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"The first is
the object of worship (honzon). All the people in Japan as
well as the rest of the whole world should revere the Lord
Buddha Shayamuni (Original and eternal Buddha) revealed in
the essential section (honmon) of the Lotus Sutra as the object
of worship (honzon). That is to say, the object worshiped
should be the Buddha Shakyamuni and Taho Buddha in the Stupa
of Treasures. The other Buddhas standing outside the Stupa
and the four bodhisattvas such as Jogyo should be their attendants."
Words of Nichiren, from the "Ho'on Jo", enumerating
the three great secret dharmas ("san dai hi ho"):
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| "The
true object of worship is described in the ceremony of the
transmission as follows: In the air above the saha world [which
the Buddha of the essential eaching identified as the pure
and eternal land], Namu-myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center
of the Treasure Tower with Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas seated
to the right and left, and the Four Bodhisattvas of the Earth,
led by Jogyo, flank them. Around them are Monju, Miroku and
the other followers of the Four Bodhisattvas. All the other
bodhisattvas, whether they are disciples of the Buddha of
the theoretical teaching or of the Buddhas of the other worlds,
take their seats further below, like commoners kneeling on
the ground in the presence of nobles and high ministers. The
Buddhas who gathered from the other worlds in the ten directions
of the universe all remain on the ground, showing that they
are only manifestations of the eternal Buddha and that their
lands are transient, not eternal and unchanging.
During the entire fifty
years of Shakyamuni's teaching, only in the last eight years
did he preach the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra.
Again, of all these chapters, only in the eight vital chapters
did he reveal and transfer the object of worship to the Bodhisattvas
of the Earth."
(Major Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin Vol. I. pp. 45-83)
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