Monthly Archives: September 2018

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 25, 2018

To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is where the Buddha reveals for the first time his ever-present nature. He became enlightened in the remotest past, and will continue teaching all beings far into the future. There is a view that to see a Buddha in our time requires a supernatural way of seeing, even a personal vision or a revelation not available to ordinary people. What the Buddha teaches here is that he is always visible to anyone, anywhere. It is when we look for him to teach us and are compassionate and disciplined in our desires that he appears to us.

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

Profound

Chih-i’s Perfect and Harmonizing Philosophy

Quote

By elaborating the relation between the Origin as the Ultimate and the Traces as the Relative—the two divisions that constitute the Lotus Sūtra, the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra is developed coherently according to these two divisions. By stating that the Origin is the cause for the manifestation of the Traces, and the Traces are the effect derived from the Origin, the connections among the Ten Subtleties, the Five Sections, the Four Siddhāntas, and the Four Teachings are revealed. This revelation demonstrates the systematic nature of Chih-i’s theory that is coherent and consistent, embodying once more his perfect and harmonizing philosophy. (Page 150)

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


beginning

Theoretical Foundations and Faith

Quote

The Buddhist sects that developed in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1336)–notably the Jōdo sect, the Zen sects, and the Nichiren sect–are characteristically Japanese. They manifest a lofty purity and a penetration into the true spirit of Buddhism that are difficult to find elsewhere in the history of the religion. In these sects, simple acts like chanting formulas in praise of Amida Buddha or the Lotus Sutra or like seated meditation are considered sufficient for salvation in themselves without philosophizing or theoretical inquiries. But this does not mean that these sects lack theoretical foundations. Quite to the contrary, their founders evolved direct and clear acts of practical faith–chanting and meditation–after profound and extensive scholarly research. The ordinary man is not required to perform such research for himself: he need only follow the directions of his religious leader. Indeed, in these sects, theoretical study and speculation are forbidden as hindrances to practical faith. (Page 159-160)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

See this blog post.

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Having last month considered in gāthās guidelines for expounding this Sūtra, we hear the Parable of the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot.

I will tell you a parable.
A wheel-turning-holy-king was powerful.
Some of his soldiers
Distinguished themselves in war.
He was glad to honor them.
He gave them elephants or horses,
Vehicles or ornaments,
Paddy fields or houses,
Villages or cities,
Garments or various treasures,
Menservants or maidservants,
Or other valuables.

He took a brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it to the bravest man
Who had done the most difficult feats.

I am like the king.
I am the King of the Dharma.
I have the great power of patience
And the treasury of wisdom.
I save all living beings in the world by the Dharma
Out of my great compassion towards them.

The people were under the pressure
Of various sufferings.
They were fighting with the Maras
In order to emancipate themselves
From suffering.
Because I saw all this,
I expounded various teachings to them.
I expounded many sūtras with skillful expedients.

Now I know that they can understand the Sutra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Therefore, I expound it to them lastly
Just as the king took the brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it [to the bravest man lastly].

For me, the importance here is the idea that “people were under the pressure of various sufferings” and “I expounded many sūtras with skillful expedients.” Finally, “Now I know that they can understand the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Therefore, I expound it to them lastly.” This is the same message we get in Chapter 3, A Parable. Having convinced his children to come out of the burning house, the Buddha relates: “Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvāṇa, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathāgata.’ ”

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Our Assurance of Enlightenment

Quote

Our world is a difficult world in which to practice the Lotus Sutra and to attain Buddhahood. Yet of all the disciples of the Buddha, we the practitioners in this latter age of the degeneration of the Dharma and at a time so distant from the life of the Buddha, we are the only ones who have been assured of enlightenment in this world.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 24, 2018

Your face is most wonderful.
Your light illumines the worlds of the ten quarters.
I once made offerings to you.
Now I have come to see you again.

Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva sings these verses to Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha in a story told in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. That Bodhisattva was the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva who accepted all of the misfortunes of this world of delusion and ignorance so that he could benefit all beings living here. When we awaken our nature as Bodhisattvas, and resolve to use the Buddha’s teachings to purify this world, then we are assured we will never fail to meet Buddhas and repay the good they do for us.

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

Profound

One Thousand Suchnesses

Quote

The notion “one hundred Dharma-realms and a thousand Suchnesses”
(Pai-chieh Ch ‘ien-ju) results from the interpenetration among the Ten Dharma-realms, and between the Ten Dharma-realms and the Ten Suchnesses. Since each of the ten realms is said by Chih-i to embrace the other nine realms, with the interpenetration among the ten realms, they result in one hundred realms. Since each of the ten realms is said by Chih-i to embrace the Ten Suchnesses, with the interpenetration among the ten realms, there is a result of one thousand suchnesses. (Page 144)

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


beginning

Theory and Practice

Quote

The heavy emphasis on theoretical philosophy in Buddhism— heavier than in many other religions—may result from the general Indian devotion to philosophical investigation. This and the Indian tendency to explain philosophy in terms of religious practice influenced Buddhism considerably. Shakyamuni himself was especially interested in philosophical issues and would employ nothing in his teachings that was not theoretically convincing. After having made a thorough investigation of the doctrines of the religions and philosophies of his time in order to determine which were correct and perfect, he compiled the distinctive teachings like the Law of Causation that distinguish Buddhism from other religions. Consequently, Buddhism has a rational foundation enabling it to withstand any criticism on the theoretical plane. Its rationalism is not concerned solely with abstract truth for its own sake but is a basis for actual practice of religious faith. This means that Buddhist faith is not merely unfounded enthusiasm but practical faith with a firm rational and ethical basis. Buddhist theory and practice are one. In Buddhism there is no theory that does not take practice into consideration, and there is no practice lacking theoretical substantiation. (Page 159)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Having last month heard the vow of the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, we repeat in gāthās.

Thereupon the Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās with one voice:

Do not worry!
We will expound this sūtra
In the dreadful, evil world
After your extinction.

Ignorant people will speak ill of us,
Abuse us, and threaten us
With swords or sticks.
But we will endure all this.

Some bhikṣus in the evil world will be cunning.
They will be ready to flatter others.
Thinking that they have obtained what they have not,
Their minds will be filled with arrogance.

Some bhikṣus will live in aranyas or retired places,
And wear patched pieces of cloth.
Thinking that they are practicing the true Way,
They will despise others.

Being attached to worldly profits,
They will expound the Dharma to men in white robes.
They will be respected by the people of the world
As the Arhats who have the six supernatural powers.

They will have evil thoughts.
They will always think of worldly things.
Even when they live in aranyas,
They will take pleasure in saying that we have faults.

They will say of us,
“Those bhikṣus are greedy for worldly profits.
Therefore, they are expounding
The teachings of heretics.
They made that sūtra by themselves
In order to deceive the people of the world.
They are expounding that sūtra
Because they wish to make a name for themselves.”

In order to speak ill of us, in order to slander us
In the midst of the great multitude,
In order to say that we are evil,
They will say to kings, ministers and brahmanas,
And also to householders and other bhikṣus,
“They have wrong views.
They are expounding
The teachings of heretics.”
But we will endure all this
Because we respect you.

They will despise us,
Saying to us [ironically],
“You are Buddhas.”
But we will endure all these despising words.

See Rejoicing At Being Struck

LS32, d18b, LS Introduction

Rejoicing At Being Struck

On Sept. 12, 1271, the military government at Kamakura arrested Nichiren arbitrarily and took him to the place of execution, called Tatsu-no-kuchi (“the dragon’s mouth”). When one of his assailants found scrolls of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren’s pocket, he hit Nichiren on the face with one of them. Nichiren realized that this scroll was the one containing [Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.] At first he felt humiliated at being struck in the face, but when he realized which scroll it was, he rejoiced instead. By coincidence, he was being beaten by the same scroll which predicted such a fate for one who propagates the Sutra.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra