The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas of the Three Existencesregarding the Classification of the Teachings and Which Are to Be Abandoned and Which Upheld Chapter9

The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas of the Three Existencesregarding the Classification of the Teachings and Which Are to Be Abandoned and Which Upheld Chapter9

Written by Nichiren

Though we speak of the three existences of past, future, and present, all conform to the principle that underlies an instant of the mind and hence are without distinctions.

The words set forth in all the other sutras are words in a dream and are comparable to a round fan or a tree, while the words that reveal the waking mind in the Lotus Sutra are comparable to the moon or the wind.⁸ Thus the waking mind of original enlightenment is a round moon whose rays shine on and drive away the darkness of ignorance. And the wisdom that perceives the true aspect of all phenomena is a wind that blows away the dust of delusion. Thus, through the dream words that are like a fan or a tree, we come to understand the waking mind that is like the moon and wind, and in this way we can dispel the last remnants of the dream realm and return to the waking state of the original mind.

Hence it is stated in Great Concentration and Insight: “When the moon is hidden behind the ranged mountains, we hold up a round fan as a symbol of it; when the wind dies down in the vast sky, we shake a tree to illustrate how it moves.”

The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight” comments: “The moon that represents the true and eternal nature is hidden behind the mountains of earthly desires. Earthly desires are not of one kind alone, and therefore the text speaks of them as ‘ranged mountains.’ The wind that is the sound of the perfect teaching in time ceases its instructing influence and returns to tranquillity.⁹ The principle of tranquillity is still and unobstructed like the vast sky. The teachings set forth by the four ranks of sages are like the fan and the tree . . . These enable us to understand the moon and the wind.”

Another commentary¹⁰ says: “The clouds that are the earthly desires of the dream realm heap up like mountains, and the eighty-four thousand dust-like cares or delusions hide the round moon that is the mind nature of original enlightenment. The words of the sutras and treatises, which are comparable to a fan or a tree, are used to teach one the principle of original enlightenment, which is comparable to the moon and the wind, and enable one to understand it. Such are the sacred teachings, and hence their words and phrases are comparable to a fan or a tree.”

The passage cited above represents one sort of interpretation and is not necessarily to be taken as the truth. What instructs us and enables us to understand the mind nature of the wonderful Law, which is comparable to the moon, and the intelligence and wisdom of the mind of the individual, which is comparable to the wind, may be called the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.

Hence On “The Profound Meaning” states, “One tries to understand terms in the category of sounds and forms in order to perceive the ultimate principle that is without marks.”

“Terms in the category of sounds and forms” refers to the dream-realm words of the various sutras and treatises such as the analogies of the fan and the tree. “The ultimate principle that is without marks” refers to the perfect delight of Tranquil Light, the waking mind nature present within the individual, which is comparable to the moon and the wind.