Major Writings II - Nichiren Daishounin

Chapter 7: Phantom City [Kejoyu]
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A Comparison of the Lotus Sutra and Other Sutras
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment
Clear Sake Gosho
Letter to Niike
Letter to Domyo Zemmon
Letter to Akimoto
Letter from Sado
Reply to Nichigon-ama
Roots of Good Fortune
Reply to Jibu-bo
No Safety in the Threefold World - Nichiren Daishounin
Letter to Horen - Nichiren Daishounin
King Rinda - Nichiren Daishounin
Jozo and Jogen - Nichiren Daishounin
Bodhisattva Hachiman - Nichiren Daishounin
On Prayer - Nichiren Daishounin
The Opening of the Eyes Part I
The Opening of the Eyes Part II
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man Part II
Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country
How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood Through the Lotus Sutra
The Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei
The Entity of the Mystic Law
The Pure and Far-reaching Voice
Reply to Takahashi Nyudo
The Teaching, Capacity, Time, and Country
The Doctrine of Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form
Encouragement to a Sick Person
The Essence of the Yakuo Chapter
The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra
The Supreme Leader of the World
The Treasure of a Filial Child
The Supremacy of the Law
Reply to Nii-ama
The Workings of Bonten and Taishaku
The Story of Ohashi no Taro
The Teaching in Accordance with the Buddha's Own Mind
The Treatment of Illness and the Points of Difference between Mahayana and Hinayana and Provisional
Repaying Debts of Gratitude
On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings
On the Urabon
Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
Letter to Nichimyo Shonin
Letter to Shomitsu-bo
Questions and Answers on Embracing the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Sairen-bo
Rationale for Submitting the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Persecution by Sword and Staff
Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins
Recitation of the Hoben and Juryo Chapters
Reply to Lord Hakiri Saburo
Reply to Yasaburo
Letter to Ichinosawa Nyudo
Letter to Myomitsu Shonin
Reply to Hoshina Goro Taro
Wu-lung and I-lung
White Horses and White Swans
The Sutra of True Requital
The Kalpa of Decrease
The Farther the Source, the Longer the Stream
The Third Doctrine
The One-eyed Turtle and the Floating Sandalwood Log
Letter to Nakaoki Nyudo
General Stone Tiger
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Lessening the Karmic Retribution
Letter to the Brothers
Hell is the Land of Tranquil Delight
On Prolonging Life
On the Buddha's Behavior
On the Buddha's Prophecy
On the Treasure Tower
Propagation by the Wise
The Embankments of Faith
The Dragon Gate
Strategy of the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Kyo-o
The Person and the Law
The One Essential Phrase
The Gift of Rice
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
Letter of Petition from Yorimoto
Introduction and Preface to the Ongi Kuden: Namu Myoho Renge Kyo [Devotion to the Lotus Sutra]
Muryogi Sutra [Sutra of Innumerable Meanings]
Chapter 3: Simile and Parable [Hiyu]
Chapter 4: Faith and Understanding [Shinge]
Chapter 6: Prediction [Juki]
Chapter 7: Phantom City [Kejoyu]
Chapter 8: Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples [Gohyaku Deshi Juki]

Chapter 7: Phantom City [Kejoyu]

'Phantom' refers to our body, and 'city,' to our mind. To expound the impermanence of body and mind is the heart of the provisional teachings. The intent of the Lotus Sutra is to teach that the impermanent abides eternally. Thus the phantom city is itself the treasure land. Today, when Nichiren and his disciples chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we open both body and mind to reveal them as the Mystic Law. This is called the phantom city being itself the treasure land. (Gosho Zenshu p. 732)

The ten worlds are all Phantom Cities and each one is a Treasure Land. Or again, the Phantom City is the nine worlds and the Treasure Land is the state of Buddhahood. From the Phantom City to the Treasure Land is a distance of five hundred yojanas. (LS p.135) This distance represents the delusions arising from thoughts and desire, of delusions as innumerable and dust particles and grains of sand, and the delusions arising from ignorance which impede Buddhist practice. The five hundred yojanas of earthly desires, in essence, indicate the five characters of Myoho Renge Kyo, means the Phantom City is the Treasure Land. In the phrase 'the Phantom City is precisely the place of Jewels,' the word 'precisely' means Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. (Gosho Zenshu p. 732)

Each life-moment in the Phantom City is a life-moment in the Treasure Land. The provisional teachings expound our mental and physical existences as impermanent. The Lotus Sutra teaches that they constantly exist. When one eliminates attachment to impermanence then the Phantom City is 'wiped out.'

