I am not comparing the fruit my dear friend but rather the methodology.SilenceMonkey wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 4:08 pmMy point was that just as Guan Yin and Amitabha are different buddhas, so are Tara and Guan Yin.tkp67 wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 11:00 amThe function Tara provides is manifested through this bodhisattva.SilenceMonkey wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 5:06 am
Tara and Guan Yin are different. It's a common mistake. There's a lot of people who see the similarities of the divine feminine in each tradition, how each of them will swiftly and surely answer one's prayers in times of distress. But they're actually different beings.
None of these entities are external manifestations. To place an object of devotion outside of the gohonzon objectifies that entity as external independant agency.
The specificity of Nichiren's teachings provide a required function to assure a practitioner reaches a stage of non regression.
Whether they are primordially included in the Gohonzon is another question.
In the Vajrayana, though, all buddhas are actually understood to be one. They are merely different manifestations of Buddha. Guan Yin is the essence of Buddha's compassion and Tara is the essence of enlightened activity.
Perhaps the Lotus Sutra is a manifestation of Buddha in the same way, as would be all other Mahayana sutras. Each sutra an expression of the primordial Buddha.
Many of these deities, bodhisattva and buddhas have the capacity to appear as required.
The core of Nichiren's teachings is that the mind should focus on one object of devotion as representative as the totality of shakyamuni's enlightenment. That bodhisattva's function is meant to be including in the object of devotion with others, not separate. Mutual possession of the ten realms functions in one entity.