Question

Can we, in relation to dependant origination, consider the object of worship (the Gohonzon) as the cause, the one who awakens to this cause as the condition and the keeping (reciting) as the effect, knowing that; and the cause, and the condition and the effect are not three things but one entity?

Answer

I don't think we can evaluate our relationship with the Gohonzon on the basis of dependant origination. Dependant origination is, so to speak, the premise of One Thought Three Thousand and its materialization, the Gohonzon. Dependant origination means that nothing in this world appears independently of something else. It represents the theoretical aspect of this principle, while One Thought Three Thousand is its concrete character. Dependant origination teaches that we do not see mountains because they exist, but they exist because we see them. In other words, the mountains are the reflection of our heart, while according to One Thought Three Thousand, our heart is the mountains, there is no difference, there is non-duality.

In fact, this question asks about our relationship with the Gohonzon and the Daimoku.

As soon as he set the Dharma wheel in motion, Shakyamuni Buddha explained what enlightenment was and how to attain it.

However, it was not until more than forty years later, in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, that he revealed the true cause, effect, and place of his Buddhahood. Now, no matter how much we read the Lotus Sutra at length, in all languages, we will never find the cause, effect and place of Buddhahood. The reason is simple, we are ordinary humans who try to put a meaning on words, while the wise man explains the words according to their meaning.

It was the original Buddha Nichiren Daishōnin who first revealed the cause, effect and place of Buddhahood in the form of the three great esoteric Dharmas buried deep within the sentences of the sixteenth chapter, Duration of Life, and it is thanks to the successive great Patriarchs that today we are able to know the teaching in all its purity.

First of all, Zhiyi, the great master of the Tendai determined in his Mysterious Sense of the Lotus, that the cause, effect, and place of Buddhahood were for the first time united in the chapter Duration of Life. This is what he called the three united wonders (sanmyō gōron - 三妙合諭). Let us clarify that, until this chapter, all disciples thought that Shakyamuni became Buddha for the first time in this life, under the Bodhi tree after practicing austerities. However, in the 16th chapter, he refutes this notion and reveals that he has always been Buddha from the distant past (kuon jitsujō - 久遠実成), saying, "Originally, I practiced bodhisattva austerities and the longevity I achieved, [did not even come to an end]" (Ga hon gyō bosatsu dō. Sho jō jumyō. [Kon yū mijin] - 我本行菩薩道。 所成壽命。[今猶未盡。]). Zhiyi sees this as the original cause of the Buddha's awakening in the infinite past. Nichiren Daishōnin, on the other hand, sees it as the Daimoku of the original doctrine. The part "originally I practiced bodhisattva austerities" (Ga hon gyō bosatsu dō) represents the practice of the Daimoku, while the part "the longevity I realized" (Sho jō jumyō) refers to faith replacing wisdom.

So much for the cause; then, regarding the effect, the 16th chapter states a little before the sentence quoted above, "since I realized enlightenment, a very long time has passed" (ga jōbutsu irai. Jindai kuon - 我成佛已來。甚大久遠。).  The great master of Tendai sees in this phrase the wonder of the original effect. Nichiren Daishōnin, on the other hand, sees it as the Gohonzon of the original doctrine.

As for where the Buddha dwells, the 16th chapter states, "I have always been in this world of endurance preaching and converting" (Ga jō zai shi. Shaba sekai. Sep'pō kyōke-娑常在此。娑婆世界。説法教化。). Tendai sees it not as the world of endurance of the present, but as the original world of endurance. Nichiren Daishōnin, on the other hand, sees it as the great Sanctuary (kaidan) of the original doctrine.

So much for the awakening of the Buddha, in which the Daimoku is the cause, the Gohonzon is the effect and the Kaidan is the place. What about the awakening of ordinary beings? Still in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the good doctor (the Buddha), seeing his children sick after having taken poison, said to them: "Here is an appreciable and excellent potion. I leave it with you and put it here. You must take it and drink it. Do not be afraid that you will not be cured. (Ze kō rōyaku. Kon ru zaishi. Nyo ka shubuku. Mot'tsu fusai. - 是好良藥。今留在此。汝可取服。勿憂不差。)

For Nichiren Daishōnin, this "appreciable and excellent potion" (Ze kō rōyaku - 是好良藥) is the Dai Gohonzon, "I leave it with you and deposit it here" (Kon ru zaishi - 今留在此) refers to the place where the Dai Gohonzon is embedded, in other words, the great Shrine of the original doctrine, and "You must take it and drink it" (Nyo ka shubuku - 汝可取服) represents the Daimoku where "take" refers to faith, while "drink" refers to the practice of Daimoku.

Now let us see what our relationship, our attitude towards these three great esoteric Dharmas should be?

It is also explained in the Jiga stanzas of the 16th chapter: "Desiring with all their heart to see the Buddha, they spare neither their bodies nor their lives. At that moment, I and the monks together appear on the sacred mountain of the eagles (Is'shin yok'ken butsu. Fu jishaku shinmyō. Ji ga gyū shusō. Ku shutsu ryōjusen - 一心欲見佛。不自惜身命。時我及衆僧。倶出靈鷲山。).

"Desiring with all their heart to see the Buddha they spare neither their body nor their life" (Is'shin yok'ken butsu. Fu jishaku shinmyō) refers to the Daimoku of the original doctrine. "Desiring with all one's heart" refers to faith, while "sparing neither body nor life" refers to practice. Nikken Shōnin said, "Reciting Nam Myōhōrengekyō while desiring with all one's heart to see the Buddha" constitutes the practice where "faith replaces wisdom." It is in this way of reciting Daimoku that our heart identifies with the Gohonzon."

"At this moment, I and the monks together appear" (Ji ga gyū shusō. Ku shutsu). In this phrase, which refers to the Gohonzon, "moment" refers to the End of the Dharma, "I" refers to the ruler of the original cause, i.e., Nichiren Daishōnin, "the monks" refers to the monk's treasure. As for "together appear", Nikken Shōnin said "it means on the one hand that all the beings of the ten worlds come together to hear the great Dharma enabling the path of the Buddha to be fulfilled and, on the other hand, designates A Thought Three Thousand within which, the ten worlds are mutually present".

Finally, "the sacred mountain of eagles" (ryōjusen) refers to the great Sanctuary of the original doctrine.

Basically, the three great esoteric Dharmas are the Dai Gohonzon, the Daimoku recited before the Dai Gohonzon and the place where the Dai Gohonzon is enshrined. By extension, it is also the temple where the Gohonzon is enshrined, a transcription of the Dai Gohonzon and where the monk's treasure is kept.

If we follow this logic, then our own home where the Gohonzon is enshrined becomes the world of the Buddha, the pure land of serene light.