Of the five practices of a Bodhisattva – saint practice, Brama practice, nature practice, child practice, and sickness practice – Sickness practice is to realize that we are spiritually ill without a life grounded on the fundamental truths taught in Buddhism. I should point out that this is not sin nor is it evil. This sickness we have is cured by Buddhist practice and it simply is living the most skillful life, which produces the least negative causes, thereby ensuring the good effects in our lives. The two, child practice and sickness practice, are practices of humility. If we realize that we do not know all the answers and are seekers ourselves and when we realize that because of taking the good medicine of the Dharma we have overcome sickness then when we are with others we will be of humble nature. Our practice does not make us superior; it is a gift we have been given and one, which we are eager to share so as to eliminate the sufferings of others.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraMonthly Archives: November 2018
Daily Dharma – Nov. 13, 2018
True practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We may take this to mean that we should not listen to anything that others tell us and dogmatically adhere to a fixed teaching. Another interpretation involves learning to see the world as the Buddha does. Where people often speak from their own delusion and selfish desires, the Buddha speaks only to lead us to his enlightenment and help us to remove our attachments. When we look for the Buddha in all parts of our lives, we can learn to appreciate anything we hear from anybody as teaching us to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Twofold Knowledge
Related to the Dharma of Sentient Beings that is composed of the Relative and the Ultimate, the Dharma of Buddha further explains the Buddha’s knowledge that concerns the Relative and the Ultimate, from which the profundity and vastness of objective reality is revealed. According to Chih-i, this objective reality is only penetrated by the Buddha with the Twofold Knowledge in terms of the Relative and the Ultimate. With this Twofold Knowledge, the Buddha is able to embrace the other nine realms, and to utilize all possible expedient means to teach and transform living beings. Therefore, the Twofold Knowledge of the Relative and the Ultimate is subtle and represents the subtlety of the Buddha-dharma. Chih-i asserts that the Dharma of Buddha is not something separate from our empirical world, and in fact, is part of the same reality. Its subtlety is reflected in the fact that the Twofold Knowledge of the Relative and the Ultimate can only be penetrated by the Buddha. Its subtlety is also reflected in the fact that only the Buddha with the Twofold Knowledge can exhaust the vastness of objective reality. (Vol. 2, Page 80)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 4
Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last time learned that the countless Buddhas in the future will employ expedients, we consider the reason the Buddhas use expedients.
The Buddhas, the Most Honorable Bipeds,
Expound the One Vehicle because they know:
“All things are devoid of substantiality.
The seed of Buddhahood comes from dependent origination.”The Leading Teachers expound the Dharma with expedients
After realizing at the place of enlightenment:
“This is the abode of the Dharma and the position of the Dharma.
The reality of the world is permanently as it is.”Gods and men are making offerings
To the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.
The Buddhas as many as there are sands in the River Ganges
Who appeared in these worlds,
Are expounding the Dharma
For the purpose of giving peace to all living beings.They know the Highest Truth of Tranquil Extinction.
They have the power to employ expedients.
Although they expound various teachings,
Their purpose is to reveal the Buddha-Vehicle.
Lotus Seeds offers this on the Truth of Emptiness:
The Truth of Emptiness is the teaching that everything that exists is empty of a permanent and independent essence. In other words, everything exists temporarily as part of a changing process that includes all other things in different ways. A tomato, for instance, comes in to existence as part of a process that begins with a seed. The seed develops into a ripened tomato when it has the proper soil, water, and sunlight as conditions that allow it to sprout and grow. The same tomato inevitably disappears when it is eaten by people or animals, and then it becomes a contributing factor to the existence of whoever has eaten it. In this way, everything participates in the law of cause and effect.
Lotus SeedsThe Truth of Emptiness
The Truth of Emptiness is the teaching that everything that exists is empty of a permanent and independent essence. In other words, everything exists temporarily as part of a changing process that includes all other things in different ways. A tomato, for instance, comes in to existence as part of a process that begins with a seed. The seed develops into a ripened tomato when it has the proper soil, water, and sunlight as conditions that allow it to sprout and grow. The same tomato inevitably disappears when it is eaten by people or animals, and then it becomes a contributing factor to the existence of whoever has eaten it. In this way, everything participates in the law of cause and effect.
