Discussion of the “Introduction” Chapter (Chapter 1).
THE GREAT ASSEMBLY: THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Saito: After the opening “This is what I heard,” the “Introduction” chapter continues: “At one time the Buddha was in Rajagriha, staying on Mount Gridhrakuta” (LSOC, 35). This tells us where the sutra is being preached — Mount Gridhrakuta, or Eagle Peak, outside the city of Rajagriha,’ the capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha. Next, it describes the kinds of beings gathered to hear the Buddha’s preaching.
“Introduction” reads:
At one time the Buddha was in Rajagriha, staying on Mount Gridhrakuta. Accompanying him were a multitude of leading monks numbering twelve thousand persons….
Their names were Ajnata Kaundinya, Mahakashyapa, ….Ananda, and Rahula. All were like these, great arhats who were well known to others
There were also two thousand persons some of whom were still learning and some who had completed their learning.
There was the nun Mahaprajapati with her six thousand followers. And there was Rahula’s mother, the nun Yashodhara, with her followers.
There were bodhisattvas mahasattva, eighty thousand of them
And there was King Ajatashatru, the son of Vaidehi, with several hundreds of thousands of followers….
Each of these, after bowing in obeisance before the Buddha’s feet, withdrew and took a seat to one side. (LSOC, 35-37)
Ikeda: As the drama of the Lotus Sutra commences, the setting and characters are introduced.
Suda: I visited Eagle Peak in 1990 as a member of the first SGI Youth Cultural Delegation to India. I expected it to be a solemn, profoundly mystic and sacred site, but it turned out to be a remarkably ordinary rocky peak!
Ikeda: It’s not very high, either. According to one source, it was named Eagle Peak because it resembles an eagle’s head in shape. Shakyamuni is often said to have preached the Law on its summit.
Endo: The sutra then proceeds to introduce the cast of the assembly in the following order:
(1) Twelve thousand monks who had attained the state of arhat, the highest stage of the voice-hearers. The names of twenty-one arhats are given as representatives of this group, including such well-known disciples of Shakyamuni as Ajnata Kaundinya, Mahakashyapa and Shariputra.
In addition, another two thousand voice-hearers— who either “were still learning” or “had completed their learning” — were also present. Those who “were still learning” were disciples still practicing the three types of learning necessary to attain the state of arhat, namely, the precepts, meditation and wisdom. Those who “had completed their learning” were disciples who had already attained the state of arhat and had nothing more to learn.
(2) The nun Mahaprajapati, Shakyamuni’s aunt and stepmother; the nun Yashodhara, Shakyamuni’s wife before his renunciation of secular life; and several thousands of their respective followers.
(3) Eighty thousand bodhisattvas. The names of eighteen, including Bodhisattva Manjushri and Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, are listed as representatives of this group.
After our introduction to these voice-hearers and bodhisattvas, we are acquainted with a variety of other sentient beings from the saha world who have come to participate in the assembly:
(4) The kings and sons of gods of various heavenly realms, such as Shakra Devanam Indra, the Four Great Heavenly Kings and King Brahma. Their followers totaled anywhere from seventy thousand to eighty thousand, up to well over 100,000, depending on how one calculates.
(5) Eight dragon kings and their followers.
(6) Four kimnara kings and their followers.
(7) Four gandharva kings and their followers.
(8) Four asura kings and their followers.
(9) Four garuda kings and their followers.
(I0) King Ajatashatru and his followers.
This vast number of beings, which when totaled comes to at least several hundreds of thousands or perhaps even several million, gathered to hear the preaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Ikeda: Yes, it was a huge and extraordinarily diverse gathering. Yet we know that such an enormous number of beings could not possibly have assembled at Eagle Peak all at once.
Suda: My own impression after visiting Eagle Peak is that a hundred people at the most could have sat and listened to Shakyamuni preach at any one time. Being an extremely rocky peak, there is no shade. So remaining there for any length of time during the summer would have been out of the question. When we visited it, one of our Indian guides actually collapsed from the heat.
Ikeda: To reiterate President Toda’s observation, which I mentioned in the previous chapter: “Those who gathered [at Eagle Peak for the ceremony of the Lotus Sutra] were the voice-hearers and the bodhisattvas who dwelled within Shakyamuni’s own life. Hence, there is nothing to hinder even tens of millions of such voice-hearers and bodhisattvas from assembling.”
As he indicates, the Lotus Sutra is an expression of the realm of the Buddha’s own life, the world of enlightenment.
Saito: In that sense, we can interpret all the different beings gathered to hear the sutra as symbolizing the different functions and workings inherent in life itself. In terms of the Ten Worlds, the assembly on Eagle Peak comprises beings from the worlds of bodhisattva, voice-hearers (learning), heaven, humanity, anger, animality— these six, we can assume, are meant to represent all nine worlds from hell to bodhisattva. In other words, the great assembly of the “Introduction” chapter is a manifestation of all beings of the nine worlds enfolded within the Buddha’s own life.
