What's new

Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

Gypsy Nirvana

Gypsy Nirvana

Recalcitrant Reprobate -
Administrator
Veteran
Good to see you back around PTD...

Just to let everyone know that this man stood by me thru my darkest hours/days/months/years when I was locked up abroad. When my kids needed medicine, food or whatever he sent it. When I needed encouragement to go on, he was there on my smuggled phone to encourage me. He did so much for me without asking anything in return except to chant, which I tried to do, but my cell mates would get all pissed off...lol

When I married my wife on the 27th November 2014, he sent the gold rings to seal the union, and we are both proud to be still wearing those rings to this day.

He really is a good Samaritan, and I owe him more than I can say.

Thanks mate....you are the embodiment of what is really good in this world.

Lots of love to you and your family. I could never give you the karma that you surely deserve.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
 
Weird

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
He transformed my life with the daimoku of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo


IT has been said that Shakyamuni Buddha is to us a sovereign, a teacher, and a parent, who alone works to save and protect us.1
Click to expand...

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/176

Now, no matter what, strive in faith and be known as a votary of the Lotus Sutra, and remain my disciple for the rest of your life. If you are of the same mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth. And if you are a Bodhisattva of the Earth, there is not the slightest doubt that you have been a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha from the remote past. The sutra states, “Ever since the long distant past I have been teaching and converting this multitude.”11 There should be no discrimination among those who propagate the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day of the Law, be they men or women. Were they not Bodhisattvas of the Earth, they could not chant the daimoku. At first only Nichiren chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but then two, three, and a hundred followed, chanting and teaching others. Propagation will unfold this way in the future as well. Does this not signify “emerging from the earth”? At the time when the Law has spread far and wide, the entire Japanese nation will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as surely as an arrow aimed at the earth cannot miss the target.
Click to expand...


---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Gypsy Nirvana said:
Good to see you back around PTD...

Just to let everyone know that this man stood by me thru my darkest hours/days/months/years when I was locked up abroad. When my kids needed medicine, food or whatever he sent it. When I needed encouragement to go on, he was there on my smuggled phone to encourage me. He did so much for me without asking anything in return except to chant, which I tried to do, but my cell mates would get all pissed off...lol

When I married my wife on the 27th November 2014, he sent the gold rings to seal the union, and we are both proud to be still wearing those rings to this day.

He really is a good Samaritan, and I owe him more than I can say.

Thanks mate....you are the embodiment of what is really good in this world.

Lots of love to you and your family. I could never give you the karma that you surely deserve.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
Click to expand...

Brother, it's easy when you love and respect that person for who they are! We are all here thanks to you (and may others).

JUST ANOTHER WEEK!!! CHANT!!!

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

T
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Weird said:
He transformed my life with the daimoku of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo




---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/176




---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40
Click to expand...

And thanks to you too Brother! Thank you for inviting me to hang out awhile. I do enjoy this place. I was very happy to see the original thread has now hit around 760,000 views, so people are still reading!

How cool is that?

Everything could have really diminished without you Weird (and so many others). This is your thread now, but I will be honored if I can hang with you guys more often! I just try and get people to experience the joy of Daimoku!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
essential teaching ［本門] ( hommon):

essential teaching ［本門] ( hommon):

Also, original teaching. ...
(2) In his writings, Nichiren (1222–1282) sometimes uses the term essential teaching to indicate the essential teaching of the Latter Day of the Law; that is, the teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind reads: “The essential teaching of Shakyamuni’s lifetime and that revealed [by Nichiren] at the beginning of the Latter Day are both pure and perfect [in that both lead directly to Buddhahood]. Shakyamuni’s, however, is the Buddhism of the harvest, and this is the Buddhism of sowing. The core of his teaching is one chapter and two halves, and the core of mine is the five characters of the daimoku alone” (WND/370). Nichiren thus identified Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the teaching he revealed at the “beginning of the Latter Day,” as the essential teaching for that age. From this viewpoint, in the same treatise, Nichiren states: “The difference between the theoretical and the essential teachings is as great as that between heaven and earth. . . . Nevertheless, even the difference between the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life of the theoretical teaching and that of the essential teaching pales into insignificance” (WND/368). That “difference . . . pales into insignificance” when it is compared with the difference between the essential teaching that is the latter half of the Lotus Sutra, and the essential teaching revealed by Nichiren at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Hence he termed his essential teaching “the unique essential teaching” ( dokuichi-hommon) in On the Mystic Principle of the True Cause, a writing he gave his immediate successor, Nikkō. See also fivefold view of revelation.
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
fivefold view of revelation ［五重三段］ ( gojū-sandan):

fivefold view of revelation ［五重三段］ ( gojū-sandan):

