Nagarjuna's tetralemma in contrast to Nichiren's interpretation of Tendai 3 Truths

[Rinchen Samphel]

Buddhahood has a cause?

Yes it is a function driven by cause and effect. The cause was suffering the effect was liberation.

That is the provisional view.

Could you explain a little more what you mean by "Buddhahood has a cause?".

[Malcolm]

Yes it is a function driven by cause and effect. The cause was suffering the effect was liberation.

That is the provisional view.

Could you explain a little more what you mean by "Buddhahood has a cause?".

That which arises from causes and conditions is impermanent. Buddhahood arises from causes and conditions. Therefor buddhahood is impermanent. Thus is consequence of tkp67’s assertion.

[Queequeg]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

[tkp67]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

There are immeasurable aspects of cause and effect to Shakyamuni's enlightenment.

Just a few snippets from expedient means.

His past was revealed through and during his existence as an ordinary man.

I have converted all living beings

and caused them all to enter the buddha way.

Their desires are the cause

These world-honored ones

have all preached the doctrine of the single vehicle,

converting countless living beings

and causing them to enter the buddha way.

[tkp67]

Most poignant. The outflow reference mentioned elsewhere within.

All you heavenly and human beings of this assembly,
listen carefully and with one mind!
All of you should gather around
and observe the one of unexcelled honor.
I am the world-honored one,
none can rival me.
In order to bring peace and security to living beings
I have appeared in the world
and for the sake of this great assembly
I preach the sweet dew of the pure Law.
This Law is of a single flavor,
that of emancipation, nirvana.

With a single wonderful sound
I expound and unfold its meaning;
constantly for the sake of the great vehicle
I create causes and conditions.
I look upon all things
as being universally equal,
I have no mind to favor this or that,
to love one or hate another.
I am without greed or attachment
and without limitation or hindrance.

At all times, for all things
I preach the Law equally;
as I would for a single person,
that same way I do for numerous persons.
Constantly I expound and preach the Law,
never have I done anything else,
coming, going, sitting, standing,
never to the end growing weary or disheartened.
I bring fullness and satisfaction to the world,
like a rain that spreads its moisture everywhere.

Eminent and lowly, superior and inferior,
observers of precepts, violators of precepts,
those fully endowed with proper demeanor,
those not fully endowed,
those of correct views, of erroneous views,
of keen capacity, of dull capacity—
I cause the Dharma rain to rain on all equally,
never lax or neglectful.
When all the various living beings
hear my Law,
they receive it according to their power,
dwelling in their different environments.
Some inhabit the realm of human and heavenly beings,
of wheel-turning sage kings,
Shakra, Brahma, and the other kings—
these are the inferior medicinal herbs.
Some understand the Law of no outflows,
are able to attain nirvana,
acquire the six transcendental powers
and gain in particular the three insights,
or live alone in mountain forests,
constantly practicing meditation
and gaining the enlightenment of cause-awakened ones—
these are the middling medicinal herbs.

https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc ... 5#para-105

Parable of the Medicinal Herbs

[Malcolm]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

[tkp67]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes, conversely and without exclusion of that statement the obfuscation that prevent a person from realizing this state do arise from causes and conditions.

I would go as far to say the provisional and absolute (true aspect) exist in all things simultaneously and can be seen from a variety of perspectives because they are compounded. I invite people to examine the following from the lens of their own lives. I have yet to falsify it but perhaps this is a fault of mine.

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day

[Malcolm]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes, conversely and without exclusion of that statement the obfuscation that prevent a person from realizing this state do arise from causes and conditions.

I would go as far to say the provisional and absolute (true aspect) exist in all things simultaneously and can be seen from a variety of perspectives because they are compounded. I invite people to examine the following from the lens of their own lives. I have yet to falsify it but perhaps this is a fault of mine.

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day

Since the state of Buddhahood is uncompounded, it is never affected by temporary obscurations or virtuous practices, just like the sun is never affected by white or dark clouds.

[Queequeg]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes. That is understood in the Tiantai classification, where this term comes from.

In the Nichiren school, a lot of emphasis is put on this original cause. The Daimoku is viewed as the seed of buddhahood that starts one on the path.

Confusion comes in with the Perfect and Sudden aspect which concerns universal Buddhanature and the uncreated nature of Buddhahood. The gradual path then is revealed as upaya and the display of Buddhahood, the attaining of buddhahood likewise a display intended to prompt beings to realize their buddhanature.

Basically addressing the problem of ignorance and suffering when buddhahood is the original state.

[Malcolm]

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes. That is understood in the Tiantai classification, where this term comes from.

Which term?

[Queequeg]

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes. That is understood in the Tiantai classification, where this term comes from.

Which term?

Original Cause. 本因妙

[Malcolm]

Yes. That is understood in the Tiantai classification, where this term comes from.

Which term?

Original Cause. 本因妙

So you are calling something which is a not cause a cause? How is this nothing other than a euphemism?

[Queequeg]

Which term?

Original Cause. 本因妙

So you are calling something which is a not cause a cause? How is this nothing other than a euphemism?

I am not calling anything anything. I am explaining a term you asked about. Which is a provisional teaching in the Tiantai scheme, along the lines you suggested above.

Are you trying to make a controversy?

[Malcolm]

Original Cause. 本因妙

So you are calling something which is a not cause a cause? How is this nothing other than a euphemism?

