In the previous chapter, “Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra,” the merits acquired by those who have just begun practicing the teaching are emphasized. This chapter, on the other hand, “Merits of the Teachers of the Law,” speaks about merits acquired by practitioners in general. It is assumed that a practitioner of the Sutra will also be a teacher of the Dharma.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraMonthly Archives: January 2018
The Emptiness of Birth and Death
There is a deeper meaning to Emptiness than simply recognizing the impermanent nature of reality. Emptiness also means that things are without boundaries in terms of both time and space. Again, everything arises and ceases depending upon the coming together of many other elements or factors. But at what point can one say that something has begun or come to an end? For instance, do our lives begin at birth, or at conception, or at the time of our parent’s conception? At what point in the process that we call our lives can we definitely say that the process has begun? The same is true of our deaths. If our lives are carried on through our children or through the impact of our actions on the lives of others, at what point does our life really come to an end? In addition, the Buddha taught that some portion of our existence (composed of our intentions, habits, and to some extent an unconscious storehouse of memories) moves on from one life to another. So it is never entirely correct to say that someone has been born or has died. The reality of our lives defies such a simple description.
Lotus SeedsEternal Truth
RISSHO ANKOKU RON
You should promptly convert your wrong faith to the belief in the true and one vehicle faith at once. Then the triple world of the unenlightened will all become the land of the Buddha. Will the land of the Buddha decay? All the lands in ten directions will become the “treasure land.” Will the “treasure land” be destroyed? When the land does not decay and is not destroyed, your body is safe and your heart tranquil. Believe these words and revere them.
(Background : July 1260, 38 years old, at Kamakura, Showa Teihon, p.226)
(Explanatory note)
Presented to the ex-Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, Hojo Tokiyori, the “Rissho Ankoku Ron” consists of questions and answers between a master of a house and his guest. The following is the master’s last advice to the guest to have the true faith:
“You must change your faith as soon as possible and convert yourself to the Lotus Sutra which is the supreme teaching of the Buddha. Then the Triple World * will all become the land of the Buddha. How can the land of the Buddha decay? Also the ten directions — all the lands will become the ‘treasure land.’ How can the ‘treasure land’ be destroyed?” ( * The Triple World is the world of unenlightened beings. It is divided into three: the world of desire, form, and formlessness.)
“If there is no decay or destruction of the land, the life of the inhabitants will be peaceful and their hearts will be tranquil and happy. This is not my arbitrary opinion, but it is based on Buddhist scriptures. It is as I explained it before, and you should have no objection. You should believe in my words open-mindedly and respect them from your heart. It is the road to the right religion and peace of society.”
The most important teaching in the Lotus Sutra is “This world is identical with the Buddha Land of Tranquil Light.” (The Buddha Land is the place where there is no birth and death, no disturbance by evil passion and delusion, but is shone by the rays of wisdom.) We are surely wandering in this puzzled world, but we are also able to become Buddhas. It is our duty to devote ourselves to this ideal stage. Thus, Nichiren insisted that we should believe in the teaching of the Lotus Sutra and do our best for peace and salvation of all mankind.
Rev. Hori
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 16, 2018
Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.
These verses are sung by the sixteen children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. When the children learned of their father becoming enlightened, they gave up their toys and preoccupations and begged that Buddha to teach them. With this declaration they showed their father that they were ready to receive his wisdom and set off on the path to their own enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 23
Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month considered in gāthās rewards for 50th person to rejoice at hearing the Dharma, we conclude Chapter 18.
Anyone who persuades even a single person
To hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower
Of the Wonderful Dharma, saying:
“This sūtra is profound and wonderful.
It is difficult to meet it
Even during ten million kalpas,”
And causes him to go and hear it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:In his future lives, he will have no disease of the mouth.
His teeth will not be few, yellow or black.
His lips will not be thick, shrunk or broken.
There will be nothing loathsome [on his lips].
His tongue will not be dry, black or short.
His nose will be high, long and straight.
His forehead will be broad and even.
His face will be handsome.
All people will wish to see him.
