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Ceremony in the Air

In the Hoto (eleventh) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, The Treasure Tower emerges from the earth and hangssuspended in midair. Shakyamuni Buddha joins Taho Buddha, seated side by side in it. This begins the Ceremony in the Air. Shakyamuni then reveals his original enlightenment in the remote past of gohyaku-jintengo and transfers the essence of the sutra to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth led by Bodhisattva Jogyo, entrusting them with its propagation after his passing. In the Zokurui (twenty-second) chapter, he transfers the sutra to all the bodhisattvas. Then all the Buddhas who assembled from troughout the universe return to their own lands, and the Treasure Tower reverts to its original state; the Ceremony in the Air comes to an end.

According to the Indian customs of the time, kings and high dignitaries seated themselves facing east. It is conceivable, therefore, that early in his preaching of the Lotus Sutra on Eagle Peak, Shakyamuni Buddha, looked eastward and his disciples faced him in the west. Later, the Treasure Tower appeared, facing toward the west in the presence of Shakyamuni and the audience, and floated into space. Shakyamuni ascended into the air and seated himself beside Taho, who was inside the tower. Therefore, Shakyamuni faced west when he expounded the Lotus Sutra during the Ceremony in the Air. The entire assembly, lifted into space by Shakyamuni’s mystic powers, attended the ceremony, facing the tower in the east.

In the Kanji (thirteenth) chapter, at the urging of Shakyamuni Buddha, Bodhisattva Yakuo and eighty myriads of millions of nayutas of bodhisattvas make a vow to propagate the Lotus Sutra after his death. The innumerable bodhisattvas who have assembled from other worlds then vow to spread the sutra in this world after Shakyamuni’s passing, as depicted at the beginning of the Yujutsu (fifteenth) chapter. Shakyamuni stops them, however, and instead calls forth a host of great bodhisattvas, equal in number to the sands of sixty thousand Ganges Rivers, from below the earth. He says that these bodhisattvas are his original disciples. Bodhisattva Miroku, astounded at this sight, ask the Buddha how he has managed to teach so many countless bodhisattvas. To answer his question, Shakyamuni reveals in the Juryo (sixteenth) chapter that he attained Buddhahood in the remote past of gohyaku-jintengo and that he has been training the Bodhisattvas of the Earth since time immemorial. In the Jinriki (twenty-first) chapter, he transfers the essence of the sutra specifically to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, and in the Zokurui chapter, to all the assembled bodhisattvas in general.

What does the Ceremony in the Air symbolize? What does Shakyamuni attempt to impart through this ceremony? In reply, it is necessary for us to consider what would happen if the ceremony had been held at Eagle Peak. In that case, the ceremony would inevitably have been bound by geographical or spatial and historical or temporal limitations, for Eagle Peek (Skt Gridhrakuta) is a mountain located in India and Shakyamuni lived some three thousand years ago. In contrast, the ceremony held in the air implies a transcendence of the confines of time and space. It also suggests that what was expressed during this ceremony as the eternal and universal truth which transcends the framework of time and space. Nichiren Daishonin states that the Gohonzon is the perfect embodiment of his own enlightenment, and that what is depicted on the Gohonzon and in the Ceremony in the Air is essentially the same. 


Source: Fundamentals of Buddhism, by NSIC editional department (SGI Tokyo's publishing department)

Ceremonija u vazduhu

U Hoto (jedanaestom) poglavlju Lotos sutre, Tvrđava s Blagom izbija iz zemlje i ostaje da lebdi u vazduhu. Šakjamuni Budi se pridružuje Taho Buda, i tako sede jedan do drugog u Tvrđavi. Ovime otpočinje Ceremonija u vazduhu. Šakjamuni tada otkriva svoje izvorno prosvetljenje u dalekoj prošlosti gohjaka-đintenga i prenosi suštinu sutre Bodisatvama Zemlje, predvođenim Bodisatvom Đogjom, poverivši im njeno propagiranje nakon njegovog odlaska. U Zokuruj (dvadeset drugom) poglavlju, on prenosi sutru svim bodisatvama. Tada se sve bude okupljene iz celog univerzuma vraćaju u svoje vlastite zemlje, a Tvrđava s Blagom se vraća u svoje prvobitno stanje; Ceremonija u vazduhu se privodi kraju.

