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Understanding How and Why Self-Transformation Is Possible

The expression “Ten Worlds” describes potential states of life, or categories/realms of being, experienced in every human life. They range from the lowest—hell, hungry spirits, animals and asuras (literally, belligerent demons)—through human beings (tranquility), heavenly beings (rapture), voice-hearers (learning) and cause-awakened ones (realization), to bodhisattvas and, ultimately, Buddhas (enlightenment). Not moods we pass through, they are patterns that tend to dominate one’s entire existence. Although each person tends toward one particular state more than any other, whatever one’s life-condition at a given moment, it can instantly fall into a lower state or rise to a higher one. The aim of Nichiren Buddhism is to establish and maintain the predominance of the state of Buddhahood.

The states of hell through heavenly beings are commonly known as the “six paths,” because they are the worlds through which unenlightened beings transmigrate. Hell, for example, is a realm of utter anguish and misery, where rage is often manifested in self-destructiveness and where there seems to be no possibility of positive interaction with the external world. The rapturous state of heavenly beings, on the other hand, might be characterized by someone who has had some personal desire fulfilled. In each of these cases, as in all of the “six paths,” one is unable to recognize the transitory and illusory nature of one’s perceptions.

The four higher realms—learning, realization, bodhisattva and Buddhahood—are also known as the “four noble worlds.” They have in common an effort first to understand, then to transform, oneself and one’s environment. In the worlds of learning and realization, people make an effort to grasp the deeper reality of their own existences and the lasting truth within life. In so doing, they begin to perceive the causes of suffering and work to transform that suffering into the basis for personal growth. While in the world of learning, one strives for self-development by learning from the ideas, knowledge and experience of others. In the world of realization, insight begins to emerge through one’s own contemplative interaction with the surrounding world based on an understanding of causality.

While people in the latter two states are primarily concerned with their own development, those in the higher, altruistic realm of bodhisattvas pursue enlightenment while devoting themselves to compassionate acts for the sake of others. Buddhahood, the highest realm, is characterized by boundless compassion, wisdom, joy and the courage and strength to surmount all hardships in order to help others attain this state. It is important to note that this highest life-state is not at all separate from the other nine. Rather, it manifests itself wholly in the other nine, and functions to transform and harmonize them, making them all the means to compassionate understanding and action rather than potential obstacles to it.

A correlative theory, that of the “nine consciousnesses,” offers a Buddhist explanation of what, in Anglo-Western thought, is usually conceived of as the mind, but it provides a means of understanding subjective and precognitive existence as well as everyday mental functions. The first five in this articulation correspond to the five senses; they are the gateways to the external world. The sixth consciousness integrates the sensory data from the first five and allows us to form judgments and carry out our daily activities.

The seventh consciousness, by contrast, is the site at which a person’s inner life unfolds and is, to a degree, unfettered by external conditions. This abstract mind, or mano-consciousness, allows one to reflect on one’s existence rather than simply to deal with external matters of daily life. This is where one’s sense of self, or separateness, comes into being. Mano-consciousness spans both the conscious and subconscious dimensions of life. [17]

The eighth consciousness is called the storehouse or alaya-consciousness since this is where one’s karma is stored. According to both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, karma is the cumulative effect of the causal forces produced by everything one thinks, says and does. The karmic sum of these actions influences everything a person experiences.

The deepest and, from the Buddhist perspective, most important level of consciousness is called the ultimately pure or amala-consciousness, because this level of consciousness is not affected by one’s karma. It is this ninth level that unites all human beings with the reality of the universe. As already indicated, Nichiren taught that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables an individual to reach this level of consciousness and draw forth her or his enlightened nature (the tenth realm). Perceiving life from the vantage point of the ninth consciousness, one is able to purify all the functions of the other eight levels and manifest one’s Buddhahood.

These interrelated concepts, the Ten Worlds and the “nine consciousnesses,” describe the total cognitive faculties and interactive potentials of the individual. Each person always possesses all ten life-states, but the dominant one at any given moment affects the other nine. If Buddhahood dominates, it will function to purify the lower realms. Its counterpart—tapping into the ninth level of consciousness—enables one truly to see and transform one’s reality. The course of one’s life is neither fixed nor preordained, although it is clearly influenced by the causes one has made from the infinite past. These Buddhist concepts suggest that instead of feeling trapped in any given life situation, one can break free of those restrictive circumstances. Because of the inseparability of one’s inner, subjective life and the external, objective world, through Buddhist practice it is possible to positively transform one’s life and environment and create happiness for oneself and others. Nichiren’s teachings aimed to enable all human beings to do precisely this.