Question

You talk about the origin, while Buddhism refutes the idea of a beginning of all things. Is this correct for the sake of understanding?

Answer

This question can probably be rephrased as follows:

I have heard that Nichiren Daishōnin was the first Buddha to realize the Dharma in the remote past called Kuon Ganjo.

Now, the Buddha Dharma teaches that this world is without beginning or end, but when you talk about Kuon Ganjo, it sounds like there is a beginning and I feel like there is a contradiction with the notion of no beginning or end.

Indeed, the notions of "original cause", "original effect", "original Buddha" of Kuon Ganjo (the very beginning of the remote and extended origin) seem contradictory with that of "without beginning".

In fact, when one reads the Lotus Sutra, one must know that there are three levels of reading: that of the ephemeral doctrine, that of the original doctrine and that of the depth of the sentences of the original doctrine. For this last reading, only Nichiren Daishōnin, his successors Great Patriarchs heirs of the vital transmission and, by extension, the monks of the school are capable of transmitting to us the meaning of what is buried in the depths of the sentences of the original doctrine.

The notion of the Buddha's longevity from the past first appears in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Until then, all disciples believed that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment for the first time in this life. This is known as "the realization of true enlightenment for the first time" (jp. Shijō shōgaku - 始成正覚).

In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's longevity is expressed by the two ideographs forming the word "kuon" (久遠). The first, 'ku' (久) expresses length in time, while the second 'on' (遠) expresses length in space. Now, this notion of "the past transcending time and space" is declined according to the three different degrees I just mentioned: that of the ephemeral doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, that of the original doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, and that of the profound of the phrases of the Lotus Sutra.

First of all, with regard to the ephemeral doctrine, in the seventh chapter, the Transitional City, in a past called "the long and distant past of three thousand grains of eon dust (sanzen jinden gō - 三千塵点劫), a Buddha called Great Powers Victor in Wisdom taught the Lotus Sutra. After his extinction, sixteen princes in turn taught the Lotus Sutra. The 16th prince is presented as the previous body of Shakyamuni Buddha who reappeared in India. Through this causality the revered Shakya helped beings of lower roots to attain liberation in this life, during his lifetime.

The duration called "three thousand grains of eon dust" refers to the long and unlimited time during which the lands of three thousand great worlds (a worldview in which the extent of the sun, moon and Mount Sumeru represents one world, one thousand times this number is one thousand small worlds, one thousand times one thousand small worlds gives one thousand medium worlds and one thousand times one thousand medium worlds gives one thousand great worlds) are reduced to dust. A tiny dust is deposited every time a thousand lands are passed in the eastern direction. When all the dust is exhausted, all these lands are again reduced to dust, each speck of dust representing an eon, denoting an immeasurably long period of time.

In the 16th chapter, called "Lifetime of the Thus-Coming (Nyorai juryō hon - 如來壽量品), the revered Shakya this time speaks of 500 grains of aeon dust in these words, "five thousand million myriads of billions of incalculable amounts of tricosmic worlds (go hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. A sō gi - 五百千萬億。那由佗。阿僧祇), thus revealing the moment when he realised the path and hence his true nature. This is called "true awakening in the distant past" (kuon jitsujō - 久遠実成). Even the extraordinarily distant past of the three thousand grains of dust evoked in the ephemeral doctrine, represents only the memory of yesterday compared to the immeasurably longer past of the five hundred grains of dust of the original doctrine.

Telles sont les notions de passé (kuon) enseignées au niveau des phrases du Sutra du Lotus de Shakyamuni.

In response, Nichiren Daishōnin revealed the "very beginning of the far and wide origin (kuon ganjo - 久遠元初) doctrine hidden deep within the sentences of the Lotus Sutra. If "kuon" refers to length in time and space, the "gan (元) of ganjo means "the beginning", "the origin", the "jo" (初) means "the first time". Kuon ganjo refers to a time even further back than the infinite past of the five hundred grains of dust. In the Treatise on the Considerations of Buddhas in the Three Phases, Nichiren Daishōnin writes:

"Before the past of five hundred grains of eon dust, when he was an ordinary man, the Thus-begotten Shakya awakened to the fact that he himself was earth, water, fire, wind and space and instantly opened up Buddhahood."

"Before the past of five hundred grains of eon dust" (Gohyaku jindengō no sono kami - 五百塵点劫の当初) does refer to the "very beginning of the far and wide origin" (kuon ganjo). The "Thus-begotten Shakya" referred to here who instantly opened enlightenment as an ordinary man is the original Buddha, Dharma-identical Person. This Dharma is Nam Myōhōrengekyō of the seeding of the original cause, Dharma identical to the Person.

In the One Hundred and Six Point Treatise, Nichiren Daishônin states:

"The practice of the revered Shakya in the infinite past does not differ in any way from that of Nichiren today".

This means that in terms of the Buddha's behaviour, kuon ganjo and the End of the Dharma are perfectly identical.

Furthermore, in his Treatise on the Rites and Practices of this School, the 26th great patriarch Nichikan Shōnin states:

"The present period of the End of the Dharma is quite the very beginning of the remote and extensive origin".

Thus, from the point of view of the doctrine of the profound sentences, now, in the period of the End of the Dharma, the Buddha and the Dharma he propagates, as well as the predisposition of the beings who receive this Dharma, are exactly the same as in the kuon ganjo period. Therefore, it can be said that the End of the Dharma IS the very beginning of the remote and extended origin and the very beginning of the remote and extended origin IS the End of the Dharma

Now, let's look at it this way:

Nichiren Daishōnin was born in Japan in the End of the Dharma, son of Mikuni-tayu and Umegiku. Practising Buddhism from an early age, he awoke to the fact that he himself was the embodiment of Myōhōrengekyō (Lotus Sutra) and began to recite the Daimoku himself.

So why was Nichiren Daishōnin able to practice and open up enlightenment without anyone teaching him?

This was possible because Nichiren Daishōnin was the original Buddha who had already attained enlightenment at the very beginning of the far and wide origin (kuon ganjo) and was born with the life of the original Buddha from the very beginning of the far and wide origin. Therefore, Nichiren Daishōnin was able to awaken without anyone teaching him anything, something absolutely impossible for us ordinary beings. This is the difference between the original Buddha and ordinary people.

So how was the original Buddha enlightened in the early Kuon period and what did he look like at that time?

Nichiren Daishōnin was born an ordinary man in the Late Dharma and attained enlightenment through asceticism...... There is no difference, but the awakening at the very beginning of the remote and extensive origin is described in the Treatise on the Meaning of Substance and the Treatise on the Considerations of Buddhas in the Three Phases as follows:

"The supreme principle had no name. When the Saint, observing this principle, assigned a name to all things, he perceived that there exists that single inconceivable Law of simultaneity of cause and effect, which he named Myōhōrenge. This single law Myōhōrenge encompasses within it all the phenomena composing the ten worlds and the three thousand realms, without a single one being missing. Anyone who practices this law will simultaneously obtain the cause and effect of Buddhahood. The saint practised with this law as a teacher and attained enlightenment. He has thus simultaneously obtained the wonderful cause and the wonderful effect of Buddhahood, thus becoming the Thus-Being to perfect enlightenment and fully realised virtues.

And, as we saw earlier,

"Before the passing of five hundred grains of eon dust, when he was an ordinary man, the Thus-Being Shakya awakened to the fact that he himself was earth, water, fire, wind and space and instantly opened up Buddhahood.

In other words, it is said here that the saint (the Thus-Awning Shakyamuni), still in the degree of the ordinary man, discovered Myōhōrengekyō, which permeates the root of the world of the universe dharmas, and when he himself recited the Daimoku Myōhōrengekyō, the world of the Buddha was created in his ordinary body, making him an ordinary man identical to the Buddha in the ultimate awakening.

Such was the realization of the Buddha at the very beginning of the far and wide origin, and the reappearance of this Buddha in the End of the Dharma was Nichiren Daishōnin.

The latter still wrote:

"What the revered Shakya of the infinite past recited orally is what Nichiren recites today. (...) Nichiren's asceticism is the transposition of the infinite past".

Therefore, the awakening of Nichiren Daishōnin in the End of the Dharma is the reproduction of the awakening at the very beginning of the remote and extended origin.

Moreover, the reason why the original Buddha of the very beginning of the far and wide origin was able to attain enlightenment from the body of an ordinary man is exactly the same as the reason why Nichiren Daishōnin of the End of the Dharma was able to attain enlightenment.

In other words, we can see here that the same thing happened long before, and that he was born endowed with this great life. This means that there is also a very beginning of the far and wide origin prior to the very beginning of the far and wide origin considered from the point of view of the End of Dharma.

Similarly, the name "End of the Dharma" "Mappō" means that the works and virtues of Shakyamuni Buddha's teaching are altered and have disappeared, but at the same time, this period is the "very beginning of the far and wide origin", when the fundamental Buddha and the fundamental Dharma appear.

Therefore, the very beginning of the remote and extended origin is not limited to a single point in time, marking a beginning, but is repeated in a continuous cycle on the basis of the incarnation of the Buddha. This notion therefore does not contradict the notion of no beginning and no end.

In the Rites of this School, the 26th great patriarch Nichikan Shōnin wrote:

"The present time of the End of the Dharma is completely the very beginning of the remote and extensive origin".

It is said here that the End of the Dharma is the reproduction of the very beginning of the remote and extended origin and that this infinite past is as it is the End of the Dharma.

Therefore, the very beginning of the far and wide origin (kuon ganjo) is a completely different concept from that absurd notion taught in Christianity of the creation of heaven and earth by an all-powerful God who suddenly appeared when heaven and earth were in chaos and created everything, which would be the beginning of all things.

Documentary sources:

Monbutsuji – Nichiren Shōshū Nyūmon

Nichiren Shōshū Hokkekō Enjuji shibu