August 20, 2006
On the Gain and Loss or Benefit and Curse Inscriptions
These phrases are definitely on transcriptions of Great Mandalas from Taisekiji, such as the SGI Nichikan, the Nittatsu, and the Nikken. The inscriptions are located in the top row, on either side of the Daimoku, outside of, or flanking, the two Buddhas and four Bodhisattvas:
Left side, facing: "U kuyo sha fuku ka jugo" or "ukuyosha fukuka jugo".
"Those who make offerings will gain good fortune surpassing the ten honorable titles." or
"Those who make offerings [to the Lotus Sutra] will reap fortune exceeding the ten honorable titles."
Right side facing: "Nyaku noran sha zu ha shichibun" or "nyaku noransha zuha shichibun".
"Those who vex and trouble [the practitioners of the Law] will have their heads split into seven pieces." or:
"If there are those who cause trouble and disruption, their heads will be split into seven pieces."
The phrases themselves are indirectly from the Lotus Sutra and are based on the Curse of Kishimonjin and the Jurasetsunyo, from the Dharani Chaper. According to "Stoney" the direct source is the Hokke Mongu Ki", Or "Annotations on the Hokke Mongu" by Tiantai Patriarch Mialo. And, actually, I think the concept goes back to the Buddha's debates with Brahmins.
Posted by rbeck at August 20, 2006 10:50 AMConsidering the phrase "Those who make offerings will gain good fortune surpassing the ten honorable titles." As this Zen sitter sees it "making offering" means manifesting awakening so the whole sentence means that those who manifest the true Buddha-nature of the One Mind as taught in the One Vehicle (Ekayana) Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra (as well as in other sutras such as the Nirvana and Vimalakirti Sutras) will have no need of titles, knowing by their own manifestation that titles are empty.
The phrase "If there are those who cause trouble and disruption, their heads will be split into seven pieces." refers to the alayavijnana (the head or source of consciousness) spliting into the seven consciousnesses. By discrimination(i.e., splitting) the seventh consciousness (manas)literalizes the six conscousnesses of sight-sound-taste-smell-feeling-thinking and makes the chain of interdependent origination seem solid and indestructable. In this way one causes trouble and disruption in the One Mind by discriminating self and other that ignorantly causes the resulting disruptions and troubles (dukkha) that arise from discrimination.
Posted by: Gregory Wonderwheel at August 19, 2006 03:44 PMFinally, an explanation for this recurring migraine headache!
VW