An analysis of the Buddhist teachings that appears in The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, a treatise completed in 1273 by Nichiren. Revelation means the truth that Buddhas impart. A teaching of revelation is preceded by a teaching of preparation, which readies people to receive the truth; and is followed by a teaching of transmission, which urges that the truth revealed be transmitted to posterity. Chinese Buddhist scholars classified the sutras according to these three divisions: preparation, revelation, and transmission. In the above treatise, Nichiren applies the three divisions to (1) all of Shakyamuni’s teachings, (2) the threefold Lotus Sutra (the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the eight-volume Lotus Sutra, and the Universal Worthy Sutra), (3) the theoretical teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra, (4) the essential teaching (latter half) of the sutra, and (5) the teaching implicit in the “Life Span” (sixteenth) chapter of the sutra. His purpose in so doing is to show that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the very teaching to be practiced and propagated in the Latter Day of the Law.

A summary of the fivefold view of revelation is as follows: (1) From the standpoint of all of Shakyamuni’s teachings, preparation is represented by the sutras of the Flower Garland, Āgama, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods, that is, the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings; revelation is represented by the threefold Lotus Sutra, and transmission by the Nirvana Sutra. (2) From the standpoint of the threefold Lotus Sutra, preparation consists of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” (first) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, revelation extends from the “Expedient Means” (second) chapter through the first half of the “Distinctions in Benefits” (seventeenth) chapter, and transmission includes the second half of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter through the “Universal Worthy” (twenty-eighth) chapter and includes the Universal Worthy Sutra. (3) In terms of the theoretical teaching, preparation comprises the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, revelation extends from the “Expedient Means” chapter through the “Prophecies” (ninth) chapter, and transmission, from the “Teacher of the Law” (tenth) chapter through the “Peaceful Practices” (fourteenth) chapter. (4) From the viewpoint of the essential teaching, preparation comprises the first half of the “Emerging from the Earth” (fifteenth) chapter, revelation includes the second half of the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter, the “Life Span” chapter, and the first half of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter (collectively known as “one chapter and two halves”), and transmission extends from the second half of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter through the “Universal Worthy” chapter and includes the Universal Worthy Sutra. (5) In terms of the teaching implicit in the “Life Span” chapter, that is, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, preparation is represented by the teachings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions throughout the three existences; revelation by Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Law implicit in the “Life Span” chapter; and transmission by the teachings of all the Buddhas read in the light of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
The Lotus Sutra / Chapter 16

The Lotus Sutra / Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

The Life Span of the Thus Come One

At that time the Buddha spoke to the bodhisattvas and all the great assembly: “Good men, you must believe and understand the truthful words of the thus come one.” And again he said to the great assembly: “You must believe and understand the truthful words of the thus come one.” And once more he said to the great assembly: “You must believe and understand the truthful words of the thus come one.”

At that time the bodhisattvas and the great assembly, with Maitreya as their leader, pressed their palms together and addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One, we beg you to explain. We will believe and accept the Buddha’s words.” They spoke in this manner three times, and then said once more: “We beg you to explain it. We will believe and accept the Buddha’s words.”

At that time the world-honored one, seeing that the bodhisattvas repeated their request three times and more, spoke to them, saying: “You must listen carefully and hear of the thus come one’s secret and his transcendental powers. In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of enlightenment not far from the city of Gaya and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained buddhahood.

“Suppose a person were to take five hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million nayuta asamkhya major world systems and grind them to dust. Then, moving eastward, each time he passes five hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million nayuta asamkhya worlds he drops a particle of dust. He continues eastward in this way until he has finished dropping all the particles. Good men, what is your opinion? Can the total number of all these worlds be imagined or calculated?”

The bodhisattva Maitreya and the others said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, these worlds are immeasurable, boundless—one cannot calculate their number, nor does the mind have the power to encompass them. Even all the voice-hearers and pratyekabuddhas with their wisdom free of outflows could not imagine or understand how many there are. Although we abide in the stage of non-regression, we cannot comprehend such a matter. World-Honored One, these worlds are immeasurable and boundless.”

At that time the Buddha said to the multitude of great bodhisattvas: “Good men, now I will state this to you clearly. Suppose all these worlds, whether they received a particle of dust or not, are once more reduced to dust. Let one particle represent one kalpa. The time that has passed since I attained buddhahood surpasses this by a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million nayuta asamkhya kappas.

