Nichiren and his contemporaries took the suras (Buddhist scriptures) to be the actual words of the Buddha. The vast majority of sutras are not in fact verbatim records of the Buddha's teachings. The Mahayana sutras in particular are the products of later followers of the Buddha who felt that the true depth of his insight and actual scope of his intentions could be better-expressed using myth, poetry, and paradox. They believed that any wisdom that was in keeping with the insights and awakening of the Buddha could be considered to be no different than the voice of the Buddha himself. In the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, a work which itself is attributed to Nagarjuna but may have been written by its ostensible translator Kumarajiva, four seals of the Dharma are proposed by which any teaching can be verified as the voice of the Buddha. These four seals are that any teaching must affirm (1) the impermanence of all phenomena, (2) the inability of phenomena to bring complete or lasting happiness, (3) the lack of a permanent or independent self within phenomena, and (4) that true peace is only found by realizing nirvana. As long as a teaching was in keeping with these it could be affirmed as the teaching of the Buddha.
In the Rissho Ankoku Ron Nichiren cites many sutra passages to show that the fate of Japan depends upon whether its rulers supported the true Dharma (teachings leading to enlightenment) or supported false Dharma. He did this out of conern for his fellow countrmen (and women) and because the sutras he cited seemed to be speaking directly to the situation he faced and the responsibility of secular rulers to provide for, support, and protect the true Dharma. This has led to misunderstandings of Nichiren's intent.
In the past, Nichiren’s teachings were taken out of context and co-opted by certain people in Japan who wished to use Nichiren Buddhism to promote a nationalist agenda, and several scholars outside of Japan accepted this view uncritically. However, an objective reading of the Rissho Ankoku Ron clearly shows that Nichiren was no nationalist. He was more like a Hebrew prophet calling his nation to task for not fulfilling its responsibilities.
And yet, it is a bit disturbing to see that Nichiren is basing his argument upon sutra passages that make the assumption that politics, nature, and even the course of the sun and moon are determined by which religious teaching one chooses to follow. The whole argument he makes would seem to be invalidated by modern astronomy, meteorology, and geology. For instance, we now know that the shifting of tectonic plates, not the displeasure of supernatural entities, causes earthquakes. Even in the realm of human activity, modern economics and sociology show that religion is just one among many factors (and not always a major one) that causes wars, epidemics, and famine.
I think we need to step back and not take the sutra passages so literally to see if we can find a meaning that speaks to us today. I think if the Dharma really is "the way things are" then to uphold the Dharma is to uphold the truth, to face facts squarely, to see the interdependent nature of the world, to be responsible for one's acts and the consequences thereof, and to be compassionately motivated by the view of interdependence and the selfless nature of things as they really are. To behave dishonestly, irresponsibly, callously, and blindly would be to invite disaster - to turn our world upside down in a manner of speaking. If those who govern a nation act like this - the consequences will be enormous and far-reaching. Many nations and societies have indeed toppled because of irresponsible rulers and a compliant populace. Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and others all came to ruin. Their fate included an impact on the natural world as well. And how many deaths have been caused by famine, earthquakes, and flooding because the government mismanaged resources, or refused to uphold certain building codes or maintain a proper infrastructure and emergency system? Human decisions can indeed lead to the exacerbation of natural disasters, and can sometimes cause them in the first place. I would not argue that failing to be a Buddhist will cause an earthquake, but I would say failing to live in accord with what Buddhism calls the Dharma can lead to personal, national, or even worldwide disaster in the long run. In this sense, I think the sutra passages and Nichiren's conclusions based on them can be taken seriously.
The original commentary on the Rissho Ankoku Ron that this essay derives from can be found here:
The origins of the sutras and role of their predictions
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
a good post and I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. nationalists, be they islamic, christian or any other, will soon rally around 'interpretations' of religion and we all know where that's led us through the long millennia. I have no idea what enlightenment really is? perhaps I don't really care either. wisdom seems somehow far more relevant in this day and age. thanks again for the thought-provoking post.
NMRK
Michael,
I would offer that Nichiren felt that what each person believed, effected others; both leaders and followers. In the case of the Lotus Sutra and other Sutra's preached by Shakyamuni Buddha, Nichiren offred what was the correct teaching and when embracing incorrect teachings, the impact on individuals, both positive and negative.
I feel Nichiren was more focused on the outcome of faith than faith itself. Whether the Sutra was preached by Shakyamuni or the Sutra was the teaching held in the Buddhas Mind; as Nichiren says the Lotus Sutra is the mind of the Buddha.
Given that we all accept the teachings were resolved over hundreds of eyars, meeting each hundred years to ensure the teachings were being maintained in the Buddhist Cannon.
From a ruling perspective, Nichiren indicated the relationship between rulers, the religious leaders and the teachngs they embraced, using all the similes and parables as Nichiren understood them, as well as the common person and the impact these decisions had on these every day folks.
As I was taught, Nichiren refers to Gods and deities as positive infuluences in life and not external forces, but forces which we could anticipate support through our faith in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's highest teaching. Esho Funi.
The choices our leadership makes, effects our daily lives, such as global warming effects from carbon-based activities; inefficient cars, coal-fired factories, energy inefficient homes and business, and the list is long and broad of what choices leaders make that effect us the common mortal in our lives, where we have no control over the choices made for us by others, our leadership.
I believe, the focus of the Rissho Ankoku Ron is to ensure our leaders follow humane directions based on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, and not based on personal gain as most politicians conform to over time, for our benefit and not for their own personal benefits.