Endo: If we interpret it in this fashion, then each member of the great assembly identified in the sutra should have a particular significance. Let’s consider a few of the more well-known figures.
Suda: Well, the first name to be mentioned is Ajnata Kaundinya, one of the five ascetics converted by Shakyamuni immediately after the latter attained enlightenment.
Ikeda: Yes, he was Shakyamuni’s first disciple. King Ajatashatru, meanwhile, is mentioned last. Guilty of plotting with Devadatta against Shakyamuni, King Ajatashatru came to deeply regret his actions, and toward the end of the Buddha’s life he converted to the Buddhas teachings. Perhaps we can regard this listing of Shakyamuni’s first and last disciples as a symbolic reference meant to include all the Buddha’s disciples during his lifetime.
Saito: When the Daishonin discusses the great assembly in The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, he, too, talks about Shakyamuni’s first and last disciples.
Ikeda: In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the Daishonin elucidates the significance of the great assembly in terms of explaining life itself.
The presence of Ajnata Kaundinya, he says, “is showing that for us, the votaries of the Lotus Sutra, earthly desires are enlightenment, and that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana” (OTT, II).
Ajatashatru, we may recall, murdered his father, King Bimbisara, attempted to kill his mother, Queen Vaidehi, and plotted against Shakyamuni. The Daishonin describes Ajatashatru’s betrayal as an example of the principle that “the reverse relationship and the positive relationship are ultimately one.” This principle explains that both those who oppose and those who follow the Lotus Sutra can ultimately attain enlightenment. Therefore, even those who commit evil can attain Buddhahood through their reverse relationship formed by slandering the Law when they finally overcome their disbelief in the Lotus Sutra, as well as the poisons of greed and ignorance in their lives.
Endo: The other members of the great assembly can also be viewed from a similar perspective.
Suda: We might expect that voice-hearers such as Mahakashyapa and Shariputra would be mentioned at the beginning of the great assembly participants list, since they were leading disciples who historically played a major role in sustaining Shakyamuni’s organization. However, right after them, women followers — the nuns Mahaprajapati and Yashodhara— are mentioned. And when King Ajatashatru is mentioned, there is also a reference to his mother, Vaidehi.
Ikeda: The dragon king’s daughter’s enlightenment in the “Devadatta” chapter is a well-known example of the Lotus Sutra’s teaching that women share the same potential for Buddhahood as men. But that is not the only place in the sutra that this truth is propounded.
In the “Encouraging Devotion” chapter, Shakyamuni prophesies enlightenment for a large number of nuns— of whom Mahaprajapati and Yashodhara are representatives — in a manner confirming what is certain to happen. Both Mahaprajapati and Yashodhara were introduced on an equal footing with male members of the assembly in “Introduction.” The enlightenment of women— a distinctive feature of the Lotus Sutra marking a sharp departure from the provisional teachings, which deny this potential —is anticipated from the very first chapter.
Bodhisattva Never Disparaging addresses everyone he encounters, men and women alike, with the promise: “You will all practice the bodhisattva way and will then be able to attain Buddhahood” (LSOC, 308). Viewed in its entirety, the Lotus Sutra takes it for granted that there is no distinction between men and women in attaining Buddhahood.
Saito: That is a very important point. Next mentioned are the eighty thousand bodhisattvas, who are praised for their compassionate activities to save others.
Ikeda: First the voice-hearers are mentioned and then the bodhisattvas. Also, when we look at the Lotus Sutra as a whole, in the first nine chapters the assembly representatives to whom Shakyamuni speaks are voice-hearers like Shariputra. But from “Teacher of the Law” (the tenth chapter) onward, this changes to Bodhisattva Medicine King and other bodhisattvas. Let’s discuss this in greater detail later, but suffice it to say for now that this switch from the voice-hearers to the bodhisattvas is an important key to understanding the sutra’s message.
Endo: The names of the bodhisattvas in “Introduction” are also quite interesting. While figures such as Bodhisattva Manjushri, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, Bodhisattva Maitreya and Bodhisattva Medicine King are very well known, mentioned also are the names of relatively unknown bodhisattvas, such as Bodhisattva Constant Exertion, Bodhisattva Never Resting, Bodhisattva Jeweled Palm, Bodhisattva Great Strength and Bodhisattva Jeweled Moon.
Ikeda: We can interpret these bodhisattvas as representing various aspects of the Bodhisattva state. For example, just as their names indicate, Bodhisattva Constant Exertion and Bodhisattva Never Resting are symbolic of an unending struggle for the sake of the Buddhist Law. The name “Never Resting” comes from the Sanskrit anikshiptadhura, meaning “one who does not put down a heavy burden.”
