May 23, 2009
Phrase on the Ichinen Sanzen Gohonzon
"The Great Teacher Miao-lo says: 'You should understand that one’s life and its environment at a single moment encompass the three thousand realms. Therefore, when one attains the Buddha way, one puts oneself in accord with this fundamental principle, and one’s body and mind at a single moment pervade the entire realm of phenomena.'" -- Kanjin Honzon Sho, WND translation
"One should achieve the gnosis that one's body and land is the reality of Ichinen Sanzen. When one attains the way by the cause of invoking this original principle, one's body and ichinen pervade all of the Dharma Realm." -- my translation of the same phrase.
Previously I wrote, "You probably noticed that there is also a long phase on the mandala. I shall discuss that in another entry. However, before I get to that, I intend to post about my experience chanting with the Ichinen Sanzen Honzon." -- see Ichinen Sanzen Gohonzon
Side Note or Scriptural Quotation: 當知身土一念三千。故成道時稱此本理。一身一念遍於法界。 [from: Annotations on "Great Concentration and Insight" 止観輔行伝弘決 {Shikan-bugyo-den-guketsu} by 妙楽 {Miao-lo, Myoraku, aka Chan-jan}] [The same sentence is also found in 観心本尊抄 {Kanjin Honzon Sho}]
當知身土一念三千 {to chi shindo ichinen sanzen}。
- 當 {to} = It is germane to, one ought to, it is proper to, it behooves one.
- 知 {chi} = jnana, gnosis, subjective wisdom, what one correctly and implicitly knows.
- 身土 {shindo} = Body and Land. " Body, and environment. The body is the direct fruit of the previous life; the environment is the indirect fruit of the previous life." -- Soothill
- 一念三千 {ichinen sanzen} = One thought-moment 3000. 念 {nen} here is a translation of kshana, not sati / smrti {mindfulness} in this case. Kshana is said to be a measure of time equal to 1/75 of a second. It is taken to mean a thought moment, or the interval between two thoughts. "In one thought, to survey or embrace the 3,000 worlds, or a chiliocosmos with all its forms of existence; to see the universe as a thought; it is a Tiantai mode of meditation." -- Soothill
故成道時稱此本理 {ko jodo ji sho sho hon ri}。
- 故 {ko} = ?? Cause. ancient?
- 成道 {jodo} = Attain the way, complete the path.
- 時 {ji} = Time, hour, when.
- 稱 {sho} = To invoke, address, call.
- 此 {shi} = This
- 本 {hon] = main, true, real. It is used to mean much the same thing as Adhi or Adi; in the sense of the source, primary, original, primordial, and so on. "Radical, fundamental, original, principal, one's own; the Buddha himself, contrasted with 蹟 [shaku], traces [imprints] left by him among men to educate them; " -- Soothill
- 理 {ri} = Principle "siddhānta; hetu. Ruling principle, fundamental law, intrinsicality, universal basis, essential element; nidāna, reason; ..." -- Soothill
一身一念遍於法界 {ichi shin ichinen hen o hokai}。
- 一 {ichi} = one. sometimes indicates 'all of.'
- 身 {shin} = body,
- 一念 {ichinen} = eka kshana, one thought moment.
- 遍 {hen} = all pervasive, permeating all, universal, sarvatrag.
- 於 {o} = At, in, on, to, from, by, than.
- 法界{hokai} = Dharmadhatu . "(1) A name for "things" in general, noumenal or phenomenal; for the physical universe, or any portion or phase of it. ..." -- Soothill
Posted by rbeck at May 23, 2009 12:45 PM