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Living the Rissho Ankoku Ron: the Prophetic Call of Nichiren for Today

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Living the Rissho Ankoku Ron: the Prophetic Call of Nichiren for Today Living the Rissho Ankoku Ron: The Prophetic Call of Nichiren for Today By Ryuei McCormick Copyright 2005 1 Table of Contents Introduction 4 1. The World’s Suffering 5 2. The Origins of the Sutras and the Role of their Predictions 10 3. The Transmission of Buddhism to East Asia and the West 17 4. Prophecies of the Latter Age of the Dharma 20 5. The Subversive Nature of Nichiren’s Prophetic Stance 29 6. Review of Pure Land Buddhism Part 1: The Triple Pure Land Sutras 31 7. Review of Pure Land Buddhism Part 2: Pure Land Buddhism in India and China 36 8. Review of Pure Land Buddhism Part 3: Pure Land Buddhism in Japan 40 9. Review of Pure Land Buddhism Part 4: The Life and Teachings of Honen 43 10. Review of Pure Land Buddhism Part 5: The Pure Land School after Honen 47 11. Key Points of the Senchaku Shu Part 1: Rejecting the Gateway of the Holy Path 52 12. Key Points of the Senchaku Shu Part 2: Casting Aside the Miscellaneous Practices 56 13. Key Points of the Senchaku Shu Part 3: Closing the Gateway of the Mahayana Sutras 59 14. Key Points of the Senchaku Shu Part 4: The Band of Robbers in the Parable of the White Path 63 15. Key Points of the Senchaku Shu Part 5: Lay Aside, Abandon, and Set Aside All but the Nembutsu 67 2 16. Nichiren’s Critique of the Senchaku Shu Part 1: Honen’s Slanderous Recommendations 70 17. Nichiren’s Critique of the Senchaku Shu Part 2: The Effects of Honen’s Teachings on Buddhism in Kamakuran Japan 79 18. The Buddha’s Criteria for Evaluating Teachings 85 19. The Sutra Classification System of the T’ien-t’ai School 92 20. Competing Systems of Sutra Classification 101 21. The Confucian Nichiren Part 1: Confucius and the Origins of Confucianism 107 22. The Confucian Nichiren Part 2: Confucian Virtues and the Mandate of Heaven 115 23. The Confucian Nichiren Part 3: The Buddhist Appropriation of Confucianism 123 24. The Confucian Nichiren Part 4: The Shinto/Buddhist Mandate of Heaven 130 25. Empowerment and Responsibility of the Buddha’s Disciple 138 26. Should One Refrain from Arguing Over the Dharma? 142 27. The Question of Nationalism Part 1: Should the Dharma Serve the State? 149 28. The Question of Nationalism Part 2: Should the State Serve the Dharma? 155 29. Should Slanderers Be Executed? 161 30. Have the Gods Abandoned Japan? 169 31. Evaluating Shingon 172 32. Predictions of Foreign Invasion and Civil War 175 33. Choosing Hell or the Pure Land 180 34. Conversion and Altruistic Determination 184 Glossary 186 Sources 214 3 Introduction It is said that Nichiren’s teachings begin and end with the Rissho Ankoku Ron (Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma). Unfortunately, this work is very difficult for people today to relate to. Nichiren was addressing a feudal Japanese society whose state religion was Buddhism, a milieu very far removed from what Japan is today, let alone what non-Japanese would be familiar with. In addition, much of the sophistication of Nichiren’s thought is not present in Rissho Ankoku Ron, which is a simple call to action. Many of the issues Nichiren sees as a matter of life and death for his nation strike even modern Japanese people as obscure and of no relevance in a culture that has become thoroughly secular and which upholds democracy and the separation of church and state as nonnegotiable political values. However, I believe the central theme of the Rissho Ankoku Ron is still relevant. In fact, I believe it is of great significance. I believe that Nichiren was trying to warn his contemporaries that a society that does not base itself on Truth and the universal dignity of human life will become corrupt and will eventually destroy itself. In upholding the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren was not simply upholding a text sacred to the Buddhist tradition. Rather, he was trying to uphold the sacred nature of all life in this world. That is the theme that binds together all of Nichiren’s teachings from beginning to end. I hope that in this commentary on Rissho Ankoku Ron I can explain the background and context of this work in order to clarify its meaning, and ultimately show that this work can still speak to us today. Throughout this commentary I refer to two different translations of the Rissho Ankoku Ron that can be found in two different volumes of translations of Nichiren’s writings. The WNSD1 refers to the Writings of Nichiren Shonin Volume 1 published by the University of Hawaii. WND refers to the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin published by the Soka Gakkai. I include the latter because I know that many people have access to that edition and it is also online. 