wisdom of the lotus sutra-chapter ten

8/11/2019 Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra-Chapter Ten

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Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra

Chapter Ten

"The Emergence of the Treasure Tower"

One's Life Is Itself the Treasure Tower

Saito: Thank you, President Ikeda, for invitin us to sit in onyour dis!ussion the other day "#pril $%, &(, Tokyo) with *r+*avid W+ Chappell+

*r+ Chappell was formerly dire!tor of theCenter for -uddhist Studies of the

.niversity of /awaii at 0anoa, and is!urrently dire!tor of the s!hool's 1ast2West 3eliions Pro4e!t+ /e is a mem5er of the International #sso!iation of -uddhistStudies and the So!iety for the Study ofChinese 3eliions+6

7ust as in your meetin with *r+ 0ararita I+ 8oro5yova2*esyatovskaya "of the Institute of Oriental Studies, 3ussian#!ademy of S!ien!es), the dis!ussion 5rimmed with ri!h 4ewelsof insiht for studyin the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra+

Suda: 0oreover, 5e!ause the dialoue was 9lled with su!h5rilliant humor, the three2and2a2half hours seemed to pass inan instant+ Thouh I imaine that keepin up a dis!ussion forsu!h a lon time must have 5een rather ehaustin for you5oth+1ndo: ;rom the moment you wel!omed *r+ Chappell at theSeikyo Shim5un 5uildin, I felt an indes!ri5a5le warmth5etween the two of you+# pi!ture a!!ompanyin the arti!le in the Seikyo Shim5unnewspaper shows you relievin *r+ Chappell of the 5a he was!arryin+ That 5a had in fa!t !ontained a photo al5um a5out

/awaii and other 5ooks that *r+ Chappell had 5rouht as iftsfor you+ When he later presented them to you, he remarked,<I'm sorry they're so heavy+< Thankin him, you replied: <Iknow+ I was !arryin them around earlier+<Ikeda: =ou've >uite a memory for detail+ -ut it seems to me wemust have talked a5out other thins that were moreimportant+

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;or instan!e, *r+ Chappell suested that dialoue 5ased onthe spirit of the Lotus Sutra22on a sense of respe!t andappre!iation for the in9nite worth of ea!h person's life+++ wouldhold the key to the future of humankind+ Su!h respe!t for lifeis in fa!t the messae of the Lotus Sutra and of <The

1meren!e of the Treasure Tower< !hapter+ The ri!h soil of su!hmutual respe!t !an sustain fruitful dialoue and friendship,and the ?ourishin of pea!e+ /e also epressed the 5elief thatmilitary for!e is no mat!h for the strenth of humanfriendship+Saito: #s you suest, the Lotus Sutra22-uddhism22is !ertainlynot remote or far removed from our daily lives+ ;or it to haveany real meanin, it has to 5e!ome manifest in our immediatea!tions+1ndo: The #meri!an mytholoist 7oseph Camp5ell writes, <Ithink of !ompassion as the fundamental reliious eperien!e

and, unless that is there, you have nothin+< 7oseph Camp5ellwith -ill 0oyers, The Power of 0yth, ed+ -etty Sue ;lowers"@ew =ork: *ou5leday, &AA), p+ $&$+6Suda: @ow you, President Ikeda, are always showin us thisthrouh your a!tions+ Still, I 9nd myself hard pressed to domore than 4ust marvel at your eample+Ikeda: -uddhism lies !lose at hand, in the here and now+ Iteists in daily life, in human eisten!e, in so!iety+ To present-uddhism as 5elonin to some realm removed from life andreality is a de!eption+Saito: Priests of later times often shrouded -uddhism in

mysti!al terms in order to appropriate authority forthemselves+ So in the minds of many, -uddhism has an aura ofthe esoteri! hanin over it+1ndo: They've taken what the -uddha went to reat lenths toeplain as !learly and simply as possi5le, and added layers ofo5fus!ation and o5s!urity+Ikeda: Sin!e an!ient times, a reat many interpretations have5een iven to the !hapter we are to 5ein studyin this time,<The 1meren!e of the Treasure Tower+< In some !ases, su!hinterpretations meant a reat deal to the people to whom theywere arti!ulated+ /owever, @i!hiren *aishonin points to its

ultimate sini9!an!e when he plainly says that the tea!hin ofthe Treasure Tower <refers to our individual 5odies< "Boshoenshu, p+ D%E)+ In the same vein, !omparin the appearan!eof the Treasure Tower to one's emeren!e in 5irth, he says,<The Treasure Purity world is the mother's wom5< "B, D%E)Fand, <the pro!ess of emerin from this wom5 is !alled'!omin forth and appearin'< "B, DD)+

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Our lives are dini9ed Treasure Towers+ =et it is a truth thateludes us+ To realiGe that su!h a truth is indeed our lives is, in

fa!t, <seein the Treasure Tower+< The !eremony that takespla!e in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter is a mirror that revealsthe true entity of our lives+ The BohonGon that @i!hiren

*aishonin esta5lished, 5ased on the !eremony in the <TreasureTower< !hapter, is the <!lear mirror< in whi!h we !an per!eiveour true selves+-uddhism is !on!erned with the reality of our lives+ This should5e our 5asi! stan!e as we try to !ome to terms with thetea!hins of the Lotus Sutra+

The Appearance of the Treasure Tower

#t that time in the -uddha's presen!e, there was a

tower adorned with the seven treasures, 9vehundred yo4anas in heiht and two hundred and 9ftyyo4anas in width and depth, that rose up out of theearth and stood suspended in the air+ 8arious kindsof pre!ious o54e!ts adorned it+ It had 9ve thousandrailins, a thousand, ten thousand rooms, andnum5erless streamers and 5anners de!orated it+;estoons of 4ewels hun down and ten thousandmillion 4eweled 5ells were suspended from it+ #llfour sides emitted a fraran!e of tamalapatra andsandalwood that pervaded the whole world+ Its

5anners and !anopies were made of the seventreasures, namely, old, silver, lapis laGuli, seashell,aate, pearl, and !arnelian, and it was so hih itrea!hed to the heavenly pala!es of the ;our/eavenly Hins+ "The Lotus Sutra, !h+ &&, pp+ &DE2D&)

1ndo: This !hapter opens with the appearan!e of the TreasureTower, an enormous tower that suddenly emeres from theearth and !omes to a rest suspended in mid2air+

Then, >uite without warnin a reat voi!e is heard issuinfrom within the tower:

<1!ellent, e!ellent Shakyamuni, World2/onored One, that you !an take the LotusSutra of the Wonderful Law, and prea!h itfor the sake of the reat assem5ly It isas you say, as you say+ Shakyamuni,

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World2/onored One, all that you haveepounded is the truth< "LS&&, &D&)

/earin su!h words of praise left those in the assem5ly withreat dou5t+ Someone asks: <World2/onored One, for what

reason has this Treasure Tower risen up out of the earthJ #ndwhy does this voi!e issue from its midstJ< "LS&&, &D&)Shakyamuni eplains that in the Treasure Tower there is a-uddha named 0any Treasures "7p+ Taho), and that this-uddha on!e made the followin reat vow:

<If, after I have 5e!ome a -uddha andentered etin!tion, in the lands in the tendire!tions there is any pla!e where theLotus Sutra is prea!hed, then my funerarytower+++ will !ome forth and appear in that

spot to testify to the sutra and praise itse!ellen!e+< "LS&&, &D&)

Suda: The 5odhisattva >uestionin Shakyamuni persists:<World2/onored One, we wish to see the 5ody of this -uddha<"LS&&, &D$)+1ndo: -ut there is a !ondition+ In order for 0any Treasures-uddha to show himself, Shakyamuni must 9rst athertoether all of the -uddhas who, as his emanations, areepoundin the Law in the ten dire!tions of the universe+ To

!ause these -uddhas to ather, Shakyamuni puri9es the Sahaworld three times, enlares it 5y the addition of many otherworlds, and !om5ines all of these worlds into one mani9!ent-uddha land+ This is what is known as the <threetransformations of the land+<When Shakyamuni opens the Treasure Tower after all the-uddhas have athered, 0any Treasures -uddha is seensolemnly seated within+Suda: 3eadin the des!ription in the sutra, you !an almosthear the people !at!h their 5reath at the in!redi5le siht5efore them+

1ndo: 0any Treasures -uddha then reiterates his praise forShakyamuni's prea!hin of the Lotus Sutra, sayin, <1!ellent,1!ellent, Shakyamuni -uddha< "LS&&, &DK)+ /e then movesover and invites Shakyamuni to 4oin him on his seat+Suda: Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures -uddha thus seatedtoether within the Treasure Tower is the oriin of the termthe two -uddhas seated side 5y side+

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1ndo: @ow the people are aGin up at the -uddhas in thetower hih a5ove them+ It was at this point that Shakyamunilifted the entire assem5ly of 5eins into the air+ That is the5einnin of the Ceremony in the #ir+Shakyamuni then !alls to them: <Who is !apa5le of 5roadly

prea!hin the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law in this SahaworldJ @ow is the time to do so, for 5efore lon the Thus ComeOne will enter nirvana+ The -uddha wishes to entrust thisLotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law to someone so that it may 5epreserved< "LS&&, &D()+ @et he eplains that the tower of0any Treasures -uddha has appeared and the -uddhas fromthe ten dire!tions have athered in this pla!e, at this time, inorder <to make !ertain the Law will lon endure< "LS&&, &DD)+Suda: In other words, this is the vow they make to ensure thatthe Law will never perish+1ndo: Shakyamuni then eplains "throuh des!ri5in the <si

di!ult and nine easy a!ts< &6) 4ust how di!ult it will 5e toem5ra!e and spread the Lotus Sutra in the world after hispassin, !ompared to the di!ulty of em5ra!in and spreadinother sutras+ /e ures those in the assem5ly to arouse astron desire and vow to a!!omplish this very di!ult task,sayin that those who do will attain the unsurpassed Way ofthe -uddha+ That's the 5asi! outline of the <Treasure Tower<!hapter+Saito: I uess the hih point would 5e the appearan!e of themani9!ent and rand Treasure Tower, 5eautifully adornedwith the seven treasures, whi!h in!lude old, silver, lapis laGuli

and aate+Ikeda: The appearan!e of the reat tower dramati!ally marksthe 5einnin of the Ceremony in the #ir+ The *aishonin >uite

appropriately says that what then takes pla!e is <no ordinary!eremony< "The 0a4or Writins of @i!hiren *aishonin, vol+ (, p+KD)+1ndo: It !ertainly was 5y no means ordinary+ The appearan!eof the Treasure Tower, the testimony of 0any Treasures-uddha, the three transformations of the land, the atherinof Shakyamuni's emanations from throuhout the universe, thetwo -uddhas Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures sittin side 5y

side22here we have a su!!ession of etraordinary and entirelyunpre!edented events+Suda: The etraordinary siGe of the Treasure Tower is itselfremarka5le+ 0easurin 9ve hundred yo4anas in heiht and twohundred29fty yo4anas in width and depth, it is a5solutelyenormous+# yo4ana was a unit of measure used in an!ient India+ Itindi!ated the distan!e that the royal army !ould travel in a

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day+ #!!ordin to one eplanation, it !orresponds to fortyChinese ri ri: #5out E+K km or one2third of a mile a!!ordin to!lassi!al Chinese sour!es+6There are a num5er of other de9nitions, 5ut even !al!ulated!onservatively 9ve hundred yo4anas would 5e e>ual to one2

third the diameter of the earth+ It was a distan!e so reat as tohave 5een all 5ut in!omprehensi5le to the people of the day+Ikeda: They're not the only ones who would have di!ultyimainin somethin that enormous+ We !annot fathom atower of su!h dimensions without thinkin in astronomi!alterms+ The fa!t that it is adorned with seven kinds of treasuresis also etraordinary+1ndo: Several points are hard to visualiGe+ ;or eample, thesutra says that 0any Treasures -uddha is within the TreasureTower, 5ut where would he have 5een within su!h an enormousedi9!eJ Shakyamuni opens the Treasure Tower with his riht

hand and sits down alonside 0any Treasures, 5ut was thedoor lare or smallJ #nd where in the 5ody of the TreasureTower is the door lo!atedJIkeda: That's why there is nothin surprisin a5out #5utsu25o# follower of the *aishonin on Sado Island6 askin @i!hiren*aishonin to eplain the meanin of the Treasure Tower+

Saito: The shape of the Treasure Tower isn't !learly eplainedeither+ We are told that it is <hih,< 5ut is it re!tanularJ Is it!ylindri!alJ Is it shaped like a !one or a pyramidJ Is it domeshapedJ @one of this is !lear+

Ikeda: 0ay5e the people of India at the time had a !ertainimae of its shape+ -ut it seems to me that the >uestion ofwhat a tower sym5oliGed to them is more important than whatits pre!ise shape was+Suda: Well, tower "7p+ to) is the Chinese translation of theSanskrit term stupa+ Indian stupas are said to have hadetraordinarily ri!h sym5olism+ In!identally, the 7apanesewords soto5a and to5a are transliterations of stupa+The term stupa appears in an!ient 8edi! "i+e+, /indu) tets+ Itsmeanins in!lude <ais !onne!tin heaven and earth< and <topof the ful!rum+< Certain 8edi! tets say that the entire

universe is like a treeF the !rown, or top2most portion, of thistree is !alled the stupa+ It seems this portion was also taken tosym5oliGe the entire universe+Ikeda: Biven that !ultural 5a!kround, it may 5e that thesutra's des!ription of the Treasure Tower !on4ured up an imaeof some !osmi! entity in the minds of the an!ient Indians+1ndo: It's interestin that 5oth to5a and the Treasure Towerare stupas+ To make money, !orrupt priests will make a fuss

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urin people to make to5a oMerins i+e+, pay a fee to have amemorial ta5let ins!ri5ed for a de!eased person6+ -ut theynever 5other tryin to ere!t the Treasure Tower in their ownlives+Suda: Oriinally, stupas were often in the shape of a dome,

and these were !alled <es< "Skt+ anda)+ @ot only did theyresem5le es in their shape, 5ut there was a !onne!tion witha olden e that is mentioned in a 8edi! !reation myth+ Thee, it seems, sym5oliGed the universal !reative power orprin!iple+1ndo: In terms of an!ient Indian !osmoloy, there also appearsto 5e a !onne!tion with 0ount Sumeru, whi!h was supposed tostand at the !enter of the world+ The people of India seem tohave rearded the lofty peaks of the /imalayas and othermountains as a kind of ideal land+ These mountains seem tohave held reat meanin for them, perhaps 5e!ause they were

the sour!e of water 22 somethin very important for a land asarid as India+Stupas often !ontained sym5ols of various kinds representin0ount Sumeru as an ideal land+ #lso in -uddhist tets, thereare many statements suestin that stupas were identi9edwith 0ount Sumeru+Ikeda: The /imalayas, whi!h I saw when I visited @epal, are!ertainly a ma4esti! siht+ They stru!k me as havin theimposin dinity of a Treasure Tower !onne!tin heaven andearth+It seems to me that a !ommon thread in everythin that has

