Gongyo—which includes reciting portions of the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span of the Thus Come One” chapters of the Lotus Sutra morning and evening—is part of daily practice for Nichiren Buddhists. This series carries Ikeda Sensei’s explanations of gongyo, section by section. The full text can be found in The Heart of the Lotus Sutra, pp. 57–70.
Shari-hotsu. Go ju jo-butsu irai. Shuju innen. Shuju hiyu. Ko en gonkyo. Mu shu hoben. Indo shujo. Ryo ri sho jaku.
Literal translation: Shariputra, ever since I attained Buddhahood I have through various causes and various similes widely expounded my teachings and have used countless expedient means to guide living beings and cause them to renounce their attachments. (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 56)
Ikeda Sensei:
Shakyamuni says that he tried to free people from desires and illusions by employing causes and similes.
The fundamental cause of people’s unhappiness lies in their tendency to develop attachments of various kinds. An attachment, just as it sounds, is a fetter on one’s heart; it indicates earthly desires, cravings and the like. In the pre–Lotus Sutra teachings, Shakyamuni taught the people of the nine worlds, whose lives were steeped in misery, the path for freeing themselves from such attachments. That is, he caused them “to renounce their attachments.”
The spirit of the Lotus Sutra, however, is not to eradicate earthly desires. When we base ourselves on the Mystic Law, we can transform desires—just as they are—into enlightenment. This is the principle that earthly desires are enlightenment.
The “Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, “It [the Lotus Sutra] can cause living beings to cast off all … pain” (LSOC, 328). Regarding this, Nichiren Daishonin says that “cast off” should be interpreted as “becoming enlightened concerning” (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 174).
In Nichiren Buddhism, therefore, “cause them to renounce their attachments” should be interpreted as “cause them to become enlightened concerning their attachments.” It’s not a matter of eradicating attachments but of seeing them clearly. In other words, rather than cause us to abandon our earthly desires and attachments, our Buddhist practice enables us to discern their true nature and use them as the driving force to become happy. …
The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in developing the state of life to clearly discern and thoroughly use our attachments, thus leading lives made interesting and significant by cultivating strong attachments.
In short, we should cause the firewood of earthly desires to burn high and, to that same extent, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo sincerely and take action. In so doing, our earthly desires become a springboard to propel us toward our attainment of Buddhahood.
Faith means creating a mountain for ourselves, climbing it and then starting out again. In this process, we develop from a state of life in which we are caught up with our own small worries to one in which we can challenge progressively greater worries—for the sake of a friend, for many others, for all humankind.
Toward that end, it is important that we always consider the purpose of our actions. When we clearly establish our fundamental objective in life, we can use our attach-
ments most fully and profitably. We can turn them into tailwinds to propel us toward happiness.
This principle offers an extremely valuable guide for living in modern society, where people are constantly swept along by various wants and cravings.
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