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  • The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin I/II
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    • 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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Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, The | Dictionary of Buddhism | Nichiren Buddhism Library
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  • Ōama

    [大尼] (n.d.)

  • Ōbaku school

    [黄檗宗] ( Ōbaku-shū)

  • Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, The

    [観心本尊抄] ( Kanjin-no-honzon-shō)

  • object of devotion of the essential teaching

    [本門の本尊] ( hommon-no-honzon)

  • observation of the mind

    [観心] ( kanjin)

  • ocean-imprint meditation

    [海印三昧] ( kaiin-zammai)

  • Ocean of Meditation on the Buddha Sutra

    [観仏三昧海経] (Chin Kuan-fo-san-mei-hai-ching;  Kambutsu-sammai-kai-kyō)

  • offering

    [供養] ( kuyō)

  • Ōhara Discourse

    [大原問答・大原談義] ( Ōhara-mondō or Ōhara-dangi)

  • old translations

    [旧訳] ( kuyaku)

  • om

    [唵] (;  on)

  • Omosu Seminary

    [重須談所] ( Omosu-dansho)

  • once-returner

    [斯陀含・一来] ( sakridāgāmin; Pali sakadāgāmin;  shidagon or ichirai)

  • On Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra

    [唱法華題目抄] ( Shōhokke-daimoku-shō)

  • one Buddha vehicle

    [一仏乗] ( ichi-butsujō)

  • one chapter and two halves

    [一品二半] ( ippon-nihan)

  • one-eyed turtle

    [一眼の亀] ( ichigen-no-kame)

  • one great reason

    [一大事] ( ichidaiji)

  • One Hundred Records of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, The

    [国清百録] (Chin Kuo-ch’ing-pai-lu;  Kokusei-hyakuroku)

  • One-Hundred-Verse Treatise, The

    [百論] (Chin Pai-lun;  Hyaku-ron)

  • oneness of body and mind

    [色心不二] ( shikishin-funi)

  • oneness of delusion and enlightenment

    [迷悟不二・迷悟一体] ( meigo-funi or meigo-ittai)

  • oneness of good and evil

    [善悪不二] ( zen’aku-funi)

  • oneness of life and its environment

    [依正不二] ( eshō-funi)

  • oneness of living beings and Buddhas

    [生仏不二・生仏一如] ( shōbutsu-funi or shōbutsu-ichinyo)

  • oneness of the Person and the Law

    [人法一箇] ( nimpō-ikka)

  • On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land

    [立正安国論] ( Risshō-ankoku-ron)

  • one vehicle

    [一乗] ( ekayāna;  ichijō)

  • one vehicle teaching

    [一乗法] ( ichijō-hō)

  • One Who Can Endure

    [能忍] ( nōnin)

  • Ōnichi-nyo

    [王日女] (n.d.)

  • Onjō-ji

    [園城寺]

  • On Refuting the Five Priests

    [五人所破抄] ( Gonin-shoha-shō)

  • On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

    [報恩抄] ( Hō’on-shō)

  • On Taking the Essence of the Lotus Sutra

    [法華取要抄] ( Hokke-shuyō-shō)

  • On the Formalities

    [化儀抄] ( Kegi-shō)

  • On the Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice

    [四信五品抄] ( Shishin-gohon-shō)

  • On the Peaceful Practices of the Lotus Sutra

    [法華経安楽行義] (Chin Fa-hua-ching-an-lo-hsing-i;  Hokekyō-anrakugyō-gi)

  • Opening of the Eyes, The

    [開目抄] ( Kaimokū-sho)

  • opening the near and revealing the distant

    [開近顕遠] ( kaigon-kennon)

  • opening the provisional and revealing the true

    [開権顕実] ( kaigon-kenjitsu)

  • opening the three vehicles and revealing the one vehicle

    [開三顕一] ( kaisan-ken’ichi)

  • opposite shore

    [彼岸] ( higan)