5een said so far is that stupas sym5oliGe the !enter of theworld and of the universe+ I think that the Treasure Tower inthe Lotus Sutra, whi!h is astronomi!ally lare, also !arries thissini9!an!e+In the <Treasure Tower< !hapter, Shakyamuni puri9es the worldthree times to !ause the -uddhas throuhout the universe whoare his emanations to ather toether, and he uni9es a vastnum5er of lands22the 9ure iven is four hundred ten thousandmillion @ayutas @ayuta: an Indian numeri!al unit!orrespondin to &EE,EEE,EEE,EEE6 of lands22into one -uddhaland+

Countless -uddhas, emittin enouh 5rillian!e to illuminatethe darkness of niht, assem5le+ The lapis laGuli round is!overed with !ountless 4ewels and ?owers+ 7eweled trees rowlush+ It is a s!ene of diGGyin olden 5rillian!e+ #nd at the!enter of everythin stands the Treasure Tower+The Treasure Tower stands at the !enter of the universe+ In5rillian!e it is like a atherin of all the 4ewels in the universe+Its mani9!en!e metaphori!ally indi!ates that the life of ea!h

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person is a !luster of 4ewels+ Its immense siGe illustrates thetruth that ea!h person's life is as vast as the universe+Saito: -e!ause the Treasure Tower ?oats in the air, it wouldindeed have the appearan!e of an ais !onne!tin heaven andearth+

Ikeda: @i!hiren *aishonin says, <In terms of 0yoho23ene2Hyo6 the air represents 3ene, earth represents Hyo, andheaven represents 0yoho< "B, D%$)+ In other words, theTreasure Tower ?oatin in mid2air 5etween heaven and earthindi!ates that heaven, air and earth are in their entirety0yoho23ene2Hyo+ The universe in its entirety, as sini9ed 5yheaven and earth, is 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ Our lives are 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ #nd the Treasure Tower is also 0yoho23ene2Hyo+This points to the rand truth that our lives and the universeare one+ In terms of the do!trine of the three truths, $6 theidenti9!ation of the universe with the entity of the 0ysti! Law

is the truth of non2su5stantiality+ #nd the identi9!ation ofone's 5ody with the 0ysti! Law is the truth of temporaryeisten!e+Saito: 1a!h livin entity is the temporary uni9!ation of the 9ve!omponents "i+e+, form, per!eption, !on!eption, volition and!ons!iousness)+ This is what the truth of temporary eisten!emeans+The <Oni Huden< "3e!ord of the Orally Transmitted Tea!hins)says reardin the !hapter's title, <The 1meren!e of theTreasure Tower<:

<Treasure< stands for the 9ve !omponentsof life+ <Tower< stands for theirharmonious fun!tionin+ The 9ve!omponents fun!tionin in harmony isdesinated the Treasure Tower+ Theharmonious fun!tionin of the 9ve

!omponents emeres, or is seen, in the9ve !hara!ters 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ This isthe meanin of to <emere< or <5e seen+<"B, DN)

In other words, when we per!eive that our lives are 0yoho23ene2Hyo, we are seein the Treasure Tower+ This is the truthof temporary eisten!e+Ikeda: =ou've eplained the truth of non2su5stantiality and thetruth of temporary eisten!e+ The Treasure Tower's emeren!e,then, must !orrespond to 0yoho23ene2Hyo, whi!h is the truthof the 0iddle Way+

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In the mirror of the Treasure Tower "i+e+, the BohonGon) we seethe Treasure Tower within ourselves+ We per!eive that weourselves are the Treasure Tower+Saito: The Treasure Tower, in other words, is none other thanthe lives of people who 5elieve in the 0ysti! Law and !hant

@am20yoho23ene2Hyo+ This is what @i!hiren *aishoninrepeatedly emphasiGes+1ndo: In one pla!e, for eample, the *aishonin says, <The1meren!e of the Treasure Tower< !hapter eists within the5ody of Lady @i!himyo< "0W2K, $DN2D%)+ /e also says:

In the Latter *ay of the Law, there is noTreasure Tower other than the 9ures ofthe men and women who em5ra!e theLotus Sutra+ It follows, therefore, thatthose who !hant @am20yoho23ene2Hyo,

irrespe!tive of so!ial status, arethemselves the Treasure Tower andlikewise they themselves are Taho-uddha+ @ow the entire 5ody of #5utsuShonin is !omposed of the 9ve universalelements of earth, water, 9re, wind andku+ These 9ve elements are also the 9ve!hara!ters of the daimoku+ Therefore,#5utsu25o is the Treasure Tower itself,and the Treasure Tower is #5utsu25ohimself+ @o other knowlede is

purposeful+ "0W2&, NE)

Ikeda: #5utsu25o wanted to learn the sini9!an!e of theTreasure Tower+ The *aishonin eplained to him >uite simply:The Treasure Tower is none other than you yourself+ #nd,addin, <no other knowlede is purposeful,< he indi!ates thatthis is the main point to rasp+ In other words, there is nothinto 5e ained from tryin to understand other theories ordo!trines+On!e we understand that we who worship the BohonGon areourselves the tower of many treasures, what need do we have

of further do!trinal understandinJ We are studyin the LotusSutra in this manner to !on9rm our understandin of itsessential meanin and to deepen our faith, and 5e a5le to talka5out the Lotus Sutra with others+ Hnowlede that strays fromthis fundamental o54e!tive is of no value for the purpose ofattainin -uddhahood+

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-ased on that, why don't we draw out the main points a5outthe Treasure Tower as it is des!ri5ed in the Lotus SutraJ

The Treasure Tower Is None Other ThanMyoho-Renge-Kyo

Saito: The <Treasure Tower< !hapter eplains the oriins of theTreasure Tower+ -ased on 5oth the Sanskrit tet andHumara4iva's Chinese translation, we know the followin: "&) Inthe past, 0any Treasures -uddha, livin in a world !alledTreasure Purity in the eastern part of the universe, heard thedo!trine of 0yoho23ene "termed <White Lotus< in the Sanskrittet) and attained -uddhahood+ "$) When he was a5out to

enter etin!tion, 0any Treasures entrusted people with thetask of 5uildin an immense Treasure Tower for theenshrinement of the <5ody of the Thus Come One+< "N) -e!auseof the strenth of his vow "referred to earlier), this TreasureTower appears wherever the do!trine of 0yoho23ene is 5eintauht, and will rest in the air while the do!trine of 0yoho23ene is 5ein epounded+ "%) The reason for the TreasureTower's appearan!e is to hear the do!trine of 0yoho23ene5ein epounded, and to testify to its truth+ "K) In order for theTreasure Tower to 5e opened and the <5ody of the Thus ComeOne< to 5e revealed, the -uddha, epoundin the do!trine of

0yoho23ene, must ather toether all of his emanations fromthe worlds in the ten dire!tions+What stands out in these des!riptions is the fre>uentreferen!e to the <do!trine of 0yoho23ene+< In Humara4iva'sChinese translation, this is rendered variously as <the LotusSutra< or <this sutra,< thouh it is not repeated as many times,makin it less !onspi!uous+ -ut in the Sanskrit tet, theepression do!trine of the White Lotus is stressed repeatedly+#lso, in the Lotus Sutra taken as a whole, this term appearsmost fre>uently in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter+Ikeda: The Treasure Tower 5ears a !lose relationship to the 9ve

!hara!ters of 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ Or, more pre!isely, as the*aishonin said, the Treasure Tower is itself 0yoho23ene2Hyo+Saito: It is parti!ularly important to note that the TreasureTower is meant to appear wherever the <do!trine of 0yoho23ene is 5ein< epounded+ This is hihly suestive in liht of the relationship 5etween the Treasure Tower and 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ Plants, for instan!e, 5loom in response to theeternal !auses or stimuli of sunliht and water+ Similarly, the

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Treasure Tower appears in response to the Lotus Sutra 5einepounded+Perhaps the Treasure Tower in its entirety is the manifestationof the Law of 0yoho23ene2Hyo, whi!h is its essen!e+Suda: In the sutra, the Treasure Tower !ertainly does appear in

response to the prea!hin of the Lotus Sutra, 4ust as a lotus?ower 5lossoms when stru!k 5y the rays of the sun+ I !animaine that's how it must have seemed to those athered inthe assem5ly+Ikeda: The Treasure Tower of 0yoho23ene2Hyo does indeedappear in response to the prea!hin of 0yoho2rene2kyo+When we !hant the 0ysti! Law and pra!ti!e for our ownhappiness as well as that of others, our lives 5e!ome theTreasure Tower+ Put another way, the Treasure Tower emeresin our lives+ The Law that we !hant is 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ #nd0yoho23ene2Hyo is also the entity of our lives+ 7osei Toda, the

se!ond Soka Bakkai president, remarked:

I on!e asked a s!holar who had 5e!ome apriest: <The Lotus Sutra says that theTreasure Tower appears where the LotusSutra is 5ein epounded+ -ut @i!hiren*aishonin epounded the Lotus Sutra andno Treasure Tower appeared+ Why isthisJ< The man looked very perpleed+

When #5utsu25o asked the *aishonin

a5out the Treasure Tower, the *aishonintold him, <#5utsu25o is the TreasureTower itself, and the Treasure Tower is#5utsu25o himself+< =our 5ody is itself theTreasure Tower+ Within that TreasureTower, within your own life, are seatedthe two -uddhas Shakyamuni and 0anyTreasures+ #nd they have !alled forth-odhisattva Superior Pra!ti!es "7p+

7oyo)+ Toda 7osei enshu "Colle!tedWorks of 7osei Toda), vol+ D, p+ %KK2K(6

Suda: This is a real pitfall for s!holars who tend to understand-uddhism stri!tly in terms of theory+ They think of theTreasure Tower as eistin some pla!e far away+Ikeda: President Toda also said:

The mysti! life of the world of-uddhahood is an intrinsi! part of our

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own lives+ The power and !ondition of thislife of -uddhahood e!eeds the rea!h ofone's imaination and de9es des!riptionin words+ -ut we !an !on!retely manifestit in the entity of our own lives+ The

!eremony in the <Treasure Tower< !haptereplains that we !an in fa!t manifest inour lives the inherent world of-uddhahood+ In the !eremony of the<Treasure Tower< !hapter, Shakyamunireveals the prin!iples of the mutualpossession of the ten worlds and I!hinenSanGen "three thousand realms in a sinlemoment of life) within his own life+ Toda

7osei enshu, vol+ (, p+ $DK6

The !eremony in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter eplains inspe!i9! terms the san!tity of the world of -uddhahood, whi!hall 5eins inherently possess+ Why, then, does 0yoho23ene2Hyo need to 5e epressed in !on!rete form "as the TreasureTower)J -e!ause this is the tea!hin <for the ae after the-uddha's passin<F it's to <ensure that the Law will lonendure+<.p to this point, it has 5een eplained that those who hear theLotus Sutra and 5elieve in and understand it, !an de9nitelyattain -uddhahood+ I think the appearan!e of the TreasureTower is a!tual proof of the Lotus Sutra's power+

;rom the <Treasure Tower< !hapter on, Shakyamuni tea!hes interms of a!tual life in this world what he had only eplainedtheoreti!ally in the pre!edin !hapters+ This, in other words, isthe essential tea!hin+ The preparatory se!tion of theessential tea!hin "or latter half of the Lotus Sutra) 5einswith the <Treasure Tower< !hapter+The testimony of 0any Treasures -uddha oes 5eyond hisutteran!es of <1!ellent, 1!ellent< made from within theTreasure Tower attestin to the vera!ity of the Lotus Sutra+3ather, the appearan!e of 0any Treasures -uddha and of theTreasure Tower, ea!h in their own way, serves as a!tual proof

of the truth of 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ The title of the !hapter, <The1meren!e of the Treasure Tower,< means per!eivin 0yoho2rene2kyo throuh the appearan!e of the Treasure Tower+ Itsappearan!e !ould 5e thouht of as the <dire!t eperien!e< of0yoho23ene2Hyo+ In other words, the Treasure Tower tea!hesthat our lives are 0yoho23ene2Hyo+ In that sense, the*aishonin !alls the <Treasure Tower< !hapter a <5riht mirror+<

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1ndo: /e says: <@ow when @i!hiren and his followers !hant@am20yoho23ene2Hyo, they see and understand allphenomena as thouh these were re?e!ted in a 5riht mirror+This 5riht mirror is the Lotus SutraF and, spe!i9!ally, it is the'Treasure Tower' !hapter< "B, D(N)+ /e also says, <The 9ve

lim5s, the 9ve elements that make up the 5odies of livin5eins su!h as we, are re?e!tions of 0yoho23ene2Hyo, andtherefore we should learn to use this 'Treasure Tower' !hapteras our mirror< "B, D$%)+Ikeda: The <tower adorned with the seven treasures< is therand and dini9ed oriinal form of our lives+ The TreasureTower epounded in the Lotus Sutra is indeed an a!!urateresponse to So!rates' philosophi!al di!tum <Hnow thyself+< TheTreasure Tower that those in the assem5ly see when lifted upin the air must 5e the entity of their own lives+ They no dou5tsaw an unshaka5le self, solemn and towerin+ That's why it's

!alled a <5riht mirror+<0eanin is also !onne!ted to the fa!t that the Treasure Toweremeres from within the earth+ /ere the earth sym5oliGes thereality of the nine worlds, of people's lives+ The Treasure Toweris more than a mere epression of the life of the world of-uddhahoodF its emeren!e from within the earth indi!atesthat people !an !hoose to !onstru!t the Treasure Tower withintheir own lives+ The nine worlds themselves !ontain the worldof -uddhahood+ That's why the Treasure Tower emeres fromthe earth+

The Fusion of Reality an !isom

Saito: @i!hiren *aishonin says that the two -uddhasShakyamuni and 0any Treasures indi!ate the two prin!iples ofreality and wisdom, and that the two -uddhas seated side 5yside therefore sini9es the fusion of reality and wisdom+ N60any Treasures represents reality, and Shakyamuni, thewisdom to !orre!tly per!eive it+ /ow should we understandthisJIkeda: President Toda said that <reality< means the o54e!tiveworld, and <wisdom< the su54e!tive world+ /e was not usinthese terms in a Western, dualisti! sense+ 3ather, his !ommentwas premised on the assumption of an essential unity of thesu54e!tive and o54e!tive realms+Suda: @i!hiren *aishonin says, <3eality means the entity of all phenomena in the universe, and wisdom means the perfe!t

13



manifestation of this entity in the individual's life< "0W2&,&(N)+Ikeda: That's riht+ In fa!t, President Toda often said, <If 5eina ro!er is your 'reality,' then to really work hard to make your5usiness prosper is manifestin the 'fusion of reality and

wisdom+'<Of !ourse whatever our o!!upation22whether 9shmoner or!ompany employees22we have a mission to ful9ll and a path inlife+ That mission or path is the person's <reality+< It is the lihtof <wisdom< that !auses this reality to shine+ 1Me!tin theperfe!t fusion of reality and wisdom in our own lives means5e!omin indispensa5le wherever we are+This is not limited to human 5eins+ Cherry trees sense the!hanin of the seasons, and when sprin !omes they all aton!e 5urst into 5loom+ Whi!h also illustrates the fusion ofreality and wisdom+ It !ould 5e said that the wisdom of !herry

trees lies in their innately sensin the arrival of sprin+Suda: It would indeed 5e >uite astonishin if they were to5loom in summer+Ikeda: In essen!e, everyone is a -uddha+ That is our <reality+<It is the liht of wisdom that !auses the world of -uddhahoodin our lives to shine+ Our -uddhahood starts shinin when wehave the wisdom to realiGe we are -uddhas+ This is the fusionof reality and wisdom+;rom our standpoint, a!!ordin to the -uddhist prin!iple of<su5stitutin faith for wisdom,< the <wisdom,< !omponent inthe fusion of reality and wisdom, means <faith+< That we

possess the world of -uddhahood is the o54e!tive truth, the<reality,< of our lives+ ;aith !auses this reality to shine ina!tuality+Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures represent ordinary peoplewho !ause the oriinal world of -uddhahood in their lives+++usually !overed over 5y the soot of earthly desires+++ to shine+The Thus Come One is an ordinary person, a human 5ein+@i!hiren *aishonin says, <Shakyamuni, Taho 0any Treasures6,and all the other -uddhas in the ten dire!tions represent theworld of -uddhahood within ourselves< "0W2&, (%)+ #ain,0any Treasures !orresponds to <reality< 5e!ause he always

appears where the Lotus Sutra is 5ein epounded+ In otherwords, he represents eternal truth+ #nd Shakyamuni !ausesthis eternal truth to manifest <here and now+<Put another way, somethin eternal manifests in the here andnow as a result of the two -uddhas sittin side 5y side, that is,throuh the fusion of reality and wisdom+ In fa!t, it is only inthe here and now that somethin eternal !an appear+ #nythinelse is 4ust an illusion+

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Shakyamuni represents <wisdom,< or the su54e!tive entity+ The0ysti! Law manifests in our lives only when we wae a reatstrule on our own initiative+ We eperien!e the fusion ofreality and wisdom when we work to !arry out our mission5urnin with the !onvi!tion, <I am a -odhisattva of the 1arth I

am a -uddha<Saito: #nd @am20yoho23ene2Hyo is the epression of thisfusion of reality and wisdom+Ikeda: That's riht+ <3eality< means the reality of the 0ysti!Law, and <wisdom,< the wisdom of the 0ysti! Law+ This is whatthe *aishonin tea!hes when he says, <What then are these twoelements of reality and wisdomJ They are simply @am20yoho23ene2Hyo< "0W2&, &(%)+3eality and wisdom are not separateF they are a sinle entity+3eality ives rise to wisdom, and wisdom illuminates reality+That is their relation+

Thinkin a5out this in terms of the sun may make it easier torasp+ The su5stan!e of the sun is its <reality+< 7ust as the sunemits liht, and there5y illuminates and !auses itself toappear, reality produ!es wisdom+Suda: The two -uddhas Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures arefun!tions of the Law of @am2myoho2rene2kyo+ Shakyamuniand 0any Treasures epress the Law of @am20yoho23ene2Hyoem5odyin the oneness of reality and wisdom+Ikeda: @i!hiren *aishonin says, <The two -uddhas, Shakyamuniand Taho, are merely fun!tions of the true -uddha, while0yoho23ene2Hyo a!tually is the true -uddha< "0W2&, E)+

The ohon#on an the $eremony in the Air

1ndo: In terms of the appearan!e of the BohonGon ins!ri5ed 5y@i!hiren *aishonin, this passae !lari9es why the Law of @am20yoho23ene2Hyo appears prominently down the !enter andShakyamuni and 0any Treasures are positioned on either side+Saito: The two -uddhas seated side 5y side also epress theprin!iple of the true entity of all phenomenaF 0any Treasuresrepresents all phenomena, and Shakyamuni the true entity+They also epress the oneness of life and deathF 0anyTreasures represents death, and Shakyamuni life+Suda: The *aishonin ins!ri5ed the BohonGon 5ased on the!eremony that takes pla!e in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter,in!orporatin su!h elements as the two -uddhas seated side5y sideN+

15



The *aishonin says that only he is <>uali9ed to ins!ri5e theo54e!t of worship whi!h physi!ally manifests the !eremony ofthe two -uddhas seated toether in the Treasure Tower< "0W2&, E)+/e also de!lares: <This mandala is in no way @i!hiren's

invention+ It is the o54e!t of worship whi!h perfe!tly depi!tsLord Shakyamuni in the Treasure Tower and all the other-uddhas who were present, as a!!urately as the print mat!hesthe wood5lo!k< "0W2&, $&$)+Ikeda: In eplainin the sini9!an!e of the <Treasure Tower<!hapter to #5utsu25o, the *aishonin prefa!ed his remarks 5ysayin that this matter <is of reat importan!e< "0W2&, $)+That is 5e!ause the Ceremony in the #ir is a fundamental issuerelatin to the BohonGon+Saito: In a letter to Shi4o Hino, as well, he says reardin thesini9!an!e of Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures in the Treasure

Tower as representin reality and wisdom6, <These tea!hinsare of prime importan!e< "0W2$ $nd ed+6, $EE)+Ikeda: The Breat Tea!her T'ien2t'ai of China eplains that theappearan!e of the Treasure Tower has two distin!t fun!tions:one is to lend !reden!e to the pre!edin !hapters and theother is to pave the way for the revelation to !ome+Suda: That's mentioned in the /okke 0onu+ /okke 0onu"Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), vol+ A6 That theTreasure Tower <lends !reden!e< to the pre!edin !haptersmeans that it !erti9es the truth of Shakyamuni's prea!hin inthe earlier !hapters+ Thus the reat voi!e of 0any Treasures

-uddha issues from within the Treasure Tower assertin thatShakyamuni's words are true+Ikeda: -y his voi!e and his appearan!e, 0any Treasurestesti9es to the truth of the 0ysti! Law+ This is the fun!tion of0any Treasures -uddha+ In the Soka Bakkai today, this is in asense the fun!tion of the mem5ers of the Taho2kai "0anyTreasures roup)+1ndo: I now see the sini9!an!e of your formin the 0anyTreasures roup as a way of honorin lontime mem5ers whohave su!h ri!h eperien!es in life and in faith+Ikeda: These are people who have dedi!ated their lives to the

no5le mission of provin the truth of the 0ysti! Law+ 1a!h oneof them is literally a treasure of the Soka Bakkai, of Hosen3ufu, and of so!iety+I hope all mem5ers will live lon lives+ The loner we live, thereater the vi!tory of Hosen 3ufu+ #lso, I hope mem5ers whoare advan!ed in years, as <0any Treasures -uddhas of Hosen3ufu,< will always 5e ready to warmly praise their 4uniors witha sense of <1!ellent, e!ellent<

16



1ndo: -y lendin !reden!e to the pre!edin !hapters, the<Treasure Tower< also <paves the way for the revelation to!ome<F that is, it sets the stae for the tea!hin that follows+Shakyamuni's atherin toether of the -uddha's of the tendire!tions 5e!omes the startin point for his epoundin the

<Life Span of the Thus Come One< "siteenth) !hapter+ That's5e!ause the fa!t that he has so many emanations sueststhat Shakyamuni has 5een instru!tin others as a -uddha foran etremely lon time+Ikeda: ;rom a literal standpoint, <pre!edin !hapters< "in <lend!reden!e to the pre!edin !hapters<) refers to the tea!hin inthe 9rst half of the Lotus Sutra "or theoreti!al tea!hin)+ #nd<the revelation to !ome< means the tea!hin in the LotusSutra's se!ond half "or essential tea!hin)+ The emeren!e ofthe Treasure Tower is the startin point for the prea!hin ofthe essential tea!hin that follows+

In terms of the *aishonin's -uddhism, however, the TreasureTower's appearan!e paves the way for @i!hiren *aishonin'sessential tea!hin+ The prea!hin in the <Treasure Tower<!hapter 5e!omes the startin point for the *aishonin'sesta5lishment of the BohonGon+ ;rom this standpoint, <therevelation to !ome< means the *aishonin's revelation of theo54e!t of worship for the Latter *ay of the Law+ That's why@i!hiren *aishonin !alls the o54e!t of worship he has ins!ri5edthe Treasure Tower+ The BohonGon is the *aishonin's very life,the life of the -uddha inherently endowed with threeenlihtened properties+ It is the Treasure Tower of @am20yoho2

3ene2Hyo+ #s was mentioned 5efore, the two -uddhasShakyamuni and 0any Treasures indeed represent the twoprin!iples of reality and wisdom+ In terms of the -uddha'sthree enlihtened properties, 0any Treasures -uddha,representin reality, sini9es the property of the Law+Shakyamuni, representin wisdom, sini9es the property ofwisdom+ #nd the -uddhas of the ten dire!tions, representinthe !ompassion that arises throuh the fusion of reality andwisdom, sinify the property of a!tion+ The appearan!e ofthese three -uddhas22Shakyamuni, 0any Treasures and the-uddhas of the ten dire!tions22epresses the state of life

inherently endowed with the three enlihtened properties thatthe *aishonin himself attained+Let us dis!uss the three enlihtened properties in detail onanother o!!asion+ The important point here is that the*aishonin opened a path where5y all people of the Latter *ay!an themselves a!tualiGe these three enlihtened properties+#nd that is the path of 5elievin in and upholdin theBohonGon+

17



Saito: This is what is meant 5y <The inherently endowed threeproperties+++ are attained throuh a sinle word+ #nd that wordis 'faith'< "B, DKN)+Ikeda: @i!hiren *aishonin says that those who 5elieve in theLotus Sutra <!an enter the Treasure Tower of the BohonGon<

"0W2&, $&%), indi!atin that they !an !onstru!t a TreasureTower within their own lives+-e!ause of the prin!iple of the oneness of life and itsenvironment, when we open up the Treasure Tower in our lives,the world in whi!h we live also 5e!omes the Treasure TowerFand so we <enter the Treasure Tower+< Then, while dwellin inthe world of the oriinal -uddha, we !an freely take a!tion+Our 5odies, whi!h amount to 5arely a spe!k in the larers!heme of thins, are adorned with the seven treasures, andour state of life limitlessly epands approa!hin the vastnessof the universe+ @othin is more wondrous than this

transformation of our lives+While in prison "durin World War II for his refusal to!ompromise his reliious 5eliefs), President Toda made an in2depth study of the Lotus Sutra+ #nd he realiGed that itsessen!e is to 5e found in the BohonGon @i!hiren *aishoninins!ri5ed+ /e understood, in other words, that there is not theslihtest deviation 5etween the words and phrases of theLotus Sutra and the tea!hin of the *aishonin+ #nd at thisrealiGation he shed tears of 4oy+Saito: =ou des!ri5e that s!ene in the 9rst volume of yournovel, The /uman 3evolution+ =ou wrote that riht after his

release from prison, 0r+ Toda eamined the BohonGon in hishome, s!rutiniGin every !hara!ter+ #nd then he says:

<It was 4ust like this+ @o mistake+ 1a!tly, 4ust as I saw it +< 0urmurin silently, hesatis9ed himself that the solemn andmysterious Ceremony in the #ir whi!h hehad witnessed in his !ell was indeedins!ri5ed on the BohonGon+ Profounddeliht sured throuh him and tearsstreamed down his fa!e+ "8olume &,

<*awn<)

1ndo: Today we !an only imaine the 4oy he must have felt+ #tthat point, he 5e!ame all the more !on9dent of the truth ofwhat he had realiGed while in prison+Ikeda: -e!ause of President Toda's !onvi!tion in this, faith inthe BohonGon 5e!ame 9rmly esta5lished in the Soka Bakkai+

18



This is the prime point of the Soka Bakkai's reatdevelopment+President Toda saw everythin with perfe!t !larity+ It wasimpossi5le to put somethin over on him+ The only way toapproa!h him was with !omplete honesty and forthrihtness+

#nd to people who approa!hed him in that way, he respondedin kind without fail+ Over time, I have !ome to appre!iate evenmore keenly President Toda's reatness+ It's somethin I feelwith my entire 5ein+#n eample that !omes to mind has to do with the pra!ti!e ofmakin pilrimaes to holy sites+ 0any reliions revere pla!esasso!iated with their founders as spe!ial+ Sites with stron!onne!tions to @i!hiren *aishonin in!lude the IGu Peninsulaand Sado Island, where the *aishonin was sent into eileFTatsunoku!hi and Homatsu5ara, where he en!ountered severeperse!utionF Hamakura, where he was a!tive for many yearsF

his 5irthpla!e, HominatoF 0ount 0ino5u, where he spent his9nal yearsF and Ikeami, where he passed away+-ut President Toda did not treat these pla!es as <holy sites+<3ather, he tauht that we should always 5ase ourselves on theBohonGon+ In this we !an see his profound insiht+When we worship the BohonGon with stron faith, then thatpla!e, wherever it may 5e, 5e!omes the holiest of lands+ ;or it5e!omes the site of the Ceremony in the #ir+ It 5e!omes 1alePeak+ There, the Treasure Tower emeres+Suda: I understand that many of the world's reliionsdesinate spe!i9! sites as 5ein parti!ularly relevant+ In most

