Monthly Archives: September 2018

Lotus Path

Purification

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There is a ritual that we sometimes observe in Nichiren Shu called suigyo, or water purification practice. The phrases we recite as we are performing this ritual speak of cleansing ourselves, making our lives pure in order to carry out the practice of spreading the Dharma.

Let us renew our efforts to clean ourselves, not only physically but spiritually as well. Let us reconcile all of our past grudges, the things that hold us back, let us make fresh our entire lives, and renew our efforts to share the Dharma with great joy.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 9, 2018

May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!

These verses are from Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, where the Brahma Kings from the ten quarters of the universe come to celebrate the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. We too can cultivate this wish that all the good results of our life’s work be for the benefit of all beings.

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

Profound

Number 4

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Number four is extremely important in Chih-i’s system of classification. The well-established Buddhist notions, such as the Four Noble Truths and the Twelvefold Causality are corresponded by Chih-i’s own theory of the Four Teachings. Coherently, his theories of the four types of the Four Noble Truths and the four types of the Twelvefold Causality are formulated corresponding to the Four Teachings. In my opinion, the number four that is embodied by the Four Teachings is consciously or unconsciously significant to Chih-i. Number four represents the four seasons of a year, signifying a complete cycle of succession. With different seasons, different kinds of plants are able to grow. Our understanding of Chih-i’s use of number four is that, like the function of all four seasons which allow all plants to grow and to ripen, the Fourfold Teaching is designed by Chih-i to signify that it addresses all sentient beings with different capacities. (Pages 126-127)

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


beginning

Eight Matters

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[I]n the Suttanipata (stanza 267) we find: “To remain unshaken by contact with the things of the secular world, to be free of anxiety, to be undefiled, and to be tranquil. This is the highest blessing.”

The following eight matters are the things of the world referred to in this stanza: gain and loss, fame and disgrace, praise and slander, and pleasure and pain. We are made happy when we gain and grow wealthy; we suffer and are disappointed when we lose property and become poor. We are elated at good reputation but distressed or filled with hatred for others when we are spoken ill of or are ignored by the world. Praise lifts us to the heights of joy; slander or criticism makes us resentful or hateful. We rejoice at health and the free life, but we become despondent when we are ill or fall on hard times. These ways of being moved by the eight things of the world are common to all mankind. The person who lacks true independence is always tossed here and there by these matters and ends his life in a weak, unstable condition. Hatred, fights, bloodshed, despondency, desperation, and suicide are some of the outcomes of being swayed by the eight things of the world. Buddhism teaches that we must not be moved or suffer when we come in contact with these things but must live in tranquility. This does not mean that we must attempt to avoid such contact. It does not mean that we must retire to remote mountainous regions to be free of the things of the world. The teaching of Buddhism is that, remaining part of society and facing the eight things of the world and all they imply directly, we must nonetheless be unmoved by them.

To do this we must maintain in our hearts something transcending these things. Doing this raises us to a position of high independence from which we must observe all things coolly, judge them accurately, and deal with them correctly. The transcendent something that enables us to live in this way is the correct Buddhist view of the world and of human life and the Buddhist understanding of the truth about all phenomena. Unbreakable faith in the Three Treasures, too, is essential. These views and this faith give human beings the ideal, rational critical attitude called right mindfulness and right knowledge. Because of this attitude, the believer is enabled to keep in mind always the basic Buddhist tenets that all things are impermanent, that nothing has an ego, and that nirvana is quiescence. This in turn makes it habitual to remain undisturbed and calm in all considerations and actions. (Page 132-133)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Having last month witnessed the clearing of twigs and leaves from the congregation, we hear Śākyamuni explain the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”

The Buddha said to him:

“The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, expound this Wonderful Dharma as rarely as the udumbara-flower blooms. Śāriputra! Believe what T am going to say! My words are not false.

“Śāriputra! The purpose of the various teachings that the Buddhas expound according to the capacities of all living beings is difficult to understand. I also expound various teachings with innumerable expedients, that is to say, with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses. [The purpose of the various teachings of the Buddhas is difficult to understand] because the Dharma cannot be understood by reasoning. Only the Buddhas know the Dharma because the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds only for one great purpose.

“Śāriputra! What is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds? The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to enter the Way to the insight of the Buddha. Śāriputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”

Why study Buddhism? Why read the Lotus Sūtra? “To obtain the insight of the Buddha.” Not being reborn in some distant paradise. Not escape suffering. “This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”

History of Japanese Religion

The ‘Truth Body’

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According to the doctrine of the Tendai school, Buddha is really a man and yet the Truth itself. As a man of historical reality, he attained the full truth of existence and lived accordingly; he is the Tathāgata, the Truth-winner. This aspect of his being is, however, but a manifestation of the Dharmaui, the fundamental nature of the universe, which consists in the correlated unity of all the varieties and variations of existence. In other words, in Buddha we see, the one who has come down from the height of enlightenment to live among us in order to reveal the real nature of our being. He is the Tathāgata, the Truth-revealer, and he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. This is the aspect of his personality expressed by the term Dharma-kāya (Jap, Hosshin), the “Truth-body.” All and every one of us participate in this universal Buddha-soul; it is in fact inherent in us, although we may be quite unaware of it. Faith is nothing but a realization, a bringing to full consciousness, of the innermost identity of our own being with the Dharma-kāya.

