Following the Correct Buddhist Practise
There are two basic kinds of Buddhism, Hinayana and Mahayana. After the Buddha Shakyamuni’s passing, some of his teaching merged with Hindu and spread south through India and into Sri Lanka. In the 19th century, this was the Buddhism which came to the UK through Alan Bennett, who entered a monastery in Sri Lanka in 1899 and provided some of the first reliable information to the West about this mainly oriental religion. Hinayana Buddhism is based on avoidance of the Four Sufferings of Birth, Sickness, Old Age and Death, which are common to all human beings. This is how Buddhism got the reputation in the UK for being a passive, retreating religion.
Mahayana Buddhism is now more popular, and includes Tibetan Buddhism and the Japanese sects. Mahayana spread through China and along the Silk Route, influencing what became Islam and, some say, radical Jews through the Zoroastrian sects of Afghanistan. Mahayana Buddhism is based on the development of the individual through their interaction within society, and is considered more practicable for the present day.
According to Nichiren Daishonin, the 13th century Japanese Priest, ‘those who believe in the Hinayana teachings and declare them to be the true doctrine, failing to understand the Mahayana teachings, are slandering the Law…and will, when his life comes to an end, enter the Avichi Hell.’ (p194, Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, 2006 Soka Gakkai). This is because the Hinayana teachings deny people the opportunity to interact with others, and in so doing, show their ‘behaviour as a human being‘ (Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging Chapter), which is at the heart of the Buddhist idea of enlightenment.
Of all Mahayana teachings, the teaching of Nichiren Daishonin is a modernisation and a clarification of the teaching as it spread through China into Japan, passing through the interpretations of Tien Tai and Dengyo, both considered to be exceptional Buddhist scholars and practitioners. What the above chapter of the Lotus Sutra, considered to contain the essence of Buddhism, shows is that everyone possesses the capacity for enlightenment, or Buddhahood.
The Lotus Sutra is the lecture Buddha gave late in life, claiming that it should be considered his ultimate teaching. It includes people previously thought to be unable to attain enlightenment, such as women, intellectuals, animals and children, in particular in the story of the Dragon King’s Daughter. Mocked by Shakyamuni’s followers for being a child of only 8 years, a little girl and a dragon, she boldly declared, ‘Not only will I attain Buddhahood, but I will do it right now in front of you’ and she did, ending once and for all the exclusion of these groups. In particular, this is important for women, as currently the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) is the only Buddhist group which accords equality to its women members.
Holding to the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, such as the Garland or Nirvana Sutra, therefore, is a refusal to acknowledge and understand that the Buddha nature is within all human beings and this, says Nichiren, is also ‘slander of the Law’. What he means by this is that without seeing the truth that everyone is of equal importance, it is impossible to respect other human beings and therefore one is unable to attain enlightenment. If we are serious about Buddhism therefore, we must take the Lotus Sutra as the principal teaching.
Buddhism relies on the concept and the practise of handing down the correct teaching from Master to Disciple. Without this direct lineage, the confusing ideas springing from the intellect, known as the states of life of Learning and Realisation and once considered one of the states barring people from attaining enlightenment, tend to twist the teachings and cannot be trusted on their own. A Master, someone who himself has learned the true and correct teaching from another as great as himself, has a pure understanding of what is really meant by ‘attaining enlightenment’ and ‘revealing one’s Buddha nature from within’. He or she is able to reveal their Buddha nature, and explain clearly how to practise Buddhism in such a way that the Disciple too can attain that lofty state of mind. It is not supernatural, and it is not an mystery, but it is myrstic and it is important. One of the things a Buddhist needs to do is to find their own Master to learn about Buddhism from.
After Nichiren died, the correct Mahayana teaching came through the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood by way of his direct disciple Nikko Shonin, and the teaching has managed to fight off various attackers, such as the militaristic Emperor of the 1930s Japanese dictatorship, to now be in possession of the current teacher of the Lotus School, Daisaku Ikeda. Neither an intellectual or an academic scholar, nor a priest, Daisaku Ikeda has lived his life in exact accordance with the Lotus Sutra, the Mystic Law and the teachings of Nichiren, and is considered now to be the best teacher alive to understand Buddhism. Living as he does in the modern world, he is a perfect teacher for us as we attempt to do the same.
There are many Buddhist sects, and even in Nichiren’s day, it was hard to realise which one would be the true one. Now this is easier, in that we have available the complete Writings of Nichiren, and we can study this ourselves because of Soka Gakkai’s kind publishing of the texts. There is absolutely no need to take this as gospel from me, this would be actively discouraged by Daisaku Ikeda. Instead, it is a good idea to try out the practise to see if it works for you, and to study alongside others in a Gakkai group. Interested individuals can get in touch with the official centres of Soka Gakkai International in each individual country to be introduced to local members who will help, teach and support. Try
Sgi-uk.org or
Sgi.usa.org for starters.
Tags: attaining enlightenment, Bodhissatva Never Disparaging, Buddhism, Buddhism, Nichiren DaishoninRelated posts
Tags: attaining enlightenment, Bodhissatva Never Disparaging, Buddhism, Nichiren Daishonin
