Monthly Archives: May 2018

Lotus Path

Sandcastles

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We may have had an experience of building sandcastles while on vacation at some beach. Sandcastles are not very long lasting, usually until the next tide cycle, and then they are gone.

Sandcastles are a fun way to spend some relaxing time. Yet how much of our lives do we spend constructing sandcastles in our everyday lives? We make castles of stuff, basking in our accomplishments. We build mighty fortresses out of our sense of self and rightness. We build walls of superiority and arrogance to ward off the connections of life and the world around us. We go to great lengths doing what seems worthwhile and important, yet in the end it is worthless. And can easily be destroyed by the changes in life, be it job, relationships, income, health, even aging.

The reality of impermanence and the truth of change is relentless at tearing down our sandcastle walls. Only when we awaken to the true nature of reality – the Buddhahood that perfectly exists already in our life – can we experience a life of indestructible happiness.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 83 of 100

The character Myō in the Myōhō Renge Kyō (Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma) was verified by the tongues of the two Buddhas (Śākyamuni and Many Treasures). The tongues of these two Buddhas are an eightfold double-blooming lotus flower. A wish-fulfilling gem, on top of this double-blooming lotus flower, is the character Myō. This wish-fulfilling gem, the character Myō, contains all the merits of Śākyamuni Buddha’s Six Paramita (the six kinds of practice by which He attained Buddhahood). In a previous life, Śākyamuni offered His own body to a hungry tiger and sacrificed His life to a hawk to save a dove (charity). When He was King Śrutasoma, he did not violate the Buddhist precepts even at the cost of his life (precepts). When he was Hermit Forbearance, he willingly endured the tortures of King Kālika cutting off his four limbs (forbearance). When he was Prince Dāna, he devoted his life to finding a wishfulfilling gem to save people (effort). When he was the Hermit Shōjari, he did not move until the eggs that a heron placed on his head hatched (meditation). And so on. Therefore, we in the Latter Age of Degeneration who simply believe in the Lotus Sūtra are able to receive the same merit gained by practicing the Six Pāramitā in full even if we haven’t performed any good deeds.

Nichimyō Shōnin Gosho, A Letter to Nichimyō Shōnin, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 138-139

A little background from the Glossary:

Śrutasoma (Shudama-ō)
The Great Wisdom Discourse speaks of this king as the man who never violated the precept against lying. When he was captured by Kalmāsapāda (Rokusoku-ō) to be beheaded, he appealed for a postponement of seven days to fulfill the promise he had made earlier. His appeal was granted and after fulfilling his promise, it is said, Śrutasoma went back to his captor to be killed.
Hermit Forbearance (Ninniku Sennin)
A Jataka tale told in the Kengu-kyō and other sources. When the Buddha was practicing forbearance in his previous life as Hermit Forbearance; he was not moved even when his ears and limbs were cut off and eyes were gouged out. (See King Kālika)
King Kālika (Kariō)
According to a Jataka tale in the Kengu-kyō, the king of Vārāṇasī in a past life met Hermit Forbearance practicing the perseverance paramita in the mountain. In order to test the truth of the hermit’s practice, the king cut off the hermit’s ears and four limbs and gouged out his eyes, but the hermit not only kept his perseverance but also showed his supernatural power of restoring his original body. The king then deeply repented and became deeply religious.
Prince Dāna (Nōse Taishi)
A Jataka tale cited in the Kengu-kyō and other sources. When Śākyamuni Buddha was the crown prince of the kingdom in a past life, he overcame various difficulties to visit the Dragon Palace in the ocean, where he was given the wish-fulfilling gem from the dragon king, thereby he was able to gain infinite amount of food and clothing to save the poor.
Hermit Shōjari
A Jataka tale cited in the Great Wisdom Discourse. When Śākyamuni was practicing meditation as Hermit Shōjari in a previous life, His compassion was said to cover not only people but also all living beings.
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 22, 2018

All things are possible if people are united in one spirit. Nothing can be accomplished if they are not united. It is also true in non-Buddhist scriptures. For instance, a king of Y’in in old China, King Chieh who had an army of seven hundred thousand men disunited in spirit, was defeated by King Wu of Chou and his army of eight hundred men, who were united in one spirit. So that if a person has two thoughts, nothing can be accomplished. Even if there are hundreds or thousands of people, if they are united in one they are surely able to accomplish their aim.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Cooperation (Itai Doshin-ji). When we develop the Bodhisattva mind of compassion, we learn that compassion is present in all beings. As we aspire to the Buddha mind of wisdom, we find that all beings have wisdom. When we act from compassion and wisdom rather than fear and delusion, we are united with the true minds of all beings.

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 considered the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children, we consider the lesson.

“Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said:

“I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.”

See The Physician and His Children

LS32, d21b, LS Introduction

The Physician and His Children

In this story [in Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata], the physician, the children’s father, is compared to the Buddha, and the children are like us, ordinary people. The father’s fictitious death is like the Buddha’s entrance into Nirvana. The children suffering from poison means that our life is afflicted by various worldly desires, the most basic of which are called the “three poisons” (greed, anger, and ignorance). We who writhe in agony but reject the Buddha’s eternal existence, are like delirious children. Only when he has left us, and we have found no other remedy, will we accept the remedy which he has left behind for us to take. And only after we have taken it in faith, does he reveal himself to us in his glorious reality.

