“Sinful deeds are from the outset without substance.
They arise from deluded thoughts and perversions.
Because the mind-nature is originally pure,
sentient beings are precisely Buddha.”
(Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval
Japanese Buddhism, p. 222)
Upon hearing these verses one might be impressed by such a
profound and succinct statement of the teaching that at heart all
sentient beings are buddhas just as they are, and that all the
wrongdoing and suffering of this world are merely ephemeral
phenomena that ultimately do not matter. However, these seemingly
inspiring and profound verses were allegedly recited by the
leader of a band of Tendai warrior monks as they burned down a
rival temple according to some early versions of the Tale of
the Heike. How could this happen? How could Buddhism’s
faith in the buddha-nature within all sentient beings be
perverted into a justification for violence and destruction,
especially violence between the very monks who above all should
be upholding the standard of conduct set forth by the Buddha
himself?
Many people outside of Asia have the impression that Buddhism is
a peaceful religion of passive vegetarian monks and nuns. Some
may be aware of the reputation of the Shao Lin monks who
“invented kung-fu” but they may also imagine that those
monks only fought to defend themselves; and even then only when
they had no other choice. But the reality of Buddhism is no
different than the reality of any other religion. Even the
greatest ideals can be twisted and turned into a justification
for crusades or jihads by unscrupulous and self-serving
leaders and teachers. But as with other religions, these
self-serving interpretations do not reflect the true intentions
of the original founders who would most likely be horrified at
the way their teachings are being used and abused.
In Mahayana Buddhism it is taught that all beings have
buddha-nature, in other words, the potential to become buddhas.
The buddha-nature teaching is also understood to mean that in
essence all beings are buddhas or have the qualities of
buddhahood but do not realize it. The buddha-nature teachings are
very complex and are open to various interpretations. One
particularly hazardous interpretation was that all beings are
buddhas just as they are. With the rise of this interpretation
the distinction between potentiality and actuality disappeared -
and therefore all beings were just buddhas and all that they said
and did, no matter how unethical, were actually the acts of
buddhas.
But is this what Buddhism is really teaching? Is this all the
buddha-nature teaching comes to - a Buddhist way of rationalizing
anything and everything? Nichiren Shonin did not think so.
Nichiren was very critical of those who taught that one could
attain buddhahood without the one crucial factor - wholehearted
faith in the Lotus Sutra. And what did this mean? Did it
mean that as long as we believe in a particular text we are then
buddhas and can do as we please? No again. Rather, Nichiren
realized that faith in the Lotus Sutra meant being
faithful to the Lotus Sutra and to the Buddha who taught
it. Faith in the Lotus Sutra meant faith in its teaching
that we have it within ourselves to live as the Buddha lived - to
follow his example. As for what this meant, perhaps it is best to
let Nichiren speak for himself:
“The way to become a Buddha easily is nothing
special. It is the same as giving water to a thirsty person
in a time of drought, or as providing fire for a person
freezing in the cold. Or again, it is the same as giving
another something that is one of a kind, or as offering
something as alms to another even at the risk of one’s
life.” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.
1086)
Nichiren even went so far as to equate the practice of
reciting the Odaimoku with the practice of Bodhisattva Never
Despise in the Lotus Sutra.
“He sowed the seeds of Buddhahood with the
twenty-four characters, while I do so with only the five
characters [of Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo]. Although the ages
are different, the process of attaining Buddhahood is exactly
the same.” (Ibid, p. 474)
Bodhisattva Never Despise’s practice consisted of
greeting everyone he met with the words (twenty-four characters
long in the Lotus Sutra): “I respect you deeply. I
do not despise you. Why is that? It is because you will be able
to practice the Way of Bodhisattvas and become Buddhas.” (Lotus
Sutra, p. 286) Nichiren’s practice focuses on
expressing faith in (Namu) the five character title of
the Lotus Sutra (Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo). Nichiren
calls both of these the practice of sowing the seeds of
buddhahood. Neither practice asserts enlightenment for the sake
of self-satisfaction or self-justification. Rather, both
practices are a way of seeing all beings as potential buddhas who
should be treated with dignity, compassion and loving-kindness.
Both practices aim to enable all beings to break free of
self-doubt and self-concern so that they too may reveal the same
wisdom and compassion that the Buddha himself displayed in his
life. The practice of the Lotus Sutra, then, is to see
and treat all beings as buddhas-in-the-making and thereby to act
as the buddha himself did. As Nichiren taught:
“The heart of the Buddha’s lifetime of
teachings is the Lotus Sutra, and the heart of the
practice of the Lotus Sutra is found in the
“Never Disparaging” chapter. What does Bodhisattva
Never Disparaging’s profound respect for people signify?
The purpose of the appearance in this world of Shakyamuni
Buddha, the lord of the teachings, lies in his behavior as a
human being. The wise may be called human, but the
thoughtless are no more than animals. (The Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin, p.852)
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