Robin Beck

Good points. i look back in the past, when I was chanting through storms of intense emotional upheavals. If I had this simple guide of the 5 hindrances back then, it would have been very helpful. We had the sansho shima guideline; but I could never wrap my mind around on that. The way I was taught pointed more to external obstacles.

The other thing was; I was taught to get my wishes, to fulfill my desires. I would make lists and focus on those while chanting. That "carrot approach" became bonno soku bonno.

I would now tell new members to try to get their mind off desires; take a 20 minute vacation from mundane worries. Then, after chanting, maybe sit and think about desires and make plans or set goals.

Of course, getting past the 5 hindrances is only entry level. There is is the bigger issue of bonno themselves. I now see Human Revolution as a process of purifying the mind by changing bonno / klesha into healthy thoughts & desires. Or some would say, to eradicate negative thoughts, emotions, or desires so innately pure thoughts and desires can emerge on their own.

I have gotten into discussions with some who say it is not a process, that we awaken immediately. That goes back to Dogen's dilemma. If we are innately awake, why practice?

Some would say once we awaken; then we can discard practice. An e-friend says, once we find the lost keys, there is no need to keep looking. This is another way of saying, one we cross the river, we do not carry the raft around with us, it becomes an impediment.

Dogen's answer was that za-zen practice, or the raft, is awakening itself. If we discard the raft, we discard awakening. We could say, chanting Daimoku is, itself, awakening, ten minutes of chanting is ten minutes of being Buddha.That is the innate awakening, and I agree that can be instant. However, I see Human Revolution as a gradual process. That seems to be what Nichiren was saying in Teaching, Practice, and Proof.

"Those who obtained benefit during the Former and Middle Days of the Law received “conspicuous” benefit, because the relationship they formed with the Lotus Sutra during the lifetime of the Buddha had finally matured. On the other hand, those born today in the Latter Day of the Law receive the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time, and their benefit is therefore “inconspicuous.” The teaching, practice, and proof of this age differ greatly from those of Hinayana, provisional Mahayana, the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, or the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. There is no one now who can gain benefits [like those of the Former and Middle Days of the Law]. According to Miao-lo’s commentary, the benefits in the Latter Day are inconspicuous, and people can therefore neither perceive nor understand them." -- Gosho Content WND No.57, Page 474, col 1, paragraph 5,

"In the Latter Day, however, people receive the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time. Because the seeds require a certain period of time to mature, the enlightenment of these people takes a while to become apparent and is therefore called inconspicuous benefit." -- Background

Oh, I am not disagreeing with you, this just crystallized
some issues I had been discussing with others.

Robin:

Ordinary people bring all this and more to the Gohonzon. As practice progresses, and the travails of achieving kyochi myogo come under control, the clear mind samadhi of penetrating daimoku becomes possible.

For years, I struggled with navagating dhyana and samadhi meditation techniques with marginal results. I was able to accompish 10 years of mindfulness practice in one year with daimoku.

After 20 years of practice, we should be able to sit before the Gohonzon with all our troubles, worries, distractions, and sensory attachments, and after three daimoku, shake them free, like a dog shaking off water.

To my way of thinking, when you are unswayed by any of the eight winds, you can instantly manifest these states of consciousness.

Charles