“Ever since then I have been constantly in this saha world, preaching the Law, teaching, and converting. And elsewhere I have led and benefited living beings in hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas and asamkhyas of lands.

“Good men, during that time I have spoken about the buddha Burning Torch and others, and described how they entered nirvana. All this I employed as an expedient means to make distinctions.

“Good men, if there are living beings who come to me, I employ my buddha eye to observe whether their faith and other faculties are keen or dull, and then depending upon how receptive they are to salvation, I appear in different places and preach to them under different names, and describe my life span as long or short.

Sometimes when I make my appearance I say that I am about to enter nirvana, and also employ different expedient means to preach the subtle and wonderful Law, thus causing living beings to awaken joyful minds.

“Good men, the thus come one observes how among living beings there are those who delight in lesser teachings, meager in virtue and heavy with defilement. For such persons I describe how in my youth I left my household and attained supreme perfect enlightenment. But in truth the time since I attained buddhahood is extremely long, as I have told you. It is simply that I use this expedient means to teach and convert living beings and cause them to enter the buddha way. That is why I speak in this manner.

“Good men, the scriptures expounded by the thus come one are all for the purpose of saving and emancipating living beings. Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others; sometimes I present myself, sometimes others; sometimes I show my own actions, sometimes those of others. All that I preach is true and not false.

“Why do I do this? The thus come one perceives the true aspect of the threefold world exactly as it is. There is no ebb or flow of birth and death, and there is no existing in this world and later entering extinction. It is neither substantial nor empty, neither consistent nor diverse. Nor is it what those who dwell in the threefold world perceive it to be. All such things the thus come one sees clearly and without error.

“Because living beings have different natures, different desires, different actions, and different ways of thinking and making distinctions, and because I want to enable them to put down good roots, I employ a variety of causes and conditions, similes, parables, and phrases and preach different doctrines. This, a buddha’s work, I have never for a moment neglected.

“Thus, since I attained buddhahood, an extremely long period of time has passed. My life span is an immeasurable number of asamkhya kalpas, and during that time I have constantly abided here without ever entering extinction. Good men, originally I practiced the bodhisattva way, and the life span that I acquired then has yet to come to an end but will last twice the number of years that have already passed. Now, however, although in fact I do not actually enter extinction, I announce that I am going to adopt the course of extinction. This is an expedient means that the thus come one uses to teach and convert living beings.

“Why do I do this? Because if the Buddha remains in the world for a long time, those persons with shallow virtue will fail to plant good roots but, living in poverty and lowliness, will become attached to the five desires and be caught in the net of deluded thoughts and imaginings. If they see that the thus come one is constantly in the world and never enters extinction, they will grow arrogant and selfish, or become discouraged and neglectful. They will fail to realize how difficult it is to encounter the Buddha and will not approach him with a respectful and reverent mind.

“Therefore as an expedient means the thus come one says: ‘Monks, you should know that it is a rare thing to live at a time when one of the buddhas appears in the world.’ Why does he do this? Because persons of shallow virtue may pass immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of kalpas with some of them chancing to see a buddha and others never seeing one at all. For this reason I say to them: ‘Monks, the thus come one is hard to get to see.’ When living beings hear these words, they are certain to realize how difficult it is to encounter a buddha. In their minds they will harbor a longing and will thirst to gaze upon the buddha, and then they will work to plant good roots. Therefore the thus come one, though in truth he does not enter extinction, speaks of passing into extinction.

“Good men, the buddhas, the thus come ones, all act in such a manner. They act in order to save living beings, so what they say is true and not false.

“Suppose, for example, that there is a skilled physician who is wise and understanding and knows how to compound medicines to effectively cure all kinds of diseases. He has many sons, perhaps ten, twenty, or even a hundred. He goes off to some other land far away to see about a certain affair. After he has gone, the children drink some kind of poison that makes them distraught with pain and they fall writhing to the ground.

“At that time the father returns to his home and finds that his children have drunk poison. Some are completely out of their minds, while others are not. Seeing their father from far off, all are overjoyed and kneel down and entreat him, saying: ‘How fine that you have returned safely. We were foolish and by mistake drank some poison. We beg you to cure us and let us live out our lives!’

“The father, seeing his children suffering like this, follows various prescriptions. Gathering fine medicinal herbs that meet all the requirements of color, fragrance, and flavor, he grinds, sifts, and mixes them together. Giving a dose of these to his children, he tells them: ‘This is a highly effective medicine, meeting all the requirements of color, fragrance, and flavor. Take it and you will quickly be relieved of your sufferings and will be free of all illness.’

“Those children who have not lost their senses can see that this is good medicine, outstanding in both color and fragrance, so they take it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness. Those who are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father return and beg him to cure their sickness, but when they are given the medicine, they refuse to take it. Why? Because the poison has penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before. So although the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, they do not perceive it as good.

“The father thinks to himself: My poor children! Because of the poison in them, their minds are completely befuddled. Although they are happy to see me and ask me to cure them, they refuse to take this excellent medicine. I must now resort to some expedient means to induce them to take the medicine. So he says to them: ‘You should know that I am now old and worn out, and the time of my death has come. I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you.’ Having given these instructions, he then goes off to another land, where he sends a messenger home to announce, ‘Your father is dead.’

“At that time the children, hearing that their father has deserted them and died, are filled with great grief and consternation and think to themselves: If our father were alive he would have pity on us and see that we are protected. But now he has abandoned us and died in some other country far away. We are shelterless orphans with no one to rely on!

“Constantly harboring such feelings of grief, they at last come to their senses and realize that the medicine is in fact excellent in color and fragrance and flavor, and so they take it and are healed of all the effects of the poison. The father, hearing that his children are all cured, immediately returns home and appears to them all once more.

“Good men, what is your opinion? Can anyone say that this skilled physician is guilty of lying?”

“No, World-Honored One.”

The Buddha said: “It is the same with me. It has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayuta asamkhya kalpas since I attained buddhahood. But for the sake of living beings I employ the power of expedient means and say that I am about to pass into extinction. In view of the circumstances, however, no one can say that I have been guilty of lies or falsehoods.”

At that time the world-honored one, wishing to state his meaning once more, spoke in verse form, saying:

Since I attained buddhahood
the number of kalpas that have passed
is an immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands,
millions, trillions, asamkhyas.
Constantly I have preached the Law, teaching, converting
countless millions of living beings,
causing them to enter the buddha way,
all this for immeasurable kalpas.
In order to save living beings,
as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana
but in truth I do not pass into extinction.
I am always here, preaching the Law.
I am always here,
but through my transcendental powers
I make it so that living beings in their befuddlement
do not see me even when close by.
When the multitude sees that I have passed into extinction,
far and wide they offer alms to my relics.
All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha,
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.
At that time I tell the living beings
that I am always here, never entering extinction,
but that because of the power of expedient means
at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not,
and that if there are living beings in other lands
who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe,
then among them too
I will preach the unsurpassed Law.
But you have not heard of this,
so you suppose that I enter extinction.
When I look at living beings
I see them drowned in a sea of suffering;
therefore I do not show myself,
causing them to thirst for me.
Then when their minds are filled with yearning,
at last I appear and preach the Law for them.
Such are my transcendental powers.
For asamkhya kalpas
constantly I have dwelled on Holy Eagle Peak
and in various other places.
When living beings witness the end of a kalpa
and all is consumed in a great fire,
this, my land, remains safe and tranquil,
constantly filled with heavenly and human beings.
The halls and pavilions in its gardens and groves
are adorned with various kinds of gems.
Jeweled trees abound in flowers and fruit
where living beings enjoy themselves at ease.
The gods strike heavenly drums,
constantly making many kinds of music.
Mandarava blossoms rain down,
scattering over the Buddha and the great assembly.
My pure land is not destroyed,
yet the multitude sees it as consumed in fire,
with anxiety, fear, and other sufferings
filling it everywhere.
These living beings with their various offenses,
through causes arising from their evil actions,
spend asamkhya kalpas
without hearing the name of the three treasures.
But those who practice meritorious ways,
who are gentle, peaceful, honest, and upright,
all of them will see me
here in person, preaching the Law.
At times for this multitude
I describe the Buddha’s life span as immeasurable,
and to those who see the Buddha only after a long time
I explain how difficult it is to meet a buddha.
Such is the power of my wisdom
that its sagacious beams shine without measure.
This life span of countless kalpas
I gained as the result of lengthy practice.
You who are possessed of wisdom,
entertain no doubts on this point!
Cast them off, end them forever,
for the Buddha’s words are true, not false.
He is like a skilled physician
who uses an expedient means to cure his deranged sons.
Though in fact alive, he gives out word he is dead,
yet no one can say he speaks falsely.
I am the father of this world,
saving those who suffer and are afflicted.
Because of the befuddlement of ordinary people,
though I live, I give out word I have entered extinction.
For if they see me constantly,
arrogance and selfishness arise in their minds.
Abandoning restraint, they give themselves up to the five desires
and fall into the evil paths of existence.
Always I am aware of which living beings
practice the way, and which do not,
and in response to their need for salvation
I preach various doctrines for them.
At all times I think to myself:
How can I cause living beings
to gain entry into the unsurpassed way
and quickly acquire the body of a buddha?
 
Last edited:
Weird

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
Ultimately, all phenomena are contained within one’s life, down to the last particle of dust. The nine mountains and the eight seas are encompassed in one’s body, and the sun, moon, and myriad stars are found in one’s life. We, however, are like a blind person who is incapable of seeing the images reflected in a mirror, or like an infant who has no fear of water or fire. The teachings such as those of the non-Buddhist writings and those of the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana Buddhist scriptures all partially explain the phenomena inherent in one’s life. They do not explain them as the Lotus Sutra does. Thus, among the sutras, there are both superior and inferior, and among people also, sages and worthies may be distinguished. Since there is too much to go into concerning the teaching, I will stop here.
Click to expand...

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/75
 
Weird

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
I HAVE read your letter with great care. I have also received your offering to the treasure tower of one thousand coins, polished rice, and other articles. This I have respectfully reported to the Gohonzon and to the Lotus Sutra. Please rest assured.
In your letter you ask, “What is signified by the Thus Come One Many Treasures and his treasure tower, which appeared from beneath the earth?” The teaching on the treasure tower is of great importance. In the eighth volume of his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai explains the appearance of the treasure tower. He states that it has two distinct functions: to lend credence to the preceding chapters and to pave the way for the revelation to come. Thus the treasure tower appeared in order to verify the theoretical teaching and to introduce the essential teaching. To put it another way, the closed tower symbolizes the theoretical teaching, and the open tower, the essential teaching. The open tower reveals the two elements of reality and wisdom.1 This is extremely complex, however, so I will not go into further detail now.
In essence, the appearance of the treasure tower indicates that on hearing the Lotus Sutra the three groups of voice-hearers perceived for the first time the treasure tower within their own lives. Now Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters are also doing this. In the Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. No treasure tower exists other than Myoho-renge-kyo. The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Click to expand...

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/31
 
Babbabud

Babbabud

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo

Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
 
Weird

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
Entrustment

At that time Shakyamuni Buddha rose from his Dharma seat and, manifesting his great supernatural powers, with his right hand patted the heads of the immeasurable bodhisattvas mahasattva and spoke these words: “For immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas I have practiced this hard-to-attain Law of supreme perfect enlightenment. Now I entrust it to you. You must single-mindedly propagate this Law abroad, causing its benefits to spread far and wide.”
Click to expand...


--- > http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/22
 
P

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
The Ninth Consciousness is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The Ninth Consciousness is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The Buddhist teaching of the nine consciousnesses offers the basis for a comprehensive understanding of who we are, our true identity. It also helps explain how Buddhism sees the eternal continuity of our lives over cycles of birth and death. This perspective on the human being is the fruit of thousands of years of intense introspective investigation into the nature of consciousness. Historically, it is grounded in efforts to experience and explain the essence of Shakyamuni’s enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree some 2,500 years ago.

The nine consciousnesses can be thought of as different layers of consciousness which are constantly operating together to create our lives. The Sanskrit word vijnāna, which is translated as consciousness, includes a wide range of activities, including sensation, cognition and conscious thought. The first five of these consciousnesses are the familiar senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness is the function that integrates and processes the various sensory data to form an overall picture or thought, identifying what it is that our five senses are communicating to us. It is primarily with these six functions of life that we perform our daily activities.

Below this level of consciousness is the seventh consciousness. Unlike those layers of consciousness that are directed toward the outer world, the seventh consciousness is directed toward our inner life and is largely independent of sensory input. The seventh consciousness is the basis for our sense of individual identity; attachment to a self distinct to and separate from others has its basis in this consciousness, as does our sense of right and wrong.

Below the seventh consciousness, Buddhism elucidates a deeper layer, the eighth or ālaya consciousness, also known as the never-perishing or storehouse consciousness. It is here that the energy of our karma resides. Whereas the first seven consciousnesses disappear on death, the eighth consciousness persists through the cycles of active life and the latency of death. It can be thought of as the life-flow that supports the activities of the other consciousnesses. The experiences described by those who have undergone clinical death and been revived could be said to be occurrences at the borderline of the seventh and eighth consciousnesses.