U skladu sa običajima u Indiji u to vreme, kraljevi i velikodostojnici sedeli su licem prema istoku. Razumljivo je, stoga, da je u svojim ranim propovedanjima Lotos sutre, na Orlovom Vrhu, Šakjamuni Buda gledao prema istoku, a njegovi učenici, licem okrenuti njemu - prema zapadu. Kasnije, pojavila se Tvrđava s Blagom, okrenuta prema zapadu u pravcu Šakjamunija i slušalaca i lebdevši u prostoru. Šakjamuni se uzdigao u vazduh i seo pored Tahoa, koji beše u tvrđavi. Stoga je Šakjamuni bio okrenut prema zapadu dok je izlagao Lotos sutru tokom Ceremonije u vazduhu. Čitav skup, podignut u vazduh Šakjamunijevim mističnim moćima, pratio je ceremoniju okrenut prema tvrđavi na istoku.

U Kanđi (trinaestom) poglavlju, urgencijom Šakjamuni Bude, bodisatva Jakuo i osamdeset mirijada miliona najuta bodisatvi zavetuju su se da propagiraju Lotos sutru nakon njegove smrti. Bezbrojne bodisatve koje behu okupljene iz drugih svetova se tada zavetuju da šire sutru u ovom svetu nakon Šakjamunijevog odlaska, kao što je prikazano na početku Juđutsu (petnaestog) poglavlja. Šakjamuni ih zaustavlja, međutim, i umesto toga poziva domaćina velikih bodisatvi, brojnih kao zrna peska sa dna šezdeset hiljada reka Gang. On kaže da su te bodisatve njegovi izvorni učenici. Bodisatva Miroku, zaprepašćen takvim viđenjem stvari, pita Budu kako se organizovao da podučava tako veliki broj bodisatvi. Kao odgovor na ovo pitanje, Šakjamuni otkriva u Đurjo (šesnaestom) poglavlju da je dostigao budastvo u dalekoj prošlosti gohjaka-đintenga i da je obučavao Bodisatve Zemlje još od prastarih vremena. U Đinriki (dvadeset prvom) poglavlju, on prenosi suštinu sutre posebno Bodisatvama Zemlje, a u Zokuruj poglavlju svim okupljenim bodisatvama uopšte.

Šta Ceremonija u vazduhu simbolizuje? Šta Šakjamuni nastoji da saopšti kroz ovu ceremoniju? Da bismo dobili odgovor, neophodno je da razmotrimo šta bi se desilo da je ceremonija održana na Orlovom Vrhu. U tom slučaju, ceremonija bi neizbežno bila ograničena geografskim ili prostornim i istorijskim ili vremenskim činiocima; Orlov Vrh (na sanskritu Gridhrakuta) je planina koja se nalazi u Indiji, a Šakjamuni je živeo pre nekih tri hiljade godina. Nasuprot tome, ceremonija održana u vazduhu sadrži jedno nadilaženje ograničavanja vremenom i prostorom. To takođe sugeriše da ono što je izraženo tokom te ceremonije kao večna i univerzalna istina, nadilazi okvire vremena i prostora. Ničiren Dajšonin smatra da je Gohonzon savršeno utelovljenje njegovog vlastitog prosvetljenja i da je ono što je prikazano na Gohonzonu i Ceremoniji u vazduhu u suštini jedna ista stvar.


Preveo Mića Mijatović, 04. 01. 2000. u Beogradu
Iz knjige: Fundamentals of Buddhism, od grupe autora: NSIC editional department (SGI Tokyo's publishing department)
 

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