History of Japanese Religion

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 8, 2018

Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observes the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We often think of merits as bonus points we get for good deeds. Good karma we create to offset the bad karma that came from our less skillful actions. Another way of looking at merits is as a measure of clarity. The more merit we gain, the more we see things for what they are. When we offer our merits for the benefit of all beings, we resolve to use this clarity to enhance the lives of others.

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

Profound

Number 5

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Number “five” in Chinese culture elaborates the change of worldly phenomena. This is to say that the fundamental set of five is composed of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. They are the five basic elements that construe the world, and each of them is connected to one another in sequence and rotates one after another in a full circle (i.e., wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, and water produces wood). These Five Elements (Wu-hang) incorporate all other sets of five things, in a sense that all of them correspond to the Five Elements, such as five directions (east, west, south, north, and center), five musical notes (Kung, Shang, Chüeh, Chih, Yü), five internal organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys), five grains (rice, two kinds of millet, wheat and beans), and so forth. Although these numerical categories of five represent different phenomena, each of them is simply a different name for the same principle the Five Elements denote (since all of them correspond to the Five Elements). That is, the universe (whether as microcosm or macrocosm) is presented as a complete circle of change among five elements (each of which is related to one another). Therefore, any set of these five phenomena forms a circle of correspondence among each other and symbolizes completion and perfection.

It is interesting to note that Chih-i’s Five Sections (five categories of analysis or five layers of the abstruse meaning), i.e., name, substance, gist, function, and teaching, are arranged for the interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra. Whether intentionally or not, this number five corresponds to the number of words “Miao-fa Lien-hua Ching” that constitute the title of the Lotus Sūtra. While these five words as the title of the Lotus Sūtra is underlined the profound principle, the Five Sections are designed to explore the profound meaning that is contained in each word. Furthermore, the Five Periods (Wu-shih) in Chih-i’s system of classifying the teaching of the Buddha (P’an-chiao) are able to incorporate the whole of the Buddha’s teachings chronologically. In addition, the five flavors of dairy products are employed to analogize these five periods, denoting the perfection of the complete circle of the Buddha’s teaching career.

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


beginning

Keep Calm and Carry On

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[Shakyamuni admonished his followers on how they should react to outside criticism or praise of the Three Treasures]:

“O brothers, you must not be disappointed or angry or harbor ill will against others who slander the Buddha, the Law, and the Order, for if you do, you will lose the calm that enables you to judge rationally whether what the person has to say is true or false.

“In instances of slander, you must remain cool so that you can distinguish between truth and error and be able to say, ‘For this reason, what he says is different from the truth. In this point he fails to reach the truth. We are not as he says we are.’

“Similarly, you must not be quick to rejoice and be glad when an outsider praises the Three Treasures, for if you become carried away with being lauded, you will lose the calm that enables you to judge rationally whether the praise is true or erroneous. In cases of praise, too, you must remain cool so that you can judge facts as facts and can say, ‘For this reason, what he says is a fact. In this point he has reached the truth. We do have the characteristics he attributes to us.’

“In many instances, praise of an outsider is directed toward trivial, superficial aspects and not to the basic doctrines of Buddhism. Therefore, since they do not praise the things that are truly praiseworthy, you must not rejoice or be elated by what people speaking in this way have to say.” (Page 131)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

LS32, WONS

Day 2

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Having last month considered the role of Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva, we conclude Chapter 1, Introductory.

The ray of light of [Sun-Moon-] Light Buddha,
That is, the good omen, was the same as what I see now.
Judging from this, the present Buddha also will expound
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The good omen I see now is like that of old.
This is an expedient employed by the Buddhas.
The present Buddha is also emitting a ray of light
In order to reveal the truth of the reality [of all things].

[Mañjuśrī said to the multitude:]

All of you, know this, join your hands together,
And wait with one mind!
The Buddha will send the rain of the Dharma
And satisfy those who seek enlightenment.

The Buddha will remove
Any doubt of those who seek
The teaching of the Three Vehicles.
No question will be left unresolved.

Nichiren Shōnin compares the omens of this chapter with what’s to come in the Lotus Sūtra in his letter Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens:

The Buddha … showed the ten supernatural powers in the “Divine Powers of the Buddha” chapter. These divine powers were far superior to the omens displayed in the “Introductory” and “Emergence of the Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapters. In the case of the “Introductory” chapter, the rays of light emitted from the forehead of the Buddha shone on 18,000 lands to the east. Compared to this, similar rays of light shown in the “Divine Powers of the Buddha” chapter shone on all the worlds throughout the universe. The trembling of the earth described in the “Introductory” chapter was limited to the triple thousand worlds, but the great earthquakes of the “Divine Powers of the Buddha” chapter covered all the worlds of numerous Buddhas, where the earth trembled in six different ways. Compared to the great omens described in the “Divine Powers of the Buddha” chapter, other omens were indeed inferior.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 123