Monthly Archives: November 2017

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 23, 2017

I see all living beings equally.
I have no partiality for them.
There is not ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ to me.
I transcend love and hatred.

The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares himself to a rain shower that waters all plants equally. He uses this example to show us how we should approach all living beings. Our respect for them and wish that they become enlightened cannot depend on whatever personal feelings we have towards them.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Having last month considered in gāthās the activities of the Bodhisattvas illumined by the light, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 1.

The supernatural powers of the Buddha
And his wisdom are rare.
He is illumining innumerable worlds
By emitting a pure ray of light.
We were astonished
At seeing [those worlds].

Mañjuśrī, 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.

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

See In the Buddha’s light

LS32, d1b, LS Introduction

In the Buddha’s light

In the Buddha’s light, the congregation could see that some wise people had given up earthly desires, aware that all forms of existence are as insubstantial as the sky. Others made offerings to the relics of the Buddhas or built monuments (stupas) for them. For those in the congregation who could not make out all the details, the Bodhisattva Maitreya, who is to be our next Buddha, recounted everything he saw. The congregation was amazed at these things and thought there must be some explanation for them. Even Maitreya did not know the answer, so he put the question to Manjusri, who was considered the wisest of all the Buddha’s disciples, wiser, it was said, than any three men.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Physicians Good Medicine

The Reality of Hard Work

Quote

How many of us expect some fantastical spiritual awakening? How great is the disappointment when the everyday results seem mundane at best and even unnoticeable? An easy assent to some experience is followed by the reality that hard work is necessary to maintain or even re-experience that same spiritual high. It all seems now to be much harder than one expected.

Physician's Good Medicine

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 22, 2017

Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.

The Buddha sings these verses to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we learn to hear the voice of the Wonderful Dharma, we recognize it in everything that surrounds us. When we speak with the voice of the Wonderful Dharma, we are in accord with the reality of all things. There is no need to distinguish between our voice and the voice of the Ever-Present Buddha who is always thinking of how to lead all beings to enlightenment. The only thing that blocks this voice is the comfort of our own attachment and delusion.

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

LS32

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.

Having last month heard Śākyamuni Buddha praise Universal Sage, we hear Śākyamuni Buddha’s instructions to Universal Sage.

“Universal-Sage! If you see anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the later five hundred years after my extinction, you should think, ‘Before long be will go to the place of enlightenment, defeat Mara and his followers, attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, turn the wheel of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, send the rain of the Dharma, and sit on the lion-like seat of the Dharma in the midst of the great multitude of gods and men.’

See The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva

LS32, d32b, LS Introduction

The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva

The meaning of this chapter’s title is that Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Samantabhadra) will appear before, protect, and encourage anyone who keeps and practices the Lotus Sutra, and he will have that person aspire to the Way to Buddhahood.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Blog

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Inside cover of Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized

Thirty-two times thirty-two. That’s what the title explains. Each of the Post-It note arrows on the inside cover of my copy of the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England‘s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized represents one time through the 28 chapters divided into eight volumes with each volume divided into four equal parts.

Inside cover of Myoho Renge Kyo RomanizedBack on July 19, 2016, I commented at length about the first 16 times through the 32-day cycle – 500 Days Divided By 32. The second time through the feat seems somewhat less noteworthy. Having surpassed the initial 500 days, I’m focusing now on that second goal: 10 years. That will be a little past the 114th time through, a future date somewhere in the eighth row of arrow PostIts.

Today’s milestone follows last month’s Two Lotus Sutra Years Later, which marked the first 24 months of 32 days of my complementary practice of repeating in English in the evening what I recited that day in Shindoku and posting excerpts here.

I have received immense benefits from this practice coupled with my other reading. Where will I be in 2025, when I enter my 10th year?

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 21, 2017

Just as the Moon God is brighter than the stars, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma gives us more light than any of the other sūtras numbering thousands of billions. Just as the Sun God dispels all darkness, this sūtra drives away all the darkness of evils.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha uses comparisons from our common experience of the sun, moon and stars to illustrate how this teaching of the Wonderful Dharma is superior to all other teachings. This is not just hyperbole. This teaching illuminates not only the other teachings of the Buddha, but all teachings. It lets us see them for what they are, and use them to do the Buddha’s work of leading all beings to enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 31

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

Having last month heard the sons request permission to renounce the world and practice the Way under that Buddha, the king and queen and their two sons and retainers set off to visit the Buddha.

“Thereupon the [father came to them. The] two sons said to their parents, ‘Excellent, Father and Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, see him, and make offerings to him because to see a Buddha is as difficult as to see an udumbara flower or as for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a floating piece of wood! We accumulated so many merits in our previous existence that we are now able to meet the teachings of the Buddha in this life of ours. Allow us to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha, and also because it is difficult to have such a good opportunity as this to see him.’

“Thereupon the eighty-four thousand people in the harem of King Wonderful-Adornment became able to keep the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

“Pure-Eyes Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for a long time. Pure-Store Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the release from evil regions in order to release all living beings from evil regions for many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas.

“Now the queen practiced the samādhi for the assembly of Buddhas, and understood the treasury of their hidden core. The two sons led their father by these expedients and caused him to understand the teachings of the Buddha by faith and to wish [to act according to those teachings].

“Thereupon King Wonderful-Adornment, Queen Pure-Virtue, and their two sons came to that Buddha. The king was accompanied by his ministers and attendants; the queen, by her ladies and attendants; and their two sons, by forty-two thousand men. They worshiped the feet of that Buddha with their heads, walked around the Buddha three times, retired, and stood to one side.

This month I’ve been offering quotes from the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra on each day. The book, however, doesn’t offer anything other than a summary for this day or Day 32. As a result, I’ll be offering quotes not necessarily related to this day’s reading. As I continue over the next several months to post quotes from the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra this will occur more frequently. I’ll return to my previous practice of using Daily Dharma and book quotes appropriate to each day once I’ve finished with the quotes I want to add to my collection.

See The Bodhisattva Vehicle