Actually, I don’t believe these two 13th Century Buddhists ever met each other, although it is possible. Dogen, however, was Nichiren’s senior by 22 years.
Today, the followers of Nichiren worldwide number in the millions; I have no idea how many practice Soto Zen, founded by Dogen, but it developed into the second largest school of Japanese Buddhism.
There are a number of similarities between the two. Both were outsiders. Nichiren as “the son of an untouchable along the beach” who was not admitted to the clannish circles around the top teachers at Mt. Hiei and while Dogen was from a noble family, his mother had been in an unfavorable situation which checked his acceptance among the aristocracy. Both were ordained into the Tendai sect, studied at Mt. Hiei, and they were both disgusted by the spiritual corruption they found there. And they both relied heavily upon the Lotus Sutra, albeit to different degrees.
To my mind, their philosophical approach, their methodology, are like night and day. Still, in bottom line terms, they were not that far apart, especially in regards to the universal potential of Buddhahood. I imagine that the greatest difference between them was in personality. Nichiren was a fiery street preacher. When I think of Dogen, I think of stillness, quietude. Dogen taught only a few disciples. Nichiren on the other hand envisioned a mass movement. One other significant difference is that Dogen rejected the notion of the Three Periods (Former, Middle and Latter Day of the Law), maintaining that all people could attain enlightenment regardless of the age they lived in. For Nichiren, the Three Periods were crucial and even though his time line was off by 500 years, the faith-only ideology associated with the Latter Day of the Law is the all-important context for his teachings.
I thought it would an interesting exercise to put the writings of Dogen and Nichiren side by side to compare and contrast. I considered putting together a collection of brief quotes but felt there might be some question over objectivity going about it that way, so I looked for writings that were similar in title and/or subject matter. The ideal writings are far too long to quote in their entirety. Instead, I am presenting relatively short excerpts.
The first comes from Dogen’s Soku Shin ze Butsu and Nichiren’s Soku Shin jo Butsu. The titles are essentially the same, meaning “this mind is precisely Buddha” or “attaining Buddahood in this very life.” Nichiren gives his explanation of this well-known Japanese Buddhist concept a slight twist. In other writings, he adheres to the phrase as usually defined, but in this work “Soku shin jo Butsu” takes on the connotation of “earthly desires are Buddhahood.”
The sources are Shasta Abbey’s translations of Dogen’s Shobogenzo and the original Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin published under the aegis of the Soka Gakkai:
Dogen, Soku Shin ze Butsu,
The saying “Your very mind is Buddha,” which Buddhas and Ancestors have assured us is so, is something not even dreamed of by non-Buddhists or by followers of the two Lesser Courses [Vehicles]. Only Buddhas and Ancestors—and They alone—pass on that one’s mind is Buddha, and only They experience its meaning to the fullest. Having heard of it, They have put it into practice and have come to realize it for Themselves.
The term Buddha implies that the hundreds of karmic seedlings from defiling passions have been weeded out and discarded. However, I am not speaking of this term as it is applied to a sixteen-foot tall golden statue.
The term soku (‘that which is immediate’) refers to one’s spiritual question before one deals with what is right before one’s eyes, and before one learns to avoid the blunders that may arise from not dealing with that question.
The term ze (‘is’) refers to the three temporal worlds of ‘was’, ‘is’, and ‘will be’, from which there is no retreating or escaping, and which are not merely a figment of the mind.
The term shin (‘mind’) implies the walls and fences of discernment before they have been mudded fast with mortar, and before one has fabricated anything or added fixtures.
We may thoroughly examine these terms in the form, for instance, of “Your very mind is Buddha,” or in the form of “Your mind, at this very moment, is Buddha,” or “Buddha, right now, is your mind,” or “Your very mind is what ‘Buddha’ is,” or “This ‘Buddha’ is your mind right now.” To thoroughly explore the meaning in this manner is precisely an instance of one’s very mind being Buddha. In promoting the meaning, the Ancestors passed it on in a straightforward manner as “Your very mind is Buddha,” and it has come down to us today, accurately transmitted in this form.
The so-called ‘mind which has been correctly Transmitted’ refers to the whole mind being synonymous with ‘all thoughts and things’, and all thoughts and things are what constitute ‘the whole mind’. This is why someone in the past once said, “When a person fully realizes what his mind really is, not an inch of solid ground will exist upon the earth.” You must understand that when you fully realize what your mind is, the whole canopy of the heavens is knocked down and the spinning earth is completely torn asunder. On the other hand, when you come to see what your mind really is, the earth becomes three inches thicker.
Nichiren, Soku Shin jo Butsu
What is meant by the ‘wisdom’ of the Buddhas! It is the entity of the true aspect, or the ten factors, of all phenomena, the entity that leads all beings to Buddhahood. What then is the entity! It is nothing other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. A commentary states that the profound principle of the true aspect is the originally inherent Law of Myoho-renge-kyo. The true aspect of all phenomena indicates the two Buddhas Shakyamuni and Taho seated together in the treasure tower [jeweled stupa]. Taho represents all phenomena and Shakyamuni, the true aspect. The two Buddhas also indicate the two principles of the truth as object and the wisdom to grasp it. Taho signifies the truth, as object and Shakyamuni, the wisdom. Although these are two, they are fused into one in the Buddha’s enlightenment.
These teachings are of prime importance. They mean that earthly desires are enlightenment and that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. Even during the physical union of man and woman, when one chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, then earthly desires are enlightenment and the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. Sufferings are nirvana only when one realizes that life throughout its cycle of birth and death is neither born nor destroyed. These principles are what is meant by the following passages. The Fugen Sutra states, ‘Without cutting off earthly desires and separating themselves from the five desires, they can purify their senses and wipe away their offenses.’ It is stated in the Maka shikan [Mo Ho Chih-kuan] that ‘the ignorance and dust of desires are enlightenment and the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana.’ The Juryo chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, ‘At all times I think to myself: How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?’ And the Hoben chapter states, ‘All the characteristics of the world are eternal.’ The entity is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
The second example comes from Dogen’s Bendowa and Nichiren’s Nyosetsu Shugyo Sho.
Shasta Abbey translates Dogen’s work as “A Discourse on Doing One’s Upmost in Practicing the Way of the Buddha,” while others use “The True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha,” or “The Wholehearted Way.” The word “ben”, depending on how Dogen wrote the character, could mean “to separate one thing from another, to analyze, or distinguish,” or “strength, to put one’s complete energy into doing one thing”, “to put our whole energy into practicing the way” or “to distinguish and show the true way from the false way.” ”Wa means a talk or story, and “do” is way or practice.
Nyosetsu Shugyo Sho appears in Major Writings as “On Practicing the Buddha’s Teachings.” “Nyosetsu” means “as was explained.” “Shugyo” is “pursuit of knowledge, studying, learning, or training; ascetic practice; discipline.” “Sho” means writing. Others have translated the work as “On Practicing According to the Preaching” and “Buddhist Practice as Taught by the Tathagata.”
As the title’s are similar, likewise the subject matter, for in these passages Dogen and Nichiren discuss the eminence of their particular approach to Buddhist practice in terms of attitude and in relation to other schools:
Dogen, Bendowa
[Someone] may then ask, ‘Both the Tendai tradition, which is based on the Lotus Scripture, and the Kegon tradition, which is based on the Avatamsaka Scripture, as they have been transmitted to our country, are considered to be the fundamental traditions in Mahayana Buddhism, to say nothing of traditions such as that of Shingon, which was personally transmitted to Kongosatta by the Tathagata Vairochana and has been passed generation after generation from Master to disciple in an orderly manner. The main thrust of what these traditions talk about is that ‘Our very mind is Buddha’ and that ‘This mind of ours creates Buddhahood’, and they set forth the correct perception of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, which is realized in a single sitting without spending many eons in training. Surely, these should be considered the most sublime of the Buddha’s Teachings. So, what is so superior about the training and practice which you are going on about, that you disregard those Teachings in pursuit of your own method alone?’
I would point out, ‘You should understand that within the Buddha’s family there is no arguing over ‘superior’ or ‘inferior’ Teachings, and no singling out of some Dharma as being more shallow or profound. You should simply try to recognize the genuine from the false in training and practice. Some, attracted by a natural setting of mountains and water with its plants and flowers, have flowed from there into the Way of Buddhas. Others, whilst gathering up in their hands the soil with its sand and pebbles, have preserved the Buddha seal. How much more are the myriad images which fill the universe surpassed by the far-reaching words of a Buddha—which are all the more rich!—and the turning of the Great Wheel of the Dharma is contained within each single dust mote. This is why a phrase like ‘Your very mind is Buddha Itself’ is as the moon within water, and why the import of ‘Sitting in meditation is itself becoming Buddha’ is as a reflection in a mirror. Do not get tangled up or taken in by a clever use of words. In order that you may now push on in your training to realize enlightenment in an instant, I show you the marvelous path which the Buddhas and Ancestors have directly Transmitted, and I do this that you may become a genuine follower of the Way.
