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  • The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin I/II
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On Repaying Debts of Gratitude | 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)

On Repaying Debts of Gratitude [報恩抄] ( Hō’on-shō): One of Nichiren’s five or ten major writings, dated the twenty-first day of the seventh month of 1276, a little more than two years after he had moved to Minobu in Kai Province, Japan. It was prompted by the news of the death of Dōzen-bō who had been Nichiren’s teacher at Seichō-ji temple in Awa Province. Nichiren wrote this treatise in memory of the deceased Dōzen-bō and sent it to Jōken-bō and Gijō-bō, his former seniors at Seichō-ji who now regarded Nichiren as their teacher. He entrusted this writing to Nikō, later one of the six senior priests he designated, and requested that it be read aloud at Kasagamori on the summit of Mount Kiyosumi where he is said to have first chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and again before the tomb of his late teacher.
  Nichiren begins this treatise by emphasizing the need to repay one’s obligations to one’s parents, teacher, the three treasures of Buddhism, and one’s sovereign. Of these four debts of gratitude, this work stresses specifically repaying that owed to one’s teacher. Nichiren states that to repay such debts one must dedicate oneself single-mindedly to Buddhist practice and attain enlightenment. To this end, Nichiren traces the development of the various schools of Buddhism in India, China, and Japan, focusing on the sutras upon which these schools base their doctrines. He next identifies the Lotus Sutra as the highest of all the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. He then refutes the doctrines of the various schools, especially of the True Word (Shingon) school, a Japanese form of Esoteric Buddhism. In this work, Nichiren also criticizes Jikaku and Chishō, patriarchs of the Tendai school who incorporated the doctrines and rituals of Esoteric Buddhism into the school’s teachings, which were based originally on the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren determines that the essence of the Lotus Sutra is its title, or daimoku, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and reveals the Three Great Secret Laws or teachings to be propagated in the Latter Day of the Law. They are the invocation, or daimoku, the object of devotion, and the sanctuary, of the essential teaching. Then he states, “If Nichiren’s compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years and more, for all eternity” (736).


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