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Five Strands - The meanings relate to our lives and Buddhist practice

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Jars beads.jpg

by David Heimburg

 
There are five strands of beads that extend off from the main loop or circle of beads. This is the most obvious distinction between Nichiren Buddhists' beads and beads used by other forms of Buddhism who typically use two end strands (or sometimes four) on their beads. As you look at the various symbols of Nichiren Buddhist beads, all of the symbolism used refers back to the individual Buddhist practitioner and the relative significance of this specific form of Buddhism. The following are some of the symbolic reasons for using chanting beads with five strands instead of the two used by other Buddhists.

Human Body - If you lay out the beads on a table with a single twist in the middle of the large circle, it's easy to see how they give shape to a symbolic human. The three tassels become a head and two arms. The twist in the large circle of beads becomes a waist. The two tassels become two legs. All of Buddhism relates back to the individual and the individual's practice to eliminate all sufferings in both themselves and others. All references of the symbolism of the chanting beads to humans is significant and instructive. It's important to always keep that in mind. It is never about a deity or external power, rather it is about your subjective life and how to transform yourself into a Buddha.

Five Components - Centuries ago, Buddhists came up with the hypothesis that each individual human being has come into existence through the temporary uniting of five components. The theory tries to describe both the physical and spiritual aspects of human life. The five are: form, sensation, idea, choice, and cognition. (1) Form means the physical aspect of life and includes the five sense organs - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body - with which one perceives the external world. (2) Sensation is the function of receiving external information through the six sense organs (the five sense organs plus the "mind," which integrates the impressions of the five senses). (3) Idea is the function of creating mental images and concepts out of what has been perceived. (4) Choice is the will that acts on the idea and motivates action. (5) Cognition is the conscious function of discernment or reasoning that integrates the components of sensation, idea, and choice. Form represents the physical aspect of your life, while sensation, idea, choice, and cognition represent the spiritual aspect. Because the physical and spiritual aspects of life are inseparable, there can be no form without cognition, and no cognition without form. All life carries on its activities through the interaction of these five components. Their workings are colored by karma previously formed and at the same time create new karma. We acknowledge that these five components are coming together in the moment we begin chanting.

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Five Impurities - The practice of chanting meditation is an act of purification. The five impurities or defilements is a concept that appears in Shakyamuni's "Expedient Means" (second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra where it says, "The Buddhas appear in evil worlds of five impurities…." (1) Impurity of the age includes repeated disruptions of the social or natural environment. (2) Impurity of desire is the tendency to be ruled by the five delusive inclinations, i.e., greed, anger, foolishness, arrogance, and doubt. (3) Impurity of living beings is the physical and spiritual decline of human beings. (4) Impurity of thought, or impurity of view, is the prevalence of wrong views such as the five false views (see next explanation). (5) Impurity of life span is the shortening of the life spans of living beings. Simply put, this indicates that our Buddhahood is made manifest amid the impurities of whatever age we live in. There is no need to change all of the evil in the world before we can attain happiness and enlightenment. But at the same time we acknowledge that as we chant, the five impurities influence us away from our goal of developing the compassionate Buddha within.

Five False Views - The Buddhist scholar T'ien-t'ai (538-597) of China held that there are five false views or ways of thinking that give rise to desires. The five false views are: (1) Though the mind and body are no more than a temporary union of the five components, one regards them as possessing a self that is absolute; and though nothing in the universe can belong to an individual, one views one's mind and body as one's own possession; (2) the belief in one of two extremes concerning existence: that life ends with death (disregarding the vestigial traces and historic influences), or that life persists after death in some eternal and unchanging form (as an intact identity of your former self); (3) denial of the law of cause and effect; (4) adhering to misconceptions and viewing them as truth, while regarding inferior views as superior; and (5) viewing erroneous practices or precepts as the correct way to enlightenment. By utilizing the practice and study of Buddhism and by pursuing scientific inquiry into natural laws that affect our lives, we can change the five false views that we hold. As we chant, when we recognize desires that arise in our minds as having come from these five false views, we can adjust our way of thinking and meditating. To always advance and continuously correct erroneous views of life that we may find ourselves settling for, we acknowledge that the study of life is a necessary aspect of our Buddhist practice. The five false views reminds us to diligently use scientific inquiry, Buddhist meditation, and compassionate practice in order to remain on the path to Buddhahood. This requires much humility, courage, and determination.

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Fivefold Comparison - Nichiren (1222-1282) in his writing titled The Opening of the Eyes developed the fivefold comparison as a way of demonstrating the superiority of his teaching of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo over all other teachings. The fivefold comparison ranks teachings according to the effectiveness of each at bringing about the enlightenment, that is, absolute happiness and fulfillment, of the individual. To fully understand these five comparisons, the reader is encouraged to read this profound writing. The fivefold comparisons, briefly described are:

(1) Buddhism is superior to non-Buddhist teachings. In Nichiren's day in Japan, the common non-Buddhist teachings he was dealing with were Confucianism and Brahmanism. He said that Confucianism and Brahmanism are not as profound as Buddhism in that they do not reveal the causal law of life that penetrates the three existences of past, present, and future. Today, non-Buddhist teachings abound and are well known, with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam being the most prominent.

