Gohonzon Explained

is a generic term for a venerated religious object in Japanese Buddhism. It may take the form of a scroll or statuary. The term typically refers to the mainstream use of venerated objects within Nichiren Buddhism, referring to the calligraphic paper mandala inscribed by the 13th Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren to which devotional chanting is directed.[1] [2] [3]

Linguistically, the root word derives from ancient word, signifying a devotional object of respect or worship,[4] and with the honorific prefix.[5]

Varying Nichiren groups accord their own meanings to the term in different ways, signifying their treatment of the object:

Paper scroll are sometimes known as or . The term is used for statuary. are often enshrined within an altar shrine .[10]

Description

Nichiren himself attached the greatest importance to his inscription of the and claimed this as a pivotal moment in his life.[11] He stated that by using ink to inscribe it, he was acting like a "lion king."[12] Nichiren's calligraphy shifted over the years he inscribed .[13] Details of the composition of the are clear from the approximately 120-125 inscribed in Nichiren's own hand, dating from 1271 to 1282, that are extant.[14] [15] [16] For example, a he inscribed in July 1273 was inscribed on a piece of silk .[17] Copies of the original have been made by others[18] and can be found in varying sizes.

A is inscribed for a specific person or organization, while an is generic and produced through a woodblock printing process. Nichiren and his successors also inscribed smaller that are carried on the person.[19] [20] [21]

Opinions on its significance

The founder Nichiren referred to as "the banner of propagation"[29] and "a cluster of blessings."[30]

Calligraphic meanings

A Nichiren is usually written in traditional kanji characters with the addition of two Siddhaṃ scripts. Although exclusive to the other Buddhist sects of his contemporaneous society, Nichiren was highly inclusive of Vedic and Chinese traditions, viewing them as precursors of his own teachings[31] [32] and personages from these traditions are present on the .

Most prominent to all such is the phrase —the primary mantra in Nichiren Buddhism—written down the center in bold calligraphy.[33] This is called the or . Right below, also in bold, Nichiren writes his name followed by his seal. This signifies Nichiren's conviction that his life had manifested the essence of the Lotus Sutra.[34]

On the top row can be found the names of Shakyamuni Buddha and Prabhutaratna and the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.[35] The names of deities believed to protect the Buddha land, called the Four Heavenly Kings (Bishamonten, Jikokuten, Kōmokuten, and Zōjōten), further occupy the four corners, and Sanskrit characters depicting Aizen Myō-ō and Fudō Myō-ō are situated along the left and right outer edges. Within this frame are the names of various Buddhas, bodhisattvas, historical and mythological figures in Buddhism, personages representing the ten realms, and deities drawn from Vedic, Chinese, and Japanese traditions are arranged hierarchically. Each of these names represents some aspect of the Buddha's enlightenment or an important Buddhist concept.[36] [37]

History

Research has documented that Nichiren inscribed 740 .[38] He began inscribing immediately before and during his exile on Sado between late 1271 and early 1274. This follows the attempted and failed execution of him at Tatsunokuchi Beach in 1271. In various letters he referred to this event as his "casting off the transient and revealing the true", at which time he claimed to have discarded his transient status and revealed his essential identity as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.[39] According to Ikeda, Nichiren's intent in manifesting the was to allow people to connect directly with the Law so they, too, could discard the transient and reveal their essential enlightened selves.[40]

The first extant was inscribed by Nichiren on 12 October 1271 before his transport to Sado Island. Stone describes it as embryonic in form. On 8 July 1273, Nichiren inscribed a in its full form with the inscription "Nichiren inscribes this for the first time."[41]

During his exile in Sado Island (1271–1274) Nichiren wrote two treatises explaining the significance of the object of devotion from the theoretical perspectives of the person (The Opening of the Eyes) and the law (The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind).[40] [42] Nichiren wrote additional letters to his followers bestowing to them and further explaining their significance: "Letter to Misawa," "Reply to Kyo'o," "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon," and "On the Treasure Tower."[43]

The issue of Soka Gakkai

The Nichiren Shoshu religion claims that the original mandala at its head temple is the original source of power that is transcribed by the High Priests of Nichiren Shoshu. All loaned by Nichiren Shoshu are copied from the, including the ones currently used both by Soka Gakkai and Kenshokai for their services.[44]

In 28 November 1991, the Soka Gakkai was expelled by Nichiren Shoshu and thereby lost its source of . By September 1993, the Soka Gakkai began to manufacture their own version and artistic format used today for current members. A transcribed by Nichikan Shonin, the 26th chief abbot of Taisekiji was selected through one of the dissident breakaway priest who provided the woodblock copy when he sided with President Daisaku Ikeda.[45]