Suda: The name of Bodhisattva Jeweled Palm means “to hold a treasure,” while that of Bodhisattva Brave Donor means “a champion of charity.’ Bodhisattva Jeweled Moon, Bodhisattva Moonlight and Bodhisattva Full Moon are thought to symbolize the workings of the bodhisattva in illuminating people’s lives with the light of diverse wisdom.
Endo: The name of Bodhisattva Maitreya means “compassionate teacher,” and that of Bodhisattva Jeweled Accumulation indicates the source of treasures. The name of the last of the bodhisattvas mentioned in “Introduction,” Bodhisattva Guiding Leader, indicates a leader of a caravan, representing the leader’s function to guide many to enlightenment.
Suda: After the bodhisattvas, various heavenly beings are introduced. The very first is Shakra Devanam Indra, the ruler of the heavens. Indra, originally the Indian god of thunder, was a central deity in ancient Indian mythology.
Endo: The sons of the gods Freedom and Great Freedom trace their origin to Shiva, the ancient Indian god of destruction and a leading deity of Brahmanism. Freedom and Great Freedom seem to have been variant names for this deity.
Even Heavenly King Brahma, the world-creator and supreme deity of Brahmanism, is in attendance with his followers.
Ikeda: The attendance of all of these deities at the preaching of the Lotus Sutra is meant to show that the Buddha is superior to these deities and that he is their teacher and their guide. One title of the Buddha is “Teacher of Gods and Humans,” affirming his role as a teacher who can guide heavenly as well as human beings.
It is said that after Shakyamuni attained enlightenment, Brahma asked him to preach the Law. One basic tenet of Buddhism is that the Buddha occupies an infinitely higher place than the various deities of ancient myth and tradition.
Saito: Next, the eight dragon kings are introduced. The dragon kings Nanda, Upananda, Sagara, Vasuki, Takshaka, Anavatapta, Manasvin and Utpalaka are in the assembly, each accompanied by a vast number of followers. It is the daughter of dragon king Sagara who later demonstrates that women, too, can attain enlightenment.
Endo: In addition, various mythical creatures, known as the eight kinds of nonhuman beings, are introduced. The heavenly beings and dragon kings, which we just mentioned, are included in the eight kinds of nonhuman beings, but they are generally treated as a separate category in Buddhist teachings. We can assume this is because, prior to Buddhism, heavenly beings or dragons were the main deities worshiped in ancient India.
Suda: The eight kinds of nonhuman beings are: (1) heavenly beings, beings who inhabit the heavenly realms; (2) dragons, beasts that live in seas and lakes; (3) yakshas, a kind of forest-dwelling demon; (4) gandharvas, gods of music that serve King Brahma; (5) asuras, a kind of demon that dwells in the sea beneath Mount Sumeru and bears hostility toward heavenly beings; (6) garudas, a type of golden bird that preys on dragons; (7) kimnaras, gods of music who play musical instruments and whose form is half-human, half-animal; and (8) mahoragas, gods with human bodies and the heads of serpents.
Ikeda: The Lotus Sutra is not for human beings alone. It exists to save all living creatures. Interestingly, gods that were worshiped in different localities of ancient India before the birth of Buddhism are described as assembling on Eagle Peak to hear the Lotus Sutra being preached. This is because the new teaching of Buddhism viewed such gods not as external existences governing human lives, as the non-Buddhist teachings had regarded them, but as functions inherent in human life and the life of the universe.
The enlightenment of the Buddha penetrates deeply into the very essence of life, and the Lotus Sutra illuminates the one fundamental Law permeating that essence. That is why the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra is a champion of life who can influence even the heavenly deities. Nichiren Daishonin writes, “Since my heart believes in the Lotus Sutra, I do not fear even Brahma or Shakra…” (WND-I, 303).
It is also interesting to note that inveterate enemies such as the heavenly beings and asuras and the dragons and garudas have gathered to hear the sutra. The message here would seem to be: Religions that fan the flames of ethnic hatred are inferior religions. The Lotus Sutra is a teaching of peace and equality.
FROM EAGLE PEAK TO THE CEREMONY IN THE AIR, AND BACK TO EAGLE PEAK
Endo: Now that all of the characters have been introduced, we can discuss the stage upon which they will appear.
Ikeda: Yes. In addition to Eagle Peak, let’s also talk about the “three assemblies in two places.”
Endo: All right. If we look at the overall flow of the Lotus Sutra, the portion beginning with “Introduction” and ending with “The Teacher of the Law,” the tenth chapter, is set on Eagle Peak. At the very beginning of “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower,” the eleventh chapter, an enormous treasure tower suddenly erupts from the earth and rises to float in the air. Shakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Buddha are seated together within the tower, and the assembly is also lifted into the air as the preaching resumes. This Ceremony in the Air continues until “Entrustment,” the twenty-second chapter.
In the twenty-third chapter, “Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King,” the scene returns to Eagle Peak and remains there through the last chapter, “Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy.”
Suda: The Lotus Sutra opens and closes on the stage of Eagle Peak, but in the middle, the stage moves into the air. There are thus three assemblies: the first assembly on Eagle Peak, the Ceremony in the Air and the second assembly on Eagle Peak. Hence the designation, the “three assemblies in two places.”
Saito: While Eagle Peak is a real place where Shakyamuni preached his teachings, the Ceremony in the Air might be described as surreal. The treasure tower described in the Lotus Sutra, for example, is enormous. According to one calculation, it is anywhere from one-third to one-half the size of Earth. Why was it necessary to set this scene so far removed from everyday reality, and why does a treasure tower almost beyond imagination appear? This is a very important point, I think.
Ikeda: Yes, let’s explore this in greater detail at another opportunity. Allow me to mention, however, that many Buddhist scholars with whom I have held discussions have shown great interest in the significance of the treasure tower and the Ceremony in the Air.
Endo: Professor Soorya B. Shakya of Nepal has said:
The Ceremony in the Air is a symbol of the Buddha’s immense state of being. All the worlds of the ten directions of the past, as well as all the worlds of the ten directions of the future, are encompassed in that present actuality. The state of Buddhahood transcends time and space. When we awaken to the realm expounded in the Ceremony in the Air, we attain the power to accomplish anything.
Suda: President Toda said the following about the Ceremony in the Air:
The supremely wondrous state of Buddhahood is latent within each of our lives. The power and nature of this state of life are beyond our imagination and our ability to describe in words. Yet we can manifest this state in our own lives. The ceremony that takes place in “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower” chapter reveals that we, too, can indeed manifest the state of Buddhahood dormant within us.
Ikeda: Mr. Toda taught us clearly what the treasure tower is and the significance of its emergence. That colossal treasure tower is an expression of the state of Buddhahood that lies dormant within each of us. It teaches us the infinite nobility of life.
Saito: That is what the Daishonin meant when he wrote to a lay follower, Abutsu-bo: “Abutsu-bo is therefore the treasure tower itself, and the treasure tower is Abutsu-bo himself. No other knowledge is purposeful” (WND-I, 299).
Ikeda: In response to Abutsu-bo’s question about the treasure tower, the Daishonin declares definitively, “Your very life is the treasure tower.” We can almost hear the Daishonin’s warm, compassionate voice.
Endo: In “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower,” responding to the wish of those gathered at Eagle Peak, the Buddha uses his supernatural powers to lift them into the air. Here, too, we can sense the Buddha’s compassion.
Ikeda: The Buddha does not look down on living beings from on high. He lifts them up to the same level as himself. He teaches them that they are all equally treasure towers worthy of supreme respect. This is the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin’s spirit. It is true humanism.
The Ceremony in the Air described in “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower” also expresses the Buddha’s compassion to strive with all his might to communicate his state of enlightenment to all sentient beings.
Saito: When the beings gathered to hear the Lotus Sutra are lifted into the air, you could say they break free from the fetters of the earth of ignorance and rise into the free and unobstructed skies of the Dharma nature.
Suda: We find such expressions in the Daishonin’s writings as “the sky of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things” and “the sky of the essential nature of phenomena” (WND-I, 1030). I think we can see at least part of the significance of the concepts of sky, space or air — as in the Ceremony in the Air— in these expressions.
lkeda: The Daishonin also said, “Hence, the air represents the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light” (OTT, 95). The Ceremony in the Air represents the vast and unbounded state of the Buddha, the state of enlightenment. This realm of ultimate reality and truth transcends both time and space.
Spatially, it extends infinitely throughout the universe. In “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower,” where the Ceremony in the Air begins, we see the event known as “the three transformations of the land,” during which Shakyamuni purifies and transforms the saha and countless other worlds into a vast, unbounded Buddha land. Also, in “Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One” and “Entrustment,” where the Ceremony in the Air concludes, the Buddha, using one of his ten mystic or supernatural powers, reveals that all of the lands in the ten directions the eight points of the compass, as well as above and below) are one unobstructed Buddha land
Temporally, this realm of ultimate reality is eternal. The Ceremony in the Air begins with Many Treasures Buddha of the past and Shakyamuni of the present seated side by side in the treasure tower. Then Bodhisattva Superior Practices, a Buddha of the future, is called forth, and the teaching is entrusted to him. The past, present and future are all encompassed by this ceremony.
Indeed, there is perhaps no more fitting way to express the eternal and limitless state of Buddhahood than by using the Ceremony in the Air— a setting that breaks all boundaries of time and space.
Endo: And the Lotus Sutra expressed this state in a symbolic and visual fashion that makes it easy for ordinary people to understand.
Ikeda: Since the Ceremony in the Air transcends any given time or place, it conversely belongs to any time, era or place. Here, however, we must consider not only the significance of the Ceremony in the Air but the meaning of the Lotus Sutra’s entire progression in terms of three assemblies in two places.
Suda: I believe the relationship between the two assemblies on Eagle Peak and the Ceremony in the Air has profound significance in terms of our Buddhist view of life.
Ikeda: Yes, the progression from the assembly at Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air and then back to Eagle Peak parallels the movement from reality to the state of enlightenment and then back to reality. Or, more accurately, it flows from reality prior to enlightenment to the state of enlightenment and then to reality after enlightenment.
We must strive to cut ourselves free from the chains of time and space, earthly desires and the sufferings of birth and death that keep us confined to the earth of reality and to reach the air or lofty skies of enlightenment from which we can gaze serenely upon all things. From that magnificent height, we can see all our sufferings, problems and passing emotions as nothing but the most insignificant and fleeting events unfolding in a world as tiny as a piece of flotsam in the vast ocean.
Nichiren Daishonin writes: “Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law?” (WND-I, 681).
This is the perspective from the air— the perspective of Buddhism and the perspective of faith. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the practice that enables us to achieve this perspective.
The Daishonin also declares: “Now when Nichiren and his followers chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and maintain their faith in it, they are ‘suspended in the air’ They are ‘suspended in’ or participating in the Ceremony in the Air” (OTT, 91).
By exerting ourselves in faith, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and reciting the sutra before the Gohonzon, we immediately become a part of the assembly in the air. Nothing could be more wonderful than this. Mr. Toda often said, “In the daily lives of us ordinary people, there is no place as sacred as the place where we recite the sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.”
To “rise into the air” means to elevate our state of life through our determined and unwavering faith. This is the significance of the sutra’s progression from the first assembly on Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air.
Saito: Then the subsequent progression from the Ceremony in the Air back to Eagle Peak represents returning to the reality of daily life and society and facing its challenges based on the life force of Buddhahood we have tapped through reciting the sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Ikeda: Yes. Daily life equals faith, and faith equals daily life. The Lotus Sutra is never divorced from reality. That is its greatness.
Once we have dwelt in the Ceremony in the Air, the reality of daily life, however contemptible it may have formerly seemed, becomes a means for demonstrating our Buddhahood to others. Sufferings and problems enable us to deepen our faith and, by overcoming them, to show actual proof of the benefit of faith. This is the meaning of the Buddhist principles ” earthly desires are enlightenment” and “changing poison into medicine.”
The defiled realm of the nine worlds is transformed into the world of Buddhahood. This is what Nichiren Daishonin means when he writes “[The nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood” (WND-I, 539). The progression in the Lotus Sutra from the first assembly on Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air illustrates this principle. Meanwhile, the progression from the Ceremony in the Air back to Eagle Peak indicates that “Buddhahood retains the nine worlds” (WND-I, 539). In other words, when we willingly return from the world of Buddhahood into the nine worlds to courageously guide others to enlightenment, the impure land of the nine worlds is illuminated by the world of Buddhahood and transformed into the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, a shining Buddha land. Here we see the principle that “the impure land is the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light” at work.
At that moment, this world of impermanence, suffering, non-self and impurity becomes a world of eternity, happiness, true self and purity. The Daishonin writes, “Illuminated by the light of the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the dignified attributes that they inherently possess” (WND-I, 832). All of the nine worlds, as symbolized by the various beings who gather to hear the Lotus Sutra in the “Introduction” chapter, are illuminated by the Mystic Law. Ordinary people, just as they are, can reveal their true and most supremely noble selves and in turn illuminate society with their radiance.
From real life to the Ceremony in the Air and then back to real life — this continuous back-and-forth process is the path of human revolution, the path of transforming our state of life from one motivated by the “lesser self” to one inspired by the “greater self.” In life, we must not permit ourselves to be totally absorbed with only immediate realities. We must have ideals and strive to achieve them, thereby transcending present realities. On the other hand, we must not allow ourselves to become estranged from reality. We can change nothing unless our feet are firmly planted on the ground.
Many people and also many religions tend to choose one of two paths. Either they compromise with the realities of society and lose their identity or, seeking to evade these realities, they remove themselves entirely from society and try to create their own separate world. Both approaches are mistaken.
