Monthly Archives: January 2018

LS32

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 questions posed by the Bodhisattvas from Underground, we consider Maitreya’s puzzlement.

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
Than the number of the sands of the River Ganges.

See The Void Beneath the World of Endurance

LS32, d19b, LS Introduction

The Void Beneath the World of Endurance

These Bodhisattvas had existed in the void beneath the World of Endurance. They had emerged because they heard the voice of Sakyamuni. Each of them was the leader of a great multitude, and was accompanied by as many attendants as sixty times the number of sands in the River Ganges.

Each of the Bodhisattvas who had sprung up soared into the sky, approached Many-Treasures Buddha and Sakyamuni in the Stupa of Treasures, and bowed before them. They also venerated each of the manifestations of Sakyamuni Buddha who had come from the ten directions in space, and praised them all as only Bodhisattvas know how to praise Buddhas. During this time, Sakyamuni and all the assembly remained silent. A long time passed—about fifty small kalpas—but the supernatural powers of Sakyamuni made the congregation feel as if it were only half a day.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Doctrines of Nichiren

The True Buddha

Quote

The True Buddha is that Sakyamuni who has been from immemorial times sufficiently enlightened to know the underlying sameness of all things, and the identity of his own person with the external world; he is that Buddha who identifies a pure act of thought with all existences in time and space; he is that state of mind in which the Truth and the Intellect, the perceived and the perceiver, cease to be two, and are recognized as radically and in essence One. And if this is the case with Sakyamuni, it cannot be otherwise with the people generally. Just as all things in time and space are no more than subjective word in the consciousness of Sakyamuni, so are they in the consciousness of each individual man.

Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)

Lotus Path

Understanding the Basics

Quote

I think one of the neat things about Buddhism is that while it can be confusing at times, there are usually many ways of understanding or explaining the teachings. But ultimately it is through our practice and faith that we can most deeply understand the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Just as it is possible to travel to a strange country not speaking the language and have a good time, see a variety of things, and have wonderful experiences, it isn’t necessary to have a scholar’s understanding of the Lotus Sutra. We do not need to master theory, though we should try to understand the basics, where we need to excel is in our practice and faith.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS, PhraseADay

Religious Exaltation

SHOHO JISSO SHO

Tears roll down when I think of the great hardship which I have to endure today, but I cannot stop tears of joy when I think of obtaining Buddhahood in the future. Birds and insects cry without shedding tears. Nichiren does not cry but tears keep falling. These tears are shed not for worldly matters. They are solely for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, they could be said to be tears of nectar.

(Background : May 17, 1273, 51 years old, at Sado, Showa Teihon, p.728)

Explanatory note

Nichiren Daishonin is admired as a man who has a very strong mind and who can bear all hardships. The people are moved to more admiration when they know that Nichiren has a warm heart and compassionate tears and that he is always thinking, “l must stretch my hands to those who suffer,” and “I must lead them into the salvation in the Lotus Sutra.”

Why did Nichiren face so many persecutions? He said that it was because he had slandered the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in his previous lives, and that these persecutions were meant to erase these sinful karmas which he had created before, so that he could attain Buddhahood in the future. When he realized the persecutions were to attain Buddhahood, he easily accepted them with gratitude.

Thus, Nichiren faced all persecutions positively. He had pity on the people who wished to attain Buddhahood in vain because of unfaithfulness to the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren did not cry nor shed tears because of worldly matters. But his eyes were full of tears because the people did not believe in the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren, therefore, pushed himself and overcame the numerous persecutions for leading the people into Buddhahood.

Rev. Kanai

Phrase A Day

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 12, 2018

Although he was abused like this for many years, he did not get angry, He always said to them, ‘You will become Buddhas.’

The Buddha tells this story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva did not read or recite sutras. His practice was simply to tell all those whom he encountered, “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you.” Despite his pure intentions, the deluded minds of those who heard him caused them to be angry with him, beat him, and chase him away. While he did not stand fast and endure their abuse, he did not lose his respect for them. This is an example for us who aspire to practice the Wonderful Dharma to show us how we can learn to treat all beings.

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

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Having last month heard the merits of anyone who reads this sūtra, we conclude Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, with a dream sequence.

He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’

He also will dream:
‘As many living beings, including dragons and asuras,
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Are joining their hands together
Towards me respectfully,
And I am expounding the Dharma to them.’

