Dharma

Dharma
Dharma: (Sanskrit) (Pali, dhamma) One of the fundamental Buddhist terms. The word dharma derives from dhri (to preserve, maintain, keep, uphold, etc.) and has a great variety of meanings, including law, truth, doctrine, the Buddha's teaching, steadfast decree, customary observance, prescribed conduct, duty, virtue, morality, good deeds, religion, justice, nature, quality, character, characteristic, essential quality, elements of existence, ultimate constituents of things, phenomena, and so forth.1
Some of the more common usages are:
  1. ) (Sometimes capitalized) The Law, or ultimate truth. For example, saddharma, the original Sanskrit for the Mystic Law, means the unfathomable truth, governing all laws and phenomena.
  2. ) The teaching of the Buddha, which reveals the Law. Dharma of abhidharma means the Buddha's doctrine, or the sutras.
  3. ) (Often plural) Manifestations of the Law, i.e., phenomena, things, facts, existences, etc. The word "phenomena" in "the true entity of all phenomena" (Japanese, shoho jisso) is dharmas in Sanskrit.
  4. ) The elements of existence, which, according to the Hinayana schools, are the most basic constituents that make up an individual and his reality.
  5. ) Norms of conduct conducive to the accumulation of good karma.

Dharma was translated into Chinese as the word "fa" which comes into Japanese as "Ho" and is part of the great phrase; "Nam Myoho renge Kyo," which Nichiren Buddhists recite as part of their dailly practice.

Nirvana Sutra

The Nirvana Sutra declares,

"Rely on the dharma, not on the man; rely on the chi, not on the shiki." "Rely on the dharma" in this passage means [to rely on] the eternal dharma preached in the Lotus-Nirvana Sutras. "Rely not on the man" means [not to rely on] those who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana Sutras. Those who do not have faith in the Lotus Sutra, even Buddhas and bodhisattvas, are not teachers reliable for us [in the Latter Age], not to mention commentators, translators and teachers [after the extinction of the Buddha who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana Sutras. "Rely on the chi" means to rely on [the wisdom of] the Buddha. "Rely not on the shiki" means [not to rely on the opinions of] bodhisattvas in the highest stage and below. Shugo Kokka-run (Noppa Translation, page 38)

Nichiren quotes this passage from the Nirvana Sutra, among other places, in the Kaimoku Sho. Relying on "Chi"(wisdom), not on "shiki" means that we should rely on the general truths and not be stuck on the individuals who teach them. Nichiren our founder embodied this attitude in all of his Gosho. Expecially the Ho'on Sho and the Kaimoku Sho, his major writings.

For more on this visit my Literal Issues page

Dharma and Philosophy

President Ikeda has referred to this Buddhism as a philosophy. It is a philosophy and at the same time it is more than a philosophy. It is also more than a religion. This is because it is at the opposite sense of the traditional meaning of religion. Religion comes from a root word that means to bind, but the essence of Buddhism is to seek liberation or "unbinding" and to awaken to reality. This makes Buddhism in a sense a sort of "anti-religion" in it's traditional sense. In religion we "observe" (Kanjin) ceremonies and practices that are meant to awaken the mind. By unbinding the mind from false realities we are allowed to bind ourselves to the "truth" or to reality as it is. Thus religion is both "anti-religion" and a true religion.

The reason it might be promoted is philosophy is because the essence of Buddhism is contained in a quote from the Nirvana Sutra that states that we should:

"Rely on the Law and not upon persons. Rely on the meaning [of the teaching] and not upon the words. Rely on wisdom and not upon discriminative thinking. Rely on sutras that are complete and final and not on those that are not complete and final."

"rely on the chi." If on really understands that sentance one can understand not just Buddhism but all religion in context. "Rely on the Chi" (Rely on the wisdom of texts and not on their literal meaning," is the essence of both philosophy and true religion, because true philosophy starts and ends with "love of wisdom" and so does Buddhism. But not for it's own sake. Wisdom is "beyond truth" because it is more than true in a literal sense. I discuss this also at literal.html

The purpose of the Buddha is to use expedient means, skillfulness, to awaken people to the truth which is beyond their comprehension otherwise. The purpose of this awakening is to conquer suffering. Small truths can be used to hide lies, and fictions can be used to tell truths. Stories and myths can be literally impossible, but if one sees their message those stories are the key to unlocking great truths and realizations. The problem that people have is that they cling to the literal message, the "shiki", and thus miss the "chi" that is intended. Stories are told for a purpose, and for people to insist that that purpose is only served if those stories are literally accurate, is for them to miss the point of telling the stories. They have no problem with a story told explicitly as a parable, but they insist that other stories that were originally written for similar purposes, are literally true. This blinds them to the meaning of the myths and parrables.

