mappõ; Nichiren=日蓮; jiriki; self-power; tariki; Other Power; ichinen sanzen; Hõnen
摘要
Nichiren, like others regarded as the “founders” of the new Buddhist movements of the Kamakura period, takes as his starting point belief in theFinal Dharma age (mappõ), when human capacity is said to have greatly declined, and liberation to be extremely dif3 cult to achieve. Yet while mappõ thought entails a recognition of human limitations, Nichiren also maintaine faith in the possibility of human enlightenment, on the basis of his understanding of the Tendai concept of “three thousand realms in one thought-moment”(ichinen sanzen), which sets forth the potential for buddhahood in ordinary worldlings. This classic essay, 3 rst published in 1968 and translated here from its reprint in 1997, analyzes how these two concepts of human capacity—one negating, the other af3 rming—are maintained in a dynamic tension at the foundation of Nichiren’s thought. It also presents an illuminating comparison with the teachings of Hõnen, another of the new Buddhist founders who lived slightly before Nichiren and had addressed similar issues.