(2) Mahayana Buddhism is superior to Hinayana Buddhism (aka Theravada). Hinayana (lesser vehicle) Buddhism is the teaching for people of the two vehicles. These vehicles are the teachings used by the so-called voice-hearers (Skt. Shr?vaka) and cause-awakened ones (pratyekabuddha) to their respective levels of enlightenment. The voice-hearers used the four noble truths; the cause-awakened used the vehicle of causal relationship via the teaching of the twelve-linked chain of causation. The pratyekabuddhas lived apart from other humans, and along with the voice-hearers were renounced by provisional Mahayana Buddhist's for seeking their own enlightenment without working for the enlightenment of others. In contrast, Mahayana Buddhism is the teaching for bodhisattvas who aim at both personal enlightenment and the enlightenment of others; it is called Mahayana (great vehicle) because it can lead many people to enlightenment. So in that sense, Mahayana teachings are superior to Hinayana teachings.

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(3) True Mahayana is superior to provisional Mahayana. True Mahayana is defined by Nichiren as relating to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, while Provisional Mahayana refers to pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. In the provisional Mahayana teachings, the people of the two vehicles, women, and evil persons are excluded from the possibility of attaining enlightenment; in addition, Buddhahood is attained only by advancing through progressive stages of bodhisattva practice over incalculable periods of time. In contrast, the Lotus Sutra reveals that all people have the Buddha nature inherently, and that they can attain Buddhahood immediately by realizing that nature. Furthermore, the provisional Mahayana teachings assert that Shakyamuni attained enlightenment for the first time in India and do not reveal his original attainment of Buddhahood in the remote past, nor do they reveal the principle of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, as does the Lotus Sutra. For these reasons, the true Mahayana teachings are superior to the provisional Mahayana teachings.

(4) The essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra is superior to the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The theoretical teaching consists of the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra, and the essential teaching the latter fourteen chapters. The theoretical teaching takes the form of preaching by Shakyamuni who is still viewed as having attained enlightenment during his lifetime in India. In contrast, the essential teaching takes the form of preaching by Shakyamuni who has discarded this transient status and revealed his true identity as the Buddha who attained Buddhahood in the remote past. This revelation implies that the eternal condition of Buddhahood is an ever-present potential of human life. This is called the essential teaching and is superior to the theoretical teaching in that it points to the ever-present potential for Buddhahood rather than Buddhahood being considered merely a historic occurrence.

(5) The Buddhism of sowing is superior to the Buddhism of the harvest. Nichiren got this comparison from T'ien-t'ai's concept of sowing, maturing, and harvesting in his writing The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra. The seed being referred to here is the seed cause for attaining Buddhahood.

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Helping each other was a survival mechanism that early humans had in order to endure the ravages of the environment as well as competing animals and other competing human tribes. As time passed, humans developed more cognitive capabilities as well as more sophisticated tools and machinery that allowed survival of individuals who had little concern for those outside their family. The current age continues with this disconnecting of humans from one another and interferes with the compassion that is so necessary for Buddhahood to develop within our lives. Surprisingly, though, when an individual does go against the trend of the times and does develop compassion beyond their family unit, that compassion is further-reaching than their ancestors' compassion. Compassion that drives bodhisattva caring in modern times tends to be a more universal compassion than the clan-concerns of early times. Through better forms of communication we've had individual lives who are no more than remotely evolutionarily related to us brought to our attention. We find ourselves weeping in concern for those subjected to religious atrocities such as the beheading of Islamic apostates and stoning of violators of Islamic sexual codes of conduct. We see other species of animals suffering from the effects of human corruption of their environment and feel empathy and pity for them. We have learned to care for other life without the expected reciprocation that our predecessors hoped for when supporting others of their clan.

This caring or compassion when consciously evoked or strengthened through the Buddhist practice of chanting Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is vastly superior to the practices that preceded it that involved family and ancestral lineages. This practice is limitless and timeless. While there is no "bad" or inconsequential amounts of compassion, and while all compassion supports the development of one's Buddhahood, the more selfless caring we can muster, the more powerful a force it becomes. In modern times we are able to see beyond our immediate world and honestly and passionately care about ending the suffering of all beings around the world. This is an act of planting the seeds for Buddhahood in our own lives, then nurturing that seed until it matures. Finally, and within our own lifetimes, it is possible to realize an end to our own suffering that is rooted deeply in our compassion for many, many others. This is the highest form of Buddhism and is called the Buddhism of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, the Buddhism of sowing.

In summary, people in this age don't believe that there is any practice that will lead to enlightenment in this lifetime. They have become jaded, lost hope, and don't focus their lives on developing compassion and altruism, what's known as a bodhisattva practice. Therefore they don't plant the seed for attaining Buddhahood in their lives. In other words, they have no hope-seed of Buddhahood in this lifetime. Nichiren described Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the seed of Buddhahood that people of our times can implant into their lives and in one lifetime mature and harvest it. Ultimately, Nichiren says that there was nothing in the Lotus Sutra or pre-Lotus Sutra teachings that can give realistic seed-hope for the attainment of Buddhahood. The cause of the bodhisattva practice is contained in chanting Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. As Nichiren puts it in his writing titled The Teaching for the Latter Day, "Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor the other sutras lead to enlightenment. Only Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo can do so."

Source

www.nichirenbuddhist.org