!ases their mem5ers have the !hoi!e to visit them or not+ -utto re>uire adherents to visit su!h sites, in my view, limits areliion's universality and !an !ertainly diminish the s!ope ofits appeal+Ikeda: =ou're >uite riht+ We, on the other hand, !an attendthe eternal Ceremony in the #ir here and now+ We !an !ausethe Treasure Tower to shine in our lives, our daily eisten!e,our homes+ That is the reatness of faith in the BohonGon+ It isalways !lose at hand and always re?e!ted in our immediatereality+The Ceremony in the #ir, in !ontrast to the !eremonies at 1ale

Peak that pre!ede and follow it, takes pla!e in a realm thattrans!ends time and spa!e+ It does not o!!ur in a spe!i9!histori!al time or pla!e+ ;or pre!isely this reason, we !anattend the Ceremony in the #ir at any time and in any pla!e+When we pray to the BohonGon, whi!h depi!ts the Ceremony inthe #ir, in the present moment, we 5e!ome one with theeternal and universal lifeF and, riht where we are, wemanifest the vast state of life to 5e a5le to survey the entire

19



universe+ In that sense, our daily pra!ti!e of Bonyo and!hantin daimoku is a <4ourney of life< of an even randers!ale than that of an astronaut lookin down on 1arth fromouter spa!e+

The %e&en Treasures Aorn the %elf

1ndo: Then the <seven treasures< that adorn the TreasureTower must eist within our own lives+Ikeda: =es+ They eist nowhere 5ut within our lives+Saito: @i!hiren *aishonin reveals to #5utsu25o that the seventreasures indi!ate <listenin to the true tea!hin, 5elievin it,keepin the pre!ept, attainin pea!e of mind, pra!ti!inassiduously, unsel9shly devotin oneself, and forever seekinself2improvement< "0W2&, NE)+Ikeda: These are treasures within our lives+ In !ontrast to whatpeople !ommonly reard as treasures, the old, silver andother treasures adornin the Treasure Tower indi!ate treasuresin the realm of faithF they are the treasures, for eample, of<listenin to the tea!hin< and <5elievin it+< They are the onlytreasures we !an take with us after our death+ They are eternalwealth+1ndo: These seven treasures, also referred to as the <sevenri!hes of the Law,< are indispensa5le elements of -uddhistpra!ti!e+Suda: President Ikeda, I re!all an eplanation you on!e ave of the !on!ept of the seven treasures+ <Listenin to the truetea!hin,< you eplained, means a seekin spirit to hear a5out-uddhism+ =ou said -uddhist pra!ti!e 5eins with <listenin+<<-elievin it< means the power of 5elief+ #!!ordin to theprin!iple of <su5stitutin faith for wisdom,< wisdom arisesfrom faith+

=ou also said, it is the power of faith that fores 5onds5etween people+ <Heepin the pre!ept,< whi!h oriinally!arried the meanin of <stemmin in4usti!e and eradi!atinevil,< indi!ates advan!in straiht ahead alon the !orre!tpath of -uddhism+ This !ould also 5e termed a spirit of self2reulation or deep sense of 4usti!e+ <#ttainin pea!e of mind<means meditationF pa!ifyin the mind, 5anishin ram5linthouhts, and enterin a state of !alm and sta5ility+ <Pea!e ofmind< !ould 5e thouht of as a >uiet and unwaverin spirit or!onvi!tion+ <Pra!ti!in assiduously< means to eer!ise tirelessdilien!e+ It refers to the spirit to advan!e toward attainin

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-uddhahood in this lifetime and realiGin Hosen 3ufu+<.nsel9shly devotin oneself< means dis!ardin atta!hments+This implies havin the !ourae to 5reak free of the lesser selfor eo, and the spirit to realiGe reat ideals+ <;orever seekinself2improvement< means havin the humility to re?e!t on

oneself+Ikeda: #ll of these are en!ompassed in the word <faith+< Theyare all in!luded in SBI a!tivities+ We work with the sun durinthe daytime and re?e!t on ourselves in the liht of the moon atniht, and ever seek to advan!e+++ all 5ased on the 0ysti! Law+When we pra!ti!e with this spirit of <faith manifestin itself indaily life,< our lives are adorned with the seven treasures+ Thisis the way to a!!umulate true and eternal wealth+Saito: @ot only do these treasures apply to faith, they are!onditions of humanity that are priGed universally+Ikeda: Pra!ti!in faith means to lead the most !orre!t life+

#!>uirin wisdom means attainin the most profoundunderstandin of human nature+The Treasure Tower eists in human life+ To understand it inthese terms is to see 5eyond our apparent diMeren!es andper!eive the san!tity of life itself+ The reason for this is that onthe most essential level of life, there is no su!h thin assuperior and inferior+ 1veryone alike possesses life+ On thelevel of life there are no diMeren!es of ender, skin !olor orethni!ity+ There is no dis!rimination on the 5asis of wealth orso!ial status+ 1veryone is e>ual+-asin oneself on the Treasure Tower, therefore, !ould 5e

thouht of as esta5lishin a view of the san!tity of life ofa5solute e>uality+ It is true humanism+1ndo: <Irrespe!tive of so!ial status,< as the *aishonin says to#5utsu25o, means that all 5eins alike are in9nitely worthy ofrespe!t+Ikeda: Those who dis!riminate aainst others violate thesan!tity of their own lives+ On the other hand, when wetreasure the lives of others, the Treasure Tower within usshines+Suda: That's the spirit of the <oneness of self and others+<Saito: It sounds like we're approa!hin the theme of the

<-odhisattva @ever *isparain< "twentieth) !hapter+1ndo: Let's not et too far ahead+Ikeda: This is in fa!t an important theme that runs enerallythrouh the entire Lotus Sutra+ I epe!t we'll have the !han!eto dis!uss it in detail on another o!!asion+

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True 'emocracy

1ndo: Isn't respe!tin other people as <treasures< in fa!t thespirit of demo!ra!yJ I re!all Walt Whitman "&A&2$), the reat

poet of demo!ra!y, epressin the view that <at the !ore ofdemo!ra!y, 9nally, is the reliious element+< Walt Whitman,*emo!rati! 8istas and Other Papers "London: The Walter S!ottPu5lishin Co+, LT*, &AAAF reprint, 0i!hian: S!holarly Press,&DE), p+ $D6*r+ Chappell, similarly, has suested that in the twenty29rst!entury reliion will, of ne!essity, play an in!reasinlyimportant role in people's lives+Suda: I have also read Whitman's des!ription of demo!ra!y+ /ewrites that he assumes demo!ra!y <to 5e at present in itsem5ryo !ondition, and that the only lare and satisfa!tory

4usti9!ation of it resides in the future, mainly throuh the!opious produ!tion of perfe!t !hara!ters amon the people,and throuh the advent of a sane and pervadinreliiousness+< I5id+, p+ %E6Saito: The other day "#pril $(), a le!ture on the theme ofdemo!ra!y and reliion was held at the -oston 3esear!hCenter for the $&st Century+ The speaker, Professor 8in!ent/ardin of the .niversity of *enver, *r+ /ardin is professorof 3eliion and So!ial Transformation at the IliM S!hool of Theoloy, .niversity of *enver6 a !lose friend of the late Civil3ihts leader *r+ 0artin Luther Hin 7r+ "&$2(A), arued that#meri!an demo!ra!y is still hihly imperfe!t+ Tou!hin on thea!hievements of *r+ Hin, he emphasiGed that to makedemo!ra!y live up to its promise, there is a reat need forleaders with roots in reliion who !an truly sympathiGe withthe people+Ikeda: 3espe!t for the individual is the very soul of demo!ra!y+*emo!ra!y's su!!ess hines on whether people !an re!oniGethe lives of all as e>ually sa!red+ 1verythin depends on this+Suda: 0any 7apanese think our nation has fully a!hieveddemo!ra!y+ -ut it seems to me that Whitman's !omment, made&NE years ao, that demo!ra!y was still in an em5ryoni! stae,and *r+ /ardin's insiht are all the more true today+Ikeda: That's 5e!ause, ultimately, demo!ra!y is a manner oflivin+ In the words of Tomas 0asaryk "&AKE2&ND), thefoundin father of CGe!hoslovakia, <*emo!ra!y is not only aform of overnment, it is not only what is written in!onstitutionsF demo!ra!y is a view of life, rests on faith inmen, in humanity and in human nature+< Harel Capek,

22



0asaryk on Thouht and Life: Conversations with Harel Capek,trans+ 0+ and 3+ Weatherall "@ew =ork: The 0a!millanCompany, &NA), p+ &&6*emo!ra!y, in other words, means trustin people as no5leand eternal entities in and of themselves, not viewin them as

a means to some end+ When we 5elieve in ourselves and trustothers in this way, then, a!!ordin to 0asaryk, it will not 5epossi5le for one person, whose life is eternal and in9nite, toreard another person, whose life is e>ually eternal andin9nite, with indiMeren!e: <The eternal to the eternal !annot5e indiMerent, the eternal !annot misuse the eternal, it !annoteploit and violate it+< I5id+, p+ &E6In other words, it is impossi5le for someone who is aware ofthe eternal nature of his 5ein to mali!iously eploit orviolently repress another person whose 5ein he re!oniGes ase>ually eternal+

@i!hiren *aishonin says, <The Treasure Tower is none otherthan all livin 5eins, and all livin 5eins are none other thanthe !omplete entity of @am20yoho23ene2Hyo< "B, DD)+ Thisis the perspe!tive of <The 1meren!e of the Treasure Tower<!hapter+We per!eive the Treasure Tower in our own lives, and weper!eive the Treasure Tower in the lives of others+ #nd we areworkin to san!tify the pla!es where we live and the entireworld with forests of Treasure Towers+ Let us !onstru!t<Treasure Towers of Hosen 3ufu< in our !ommunities+ Let usea!h leave 5ehind an eternal olden monument of personal

a!hievement+ Let us adorn our lives 5y !hallenin ourselveswith the spirit, <This is where I will 5uild my Treasure Tower+<Shakyamuni epounded the Lotus Sutra as the !rownina!hievement of his life of reat strule+ #nd the TreasureTower 9rst appeared in response to Shakyamuni's tirelesseMorts to widely propaate the 0ysti! Law+ 0any Treasures-uddha appeared to support him and Shakyamuni'semanations, the -uddhas in the ten dire!tions of the universe,athered around him+ -ehind all of this were Shakyamuni'stireless eMorts and deep determination for Hosen 3ufu+When we take a!tion for Hosen 3ufu, the Treasure Tower

appears+ This is not a matter of theoryF it !omes down to ahands2on strule with reality, an earnest win2or2lose eMort toover!ome reat di!ulties+ Throuh wain su!h a strule,our lives shine with the seven treasures of <listenin to thetrue tea!hin, 5elievin it, keepin the pre!ept, attaininpea!e of mind, pra!ti!in assiduously, unsel9shly devotinoneself, and forever seekin self2improvement+< @i!hiren

23



*aishonin, likewise, amid reat di!ulties, esta5lished theTreasure Tower of the BohonGon+;rom that standpoint, it is no !oin!iden!e that the <TreasureTower< !hapter uses the prin!iple of the <si di!ult and nineeasy a!ts< to eplain the di!ulty of propaatin the 0ysti!

Law in the Latter *ay+ Let's take up this !on!ept net time+

@otes:

&: The Si *i!ult and @ine 1asy #!ts

Shakyamuni used the para5le of the si di!ult a!ts and thenine easy a!ts in <The 1meren!e of the Treasure Tower<!hapter of the Lotus Sutra to show 4ust how di!ult it would

5e to propaate the Lotus Sutra "the BohonGon) after hisdeath+ Shakyamuni asked the people in the assem5ly where heprea!hed the Lotus Sutra three times who would 5e!ouraeous enouh to vow to propaate the Lotus Sutra in thefuture+ #fter he asked the third time, he !ited the si di!ultand nine easy a!ts to show what attitude would 5e re>uired+The nine easy a!ts are:

&+ It is easier to tea!h the innumera5lesutras "as many as the sands of theBanes 3iver) than to tea!h the Lotus

Sutra+$+ It is easier to take 0ount Sumeru andhurl it a!ross the universe over !ountless-uddha lands than to tea!h the LotusSutra+N+ It is easier to ki!k a ma4or worldsystem into another >uarter with one'stoe "i+e+, from one alay a!ross intoanother alay) than to tea!h the LotusSutra+%+ It is easier to stand in the hihest

heaven and prea!h innumera5le sutrasother than the Lotus Sutra than to tea!hthe Lotus Sutra+K+ It is easier to rasp the sky with one'shand and travel around with it than totea!h the Lotus Sutra+(+ It is easier to pla!e the 1arth on one'stoenail and as!end to the -rahman

24



/eaven than to tea!h the Lotus Sutra+D+ It is easier to walk a!ross a 5urnin

prairie !arryin a 5undle of hay on one's5a!k without 5ein 5urned than to tea!hthe Lotus Sutra+

A+ It is easier to prea!h eihty2fourthousand tea!hins and ena5le one'slisteners to o5tain the si supernaturalpowers than to tea!h the Lotus Sutra++ It is easier to ena5le innumera5lepeople to rea!h the stae of arhat "onewho has attained the hihest deree ofpra!ti!e in /inayana -uddhism) anda!>uire the si supernatural powers thanto tea!h the Lotus Sutra+

The nine easy a!ts a5ove may seem impossi5le+ /owever, featseven more di!ult than these are:

&+ It is di!ult to propaate the LotusSutra widely+$+ It is di!ult to !opy it or !ausesomeone else to !opy it+N+ It is di!ult to re!ite it even for a shortwhile+%+ It is di!ult to tea!h it to even oneperson+

K+ It is di!ult to a!!ept the Lotus Sutraand in>uire a5out its meanin+(+ It is di!ult to maintain faith in it+

These !omparisons show how di!ult it will 5e to epound andspread the Lotus Sutra after the passin of the -uddha+ Theyalso serve to en!ourae people who have stood up in faith,realiGin their mission to spread the Lotus Sutra+ Thedi!ulties of propaation !an 5e attri5uted to the profundityof the Law and its property of 5ein the aent of !hane in5oth so!iety and human life+

$+ The Three Truths

Three interal aspe!ts of the truth formulated 5y the Chinesetea!her T'ien2t'ai "KNA2KD): the truth of non2su5stantiality, thetruth of temporary eisten!e and the truth of the 0iddle Way+

25



The truth of non2su5stantiality meansthat phenomena have no a5solute or9ed eisten!e of their own+ Their truenature is ku, whi!h is variously translatedas emptiness, void, laten!y, relativity,

et!+ It means that phenomena arise and!ontinue to eist only 5y virtue of theirrelationship with other phenomena andhave no 9ed su5stan!e+ Their truenature is ku, a potential state that !annot5e de9ned as either eisten!e ornoneisten!e+ This is a view of theun!hanea5le aspe!t of phenomena+

