What are the 3,000 Realms?
Most of us have heard of the Buddhist principle of "three thousand realms in a single moment of life" (Jpn ichinen sanzen). It indicates the vast complexity and inexhaustible potential that life possesses. The term three thousand is a product of multiplying four numbers: 10 (representing the ten worlds) x 10 (the ten worlds again, equaling 100 to present the mutual possession of the ten worlds) x 10 (the ten factors of life) x 3 (the three realms of existence).
10 worlds
x 10 worlds
x 10 factors of life
x 3 realms of existence
3,000 realms in a single moment
The term ichinen sanzen, is the name of a system of thought in itself, developed by the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai in China on the basis of the principles of life expounded by Sakyamuni, especially those in the Lotus Sutra. Ichinen sanzen is, therefore, the basic Buddhist life-philosophy. Ichinen indicates the entity of life and sanzen signifies the varying aspects and phases it assumes. T'ien-t'ai included all life's phenomena into this single system, ichinen sanzen. The expression sanzen (3,000) is an integration of the Ten Worlds, their mutual possession, the ten factors and the three realms of existence. These figures multiplied (10x10x10x3) yield 3,000.
The three realms represent the actual world of human beings, divided into body and mind, or self and environment. However, these divisions tend to 'obscure' the good law and produce suffering. When we see before our eyes how modern civilisation, advancing on the basis of dualistic conceptions, is now threatened by the spectre of nuclear weaponry - the very personification of suffering - we cannot help but feel the truth of the 26th high priest Nichikan Shonin's words. However, when the good law is manifested in the realities of this world, they will become 'veiled' with compassion and work to 'accumulate' everlasting joy.
In any event, in the expansion of the 100 worlds into 1,000 factors and 3,000 realms, it is clear that sentient beings and their insentient environments constitute one great entity of life. But, does this principle of ichinen sanzen as clarified in theJuryo chapter of Sakyamuni's Lotus Sutra have meaning for the people of the Latter Day of the Law, who are profoundly attached to the self and riddled with the three poisons? Ichinen sanzen of both the theoretical and essential teachings of Sakyamuni's Lotus Sutra are theoretical, and only the reality of ichinen sanzen hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter - the ichinen sanzen established by Nichiren Daishonin in the Latter Day of the Law - can lead us to enlightenment. In his Gosho, The Ten Factors of Life, Nichiren Daishonin states, "The 100 worlds correspond to the truth of temporary existence (ketai), the 1,000 factors correspond to the truth of non-substantiality (kutai), and the 3,000 realms correspond to the truth of the Middle Way." In the depths of ichinen sanzen of the Juryo chapter of Sakyamuni's Buddhism, which fully clarifies all 3,000 realms of life, lies the one, fundamental Law that is the single truth of the Middle Way.
Concerning this Law, the Daishonin states in The Entity of the Mystic Law:
When the sage was observing principles and assigning names to all things, he perceived that there is this wonderful single Law which simultaneously possesses both cause and effect, and he named it Myoho-renge, the lotus of the Mystic Law. This single Law which is Myoho-renge encompasses within itself all the laws or phenomena comprising the Ten Worlds and the 3,000 realms, and is lacking in none of them.
Here, the full meaning of ichinen sanzen becomes clear. In other words, actual ichinen sanzen hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter of the Lotus Sutra is nothing other than the enlightened life and compassionate conduct of the Buddha of beginningless time, whose life at each moment is one with the single, fundamental Law of the universe endowed with all 3,000 realms. Moreover, the ichinen or mind of faith in the Gohonzon, the embodiment of actual ichinen sanzen, also contains all 3,000 realms. In the ichinen or life-moment of faith in the Gohonzon, the potential of our lives unfolds.
In this way, the philosophical principle of the Ten Worlds and the 3,000 realms not only clarifies the total aspect of life but reveals within the depths of our lives the eternal and unchanging Law. When we realise that the workings of our individual lives, arising from this fundamental Law. are as vast as the universe, we cannot help but feel awed by the wonder of life. Moreover, we can understand that our life exists not merely for the sake of our own ego, but is to be used for the sake of the universe.
The dignity of human life as it is recognised in Buddhism is not expounded from a comparative standpoint that views human life as divorced from or superior to other life. All forms of life, as entities of the Mystic Law, are striving under various conditions to display their inherent potentials to the fullest. Human beings, however, while holding the sympathetic awareness that they and other entities of life are making similar efforts, can awaken to the Law within the depths of life, and exert themselves for other people, for other living entities, and for the entire universe. Therein lies the ultimate flowering of one's own life, and it is this, we may say, that gives human life its dignity.
