The bodhisattva with [knowledge of the Six Perfections (Liu-tu Chih)] is vigorously involved in practicing the Six Perfections (charity, morality, patience, effort, meditation, and wisdom). Chih-i points out that the bodhisattva of the Six Perfections is weak in perceiving truth according to the principle of emptiness (i.e., there is neither origination as the cause nor extinction as the effect), but is strong in perceiving truth according to the phenomenal appearances or facts (i.e., all dharmas have origination as the cause and extinction as the effect). The bodhisattva with the knowledge of the Six Perfections has overcome but not yet completely severed delusions. His belief in truth as actual cause and effect is so strong that he is willing to sacrifice his own life and fortune in order to eliminate the cause of suffering and to reach the extinction of suffering. (Vol. 2, Page 137)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismMonthly Archives: December 2018
Day 27
Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last time learned of the saving power of the Lotus Sūtra, we learn of the merits to be received by those who hear this chapter.
“Star-King-Flower! Anyone who hears [especially] this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva also will be able to obtain innumerable merits. The woman who hears and keeps this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva will not be a woman in her next life. The woman who hears this sūtra and acts according to the teachings of it in the later’ five hundred years after my extinction, will be able to be reborn, after her life in this world, [as a man sitting] on the jeweled seat in the lotus flower blooming in the World of Happiness where Amitayus Buddha lives surrounded by great Bodhisattvas. He [no more she] will not be troubled by greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, jealousy, or any other impurity. He will be able to obtain the supernatural powers of a Bodhisattva and the truth of birthlessness. When he obtains this truth, his eyes will be purified. With his purified eyes, he will be able to see seven billion and two hundred thousand million nayuta Buddhas or Tathāgatas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. At that time those Buddhas will praise him, saying simultaneously from afar, ‘Excellent, excellent, good man! You kept, read and recited this sūtra, thought it over, and expounded it to others under Śākyamuni Buddha. Now you have obtained innumerable merits and virtues, which cannot be burned by fire or washed away by water. Your merits cannot be described even by the combined efforts of one thousand Buddhas. Now you have defeated the army of Mara, beaten the forces of birth and death, and annihilated all your enemies. Good man! Hundreds of thousands of Buddhas are now protecting you by their supernatural powers. None of the gods or men in the world surpasses you. None but the Tathāgatas, none of the Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas or Bodhisattvas surpasses you in wisdom and dhyāna-concentration.’ Star-King-Flower! [He is a Bodhisattva.] This Bodhisattva will obtain these merits and the power of wisdom.
“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises [this chapter], saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.
This promise of rebirth “on the jeweled seat in the lotus flower blooming in the World of Happiness where Amitayus Buddha lives surrounded by great Bodhisattvas” is addressed in Nichiren’s Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 68-69:
The Pure Lands preached in the pre-Lotus expedient sutras are mere substitutes tentatively shown by replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Eternal True Buddha. In fact, they all are lands of impurity. Therefore, when the true Pure Land was decided in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of which consists of chapters on the “Expedients” and “The Life Span of the Buddha,” it was declared that this Sahā World is the true Pure Land of the Tranquil Light.
As for the question why, the Lotus Sūtra also recommends the Tuṣita Heaven, the Realm of Peace and Sustenance (Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life), and Pure Lands all over the universe, it is merely that designations of the Pure Lands, such as Tuṣita Heaven and Realm of Peace and Sustenance, preached in the pre-Lotus sūtras are used without modification to name the Pure Lands to be established in this world. It is like names of the three vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva), mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra, which does not actually preach three different teachings; it preaches the sole teaching leading to Buddhahood. It is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 23, that those who practice this sūtra “will immediately be reborn in the World of Happiness.” In the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 10, Grand Master Miao-lê interprets: “This does not mean the Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life preached in the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life.” His interpretation is the same as stated above.
The Deities of the Vedic Hymns of Brahmanism
The deities of the Vedic hymns of Brahmanism are called “devas,” or “shining ones.” Nichiren’s Great Mandala includes several of these devas. Buddhism assimilated the devas. They appear as the inhabitants of the heavens, personifications of the forces of nature, and protectors of the Buddha Dharma. They are sometimes seen as roles taken on by the various bodhisattvas or as embodiments of various aspects of enlightenment. However, though deities, they are never above the teachings of the Buddha. Rather, they are sentient beings much like humans – though more powerful and long-lived – who need the Buddha’s teachings just like every other being.
Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the GohonzonDaily Dharma – Dec. 5, 2018
All of you, wise men!
Have no doubts about this!
Remove your doubts, have no more!
My words are true, not false.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. If we come to the Buddha, attached to our delusions and fearful of the potential for peace and joy we all have within us, it is easy to doubt what he says. We have been suffering a long time. Like the children playing in the burning house, we are so caught up in the drama and insanity of our world that we cannot imagine any other way to live. When the Buddha warns us of how dangerous it is to continue as we are, we are more certain of our familiar pain than of his enlightenment. When we trust the Buddha Dharma, and cultivate our potential to create unimaginable benefit in this world, then we realize the pettiness of the crises we create for ourselves. We awaken our curiosity and gratitude and learn to see this beautiful world for what it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Lotus Superiority
In [Saichō’s] schemes of doctrinal classification, Saichō developed both exclusive and inclusive readings of the one vehicle that would be important to the development of medieval Tendai thought and practice. In his written debates with Tokuitsu, Saichō argued the superiority of the Lotus over all other teachings from a number of angles. For example, he asserted that the Lotus alone represents the standpoint of “effect,” or the Buddha’s enlightenment (kabun); other sūtras, such as the Avatarpsaka, reflect the standpoint of “cause,” or of those still in the stages of cultivation (inbun).49 He also distinguished the Lotus as the “direct path” (jikidō) or “great direct path” (daijikidō) to enlightenment, in contrast to both the “roundabout path” of the Hinayāna and the “path requiring kalpas” followed by bodhisattvas of provisional Mahāyāna. In Saichō’s view, a practitioner of the Lotus endowed with unusually keen faculties might even be able to realize Buddhahood with this very body (sokushin jōbutsu), though he confined this possibility to persons who had already achieved the first abode, or the fifth of the six stages of identity, which, according to T’ien-t’ai doctrine, comprise the Buddhist path. Practitioners of lesser faculties would be able to realize Buddhahood in the next lifetime, or in the lifetime after that. … [T]he doctrine of realizing Buddhahood with this very body, as interpreted by Saichō’s disciples, was crucial to the development of medieval Tendai original enlightenment thought. Saichō also interpreted the Lotus Sūtra as particularly suited to the time and to the capacities of the Japanese people, claims that would be further developed in the thought of Nichiren (1222-1282).
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismMundane Knowledge
[M]undane Knowledge (Shih-chih) … belongs to the mundane world and does not concern the attainment of the Path. Chih-i explains that the mundane knowledge is filled with deviant ideas and false attachments. People mistake the provisional existence to be real, with which their minds do not act in accordance with the principle or truth, and do not have faith to enter the correct path. Chih-i defines the characteristics of the mundane knowledge in China as different from those in India. While the Indians tend to allow their fancy to run wild, the Chinese aim at practical things, such as social behaviors, living skills, knowledge of nature, cultivation of supra-mundane powers, and so forth, for the purpose of gaining fame and fortune, and satisfying desires. These things generally belong to mundane knowledge and are conceived by the minds of ignorant beings. (Vol. 2, Page 134)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 26
Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last time met Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva and witnessed his reaction to hearing the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we consider Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings’ ultimate gift to the Buddha.
“Having made these offerings [to the Buddha], he emerged from the samadhi, and thought, ‘I have now made offerings to the Buddha by my supernatural powers. But these offerings are less valuable than the offering of my own body.’
“Then he ate various kinds of incense taken from candana, kunduruka, turṣka, pṛkkā, aloes and sumac, and drank perfumed oil taken from the flowers of campaka and other flowers[. He continued doing all this] for twelve hundred years. Then he applied perfumed oil to his skin, put on a heavenly garment of treasures in the presence of Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha, sprinkled various kinds of perfumed oil on the garment, and set fire to his body, making a vow by his supernatural powers. The light of the flame illumined the worlds numbering eight thousands of millions of times the number of the sands of the River Ganges.