The Phantom City is our skin and flesh, while the Treasure Land is our bones. The opening and realization that one's body and mind are the True Law is the reality of the Phantom City being the place of Jewels. 'Reality' means the simultaneity and coexistence of the impermanent and the constantly existing, according with conditions yet unchanging, understanding and illumination in a single thought-moment. 'Single thought moment' here means a single thought moment in which one believes without doubt in Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. [In the expression, 'the conjured city is precisely the place of jewels,'] one should fix one's mind on the single word 'precisely' [soku] and ponder it. (Gosho Zenshu p. 732)

There is nothing that exists eternally on this earth. Whether something exists or not depends solely upon the time. (Gosho Zenshu p. 732)

The sutra states "There was a Buddha, most honored of two-legged beings, named Great Universal Wisdom Excellence." (LS p. 118, 3LS p. 146)

The votaries who chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo are the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. (Gosho Zenshu p. 733)

The sutra states, "Their grandfather who was a wheel-turning sage king," (LS p. 120, 3LS p. 148)

The 'wheel turning sage-king' is one who passes through the cycle of birth and death, unchanging throughout the three existences of past, present, and future. The wheel-jewel refers to our words and voices. With regard to the wheels of gold, copper, silver and iron; gold indicates life, silver represents death, or bleached bones. Copper gives the appearance of old age, and iron indicates sickness. Thus, the four wheels [of the four wheel turning kings] signify the Buddha's acts of enabling all persons to open, show, awaken to, and enter the Buddha wisdom." (Gosho Zenshu p. 733)

The sutra states, "At that time the leader, knowing that the people have become rested and are no longer fearful or weary, wipes out the phantom city." (LS p. 136, 3LS p. 163)

The entity of one's person, which shall undergo dissolution, is the conjured city. Because one sees this dissolution as extinction, it remains the phantom city. But when one perceives it to be the extinction that is non-extinction, which is called the place of jewels. The Juryo chapter expounds this with the words 'as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction.' (LS p. 229) To eradicate the view of extinction is called 'wipes out.' One should ponder in this light the teaching that the three provisional vehicles are precisely the one true [vehicle]. In another sense, 'The leader…wipes out the phantom city' means eradicating the palaces of those who slander the Law.

Now when Nichiren and his disciples chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo they are asserting that the phantom city is identical to the treasure land. These mountains, valleys, and broad plains, where we live, every one of them, is the treasure land of Eternally Tranquil Light. (Gosho Zenshu p. 734)

The sutra states, "Now you must press forward diligently so that together you may reach the place where the treasure is." (LS p. 141, 3LS p. 168)

Nichiren and his disciples who chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo will 'reach the place where the treasure is.' 'Together' means that when one is 'together' with Nichiren, one can reach the place of Treasures [Buddhahood] while those who are not with Nichiren will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. Now when Nichiren and his disciples chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, they are asserting that the phantom city is the place of jewels. (Gosho Zenshu p. 734)

  

Home
The True Entity of Life
The One Essential Phrase
The Essence of the Juryo Chapter
The True Object of Worship
The Selection of the Time
The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day
Reply to the Mother of Lord Ueno
The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings
Teaching, Practice, and Proof
On Omens
On Persecutions Befalling the Buddha
The Votary of the Lotus Sutra Will Meet Persecution
Thus I Heard
The Izu Exile
The Origin of the Urabon
The Royal Palace
The Meaning of Faith
The Third Day of the New Year
Reply to the Followers
The Causal Law of Life
The Swords of Good and Evil
The Teaching for the Latter Day
The Unmatched Fortune of the Law
Easy Delivery of a Fortune Child
Letter to Konichi-bo
Letter to Misawa
An Outline of the Zokurui and Other Chapters
Consecrating an Image of Shakyamuni Buddha Made by Shijo Kingo
Curing Karmic Disease
Admonitions Against Slander
Bestowal of the Mandala of the Mystic Law
The Receipt of New Fiefs
The Unity of Husband and Wife
Letter to Ko-no-ama Gozen
Winter Always Turns to Spring
On Filial and Unfilial Conduct
A Father Takes Faith
A Warning against Begrudging One's Fief
The Mongol Envoys
Reply to Tokimitsu
Reply to Myoho Bikuni Gozen
Beneficial Medicine for All Ills
A Sage Perceives the Three Existences of Life
The Proof of the Lotus Sutra
Letter to Jakunichi-bo
Aspiration for the Buddha Land
Reply to Lord Shijo Kingo
The Universal Salty Taste
Good Fortune in This Life
The Wealthy Man Sudatta
Letter to Gijo-bo
New Year's Gosho
Persecution at Tatsunokuchi
Easy Delivery of a Fortune Child
Reply to Lord Matsuno's Wife
The Birth of Tsukimaro
Banishment to Sado
Great Evil and Great Good
Happiness In This World
Letter from Echi
Letter to Endo Saemon-no-jo
Letter to Priest Nichiro in Prison
On Flowers and Seeds
On Itai Doshin
Postscript to the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Reply to a Believer
Reply to Ko Nyudo
Reply to Lady Onichi-nyo
Reply to Lord Matsuno
Rissho Ankoku Ron
The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith
The Offering of a Summer Robe
The Property of Rice
The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles
Unseen Virtue and Visible Reward
Upholding Faith in the Gohonzon
The Drum at the Gate of Thunder

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