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  • The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin I/II
    • Volume I
    • Volume II
  • The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras
  • The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings
  • The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism

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inconspicuous benefit | Dictionary of Buddhism | Nichiren Buddhism Library
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Letter I

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  • icchantika

    [一闡提] (;  issendai)

  • ichinen

    [一念] (; Chin i-nien)

  • ichinen-sanzen

    [一念三千] ()

  • I-ching

    [義浄] (635–713) (PY Yijing;  Gijō)

  • Ichinosawa, the lay priest

    [一谷入道] (d. 1278) ( Ichinosawa-nyūdō)

  • ignorance

    [無明] ( avidyā; Pali avijjā;  mumyō)

  • I-hsing

    [一行] (683–727) (PY Yixing;  Ichigyō)

  • Ikegami Munenaga

    [池上宗長] (d. 1283)

  • Ikegami Munenaka

    [池上宗仲] (d. 1293)

  • Ikegami Transfer Document, The

    [池上相承書] ( Ikegami-sōjō-sho)

  • Ikkō school

    [一向宗] ( Ikkō-shū)

  • illusions of thought and desire

    [見思惑] ( kenji-waku)

  • I-lung

    [遺竜] (n.d.) (PY Yilong;  Iryō)

  • Immeasurable Meanings Sutra

    [無量義経] (Chin Wu-liang-i-ching;  Muryōgi-kyō)

  • Immovable

    (1) [不動明王] ( Achala or Achalanātha;  Fudō-myō’ō); (2) [不動仏] ( Fudō-butsu); (3) [不動智仏] ( Fudōchi-butsu)

  • Immovable Wisdom

    [不動智仏] ( Fudōchi-butsu)

  • immutable karma

    [定業] ( jōgō)

  • impure land

    [穢土] ( edo)

  • Inaba-bō

    [因幡房] (n.d.)

  • inclusion of Buddhahood in the nine worlds

    [九界即仏界・九界所具の仏界] ( kukai-soku-bukkai or kukai-shogu-no-bukkai)

  • inclusion of the nine worlds in Buddhahood

    [仏界即九界・仏界所具の九界] ( bukkai-soku-kukai or bukkai-shogu-no-kukai)

  • inconspicuous benefit

    [冥益] ( myōyaku)

  • incorrigible disbelief, persons of

    [一闡提] ( issendai)

  • Increase and Growth

    [増長天] ( Virūdhaka;  Zōjō-ten or Zōchō-ten)

  • Increasing by One Āgama Sutra

    [増一阿含経] (Chin Tseng-i-a-han-ching;  Zōichi-agon-gyō)

  • independent of words or writing

    [不立文字] ( furyū-monji)

  • Indra

    [因陀羅] (;  Indara)

  • Indra’s net

    [因陀羅網・帝網] ( Indra-jāla;  Indara-mō or Tai-mō)

  • indriya

    [根] (, Pali;  kon)

  • inferior manifested body

    [劣応身] ( retsu-ōjin)

  • Infinite Life

    [無量寿仏] ( Muryōju-butsu)

  • Infinite Light

    [無量光仏] ( Muryōkō-butsu)

  • Ingen

    [隠元] (1592–1673) (; Chin Yin-yüan)

  • inherent enlightenment

    [本覚] ( hongaku)

  • initial stage of rejoicing

    [初随喜品・初随喜] ( shozuiki-hon or shozuiki)

  • insentient beings

    [非情] ( hijō)

  • integration of the three mystic principles

    [三妙合論] ( sammyō-gōron)

  • Interfusing Nembutsu school

    [融通念仏宗] ( Yūzū Nembutsu-shū)

  • internal strife

    [自界叛逆難] ( jikai-hongyaku-nan)

  • “Introduction” chapter

    [序品] ( Jo-hon)

  • Invincible

    [無勝童子] ( Mushō-dōji)

  • Ippen

    [一遍] (1239–1289)

  • Iron Encircling Mountains

    [鉄囲山・鉄輪囲山] ( Chakravāda-parvata or Chakravāda;  Tetchi-sen or Tetsurin’i-sen)

  • Īshāna

    [伊舎那天] (;  Ishana-ten)

  • Ishikawa Monastery

    [石川精舎] ( Ishikawa-shōja)

  • Ishikawa no Hyōe, the lay priest

    [石河の兵衛入道] (n.d.) ( Ishikawa no Hyōe-nyūdō)

  • Izu Exile

    [伊豆流罪] ( Izu-ruzai)

inconspicuous benefit [冥益] ( myōyaku): Benefit deriving from Buddhist practice that accumulates over a period of time and is not immediately recognizable. The term is contrasted with conspicuous benefit, or benefit that appears in clearly recognizable form. In The Teaching, Practice, and Proof, Nichiren (1222–1282) explains conspicuous and inconspicuous benefit, respectively, as the benefit of the Buddhism of the harvest and that of the Buddhism of sowing. Those who attained Buddhahood during Shakyamuni’s lifetime and in the subsequent two thousand years of the Former Day and Middle Day of the Law had already received the seed of Buddhahood from Shakyamuni in the remote past and nurtured it over many kalpas until their capacity for enlightenment had all but matured. Therefore, they were able to reap the fruit of enlightenment when they practiced Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings during his lifetime or in the Former Day and Middle Day of the Law. The fruit or benefit of their enlightenment was conspicuous and ready for harvest.
  In the Latter Day of the Law, however, people receive the seed of Buddhahood in their lives for the first time. The growth of this seed is not immediately recognizable. Therefore, the benefit of the Buddhism of sowing is called inconspicuous benefit. Practically speaking, conspicuous and inconspicuous benefits are not two different types of benefit but two different ways in which benefit appears. Inconspicuous benefit is likened to the gradual growth of a tree—the growth is real, but difficult to recognize in the short run. In the long run, however, the shade or fruit the tree provides can be conspicuously appreciated. In a similar manner, the inconspicuous benefit that derives from the practice of the correct teaching in the Latter Day eventually finds conspicuous expression in the present life of the practitioner.


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