Monthly Archives: August 2018

beginning

The Four Noble Truths Explained

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of Suffering. Birth is suffering; old age is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering; meeting people one hates is suffering; parting from people one loves is suffering; failing to get what one wants is suffering. In other words, all five aggregates of the body and mind, which have attachments to things and to people, and of the environment are suffering. This is the Noble Truth of Suffering.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering. Craving – for sensual pleasure, continued existence, and annihilation; for happiness in all places, accompanied by joy and covetousness – which leads to rebirth, is the basic cause and reason for suffering. And this is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering. The Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering is the total elimination of craving, abandoning it entirely, being liberated from it, and no longer having any attachments.

“O brothers, this is the Noble Truth of the Path to the Extinction of Suffering. The Eightfold Noble Path – right view, right thinking, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right memory, and right meditation – is the Noble Truth of the Path to the Extinction of Suffering.” (Page 33-34)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

Doctrines of Nichiren

To Become a Bodhisattva, or Even a Buddha

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It is not difficult for any one to become a Bodhisattva, or even a Buddha. Women, too, may succeed, in spite of the exceptional difficulty which popular Buddhist teaching attributes to the female sex in such a quest. Why, even a female dragon is said to have attained to Buddhahood; and if that is true, why not a female human bing? Devadatta became a Buddha in spite of his infernal character. Why, then, not another man?

Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)

Lotus Path

The Heart of the Matter

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Here is the heart of the matter: Every day we should live our lives as not just disciples of the Buddha, but as Bodhisattvas from beneath the ground, disciples of the Eternal Buddha. Our actions are the most powerful form of speech.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 10, 2018

Therefore, Universal-Sage! When you see the keeper of this sūtra in the distance, you should rise from your seat, go to him, receive him, and respect him just as you respect me.

The Buddha gives this instruction to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. When we open our eyes to the wonders of the world, and truly appreciate the innumerable beings who share it with us, we can feel alone and insignificant. The Buddha’s Wonderful Dharma shows us both the unimaginable expanse of this universe and the importance of our place in it. None of us can be replaced. Our purpose is neither the futile pursuit of pleasure, nor to make our isolated existence permanent. We are here to open the gate of the Buddha’s wisdom to all beings, to show all beings the joy of enlightenment, and to help them put themselves on the path to enlightenment. We do this by cultivating respect for all beings and, heeding the instructions in this verse, respecting all beings as much as we would the Buddha himself.

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

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month heard the reaction of the gods that they also shall be able to become Buddhas, we listen as Śāriputra asks the Buddha to reassure “these twelve hundred people” of their future Buddhahood.

Thereupon Śāriputra said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Now my doubts are gone. You assured me of my future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These twelve hundred people now have freedom of mind. When they had something more to learn, [that is to say, when they had not yet completed their study for Arhatship,] you taught them, saying, ‘My teaching is for the purpose of causing you to emancipate yourselves from birth, old age, disease, and death, and to attain Nirvāṇa.’ The [two thousand] people, including those who have something more to learn and those who have nothing more to learn, also think that they attained Nirvāṇa because they emancipated themselves from such a view as ‘I exist,’ or ‘I shall exist forever,’ or ‘I shall cease to exist.’ But [both the twelve hundred people and the two thousand people] are now quite perplexed because they have heard from you [the Dharma] which they had never heard before. World-Honored One! In order to cause the four kinds of devotees to remove their doubts, explain why you said all this to them!”

See Our Spiritual Parent

LS32, d6b, d7b, d8b, d21b, LS Introduction

Our Spiritual Parent

We can compare the Buddha’s method with that of parents who raise their children with tender loving care. Most of the time, the children are not aware of how much is being done for them. They take their parents’ love for granted. Often they fully appreciate all that their parents have done for them only after the parents have died. Then they wish they had displayed more gratitude when they had the chance. The parents, on the other hand, must be careful, and not give their children everything they ask for. Pampered children can quickly become spoiled and helpless. Their parents will not be able to care for them forever.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Profound

The Essence of T’ien-t’ai Buddhism

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At the time of Chih-i, facing voluminous Buddhist scriptures and commentaries and diverse discourses, there was obviously an urgent need for a comprehensive guideline to swim through controversies in order to get a clear picture of what the real theme of the teaching of the Buddha is. Only when the real intention of the Buddha was grasped, the disputes over various Buddhist principles could be resolved. It was Chih-i who has come to the scene to fulfill this huge task. He has appropriately chosen the Lotus Sūtra to be the supreme doctrine, because of its reconcilable nature in incorporating all divisions of Buddhism, and because it equally addresses all sentient beings. The essence of T’ien-t’ai Buddhism is revealed through this text with Chih-i’s unique interpretations. When the concepts and principles in Indian Buddhism are reshaped, remolded, redefined, and re-categorized with Chinese epistemology in Chih-i’s system, they become distinctively Chinese, forming the main characteristics of Chinese Buddhism. Therefore, Chih-i is worthy to be called one of the greatest Buddhist masters in China, who contributed greatly to Chinese Buddhism which developed to full bloom in the T’ang Dynasty. (Preface xix-xxx)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


beginning

The Law of Causation

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The Law of Causation, which is perfectly sound from the rational, ethical, and religious viewpoints and which has a universal validity enabling it to withstand any criticism, was formulated as a result of examination and criticism of all the other imperfect and irrational systems in India in Shakyamuni’s time. The Law of Causation teaches both the theoretical and practical application of the idea that there is no immortal, immutable self or soul.

The Law had never been taught in India before. It is the characteristic that sets Buddhism apart from other philosophies and religions. But though he discovered it, Shakyamuni did not create it.

This Law is an absolute truth—recognizable as true by all peoples, in all places, and at all times—existing eternally independent of the appearance in the world of a Tathagata (a term for a Buddha, Tathagata means one who has come the full Way, who has reached the truth and come to declare it). Shakyamuni merely discovered and taught the Law. (Page 29-30)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

History of Japanese Religion

The Middle Way

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Thus the philosophy of Tendai establishes a synthesis, called the Middle Way, between the two extremes of common-sense realism and transcendental idealism, in repudiating either the former position that a particular being is a reality in itself and by itself, and the latter conception of reality amounting to the denial of anything but the absolute and transcendental. The Middle Way is at the same time the all-embracing One Road (Eka-yāna), because it presupposes the basic unity of Buddha and all other beings, and emphasizes the possibility, nay necessity, of raising all beings to the dignity of Buddha himself. The historical Buddha was, according to this conception, a manifestation of the universal and primordial Buddha-nature for the sake of inducing all beings to the full realization of their own real nature or metaphysical entity identical with that of Buddha himself.

History of Japanese Religion

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 9, 2018

Anyone who understands why the Buddhas expound [many] sūtras,
Who knows the position [of this sūtra in the series of sūtras],
And who expounds it after my extinction
According to its true meaning,
Will be able to eliminate the darkness
Of the living beings of the world where he walks about,
Just as the light of the sun and the moon
Eliminates all darkness.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. The superiority of the Lotus Sūtra does not disparage the Buddha’s expedient teachings. The Lotus Sūtra leads all beings to enlightenment. Other teachings could only reach a limited audience. When we as Bodhisattvas who are determined to benefit all beings expound this highest expression of the Buddha’s wisdom, and do not limit ourselves to saving only a few, then we become the light that limits the darkness of ignorance, fear and violence in this world of conflict.

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