A Buddhist Talk by Ryan Cuevas

 This is an experience given by a Nichiren follower in Allen Texas. 

Mahayana.

Mahayana Buddhism ［大乗仏教］ ( Daijō-bukkyō): Buddhism of the Great Vehicle. The Sanskrit mahā means great, and yāna, vehicle. One of the two major divisions of the Buddhist teachings, Mahayana and Hinayana. Mahayana emphasizes altruistic practice—called the bodhisattva practice—as a means to attain enlightenment for oneself and help others attain it as well. In contrast, Hinayana Buddhism (Buddhism of the Lesser Vehicle, hīna meaning lower or lesser), as viewed by Mahayanists, aims primarily at personal awakening, or attaining the state of arhat through personal discipline and practice. After Shakyamuni’s death, the Buddhist Order experienced several schisms, and eventually eighteen or twenty schools formed, each of which developed its own doctrinal interpretation of the sutras.
  As time passed, the monks of these schools tended toward monastic lifestyles that were increasingly reclusive, devoting themselves to the practice of precepts and the writing of doctrinal exegeses. This tendency was criticized by those who felt the monks were too conservative, rigid, and elitist, believing they had lost the Buddha’s original spirit of working among the people for their salvation. Around the end of the first century b.c.e. and the beginning of the first century c.e., a new Buddhist movement arose. Its adherents called it Mahayana, indicating a teaching that can serve as a vehicle to carry a great number of people to a level of enlightenment equal to that of the Buddha. They criticized the older conservative schools for seeking only personal enlightenment, derisively calling them Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) indicating a teaching capable of carrying only a select few to the lesser objective of arhat. According to one opinion, the Mahayana movement may have originated with the popular practice of stupa worship—revering the relics of the Buddha—that spread throughout India during the reign of King Ashoka. In any event, it seems to have arisen at least in part as a popular reform movement involving laypersons as well as clergy.

Hinayana

 

Hinayana Buddhism ［小乗仏教］ ( Shōjō-bukkyō): One of the two major streams of Buddhism, the other being Mahayana. Teachings that aim at attaining the state of arhat. After Shakyamuni Buddha’s death, the Buddhist Order experienced several schisms and eventually split into eighteen or twenty schools. The monks of these schools were concerned with preserving the Buddha’s teachings as they understood them, and devoted themselves to doctrinal studies. As a result, they produced abhidharma works, or doctrinal treatises and commentaries on the Buddha’s teachings. Over time, however, they tended toward reclusiveness, while placing greater emphasis on asceticism and doctrinal analysis. Around the end of the first century b.c.e. or the beginning of the first century c.e., a new Buddhist movement began to emerge among those who were dissatisfied with what they perceived as the sterile academicism and rigidity of the existing schools. Feeling it was important to model their behavior after that of the Buddha himself, they advocated bodhisattva practice, or practice to benefit others, and engaged themselves in instructing laypersons while practicing among them. These practitioners called themselves bodhisattvas and their teachings Mahayana (Great Vehicle), indicating that their teaching was the vehicle to transport a great many people to enlightenment. In contrast, they referred to the earlier schools as Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle), implying that these teachings could only address a selected few and could not lead to the ultimate goal of enlightenment. The designation Hinayana was derogatory, and these schools naturally did not apply the name to themselves. The Sanskrit hīna means lesser, and yāna, vehicle or teaching. Mahayana Buddhists regarded Hinayana teachings as the way of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones who seek their own emancipation from delusion and suffering yet lack practice to benefit others. They held that Hinayana teachings were inferior to Mahayana teachings, which set forth the way of bodhisattvas who strive to attain enlightenment for themselves and help others achieve it as well.

T’ien-t’ai

 

T’ien-t’ai ［天台］ (538–597) (PY Tiantai;  Tendai): Also known as Chih-i. The founder of the T’ien-t’ai school in China, commonly referred to as the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai or the Great Teacher Chih-che (Chih-che meaning “person of wisdom”). The name T’ien-t’ai was taken from Mount T’ien-t’ai where he lived, and this, too, became the name of the Buddhist school he effectively founded. He was a native of Hua-jung in Ching-chou, China, where his father was a senior official in the Liang dynasty government (502–557). The fall of the Liang dynasty forced his family into exile. He lost both parents soon thereafter and in 555 entered the Buddhist priesthood under Fa-hsü at Kuo-yüan-ssu temple. He then went to Mount Ta-hsien where he studied the Lotus Sutra and its related scriptures. In 560 he visited Nan-yüeh (also known as Hui-ssu) on Mount Ta-su to study under him, and as a result of intense practice, he is said to have attained an awakening through the “Medicine King” (twenty-third) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This awakening is referred to as the “enlightenment on Mount Ta-su.”
  After seven years of practice under Nan-yüeh, T’ien-t’ai left the mountain and made his way to Chin-ling, the capital of the Ch’en dynasty, where he lived at the temple Wa-kuan-ssu and lectured for eight years on the Lotus Sutra and other texts. His fame spread, and he attracted many followers. Aware that the number of his disciples who were obtaining insight was decreasing, however, and, in order to further his understanding and practice, he retired to Mount T’ien-t’ai in 575. Thereafter, at the emperor’s repeated request, he lectured on The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom and the Benevolent Kings Sutra at the imperial court in Chin-ling. In 587, at Kuang-che-ssu temple in Chin-ling, he gave lectures on the Lotus Sutra that were later compiled as The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra. After the downfall of the Ch’en dynasty, he returned to his native Ching-chou and there expounded teachings that were set down as The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra in 593 and Great Concentration and Insight in 594 at Yü-ch’üan-ssu temple. The three works mentioned above were all compiled by his disciple Chang-an and became the three major texts of the T’ien-t’ai school. He then returned to Mount T’ien-t’ai, where he died. Other lectures of T’ien-t’ai compiled by Chang-an include The Profound Meaning of the “Perceiver of the World’s Sounds” Chapter and The Profound Meaning of the Golden Light Sutra.
  T’ien-t’ai criticized the scriptural classifications formulated by the ten major Buddhist schools of his time, which regarded either the Flower Garland Sutra or the Nirvana Sutra as the highest Buddhist teaching. Instead he classified all of Shakyamuni’s sutras into “five periods and eight teachings” and through this classification demonstrated the superiority of the Lotus Sutra. He also established the practice of threefold contemplation in a single mind and the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. Because he systematized the doctrine of what became known as the T’ien-t’ai school, he is revered as its founder, though, according to Chang-an’s preface to Great Concentration and Insight, the lineage of the teaching itself began with Hui-wen, who based his teaching on Nāgārjuna and transferred it to Nan-yüeh.