If Buddhism were a mere religion, it would not have the power to free people from misery. The attack on teachers who teach that Buddhism is a philosophy don't realize that Buddhism is a philosophy and at the same time much more than philosophy. They are in error. Buddhism is neither a mere religion nor a mere philosophy, it is a way of transcending such limitations while at the same time embracing them. It is a teaching that embraces the realities of life, while recognizing that life is far more complicated than we comprehend.

Three Treasures

The Dharma is one of the "three treasures of Buddhism. The other two are "Sangha" and "Buddha". Since Dharma can neither be destroyed nor created, and it is itself eternal. Likewise the "Buddha" in principle is equally eternal and can also be neither destroyed nor created, because the Buddha is simply the entity that is aware of these Dharmas and truths and is awake and able to free itself from misery. Nichiren as a man was a specific manifestation of the Buddha within a human being (the Buddha as common mortal) and as such is only a man, except for the wonderment of the Dharma he embraced. The enlightenment he possesses is identical to the one we are capable of manifesting.

A High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu once said that "the Buddha follows the Dharma, the "Priest" follows the Buddha and layfolks should follow priests." However the truth is that the Buddha follows the dharma and the entire 'Sangha' follows the Buddha." Everyone ultimately must follow the Dharma itself, but the role of people is to transmit that knowledge. They don't have to be enlightened themselves to do so. In the Lotus Sutra Shakyamuni preaches that Devadatta transmitted the Lotus Sutra to him in his previous existence. Most people need examples like the Buddha to even know that the potential for emancipation is there but the potential is intrinsic.

Thus the Buddhist teachings are the Buddha's "methods" or upaya for reaching enlightenment. This is an ongoing process, and for any person to inject themselves in that process as a final authority is for that person to make a mistake of arrogance. That is whether the person is myself or others. It is through our own efforts combined with dialogue with others that we uncover the truths that like diamonds in the rough are "there all along." The priesthood errors because it is seeking to justify it's role in the modern world in an authoritarian manner. They didn't need to do that, they could have looked on themselves as "reservoirs" of education, and left the "final authority" up to each person. There may be only "one truth" but that truth is indeed the world elephant.

The World Elephant

Shakyamuni illustrated this truth with the story of the Blind men and the Elephant. That same story can also be found in Rabbinic literature. When we try to understand our world, we are like blind men trying to understand an elephant and being two arrogant to move from the ear, trunk, feet or Arse of the Elephant. Thus we think that we know reality when we only know part of it. This makes a caveate on human understanding but doesn't deny that there is ultimate truth. The Logic of the Dharma is that there is causality, that there is "truth" and that these laws need to be understood, but that we should never be so arrogant as to think that we see them with more than one eye open. Nichiren says in the Ho'on Sho (Repaying Debts of Gratitude):

But if one intends to repay these great debts of gratitude, he can hope to do so only if he studies and masters the Buddhist teachings, becoming a person of wisdom. If he does not, he will be like a man who attempts to lead a company of the blind over bridges and across rivers when he himself has sightless eyes. Can a ship steered by someone who cannot even tell the direction of the wind ever carry the traveling merchants to the mountains where treasure lies?

Natural Law and Dharma

Early on I was struck by the similarity between the word "Dharma", which means "law", "truth" and the western concepts involved in "Natural Law." When one studies the great truth of "Ichinen Sanzen" one sees that Natural Law is indeed part of the truths of life. The "Dharmas" of Buddhism are indeed akin to Natural law in that they are incontrovertable and fundamental to life.

Sources

SGI Dictionary at: http://www.sgi-usa.org/cgi-bin/lexicon.cgi?exact=on&src=dbtc&term=Dharma

"http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/Gosho/RepayingDebtsGratitude.htm"

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