Can the Concept of “Bontē Hichin” in Nichiren Buddhism Be Understood in the West?
→ 「日蓮仏法における『文底秘沈』の概念は、西洋で理解可能か？」
In Nichiren Buddhism, Bontē Hichin (“the secret depth beneath the text”) refers not to the literal words of the Lotus Sutra but to the primordial truth (Kuon Gonjo no Hō) hidden beneath.
Nichiren distinguished the “provisional gate” (shakumon) from the “original gate” (honmon), asserting that only in the latter does the Eternal Buddha manifest.
Bontē Hichin is not merely interpretive; it represents a nondual structure where language, life, being, and cognition integrate. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo actualizes this vibrational life-force into manifestation.
From this perspective, truth is not external to language; it is latent within the act of chanting, forming an ontological and soteriological practice.
Bontē Hichin integrates ontology, language, and salvation as an act-based theory of truth, wherein finite human life resonates with eternal life through chanting.
Furthermore, all religious speech acts, via their symbolic systems, partially point to this same life-principle, making Bontē Hichin an integrative framework capable of embracing religious pluralism.
Thus, Nichiren Buddhism does not exclude other religions; it subsumes prior faiths as expedient means, with Bontē Hichin as the ultimate locus of synthesis.
Academically, this structure can be reevaluated as a universal theoretical model at the intersection of religious philosophy, comparative theology, and contemporary linguistics.
In essence, Bontē Hichin is the wisdom to perceive the life-code hidden beneath scripture, and chanting serves as the practical means to awaken it.
主要概念／Key Terms:
文底秘沈 (Bontē Hichin)｜久遠元初の法 (Primordial Law)｜唱題 (Chanting Practice)｜非二元論 (Nondualism)｜行為的真理論 (Performative Theory of Truth)｜宗教的モノイズム (Religious Monism)