An understanding of these levels of consciousness and the interaction between them can offer valuable insights into the nature of life and the self, as well as pointing to the resolution of the fundamental problems that humanity confronts.

According to Buddhist teachings, there are specific deep-seated delusions in the seventh consciousness regarding the nature of self. These delusions arise from the relationship between the seventh and eighth levels of consciousness and manifest as fundamental egotism.
Buddhist teachings describe the seventh layer as emerging from the eighth consciousness: it is always focused on the eighth consciousness of the individual, which it perceives as something fixed, unique and isolated from other things. In reality, the eighth consciousness is in a state of continual flux. At this level our lives constantly interact, exerting a profound influence on each other. The perception of a fixed and isolated self that the seventh consciousness generates is thus false.

The seventh consciousness is also the seat of the fear of death. Being unable to perceive the true nature of the eighth consciousness as an enduring flow of life energy, it imagines that upon death, the eighth consciousness will become permanently extinct. Fear of death thus has roots in the deep layers of the subconscious.

The delusion that the eighth consciousness is one’s true self is also termed fundamental ignorance, a turning away from the interconnectedness of all being. It is this sense of one’s self as separate and isolated from others that gives rise to discrimination, to destructive arrogance and unbridled acquisitiveness. Humanity’s ravaging of the natural environment is another obvious result.

A Karmic River

Buddhism posits that our thoughts, words and deeds invariably create an imprint in the deep layers of the eighth consciousness. This is what Buddhists refer to as karma. The eighth consciousness is therefore sometimes referred to as the karmic storehouse—the place where these karmic seeds are stored. These seeds or latent energy can be either positive or negative; the eighth consciousness remains neutral and equally receptive to either type of karmic imprinting. The energy becomes manifest when conditions are ripe. Positive latent causes can become manifest as both positive effects in one’s life and as positive psychological functions such as trust, nonviolence, self-control, compassion and wisdom. Negative latent causes can manifest as various forms of delusion and destructive behavior and give rise to suffering for ourselves and others.

While the image of a storehouse is helpful, a truer image may be that of a raging torrent of karmic energy. This energy is constantly moving through and shaping our lives and experience. Our resultant thoughts and actions are then fed back into this karmic flow. The quality of the karmic flow is what makes each of us distinct beings—our unique selves. The flow of energy is constantly changing, but, like a river, it maintains an identity and consistency even through successive cycles of life and death. It is this aspect of fluidity, this lack of fixity, that opens the possibility of transforming the content of the eighth consciousness. This is why karma, properly understood, is different from an unchanging or unavoidable destiny.

The question, therefore, is how we increase the balance of positive karma. This is the basis for various forms of Buddhist practice that seek to imprint positive causes in our lives. When caught up in a cycle of negative cause and effect, however, it is difficult to avoid making further negative causes, and it is here that we turn to the most fundamental layer of consciousness, the ninth or amala consciousness.

The most fundamental layer of consciousness is the ninth or amala consciousness. Unstained by the workings of karma, this consciousness represents our true, eternal self.

This can be thought of as the life of the cosmos itself; it is also referred to as the fundamentally pure consciousness. Unstained by the workings of karma, this consciousness represents our true, eternal self. The revolutionary aspect of Nichiren Buddhism is that it seeks to directly bring forth the energy of this consciousness—the enlightened nature of the Buddha—thus purifying the other, more superficial layers of consciousness. The great power of the ninth consciousness welling forth changes even entrenched patterns of negative karma in the eighth consciousness.

Because the eighth consciousness transcends the boundaries of the individual, merging with the latent energy of one’s family, one’s ethnic group, and also with that of animals and plants, a positive change in this karmic energy becomes a “cogwheel” for change in the lives of others. As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda writes, “When we activate this fundamentally pure consciousness, the energy of all life’s good and evil karma is directed toward value creation; and the mind or consciousness...of humankind is infused with the life current of compassion and wisdom.” Nichiren identified the practice of chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the basic means for activating the ninth consciousness in our lives.

As the layers of consciousness are transformed, they each give rise to unique forms of wisdom. The wisdom inherent in the eighth consciousness allows us to perceive ourselves, our experience and other phenomena with perfect clarity and to profoundly appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things. As the deep-rooted delusions of the seventh consciousness are transformed, an individual is enabled to overcome the fear of death, as well as the aggression and violence that spring from this fear. A wisdom arises which enables us to perceive the fundamental equality of all living beings and to deal with them on an unchanging basis of respect. It is this type of transformation and wisdom that is sorely required in our world today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top