Gohonzon and buddha estatue

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SageProtector
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Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by SageProtector »

is there a difference between chanting daimoku to a shakyamuni statue? and sing daimoku to a gohonzon?
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Caoimhghín
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Re: Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by Caoimhghín »

IMO, if you're practicing Nichiren Buddhism, you should do the practice as the Daishōnin directed. Certainly, there's nothing wrong with chanting the daimoku in front of a buddharūpa. There's nothing wrong with chanting it in the shower. But IMO (and I am not a Nichiren Buddhist, so keep that in mind), if you conceive of the buddharūpa as "replacing" the Gohonzon, that's likely an issue.

Also, you said "chant" and then "sing." What is the difference to you?
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
narhwal90
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Re: Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by narhwal90 »

There is some support in the goshos for daimoku to statuary, I believe the tradition exists in some of the Nichiren schools today. OTOH some of the early conflict among the schools occurred over the use of statuary vs gohonzon. I've met a few folks who sing daimoku, somewhat unusual to experience that in a group chant being that, if prominent, it can be disruptive to the cadence and harmony but I certainly wouldn't argue against anything that supports practice.
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Queequeg
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Re: Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by Queequeg »

In Fuji lineage schools, they do not use statues as honzon.

In other lineages, it varies. Visiting various temples, I observed different arrangements of honzon. IIRC, the honzon at Ikegami Hommonji is a Shakyamuni flanked by the four Bodhisattvas of the Earth. At Tanno-ji, its two buddhas flanking a stele with the Daimoku inscribed. I've also seen statues arranged in the same manner as the jikkai mandala format.

I think these different arrangements and different honzon express different interpretations.

The Fuji Schools shun statues because I think they emphasize the Dharmakaya aspect within the ichinen sanzen teaching.

I think the temples that have the two buddhas flanking the Daimoku emphasize the samboghakaya aspect.

The Shakyamuni flanked by the Four Bodhisattvas of the Earth emphasize the life span of the Buddha.

The way I approach this is to relate the honzon arrangements to specific aspects of the Lotus Sutra.

There are no arrangements of Shakayamuni with the four provisional bodhisattvas (Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Bhaisajyaraja, Maitreya) or with the arhats (Sariputra and Mahakasyapa) because these would refer to different teachings.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
illarraza
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Re: Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by illarraza »

Hi QQ. Nichiren Shoshu does indeed have a separate enshrinement of statues of Nichiren for worship and reverence.
ronnymarsh
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Re: Gohonzon and buddha estatue

Post by ronnymarsh »

SageProtector wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 12:31 am is there a difference between chanting daimoku to a shakyamuni statue? and sing daimoku to a gohonzon?
In the context of Japanese Buddhism, the term (go)Honzon is applied to any object of devotion in any Buddhist lineage. For example, the statue of Amida Buddha flanked by the two bodhisattvas, the statue of Amida Buddha alone, or the Rokuji Myogo inscription are the types of (go)honzon for Pure Land Buddhism.

The Shakyamuni statue is the main (go)Honzon of Zen Buddhism. Shingon Buddhism has as its main Honzon the image of Buddha Dainichi, in addition to the image of various buddhas, bodhisattvas and possible deities.

Thus, each of the Japanese Buddhist schools has its own rules about what can be used as (go)Honzon. This term only means the "Honorable" (Go) Object of Devotion (Honzon), and even outside the Buddhist context it could be used, although the term is basically Buddhist.

Nichiren's teaching on what the Gohonzon would be for the Lotus practitioner is the content of one of his main writings: "nyorai metsugo go hyakusai shi kanjin no honzon sho" - THE HONZON for contemplation of the mind propagated in the last period of 500 years since the death of the Tathagata. In the SGI/Nichiren Shoshu translation in the West it became known as "the true object of worship".

What Nichiren established as Honzon is the scene that takes place in the Original Gate of the Lotus Sutra: The Stupa of seven treasures floating in the air over the eagle's peak, within Shakyamuni is positioned next to the Buddha Many Treasures, and these three are being attended to. by the four leading bodhisattvas of those emerging from the earth. Below them is the assembly of disciples who receive the Essential Teaching: The daughter of the dragon king, many bodhisattvas, arhats, etc., who are representatives of the ten worlds.

The Gohonzon for Nichiren is this whole scene, what he usually calls the Shakymuni of essential teaching.

So, from that, each sub-school defined what can be used as a Gohonzon. In the Fuji lineage (Nichiren Shoshu and other independents), the tradition is that the scene should be described only using Sumi, in the form of "scroll", or with calligraphy carved in high relief on wooden tablets. In the Minobu lineage (and in the temples under his influence), the tradition is that it can be described in the same way as the previous one, as well as using statues. In other lineages, such as Honmon Hokke/Butsuryu Shu, what can be used as Honzon is just Daimoku written in Sumi.

Thus, what can be used as Honzon in Nichiren Buddhism varies greatly from tradition to tradition, and the only thing in common is the necessity and centrality of the Daimoku of the written Sutra.

Among the Honzon inscribed by Nichiren, all that are universally regarded as authentic followed the model of inscription with Sumi on paper, in which some contain only the inscribed daimoku, others contain the daimoku flanked by the two Buddhas, others contain the daimoku with the two Buddhas and the Four Bodhisattvas, and others describing the entire scene (always in writing).

At the same time, Nichiren had a carved statue of Shakyamuni, which he carried with him, and there is a writing intended for Shinjo Kingo that praises a statue of Shakyamuni that he had carved, and gives certain information that for the statue to be considered the Buddha of the Essential Teaching - it should be related to the Lotus Sutra and/or the Four Bodhisattvas.

So, looking only at what Nichiren teaches directly in his writings (which includes the gohonzons he inscribed), the essential that is always present in virtually every Honzon is the Daimoku (title) of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren says, for example, that the term Japan includes all the society, fauna, flora and topography of the country, thus, the title itself includes all the scenes, dialogues, wisdom, of the Sutra. So, regardless of any sectarian tradition, Nichiren's teaching is central to Daimoku, both as a practice and as an object of devotion.

So yes, there is a difference between chanting daimoku in front of a Gohonzon Nichiren and a Buddha statue.

You see, the practice of the Lotus Sutra is to receive, read, recite, propagate and copy. These activities lead to the internalization of the Sutra images and scenes. When a person gets involved with a reading, he feels himself in those scenes and that is the intention of this practice. What Nichiren did was create a universal practice that allows for the universalization of this introspection.

When you sit in front of the Gohonzon and recite the Daimoku, there is an integration between the person who recites it and the scene represented. You are part of that scene, you, with the right mindset, are situated at that moment on the Eagle's Peak listening to the Buddha expound the Lotus Sutra.

If you don't understand this scene, even if you sit in front of the Gohonzon, there won't be this introspective experience, and if it's not possible that way, how can you have it with another mandala? If you sit in front of the image of Amida Buddha flanked by the two Bodhisattvas, what you might experience would be the Pure Land insight, but not the Lotus Sutra insight. If you sit in front of the image of Shakyamuni after attaining enlightenment, you could experience the insight of the sravakas, but not that of the Lotus Sutra.

So there is this need to sit in faith before the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra in order to gain this experience of insight into the Original Gate of the Lotus Sutra.
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