Monthly Archives: April 2018

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Having last month considered the variety among the plants in the Simile of the Herbs, we consider the variety in the fruits of the rainfall of the Dharma.

Although my teachings are of the same content to anyone
Just as the rain is of the same taste,
The hearers receive my teachings differently
According to their capacities
Just as the plants receive
Different amounts of the rain water.

I now expediently reveal the Dharma with this simile.
I expound one truth with various discourses.
This simile is only one of the expedients
Employed by my wisdom,
Just as a drop of sea water is
Part of the great ocean.

Though I water all living beings of the world
With the same rain of the Dharma,
They practice the teachings
Of the same taste differently
According to their capacities,
Just as the herbs and trees
In thickets and forests
Grew gradually according to their species.

The Buddhas always expound
The teachings of the same taste
In order to cause all living beings of the world
To understand the Dharma.
Those who practice the teachings continuously
Will obtain [ various fruits of] enlightenment.

See The Departure of the 5,000

LS32, d3b, d4b, LS Introduction

The Departure of the 5,000

[In Chapter 2, Expedients, T]he Buddha confirmed the existence of the highest truth, which can be attained only by a Buddha. The next question is, how does Sakyamuni Buddha expound this highest truth to living beings? That is what Sariputra and the entire congregation wanted to know. Three times Sariputra asked for an explanation, but three times his request was denied. (This is called the “Three Requests and the Three Denials.”) Sakyamuni had good reason to refuse Sariputra’s requests. The audience, you may recall, was composed mostly of followers of the Lesser Vehicle. These people had spent long years of their lives in rigorous religious exercises and were convinced they had finally arrived at the truth. They were called arhats—perfect ones. Most of them would feel insulted to hear that they had been on the wrong track all this time. It is difficult to be told that one is wrong, especially after having worked so hard and accomplished so much.

Finally, however, Sakyamuni decided to accept the earnest pleas of Sariputra. Before he even began to speak, five thousand monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen from the congregation stood up and walked out. They were sure that they already knew the highest truth, and saw no need to listen any more. Like religious fanatics everywhere, they were arrogant in their assurance and unwilling to be contradicted or be littled. The Buddha remained silent and made no move to prevent them from leaving. “Let the arrogant ones go!” he told Sariputra. “Listen carefully, and I will explain it to you.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Death as an Illusion

Quote

The fact of death is an illusion, but a necessary one along our path. Imagine if we had no death. If there were not the fact of death I am guessing people would value life even less than many appear to do so now. Yet, death is an illusion to the fact of the eternity of life and the eternity of Buddhahood. I like to say that death keeps us honest. If it weren’t for death we may not work to change our lives or at least not in any highly motivated way. Death is the constant reminder of the necessity of working toward manifesting our own enlightenment.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 38 of 100

Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors, or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.

We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.

It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119

In these first 38 days, I’ve have repeatedly expressed what could be construed as doubts about relying solely on the odaimoku – Day 30, Day 24 and Day 18. Clearly this letter nixes that discussion.

100 Days of Study

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 7, 2018

World-Honored One! It is by my supernatural powers, know this, that a Bodhisattva can hear these dhāraṇīs. Anyone who keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [while it is] propagated in the Jambudvīpa, should think, ‘I can keep [this sūtra] only by the supernatural powers of Universal-Sage.’

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this declaration to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. The supernatural powers of this Bodhisattva are beyond the perception of our human senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell and thought. When we hear thunder, we know something causes it whether or not we understand that cause. In the same way, when we are practicing this Wonderful Dharma, we know it is because of the great help we receive from innumerable beings, even if we do not understand the powers they use to reach us.

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

LS32

Day 8

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month considered how the Buddha is like the rich man in the parable, we consider how the śrāvakas are like the rich man’s son.

The poor son came to his father,
And took custody
Of the things of his father,
But wished to take none of them.

The same can be said of us.
We did not wish to have the treasure-store
Of the teachings of the Buddhas
Although we expounded it [to the Bodhisattvas].

We were satisfied with the elimination
Of illusions within ourselves.
What we accomplished was that elimination.
We did nothing more.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has āsravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvāṇa-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.

You said [to us]:
“When you attain enlightenment infallibly,
You will have already repaid
The favors I gave you.”

Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

See Heavenly King Brahman

LS32, d4b, LS Introduction

Heavenly King Brahman

What is the significance of expedients? First of all, let us think about this question from the standpoint of Buddhism in general.

There is a legend that Sakyamuni, when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya, in north-eastern India, was so impressed by its profundity that he remained motionless for hours. Then the Heavenly King Brahman, the lord of our world, came to him and said, “Your state of enlightenment is, indeed, impressive. Nevertheless, no matter how wonderful it may be to you, what good is it to anyone else? How are you going to serve people if you remain silent? Now that you have attained the ultimate truth, Please expound it to the people of the world and deliver them, too, from suffering.” After considering this request, Sakyamuni nodded in agreement, rose from his seat, and set out for Sarnath, where he delivered his first sermon

This legend shows that the profound depth of the Buddha’s enlightenment is almost impossible to express in words. (Otherwise the Buddha would have taught it immediately.) Nevertheless, it must be presented in words and expressed somehow if it is to help people. Words, however, are not always the perfect means of representing facts; they can express only part of them. For instance, we often find it difficult to express our innermost thoughts or complicated physical problems in words. (Physicists generally must resort to mathematical formulae; musicians use music; artists paint, and so on.)

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Lotus Seeds

The Power of the One Vehicle

Quote

In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha finally introduced the One Vehicle of Buddhahood, which unifies and ultimately transcends the previous three vehicles. The One Vehicle is the teaching that all beings can attain Buddhahood. Even those following the Two Vehicles of the voice-hearers and privately awakened ones, whom the Buddha declared unfit to attain Buddhahood, would be able to do so. In fact, the Lotus Sutra states that they had been on the One Vehicle all along, though they did not know it. This attainment of Buddhahood by those following the Two Vehicles is the main theme of the first half of the Lotus Sutra. In order to ensure that this teaching is understood, the Buddha taught it in many different ways. He used philosophical discourses, parables, similes, past-life experiences, and ultimately gave predictions of Buddhahood to all his many disciples.

More astonishing was the fact that the Buddha predicted that even his traitorous cousin, Devadatta, who had tried to kill him and take over the Sangha, would attain Buddhahood in the future. Shortly after this prediction, an eight-year-old dragon-girl transformed into a Buddha before the eyes of the whole assembly – despite the culturally perceived impediments of her sex, her age, and her birth as an animal. These examples extend the idea that even those previously believed unfit to attain Buddhahood would be able to do so in the end.

Lotus Seeds

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 37 of 100

Deceived by Devadatta, King Ajātaśtru became an enemy of the Buddha but his Minister Jīvaka was devoted to the Buddha and continued to have faith, the merit of which seems to have helped King Ajātaśtru. In Buddhism there is an important teaching that virtue stored within will naturally rise to the surface. Never-Despising Bodhisattva in the Lotus Sūtra bowed to passersby, saying, “I have heartfelt respect for you.” The “Lion-Roaring Bodhisattva” chapter in the Nirvana Sūtra says that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature. It is stated in the Awakening of Faith in Mahayana by Bodhisattva Aśvaghosa, “As the wisdom of enlightenment works within, delusions are exterminated and, in turn, the Dharma body of enlightenment appears.” The same is preached in the Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice written by Bodhisattva Maitreya. These passages all mean that the internally hidden virtue will spontaneously rise to the surface.

Sushun Tennō Gosho, The ‘Emperor Shushun’ Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119

This “hidden virtue” complements the “intention” discussed on Day 35.

100 Days of Study

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 6, 2018

I am grateful to have been born a human with this precious body due to accumulated causes and conditions in my past existences. According to the sutra, I must have encountered and given offerings to ten trillion Buddhas in the past. Even though I did not place my faith exclusively in the Lotus Sutra, thus slandering the Dharma and being born poor and lowly in this life as a result, my merit of giving offerings to the Buddhas was so great that I was born as a believer of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the Testimony of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Shōmyō-shō) addressed to Nanjō Tokimitsu. Unlike most of those who practiced the Buddha Dharma in his time, Nichiren did not belong to the higher classes of royalty or warriors. He saw clearly the suffering of common people and vowed to end it. He realized that the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra does not lie in its power to bring rain or change history. The power of this sūtra lies in its determination to save all beings, rich or poor, noble or common, deluded or wise. Nichiren’s offering to the Buddha was to spread this Wonderful Dharma. To benefit the Buddha is to benefit all beings.

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