4 The World’s Suffering I The Cause of the Disasters A Traveler Came to Lament WNSD1: pp. 107-108 WND: pp. 6-7 Between the years 1256 and 1260, Japan saw numerous catastrophes, including fire, storms and flooding that destroyed vital crops, famine, epidemics, and violent earthquakes. Nichiren wrote the Rissho Ankoku Ron in response to the horrendous suffering faced by the Japanese people at that time. From 1258 to 1260 he secluded himself at Jisso-ji temple, a Tendai temple with an extensive library of sutras and commentaries. There he tried to find out whether Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings in the sutras could provide any guidance in averting or dealing with such anguish and uncertainty. During that time, he wrote many preliminary versions, including the Shugo Kokka Ron (Treatise on Protecting the Nation) in 1259, and other works. The final product he submitted to the retired regent Hojo Tokiyori (1227-1263), who was still the de facto ruler of Japan. In the Rissho Ankoku Ron, the host represents Nichiren Shonin, while the traveler who becomes a guest of the host represents Hojo Tokiyori. Thus, the whole work is an imaginary dialogue in which Nichiren presents his findings and recommendations to the military government, the Kamakuran shogunate that ruled Japan and controlled even the religious establishment of Japan. The Rissho Ankoku Ron opens with a traveler lamenting the famine and pestilence that has swept the land. In recent years, there have been unusual disturbances in the heavens, strange occurrences on earth, famine and pestilence, all affecting every corner of the empire and spreading throughout the land. Oxen and horses lie dead in the streets, and the bones of the stricken crowd the highways. Over half the population has already been carried off by death, and there is hardly a single person who does not grieve. 5 Today, we face similar problems with drug & alcohol abuse, AIDS, violent crimes, terrorism, political and social injustice, including genocide, and of course wars and famines and natural disasters that continue to sweep through the world. Basically we have just as many reasons or more to lament as the traveler. Even in the supposedly wealthy and civilized USA, walking around in many areas of the inner city at night you can hear the crack addicts shouting at each other in the street, drunkards hooting and hollering, the sound of sirens from fire trucks, ambulances, or police cars signaling that somewhere nearby is a fire or people dying of either disease, disaster, or foul play. This is dukkha, the Buddhist term for the suffering, anguish, or even simple discontent that characterizes life in this world, and not just for individuals but also on the level of the whole society, the whole world. Dukkha is part of a self-perpetuating system of suffering that Nichiren explored in the Rissho Ankoku Ron. The traveler goes on to enumerate the many ways in which people try to overcome suffering. Nichiren believed that many of these methods actually made things worse, but for now they are simply listed. The worship of celestial Buddhas like Amitabha (Infinite Light) or Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Master) who are looked upon as saviors is mentioned. Reliance on ceremonies, rituals, and appeals to Buddhist and Shinto deities of various types are mentioned as well. Today, in the USA, people look to Jesus Christ to save them, or to the sacraments of the Catholic Church, or various New Age or Neo-pagan rituals for healing or liberation. But rituals or appeals to divine saviors have yet to bring about a peaceful world, and it should be noted that one of the first obstacles to enlightenment overcome through Buddhist practice is the false belief that rites and ceremonies can bring about liberation from suffering in and of themselves. Buddhist practitioners who really begin to enter the stream of the Dharma come to realize it is a change of heart and genuine insight that brings about liberation and not just pious gestures or a complacent reliance on some deity or savior to do the inner work for us. Zen style meditation, which is understood by the traveler as an attempt to 6 perceive the emptiness of all things, is also mentioned. Various forms of silent sitting meditation and/or yoga are very popular even today among those with the time, money, and education to participate in such practices. Though silent sitting practices focusing on mindful observation of all phenomena starting with the breath would appear to be easy enough, it is actually a very difficult task for many people to approach and sustain, and even more difficult for people to actually attain any real insight without hours of dedicated practice. This kind of meditation often involves a support system of retreats, practice halls, access to good teachers, a fair amount of leisure time, and the ability to pay for such things.
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