  • ordinary person

    [凡夫] ( prithag-jana or bāla;  bompu or bombu)

  • ordination platform

    [戒壇] ( kaidan)

  • original Buddha

    [本仏] ( hombutsu)

  • original enlightenment

    [本覚] ( hongaku)

  • original vows

    [本願] ( pūrvapranidhāna;  hongan)

  • Ornament of Mahayana Sutras, The

    [大乗荘厳経論] ( Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra; Chin Ta-ch’eng-chuang-yen-ching-lun;  Daijō-shōgonkyō-ron)

  • Ōta Jōmyō

    [大田乗明] (1222–1283)

  • other shore

    [彼岸] ( higan)

  • Oto

    [乙] (n.d.)

  • outflows

    [漏] ( āsrava;  ro)

  • Outside-the-Mountain school

    [山外派] (Chin Shan-wai-p’ai;  Sangai-ha)

  • Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra, The

    [法華秀句] ( Hokke-shūku)

  • Ōwa Debate

    [応和の宗論] ( Ōwa-no-shūron)

  • ox-headed demons

    [牛頭] ( goshīrsha;  gozu)

  • ox-head sandalwood

    [牛頭栴檀] ( goshīrsha-chandana;  gozu-sendan)

  • ox-head sandalwood

    [牛頭栴檀] ( goshīrsha-chandana;  gozu-sendan)

Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, The [観心本尊抄] ( Kanjin-no-honzon-shō): The abbreviated title of one of Nichiren’s five or ten major writings, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One’s Passing. It explains the object of devotion in Nichiren’s teaching, or the Gohonzon. It was written at Ichinosawa on Sado Island, Japan, dated the twenty-fifth day of the fourth month, 1273, and addressed to Toki Jōnin, one of Nichiren’s influential followers who lived in Shimōsa Province. In the previous year, Nichiren wrote The Opening of the Eyes, which identifies the object of devotion in his teaching in terms of the “Person,” describing himself as being endowed with the Buddha’s three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent, or as the person to lead people in the Latter Day of the Law to Buddhahood with wisdom and compassion. In contrast, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind reveals the object of devotion in terms of the “Law”—as the embodiment of the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—and describes the practice for attaining Buddhahood. This writing can be divided into four parts. The first establishes that the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life is revealed only in the fifth volume of T’ien-t’ai’s work Great Concentration and Insight. The second discusses the Ten Worlds, especially Buddhahood, inherent in the lives of all people and the meaning of observation of the mind, defining it as “to observe one’s own mind and find the Ten Worlds within it.” Nichiren describes the way to achieve this as follows: “Shakyamuni’s practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in these five characters, we will naturally be granted the same benefits as he was” (365). In this passage, “believe in these five characters” means to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with faith in the Gohonzon. This is known as the principle that embracing the Gohonzon is in itself observing one’s own mind, i.e., attaining enlightenment.
  The third section explains the Gohonzon from the standpoint of the “fivefold view of revelation,” an analysis of the Buddhist teachings. The final revelation in the above view is described as follows: “The essential teaching of Shakyamuni’s lifetime and that revealed at the beginning of the Latter Day are both pure and perfect [in that both lead directly to Buddhahood]. Shakyamuni’s, however, is the Buddhism of the harvest, and this is the Buddhism of sowing. The core of his teaching is one chapter and two halves, and the core of mine is the five characters of the daimoku alone” (370). In this passage, “the five characters of the daimoku” means the essence of the Lotus Sutra, or the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This section identifies who will spread the teaching and concludes, “At this time the countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth will appear and establish in this country [Japan] the object of devotion, foremost in Jambudvīpa, that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching attending [the eternal Buddha] ” (376). The fourth section concludes the treatise by stating, “Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha [who made his advent in the Latter Day of the Law] wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age” (376). See also Gohonzon; oneness of the Person and the Law.


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