a. Risoku - the stage of being a Buddha in theory
b. Myojisoku - the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth
c. Kangyosoku - the stage of perception and action.
d. Sojisoku - the stage of resemblance to enlightenment.
e. Bunshinsoku - the stage of progressive awakening.
f. Kukyosoku - the stage of ultimate enlightenment.
The first stage, a “Single Moment’s Faith & Understanding”
of the “Four Stages of Faith” in Buddha’s lifetime
fits in with the first stage, “Rejoicing Upon First Hearing
the Teaching” of the “Five Stages of Practice” after
Buddha’s death. It is listening to the essential teachings of
the Lotus Sutra with joy and gratefulness that all beings are Buddha
in essence without using one’s own mind and to just chant the
Odaimoku. That is the true form of enlightenment.
Nichiren Shonin stated: “The first stage of the Four Stages
of Faith and the first stage of the Five Stages of Practice together
form a casket containing the treasure of the one hundred worlds and
thousand factors and three thousand realms in a single life-moment.
It was the gate from which all Buddhas of the ten directions and the
three existences emerged”. |