The used today by Soka Gakkai was copied and transcribed from the in July 1720 by Nichikan Shonin (1665–1726), the twenty-sixth High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu.[46] Another in possession of the Soka Gakkai is the wooden copy manufactured in 1974 transcribed from the by 64th High Priest Nissho Shonin, previously enshrined in Osaka, and now enshrined in the main SGI headquarters of Daiseido Hall in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

Inscriptions

The following inscriptions are found in the transcribed by 26th High Priest Nichikan Shonin, as is the mainstream format also transcribed by the Successive High Priests of Nichiren Shoshu:

There are also two inscriptions from Miao-lo's[50] commentary, The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra":[51]

The Soka Gakkai organization maintains that only the conferred by their leadership brings both personal happiness and Kosen-rufu, claiming that they possess the true mandate of Nichiren for widespread propagation.

By contrast, Nichiren Shoshu Hokkeko members often omit the honorific term when referring to used outside their religion, most especially against the Soka Gakkai variant either as a pejorative derision or refusal to acknowledge the implied sacred nature of the outside their sectarian beliefs, often citing them as either fake and lacking the ceremony prescribed to animate a for its spiritual efficacy. The lesser value of is used by Nichiren Shoshu members instead.[52]

Outside of Nichiren Buddhism

The terms and are often used interchangeably and with some confusion. In the Japanese new religion Risshō Kōsei Kai, members receive and practice to a enshrined in their homes; the scroll consists of an image of Gautama Buddha.[53] [54] At the Risshō Kōsei Kai headquarters there is a that is a statue of Shakyamuni.[55]

In the Jōdo Shinshū school of Pure Land Buddhism, under Hōnen and Shinran, the use of became more prevalent; they took the form of inscriptions of the sect's mantra Namu Amida Buddha, other phrases, images of the Buddha, statuary, and even representations of the founder.[56] Rennyo thought the written mantra was more appropriate than a statue but did not ascribe particular powers to it as do Nichiren's followers to their .[57]

In Mikkyō practices such as in Shingon Buddhism, the term to refers to the divinity honored in a rite but later came to represent the formal object of worship.[58] The tutelary figure's role is similar to that of the yidam in Tibetan Buddhism. Tutelary deities in Vajrayana, including Mikkyō, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, are crucial to many religious practices. In the famous fire ritual ceremony, the fire itself, while it is being consumed and animated, is also considered a temporary .