We can comprehend this as a theory, or understand in our minds what is meant by the Eternal Buddha, but still not have faith in him. We can understand Buddhism, but still not realize its power. Only when we believe in him, can we actually see the Buddha.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

History of Japanese Religion

The Gospel of Universal Salvation

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The central idea in Buddhist teaching is the gospel of universal salvation based on the idea of the fundamental oneness of all beings. There are in the world, Buddhism teaches, manifold existences and innumerable beings, and each of these individuals deems himself to be a separate being and behaves accordingly. But in reality they make up one family, there is one continuity throughout, and this oneness is to be realized in the attainment of Buddhahood on the part of each and all, in the full realization of the universal communion. Individuals may purify themselves and thereby escape the miseries of sinful existence, yet our salvation is imperfect so long as and so far as there remain any who have not realized the universal spiritual communion, i.e., who are not saved. To save oneself by saving others is the gospel of universal salvation taught by Buddhism.

History of Japanese Religion

WONS, 100 Days of Study

Day 82 of 100

To begin with, in the sūtras numbering more than 5,000 or 7,000 fascicles expounded by Śākyamuni Buddha during His lifetime, women are discriminated against for being unable to attain Buddhahood. Only in the Lotus Sūtra, however, is it preached that women, too, can attain Buddhahood.

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai stated in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Prediction of future Buddhahood is not given to women.” This means that all the Buddhist scriptures except the Lotus Sūtra do not recognize the attainment of Buddhahood by women. Following the statement just cited, Grand Master T’ien t’ai declares, “In this sūtra, the prediction of future Buddhahood is given to all.” This means that through the merit of the Lotus Sūtra even a dragon girl attained Buddhahood and the attainment of Buddhahood by all females is guaranteed in the sūtra.

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai Chih-che was born in China 1,500 years after the passing of Śākyamuni Buddha. He read all the scriptures of Buddhism as many as 15 times thereby discovering that no sūtra except the Lotus Sūtra expounds the attainment of Buddhahood by women. Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Attainment of Buddhahood by women is not preached in any other sūtra except the Lotus Sūtra.” This means that the concept of attaining Buddhahood by women preached in the Lotus Sūtra is not found in any other Buddhist scriptures.

Thus, the Lotus Sūtra is like the moon among stars, a king among people, Mt. Sumeru among mountains, or an ocean among bodies of water. As it is preached in this admirable sūtra that women can become Buddhas, how can it bother you that this is denied in all other sūtras? For instance, if one is spoken ill of by such unworthy people as thieves, prowlers, robbers, beggars, or lepers, but spoken highly of by the great king of a country, how happy one will be!

Nichigen-nyo Shakabutsu Kuyōji, Construction of a Statue of Śākyamuni Buddha by Lady Nichigen, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 125

I often wonder how women can find solace in other sūtras. “The Lotus Sūtra is like the moon among stars, a king among people, Mt. Sumeru among mountains, or an ocean among bodies of water.”

100 Days of Study

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 21, 2018

Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! If anyone keeps this sūtra in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], I will protect him so that he may be free from any trouble, that he may be peaceful, and that no one may take advantage [of his weak points].”

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. In this world of conflict, it can seem like very few people are practicing the Buddha Dharma with us. Nichiren compared those beings alive in this world of conflict to the amount of soil in the whole earth, while those who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra are like the dirt under a fingernail. The vow of Universal-Sage reminds us that innumerable beings support our practice and that in turn, we support them with our practice.

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

Thereupon the World-Honored One, having sung these gāthās, said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World. When they were there, they read many sūtras, recited them, understood them, thought them over, evaluated them, and remembered them correctly. Ajita! These good men did not wish to talk much with others [about things other than the Dharma] but to live in a quiet place. They practiced the way strenuously without a rest. They did not live among gods and men. They had no hindrance in seeking profound wisdom. They always sought the teaching of the Buddha. They sought unsurpassed wisdom strenuously with all their hearts.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Ajita, know this, these great Bodhisattvas
Have studied and practiced
The wisdom of the Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.

They are my sons because I taught them
And caused them to aspire for great enlightenment.
They have been living in this world
[For the past innumerable kalpas].

They always practiced the dhuta.
They wished to live in a quiet place.
They kept away from bustling crowds.
They did not wish to talk much.

These sons of mine studied my teachings
Strenuously day and night
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.
They lived in the sky
Below this Sahā-World.

Resolute in mind,
They always sought wisdom,
And expounded
Various wonderful teachings without fear.

I once sat under the Bodhi-tree
In the City of Gaya,
Attained perfect enlightenment,
And turned the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma.

Then I taught them,
And caused them to aspire £or enlightenment.
Now they do not falter [in seeking enlightenment].
They will be able to become Buddhas.

My words are true.
Believe me with all your hearts!
I have been teaching them
Since the remotest past.

See The Bodhisattvas from Underground

LS32, d19b, LS Introduction

The Bodhisattvas from Underground

In Chapter 15, the “Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground,” the earth split open before Sakyamuni, and countless Bodhisattvas welled forth. Among these Bodhisattvas, four of them were the leaders. Their names were Superb-Action, Limitless-Action, Pure-Action, and Steadily-Established Action. They and the innumerable great beings accompanying them had appeared in this world to take on the task of disseminating the Lotus Sutra after Sakyamuni’s extinction. In [Chapter 21], “Supernatural Powers of the Tathagatas,” Sakyamuni assigns them the mission for which they had come, and transmits the Sutra to them for dissemination in the future.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra