Transcript Document

The HOPE-FILLED
TEACHINGS of
NICHIREN DAISHONIN
SGI PRESIDENT IKEDA’S LECTURE SERIES
“On Repaying Debts
of Gratitude”
“A Great River Enriching Humanity
Our Victory As Disciples Is the Greatest Way to
Repay Our Gratitude to Our Mentor”
Beach Cities Study Promotion Committee
1. The Lives of Genuine Buddhist
Practitioners Shine with
Appreciation and Gratitude
•Nichiren
recognized his debt of gratitude to his country.
•strictly admonished various schools of Buddhism that
slandered the Law and went against the Buddha’s
original intent.
•Surmounted life-threatening persecutions
•Then cast off his transient status as an ordinary person
•to reveal his true identity as the Buddha of the Latter
Day of the Law (hos-shaku-kempon).
•Nichiren revealed the Gohonzon as the object of
devotion and manifestation of his enlightened state of
life.
Three Great Secret Laws
the invocation - Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
2. the object of devotion - the Gohonzon,
3. and the place of worship - the sanctuary
1.
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Nichiren revealed and established the Three Great
Secret Laws as the framework for spreading the
teachings of the Lotus Sutra throughout the Latter
Day.
Determinedly carried out the struggle to reveal the
correct Law hidden in the depths of the Lotus Sutra
that would lead all people to enlightenment,
took on the momentous battle of repaying his
gratitude to the three treasures.
2. A Treatise Containing “Matters
of the Utmost Importance”
This writing contains a detailed description of
his ardent pursuit of Buddhism in his youth
 a comprehensive account of his subsequent
efforts to spread the Mystic Law.
 He clarifies the immeasurable benefits of
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great
Secret Laws,
 which constitutes the great Law that will lead
all people to enlightenment and that is to be
propagated throughout the eternal future of
the Latter Day
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3. Chanting and Spreading the
Mystic Law “Without Sparing One’s
Voice”
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A universal teaching will only spread
when the time is right and
when a person willing to give his or
her life to propagating it appears.
Nichiren worked tirelessly
“without sparing his voice” to teach
people about the path he had
pioneered.
As a result, he established the Three
Great Secret Laws.
Tribute to Dozen-bo

Nichiren's teacher and
mentor
He pays tribute to his first
teacher by stating that
this benefit in its entirety
will return to Dozen-bo.
 Dozen-bo protected
Nichiren and remained
friends with him until his
death.

Statue of Nichiren Daishoinin
at Seicho-Ji Temple
Three Treasures
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1.
2.
3.
Three things that all Buddhists should
revere and serve:
Buddha – one who is awakened to the truth of life
and universe.
Law – Dharma or Buddhist teachings, means the
teachings that the Buddha expounds in order to
lead all people to enlightenment.
Sangha, or Buddhist Order – the group of believers
that practices the Buddha’s teachings, preserves
the Law, spreads it and transmits it to future
generations (LB, JUL-AUG., 2009, p. 76).
3. Chanting and Spreading the
Mystic Law
“Without Sparing One’s Voice”
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We must never forget that Nichiren’s
people-centered Buddhism has
flourished solely because of unceasing
efforts to spread the Law.
His unrelenting efforts to speak out
and spread the correct teaching
epitomize the spirit of not begrudging
one’s life.
Nichiren’s Profound
Struggle
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The power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
will endure for eternity because the
Law itself is infinitely profound and
because of the selfless struggles
Nichiren underwent to establish and
propagate it.
Because there is depth in the teaching
accompanied by a profound struggle,
kosen-rufu will advance and be
achieved.
4. The Three Virtues of Nichiren
Daishonin Function to Actualize
Kosen-rufu
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The Buddha vows to save all people.
Widespread propagation of the correct
teaching that continues after the
Buddha’s passing is the fundamental
wish of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures
and all Buddhas throughout time and
space.
This passage is Nichiren’s declaration
that he has actualized this vow.
Three Virtues
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It also points to the Daishonin’s three
virtues--those of parent, teacher and
sovereign.
Definition:
The benevolent functions of sovereign, teacher,
and parent a Buddha is said to possess.
 sovereign is the power to protect all living
beings,
 teacher is the wisdom to instruct and lead them
to enlightenment, and
 parent is the compassion to nurture and support
them.
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5. A Teaching of Transformation:
“The Benefit Gained From One Day’s
Practice in the Impure World”
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Nichiren says:
“A hundred years of practice in the
Land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare
to the benefit gained from one day’s
practice in the impure world.”
Striving to free people from suffering
at the most fundamental level in this
defiled latter age is an action that
brings immeasurable benefit.
6. The Time to Open the Way for
Kosen-rufu is the Latter Day
A defiled age requires
the appearance of a
genuine Buddha
 who can expound a
great teaching
capable of freeing the
people of suffering
and positively
transforming the
times.
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Nichiren Daishonin
7. “I Pray to the Buddha for
Final Victory”
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Winning and losing are both part of
life, but I pray to the Buddha with
determination for final victory.
We need daunting struggles to develop
intrepid faith.
The truth is we are Buddhas and even
if we sometimes fail, we cannot fail as
human beings as long as we deepen
our faith.