The truth of temporary eisten!e meansthat while all thins are non2su5stantial

"ku) in nature, they nevertheless possessa provisional or temporary reality that isin !onstant ?u+ #ll eisten!e aretemporarily formed of elements throuhthe 5ondin of !ause and eMe!t+ It is there!onition of the visi5le, surfa!e aspe!tsof phenomena+ #s all phenomena areper!eived as temporarily 5ein formed 5y!ause and eMe!t, all thins disappear as!ause and eMe!t !hane+ This is the viewthat all phenomena are transient and

!hanea5le and that nothin stays thesame+

The truth of the 0iddle Way is that allphenomena are !hara!teriGed 5y 5othnon2su5stantiality and temporaryeisten!e+ The 0iddle Way is the insihtthat ena5les us to per!eive phenomena

throuh the un!hanea5le eisten!e ofthins that display the !hara!teristi!s ofnon2su5stantiality while ehi5itin the

>ualities of temporary eisten!e+President Ikeda eplains this phenomenaas <the self of one's life+<

The three truths are not separate and independent of oneanother+ They are all eMe!tive means to understand a!!uratelythe phenomena of the world+ This means that the truths ofnon2su5stantiality, temporary eisten!e and the 0iddle Way

26



ea!h possesses all three truths within themselves+ This is!alled the uni9!ation of the three truths+ The real eisten!e ofa thin !an 5e distorted when !onsidered in liht of only one of the three+ The true meanin of the uni9!ation of the threetruths lies in a!!urately raspin the entirety of a sinle

eisten!e from the viewpoint of the unity of the three truths+

N: The Two -uddhas Seated Side 5y Side

The reat Chinese tea!her T'ien2t'ai "KNA2KD) interprets Tahoand Shakyamuni seated side 5y side in the Treasure Tower asthe fusion of reality and wisdom, with Taho representin theo54e!tive truth or ultimate reality, and Shakyamuni, thesu54e!tive wisdom to realiGe it+ 0oreover, Taho -uddha

represents the property of the LawF Shakyamuni -uddha the

property of wisdom, and the -uddhas from throuhout theuniverse, the property of a!tionF toether they represent thethree properties+The three properties "also known as three 5odies or threeenlihtened properties) are the property of the Law, or theessential property of the -uddha's life whi!h is the truth towhi!h the -uddha is enlihtened+ The property of wisdom, orthe spiritual property of the -uddha's life, whi!h ena5les the-uddha to per!eive the truth+ #nd the property of a!tion,whi!h is the -uddha's 5ody with whi!h he or she !arries out!ompassionate a!tions to save people+

@i!hiren uses the interpretations of T'ien2t'ai and furtherstates in his writin </eritae of the .ltimate Law of Life< thatShakyamuni and Taho represent, respe!tively, life and death,the two phases that the entity of life underoes+ They appearon the BohonGon at the top, Shakyamuni to the left of @am2myoho2rene2kyo "down the !enter), and Taho to the riht+

<1m5ra!in the Lotus Sutra< 0eans 3e!oniGin theIn9nite Worth of 1a!h Person's Life

Saito: The more I think a5out the Treasure Tower, the morestronly I sense that it tea!hes those of us in the present aesomethin of fundamental importan!e+ Sym5oli!ally, itpro!laims: <The human 5ein de9nitely is not insini9!ant andpowerless+<People today, 5y and lare, are satis9ed neither with theirlives nor with the state of the world+ # feelin ofpowerlessness seems to predominate+ People are askin

27



themselves, <-ut what !an I possi5ly do to !hane thinsJ< #sense of futility and despair is !astin a dark shadow overtheir inner lives and over so!iety+ This, perhaps, is the 5asi!dilemma of the modern era, isn't itJIkeda: =ou've raised a vital issue+ The pro5lem is parti!ularly

a!ute in the so2!alled advan!ed !ountries+ In the .nitedStates, for eample, there are sins that, in!reasinly, younpeople are suMerin and havin pro5lems in life on a!!ount oflow self2esteem+ In many !ases, these youn people so despisethemselves that, in order to es!ape their pain, they resort toha5itual dru use+1ndo: They don't realiGe their inherent worth+ #nd if people!annot treasure themselves, how !an they ever treasureothersJIkeda: It is a reat traedy to see one's own life and the livesof others as in!onse>uential+ In our modern so!iety, everythin

has 5een, as it were, mani9ed to !olossal proportions+ Thehuman spirit, la5orin under the immense <mass< and <weiht<of so!iety, roans in despair+ #s early as the &(Es @ormanCousins, who was known as the !ons!ien!e of #meri!a, wrotea5out this+

*r+ Cousins' dialoue with the SBIpresident has 5een pu5lished in 7apaneseunder the title Sekai Shimin no Taiwa "*ialoue toward Blo5al /armoniGation)+&6

In one pla!e, he wrote:

In travelin around the .nited States, Ihave 5een made aware of a melan!holytension+ The >uestions people ask are notrelated to their personal in!omes or theneed to 9nd 5etter ways to amusethemselves+ They want to know how toover!ome their sense of personal futilityon the 5i issues+ $6

Suda: The possi5ility of nu!lear war and ensuin feelins ofvulnera5ility must have weihed heavily on people's spirits atthat time+Ikeda: The nu!lear threat was 5ut one sym5ol of the inse!uritypeople were feelin+ In the past, the <world< people wereaware of was >uite !ir!ums!ri5ed+ When a pro5lem arose intheir lo!al !ity or villae, they !ould readily rasp it, dire!tly

28



epress their views on the matter and in?uen!e the out!omeof events+ -ut now people have 5e!ome anonymous !itiGens ofvast !ountries+ They are 5e!omin more and more aware thattheir destiny is inetri!a5ly linked with the destiny of theentire human ra!e+ While people worry a5out the dire!tion in

whi!h their !ountry as well as humankind as a whole areheadin, they are un!ertain as to how they !an epress theirpersonal views on su!h matters or what kind of a!tion to takein order to in?uen!e out!omes+ #nd even where they 9nd they!an do somethin, they are not !on9dent their eMorts will trulyhelp improve thins in the world+ This is the predi!amentpeople 9nd themselves in today+*r+ Cousins arues, <There !an 5e no more important edu!ationtoday than edu!ation for personal eMe!tiveness and a sense of!onne!tion with 5i events+< N6 This of !ourse applies to the

edu!ation one re!eives in s!hool, 5ut that is not all+ I reard

the popular movement we in the SBI are developin as so!ialedu!ation in a 5road sense+ It is a movement to empowerpeople 5y showin them that, throuh their eMorts, they !ande9nitely !hane the world+ #nd it is a movement to develop asolidarity of people who aim to do this+Saito: That's a ood eample of what we !all <a!tual I!hinenSanGen+< %6 @i!hiren *aishonin said, <It is from this sinleentity of life that the diMeren!es amon lands arise< "Boshoenshu, p+ K(N)+ In other words, he tea!hes that it is within thepower of ea!h of us to !hane the world we live in+The Treasure Tower sym5oliGes the reatness of ea!h person's

life+ The individual is a mi!ro!osm livin in e>uisite harmonywith the ma!ro!osm+ Surely there is no reater 4oy thanrealiGin that our lives eist in a state of oneness andindivisi5ility with the vast universe+Ikeda: Speakin of the mi!ro!osm, we know that the human5ody is made up of the same !hemi!al elements as theuniverse+ Similarly, when you eamine the !onstituentelements of the seven treasures that adorn the Treasure Toweryou'll 9nd that ea!h one also eists in our 5odies+1ndo: That's riht+ I did a little resear!h on the seventreasures+ In the -uddhist s!holar Humara4iva's Chinese

translation of the sutra, the seven treasures are old, silver,lapis laGuli, seashell, aate, pearl and !arnelian+ Of these,old, silver, aate and pearl are well2known ems and pre!iousmetals+ Lapis laGuli is a semipre!ious stone with a deep aGure!olor+ <Seashell< means the shell of a iant !lam+ Carnelian is atranslu!ent >uartGF Chinese !arnelian, 5y the way, is said to 5every rare+

29



Saito: The list varies from tet to tet+ ;or eample, in theSanskrit tet of the Lotus Sutra, the seven treasures in!lude!oral, am5er and !rystal+1ndo: @onetheless, of the seven treasures, the 5asi!!omponent of lapis laGuli, aate and !arnelian is sili!on+ Sili!on

is a5solutely essential for the development of the human 5odyFit is needed for the formation and rowth of the skeletalsystem+ #nd the main !omponent of pearl and aate is!al!ium, whi!h we know plays a very important role in 5uildin5ones and teeth+I also dis!overed that aate shows a variety of diMerent huesdependin on the kind of metal in whi!h it is set+ In iron, it hasa reddish hueF in !o5alt, it is 5lueF and in !hrome, it appearsreen+ These metals are all indispensa5le for the propermaintenan!e of our lives: iron for !arryin oyen in the 5lood,!o5alt for 5uildin 5lood !ells, and !hromium for the

meta5olism of suar and fat+Other metals re>uired 5y our 5odies in!lude !opper, Gin!, tin,mananese and ni!kel+ #nd our 5odies may also re>uire old,mer!ury and some other metals+Ikeda: That's fas!inatin+ =ou are >uite riht when you say our

lives are literally <treasures+< /ydroen, oyen, !ar5on andnitroen are the most !ommon elements in the human 5ody+The metals that you mentioned, maintained in pre!isee>uili5rium, support the mi!ro!osm of our lives+Suda: 3eardin 5lood, I understand that the total lenth of5lood vessels in the human 5ody is an astoundin (,EEE

kilometers "(E,EEE miles)+ That's two2and2a2 half times the!ir!umferen!e of the 1arth+ It's hard to 5elieve that su!h areat distan!e is !ontained within one's 5ody+Ikeda: In <The .ltimate Tea!hin #rmed 5y #ll -uddhas ofPast, Present and ;uture,< K6 @i!hiren *aishonin ela5orateson the statement 5y the Breat Tea!her 0iao2 lo of China, <Our5odies ea!h take the form of heaven and earth+< /e says, foreample, <Our 5lood ?ow is like rivers and streams< "Boshoenshu, p+ K(D)+ Our lives, in other words, mirror the naturalworld+Saito: -uddhism is truly universal in s!ope+ The *aishonin also

says, <Our eyes are like the sun and the moon, their openinand !losin is like day and niht< "Bosho enshu, p+ K(D)+Ikeda: <Our eyes are like the sun and the moon+< While thismiht at 9rst seem far2 fet!hed, if we stop to think a5out it we!an see the reasonin+Boethe "&D%2&AN$) !ites an an!ient sayin to the eMe!t that:<Were they not sun2akin, our eyes, To sunliht's lory they'd

30



5e 5lind+< (6 /e further o5serves, <@othin's outside that'snot within+< D6@i!hiren *aishonin, in dis!ussin the words of 0iao2lo that I

4ust mentioned, eplains that to know oneself is to know allthins in the universe+ When you !hane, your environment

!hanes, too+ When your spirit or I!hinen !hanes, everythinis transformed+ This is the prin!iple of I!hinen SanGen+ Thisprin!iple is summed up 5y Boethe's maim <@othin's outsidethat's not within+<Suda: -uddhism eplains that a <law< or <reason< pervades alllife and the entire universe+ S!ientists, in?uen!ed in part 5yBoethe, have !onsidered this from the standpoint of thephysi!al manifestation of life+ Boethe o5served that plantparts are all heli!al or spiral shaped+ /e noted, for eample,the way in whi!h 5indweed winds around the plants amonwhi!h they row, and how the white 5ir!h tree rotates around

its !entral ais+The same spiral pattern is evident in the shell of a shell9sh,the horns of sheep and oen, and elephant tusks+ -loodvessels are also woven from spiral2shaped 95ers+ In thesu5mi!ros!opi! world, *@#, whi!h !arries our eneti!information, has the stru!ture of a dou5le heli+ #nd in thema!ro2sphere, a similar spiral or <whirlpool< shape !an 5e seenin tornadoes and typhoons, as well as star ne5ulae+1ndo: The same pattern is found in whirlpools !reated 5y tidal!urrents+ Sin!e an!ient times, the spiral seems to havesym5oliGed life for!e, rowth and evolution+ One resear!her

propounds the view that the spiral, 5e!ause it is produ!ed 5ythe repetition of similar phenomena, is an epression ofrhythm+ A6Ikeda: There !ertainly is rhythm in the universe+ #nd therhythm of the life of an individual pulsates in perfe!t harmonywith it+ It seems to me that life, in essen!e, is an epression ofa sympatheti! resonan!e 5etween the ma!ro!osm of theuniverse and the mi!ro!osm of our lives+In terms of <rhythm,< the universe itself produ!es a kind of!osmi! rhythm+ It is a !ompassionate rhythm that ena5les alllivin thins to row and advan!e+ =ou miht even !all it a

<wavelenth< of !ompassion+ Livin 5eins are <re!eivers< that!an inter!ept this wavelenth+ @o matter where we are, whenwe <tune in< to the <fre>uen!y< of -uddhahood, our lives areem5ra!ed in this !ompassionate melody infusin us with thespirit to realiGe rowth in our lives and help others do thesame+We !ould also use the imae of a tunin fork to des!ri5e thisphenomenon+ If you have two tunin forks of the same

31



wavelenth and you rin one, then the other tunin fork, evenif it is at some distan!e from the 9rst, will start rininspontaneously+Saito: What you've des!ri5ed is the a!ousti!al phenomenon ofresonan!e+

Ikeda: =es+ To !ontinue the analoy, when the tunin fork ofour lives 5eins to rin with !ompassion, then, even if at 9rstwe are all alone, other tunin forks will start to rin with thesame !ompassion+ #nd thouh at 9rst perhaps only two orthree will !at!h the rhythm, others will de9nitely follow+Compassion has a !ertain <wavelenth<F 5ut some person hasto 5e the 9rst to sound it+ /owever, a tunin fork will not rinif it is left lyin on its sideF to produ!e a sound, it must standupriht+ The same is true with our lives+In the <Treasure Tower< !hapter, the atherin of the -uddhasin the ten dire!tions is like so many tunin forks startin to

rin in unison in response to the rever5erations of the tuninfork of Shakyamuni's spirit <to make !ertain the Law will lonendure< "LS&&, &DD) 6 + This is a rand illustration of theprin!iple of sympatheti! resonan!e+