“The Buddhas of those worlds praised him, saying simultaneously, ‘Excellent, excellent, good man! All you did was a true endeavor. You made an offering to us according to the true Dharma. This offering excels the offerings of flowers, incense, necklaces, incense to burn, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, streamers and canopies of heavenly cloth, and the incense of the candana grown on this shore of the sea. It also excels the offerings of countries, cities, wives and children. Good man! This is the most excellent and honorable offering because you made it to us according to the Dharma.’
“Having said this, they became silent. The body of the Bodhisattva kept burning for twelve hundred years, and then was consumed. Having made this offering according to the Dharma, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva passed away.
The Daily Dharma from April 14, 2018, offers this:
Having made these offerings [to the Buddha], he emerged from the samādhi, and thought, ‘I have now made offerings to the Buddha by my supernatural powers. But these offerings are less valuable than the offering of my own body.’
In Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha tells the story of Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva. This Bodhisattva practiced under an ancient Buddha, and made exorbitant offerings to that Buddha through his supernatural powers. He then realized that all the riches of the universe that he could conjure up paled in comparison to the treasure of his own body and his own life. He then made an offering of his body to the Buddha, which illuminated innumerable worlds. Nichiren wrote often of the hardships he faced in his life and those of his followers. He wrote of “reading the Lotus Sūtra with our bodies,” meaning bringing the Buddha’s wisdom to life in our lives. When we act according to the Wonderful Dharma, no matter what hardships we face, then we too are living the Lotus Sūtra, and making a perfect offering from our gratitude to the Buddha.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
10 Kinds of Bad Karma
What kind of actions become bad karma? The answer is actions which go against the ethics and teachings of Buddhism. There are ten kinds of bad karma or action, and they are carried out by three elements, the “Body”, “Mouth” and “Mind.”
- Body: killing, stealing and adultery.
- Mouth: lying, flattery, having a double-edged tongue, and abuse.
- Mind: greed, ego and complaining.
These three elements influence each other and, when mixed together, cause even deeper karma.
Summer WritingsDaily Dharma – Dec. 4, 2018
But the merits to be given to the person who fills the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds with the seven treasures and offers that amount of the seven treasures to the Buddhas, to the Great Bodhisattvas, to the Pratyekabuddhas, and to the Arhats, are less than the merits to be given to the person who keeps even a single gāthā of four lines of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Generosity is the first of the perfections of a Bodhisattva, a being who vows to delay their own enlightenment so that they can benefit others. The offering of material goods helps remove the suffering caused by our sense of self-importance, and prepares us for the Buddha’s highest teaching. By offering the Buddha’s wisdom, embodied in this Lotus Sūtra, we benefit all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Saichō and Universal Suchness
From the perspective of this Hossō doctrine [Dharma Characteristics school], called “the distinction of five natures” (goshō kakubetsu), Tokuitsu argued that the division of the Dharma into three vehicles represented the Buddha’s true intent: some people really were destined to become arhats, pratyeka-buddhas, or bodhisattvas. On the other hand, the Lotus Sūtra’s teaching of the one vehicle was a provisional expedient set forth to encourage those of the undetermined group, some of whom might be capable of practicing the bodhisattva path and becoming Buddhas. For Saichō, however, it was just as the Lotus declared: the three vehicles were provisional and the one vehicle, true; Buddhahood was the final destiny of all. In support of his position, Saichō drew on a variety of sources. One was Fa-tsang’s commentary on the Awakening of Faith, specifically, its distinction between suchness that is unchanging (fuhen shinny) and suchness that accords with conditions (zuien shinny). Like Fa-tsang, Saichō argued that suchness has a dynamic as well as a quiescent aspect. In its dynamic aspect, it expresses itself as all phenomena and also has the nature of realizing and knowing (kakuchi shō). Thus there is no need to postulate seeds in the ālaya consciousness as the source of the phenomenal world or as the cause, in some individuals, for achieving Buddhahood. Saichō equated suchness in its dynamic aspect with gyō-bussō; since suchness is universal, he argued, everyone has the potential to realize Buddhahood. (Page 13-14)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism