January 20, 2025
LOTUS JEWELS（Nichiren Shu News NO260）
To begin with, as we ask where do hell and the Buddha exist, some sutras state that hell exists underground while others state that the Buddha exists to the west. Upon closer inspection, however, it is preached that both hell and the Buddha exist within our two-meter bodies. As proof of this, we sometimes disdain our fathers or neglect our mothers in our minds. This indicates that our minds contain the function of hell.
—Nichiren Shonin, A Reply to the Wife of the Lord of Omonsu (ST 399), Omonsu-dono Nyobo Gohenji
In this reply, Nichiren reminds us that our faith and practice is for the benefit of our lives in this world, not to enable a future reward or avoid a future punishment. This also helps us make more sense of doctrines such as “all phenomena are ultimate reality” and “attainment of Buddhahood with our present body.” When we show gratitude and respect for all the beings we share this world with, we are expressing the mind of the Buddha.
—Rev. Shinkyo Warner