“Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself,”
Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:42 pm
In On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime nichiren says the following:
what are we seeking? Ichinen sanzen? Myoho renge kyo? buddha nature? all of those?
In The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon he says:You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself. Your practice of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of the sufferings of birth and death in the least unless you perceive the true nature of your life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor’s wealth but gains not even half a coin. That is why the T’ien-t’ai school’s commentary states, “Unless p.4one perceives the nature of one’s life, one cannot eradicate one’s grave offenses.”2 This passage implies that, unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one’s practice will become an endless, painful austerity.
I'd love if someone could clarify what it means to seek 'inside yourself'? How does looking inside differ from looking outside?Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
what are we seeking? Ichinen sanzen? Myoho renge kyo? buddha nature? all of those?