Lotus SeedsDaily Dharma – Nov. 12, 2018
We will wear the armor of endurance
Because we respect and believe you.
We will endure all these difficulties
In order to expound this sūtra.
Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva, along with their attendants, declare these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha had asked previously who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death. These Bodhisattvas declare their aspirations to maintain their practice of the Buddha Dharma in the face of unimaginable difficulties. We may believe that this practice will lead to permanent comfort and pleasure. But knowing that we are in a world that is constantly changing, we realize that any difficulty is temporary, and that the way to a beneficial outcome may only go through difficulties. This knowledge and faith in the Buddha’s teachings increases our capacity to be a beneficial force 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
The Ultimate Truth Consisting of the Relative and Ultimate Reality
Chih-i argues that although each realm is differentiated from other realms as having different definitions of the Ten Suchnesses, together, they constitute the Ultimate Truth that consists of the relative and ultimate reality. In other words, the relative and the ultimate are coexistent as a polar concept and are contained within each other in terms of soteriological significance. On the one hand, without the relative of the nine realms, the ultimate of the Buddha-realm cannot be substantiated, and without the ultimate, the relative does not have any validity, two of which form a polar concept existing interdependently. On the other hand, if the relative does not contain the ultimate, then the attainment of Buddhahood would not be possible; if the ultimate does not contain the relative, then the Buddha would not undertake his task of teaching and saving beings. Only if the ultimate is already contained in relative as the cause for Buddhahood, can the attainment of Buddhahood as the effect be possible, whereby all beings in the nine realms are grounded to be able to eventually enter the Buddha-realm; only if the relative is contained in the ultimate, can the Buddha’s endless soteriological activities of saving beings be realistic. (Vol. 2, Page 80)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 3
Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.
Having last time heard Śākyamuni explain the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds, we hear Buddha explain to Śāriputra that the Tathāgatas teach only Bodhisattvas.
The Buddha said to Śāriputra:
“The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, teach only Bodhisattvas. All they do is for one purpose, that is, to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings, to cause them to obtain the insight of the Buddha.
“Śāriputra! I also expound various teachings to all living beings only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. There is no other vehicle, not a second or a third. Śāriputra! All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters also do the same.
“Śāriputra! All the Buddhas in the past expounded various teachings to all living beings with innumerable expedients, that is to say, with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses, only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. The living beings who heard those teachings from those Buddhas finally obtained the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.
“Śāriputra! All the Buddhas who will appear in the future also will expound various teachings to all living beings with innumerable expedients, that is to say, with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses, only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. The living beings who hear those teachings from those Buddhas also will finally obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.
The Daily Dharma from May 1, 2017, offers this:
The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, teach only Bodhisattvas. All they do is for one purpose, that is, to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings, to cause them to obtain the insight of the Buddha.
The Buddha speaks these words in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sutra. Here he emphasizes the importance of practice for reaching enlightenment. We may think that just hearing what the Buddha teaches is enough to reach his insight of seeing things for what they are. We also need to be actively engaged with the world, doing our best, making mistakes, and confident that we can continue to learn how to make things better. This is no different from the mistaken belief that one can learn how to cook by merely reading recipes. Only by going in the kitchen and making something can one gain the insight of whoever came up with the recipe.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Through the Lens of the Lotus Sutra
The teachings which had come before Buddhism, Confucianism and Brahmanism, provided a basic moral framework for society. Hinayana Buddhism had introduced the beginning of Buddhist philosophy. Pre-Lotus Sutra Mahāyāna Buddhism had introduced the selfless ethics of the Bodhisattva. However, though Nichiren Shonin’s ethics were based on these systems, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching also provided a means of comparison between all of the systems. Each of the previous teachings showed only a portion of the truth; they were incomplete in themselves. Only the Lotus Sutra is complete; we can find ethical truths in other systems only when they are viewed through the lens of the Lotus Sutra.
Awakening to the LotusDaily Dharma – Nov. 11, 2018
When they expound the scriptures of non-Buddhist schools, or give advice to the government, or teach the way to earn a livelihood, they will be able to be in accord with the right teachings of the Buddha.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. In this chapter, the Buddha shows that our practice of this Wonderful Dharma is not separate from our existence in this world. The purpose of the Buddha’s wisdom is not to escape to a better life, but to see our lives for what they are, and to use that clarity 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