Nichiren, Nyosetsu Shugyo Sho
The practice of the Lotus Sutra is shakubuku, the refutation of the provisional doctrines.” True to the letter of this golden saying, the believers of all provisional teachings and sects will ultimately be defeated and join the followers of the king of the Law. The time will come when all people, including those of Learning, Realization and Bodhisattva, will enter on the path to Buddhahood, and the Mystic Law alone will flourish throughout the land. In that time . . . all people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together . . . Realize that the time will come when the truth will be revealed that both the Person and the Law are unaging and eternal. There cannot be the slightest doubt about the sutra’s solemn promise of a peaceful life in this world.
Question: How should one practice if he is to be faithful to the Buddha’s teachings?
Answer: The Japanese people of this age are one in their opinion of what practice accords with the Buddha’s teachings. They believe that since all vehicles are incorporated in the one supreme vehicle, no teaching is superior or inferior, shallow or profound, but that all are equal to the Lotus Sutra. Hence the belief that repeating the Nembutsu chant, embracing Shingon esotericism, practicing Zen meditation, or professing and chanting any sutra or the name of any Buddha or bodhisattva equals following the Lotus Sutra.
But I insist that this is wrong. The most important thing in practicing Buddhism is to follow and uphold the Buddha’s golden teachings, not the opinions of others. Our master, Shakyamuni Buddha, wished to reveal the Lotus Sutra from the moment of his enlightenment. However, because the people were not yet mature enough to understand, he had to employ provisional teachings for some forty years before he could expound the true teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Now that you have reached the end of this presentation, do you have any thoughts that you’d like to share?
Nice post.
This echos some of my feelings as of late, that even given the historical and cultural context, Nicherin was a crazy bastard! jk.
Seriously though, this demonstrates that he was an extremeist in his teachings, and that he was wholly intolerant of the views of others. Something that I personally find repulsive.
I don’t know much about Dogen or his writings (yet) but from this and what else I’ve read, it seems Dogen instructed in the way of investigation, rather than absolute truth (as Nicherin did).
@ Adam: To be fair, Dogen could be opinionated, too. He seems to say that Zen is the only way, although obviously not as fervently as Nichiren does in insisting on his way. Single-practice was an idea in vogue at that time and I think that needs to be taken in consideration.
Thanks for bringing these two together a little bit. Clearly, Nichiren’s passages are highly focused on the Lotus Sutra, and that last passage is really disappointing in its emphasis on taking down all other approaches.
@ nathan: I thought the selections were representative of each man’s approach to Buddhism. Nichiren has some wonderful writings but his dogma gets in the way far too often.
Dogmatic extremism is unskillful in any situation; it is a form of paradigm paralysis. The Buddha did not become enlightened because he chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, nor will anyone else attain enlightenment solely by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. The Buddha became enlightened because he saw the truth of suffering, saw its cause, discerned a way to bring an end to that cause, and began to practice that way until the end was achieved.
Thanks Richard. I might add that the historical Buddha didn’t chant Nam-myho-renge-kyo, a claim that gets thrown around from time to time.
What gets lost in the translation are the nuances of Nichiren’s statements. Someone else did some research into Nichiren and Zen and from that I learned that when Nichiren is criticizing Zen, he means Daruma-shu, which even Dogen was critical of. Some of Nichiren’s complaints about the Buddhism of his day were valid, it’s the extreme position he takes that’s off.
My theory is that even though Nichiren viewed Nagarjuna and Chih-i as spiritual ancestors, he did not understand them. If he had, then he would have known that views are empty and would not have become so attached to his own.
“They are all true and not empty.” (Lotus Sutra Chapter 16). This short verse refers to the reality of the Dharmas [phenomena]
‘They are all empty and not true.” — This refers to all other Buddhist teachings.
This verse is the foundation of Tientai the Great’s Truth of the Middle Way Doctrine without which Nagarjuna’s Two Truths would.remain a partial exposition of the truth or the real reality.
Mark
If you understood Nagarjuna’s Two Truths then you would not be clinging to the dogma you espouse.
Nichiren se ilumina a los 31 años coincide el mismo año que entra en parinirvana el maestro Dogen, 1253, Tres maestros iluminados: Chi.i a los 24, Dogen a los 23 y Nichiren a los 31años. Ningun iluminado es un hombre común por lo tanto las instituciones formadas despumes de su muerte(Nichiren) pusieron palabras y falsearon hechos para su propia conveniencia ya que no estaban dispuestos a dejar su codicia, a permanecer serenos, a mantener el estado de presencia,a seguir la carrera del del Bodhisattva. Se esforzaron por seguir siendo hombres comunes al servicio del poder, no habiendo ningún Iuminado entre sus representantes y seguidores. Esforcémonos como ellos, seamos disciplinados y meditemos en profundidad y tal vez logremos comprender que es un maestro iluminado.Reverentemente en Gassho
Thanks, but unfortunately, no hablo español.