The essence of the Lotus Sutra lies in neither of those approaches. The Lotus Sutra teaches a way of life in which we gaze serenely at reality from an elevated state of life — high in the air, as it were — and yet, at the same time, actively involve ourselves in those realities as reformers. I think this overall structure of the three assemblies in two places is brilliantly expressed in the Lotus Sutra’s characteristic as a reformist religious teaching.
Saito: I agree. The emphasis on reformation is also one of the most distinctive features of Nichiren Buddhism.
Ikeda: Yes. As a matter of fact, the distinction between Nichiren Buddhism and Shakyamuni’s Buddhism can be explained in terms of the framework of the three assemblies in two places.
Suda: Could you elaborate on that?
Ikeda: Shakyamuni’s Buddhism, if anything, emphasizes the movement from Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air—in other words, leaving this world in search of the realm of the Buddha’s wisdom. The goal of this search, in a nutshell, is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the teaching implicit in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter expounded during the Ceremony in the Air.
In contrast, Nichiren Buddhism emphasizes the progression from the depths of “Life Span expounded during the Ceremony in the Air back to Eagle Peak — that is, from Nam-myoho-renge-kyo back to real life. It is a Buddhism that aims for the transformation of reality, and the practice of this Buddhism is to undertake compassionate actions among the people.
Saito: Perhaps we could say that of the two types of bodhisattva practices, “seeking enlightenment above” and “guiding sentient beings below,” Shakyamuni’s Buddhism emphasizes the former while Nichiren Buddhism emphasizes the latter.
Ikeda: That’s precisely it. Of course, tireless efforts to seek enlightenment above are essential in any efforts to guide sentient beings below. Another way of describing the difference in emphasis is to say that the dynamic of Shakyamuni’s Buddhism is “from the cause to the effect,” while that of Nichiren Buddhism is “from the effect to the cause.”
This is a somewhat difficult subject, but basically the principle “from the cause to the effect” refers to people of the nine worlds (the cause) practicing in order to attain Buddhahood (the effect). In contrast, the principle “from the effect to the cause” indicates people who, based on the state of Buddhahood (the effect) they have attained instantly through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, pursue and challenge the reality of the nine worlds (the cause) in daily life.
You might say Shakyamuni’s Buddhism is like climbing a mountain, starting at the foot and heading for the summit. During the ascent, we are given explanations of how wonderful the peak is, but we ourselves cannot appreciate or comprehend it. Nor is there any guarantee we will eventually reach the top. We may get lost or meet with an accident on the way. In contrast, Nichiren Buddhism reveals the way to the direct and immediate attainment of enlightenment, so in an instant we find ourselves standing on the mountain peak. There, we personally savor the marvelous view with our whole beings and, out of our desire to share that joy with others, we descend and go out into society.
Saito: In the Lotus Sutra, propagation of the teachings after the Buddha’s death is entrusted not to the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching who climbed the mountain but to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who already stood on the peak (evidencing proof of their Buddhahood) and have returned to work in the realm of actual society.
Ikeda: In terms of faith and practice, our daily practice of reciting the sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo may be viewed in a general sense as a practice that leads us from the nine worlds to Buddhahood. As such, it could be called a practice that leads from the cause to the effect. On a more profound level, however, our practice itself directly connects us to the state of Buddhahood.
This daily practice serves as the starting point for activities that lead from the effect to the cause — in other words, activities that spread the wisdom and compassion of the Mystic Law into dally life The faith of those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with devotion to the Gohonzon simultaneously encompasses the two directions— from the cause to the effect and from the effect to the cause. This is what sets the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin in a class of its own.
Saito: Nam (dedicating our lives) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo means both to return to and to take action based on Myoho-renge-kyo, the Mystic Law. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, therefore, encompasses the two directions in this activity.
Both directions, I feel, are found in the state of the Buddha’s enlightenment itself. Unless both directions are present, it could not be called true enlightenment. This may be one reason why the Lotus Sutra strives to communicate the totality of the Buddha’s enlightenment through the format of the “three assemblies in two places.”
Ikeda: Let’s make that a topic for further investigation. In any case, the Lotus Sutra is an amazing scripture. It tells us how profound and unfathomable the Buddha’s wisdom is— that enlightenment is not something that can be grasped as an intellectual concept, that it cannot be fully expressed in words. While praising the Buddha’s wisdom in this way, it also declares that the purpose of the Buddha’s appearance in the world is to make this ineffable wisdom accessible to all beings and enable them to attain enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra also emphasizes that it is expounded for this reason and that all who hear it will attain Buddhahood without fail. The sutra states again and again that, even after the Buddha’s death, a person who hears the Lotus Sutra and commits so much as a single phrase or verse to memory will, without fail, attain Buddhahood.
