Monthly Archives: April 2018

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 51 of 100

As the will of the Buddha, no sūtra is superior to the Nirvana Sūtra. Seven kinds of people are enumerated in this sūtra. The first are people called icchantika, who are unable to get out of the ocean of life and death just as a huge rock thrown into the ocean. It is too heavy to float in the water and remains at the bottom of the sea forever; they are eternally drowned.

The second kind of people are those who are able to float in the water only momentarily. They have the power of floating in the water, but they cannot stay above the water because they have not learned how to keep floating. They are not icchantika but similar; they, too, are eternally drowned.

The third group of people are able to stay in the river of life and death without ever drowning. They are at the rank of śrāvaka such as Śāriputra. The fourth are the people who learned how to float in the water but did not find the way out of the water. The fifth are those who can stay above the water to look around, but got scared, and quit.

The sixth kind of people are those who float in the water, are afraid of pirates in the distance as well as nearby, and decide to stay in a shallow place. The seventh group of people are those who have reached the other shore, where they enjoy great pleasure without fear. Those of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh groups refer to pratyekabuddha and bodhisattvas.

Jōren-bō Gosho, A Letter to Jōren-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 168

Imagine learning to float but getting scared and quitting, or worse staying in shallow waters for fear of pirates. Only with the Lotus Sūtra can the rock float to the other side.

100 Days of Study

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 20, 2018

When the sky is blue, the land is bright. In this way those who know the Lotus Sutra can see the reasons for occurrences in the world. For those who are incapable of understanding the truth of the “3000 existences contained in one thought,” Lord Śākyamuni Buddha with his great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge and kyō and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The four great Bodhisattvas will protect such people, just as the Duke of Chou assisted the young ruler, King Chen, or the Four Elders attended the child Emperor Hui.

Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). This reminds us that whether or not we are able to make sense of the Buddha’s most difficult teaching, what is important is to rely on his determination to help us become enlightened. It is in our practice of reciting the sacred title: “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,” that we express all the teachings of the Buddha and help all beings become enlightened.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Having last month learned why the Buddha says he will pass away, we consider 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.

“The father thought, ‘These sons are pitiful. They are so poisoned that they are perverted. Although they rejoice at seeing me and ask me to cure them, they do not consent to take this good medicine. Now I will have them take it with an expedient.’

“He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. lam leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!’ Having thus advised them, he went to a [remote] country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, ‘Your father has just died.’

“Having heard that their father had passed away from this world, leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, ‘If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has
deserted us and died in a remote country.’

“They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison. On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.

See The Reality of This World

LS32, d21b, LS Introduction

The Reality of This World

[In Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata, Sakyamuni says:]

In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
It is filled with gods and men.
Its gardens, forests, and palaces
Are adorned with all kinds of treasures.
Jewel trees blossom with flowers and fruit;
Sentient beings are joyful here; Deities beat heavenly drums,
Make various kinds of music,
And rain mandarava-flowers on me
And all my assembly (p. 247-248).

This part implies that this very World of Endurance in which we now live transforms into the Buddha’s Pure Land, where there is neither fear nor impurity. The words about heavenly beings, gardens, forests, palaces, treasures, treasure trees, and so forth, express the beauty and wonders of the Pure Land.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Lotus World

The Five Gohonzons

In Nichiren Shu, there are five different ways of representing the
gohonzon:

  1. A statue of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha.
  2. A statue of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha flanked by the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
  3. Paired statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Tathagata flanking the Stupa of Treasures inscribed with the words “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” This is the depiction used most often in the main halls of temples. The phrase Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the Odaimoku or “Honored Title” of the Lotus Sutra.
  4. An inscription of the Odaimoku alone.
  5. The Great Mandala depicting the Odaimoku illuminating the Ten Worlds. Nichiren made many such mandalas; 128 of them are still extant. Among them, the Nichiren Shu has chosen the Shutei Mandala that Nichiren made in 1280 and had at his deathbed as the one that it officially bestows upon members. The Great Mandala is the most popular form of the gohonzon for enshrinement in the home.
Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 50 of 100

Thinking over these matters, I begin to dream while resting on my meditation cushion. Awakened by a deer crying for his mate, I realize that within me the moon of “the unity of the triple truth” and “threefold contemplation in a single thought” has been shining brightly all along, but because the moon was covered by the clouds of deep ignorance I have suffered through the cycle of birth and death in the nine realms until today. My present realization is:

Even the clouds of ignorance
That spread over us
Would be dispersed
By the winds of Mt. Sacred Eagle
Filled with the sound of the Sacred Dharma.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 131

I saved this to mark to half-way point in my 100 Days of Study.

100 Days of Study

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 19, 2018

If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I will pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore I say [to them] expediently, ’Bhikṣus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in [this] world.’

The Buddha makes this explanation to those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. We may wonder what took the Buddha so long to give his highest teaching to us, whether he was holding it back because of stinginess, not wanting to share the great treasure of his wisdom. Here and in other parts of the Sūtra, he shows that unless we cultivate our respect for the Buddha, and thus for all beings, we take him for granted and lose his precious wisdom.

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

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 questions raised by Bodhisattvas accompanying the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha, we hear Śākyamuni’s response.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

“Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he said, sang in gāthās:

Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

Now [will relieve you.
Do not doubt me! Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

See Land of Endurance

LS32, LS Introduction

Land of Endurance

Saha-world can be translated as “World of Endurance” or “Perseverance.” It is also called “the defiled land.” Land of Endurance means the place where we must bear up under many pains, and “defiled land” means a place that is corrupted. When we humbly examine our conscience, we realize how many worldly desires we have, and how deeply we have been contaminated by them. This is the normal human condition, so the real world, where such contaminated humans congregate, is filled with vice and impurity. Therefore, it is called the defiled land. On the other hand, we can imagine a Pure Land, created and inhabited by ideal beings. Such an ideal world, however, is generally thought to exist somewhere far away, infinitely distant from the real world. For example, the Western Pure Land of Amitayus Buddha, said to exist ten thousand billion countries to the west, is a typical expression of this human longing for a pure place somewhere where everyone will be happy.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Spring Writings

The Ideal World, the Pure Land and Heaven

Quote

The foundation of the Lotus Sutra gives us a new concept of religion. It was expounded 2,500 years ago that, “This world can be a pure land or an ideal world.” We tend to complain about this world, seeing it as a corrupted human world. People want to give up the real world, and expect a pure land in another world after death. However, the Lotus Sutra teaches us that the pure land is neither another world, nor a place to go to after death. “Here is the ideal world, the pure land and heaven.”

Spring Writings