Many thanks to that most learned of fellows, Ken Hawkins, for providing the following explanation of the Chinese symbols of Ichinen Sanzen.
Ichinen Sanzen is the wish-granting gem.
There are as many sides to this gem as there are living beings. Like a gem, each side reflects its own reality. Our life is a wish-granting gem.
When we peer into our lives we can barely see our own reflection. But when we polish our lives through chanting and making efforts to improve ourselves, we can see ourselves reflected clearly.
When our gem is polished in this way we can see beyond our own reflection and see inside the gem that is the ultimate reality of all life.
Ichinen Sanzen in Chinese is composed of four main Chinese characters.
|
Ichi |
The first character (Ichi) is a horizontal line. It is the character one. It is both the beginning of the Chinese alphabet and numbering system. In Buddhism, Ichi is the source of all beings. The “Fundamental Essence” in the Japanese title of Heritage of the Ultimate Law |
||||||
|
Nen |
Nen is composed of three elemental characters. On top are three lines forming a triangle. Under the triangle is a person bending to completely enclose an object, and under the bending person is a heart.
In some sects, “Nen” means mindfulness – that is being aware of the Buddha in the present moment. |
||||||
|
San |
San is the number three, representing heaven (the cosmos), earth, and humanity (also known as the three realms). |
||||||
|
Zen |
Zen is ten times 100. Connected to this concept is the harvest of crops or a thousand grains. The character for 1000 is also used to indicate an uncountable number. |
||||||
|
Putting it all together: |
|||||||
|
|
a single (Ichi) core intention in the present moment |
||||||
|
|
makes real, enfolds, and harvests (Nen) |
||||||
|
|
three (San) |
||||||
|
|
thousand (Zen) – or uncountable – realms and possibilities. |
||||||
A determination or decision (Ichi) at the core of your being makes real (Nen) that self-pledge or vow in all the realms (Sanzen) of your life.
Being good at something isn’t just about talent, it’s about having the desire, in your heart, to make it happen. Ichinen is a Japanese word meaning determination (amongst other things). If you have a strong Ichinen, you are far more likely to reach your goal. You still have to put in the effort and in fact, the more talent you have, the more effort is needed, because your end result might be far more exacting than a less talented person.
Let’s talk about Ichinen Sanzen for a moment, about how each of the Ten Worlds contain all of the other Worlds, meaning we can move from one to another in an instant.
Being good at something isn’t just about talent, it’s about having the desire, in your heart, to make it happen. Ichinen is a Japanese word meaning determination (amongst other things). If you have a strong Ichinen, you are far more likely to reach your goal. You still have to put in the effort and in fact, the more talent you have, the more effort is needed, because your end result might be far more exacting than a less talented person.
Whilst feeling a little adrift given my current situation and enraged by the lack of fairness in the way modern institutions and those in power treat us mere morals, I found this piece by Sensei rather encouraging …
I had never understood the phrase ‘retail therapy’. It seems that there are those amongst us who actually enjoy shopping, being immersed in a throng of like-minded people, all hell bent on spending their hard earned wonga on things they don’t really need, all in the pursuit of a short-term dose of euphoria. Not me.
The Japanese word Ichinen means, among other things, determination. Here is the definition from the SGI dictionary of Buddhism …
The Search For Enlightenment 
Recents Comments