President Toda told me many times about that day. He shared with me the irrepressible joy he felt on that occasion. This was the point of departure for his unprecedented propagation of the Gohonzon, an accomplishment unrivaled in the seven hundred years since Nichiren Daishonin’s passing. Because of President Toda’s vow and his desire to lead people to happiness with this Gohonzon, the spirit of Nichiren Daishonin has now spread throughout the world.
This guidance is an abstract from 'The World of Nichiren Daishonin Writings' with universal value and application
In all of his efforts for kosen-rufu, President Toda started from the Gohonzon. That was the key to everything. The dawn of kosen-rufu occurred in the middle of the night on July 3, 1945, on the day of his release from prison. It started from my mentor’s modest room. Depicted in the Gohonzon is not just Devadatta, the person who committed acts of the greatest treachery against Shakyamuni and was tormented by the most extreme suffering. Rather, in the Gohonzon we see a Devadatta illuminated by the light of the Mystic Law, who has become a votary of the Law and takes on the unique mission of harmonizing in the world of Hell. The Buddhahood of this one evil person, Devadatta, opens the way to Buddhahood for countless evil people. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging continued his struggle and ultimately prevailed. If justice remains silent, evil will flourish. To persist in reproaching evil until people themselves awaken to a sense of regret is to act with compassion. Shakyamuni thoroughly reproached Devadatta’s evil. There is no doubt about that. It is by denouncing evil that we can cause such people to open their eyes. That is because hearing voices resounding with the justice of the Mystic Law has the effect of activating the Buddha nature that lies dormant in an evil person’s heart. But because such a person’s heart is covered with a thick, rocklike crust of ignorance, a weak voice will not reach it. It takes a voice of censure, one that strictly takes evil to task, to break through this hard crust and illuminate the Buddha nature. The Daishonin says: “In the final analysis, unless we succeed in demonstrating that this teaching is supreme, these disasters will continue unabated” (WND, 1114). Accordingly, in the struggle between the devilish nature and the Buddha nature, it is the mission of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth to be victorious, no matter what. If the Bodhisattvas of the Earth do not triumph over evil, the world will forever remain locked in a cycle of unremitting evil. When we win over evil, the Dharma nature manifests and a harmonious world of the oneness of good and evil is realized. The Bodhisattvas of the Earth appear and establish the object of devotion in “a time of conflict” is itself eloquent testimony to the fact that Buddhism is a teaching for peace and human happiness. Nichiren Daishonin was the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth of whom he speaks, and it was he who established the Gohonzon. On that premise, his statement “at this time” is very important. Citing a commentary by the Great Teacher Dengyo, he describes it as a “time of conflict.” Referring to the age in which he lived, the Daishonin interprets “time of conflict” to indicate “the two disasters of internal strife and invasion from the western sea that are occurring at present” (WND, 376). This Gohonzon, like the treasure tower ceremony itself, makes it possible for the world of Buddhahood to become manifest in the life of each person and in the land as a whole. When we of the Latter Day of the Law, with the Gohonzon as our clear mirror, believe that this same expansive cosmos of life exists within us, we can open and reveal that vast and boundless condition in our lives. We can thereby fundamentally eliminate all suffering and build eternal, indestructible happiness. Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the fundamental seed, or cause, for attaining Buddhahood as the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the actual three thousand realms in a single moment of life, which he bestowed on all humankind. When we embrace and believe in this Gohonzon, we can actually perceive the Mystic Law in our own lives. |
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