Patrick
Posted by: patrick at June 15, 2009 10:55 AMI think we commit anachronism if we take any teacher's words out of their appropriate context. At the same time, it is pretty obvious that Nichiren was as close to a prophet as any historical Buddhist could have been. There is something spookily familiar about the links he describes. As you say:
"I would not argue that failing to be a Buddhist will cause an earthquake, but I would say failing to live in accord with what Buddhism calls the Dharma can lead to personal, national, or even worldwide disaster in the long run. In this sense, I think the sutra passages and Nichiren's conclusions based on them can be taken seriously."
The key to understanding what Nichiren pointed out is that:
1. esoteric/exoteric practices and teachings, because they on the one hand protect elites, and on the other hand keep ordinary people ignorant; represent a false dharma aimed at only "saving" people who don't really need anything.
2. His vision is informed by a Confucian influenced morality as well as by Buddhism and so does address the dilatorious effects of irresponsible religious practice and teachings.
3. In Japan, as in all countries, religion in the modern ages is a political issue because it is about the ties that bind. This was true then:
* The esoteric practices were protected by the State by being associated with priests who guarded official Shinto Shrines.
* Priests and rulers were related, with the Senior priests being the younger children of the rulers.
* No changes could be made in religious life without endorsement and championing by secular authorities. The vice versa was weak because of the notion of Buddhism being otherworldly and concerned only with achieving Nirvana/enlightenment for the individual. Nichiren deconstructed that notion.
Politics and religion are related. The sutras that make that case have a point. They draw bad conclusions only because they represent polemics of Buddhists taken by later Buddhists out of their context.
Polemics are part of politics. Much of what is doctrine or dogma represents "frozen" polemics; Even the four seals represent an ancient polemic and an attempt to define the broader context of what is "Buddhist" and not Buddhist in a world where Buddhists differed every bit as much with each other as with non-Buddhists. In this case the effort was to justify transmitting diametrically different POVs. This could date to Nagarjuna, he probably faced the same problem.
So yes, Nichiren is taken out of context, but no, the context is still nearly as true now as it was then. The destructive effects of false, counterfeit, out of focus, or wrongly focused teachings are as omnipresent now as they were in his day. They just are a common problem of Nichirenists and other Buddhists, of non-Buddhists and Buddhists, of atheists and Judeo-Christian/Moslems. Some People conflate authority with truth. Some people prefer fictions to reality. Some people call fiction reality.
Thus the issues Nichiren identified so handily are in modern times less easy to identify with a single sect, religion or group of practitioners because even **we** have a difficult time distinguishing true dharma from false dharma, and paths that reach enlightenment from paths that lead in circles. I think this comes clear through actually reading his teachings -- that this was as true in his times as ours -- which is why the guy is still worth reading. But with a dictionary, copies of the Sutras, and a history book.
The only way to resolve this is with faith that somehow following the example of Nichiren, Snow Mountain Boy and Bodhisattva never Despise will resolve the conundrums eventually.
Chris
Posted by: Chris at June 16, 2009 08:07 AMi am surprised that you would bring up tectonic plates, failing to see the deeper connection between human life and the universe. That earthquakes are caused by techtonic movements doesn't negate the infinitely more profound laws of karma and cause and effect. Why did the earth shake and the flowers bloom out of season when Nichiren and Nichiju died but not when another dies? why is someone swallowed up in an earthquake but a person two feet away is spared? the vast majority of Nichiren's and the Lotus Sutra's truth are too profound to understand through science or mundane causality alone. Faith is the key and awareness will develop through the most remarkable of circumstances.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at June 16, 2009 04:14 PMRogow: Profound or arbitrary? Why is a person who is obviously a decent person killed while a murderer spared?
We have to claim past lives to make it seem like it makes sense, but there is no guarantee that any of it, in fact, makes any sense, except for the sense we make out of things by molding them into a framework we can understand. Even when a person "remembers" a past life, is that imagination? or is that a real memory. There is no way to know.
Mystic can imply marvelous, or it can mean simply ineffable. We supply the conceptual framework, even when we claim to just "know."
At the same time, were it not for plates grinding slowly across the planet, for oxygen producing life, for millions of years of culling successful but not super-bright species, we wouldn't be here the way we are. That is a happy and rare happenstance. It is also a matter of faith. Not always accurate faith, and sometimes faith based on what may be fictions.
Posted by: Chris at June 16, 2009 06:45 PMI think you might be reaching a bit to make Nichiren relevant? I suspect Nichiren was pointing to a sort of psycho-somatic relationship between human spirituality and nature. He probably thought tyhe right spell or incantation could bring rain or prevent an earthquake?
As for addressing the Government, he went to the Regent with his RAR, the person who held power. At that time, the Regent was supporting which Temples? I would need to look that up. Nichiren did not go to the Shogun; much less the Emperor. I do not construe this to mean that he was a social activist stressing good government. It was a fact that the Regent was supporting certain Temples; picking winners and losers.
In Iran, right now, one might go to the Supreme Leader of the Mullahs, who actually runs things. In the USA, one has to go out and address the people; in competition for support with all of the other religions.
We could say floods were made worse because builders built to code; instead of setting their own high standards. Also, it was made worse by people not taking steps to help themselves.
BTW: the current CEO pay controversy can be traced to two acts of Congress, in 1984 and 1993 that were both efforts to cap CEO pay. The first one, in effect, increased CEO Pay; the second led to a dumbing down of incentive pay standards. It would have been better to just leave it alone in the first place.
I think our practice makes people more mindful and insightful; unless we allow fanaticism and inciteful-ness to get in our own way. If people in general were more enlightened; then there would be more friendship, more empathy, and better communication. Perhaps the relationship between the regulators and the regulated could be less adversarial? Unintended consequences might even be anticipated and prevented?
BTW, I might side with Rogow just a bit here. While they have nothing to do with building codes, perhaps Kito Blessings do prevent natural disasters?
Posted by: robin at June 16, 2009 11:18 PM