“Embracing the Gohonzon” means believing in and faithfully upholding the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is the teaching that “causes all living beings to enter the Buddha way” (cf. LS2, 36). The lives of all people are fundamentally endowed with the world of Buddhahood, a state of unshakeable happiness. The Lotus Sutra teaches that we all can manifest this state of life and urges us to believe in the enlightenment of all people, including our own.
This guidance is an abstract from 'The World of Nichiren Daishonin Writings' with universal value and application
The Daishonin says that the Gohonzon embodies the life of Nichiren. I would also like to interpret the words down the center of the Gohonzon as expressing the Daishonin’s selfless struggle. President Toda revered the Gohonzon as if Nichiren Daishonin were right before him. We in turn embrace and uphold this Gohonzon, and it is only natural that in doing so, we practice faith with the spirit of not begrudging our lives. The Daishonin consistently possessed the spirit and seeking mind not to begrudge his life. Accordingly, while remaining an ordinary person, his spirit to single-mindedly seek the Buddha resulted in a great spiritual transformation, that is, in his attaining the mind of the Buddha. The Daishonin calls the “fruit of Buddhahood” that he attained the “eternally inherent three bodies.” In other words, as an ordinary person, he awakened to his “self ” as an embodiment of the Mystic Law (the eternally inherent Dharma body), perceived this Law, experienced boundless joy from the Law, and attained the “body of wisdom” (the eternally inherent reward body) for expounding and spreading this Law to others. He also felt compassion for living beings as possessing the same Dharma body and the potential to awaken to the same wisdom; he took pity on them for their suffering on account of remaining ignorant of this fact; and he attained the “body of immense compassion” (the eternally inherent manifested body) for sharing their sufferings. |
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