This Sermon focuses on the two syllables "ren-ge" of the five characters "Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo."
The doctrine of Renge, or "Lotus Flower" can be divided into two general categories. The first is "Renge as a metaphor." The second is "Renge as the actual entity of the Law."
The lotus flower is used as a metaphor to describe the significance, characteristics and capacity of the Mystic Law.
The lotus flower also represents the life, essential nature, and true entity of the Buddha. The actual entity of the Buddha's enlightenment is, itself, revealed as the lotus flower (Renge). This is both the fundamental significance of Renge and the doctrine of the True Buddha from the remotest past of Kuon. It is extremely profound and difficult to understand. Therefore, we first study "Renge as a metaphor" which helps us to understand the deep principle of "Renge as the actual entity of the Law."
Renge as a Metaphor
High Priest Nikken Shonin stated the following:
When one studies the principle of Renge as a metaphor, the lotus flower is
analyzed from various angles and compared to the elements of the doctrines.
The nature of the Lotus Sutra is revealed through this analysis.
(Daibyaku-ho No. 462)
Various doctrines compare the Mystic Law to the lotus flower to reveal the deep Significance of the Lotus Sutra. One of these is the principle of "bestowal, opening and elimination." This teaching is that the provisional teachings are bestowed reveal the truth; the superficial doctrines are then opened to reveal the truth; and the provisional teachings are finally eliminated to establish the truth.
The principle of Renge as a metaphor is also used to compare the relative superiority and inferiority of the Lotus Sutra to the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. The Lotus Sutra is the True Teachings that the Buddha appeared to teach. The lotus flower is used symbolically to reveal that the Law, the Buddha appeared to teach, is the sinugular and absolute Law of Myo, the Mystic Law. Pre-Lotus Sutra teachings are relative doctrines that were taught according to the capacity of the peopIe. They are incomplete expedient doctrines. The effects flowering from these teachings were, therefore, incomplete.
For example, the Daishonin wrote: Myoho-Renge-Kyo is likened to the lotus. ...Some plants first flower and then produce fruit, while in others fruit comes forth before flowers. Some bear only one flower but much fruit, others send forth many flowers but only one fruit, and still others produce fruit without flowering. Thus there are all manners of plants, but the lotus is the only one which bears flowers and fruit simultaneously. The benefit of all the other sutras is uncertain, because they teach that one must first make good causes and only then can one become a Buddha at some later time. The Lotus Sutra is completely different. A hand which takes it up immediately attains enlightenment, and a mouth which chants it instantly enters Buddhahood. (Shinpen-gosho, p. 1574; Ref.: M. W., Vol. 4, pgs. 305-306)
This metaphor illustrates the difference between the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and the Lotus Sutra. In the pre-Lotus Sutra doctrines, the practice and the attainment of enlightenment are temporally separate and undetermined. By contrast, in the Lotus Sutra, the practice and the consequent enlightenment occur simultaneously, just as the lotus flower produces the blossoms and the fruit at the same time.
Twenty-sixth High Priest Nichikan Shonin stated:
The flower represents cause and the fruit represents effect . ... Thus,
these [other types of plants] exhibit a great variety in their cause and
effect, such as singular or multiple--before or after. They are, therefore,
incapable of portraying the Mystic Law. The lotus flower alone produces the
flower and the fruit--the cause and the effect--at the same time and is
delicate and pure. It is, therefore, comparable to the Mystic Law. (Mondan,p.685)
In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings the cause (practice) and the effect (enlightenment) occur at different times. In the Lotus Sutra, however, the cause and effect of practice and enlightenment happen simultaneously. Purity refers to the fact that the magnificently pure lotus flower blossoms in muddy swamps. This means that even in this world stained by the three poisons, we possess a pure and undefiled original nature and are able to attain enlightenment. In this way, the lotus flower is likened to the Mystic Law.