His breath will not be foul.
The fragrance of the utpala-flowers
Will always be emitted from his mouth.Anyone who visits a monastery to hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
And rejoices at hearing it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:He will be reborn among gods and men.
He will be able to go up to the palace of heaven,
Riding in a wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart,
Or in a palanquin of wonderful treasures.Anyone who persuades others to sit and hear this sūtra
In the place where the Dharma is expounded,
Will be able to obtain the seat of Sakra or of Brahman
Or of a wheel-turning-holy-king by his merits.
Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sūtra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.
The Merits of that First Moment of Joy
“Rejoicing” is the joy which one experiences when the significance of the Sutra first sinks in like a ray of light. When this ray of light first illuminates our soul, we have not yet undertaken any profound studies or done any difficult practices. But the merits of that first moment of joy are greater than those of any other practices we may undertake later. It is the hinge upon which everything else turns. This is the essential and most important point of [Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra]. Faith is simple; it is also decisive.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraThe Jewel of Salvation
In his Treatise on Spiritual Insight and the Most Venerable One, Nichiren Shonin explained how the Buddha extends his salvation to us:
Awakening to the LotusFor those who are incapable of understanding the truth of ichinen sanzen, Lord Sakyamumi Buddha, with his great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of myo, ho, ren, ge, and kyo and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Declining Age of the Dharma. [Writings of Nichiren Shonin: Doctrine 2, p. 164]
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo Throughout the World
NYOSETSU SHUGYO SHO
When all the people under the heaven and various schools of Buddhism are all converted to the one and true vehicle, and when only the Lotus Sutra flourishes and all the people recite “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” in unison, the howling wind will not blow on the branches, falling rain will not erode the soil, and the world will become as good as during the reigns of the Chinese Emperors Fu-hsi and Shen-nung. You will see that such times will come when the calamities cease to exist, people live long, and men and their faith become eternal, there should be no doubt about the proof of tranquility in life.
(Background : May 1273, 51 years old, at Sado, Showa Teihon, p.733)
Explanatory note
Nichiren Daishonin said that people read the Lotus Sutra with their eyes and voice, but no one read it with his body except him. People generally do not try to apply the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in daily life.
Nichiren clearly mentioned that each individual’s faith and real society are closely related. It is a foolish idea if one thinks that religion is only for comfort in his or her life. Once we are born, we are a part of a society whether we like it or not. We try to keep peace and happiness under the set rules in the society.
The aim of our faith in Nichiren Buddhism is to realize the Buddha Land where we live. It is our vow to be Nichiren’s followers. The Buddha Land will not be created in a few years nor in ten years but it surely will be realized with our firm faith in the Lotus Sutra.
Rev. Kanai
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 15, 2018
Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].
The ten rakṣasī demons and Mother-of-Devils sing these verses in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra. They are among the many gods and other supernatural beings who vow to protect all those who keep and practice the Buddha Dharma. These verses help us to understand the nature of those who create harm in the world and to develop a heart of compassion towards them. The nature of delusion is that it sets up a world separate from the world we all share. It puts a barrier between us and the world out of fear that this world will harm us. The Buddha’s teachings show us how to develop the courage to live in harmony with this world, rather than splitting ourselves from it, and splitting ourselves in it.
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 considered the merits of any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra, we repeat in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Anyone who keeps this sūtra
After my extinction
Will be able to obtain
Innumerable merits a previously stated.He should be considered
To have already made various offerings.
He should be considered
To have already built a stupa
With a yasti soaring up to the Heaven of Brahman,
The upper part of it being the smaller,
A stupa which was adorned with the seven treasures,
And with thousands of billions of jeweled bells
Sounding wonderful when fanned by the wind.
He should be considered to have already enshrined
My śarīras in this stupa,
And offered flowers, incense, necklaces, heavenly garments,
And various kinds of music to it,
And lit lamps of perfumed oil around it for innumerable kalpas.Anyone who keeps this sūtra in the evil world
In the age of the decline of my teachings
Should be considered
To have already made these offerings.