The Three Transformations of the (an

Shakyamuni -uddha, in order to provide seats for all the-uddhas that were arrivin, on!e more transformed twohundred ten thousand million @ayutas &E6 of lands in ea!h ofthe eiht dire!tions, makin them all !lean and pure andwithout hells, hunry spirits, 5easts or asuras+ /e also movedall the heavenly and human 5eins to another reion+++ thewhole area !omprisin a sinle -uddha land, a 4eweled reionlevel and smooth+ "LS&&, &D%)Saito: That's a wonderful imae+ To !ause his emanations whowere prea!hin the Law in the worlds of the ten dire!tions toreturn and ather toether in one pla!e, Shakyamunitransforms and puri9es the strife2ridden Saha world &&6 threetimes+ This is the oriin of the term the three transformationsof the land+ The term epresses the transformation of therealm of the environment+ The 9rst transformation is whenShakyamuni !hanes and then puri9es the Saha world+ #s hedoes so, he moves all the human and heavenly 5eins dwellinthere to another reion, with the e!eption of those in theassem5ly where the Lotus Sutra is 5ein epounded+-ut the num5er of the -uddha's emanations in the tendire!tions is so reat that they !annot all 9t in the Saha world+To a!!ommodate them, Shakyamuni net transforms and

32



puri9es two hundred ten thousand million @ayutas of otherlands in ea!h of the eiht dire!tions, &$6 and moves theheavenly and human 5eins livin there to another world+ /ethen 4oins these several lands toether to form a sinle-uddha land+ This is the se!ond transformation+ The third

transformation o!!urs when Shakyamuni transforms andpuri9es an additional two hundred ten thousand million@ayutas of lands in the eiht dire!tions, removin theheavenly and human 5eins in those lands to another reion+/e also made ea!h of those worlds part of the one reat-uddha land+When the transformations were !omplete, the -uddhas of theten dire!tions 9lled the four hundred ten thousand million@ayutas of lands that Shakyamuni had puri9ed and!onsolidated into one land+ This is the three transformations of the land+

Ikeda: It's interestin that he moves the heavenly and human5eins in these lands to other reions+ I would imaine thatvarious interpretations of this would 5e possi5le+Suda: One interpretation is that those heavenly and human5eins are amon the 5eins of the si paths+ &N6 -e!ause5eins transmiratin in the si paths are deluded, they!annot see the -uddha land that Shakyamuni !reated when hetransformed and puri9ed the Saha world+ This, perhaps, iswhat is meant when the tet says they were <moved to anotherreion+< .nless you yourself !hane, thins won't look anydiMerent+

1ndo: Similarly, althouh the world is !hanin rapidly in thepost2Cold War era, many people, parti!ularly here in 7apan, itwould seem, are still !auht up in outmoded ways of thinkinreminis!ent of the Cold War+Saito: In the /okke 0onu, &%6 the Breat Tea!her T'ien2t'ai ofChina says that Shakyamuni eMe!ts the three puri9!ationsthrouh samQdhi+Ikeda: The Sanskrit word samQdhi means to settle and fo!usthe mindF in other words, to meditate+ ;rom our standpoint,samQdhi means esta5lishin an unaltera5le state of life, orI!hinenF !onstru!tin a sound and sta5le <inner realm< that

nothin !an distur5+ In that sense, the prin!iple of the threetransformations not only speaks to the transformation of thelandF it also addresses the transformation of one's own innerstate of life+

Restoring )eople*s Ailing (i&es to +ealth

33



Saito: I re!all that in the <War and 3e!on!iliation< !hapter ofthe 9fth volume of The /uman 3evolution, you eplain theprin!iple of the three transformations throuh a very familiareample+

=ou presented the hypotheti!al !ase of two families that had

5een !losely related for many enerationsF let's !all them theSaitos and 1ndos+ The two families were net2 door neih5ors+-ut their an!estors had >uarreled, so for many years theydidn't speak to one another+ In the meantime, the 1ndo familyformed a new relation with another familyF let's !all them theSudas, who lived a thousand miles away+ The 1ndos and Sudas5e!ame very ood friends+In time, the Saito and 1ndo families' memory of theiran!estors' animosity faded, and radually they felt the desireto forive and foret+ /owever, the 1ndo family, out of fear ofoMendin their new friends the Sudas, simply !ould not 9nd it

in themselves to rea!h out to the Saitos in friendship+@aturally this upset the Saitos very mu!h+@ow what would have happened, you asked, if at this point theneih5orin Saitos and the 1ndos had simply let 5yones 5e5yones and em5ra!ed one another in friendshipJ Theenvironment would have !haned !ompletely+ #nd the threefamilies !ould have 5eun a harmonious relationship+ Su!h a!hane, you eplained, illustrates the prin!iple of thetransformation of the land+ This is the 5asi! outline+1ndo: =ou President Ikeda6 suested that 7apan and Chinawere in the predi!ament of the neih5orin families, and that

the .nited States was like 7apan's new friend from afar+ =ouwere makin the !ase that 7apan should develop friendlyrelations with China+ #t the time when you wrote this, 7apanand China on the one hand, and China and the .nited Stateson the other were in reat !on?i!t+ I re!all how truly inspired Ifelt when I read your words+Ikeda: 1ven in international relations, human 5eins are thekey+ Countries are atherins of people, and they are !reated5y people+ It is impossi5le, therefore, that people !ould 5euna5le to !hane them+ 0oreover, one must realiGe that thestate eists for the sake of the people, not the other way

around+On a!!ount of various <enthrallments,< people have lost sihtof this simple and !lear fa!t+ 1nthralled 5y self2rihteousideoloies, 5y !on!ern over petty pro9t and loss, 5yemotionalism, 5y erroneous ideas and pre4udi!e, and,fundamentally, 5y inoran!e a5out human nature and lifeitself, people shut themselves up in their own narrow worlds+Only when we !ut the !hains of these atta!hments !an we

34



respe!t other people as human 5eins and 5ein to !ondu!ttruly humanisti! dialoue+Saito: When you visited the Soviet .nion at the heiht of theCold War, President Ikeda, many people !riti!iGed you+.ndaunted, you said: <I will o there, 5e!ause there are people

there+< #nd you set to work 5uildin a 5ride of friendship+#t the time, it seemed as thouh the !on?i!t 5etween Chinaand the Soviet .nion would !ontinue inde9nitely+ #nd as amatter of fa!t, I heard that your visit to the Soviet .nion drew!riti!ism from the Chinese, too+ Still, you maintained your!onvi!tion, assertin that China and the Soviet .nion wouldde9nitely mend their relations+ Thins turned out ea!tly asyou said+ =our tremendous faith in human nature prevailedover what were seeminly insurmounta5le odds+I think it's a5out !hanin mistrust into trust+ This is easy tosay, 5ut etremely di!ult to put into pra!ti!e+

Ikeda: If you !onsistently take a!tion in the arenas of power5ased on humanism, you are !ertain to en!ounter di!ulties+This is an eample of the prin!iple of <the si di!ult and nineeasy a!ts< that we 9nd in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter+3i!ardo *ReG2/o!hleitner, president of the Clu5 of 3ome, hassuested that while we may say that the 1arth is si!k, thereal pro5lem is that the human 5eins who inha5it the 1arthare si!k+ The three transformations indi!ates makin theworld, the 1arth, healthy 5y restorin the ailin lives of itspeople to health+

The Three $ategories of Illusion

Suda: In the /okke 0onu, T'ien2t'ai !orrelates the threetransformations of the land with the three !ateories ofillusion, whi!h are illusions of thouht and desire, illusions asinnumera5le as parti!les of dust and sand, and illusion a5outthe true nature of eisten!e+ The three transformations of theland in eMe!t eradi!ate the three illusions+Illusions of thouht, 5y the way, are mistaken views+ Whileillusions of desire arise from the three poisons, namely, reed,aner and stupidity+1ndo: -lamin suMerins on someone or somethin outsideoneself is an eample of an illusion of thouht+ When werealiGe that the !auses for everythin that happens to us arewithin our own lives, we have defeated this illusion of thouht+Saito: -roadly speakin, feelin pre4udi!e toward others or

4udin people on the 5asis of so!ial !lass !an also 5e!onsidered an illusion of thouht+

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SBI mem5ers dare to take on this most di!ult work for thosewho are strulin the hardest+ #nd 5y their a!tions, they are!onstru!tin <!ities of tran>uil liht< in all parts of the world+#s a result of their en!ouraement, friends who had 5een inthe depths of suMerin stand up and ena!t a <drama of

revitaliGation< 5ased on the 0ysti! Law+ This itself is thesplendid transformation of an <impure land< 9lled withsuMerin into a <pure land< pervaded with 4oy+Saito: 1a!h person's human revolution !an fundamentallytransform the destiny of an entire !ountry+Ikeda: Put into words, the transformation of the land maysound stati!F 5ut sin!e it !omes a5out throuh individualsearnestly rapplin with reality, it is a!tually a hihly dynami!prin!iple+ #s the sutra indi!ates where it says, <The Saha worldthereupon immediately !haned into a pla!e of !leanness andpurity< "LS&&, &DN), the pure land is not to 5e found in some

other world+ 3ather, this world itself 5e!omes the land oftran>uil liht+Put su!!in!tly, the -uddha's land is a pla!e where many humanTreasure Towers are !onstru!ted, where everyone shines as a<tower of treasure+< The appearan!e of forests of theseTreasure Towers !reates the -uddha's land+1ndo: The third transformation represents the eradi!ation ofillusion a5out the true nature of eisten!e+Ikeda: Illusion a5out the true nature of eisten!e is literallyillusion a5out the nature of one's own life+ This is thefundamental sour!e of all illusions+ If we are inorant a5out

the nature of our own eisten!e, then we will 5e inoranta5out the nature of other people's lives, too+On the other hand, when our lives are free of illusion, we !anper!eive the Treasure Tower that shines resplendent in allpeople, in all 5eins+ Su!h an <open heart< is the nature ofenlihtenment+ The <!losed heart< that prevents us fromseein the Treasure Tower is inoran!e a5out the nature oflife, or <darkness+< This is the !ru of the pro5lem+In the future I hope we !an dis!uss darkness andenlihtenment from various anles+ -ut for the time 5ein,why don't we !onsider their relation to the si di!ult and

nine easy a!ts in liht of the <Treasure Tower< !hapterJSin!e propaatin the Lotus Sutra is ultimately a strule toover!ome the fundamental darkness in our own lives, it is themost di!ult of all tasks+ #nd sin!e this is also a struleaainst the *evil of the Sith /eaven, in !arryin out this work we are sure to meet with o5sta!les+

37



The %i, 'ifficult an Nine Easy Acts

The other sutrasnum5er as many as Banes sands,5ut thouh you epound those sutras,

that is not worth reardin as di!ult+If you were to seiGe 0ount Sumeruand ?in it far oM to the measureless -uddha lands,that too would not 5e di!ult+If you used the toe of your footto move the thousand2million2fold world,5ootin it far away to other lands,that too would not 5e di!ult+If you stood in the Summit of -einheavenand for the sake of the assem5lyprea!hed !ountless other sutras,that too would not 5e di!ult+-ut if after the -uddha has enteredetin!tion,in the time of evil,you !an prea!h this sutra,that will 5e di!ult indeed"LS&&, &DA2D)

Suda: To 5ein with, the prin!iple of the si di!ult and nineeasy a!ts, literally referrin to si di!ult and nine easy tasks,is indi!ative of 4ust how di!ult it will 5e to propaate the0ysti! Law after Shakyamuni's death+Saito: In the Bosho, @i!hiren *aishonin repeatedly !ites thesutra passae des!ri5in the si di!ult and nine easy a!ts,and indi!ates that it has spe!ial relevan!e to himself+Ikeda: In <The Openin of the 1yes,< the *aishonin oes so faras to say, <If a person ful9lls the tea!hin of 'the si di!ultand nine easy a!ts' of the Lotus Sutra, then, even thouh hemay not have read the entire 5ody of sutras, all should followhim< "0W2$, &K& &DK6)+&K6 /e indi!ates that 4ust as all the<river ods< follow the <lord of o!ean,< and as all <mountainods< follow the <lord of 0ount Sumeru,< all -uddhas and5odhisattvas follow the *aishonin, who read the tea!hin ofthe si di!ult and nine easy a!ts with his entire 5ein andthere5y attained mastery of all sutras+The Lotus Sutra is the kin of all sutras+ #nd the essen!e of itspra!ti!e lies in the tea!hin of the si di!ult and nine easy

38



a!ts+ One who internaliGes this tea!hin therefore walks thesupreme path in life+Saito: Why don't we !onsider the si di!ult and nine easya!ts in terms of the ?ow of the <Treasure Tower< !hapterJ Thethree transformations have taken pla!e and all of the -uddhas

have assem5led+ Shakyamuni and 0any Treasures "7p+ Taho)-uddha have taken their pla!es within the Treasure Tower, andall 5eins in the assem5ly have 5een raised into the air+ Thestae has 5een set, and the Ceremony in the #ir at last 5eins+Shakyamuni 9rst says:

Who is !apa5le of 5roadly prea!hin theLotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law in thisSaha worldJ @ow is the time to do so, for5efore lon the Thus Come One will enternirvana+ The -uddha wishes to entrust

this Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law tosomeone so that it may 5e preserved+"LS&&, &D()

1ndo: Startin with this 9rst ehortation, in the <TreasureTower< !hapter Shakyamuni !alls out three times to the5odhisattvas urin them to spread the tea!hin after hisdeath+Ikeda: In <The Openin of the 1yes,< @i!hiren *aishonin refersto this as the <three pronoun!ements+<Suda: In the se!ond pronoun!ement, Shakyamuni !lari9es that

the reason why 0any Treasures -uddha has appeared andShakyamuni's emanations in the ten dire!tions have atheredis <to make !ertain the Law will lon endure< "LS&&, &DD)+ #ndthe third time, he issues his ehortation after revealin theetreme di!ulty of propaatin the Lotus Sutra in the future5y eplainin the si di!ult and nine easy a!ts+Ikeda: In this liht, it is plain that the Ceremony in the #ir is<for the time after the -uddha's passin+< Shakyamuni, 0anyTreasures and the -uddhas of the ten dire!tions unanimouslyure that the true tea!hin 5e spread in the future+ That is thepurpose for the !reation of su!h a mani9!ent stae+

1ndo: The nine easy a!ts are as follows: "&) to tea!hinnumera5le sutras other than the Lotus SutraF "$) to take up0ount Sumeru and hurl it to the measureless -uddha landsF"N) to ki!k the entire thousand2million2fold world "ma4or worldsystem) into another >uarter with one's toeF "%) to stand in thehihest heaven and prea!h innumera5le sutras other than theLotus SutraF "K) to rasp the sky with one's hand and travelaround with itF "() to pla!e the earth on one's toenail and