Consider the issues of practice and enlightenment and the associated principle of cause and effect. The Daishonin wrote:
When we come to the chapters of the Lotus Sutra that put forth the Honmon Teachings, then the belief that Shakyamuni obtained Buddhahood for the first time in India is overturned, and the effects of the four teachings are likewise found to be untrue. When the effects of the four teachings are demolished, the causes are likewise demolished. Thus the cause and effect of the ten worlds of existence as taught in the earlier sutras and the Theoretical Teachings of the Lotus Sutra are. wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds in the Honmon Teachings are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It reveals that the nine other worlds are all present in the eternal Buddhahood, and that the Buddhahood is inherent in the eternal nine other worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true ichinen sanzen. (Shinpen-gosho, p. 536; Ref.: M.W., Vol 2. pgs. 103-104)
In this passage, the Daishonin explains the doctrine of original cause and original effect in the Lotus Sutra. The Buddhist sutras in general describe various practices that must be performed in order for the practitioners to attain the Way. The sutras expound two types of doctrines-the practices that lead to enlightenment and the resultant state of Buddhahood. Both are taught as the Law, but the practices vary according to the doctrines taught in each individual sutra. This is illustrated in the above Gosha passage which refers to the four teachings of doctrine-the Tripitaka teaching; the connecting teaching; the specific teaching; and the perfect teaching. The four teachings of doctrine and their corresponding practices are taught in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. However, the perfect teaching of these sutras do not manifest the true function of the perfect teaching in the Lotus Sutra which is the pure and singular ultimate truth.
In both the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and the Shakumon (Theoretical) Teachings of the Lotus Sutra, the principles of cause and effect (practice and enlightenment) are taught with the vision of the Shakyamuni Buddha who was born in India and achieved enlightenment for the first time.
However, in the Honmon Teachings, the Buddha revealed the true cause and true effect of His attainment of enlightenment in the remotest past of Kuon. By so doing, He expounded the practice (cause) and the enlightenment (effect) of the ultimate, singular truth. Therefore, in the Honmon Teachings the Buddha from the remotest past of Kuon revealed His own enlightenment This is the principle of original cause and original effect. Because the truth still remained hidden in the provisional sutras and the Shakumon Teachings of the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin refuted them as provisional doctrines.
Ultimately, we can conclude that the use of Renge as a metaphor compares the doctrines of original cause and original effect that was taught by the Buddha of the remotest past of Kuon, with the Mystic Law of simultaneous cause and effect. Thus, it reveals the true significance of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
Renge as the Actual Entity of the Law
We can consider the principle of Renge as the actual entity of the Law from
two perspectives: the perspective of the Buddha. and that of the people. Let
me first explain the actual entity of the Law in terms of the perspective
of the Buddha. The. Daishonin wrote' in the. Gosho, "The Entity of the
Mystic Law":
[He] who lived in a past even more distant than Gohyaku-jintengo became
enlightened to the Lotus that is the entity of the Mystic Law.
(Shinpen-gosho, p. 696; Ref.: M.W., Vol.7, p. 67)
Nichikan Shonin explained
this passage in the following way:
The significance of this passage is that it represents the time of the
honorary common mortal of the eternal past of Kuon-ganjo. Particular
significance is contained in the two syllables, to-sho, which denote a "time
even more distant." He who was enlightened to the actual entity of the Law
of the Mystic Law, at the time of this honorary common mortal, is called
the Buddha of the lotus flower of the actual entity of the Law, contained
within the Juryo chapter of the Honmon Teachings. The Law that proves this
is called the honorary Mystic Law of the remotest past of Kuon.
(Mondan, p. 689)
This passage indicates the enlightenment of the Daishonin, the True Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. In essence, it explains that in the eternal past of Kuon-ganjo, the Buddha, in the form of the honorary common mortal, was enlightened to the honorary Mystic Law of Kuon and the actual entity of this Mystic Law. He is called the Lotus Buddha of the actual entity of the Law that is hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter of the Honmon Teachings.