Just to hear it is sufficient to attain enlightenment— this is how the blessings and benefits of the Lotus Sutra are lauded. However, no explicit mention is made of the actual details of that enlightenment. Scriptures that praise themselves with such untiring enthusiasm are rare. This is another amazing facet of the Lotus Sutra, and one of its secrets. The Ceremony in the Air and the three assemblies in two places are keys to unlocking the secret of the Lotus Sutra.
Endo: That the three assemblies in two places expresses the totality of the Buddha’s enlightenment can also be seen in the term Thus Come One, one of the ten honorable titles of the Buddha. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Thus Come One is defined as “one who has come from the world of truth.” That is, the Buddha appears from the world of enlightenment, the world of truth, and, as a person who embodies wisdom and compassion, leads other beings to enlightenment.
Ikeda: A Buddha is a person of action and fighting spirit. A Buddha is not content to remain comfortably in the realm of enlightenment. A Buddha or Thus Come One continues to struggle on the “earth” of the nine worlds for the sake of others, for the happiness of all. The Daishonin writes: “The words of a wise man of old also teach that you should base your mind on the ninth consciousness, and carry out your practice in the six consciousnesses. How reasonable it is too!” (WND-I, 458). Basing the mind on the ninth consciousness corresponds to “residing in the Ceremony in the Air” or dwelling in faith, while carrying out practice in the six consciousnesses means never allowing ourselves to become separated from reality.
Suda: This passage, then, teaches us the significance of the three assemblies in two places, especially the movement from the Ceremony in the Air back to the second assembly on Eagle Peak. We can also say it reveals the spirit of the Thus Come One, who emerges from the realm of truth.
Saito: In the second assembly on Eagle Peak, Bodhisattva Medicine King, Bodhisattva Mystic Sound, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, Bodhisattva Universal Worthy and others take center stage. All of these bodhisattvas essentially practice the way of the Thus Come One and, while displaying their respective powers and capabilities, they assist in propagating the Lotus Sutra after Shakyamuni’s death.
Ikeda: After the Ceremony in the Air, the functions of these bodhisattvas in the real world are explained in all their splendid variety. This is very significant.
Endo: They carry out their activities as expressions of wisdom and joy based on the life state of Buddhahood.
Ikeda: Yes, that’s right. The SGI’s global movement to promote peace, culture and education based on Buddhism also follows this same formula. The vibrant spirituality and dynamic, creative cultural force of the Lotus Sutra are revealed in its capacity to manifest the vibrant pulse of the eternity of life in society and, in doing so, transform the world.
Suda: In Japan, many people view Buddhism as a cloistered religious world, but that is certainly not true.
Ikeda: That popular image of Buddhism has been entirely the fault of the leaders of Japan’s major Buddhist schools. Buddhism does not exist apart from society. Buddhism manifests itself in society, and society reflects Buddhism. With this conviction, as a Buddhist and private citizen, I have met and conducted dialogues with many world leaders of various fields and, though my contributions might be small, I have searched with them for answers to the problems that confront all humanity.
The message and wisdom of Buddhism must always be carried dynamically into society and the world. That is what Nichiren Buddhism is all about. A religion that remains cloistered in the religious realm, closed off from the rest of the world, is in effect committing suicide. According to the Daishonin, “The Lotus Sutra explains that in the end secular matters are the entirety of Buddhism” (WND-I, 1126).
THE THREE ASSEMBLIES IN TWO PLACES DESCRIBES THE TOTALITY OF LIFE
Endo: Since the Ceremony in the Air corresponds to a realm of eternity that spans past, present and future, the Shakyamuni who preaches to the assembly in the air must also be an eternally existing entity that transcends the historical personage.
Ikeda: The Ceremony in the Air takes place in a realm transcending time and space, so of course the Buddha preaching in that realm is not the historical Shakyamuni but an “eternal Buddha.” This is presented in detail in the “Life Span” chapter as the enlightenment Shakyamuni attained in the remote past. The setting for this revelation, however, is introduced in “The Emergence of the Treasure Tower” chapter.
At the same time, that eternal Buddha embodies the truth of the Law to which Shakyamuni became enlightened — in other words, the truth that “the treasure tower adorned with the seven kinds of treasures” (WND-I, 299) exists in our lives. When the members of the assembly are lifted into the sky, they are brought into this realm of truth; that is, all living beings are eternal Buddhas.
The Daishonin writes: “Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, who said numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, ‘I am the only person [who can rescue and protect others]’ refers to living beings like ourselves” (WND-I, 36).
The Ceremony in the Air is a realm in which all living beings of the Ten Worlds are equal, and where there is no distinction between sentient beings and the Buddha.
Suda: A realm in which ordinary people and the Buddha are not two separate entities— this is the realm of “the oneness of sentient beings and the Buddha.” In “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind,” the Daishonin declares: “The Buddha neither has entered into extinction in the past nor will be born in the future. And the same is true of his disciples” (WND-I, 366). Those who hear the Buddha’s teachings, he says, are one in body with the Buddha.
