Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Around and around we go…

I understand that the list of names at the start of the Lotus Sutra can be off-putting, but each time I start over I again enjoy this introduction to what is to come.

The accomplishments of these people is amazing. For example, the 12,000 bhiksus:

They were Arhats. They had already eliminated asravas, and had no illusions. They had already benefited themselves, broken off the bonds of existence [in the world of birth and death], and obtained liberty in their minds.

Or the 80,000 Bodhisattva-mahasattvas:

They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence according to the wishes [of all living beings], made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and planted the roots of virtue under those Buddhas, by whom they had always been praised. They had already trained themselves out of their compassion towards others, entered the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha, obtained great wisdom, and reached the Other Shore so that their fame had already extended over innumerable worlds. They had already saved many hundreds of thousands of living beings.

What’s even more impressive as this sutra opens is that absolutely everyone is represented: Gods, dragon kings, gandharva kings, asura kings, garuda kings and a king who had overthrown his father and helped Devadatta’s rebellion but repented.

Then we get to that light that the Buddha emits illuminating 18,000 worlds in the east. This wasn’t just light:

The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlighterunent by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvana. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the sariras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.

Maitreya tells what he sees and asks manjusri why this is happening:

Manjusri, Son of the Buddha!
Remove our doubts!
The four kinds of devotees
Are looking up with joy at you and me,
Wishing to know why this ray of light is emitted
By the World-Honored One.

Son of the Buddha, answer me!
Remove our doubts and cause us to rejoice!
For what purpose is the Buddha
Emitting this ray of light?

Does he wish to expound the Wonderful Dharma
Which he attained when he was sitting
At the place of enlightenment?
Does he wish to assure us of our future Buddhahood?

He shows us the worlds of the Buddhas
Adorned with many treasures.
We can see the Buddhas of those worlds.
This cannot be for some insignificant reason.

Manjusri, know this!
The four kinds of devotees and the dragons
Are looking at you, thinking:
“What is he going to say?”

Becoming Enlightened

Becoming enlightened is not about acquiring something from outside and bringing it inside your life, it is about awakening that potential already existing within your life.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma – Feb. 21, 2016

If you hear his name, and see him,
And think of him constantly,
You will be able to eliminate all sufferings.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion. The power of World-Voice-Perceiver is the power of compassion.World-Voice-Perceiver is also known as the one who brings fearlessness. When we can face up to the suffering in the world, both our own and that of others, we can see it for what it is. Then we are no longer afraid of suffering. What else is there to be afraid of?

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

And so we come to the end again. Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, who has arrived from a world to the east, asks how people will obtain this sutra after the Buddha’s extinction.

The Buddha said to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva:

The good men or women will be able to obtain this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after my extinction if they do the following four things:

  1. secure the protection of the Buddhas,
  2. plant the roots of virtue,
  3. reach the stage of steadiness [in proceeding to enlightenment],
  4. resolve to save all living beings.

The good men or women will be able to obtain this sutra after my extinction if they do these four things.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, in turn, offers his protection:

If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sutra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If he sits and thinks over this sutra, I also wi11 mount a kingly white elephant and appear before him. If he forgets a phrase or a gatha of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will remind him of it, and read and recite it with him so that he may be able to understand it. Anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [after your extinction], will be able to see me with such joy that he will make more efforts.

This final chapter is the one I find the most conflicted about women.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva offers to appear before those who study the sutra – with my body which all living beings wish to see – and offer dharanis spells so that those who study the sutra “will not be killed by nonhuman beings or captivated by women.” Then he says:

Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sutra, memorizes it correctly, understands the meanings of it, and acts according to it, know this, does the same practices that I do. He should be considered to have already planted deeply the roots of good under innumerable Buddhas [in his previous existence]. He will be caressed on the head by the hands of the Tathagatas. Anyone who copies this sutra will be reborn in the Heaven of the Trayastrimsa Gods immediately after his present life. On that occasion, eighty-four thousand goddesses will come and receive him, making many kinds of music. A crown of the seven treasures will be put on his head, and he will enjoy himself among the ladies in waiting.

The Buddha responds:

Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it, should be considered to see me, and hear this sutra from my mouth. He should be considered to be making offerings to me. He should be considered to be praised by me with the word ‘Excellent!’ He should be considered to be caressed by me on the head. He should be considered to be covered with my robe. He will not be attached to worldly pleasures. He will not like to read heretical scriptures or any other writings of heretics. He will not be intimate with heretics, slaughterers, boar-breeders, sheep-breeders, fowl-breeders, dogbreeders, hunters, prostitutes, or any other evil people. He will be upright. He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

I enjoy the Buddha’s offering of his caress and his robe. May I not be troubled by “arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues”

Completely Eliminating Suffering

Completely eliminating suffering is thought by many to be impossible. It seems beyond our ability to achieve such a condition of life, and so we seek other conditions, sometimes helpful and sometimes harmful. Yet, fundamentally, ending suffering is the significant driver or motivator in the lives of people. The Buddha initially taught the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Twelve-Link Chain of Causation, as ways to begin to break free of the cycle of suffering. Finally though in the Lotus Sutra, he teaches not only the elimination of suffering but the creation of a life of indestructible joy. The Buddha teaches this is not just something only attainable by a select and rare Buddha but by all people, that all people can become Buddha’s because they already have that condition within their lives.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma – Feb. 20, 2016

To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathāgata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathāgata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathāgata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathāgata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sūtra. Therefore, keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra, and act according to the teachings of it with all your hearts after my extinction!

