240629 Continue OTT: Finish “The Parable of the Phantom City”

[@FrazerGoodman]

Thanks great teaching

[@lotusg0d464]

Thank you! Also juu-roku (literally 10-6), is in fact 16 in Japanese.

[@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977]

Hi! At 27:40 I mentioned "Cause Awakened One" twice! I misspoke and should have started with "Voice Hearers." The point being made is that Voice Hearers, Cause Awakened Ones, and Bodhisattvas are all not separate stages. All are phases of Buddhahood.

[@shirleyniedzwiecki1104]

Wondrous.

[@frankrodriguez2061]

Thank you Tom. I really enjoyed this chapter. As I was driving to my sister's house, I could not stop thinking of what you said that we are eternal and uncreated, the original source, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. I brought be to tears, tears of joy. I am beside myself because it has taken me this long to realize, what Nichiren has been telling us over and over that we are the Buddha. I was just a voice hearer.

[@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977]

"I was just a Voice Hearer". Frank, the Original State of Life is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. What you thought you were, was delusion. What you expressed above, that moved you to tears, was Buddhahood. LOL. YOU just "thought" you were a Voice Hearer. You have always been the Buddha! I love you Frank Rodriquez! It is such an honor to know you! Tom

[@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977]

So you know, realize that what you experienced was an awakening to the truth of your life; as Nichiren says in Chapter 16 of the OTT on page 124/125 "Speaking in terms of the six stages of practice, the Thus Come One in this chapter is an ordinary mortal who is in the first stage, that of being a Buddha in theory. When one reverently accepts Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, one is in the next stage, that of hearing the name and words of the truth. That is, one has for the first time heard the daimoku. When, having heard the daimoku, one proceeds to put it into practice, this is the third stage, that of perception and action. In this stage one perceives the object of devotion that embodies the three thousand realms in a single moment of life. When one succeeds in overcoming various obstacles of illusions, this is the fourth stage, that of resemblance to enlightenment. When one sets out to convert others, this is the fifth stage, that of progressive awakening. And when one comes at last to the realization that one is a Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, then one is a Buddha of the sixth and highest stage, that of ultimate enlightenment. Speaking of the chapter as a whole, the idea of gradually overcoming illusions is not the ultimate meaning of the “Life Span” chapter. You should understand that the ultimate meaning of this chapter is that ordinary mortals, just as they are in their original states of being, are Buddhas. And if you ask what is the action or practice carried out by the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, it is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

[@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977]

"And when one comes at last to the realization that one is a Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, then one is a Buddha of the sixth and highest stage, that of ultimate enlightenment." That's YOU Frank! You never go back.

[@frankrodriguez2061]

@@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977 Thank you Tom for your words. I am Nichiren's disciple, and you are my mentor. Many Blessing.

[@jamesstevenson7725]

If all is Buddha then we are talking about Pantheism??

[@nichirenbuddhismandsokaphi2977]

No. Only if you think Buddha is the equivalent of being a God, which it isn't. Nichiren qualifies this very clearly.