39



as!end to the -rahma heavenF "D) to walk a!ross a 5urninprairie !arryin a 5undle of dry rass on one's 5a!k without5ein 5urnedF "A) to prea!h eihty2four thousand tea!hinsand ena5le one's listeners to o5tain the si trans!endentalpowersF and ") to ena5le innumera5le people to rea!h the

stae of arhat and a!>uire the si supernatural powers+Suda: One tends to wonder 4ust what is easy a5out thesethinsF or if it's perhaps not some kind of mistake, and thatthese are a!tually supposed to 5e the <nine di!ult a!ts+<Saito: We !an !lassify these nine into two roups: <physi!al<and <do!trinal+< The se!ond, third, 9fth, sith and seventh arephysi!al tasks, and the 9rst, fourth, eihth, and ninth areprimarily do!trinal+ The point is that they are all <easy<!ompared to the si di!ult a!ts+Ikeda: The reason for their in!lusion is of !ourse to illustrate5y !ontrast the reat !hallene of the si di!ult a!ts+ 1ven

so, it !annot 5e said that they are su54e!tive or eaerated+ Ithink this formulation !ontains profound meanin+1ndo: The si di!ult a!ts are as follows: "&) to prea!h theLotus Sutra, "$) to write out and em5ra!e it and !ause othersto write it out, "N) to read this sutra even for a little while, "%)to em5ra!e this sutra and epound it to even one person, "K)to listen to and a!!ept this sutra and ask a5out its meanin,and "() to honor and em5ra!e faith in it after the -uddha'sdeath+In short, it is etremely di!ult to !arry out the pra!ti!e of theLotus Sutra for oneself and others in the Latter *ay of the Law+

Ikeda: *o you know why this isJIt's partly 5e!ause the Lotus Sutra of the Latter *ay of the Lawis the Breat Pure Law of @am20yoho23ene2Hyo+ There is alsoan important distin!tion when it !omes to spreadin the LawFonly -odhisattvas of the 1arth !an !arry out the pra!ti!e of the0ysti! Law+ ;urthermore, those who pra!ti!e the Lotus Sutraare !ertain to en!ounter reat di!ulties+ That's pro5a5ly thekey point+In the <Oni Huden< "3e!ord of Orally Transmitted Tea!hins),@i!hiren *aishonin, addressin Shakyamuni's statement in the<Treasure Tower< !hapter that <This sutra is hard to uphold<

"LS&&, &AE), says, <Those who em5ra!e this Lotus Sutra should5e prepared to meet with di!ulties< "Bosho enshu, p+ D%$)+Saito: <This Lotus Sutra< means the BohonGon of @am20yoho23ene2Hyo, whi!h is the Lotus Sutra of the Latter *ay+ #nd<em5ra!e< means to devote one's life to the widespreadpropaation of the 0ysti! Law+1ndo: Only those who endure perse!ution on 5ehalf of the Lawand persevere in its propaation truly <em5ra!e the 0ysti!

40



Law+< If people merely read the sutra, while failin to spreadthe tea!hin and runnin away from di!ulties, they are not<em5ra!in the Lotus Sutra+<Saito: In that sense, SBI mem5ers are enuinely !arryin outthe etremely di!ult pra!ti!e of <em5ra!in the Lotus Sutra<

in the modern ae, after the eample of Tsunesa5uro0akiu!hi, the foundin president, who died upholdin thetea!hin+

$onuering Funamental 'ar.ness

Ikeda: In liht of the si di!ult and nine easy a!ts, weunderstand 4ust how terri9!ally !hallenin it is to dedi!ateone's life to Hosen 3ufu+Without relyin on power, authority or wealth, SBI mem5ershave, 5y their own eMorts, spread the reat tea!hin that !anena5le all people to attain enlihtenment to &$A !ountries andterritories around the world+ @i!hiren *aishonin no dou5tpraises this most hihly+ Shakyamuni, 0any Treasures and the-uddhas of the ten dire!tions surely all send their applause+Suda: -e!ause these a!ts are so di!ult, immediately afterShakyamuni attained enlihtenment he hesitated, unsure of whether or not to epound the Law+ In the Bosho, the*aishonin also des!ri5es feelin some un!ertainty 5eforeesta5lishin his tea!hin+The *aishonin says he realiGed that if he uttered so mu!h as aword a5out the fundamental !ause of human misery, thenwithout a dou5t not only he himself, 5ut his parents, si5linsand even his mentor would suMer perse!ution at the hands ofthe ruler+ On the other hand, he knew that if he failed to do sohe would 5e la!kin in !ompassion+The *aishonin worried a5out whether he should speak out orhold his tonue+ /e realiGed, in liht of passaes in the LotusSutra and the @irvana Sutra, that if he did not tell people thetruth, then, while he miht not suMer any neative!onse>uen!es in his present life, in the future he would 5e!ertain to fall into the hell of in!essant suMerin+ On the otherhand, if he spoke out then the three o5sta!les and four devilswould atta!k him+ Takin these !onsiderations into a!!ount,the *aishonin resolved to propaate his tea!hin+/e knew that if he la!ked the fortitude to follow throuh whenperse!uted 5y the ruler, then he would 5e 5etter oM not sayinanythin from the start+ It is said that at that time the*aishonin re!olle!ted the prin!iple of the si di!ult and nineeasy a!ts in the <Treasure Tower< !hapter+

41



1ndo: With the si di!ult and nine easy a!ts in mind, @i!hiren*aishonin made his reat determination+ /e says, <I vowed tosummon up a powerful and un!on>uera5le desire for thesalvation of all 5eins, and never to falter in my eMorts< "0W2$, ( &&%6)+ The >uestion here is why di!ulties arise when

someone spreads the Lotus Sutra+Suda: There are two reasons: the Lotus Sutra is the <sutra ofshaku5uku,< and it is the tea!hin epounded in a!!ord withthe -uddha's own mind+ In other words, in the Lotus Sutra, the-uddha epresses his enlihtenment 4ust as it is, withoutmodifyin his eplanation or a!!ommodatin it to theunderstandin or !apa!ity of others+ In that sense, it's onlynatural that this tea!hin should provoke a stron rea!tion+Saito: It is !ertainly true, as the sayin oes, that oodmedi!ine is 5itter to the taste+ /istory oMers !ountlesseamples of instan!es where speakin the truth has invited

stron !ondemnation+ 0any pioneerin individuals, in!ludins!ientists su!h as Balileo, en!ountered perse!ution that insome !ases even !ost them their lives+1ndo: Those in power will deny and 9er!ely rea!t aainst eventhe plainest truth if it threatens to destroy the status >uo+Suda: There is a famous story a5out how Balileo, upon 5einsenten!ed to life imprisonment 5y the In>uisition, mum5ledunder his 5reath, <-ut it the earth6 does move+< &(6 1aer to!rush Balileo's assertions were 5oth the authority of theChur!h and the proponents of S!holasti!ism, a movement tofor!e philosophy into re!on!ila5ility with !hur!h do!trine,

providin the ideoloi!al moorins of the so!iety+Ikeda: When we talk a5out ideoloy, it sounds very !omple+-ut the truth is that any so!iety and any ae have a worldviewand set of values that form people's !ons!iousness+ Whensomethin !ontradi!ts this worldview or system of values,there will 5e an opposin rea!tion+ We 9nd eamples of this in5oth present and past, 1ast and West+Suda: This is somethin *es!artes "&K(2&(KE), who!hallened the metaphysi!al view of the universe asso!iatedwith S!holasti!ism, also en!ountered+ When he wrote TheWorld, he feared he would 5e punished 4ust as Balileo had

5e!ause it !ontained Coperni!an theory+ So he did not make itpu5li!+Ikeda: That's normal+ 1veryone priGes his or her own life+ -utthe Lotus Sutra says that unless this Breat Law is revealed andspread, humankind will remain shrouded in darkness+Therefore, the *aishonin made a 9rm resolution+ Only thosewho do <not hesitate even if it !osts them their lives< arevotaries of Lotus Sutra+

42



/owever, this in itself !annot a!!ount for the etreme di!ultyof the si di!ult a!ts+ In fa!t, the Lotus Sutra is not the onlysutra to dis!uss di!ulties+ In this !onne!tion, we are 5etterserved if we fo!us on the pro5lem of the fundamental darknessinherent in human life, to whi!h we referred a little earlier+

The Lotus Sutra, remem5er, is the <tea!hin for transforminlife+< It arti!ulates the Breat Law for !on>uerin fundamentaldarkness or inoran!e+ ;undamental darkness is theunderlyin illusion inherent in life+ While there are variouspoints of view, @i!hiren *aishonin says that <fundamentaldarkness manifests itself as the *evil of the Sith /eaven<"0W2N, $D)+ In the <Letter to the -rothers< he wrote:In ea!h !ase, the *evil of the Sith /eaven possessed these-uddhist s!holars in order to de!eive the 5elievers+++ The devilof fundamental darkness !an even enter the life of a5odhisattva who has rea!hed the hihest stae of pra!ti!e and

prevent him from attainin the Lotus Sutra's ultimate5lessin22-uddhahood itself+ Thus he !an easily o5stru!t thosein any lower stae of pra!ti!e+ "0W2&, &N(2ND)Saito: # 5odhisattva at the hihest stae of pra!ti!e hasattained a level of enlihtenment e>ual to that of the -uddha+The *aishonin is sayin that even 5odhisattvas at this staehave not yet !on>uered their fundamental darkness+ Putanother way, whether someone has !on>uered fundamentaldarkness or not determines whether that person has trulyattained -uddhahood+1ndo: -oth passaes eplain that fundamental darkness

manifests as the <*evil of the Sith /eaven< and fun!tions too5stru!t the pra!titioner of the Lotus Sutra+ The *evil of theSith /eaven, the <kin who makes free use of the fruits ofothers' eMorts for his own pleasure,< is so !alled 5e!ause itdwells in the hihest of the si heavens of the world of desire+We !ould think of it as the em5odiment of the <devilish natureof power+<Ikeda: The *evil of the Sith /eaven !an 5e thouht of as thefundamental tenden!y to seek to use everyone and everythinas a means+ In a sense, this is a natural in!lination that all5eins possess+ -y !ontrast, to a!tively seek to support other

people and improve our environment is etremely di!ult+Compassion, love of humanity, the spirit to serve others22theseare wonderful >ualitiesF 5ut manifestin them in our a!tions isetremely di!ult+The universe and one's own life are in essen!e one+ 1venthouh people may understand this intelle!tually, usually theyfail to rasp it in the depths of their lives+ This !ould 5e termedfundamental darkness+ -e!ause of this inoran!e a5out the

43



true nature of life, people try to make everythin and everyonein the universe serve them, to turn them into a means+ This isthe fun!tion of the *evil of the Sith /eaven, of the devilishnature of power+The Lotus Sutra eplains that the self is one with the universe+

The pra!ti!e of the Lotus Sutra is the pra!ti!e of !ompassion+It is to respe!t and revere everyone as a Treasure Tower, andto 5e!ome happy !on4ointly with others in a!!ord with theprin!iple of the oneness of self and others, while over!ominthe various di!ulties we fa!e+In the !ourse of !arryin out this pra!ti!e, we will de9nitelyhave to 5attle our own fundamental darkness+ #nd 5e!ause 5your eMorts we are stimulatin and a!tivatin the fundamentaldarkness in other people's lives, we are sure to en!ounterdi!ulties+Those in positions of power are not the only ones in?uen!ed 5y

the devilish nature of power+ #s indi!ated 5y the line, <the*evil of the Sith /eaven possessed these -uddhist s!holars inorder to de!eive the 5elievers,< spiritual leaders who arerevered in so!iety may also 5randish the devilish nature ofpower+Saito: Su!h people represent the third of the three powerfulenemies+ &D6Ikeda: Breat perse!utions usually result from the !ollusion ofevil authorities and !orrupt spiritual leaders+ This holds true inthe past and present, as it will in the future+1ndo: That's perfe!tly !onsistent with how, in makin the Saha

world a land of tran>uil liht throuh the <threetransformations,< Shakyamuni ultimately has to 5attleinoran!e and illusion a5out the true nature of eisten!e+Saito: T'ien2t'ai's do!trine of the <three o5sta!les and fourdevils< oriinally referred to o5stru!tions and neativefun!tions that emere from the depths of life in the pro!ess ofdevelopin <inner siht+< In order to em5ody the prin!iple ofI!hinen SanGen, that is, to attain the awareness that our mindor life2moment is one with the universe, we have to over!omethe seven inner o5sta!les and neative fun!tions "i+e+, threeo5sta!les and four devils)+ In @i!hiren *aishonin's -uddhism,

this inner strule is often played out in dynami! terms as a5attle to defeat devils and o5sta!les that arise from without inthe !ourse of one's -uddhist pra!ti!e+Suda: <1m5ra!in the Lotus Sutra< is the key to winnin in thestrule aainst fundamental darkness and the devilish natureof power+ Therefore, in the 5roadest sense, it is truly<di!ult+<

44



Ikeda: In terms of di!ulty, 5oth the <physi!al< and the<do!trinal< tasks of the nine <easy< a!ts pale 5y !omparison+1ndo: The physi!al tasks sound impossi5le, 5ut when youeamine them !arefully, you see that they are all super9!ial+ Itmay even 5e that the advan!ement of s!ienti9! te!hnoloy has

already 5rouht some of them >uite into the realm ofpossi5ility+Ikeda: The point is that !hanin the inner world is far moredi!ult than !hanin the outer world+ That's what thedo!trine of the si di!ult and nine easy a!ts tea!hes+Suda: 3eardin the do!trinal tasks, tea!hin and spreadinsutras other than the Lotus Sutra is <easy< 5e!ause thesetea!hins do not ena5le one to !on>uer fundamental darkness+Ikeda: We should 5e !areful not to overly restri!t the !on!eptsof fundamental darkness and the *evil of the Sith /eaven+The Lotus Sutra eplains that fundamental darkness and the

nature of enlihtenment are in essen!e one+The *aishonin says that even the devil kin has 5oth <5ody<and <fun!tion+< The <5ody< is the devil kin inherent in life interms of the <oneness of darkness and enlihtenment+< The<fun!tion< is the devil kin of the sith heaven as the fun!tionof life that derives from this essen!e "!f+ Bosho enshu, p+A%N)+ -ut why don't we take this up in detail another timeJSin!e darkness and enlihtenment are essentially one,ultimately even the devil kin fun!tions to prote!t -uddhism+The Lotus Sutra says, <althouh the devil and the devil'speople will 5e there, they will all prote!t the Law of the