10 worlds
x 10 worlds
x 10 factors of life
x 3 realms of existence
3,000 realms in a single moment
The term ichinen sanzen, is the name of a system of thought in itself, developed by the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai in China on the basis of the principles of life expounded by Sakyamuni, especially those in the Lotus Sutra. Ichinen sanzen is, therefore, the basic Buddhist life-philosophy. Ichinen indicates the entity of life and sanzen signifies the varying aspects and phases it assumes. T'ien-t'ai included all life's phenomena into this single system, ichinen sanzen. The expression sanzen (3,000) is an integration of the Ten Worlds, their mutual possession, the ten factors and the three realms of existence. These figures multiplied (10x10x10x3) yield 3,000.
The three realms represent the actual world of human beings, divided into body and mind, or self and environment. However, these divisions tend to 'obscure' the good law and produce suffering. When we see before our eyes how modern civilisation, advancing on the basis of dualistic conceptions, is now threatened by the spectre of nuclear weaponry - the very personification of suffering - we cannot help but feel the truth of the 26th high priest Nichikan Shonin's words. However, when the good law is manifested in the realities of this world, they will become 'veiled' with compassion and work to 'accumulate' everlasting joy.
In any event, in the expansion of the 100 worlds into 1,000 factors and 3,000 realms, it is clear that sentient beings and their insentient environments constitute one great entity of life. But, does this principle of ichinen sanzen as clarified in theJuryo chapter of Sakyamuni's Lotus Sutra have meaning for the people of the Latter Day of the Law, who are profoundly attached to the self and riddled with the three poisons? Ichinen sanzen of both the theoretical and essential teachings of Sakyamuni's Lotus Sutra are theoretical, and only the reality of ichinen sanzen hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter - the ichinen sanzen established by Nichiren Daishonin in the Latter Day of the Law - can lead us to enlightenment. In his Gosho, The Ten Factors of Life, Nichiren Daishonin states, "The 100 worlds correspond to the truth of temporary existence (ketai), the 1,000 factors correspond to the truth of non-substantiality (kutai), and the 3,000 realms correspond to the truth of the Middle Way." In the depths of ichinen sanzen of the Juryo chapter of Sakyamuni's Buddhism, which fully clarifies all 3,000 realms of life, lies the one, fundamental Law that is the single truth of the Middle Way.
Concerning this Law, the Daishonin states in The Entity of the Mystic Law:
When the sage was observing principles and assigning names to all things, he perceived that there is this wonderful single Law which simultaneously possesses both cause and effect, and he named it Myoho-renge, the lotus of the Mystic Law. This single Law which is Myoho-renge encompasses within itself all the laws or phenomena comprising the Ten Worlds and the 3,000 realms, and is lacking in none of them.
Here, the full meaning of ichinen sanzen becomes clear. In other words, actual ichinen sanzen hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter of the Lotus Sutra is nothing other than the enlightened life and compassionate conduct of the Buddha of beginningless time, whose life at each moment is one with the single, fundamental Law of the universe endowed with all 3,000 realms. Moreover, the ichinen or mind of faith in the Gohonzon, the embodiment of actual ichinen sanzen, also contains all 3,000 realms. In the ichinen or life-moment of faith in the Gohonzon, the potential of our lives unfolds.
In this way, the philosophical principle of the Ten Worlds and the 3,000 realms not only clarifies the total aspect of life but reveals within the depths of our lives the eternal and unchanging Law. When we realise that the workings of our individual lives, arising from this fundamental Law. are as vast as the universe, we cannot help but feel awed by the wonder of life. Moreover, we can understand that our life exists not merely for the sake of our own ego, but is to be used for the sake of the universe.
The dignity of human life as it is recognised in Buddhism is not expounded from a comparative standpoint that views human life as divorced from or superior to other life. All forms of life, as entities of the Mystic Law, are striving under various conditions to display their inherent potentials to the fullest. Human beings, however, while holding the sympathetic awareness that they and other entities of life are making similar efforts, can awaken to the Law within the depths of life, and exert themselves for other people, for other living entities, and for the entire universe. Therein lies the ultimate flowering of one's own life, and it is this, we may say, that gives human life its dignity.