Middle Way

Middle Way ［中道］ (madhyamā-pratipad;  chūdō): The way or path that transcends polar extremes. The Middle Way also indicates the true nature of all things, which cannot be defined by the absolutes of existence or nonexistence. It transcends the extremes of polar and opposing views, in other words, all duality. However, interpretations of this concept vary considerably from one text or school to another. The three major interpretations of the Middle Way follow:
  (1) In the Hinayana teachings, it is the rejection of the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. While still a prince, Shakyamuni lived in luxury in his father’s palace, but after renouncing the secular world, he abandoned worldly diversions and for years practiced as an ascetic, leading a life of deprivation and austerity. Eventually he rejected asceticism as well, and after attaining enlightenment he preached a way of life that avoids the extremes of indulgence and denial. The Medium-Length Āgama Sutra, one of the four Chinese Āgama sutras, terms this path the Middle Way. It is exemplified by the doctrine of the eightfold path.
  (2) According to Nāgārjuna’s Treatise on the Middle Way, the true nature of all things is that they are neither born nor die, and cannot be defined by either of the two extremes of existence or nonexistence. This true nature of things is non-substantiality, also referred to as the Middle Way. The Treatise on the Middle Way begins: “Neither birth nor extinction, neither cessation nor permanence, neither uniformity nor diversity, neither coming nor going. . . .” This passage is termed the eight negations, or the middle path of the eight negations, and is intended to clarify the concept of the Middle Way.
  (3) In terms of T’ien-t’ai’s doctrine of the three truths, the truth of the Middle Way means that the true nature of all things is neither non-substantiality nor temporary existence, but exhibits the characteristics of both.

Dharma

 

dharma ［法］ (Pali dhamma;  hō): A term fundamental to Buddhism, dharma derives from the root dhri, which means to preserve, maintain, keep, or uphold. It has a wide variety of meanings, including law, truth, doctrine, the Buddha’s teaching, decree, observance, conduct, duty, virtue, morality, religion, justice, nature, quality, character, characteristic, essence, elements of existence, or phenomena.
  Some of the more common usages are: (1) (Often capitalized) The Law, or ultimate truth. For example, Kumārajīva translated saddharma, the Sanskrit word that literally means Correct Law, as Wonderful Law or Mystic Law, indicating the unfathomable truth or Law that governs all phenomena. (2) The teaching of the Buddha that reveals the Law. Dharma of abhidharma means the Buddha’s doctrine, or the sutras. (3) (Often plural) Manifestations of the Law, i.e., phenomena, things, facts, or existences. The word phenomena in “the true aspect of all phenomena” is the translation of dharmas. (4) The elements of existence, which, according to the Hinayana schools, are the most basic constituents of the individual and his or her reality. (5) Norms of conduct leading to the accumulation of good karma.
  The word dharma is a component of the names of many Indian Buddhist monks, including Dharmagupta, Dharmaraksha, Dharmamitra, Dharmapāla, Dharmayashas, Dharmakāla, and Bodhidharma.

Gosho

Gosho ［御書］ (): The individual and collected writings of Nichiren (1222–1282). Gosho literally means honorable writings; go is an honorific prefix, and sho means writings. In general the word is used in Japanese as an honorific for certain books and writings, particularly for those of the founders and patriarchs of some Buddhist schools. Nikkō, Nichiren’s successor, used the word gosho to refer to Nichiren’s works and made efforts to collect, copy, and preserve them as sacred texts. As a result, a remarkable number of Nichiren’s works have been passed down to the present, and many are extant in his own hand. In terms of content, the Gosho may be divided into four groups: (1) treatises setting forth doctrine, (2) writings remonstrating with government authorities, (3) letters offering advice, encouragement, or consolation to believers, or written in answer to questions (many in this category also include expressions of gratitude for offerings and support received), and (4) written records of Nichiren’s oral teachings, including his lectures on the Lotus Sutra.