* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Nichiren Teachings and The Four Noble Truths SGI views on the
Buddhist art wikipedia , lookup
Bhūmi (Buddhism) wikipedia , lookup
Relics associated with Buddha wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist cosmology of the Theravada school wikipedia , lookup
Triratna Buddhist Community wikipedia , lookup
Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent wikipedia , lookup
Wat Phra Kaew wikipedia , lookup
Faith in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
History of Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and psychology wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and sexual orientation wikipedia , lookup
Greco-Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist meditation wikipedia , lookup
Nirvana (Buddhism) wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and Western philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Zen scriptures wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism in Myanmar wikipedia , lookup
Pratītyasamutpāda wikipedia , lookup
Gautama Buddha wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist texts wikipedia , lookup
Mahayana sutras wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism in Japan wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist ethics wikipedia , lookup
Buddhism and Hinduism wikipedia , lookup
Sanghyang Adi Buddha wikipedia , lookup
Dhyāna in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddhist philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Women in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Buddha-nature wikipedia , lookup
Enlightenment in Buddhism wikipedia , lookup
Noble Eightfold Path wikipedia , lookup
Nichiren Teachings and The Four Noble Truths Traditional schools of Buddhism hold - as their fundamental belief - Shakyamuni’s first sermon, the teaching of the Four Noble Truths, being: 1- the truth of suffering: dukkah, 2 - the truth of the origin of suffering 3- the truth of the cessation of suffering 4 - the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering. The teaching of the Four Noble Truths was the first teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. It is accepted in Traditional Buddhism, however, as the first and the final. Not all Mahayana sutras regard the first sermon of the Buddha as the final Buddhist teaching and examples are “The Profound Secrets Sutra”, and - in particular - “The Lotus Sutra” , which views the Four Noble Truths as only a preparatory teaching. The final teaching of the Buddha was the revelation of the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra: “The Wonderful Law of Life”. Shakyamuni’s compassion led him to gradually teach and prepare his followers. He initially started from the elementary teaching “about sufferings”, but then over 40 further years of systematic preaching, he finally revealed in the Lotus Sutra the ultimate truth of joy of living. SGI views on the Four Nobel Truths SGI Buddhism is based on Nichiren teachings of the Lotus Sutra, which revealed the final teaching of the Buddha, being the Dharma of the Law of Lotus. In his letter, Nichiren explained that the teaching of the Four Noble Truths is a specific or limited doctrine. In this perspective, the Four Noble Truths express only an elementary teaching, focused merely on only one - of various aspects of life - that of sufferings. The Four Noble Truths do not encompass the basic Buddhist teaching of the Ten Worlds - which also have the World of Joy and Buddhahood. in his article Desiring Happiness Ikeda explains how the Four Noble Truths were taught by Shakyamuni Buddha specifically to his immediate disciples as an elementary and preparatory doctrine to direct them to self-mastery: “The four noble truths and the eightfold path were directed chiefly to those disciples who had rejected secular life and were wholly engaged in Buddhist practice; they reflect the basic attitude and approach that underlie Shakyamuni's early teachings, which concentrated on predominantly negative views about life and the world so that he could awaken people first to life's harsh realities and then to the inexpressible spiritual experience of nirvana”. Nichiren’s Buddhism and the teaching of the Eightfold Path The fourth of the Four Noble truths teaches that the path to emancipation is found in the Eightfold Path to Nirvana. The Eightfold Path is a “code of conduct” of the following aspects: maintaining right views, right thinking, speech, action, tendency, mindfulness and meditation. However, the particular aspects of conduct (described in the Eightfold path) are in fact manifestations of one’s Buddha nature. The totality of the Eightfold Path comprises the “effect” of revealing one’s Buddha nature in reality. Attaining Buddhahood in one’s present life will definitely be expressed through one’s behaviour in daily life, manifesting thus all aspects of the Eightfold Path. For this reason, the focus in Nichiren Buddhism is on the “cause” ( which is: revealing one’s Buddha nature). Instead of the Eightfold Paths, Nichiren points to one “direct path to enlightenment” being chanting the Law to directly reveal one’s Buddha nature. WND1 p 3 _______________________________________________ The Lotus Sutra’s statement on the Four Noble Truths Limitations of the concept of Four Noble Truths Safwan Zabalawi Homepage