After Shakyamuni Buddha's passing (around 500-600 B.C.E.), Buddhism developed along two main divisions called Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada Buddhism that emphasizes monastic practices, spread southward from India to Sri-Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes the wide popular practice of Buddhism among laity spread northward to China, Korea and Japan.
Mahayana Buddhism spread to China through Central Asia along the Silk Road, between the first century B.C.E and first century C.E. In this process of propagation, while the philosophical core of Buddhism remained consistent, various adaptations to the cultures and customs, and various shifts in doctrinal emphasis took place in the new environments. In time, a distinctive form of Chinese Buddhism evolved, and various schools of Chinese Buddhism came to be established. One such major school was the T'ien-t'ai School.
From China, through Korea, Buddhism found its way to Japan, at about the middle of the sixth century. Despite her native faith in Shinto, government officials and the upper classes soon patronised this new religion for what they believed it could ensure -- personal safety and well-being of the state. Among the Buddhist schools introduced to Japan, the people found a strong appeal in the belief in Amida Buddha or the Pure Land Sect.
The social and political climate, coupled with the frequent occurrences of natural disasters such as famines and epidemics, in Japan at the time created an environment of pessimism, fear, insecurity and desperation. The people found their source of hope in the promise of an after-world paradise of the Pure Land.
While Pure Land Sect took a stronghold among the populace, Zen Buddhism that teaches the way of meditation to reach enlightenment appealed to the warrior class of samurais, the class that rose to power with the decline of the imperial court.
The Nichiren School founded in Japan by 13th-century Buddhist priest Nichiren, belongs to the Mahayana stream of Buddhism.
The doctrines of Nichiren Buddhism are derived from the Lotus Sutra widely regarded to be Shakyamuni Buddha's most definitive teaching. Nichiren (1222 - 1282) taught that the core teaching of the Lotus Sutra is to be found in its title Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which expresses as the universal Law underlying all phenomena. Nichiren also emphasized that the key teaching in the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha's revelation that all people can develop a life state similar to his own, called the Buddha nature or Buddhahood.
Nichiren established a practice of chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-rengekyo, an invocation that brings the individual in harmony with the universal Law, and thus unlocks the potentiality of an enhanced self empowered with wisdom and life force characteristic of the Buddha nature. Besides, Nichiren taught that this personal practice for one's happiness should be complemented with one is selfless act in enabling others to awaken likewise to their innate potential, an act that is synonymous with the Buddha's compassion.
A most important premise in the Buddhist philosophy is that the course of one's life, generally called destiny is self-determined. Underlying this premise is the concept of karma, a resultant condition arising from the causes one make in life.
Buddhism teaches that the Law of cause and effect is a universal law underlying all phenomena in the universe. The causes and effects one accumulates in life covers not just the present lifetime but the three existences of past, present and future. This is Buddhism's view of eternal life.
Causes may be negative or positive, and they are accumulated through our thoughts, words and deeds. What we are now is the result of past causes made. By the same reason then, what will become of us depends on the causes that we are making now.
Besides, Buddhism also reveals the principle of simultaneity of cause and effect, though there may be a lapse of time before effect is manifest.
Thus, what matters most is the continued effort in laying positive causes, cherishing the present moment as the turning point in life.
The boundless potential and life force in each individual is explained by the Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds, a term referring to the ten different states of life condition every person can experience alike.
The ten life states are namely:-
HELL This is a state of suffering and despair, in which we perceive we have no freedom of action.
It is characterised by the impulse to destroy ourselves and everything around us.
HUNGER This is a state of being controlled by insatiable desire for money, power, status, or whatever. While desires are inherent in any of the ten worlds, in this state we are at the mercy of our cravings and cannot control them.
ANIMALITY This is a state where we are ruled by instinct. We exhibit neither reason nor moral
sense nor the ability to make judgment. In this state, we operate by the law of the jungle, and we take advantage of the weak while fawning on the strong.
ANGER A selfish, greedy, distorted ego that is determined to best others at all costs and seeing everything as a potential threat to oneself.
Hell, Hunger, Animality and Anger are collectively called the four evil paths.
HUMANITY A seemingly calm and passive state of life, but vulnerable to the lower four worlds
and external influences.
HEAVEN A sense of intense joy stemming from the fulfillment of desires, a sense of physical well-being, or inner contentment. Joy experienced is short-lived and vulnerable to external influences.
The above six states are called the six paths or six lower worlds. Their common characteristic is that their emergence or subsidence is governed largely by eternal circumstances.
LEARNING This state is where one seeks the truth through the teachings or experience of others.
REALIZATION This state is similar to Learning, except that one seeks the truth not through others' teachings but through one's own direct perception of the world.
BODHISATTVA Bodhisattvas are those who aspire to achieve enlightenment and at the
same time are equally determined to enable fellow beings to do the same. People in this state have an awareness of their greater self which encompasses others in their environment.
BUDDHAHOOD This is a dynamic state of life condition where one is enlightened to the ultimate truth of life and enjoys a state of spiritual freedom. People in the life state of Buddhahood will possess qualities such as wisdom, compassion and life force.
The Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin is presently practised by some 12 million believers around the world, associated with an organization called the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) The SGI was established in 1975 under the leadership of its founding and present president, Daisaku Ikeda, as a movement for the promotion of peace, culture and education based on the Buddhist principle of respect for the dignity of life.
SGI has member-organisations in 190 countries. Nepal SGI was registered as a religious organization in January 1, 1993. Besides conducting activities and programmes to encourage the study and practice of Nichiren's Buddhism, Nepal SGI also carries out community services, educational and cultural programmes, to foster social harmony and progress based on the Buddhist spirit of value-creation.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism and the activities of the Nepal SGI will be invited to discussion meetings, small gatherings of Nepal SGI members and friends where dialogue centres round the application of the Buddhist philosophy to various life situations. Lectures and seminars on Buddhist doctrines are also open to all, believers and non-believers alike.
A new believer is encouraged to practise the daily chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo first, before he or she progresses to learn the recitation from the Lotus Sutra after gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of his or her new found faith.
After Shakyamuni Buddha's passing (around 500-600 B.C.E.), Buddhism developed along two main divisions called Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada Buddhism that emphasizes monastic practices, spread southward from India to Sri-Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes the wide popular practice of Buddhism among laity spread northward to China, Korea and Japan.