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Turner. Bryan S.. Salemink. Oscar. Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia. 2014. Routledge. 9781317636465. 381. What distinguishes Nichiren from other forms of Japanese Buddhism (Zen being one of these) is, among other things, the centrality of the Gohonzon, an object of devotion. The term "gohonzon" can be used generically to refer to any object that is venerated but in the Nichiren tradition, there is an immediate, initial meaning that "gohonzon" has. It refers to Nichiren's moji-Mandala Gohonzon, a hanging paper scroll with Buddhist phrases written in ink in both kanji and Sanskrit, and usually with the Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, the central mantra of Nichiren Buddhism. It translates to 'To devote oneself to the Wonderful Law of the Lotus Sutra.'.
  2. Web site: About Rissho Kosei-kai, a Buddhist organization.. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160917210257/http://www.rk-world.org/(S(owuk1kwav5sbfeshnwzpljmp))/news_archive_show.aspx?archiveid=1562 . 17 September 2016 .
  3. Web site: Gohonzon. Dictionary.com. Colliers Encyclopedia.
  4. Book: Blum. Mark L.. Yasutomi. Shinya. Rennyo. 2005. Oxford University Press. New York, N.Y.. 9780195132755.
  5. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/gohonzon Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged
  6. Web site: Soka Gakkai (Global).
  7. Web site: An Introduction to True Buddhism. 3. 29 June 2016. 16 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160816222418/https://3ym1xk32a2xwmv4jh1g7cpz1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/IntroBooklet.pdf. dead.
  8. Web site: International Nichiren Shu Temples Nichiren Shu Portal.
  9. Book: Christensen. J. A.. Nichiren. 2000. Jain Publishing Co.. Fremont, Calif.. 9780875730868. 100.
  10. Book: Chryssides. George D. . Wilkins . Margaret . A reader in new religious movements . 2006. Continuum. London [u.a.] . 9780826461674 . 29.
  11. Anesaki 2010, p. 86
  12. Book: Daishonin. Nichiren. editor-translator, The Gosho Translation Committee. The writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1999. Soka Gakkai. [Japan]. 4412010244. 412. I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart..
  13. Web site: Hirota. Raido. What is the Gohonzon?. Udumbara Foundation.
  14. Stone 1998, p.153
  15. Web site: Murano . Senchu . Ippen-shudai. Nichiren-etudes (in French). Nichiren Shu HQ. 1995 . 18 May 2017.
  16. Dolce. Lucia. Criticism and Appropriation: Nichiren's Attitude toward Esoteric Buddhism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 1999. 26. 3/4. 349–382.
  17. Book: Christensen. J. A.. Nichiren. 2000. Jain Publishing Co.. Fremont, Calif.. 9780875730868. 100.
  18. Book: Metraux. Daniel. The history and theology of Sōka Gakkai: a Japanese new religion. 1988. E. Mellen Press. Lewiston, NY. 9780889460553. 14.
  19. Stone 1998, p. 153
  20. Book: Macioti. Maria Immacolata. Capozzi (translated). R.M.. The Buddha within ourselves : blossoms of the Lotus Sutra. 2002. University Press of America. Lanham. 9780761821892. 26.
  21. Book: Buswell, Jr.. Robert E.. Lopez, Jr.. Donald S.. The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. 2013. Princeton University Press. Princeton. 9781400848058. 207.
  22. Book: Nichiren. Yampolsky. Philip B. Selected writings of Nichiren. 1990. Columbia University Press. New York. 9780231072601. 148. registration. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the Treasure Tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho seated to the right and left and the four Bodhisattvas of the Earth, led by Jogyo, flank them..
  23. Stone 2003, p. 281
  24. Book: Daschke. Dereck. Ashcraft. W. Michael. New religious movements : a documentary reader. 2005. New York university press. New York. 9780814707029. 120.
  25. Book: Collinson. Diane. Plant. Kathryn. Wilkinson. Robert. Fifty Eastern Thinkers. 2013. Routledge. 9781134631513. 353.
  26. Book: Ellwood. Robert S.. Robert S. Ellwood. Pilgrim. Richard. Japanese Religion: A Cultural Perspective. 2016. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-315-50711-8. mandala of the cosmos as perceived inwardly by Nichiren, with the daimoku as the sounds or words of power aligned to its central reality and the Lotus Sutra as its consummate spiritual text. Containing no pictorial image, the gohonzon suggests the overriding importance of word or sound in Nichiren Buddhism..
  27. Book: Anesaki. Masaharu. Nichiren: The Prophet (1916). 1906. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. 9780674730786. 81.
  28. Book: Stone. Jacqueline. Chanting the August Title of the Lotus Sutra: Daimoku Practices in Classical and Medieval Japan. In: Payne, Richard, K. (ed.); Re-Visioning Kamakura Buddhism. 1988. University of Hawaii Press. 9780824820787. 153. dmy-all.
  29. Book: Daishonin. Nichiren. editor-translator, The Gosho Translation Committee. The writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1999. Soka Gakkai. [Japan]. 4412010244.
  30. Writings of Nichiren Daishonin-1, p. 832
  31. Book: Burton. David. Meister. Chad. The Oxford handbook of religious diversity. A Buddhist Perspective. 2011. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 9780195340136. 328.
  32. Dolce. Lucia. Criticism and Appropriation: Nichiren's Attitude toward Esoteric Buddhism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 1999. 26. 3–4.
  33. Morgan, 121
  34. Book: Buswell. Robert E.. Lopez. Donald S.. The Princeton dictionary of Buddhism. 2013. Princeton University Press. Princeton. 9781400848058. 2017.