The Buddha makes this declaration to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Two, the Buddha told those gathered to hear him teach that his highest teaching could not be attained by reasoning alone. These two passages show us faith to look beyond the words in this book to find the Buddha Dharma in every aspect of our lives, and the ever-present Buddha leading us all to enlightenment.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Day 31

Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

This is one of my favorite chapters. I enjoy the story of the sons doing the work of the Buddha to make it possible for their father to “understand the Dharma by faith” and the lesson that “The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives.”

Today, though, I was struck by the realization that the Buddha speaks to everyone, not just to one segment of the gathering or a specific individual. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha addresses everyone only in Chapters 12, Devadatta; 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata; and 27, King Wonderful Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

  1. Introductory – “Thus have I heard.”
  2. Expedients – addresses Sariputra
  3. A Parable – Sariputra speaks
  4. Understanding by Faith – “men living the life of wisdom…” speak
  5. The Simile of Herbs – addresses Maha-Kasyapa
  6. Assurance of Future Buddhahood – addresses bhiksus
  7. The Parable of a Magic City – addresses bhiksus
  8. The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples – Purna speaks
  9. The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Sravakas Who Have Something More to Learns and the Sravakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn – Ananda and Rahula speak
  10. The Teacher of the Dharma – addresses Medicine-King Bodhisattva
  11. Beholding the Stupa of Treasures – event
  12. Devadatta – addresses “Bodhisattvas, gods, men and the four kinds of devotees”
  13. Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra – Medicine-King and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahasattvas speak
  14. Peaceful Practices – Manjusri Bodhisattva-mahasattva speaks
  15. The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground – Bodhisattva-mahasattvas speak
  16. The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata – addresses “the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others”
  17. The Variety of Merits – addresses Maitreya
  18. The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra – Maitreya speaks
  19. The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma – addresses Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva-mahasattva
  20. Never-Despising Bodhisattva – addresses Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva-mahasattva
  21. The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata – Bodhisattvas from underground speak
  22. Transmission – addresses bodhisattvas
  23. The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva – Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva speaks
  24. Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva – event (emitted rays of light)
  25. The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva – Endless-Intent Bodhisattva speaks
  26. Dharanis – Medicine-King Bodhisattva speaks
  27. King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a  Bodhisattva – addresses “the great multitude”
  28. The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva – Universal-Sage Bodhisattva speaks

Leaving the Life of Suffering

The story of the Burning House is a way of retelling the important teaching of the Buddha of this single Buddha way which sets aside various other paths which before were seen as unique. The Buddha wishes for all people to leave the life of suffering and attain enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas. That is the one great purpose for the appearance of any Buddha in any realm of any time. The Buddha, being a skillful teacher, realized at the beginning that people would not be able to grasp the very complex teaching of enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas. He also realized people would doubt they had such a capacity. Even today, many people still cling to the notion they are not good enough, or they are not worthy of attaining such an indestructible life of true joy and cessation of suffering.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma – Feb. 19, 2016

If those of high rank reproach you, view them as formidable enemies of the Lotus Sutra. Consider the opportunity as rare as seeing an uḍumbara that blooms only once in 1000 years, or a blind turtle by chance encountering a log floating in the ocean, and respond with confidence. Even a person who possesses a fief as large as 1000 or 10,000 chō may have his land confiscated or lose his life over a small matter. If you must lay down your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, have no regrets.

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). Lord Ueno enjoyed a privileged position in society and was concerned about losing his status and belongings as a result of his faith in the Lotus Sūtra. In this letter, Nichiren reminded Lord Ueno of his true purpose in life, that he had come as a Bodhisattva to benefit all beings by leading them to enlightenment with the Buddha Dharma.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs.

Before we get to the spells offered to the protection of the teachers of the Lotus Sutra we get reaffirmation of the merits to be given to “the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”

The Buddha said to Medicine-King Bodhisattva:

“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”

“Very many, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite even a single gatha of four lines of this sutra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”

Medicine King Bodhisattva offers spells to protect the expounder of the Lotus Sutra and Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva utter dharanis to protect “the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”

I enjoy the concept of protecting “weak points,” as in:

If he keeps these dharanis, this teacher of the Dharma will not have his weak points taken advantage of by any yaksa, raksasa, putana, krtya, kumbhanda or hungry spirit.

We each have our weak points, the things we are hesitant to do or likely to neglect.

Following the Bodhisattvas, we have the Heavenly Kings offering their protection. This involvement of the gods in protecting those who expound or read the Lotus Sutra is reinforced every time we took at the Great Mandala Gohonzon. Vaisravana, the Heavenly King of the North, is in the upper left corner and World-Holding Heavenly-King is in the upper right corner.

Also appearing in the Mandala Gohonzon and in this chapter of the Lotus Sutra are the 10 raksasis daughters and their mother, the Mother-Of-Devils, Hariti. Of the ten daughters, my favorite is “Plunderer of Energy of All Beings.” Having suffered depression for many years, I feel I’ve known her for a lifetime.