About the Gohonzon (1)

Today I went to a very good soka lecture and to prevent myself from forgetting everything that I learnt, I shall put them into my blog.

First of all what is the Gohonzon.
It is our object of worship and it is inscribed in 12th Oct 1279 by Nichiren Daishonin (our founder).

It is our object of fundamental respect.

Hmmm.. what does the name Gohonzon means?
Go = an honorific prefix
Honzon = what it is that we based our lives on. 'Mandala' in sanskrit meaning "cluster of blessings"

so... the Gohonzon is an honorable thing that we based our lives on?
still sounds very chim.

what does the Gohonzon symbolizes?
It embodies the actual enlightenment of e Buddha as described in "the ceremony in the air" (a metaphoric story that is in the 15th chapter of the lotus sutra.)
In the ceremony in the air, buddha attained enlightenment in the treasure tower and other buddhas and Bodhisattvas gathered around him. This is the metapher for buddha gaining enlightenment and realizing that there are buddhas all around him. The buddhas upon enlightenment realize that everyone has the inherent buddha nature and hence recognizes buddhas around him.

what is actually on the Gohonzon?
In the center are the words "nam myoho renge kyo" which symbolizes buddha on the treausre tower. Surrounding the buddha are inscriptions that depicts the assembly of various living beings as representatvies of the 10 life states or ten worlds that gathered around the treasure tower to listen to buddha's teaching.

why is the Gohonzon in the form of words on a scroll?
Haha.... words mean a lot. Nichiren realizes what buddhahood is and want to show others how to attain buddhahood too. That is why he inscribed the Gohonzon. So i guess in modern days terms, it is like him signing a contract to legally bind to us that everyone has buddhahood and we can all achieve it.

What is the function of the Gohonzon?
The Gohonzon is the ideal environment or external stimulus for the awakening of e life-states (10 worlds) of a buddha. It is like a mirror for us to reflect on our true self and realize that yeah... oh.. i am a buddha. =)