  35. Book: Gebert. Andrew. Soka Gakkai. Religion: Oxford Research Encyclopedias. Oxford University . 2016. 10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.196. 978-0-19-934037-8. Later in his career, Nichiren took the theoretical developments of T’ien T’ai Buddhism and gave them visual expression as a mandala, or Gohonzon, in which exemplars of the various conditions of life, from Hell to Buddhahood, are represented by their names written in Sino-Japanese characters. As Nichiren described in a letter written to a female follower in 1277: “It is the object of devotion that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One, seated in the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas who were Shakyamuni’s emanations as perfectly as a print matches its woodblock. Thus the five characters of the Lotus Sutra’s title [myō hō ren ge kyō] are suspended in the center, while the four heavenly kings are seated at the four corners of the treasure tower. Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are side by side at the top.” Nichiren then describes the representatives of other states of life, including deluded, destructive ones, represented in the Gohonzon and states that, “Illuminated by the light of the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the dignified attributes that they inherently possess.” . 14 May 2017.
  36. Stone, 2003, 277-278
  37. Web site: The Gohonzon: Diagram of the Gohonzon. Soka Gakkai International: USA. SGI-USA.
  38. Nichiren; Zuiki Kataoka; Kihachi Yamanaka (日蓮, 1222-1282. 隨喜居士謹集; [編集山中喜八]. 片岡隨喜, 山中喜八) (1981). Nichiren Daishōnin goshinseki (日蓮大聖人御真蹟), Chiba-shi : Risshō Ankokukai (立正安国会). OCLC-No: 22309260, reproduces Nichiren's 740 holographs scattered throughout Japan. Description: 5 cases; 51-69 cm, case 1: Gohonzonshū (125 leaves; 66 x 47 x 5 cm)
  39. Web site: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism. Casting off the transient and revealing the true. SGIlibrary. Soka Gakkai International. 6 July 2016. 16 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116214257/http://www.sgilibrary.org/search_dict.php?id=249. dead.
  40. Book: Ikeda. Daisaku. Sato. Katsuji. Morinaka. Masaaki. The World of Nichiren Daishonin's Writings, Volume 2. 2004. Soka Gakkai Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  41. Book: Stone. Jacqueline I.. Original enlightenment and the transformation of medieval Japanese Buddhism. 2003. University of Hawai'i Press. Honolulu. 9780824827717. 437. Pbk..
  42. Book: Fowler. Merv. Buddhism : beliefs and practices. 1999. Sussex Academic Press. Brighton [u.a.]. 9781898723660.
  43. Book: An Introduction to Buddhism. 2013. SGI-USA. Santa Monica, CA. 9781935523550. 31–35. 7 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905230508/http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/study/2014_intro_exam_study_guide/docs/IntroToBuddhism_6Gohonzon.pdf. 5 September 2015. dead.
  44. Book: Lopez. Donald J.. The Lotus Sutra: A Biography. 2016. Princeton University Press. 978-1400883349. 189–90. Nichiren Shoshu asserts that it is superior to all other gohonzon. The other Nichiren sects either reject the claim that it is superior to the many other gohonzon that were made by Nichiren himself or completely reject that authenticity of the Taisekiji gohonzon, saying that there is no evidence to support the claim that it was made by Nichiren..
  45. Book: McLaughlin. Levi. Prohl. Inken. Nelson. John. Handbook of contemporary Japanese religions. Soka Gakkai in Japan. 2012. Brill. Leiden. 9789004234369. 301.
  46. Book: Prohl. Inken. Nelson. John. Handbook of contemporary Japanese religions. 2012. Brill. Leiden. 9789004234369. 301.
  47. Book: Morgan. Diane. The Buddhist experience in America. 2004. Greenwood Press. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]. 9780313324918. 133. 1. publ..
  48. Book: Palmer. Arvin. Buddhist Politics: Japan's Clean Government Party. 2012. Springer Science & Business Media. 9789401029964. 54.
  49. Book: Seager. Richard Hughes. Encountering the Dharma : Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the globalization of Buddhist humanism. 2006. University of California Press. Berkeley. 9780520245778. 158.
  50. Web site: A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts. Miao-lo.
  51. Web site: Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra," The | Dictionary of Buddhism | Nichiren Buddhism Library . Nichirenlibrary.org . 2022-05-07.
  52. MacWilliams. Mark. Techno-ritualization: The Gohonzon Controversy on the Internet. Online: Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet . 2006. 2. 1.
  53. Book: Dharma World, Volume 12. 1985. Kosei Publishing Company.
  54. Book: Guthrie. Stewart. A Japanese new religion: Risshō Kōsei-kai in a mountain hamlet. 1988. 120. Center for Japanese Studies, the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor.
  55. Guthrie 1988|page=136|URL=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cjs/0914393.0001.001/150/--japanese-new-religion-rissho-kosei-kai-in-a-mountain-hamlet?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=gohonzon
  56. Book: Blum. edited by Mark L.. Yasutomi. Shinʼya. Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism.. 2005. Oxford University Press, USA. Oxford. 9780195350999.
  57. Book: Foard. James. Solomon. Michael. Payne. Richard Karl. The pure land tradition : history and development. 1996. Regents of the Univ. of Calif.. Berkeley, Calif.. 9780895810922. 137.
  58. Book: Bogel. Cynthea J.. With a Single Glance: Buddhist Icon and Early Mikkyō Vision. 2009. University of Washington Press. 9780295989204. 197. University of Washington Press, 2009.

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