I am not calling anything anything. I am explaining a term you asked about. Which is a provisional teaching in the Tiantai scheme, along the lines you suggested above.

Are you trying to make a controversy?

You mean the idea of “original cause” is provisional? If so you did not clearly state this.

[Queequeg]

So you are calling something which is a not cause a cause? How is this nothing other than a euphemism?

I am not calling anything anything. I am explaining a term you asked about. Which is a provisional teaching in the Tiantai scheme, along the lines you suggested above.

Are you trying to make a controversy?

You mean the idea of “original cause” is provisional? If so you did not clearly state this.

Cause of Buddhahood -

The practices Shakyamuni carried out before he awakened in the remote past.

This is a provisional view.

That which is uncompounded does not arise from causes and conditions. The state of buddhahood is uncompounded. Therefore, buddhahood does not arise from causes and conditions.

Yes. That is understood in the Tiantai classification, where this term comes from.

I see the confusion in the exchange. I think we're on the same page, more or less. Maybe not. Devil is in the details.

This concept comes up in a section of Zhiyi's commentary on the Lotus Sutra, Fahuaxuani Profound Meaning of the Lotus Stura, where Zhiyi is explaining the relationship between what he calls the Trace Gate 迹門 and the Original Gate 本門. The "Trace Gate" = provisional teachings, defined in Tiantai discourse as teachings taught according to the minds of others, or alternatively, teachings taught in response to beings, ie. upaya. The Original Gate is Buddhahood itself. Alternatively, the Trace Gate is associated with the function of Nirmanakaya while the Original Gate is the Dharmakaya.

This exposition needs to be kept in the context of a teaching earlier in the work - Relative and Absolute Subtlety (subtlety = 妙 = Sanskrit sad as in Saddharma 妙法 - myoho of myohorengekyo). In short, the Buddha during his appearance in India taught increasingly subtle teachings. Each teaching was subtle in contrast to lower teachings he taught before, which were coarse. The refinement of subtelty continued through the body of teachings he expounded, with the subtlest being the Essential Teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha could only refine subtlety so far. Eventually, he had to simply display his Buddhahood in full without adjusting to the capacities of beings. This is the Absolute Subtlety - the real aspect - Buddhahood without conditions, dharmakaya.

Original Cause (the bodhisattva path) and Original Effect (buddhahood in the remote past) are explained as aspects of the Original Gate, but in the context of a dialectic between the Trace Gate and Original Gate teachings. This is a Relative Subtlety teaching, in comparison to the Coarseness of the Trace Gate teachings. When the Buddha explains his life span as nitya, he is displaying himself as Buddha without conditions as the Original Buddha. His trace appearances are then understood as functions for the sake of sentient beings.

[Queequeg]

The Original Gate relates to Nichiren because Nichiren identified the Lotus Sutra - in the Lotus Buddhism scheme, the absolute revelation of the Original Buddha - as the Original Cause, which he identified by the name of the Sutra, Myohorengekyo. He understood the mere name of the Sutra as the appearance of the Buddhahood, and thus the gate through which all Buddhas enter the path at the start of their bodhisattva practice.

[Malcolm]

When the Buddha explains his life span as nitya, he is displaying himself as Buddha without conditions as the Original Buddha. His trace appearances are then understood as functions for the sake of sentient beings.

Thanks for the explanation.

But I should point out, and not for the sake of generating controversy, that there are numerous sūtras in which the Buddha both defines the dharmakāya as uncompounded, and proclaims his identity as the dharmakāya, and where he declares that his appearance to sentient beings is based on past aspirations.

[Queequeg]

When the Buddha explains his life span as nitya, he is displaying himself as Buddha without conditions as the Original Buddha. His trace appearances are then understood as functions for the sake of sentient beings.

Thanks for the explanation.

But I should point out, and not for the sake of generating controversy, that there are numerous sūtras in which the Buddha both defines the dharmakāya as uncompounded, and proclaims his identity as the dharmakāya, and where he declares that his appearance to sentient beings is based on past aspirations.

I don't think Zhiyi would have any problem with that. Nichiren himself was well versed in Zhiyi's writings and subsequent Tiantai/Tendai teachings and would acknowledge it too, though he might emphasize that all the teachings come from the Original Gate. Nichiren Buddhists who insist everything comes from the Lotus might make problems about this.

[Malcolm]

When the Buddha explains his life span as nitya, he is displaying himself as Buddha without conditions as the Original Buddha. His trace appearances are then understood as functions for the sake of sentient beings.

Thanks for the explanation.

But I should point out, and not for the sake of generating controversy, that there are numerous sūtras in which the Buddha both defines the dharmakāya as uncompounded, and proclaims his identity as the dharmakāya, and where he declares that his appearance to sentient beings is based on past aspirations.

I don't think Zhiyi would have any problem with that. Nichiren Buddhists who insist everything comes from the Lotus might.

As always there is rhetoric and there is reality.

[tkp67]

Nichiren was clear that the golden words of Shakyamuni are true in all cases so when any sutra claims all buddha are enlightened to this sutra it is true.

Shakyamuni's supreme and perfect enlightenment is not mutually exclusive in any way. His teachings and their efficiencies may suffer entropy but the aspects of his enlightenment have not.

The diversity in all these teachings are a reflection of cause and effect. One of the many purposes of this sutra is to see it. Thus the necessary contrast between the one vehicle and the three. Thus the reason Nichiren teachings observation of function and causation. This is one of the meanings of the assembly.