Metanoia from the Greek simply means to change one’s mind. It also means a spiritual conversion. While penance is associated with it in its more Christian interpretation, that would not be the case and not possible from a purely Buddhist perspective. In our individual lives we have made causes that we regret. If we are to seek forgiveness, it must come from the person impacted by those causes, and not some deity or force outside ourselves. We may even have cause to regret actions we have made against the environment, but again it is there that we should make efforts of repair. Learning to understand how our causes affect not only ourselves but others is part of taking the good medicine and making meaning.
Physician's Good MedicineMonthly Archives: June 2017
Daily Dharma – June 5, 2017
I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story of the Physician and his children, the father leaves and sends word that he has died when his children refuse to take the antidote he has prepared for them. He gave his children no choice but to accept what they already had and make the effort to improve themselves and set aside their deluded minds. In the same way, when we take the Buddha for granted, and close our eyes to the Wonderful Dharma he has given us, he disappears. It is only when we open our eyes and see clearly this world and ourselves in it that we can recognize the Buddha and how he is always leading us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 22
Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.
Having last month concluded Maitreya’s gāthās of praise for the Buddha, we come to the innumerable merits to obtained by understanding by faith the longevity of the Buddha.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Anyone who hears that my life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought, will be able to obtain innumerable merits. Suppose good men or women practiced [the six pāramitās] except the prajñā-pāramitā, that is, the five pāramitās: the dāna-pāramitā, the sīla-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, and the dhyāna-pāramitā, for eighty billion nayuta kalpas in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These merits of the good men or women are far less than one hundredth or one thousandth of the merits of the person [who understand my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought], or less than his merits divided by one hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of his merits to theirs] cannot be explained by any calculation or parable or simile.
It cannot be that the good man who obtained merits [by understanding my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought] falters in walking the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
The Daily Dharma from April 10, 2017, offers this:
The Buddha makes this declaration to the Bodhisattva Maitreya in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We all have experiences that take a long time either to understand or to realize what affect they have had on our lives. We may even forget the experience and not be able to connect it with a present situation. This is also true with the experience of hearing the Buddha teach. We hear him declare that he is ever-present, always leading us to enlightenment. Then the memory of that teaching becomes obscured by our daily pursuits and attachments. By reminding ourselves and each other of this highest teaching, we regain our right minds and walk confidently on the path to the Buddha’s own enlightenment (Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi). The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Daily Dharma for June 4, 2017
True practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We may take this to mean that we should not listen to anything that others tell us and dogmatically adhere to a fixed teaching. Another interpretation involves learning to see the world as the Buddha does. Where people often speak from their own delusion and selfish desires, the Buddha speaks only to lead us to his enlightenment and help us to remove our attachments. When we look for the Buddha in all parts of our lives, we can learn to appreciate anything we hear from anybody as teaching us to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 21
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month considered the duration of the life of the Tathāgata, we begin the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children.
“I will tell you a parable. There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred. [One day] he went to a remote country on business. After he left home, the sons took poison. The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not. All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy. They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us, and give us back our lives!’
“Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’
“The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.
I read this portion of the parable many times before I realized this lesson in faith. We can test the appearance of something and the smell of it, but it is only when we consume something that we can learn of its taste. Fear that something will not taste good prevents us from trying. Faith allows us to consume the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma and to know the truth of its good taste.
The Holy See of the Catholic Church of Buddhism
As we have had repeated occasion to note, Nichiren associated every step of his life with some feature of the Scripture, and especially regarded his life in Sado as the chief part, the climax, of his life. Now the last stage was to be inaugurated, and dedicated to the consummation of his mission and to the perpetuation of his religion, just as the last twelve chapters of the Scripture made up the consummation of the Truth. He had proclaimed the Sacred Title at the outset of his ministry; he had furnished the object of worship and spiritual introspection by the graphic representation of the Supreme Being; one thing alone remained — to prepare for, or establish, the central seat of his religion. These three instruments of his propaganda were called the ” Three Mysteries.” Although there are some allusions to them in his writings before this time, Nichiren proclaimed this trinity for the first time in the first essay written after his retirement. This treatise is dated the twenty-fourth of the fifth month (June 24) — just a week after his arrival at Minobu. The great plan which he had long been meditating, and the motive which led him to retire from the present world, and to work for the future, was the establishment of the “Kaidan,” or the Holy See of the Catholic Church of Buddhism.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetDaily Dharma – June 3, 2017
You have a grandson, Lord Jibu, who is a Buddhist priest. This priest is neither an upholder of precepts nor especially rich in wisdom. He neither observes even one of the 250 precepts nor maintains even one of the 3000 solemn rules of conduct. In wisdom he is like a horse or a cow while in dignity he is like a monkey. Nevertheless, what he reveres is Śākyamuni Buddha and what he believes in is the Lotus Sutra. This like a snake holding a gem or a dragon gratefully holding the relics of the Buddha in Dharma Body.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the Ullambana Service (Urabon Gosho) written to the Grandmother of Lord Jibu. While it may seem to us that Nichiren is criticizing Lord Jibu, he is praising the young man in the highest terms. Our ability to use the Wonderful Dharma to benefit others does not depend on our skill, dedication or wisdom. It depends only on our devotion to the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni, and our confidence and faith in the Lotus Sūtra.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 20
Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s response to the greetings of the four great Bodhisattvas, we come to the reaction of Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva and the [other] Bodhisattvas [who had already been present in the congregation before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in number, thought:
‘We have never before seen these great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, stood before [Śākyamuni,] the World-Honored One, joined their hands together towards him, and made offerings to him. [Now we see that their leaders] inquire after him.’
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, seeing what the Bodhisattvas numbering eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges had in their minds, and also wishing to remove his own doubts, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and asked him in gāthās:
We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?
They have gigantic bodies,
Great supernatural powers, and inconceivable wisdom.
They are resolute in mind.
They have a great power of patience.
All living beings are glad to see them.
Where did they come from?They are each accompanied
By as many attendants
As there are sands
In the River Ganges.Some great Bodhisattvas are each accompanied by attendants
Sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges.
They are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
With all their hearts.The number of these great teachers is sixty thousand times
The number of the sands of the River Ganges.
They came together and made offerings to you.
Now they protect and keep this sūtra.
The attendants or disciples accompanying
Each [of the other great Bodhisattvas] number
Fifty thousand times or forty thousand times
Or thirty thousand times or twenty thousand times
Or ten thousand times or a thousand times
Or a hundred times as many as the sands of the River Ganges,
Or a half, a third, or a quarter
Of the number of the sands of the River Ganges,
Or as many as the sands of the River Ganges Divided by a billion;
Or ten million nayuta, a billion or fifty million,
Or a million, ten thousand, a thousand or a hundred,
Or fifty, ten, three, two or one.
[The great Bodhisattvas] who are accompanied
By less attendants are even more numerous.
Some [great Bodhisattvas] have no attendants
Because they prefer a solitary life.
They are the most numerous.
They came together to you.No one will be able to count
All [these great Bodhisattvas] even if he uses
A counting wand for more kalpas
Then the number of the sands of the River Ganges.These Bodhisattvas have
Great powers, virtues and energy.
Who expounded the Dharma to them? Who taught them?
Who qualified them to attain [perfect enlightenment]?Under whom did they begin to aspire for enlightenment?
What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?
What sūtra did they keep and practice?
What teaching of the Buddha did they study?These Bodhisattvas have supernatural powers
And the great power of wisdom.
The ground of this world quaked and cracked.
They sprang up from under the four quarters of this world.World-Honored One!
I have never seen them before.
I do not know
Any of them.They appeared suddenly from underground.
Tell me why!
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Bodhisattvas
In this great congregation
Also want to know this.There must be some reason.
Possessor of Immeasurable Virtues!
World-Honored One!
Remove our doubts!
The Daily Dharma from July 24, 2016, offers this:
We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?
Maitreya Bodhisattva sings these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has asked who among those gathered to hear him teach will continue teaching this Wonderful Dharma in our world of suffering after the Buddha passes into his final extinction. Some Bodhisattvas say they will teach in other worlds, since the beings of this world are too defiled to hear the Buddha’s teaching. Other Bodhisattvas vow to remain in our world, but the Buddha tells them not to bother. At that moment, the ground cracks open, and innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up and vow to carry on the work of the Buddha. Maitreya and others had never seen these Bodhisattvas before. His asking the Buddha respectfully to explain what they do not understand. This example emphasizes that we must continue to question how the Buddha’s teaching applies to our lives rather than dogmatically accepting whatever happens.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Most Fearful Thing
The Lotus Sutra teaches us, “See it as it is, accept it as it is” without any prejudice, discrimination, or ideas based on stereotypes. Terrorism was not caused by a demon or a god. It was caused by a human being. Human history records the killing of many innocent people, and the destruction of irretrievable things. Someone once asked, “What is the most fearful thing on this earth? A ghost, devil, demon, earthquake or a disaster?” No, it is a human being. They destroy everything, even themselves.
Spring WritingsDaily Dharma – June 2, 2017
I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”
The Buddha sings these verses at the end of Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this chapter he revealed his existence as the Buddha who lives throughout time and space rather than in the limited human body in which we recognize him. When we realize that all the moments of our lives, all the joys and grief we face, all the people and other beings we encounter are in truth the Buddha leading us towards his own enlightenment, we see the Buddha in his true form, and we see the world for what it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com