Saito: Mr. Toda declared that the life of each individual is one with the life of the universe and with the life of the Buddha. From the perspective that the self is one with the universe and the universe is one with the self, the progression of the three assemblies in two places is a continuous cycle — rising from the earth of reality on Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air that unfolds into the vast universe and then back again to Eagle Peak. It is a drama, if you like, of the interaction of the microcosm and the macrocosm. I can’t help feeling that the purpose of the Ceremony in the Air, the progression of three assemblies in two places, is to provide us with the actual experience — not just a conceptual understanding — of the life of the universe.
Ikeda: Yes. The three assemblies in two places expresses the totality of life, the dynamism of life. It demonstrates, for instance, the principle of “the oneness of body and mind.”
Saito: In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the Daishonin states: “The earth represents the element of the body, while the air represents the element of the mind. But we should understand that body and mind are not two different entities” (OTT, 95).
Ikeda: I think we can also say that the three assemblies in two places also expresses the oneness of life and death.
Endo: Yes. The Daishonin goes on to say, “‘All the members of the great assembly up into the air’ represents the state of our existence after death” (OTT, 94-95). Consequently, if the Ceremony in the Air represents death, then Eagle Peak represents life.
The three assemblies in two places thus also represents the dynamic movement from life to death and to life again. It reveals the true aspect of life and death as one inseparable phenomena.
Ikeda: That’s true. I think we can also discuss this from the perspective of the Daishonin’s words in “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life”: “The ultimate law of life and death as transmitted from the Buddha to all living beings is Myoho-renge-kyo…. Myo represents death, and ho, life” (WND-I, 216).
Saito: Discussed from this perspective, the air — the aspect of death — is equivalent to myo, and Eagle Peak — the aspect of life —is equivalent to ho.
Ikeda: Yes. The air is an eternally unchanging realm, symbolizing the world of the Buddha’s enlightenment. It is equivalent to the myo, or “mystic,” of myoho, the Mystic Law, because it is an unfathomable realm, a realm beyond the conceptualization of us ordinary people. In contrast, Eagle Peak, as a real place, corresponds to ho, which means not only the “Law” but “phenomena.” It represents the aspect of life.
Myo (death) and ho (life) are inseparable. In addition, the truth of the oneness of life and death throughout the universe is also expressed by the two Buddhas seated together in the Ceremony in the Air.
Suda: The Daishonin writes, “Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, the two Buddhas, are also the two phases of life and death” (WND-I, 216) The Buddha of the present, Shakyamuni, represents life, and the Buddha of the past, Many Treasures, represents death.
Ikeda: Life and death are indeed the most fundamental issues we face. In a sense, the Lotus Sutra itself elucidates the two phases of life and death. The “Introduction” chapter begins with the word this of the expression “This is what I heard” (LSOC, 35), and the last chapter of the sutra, “Bodhisattva Universal Worthy,” ends with the word departed — “they bowed in obeisance and departed” (LSOC, 366). Based on this, the Daishonin says, “The two words nyo and ko may also stand for the two factors of birth and death” (OTT, 195).
The deeper we look into the three assemblies in two places, the more we will learn; it is an inexhaustible fountain of wisdom and insights. I’m sure we’ll have an opportunity to pursue this further later.
The important thing is that we act out the three assemblies in two places in our daily lives. Nichiren Daishonin used the Ceremony in the Air to express his own enlightenment in the form of the Gohonzon. We who embrace the Gohonzon manifest the dynamism of the Lotus Sutra directly in our lives.
It is impossible to calculate the number of people who have studied and read and recited the Lotus Sutra through the ages. We of the SGI should take great pride in living the true essence of the sutra.
As we practice the Mystic Law, each moment of our lives is linked directly to the Ceremony in the Air, the world of ultimate truth, and we can savor the realm of eternity. Light, breezes, music and the fragrance of benefit and good fortune flow into our lives from the Mystic Law’s infinite universe and gently fold us in their embrace.
When we devote our lives to the propagation of the Mystic Law, the present moment for us is always one with eternity. Eternity and the present moment meet, interact and reverberate in harmonious unity in our daily lives. Our lives are a continuous stream of joy — a manifestation of eternity in the present moment.
Therefore, to a person of faith, a single moment is not just a singe moment, a day is not just a day. Each moment, each day, has an eternity of value packed into it. The more time passes, the more each moment, each day, shines with golden light.
The Lotus Sutra teaches us this unsurpassed way of living. Toward that end, what were the first words spoken by Shakyamuni in the sutra? We will discuss this in the next chapter, where we will begin to explore “Expedient Means.”