-uddha< "LS(, &EA)+ This time in our study of the Lotus Sutrawe are fo!usin on the devil kin fun!tion+

The /nifying )ower of $ompassion

Saito: #nd so we !ome to the devilish nature of power22this is atheme that we have to dis!uss time and aain+Ikeda: That's riht+ 7ust what is the <evil of powerJ< This is a

fundamental issue with an important 5earin on the twenty29rst !entury+ *urin the twentieth !entury the <evil of power<has assumed enormous proportions+ ;as!ism and Stalinism areo5vious eamples+1ndo: While representin diametri!ally opposite ideoloi!alpositions, in terms of one 5ein rihtist and the other leftist,fas!ism and Stalinism are similar in that they 5oth produ!edfearfully oppressive totalitarian so!ieties+Ikeda: In a totalitarian system, everyone and everythin issimply a <means< for the powerful to use+ /uman 5eins are

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nothin more than tools, !ommodities, num5ers+ They aresimply non2entities+This is all too !lear when we look at the /olo!aust perpetrated5y the @aGis and their atro!ious 5ehavior toward physi!allyand mentally handi!apped people and others, whom they

de9ned as <inferior+< These are instan!es of su!h !ruelty thatit's hard even to dis!uss them+&A6.nder su!h systems, human 5eins are sele!ted as <useful< or<useless< a!!ordin to standards ar5itrarily determined 5ythose in power, and then eploited or slauhtered at will+Suda: In 7apan's invasion of #sia, as well, there was a<!ommodi9!ation< of people that !an only 5e des!ri5ed asinsane+1ndo: While the devilish nature of power is present in any ae,in the twentieth !entury it took on hue dimensions and5e!ame hihly oraniGed+

Ikeda: @ot infre>uently people have tried to 4ustify su!hinhumanity on the 5asis of ideoloy+#nother fa!tor in this !entury has 5een the advan!e of s!ien!eand te!hnoloy, whi!h has reatly epanded the s!ope of traedy+ The atomi! 5om5 and the as !ham5ers "used in @aGi!on!entration !amps) are sym5oli! of this trend+ Su!hte!hnoloy has put in people's hands the power to 5rutaliGeand kill human 5eins on a massive s!ale+S!ien!e in essen!e ehi5its the tenden!y to try to >uantifyeverythinF and <soulless te!hnoloy< spurs on the!ommodi9!ation of human 5eins+ @u!lear weapons sym5oliGe

the devilish nature of power+ They are like the in!arnation ofthe devil kin+ <*evil< means ro55er of lifeF the ea!t oppositeof <-uddha,< one who restores and inviorates life+Saito: The statement 5y se!ond Soka Bakkai president 7oseiToda in his <*e!laration on the #5olition of #tomi! and/ydroen -om5s< in &KD, <#nyone who uses an atomi!weapon is a devil and a Satan who threatens people's veryriht to eisten!e,< was 5ased on su!h profound insiht intothe nature of life+Ikeda: President Toda fouht with his entire 5ein aainst theneative fun!tions pervadin the universe+ /is strule was

intense+ Pro5a5ly no one !an fully appre!iate the anuish hewent throuh and the strain he felt+ The 9er!e pressures on hislife would have !aused another person to 5e!ome violently illor die, or !ommit sui!ide, or develop a severe psy!holoi!aldisorder+I have des!ri5ed atomi! weapons as the em5odiment ofdarkness+ -ut they !ould also 5e des!ri5ed as the in!arnationof mistrust in, and hatred toward, human 5eins+ The

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philosopher 0a Pi!ard "&AAA2&(K) arued that the atomi!5om5 is a sym5ol of a <disinteratin< world+ Pi!ard wrote:The very for!e whi!h holds the atoms toether as they form aworld is now 5ein used to eplode that world+ It is 5y nomeans a!!idental that the atom 5om5 was invented in the day

and ae whi!h lives and whi!h dies 5y disinteratineverythin+The devilish nature of power fun!tions to disinterate anddivide+ It !uts people oM from the universe, alienates themfrom other people, divides one !ountry from another, andsunders people's 5onds with nature+ On the other hand,!ompassion uni9es+ In the universe itself there is a <unifyin!ompassion+<The universe itself is oriinally !ompassion+ In that sense, theuniverse is the perfe!t stae for the strule 5etween the<-uddha< and the <devil,< 5etween the <devilish nature of

power< and <!ompassion<F for the strule 5etween the desireto turn life into a means, and the !ompassion to make life theo54e!tiveF for the 5attle 5etween the power that attempts toturn people into rains of sands, to redu!e them tononentities, and the power that seeks to ena5le people to5e!ome Treasure Towers+Saito: This reminds me of Immanuel Hant's famous de9nition of human worth+ Hant "&D$%2&AE%) held that people havea5solute worth+ /e said, <#!t so that you treat humanity,whether in your own person or in that of another, always as anend and never as a means only+< &6

1ndo: Hant also said: <Two thins 9ll the mind with ever newand in!reasin admiration and awe, the oftener and moresteadily they are re?e!ted on: the starry heavens a5ove meand the moral law within me+< $E6The universe and the inner law 22-uddhism tea!hes that theseare not two 5ut one+ This has somethin in !ommon withBoethe's !omment that <@othin's outside that's not within+<0oreover, these 5oth re?e!t the <law of !ompassion,< thepower that uni9es everythin+Ikeda: @orman Cousins, whom I mentioned at the start of thisdis!ussion, also wrote, <I see no separation 5etween the

universal order and the moral order<F and <I may not em5ra!eor !ommand this universal order, 5ut I !an 5e at one with it, forI am of it+< $&6The moment I met *r+ Cousins, I intuitively felt, <This person isa 5odhisattva+< /e was a reat man+Suda: *r+ Cousins is famous for havin worked very hard to etmedi!al treatment for the </iroshima 0aidens,< youn irlswho were vi!tims of the atomi!25om5in of /iroshima+ /e also

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worked to et psy!holoi!al and medi!al treatment for a roupof Polish women on whom the @aGis had !ondu!ted ruesomeeperiments+Ikeda: The devilish nature of power is hideously !ruel+ Itsantithesis is to love ea!h person as an irrepla!ea5le entity+ It is

to eert oneself and suMer on others' 5ehalf, and to rearddoin so as a 4oy+In a spee!h, the famous psy!holoist 8+ 1+ ;rankl "author of0an's Sear!h for 0eanin, an Introdu!tion to Lootherapy), asurvivor of the @aGi !on!entration !amps, introdu!ed thefollowin passae from a letter 5y a mother:While in the uterus, my !hild's skull formed prematurely+ #s aresult, when she was 5orn on 7une (, &$, she was alreadyfatally ill+ I was eihteen years old at the time+ I worshippedmy 5a5y like a od and loved her 5oundlessly+ 0y mother and Idid everythin we !ould to help the poor 5a5y+ -ut it was no

ood+ The !hild !ould neither walk nor speak+ Still, I wasyoun, and I did not a5andon hope+ I worked day and niht, 4ust so that I !ould 5uy nutritious food and medi!ine for mydear dauhter+ I would wrap my dauhter's frail arm around myne!k and ask her, <*o you love 0ommy, dearJ< #nd she wouldhu me tiht and smile, and awkwardly pat my fa!e+ #t thosemoments I was really happy+ @o matter how di!ult thinswere, I felt 5oundless 4oy+ $$6This is the ea!t opposite of the devilish nature of power that<turns people into a means+<Saito: I feel as thouh I have !ome to understand a little of the

profound meanin of the <Treasure Tower< !hapter+Ikeda: To put the devilish nature of power into more familiarterms, one eample of it would 5e a leader who foists hardwork on others, makin them do thins that are unpleasant ordi!ult, while takin it easy himself+ Su!h a person makesothers take responsi5ility, and then !laims all the !redit+Someone has written:

There is 5ound to 5e a !ertain amountof trou5le runnin any !ountryif you are president the trou5le happens

to you5ut if you are a tyrant you !an arranethins sothat most of the trou5le happens to otherpeople+ $N6

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The diMeren!e 5etween a leader and a tyrant is that a leaderworks hard for everyone else, while a tyrant makes otherswork hard for him+@i!hiren *aishonin says that fundamental darkness manifestsas the *evil of the Sith /eaven, while the fundamental nature

of enlihtenment manifests as -onten, Taishaku $% and theother -uddhist ods "!f+ 0W2N, $D)+ The devil kin is a tyrant+-onten and Taishaku are leaders+ The outward diMeren!e5etween the two is de!isiveF it is like the diMeren!e 5etweenheaven and earth+ #t the same time, in terms of a person'sinner state of life or I!hinen, it is most su5tle+Saito: One has to eer!ise !onstant viilan!e over one's spiritand intentions+ In this liht, it seems that the sense ofpowerlessness we talked a5out at the 5einnin is a ma4orreason why people in modern so!iety tend to 5e viewed only interms of their <fun!tion,< or as the <means< to some end+

1ndo: Similarly, for !hildren it is no dou5t a sour!e of reataniety to 5e evaluated and ranked simply on the 5asis of theirrades in s!hool+ 1ven in the home, whi!h ouht to 5e a pla!ewhere !hildren are a!!epted as pre!ious and irrepla!ea5le,there is a tenden!y for parents to evaluate their !hildren onthe 5asis of rades22a very partial and framentary indi!ator+.nder su!h !ir!umstan!es, it's pro5a5ly only natural that!hildren fail to develop true self2!on9den!e, that they do nota!>uire a sense of inner strenth22the feelin, <@o matter whathappens, I will deal with thins to the 5est of my a5ility+<Ikeda: =es+ There is no hierar!hy or pe!kin order when it

!omes to life+ #ll life has in9nite worth+ We have to edu!ate!hildren and adults alike so that no one is made to feelpowerless+ We have to provide nourishment for the heart+ #ndwe have to !reate true human solidarity+ This will 5e the key tothe present ae+ In that sense, the <Treasure Tower< !hapter,whi!h !alls out to all, <=ou are a tower of treasure+ =our life!ontains limitless strenth and potential,< oMers a wealth ofinspiration for this ae+<1m5ra!in the Lotus Sutra< means !ontinually 9htinaainst all manifestations of the devilish nature of power+When we !arry out this di!ult task, motivated 5y love of

humanity, our life truly shines as a Treasure TowerF we liveea!h day in the presen!e of the Ceremony in the #ir, in rhythmwith eternityF and ea!h moment 5rilliantly lows with thesheer 4oy of livin+

Footnotes0

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&+ Currently only availa5le in 7apanese: pu5lished 5y 0aini!hiShim5unsha, &&+$+ @orman Cousins, Present Tense: #n #meri!an 1ditor'sOdyssey "@ew =ork: 0!Braw2/ill -ook Company, &(D), p+ NDN+N+ I5id+, p+ ND%+

%+ I!hinen SanGen: Three thousand realms in a sinle momentof life+ #!tual I!hinen SanGen, in !ontrast to theoreti!al I!hinenSanGen, indi!ates the pra!ti!al appli!ation of this prin!iple tolife+K+ <SanGe Sho5utsu Sokanmon Hyoso /airyu< "Bosho enshu,pp+ KKA2DK), written in O!to5er &$D when the *aishonin was9fty2eiht+(+ Boethe, Poems and 1pirams, trans+ 0i!hael /am5urer"London: #nvil Press Poetry, &AN), p+ E+D+ I5id+, p+ D&+A+ Translated from 7apanese: Shieo 0iki, Seimei Heitai no

ShiGenshi "Life ;orms @atural 7ournal) "Tokyo: .5usuna Shoin,&A), pp+ K2++ 1ditor's note: #ll >uotations from the Lotus Sutra are from:The Lotus Sutra, trans+ -urton Watson "@ew =ork: Colum5ia.niversity Press, &N)+ ;or purposes of !onvenien!e, all!itations from this work will 5e iven in the tet anda55reviated as follows: LS followed 5y the !hapter num5er,and then the pae num5er+&E+ @ayuta: #n Indian numeri!al unit !orrespondin to&EE,EEE,EEE,EEE+&&+ Saha world: # land where people have to endure many

hardships and trials+&$+ 1iht dire!tions: @orth, south, east, west, northwest,northeast, southeast and southwest+&N+ Si paths: The 9rst si of the Ten Worlds 22/ell, /uner,#nimality, #ner, /umanity "or Tran>uility) and /eaven "or3apture)+ The si paths indi!ate states of delusion or suMerin+One who is in these states is overned 5y his rea!tions toeternal stimuli and is therefore never really free 5ut!onstantly at the mer!y of !hanin !ir!umstan!es+&%+ /okke 0onu: "Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), vol+A+

&K+ 1ditor's note: uotes from volume $ of the 0a4or Writinsare from the revised editionF the pae num5er for the earlieredition is iven in 5ra!kets+&(+ 1ppur si muove+ #ttr+ to Balileo after his re!antation in&(N$+ The earliest appearan!e of the phrase is perhaps in-aretti, Italian Li5rary "&DKD), P+ K$+&D+ Three powerful enemies: Three roups of people whom the<1n!ourain*evotion< "thirteenth) !hapter of the Lotus Sutra

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predi!ts will perse!ute those who propaate the sutra in thefuture+&A+ 0a Pi!ard, /itler in Our Selves, trans+ /einri!h /auser"/insdale, IL: /enry 3enery Company, &%D), p+ $((+&+ Immanuel Hant, ;oundations of the 0etaphysi!s of 0orals,

trans+ Lewis White -e!k "@ew =ork: The -o55s20errillCompany, In!+, &(), p+ K%+$E+ Immanuel Hant, Criti>ue of Pra!ti!al 3eason and OtherWritins in 0oral Philosophy, trans+ Lewis White -e!k"Chi!ao: The .niversity of Chi!ao Press, &%), p+ $KA+$&+ I5id+, Present Tense, p+ &(+$$+ Translated from 7apanese: 8+ 1+ ;rankl, Soredemo 7insei niIesu to Iu, trans+ Hunio =amada and 0ika 0atsuda, "I Still Say<=es< to Life) "Tokyo: Shun4usha: &N), p+ &E%+$N+ *on 0ar>uis, The Lives and Times of #r!hy and 0ehita5el"@ew =ork: *ou5leday, *oran and Company, In!+, &%$), <#r!hy

*oes /is Part,< p+ &A+$%+ -onten "Skt+ -rahma), Taishaku "Skt+ Shakra *evanamIndra)+

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wisdom of the lotus sutra-chapter ten

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