Real Life with Ryuei

The Real Gohonzon

I was just having some thoughts about the Gohonzon that I would like
to share. To begin with, as always, I must emphasize that "gohonzon"
is not a proper pronoun. It is a word that means "honored focus of
devotion" and refers to ultimate reality as envisioned by each
school of Japanese Buddhism and secondarily to the concrete images
(whether statues, paintings, mandalas, and so on) enshrined in
temples and homes. So Amitabha Buddha is the gohonzon of the Pure
Land school. Statues of Manjushri Bodhisattva are the gohonzon
enshrined in most zendos (meditation halls).

In Kanjin Honzon Sho, Nichiren is not introducing the concept of a gohonzon but rather defining what he believes the gohonzon or focus of devotion for Buddhists should be in his time and place to accord with our particular causes and condtions. He then produced a calligraphic mandala in order to depict that which now is often referred to as the Gohonzon.

But really, ulitmate reality is something that is always present to
us whether we are aware of it or not. So the question should not be -
how can I acquire a paper scroll or an appropriate statue
arrangement so that I can be awake (Buddhahood means awakening to
reality)? Rather, we should ask how we can simply be awake in each
moment. The sutras use various skillful methods to shake us out of
our self-absorption, fears, hopes, daydreams, projections and
preoccupations so that we can directly encounter the true nature of
life - in other words ultimate reality, the Gohonzon. Sometimes
logic is used (esp. in the Pali Canon), sometimes methods are
presented for us to try so that we see directly for ourselves (like
the four foundations of mindfulness), sometimes seeming paradoxes
are used (as in the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras which asserts the
formula A is not A, therefore it is A), sometimes poetry and mythic
imagery is used (as in the Ceremony in the Air in the Lotus Sutra)
to convey to us the wonder, openess, and freedom of the true nature
of reality. These skillful methods are all fingers pointing at the
moon (itself a metaphor from the Surangama Sutra). However, the
trick is that ultimate reality encompasses everything, including
those things which point to it. The finger is the moon as long as one does not become obsessed with it. The moon is itself a pointer as long as one is not blinded by it.

I will refrain from going into the history and meaning of the the
Gohonzon. But I will simply say that the Ceremony in the Air is
clearly a mythical event but one that is pointing us to the all
encompassing presence of buddhahood (i.e. awakening) in our lives
right here and now. And the mandalas (or corresponding statue
arrangements) we use are pointing us to that mythic event in its
calligraphic depiction. So we have a calligraphic pointer to a
mythic event which points us to a concept of what ultimate reality
is like and how we can awaken to it which in turn points us
(hopefully) to the existential reality of that awakening. Don't
ignore these pointers, but don't get fixated on them either.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is itself a pointer and an expression of that
which it is pointing to. It is saying that devotion to the Wonderful
Truth blossoming in each moment is the point of all the teachings,
of all expression in fact. There is of course a verbal component to
the main practice of Nichiren Buddhism, but this verbal component is
meant to carry along also a bodily, mental, and heartfelt posture of
trust, confidence, dedication, and even a joyful approach to things
as they are and not just as we fear or hope they are or will be or
have been. Right after the Buddha awoke and made his decision to
teach he considered who he could give thanks to as his teacher. He
realized that the Wonderful Dharma itself had been his teacher and
gave praise to the Wonderful Dharma which he then spent the rest of
his life praising, sharing, and living in accord with. So expressing
our devotion to the Wonderful Dharma is not merely the act of
someone seeking awakening, but is itself an awakening act. In that
awakening act we come face to face with the real Gohonzon.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Posted by Ryuei at February 10, 2005 12:11 PM