Nichikan Shonin further wrote:
Thus, the Buddha of the actual entity of the Law, contained in the Juryo
chapter of the Honmon Teachings is, in fact, the Buddha of Myoho-Renge-Kyo
of the Juryo chapter of the Honmon Teachings. He is, in fact, the Lotus
Buddha of the actual entity of the Law, who is eternally characterized by
the principle of the fusion of reality and wisdom of the inscrutable essence
of the universe. We must understand that the eternal Lotus Buddha of the
actual entity of the Law is none other than the Gohonzon of the Honmon
teaching. (Mondan, p. 677)
Thus, in the eternal past of Kuon-ganjo, the Daishonin was enlightened to the ultimate Law. This Mystic Law is characterized by the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect and by the mystic aspect of the actual entity of the Law. Thereafter, in the Latter Day of the Law, the Daishonin established the Object of Worship, which the joining of the Law that manifests the Person and the Person who manifests the Law. In other words, for the sake of the universe, the Daishonin established the actual entity of His life in the form of the Object of Worship of the Honmon Teachings of the oneness of the Person and the Law.
Next, the principle of Renge as the actual entity of the Law from the perspective of the people will be addressed. The Daishonin stated in the Gosho, "The Entity of the Mystic Law":
But those who follow the teachings of Nichiren honestly discard the mistaken doctrines of the provisional teachings and the incorrect theories of the mistaken teachers, and without hesitation put their faith in the True Law and the correct doctrines of the correct teacher. Accordingly they are able to reach the lotus of the entity and to manifest the mystic principle of the entity of the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light. This is because they put their faith in the golden words of the Buddha indicated in the Juryo chapter of the Honmon Teachings and chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. (Shinpen-gosho, p. 701; Ref.: M. W, Vol. 7, p. 80)
This passage teaches that we must honestly discard all provisional teachings and believe in the teacher Buddha of the Juryo chapter of the Honmon Teachings, the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin. By practicing the Daishonin's True Law and following the guidance of the High Priest, the true master who has received the Lifeblood Heritage of the Law, we can become enlightened to the actual entity of the Law, and manifest the mystic principle of the entity of the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light.
The phrase, "put their faith in the golden words of the Buddha indicated in the Juryo chapter" signifies faith in and practice to the Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws. This is the manifestation of the Law of the simultaneity of cause and effect the mystic principle within the life of each individual.
In His sermon on the "Lotus Flower" (Renge) at the summer training meeting
in 1996, High Priest Nikken Shonin stated the following:
When you profoundly understand that this "lotus flower" (Renge) represents
the very entity of your own life and when you assiduously chant Daimoku and
perform your practice, you will gradually come to realize that the actual
entity of your life represents the actual entity of the Mystic Law.
(Daibyaku-ho, p. 462)
The High Priest explains the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect of the actual entity of the Law as it relates to people, through the three meanings. They are: "the simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in one's singular determination"; "the simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in the chanting of Daimoku"; and "the simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in the three existences of the past, the present and the future."
"The simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in one's singular determination" means that the nine worlds (the cause of practice) and the world of Buddhahood (the effect of enlightenment) are directly and mutually contained in the law that characterizes the singular determination of our mind.
"The simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in the chanting Daimoku" is the Buddha's cause of faith and the Buddha's effect of Daimoku. The Buddha's cause of faith directly achieves the Buddha's effect of Daimoku.
"The simultaneity of cause and effect that is contained in the three existences of the past, the present and the future" means that the present both manifests the effect of the eternal past, and contains the cause for the infinite future. These forms of cause and effect are both contained in the present.
The High Priest further explains:
These, in essence, are manifestations of Myo. This, in turn, is called
Myoho-Renge-Kyo. By embracing and cultivating our faith in and understanding
of Myoho-Renge-Kyo, we can directly manifest enlightenment. ... The
essential point of our practices are to chant Daimoku with the faith that
our lives, themselves, is, in fact, the actual entity of the Law.
(Daibyaku-ho, No. 462)
Renge as the actual entity of the Law symbolizes the actual entity of the Mystic Law of the Buddha's cause and the Buddha's effect, contained in the profound enlightenment of the Buddha. This, in turn, represents the Buddha's cause and the Buddha's effect, contained in the enlightenment of all people.
Let us manifest the mystic principle of Renge as the actual entity of the Law in our own faith and practice. Finally, through demonstrating the brilliant benefits of True Buddhism in our own lives, We can advance in our shakubuku efforts.