He also will dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are emitting innumerable ray of light,
And illumining all things.
The Buddhas are expounding all teachings
With their brahma voices.
I am among the four kinds of devotees
To whom a Buddha is expounding
The unsurpassed Dharma.
I praised the Buddha
With my hands joined together.
I heard the Dharma from him with joy.
I made offerings to him, and obtained dharanis.
I also obtained irrevocable wisdom.
The Buddha knew
That I entered deep into the Way to Buddhahood.
So he assured me of my future attainment
Of perfect enlightenment, saying:
‘Good man, in your future life,
You will be able to attain immeasurable wisdom,
That is, the great enlightenment: of the Buddha.
Your world will be pure and large
Without a parallel.
There will be the four kinds of devotees there.
They will hear the Dharma from you
With their hands joined together.’

He also will dream:
‘I am now in the forest of a mountain.
[ studied and practiced good teachings.
[ attained the truth of the reality of all things.
I am now in deep dhyāna-concentration.
I see the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.’

He also will have a good dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are adorned with a hundred marks of merits.
Having heard the Dharma from them,
I am now expounding it to others.’

He also will dream:
‘Although I was a king,
I gave up the five desires
And the most wonderful pleasures.
I left my palace and attendants,
And reached the place of enlightenment.
I sat on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi-tree,
And sought enlightenment.
After seven days, I obtained the wisdom of the Buddhas
And attained unsurpassed enlightenment.
I emerged [from dhyāna] and turned the wheel of the Dharma.
I expounded the Dharma to the four kinds of devotees
For a thousand billion kalpas.
I expounded the Wonderful Dharma-without-āsravas
And saved innumerable living beings.
Then I entered into Nirvana
Just as a flame dies when smoke is gone.’

Anyone who expounds
This supreme teaching
In the evil world after [my extinction]
Will obtain great benefits as previously stated.

See Peaceful Practices of Resolution

LS32, d19b, LS Introduction

Peaceful Practices of Resolution

This is to resolve solemnly to make every effort to realize and spread the Lotus Sutra in the Age of Degeneration, or the evil world of the future. There are three points.

  1. The Bodhisattva should have great loving-kindness toward both clergy and laity, and great compassion toward those who are not Bodhisattvas. (This is called the subject of resolution.)
  2. The reason is that people do not understand that the Buddha expounded expedient teachings according to the capacities of living beings, and they neither believe it nor understand it. (This is the reason for resolution.)
  3. Therefore, when a Bodhisattva attains supreme-perfect-enlightenment, he or she will resolve to lead all people to the Lotus Sutra, and by means of his acquired supernatural powers and wisdom, cause them to understand the law (p. 220).
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Physicians Good Medicine

Suffering

Quote

Reducing suffering and avoiding suffering are not the same. Buddhism is not about avoiding. It is a teaching that enables us to manage better our responses to suffering.

Physician's Good Medicine

WONS, PhraseADay

Merits of Chanting Odaimoku

MYOMITSU SHONIN GO-SHOSOKU

I, Nichiren, sincerely keep the most profound Lotus Sutra among other sutras which have been preached, are being preached, and will be preached. I also chant Odaimoku, gist of the sutra, by myself and teach others to chant it. Mugwort grass grows straight amidst the hemp field. Trees do not grow straight, but by cutting it straight, it becomes useful. If you chant the sutra as it states, your mind will be straightened. Be aware that it is hard for us to chant Odaimoku unless the spirit of the Eternal Buddha enters into our bodies.

(Background : March 5, 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p. 1166)

Explanatory note

“To live honestly” is fundamental in Nichiren Daishonin’s life and in his religion. Honest means for him not only to be honest in a moral sense but also to be faithful to the spirit of the Buddha Sakyamuni. In other words, it is to be honest to the essential spirit of the Buddha.

Chapter ten of the Lotus Sutra states that the sutra is the most profound among others, so that it is hard to understand and difficult to practice. Accepting this truth, Nichiren Daishonin simplified the difficulty by chanting Odaimoku from the depth of his heart and persuaded others to do the same.

The merits of Odaimoku are like the creeping mugwort grass growing straight in hemp field, or a crooked tree can be cut straight into useful objects. If we earnestly recite Odaimoku, our wavering hearts will unknowingly become right, because we cannot recite it without the spirit of the Eternal Buddha entering our bodies and influencing our life.

When we recite Odaimoku with our whole heart, we are overwhelmed with a mysterious force dwelling within us. It is a refreshing power that only those who have experienced it could understand.

Religion is not necessarily in the realm of reason, but it is in the realm of experience. We can not tell the exact taste of a banana to a person who has never tasted it, even though we may explain its shape, color, and texture. Similarly, Odaimoku is not a theory of life but a way of life. Happiness and sorrow are like the front and back of a single sheet of paper. Many people in the depth of sorrow have found comfort in the recitation of Odaimoku. Others in the depth of suffering, not knowing where to turn, have found their spirits refreshed with the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

We can never go astray with the sincere recitation of Odaimoku because through this practice we are accepting the teaching of the Buddha with our hearts and bodies.

Rev. Igarashi

Phrase A Day