t'ai view of the organization of
life." [Buddhism the Living Philosophy, p. 34]

Ichinen sanzen itself is comprised of "jikkai" [ten realms of existence
from "hell" to "Buddhahood"], "jikkai gogu" [the mutual possession of the
10 realms of existence], the "ju-nyoze" [ten factors of life; appearance,
nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, external cause, latent
effect, manifest effect and the consistency of the other nine factors], and
"san-seken" [the three worlds of existence in which life is manifest: world
of the five components, the world of living beings, and the world of
environment.

"The ten realms of life and their reciprocal relations, the ten factors of
life, and the three worlds of existence--multiplied together to give three
thousand--completely cover the nature of life and the surroundings in which
it exists. As has been pointed out, all three thousand of these realms are
immanent in the single moment of existence. Consequently, all human beings
are equally capable of attaining Buddhahood. Attainment of this state for
all people is the major goal of Buddhist teaching." [Buddhism the Living
Philosophy, p. 44].

On one hand, these ideas may seem technical and overly complicated. However,
with no knowlege whatsoever, we put this teaching into practice every time we
chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo based on the Gohonzon. An understanding of theory is
not a prerequisite for attaining the benefit of Buddhist practice, however, it
does serve to support and give power to our faith and practice.

I suggest that we take some time to reveiew and become comfortable with these
concepts in order to better appreciate the depths of Josei Toda's revelation
that the Buddha is life itself.

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