Did Nichiren believe in demons?
Did Nichiren believe in demons?
What are they? Are they impermanent too? What is their purpose? Can they possess a person? Where do they come from?
In his writing, Hokkemongu (Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), The Great Master Nichiren said, “If the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra wholeheartedly devote their life to the Lotus Sutra and practice according to its golden words, it is certainly needless to say that not only in the next life, but also in this lifetime they will overcome severe difficulty, prolong their life, receive the great, good fortune of unsurpassed enlightenment, and accomplish the great vow of the widespread, propagation of True Buddhism.”
Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
What is a demon?First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground, and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. Closer examination, however, reveals that both exist in our five-foot body.
Forrest Gump: "My momma says, 'stupid is as stupid does."
Demon is as demon does.
Sometimes, some people act like demons. There must be demons in the world.
Nichiren believed that by embracing the Saddharma, one would be protected by demons like Kishimojin.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
There is saying from Western literature, ‘the greatest trick of the devil was to convince us he doesn’t exist’. I’m not superstitious, but I believe that to be true, and that there are demonic beings, just as there angelic. This is one of the reasons to take refuge, because over those who have taken refuge, they have no power.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
I am not a nichiren Buddhist but couldn't demons be interpreted also as the 3 poisons of buddhism (greed, hatred and ignorance).
Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
All beings want to be happy. All beings want to avoid suffering.
Many teachers say that - the Dalai Lama seems to say it often. It comes across as trite, but I think like a lot of trite sounding things, it is profoundly true.
Thanks to the great sages, we know that the forms we take are just momentary appearances that manifest the workings of our mind. This is a central teaching in the Nichiren tradition taught as ichinen sanzen.
What is a demon, but someone who is so lost in samsara that they manifest the form of a demon. Like all beings, they want to be happy and avoid suffering, but overcome by ignorance and the consequent afflictions, their impulse to seek happiness and avoid suffering expresses as harm of others. That malicious impulse to see a rival harmed is an attempt to scratch an itch that might be pleasurable for a fleeting moment, but due to ignorance of cause and effect, one fails to see how that act returns to the actor, bringing suffering.
"Demons" are a way to view and understand these ways of being that are conveniently expanded in myth and legend. Whether these beings also exist on planes imperceptible to ordinary human senses is another question. What we know is that humans are capable of maliciously inflicting great suffering on their fellows - acting like demons - we might say, possessed by demons - each acting on impulses that might bring immediate release from suffering and causing immediate suffering to others, and in the long run keeping the wheel of samsara turning to our collective detriment.
Many teachers say that - the Dalai Lama seems to say it often. It comes across as trite, but I think like a lot of trite sounding things, it is profoundly true.
Thanks to the great sages, we know that the forms we take are just momentary appearances that manifest the workings of our mind. This is a central teaching in the Nichiren tradition taught as ichinen sanzen.
What is a demon, but someone who is so lost in samsara that they manifest the form of a demon. Like all beings, they want to be happy and avoid suffering, but overcome by ignorance and the consequent afflictions, their impulse to seek happiness and avoid suffering expresses as harm of others. That malicious impulse to see a rival harmed is an attempt to scratch an itch that might be pleasurable for a fleeting moment, but due to ignorance of cause and effect, one fails to see how that act returns to the actor, bringing suffering.
"Demons" are a way to view and understand these ways of being that are conveniently expanded in myth and legend. Whether these beings also exist on planes imperceptible to ordinary human senses is another question. What we know is that humans are capable of maliciously inflicting great suffering on their fellows - acting like demons - we might say, possessed by demons - each acting on impulses that might bring immediate release from suffering and causing immediate suffering to others, and in the long run keeping the wheel of samsara turning to our collective detriment.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
A demon or devil is a function inherent in life that serves to oppose the good and cause suffering. Nichiren instructs us not to look for them, or the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, outside our own lives. In one letter, he explains being persecuted by the authorities as an example of "The devil entering the body [of a human being]."
Yes, they're impermanent, everything is, but they can and should be expected to arise with ever greater fury as we advance in practice and understanding.
They are manifestations of the fundamental darkness that exists in all life the same as the original enlightened nature does.
Demons in particular are often described as stealing the life force of human beings, making them weak. I conjecture that perhaps what we now refer to as germs, that cause illness, were in those days thought of as demons.
Yes, they're impermanent, everything is, but they can and should be expected to arise with ever greater fury as we advance in practice and understanding.
They are manifestations of the fundamental darkness that exists in all life the same as the original enlightened nature does.
Demons in particular are often described as stealing the life force of human beings, making them weak. I conjecture that perhaps what we now refer to as germs, that cause illness, were in those days thought of as demons.
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Re: Did Nichiren believe in demons?
I often make the same comparison.
Both are invisible beings, detecteable only to the specialist. They enter the body and make one ill.
Experientially there is little different between a visit to a modern doctor and a traditional doctor.