Question
Hello Bárbara. I would like to know why Nichiren Buddhism does not speak well of Zen. Specifically, it criticizes emptying the mind as unnecessary, almost even wrong.
Veronica
Answer from Master Kosen
Hello Verónica.
Thank you for your question. Nichiren’s attitude toward the other Buddhist
schools contradicts one of the important messages of the Lotus
Sutra, where Buddha teaches that different methods exist depending on the time and
circumstances, but ultimately these methods come together in a single teaching:
enabling human beings to attain Buddha’s wisdom.
The problem is the corruption and degradation of spiritual messages caused
by time. In Nichiren’s era—he was almost a contemporary of Dogen—Buddhism
was corrupted by power, the court, and money, while the people lived
in misery. So Nichiren found a very simple method: repeating the name
of the sutra. Sometimes I do it, and it has an effect; it is calming. But I do it like a
tourist… Dogen taught zazen, the silent source that cannot be corrupted. But
zazen is difficult; not everyone can do zazen, but everyone can recite namu
myoho renge kyo.
Cordially,
Kosen