Monthly Archives: February 2019

Profound

The ‘Gushing Spring’ Mind

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Five meanings that are related to mind are enumerated by Chih-i. …

With regard to the mind that contains the meaning “gushing spring” (Hsin-han Yung-ch ‘üan), Chih-i states that if one’s mind is filled with hindrances and one is not capable of perceiving the nature of all dharmas, the mind will not flow. Contemplating mind is the means to remove all hindrances, and cause mind to be transparent and filled with wisdom.
Mind as “gushing spring” is illustrated by Chih-i with reference to words, practice and doctrine. In terms of the mind that is related to gushing spring of words, this means that when one’s mind is clear, one is able to speak and debate without impediment, and one’s words flow out inexhaustibly. In terms of the mind that is related to gushing spring of practice, this means that if one does not contemplate one’s mind, practice cannot flow without any interval. Because of the contemplation, all thoughts flow out one after another, turning the six hindrances (as the opposite counterpart of the Six Perfections) over into Six Perfections (alms-giving, keeping precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, prajn͂ā), and the Six Perfections incorporate all practices. In terms of the mind that is related to gushing spring of doctrine, this refers to one’s mind contemplation as effective as a sharp hoe that is used to chop the ground, and as huge rocks and sand that function to purify water, whereby clear water flows inexhaustibly.

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Day 11 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what occurred when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east.

“The palaces of the Brahman-heavenly[-kings] of the five hundred billion worlds in the east were illumined twice as brightly as ever. The Brahman-heavenly-kings [of those worlds] each thought, ‘My palace has never been illumined so brightly before. Why is that?’ They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called All-Saving among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Why are our palaces illumined
More brightly than ever?
Let us find [the place]
[From where this light has come].
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds went to the west, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great­Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion­like seat under the Bodhi-tree at the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly­kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the ten-yojana-tall Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
It is difficult to meet you.
You have innumerable merits.
You are saving all living beings.

As the great teacher of gods and men,
You are benefiting all living beings
Of the worlds of the ten quarters
Out of your compassion towards them.

We have come here from five hundred billion worlds.
We gave up the pleasure
Of deep dhyāna-concentration
Because we wished to make offerings to you.
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
Because we accumulated merits in our previous existence.
We offer [these palaces] to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings! Open the Way to Nirvāṇa!’ They simultaneously said in a gāthā with all their hearts:

Hero of the World,
Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Dharma!
Save the suffering beings
By the power of your great compassion!

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.

The Daily Dharma from April 15, 2018, offers this:

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

The Brahma Heavenly Kings of the East sing these verses as part of a story the Buddha tells in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. Long ago there was another Buddha named Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence. When he became enlightened, the entire universe was illuminated. Beings who had never seen each other could recognize each other clearly. We can see this story as a metaphor for what happens when the Buddha’s wisdom comes into our lives. We leave the darkness of our ego attachment and come into the light of the world as it is.

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

WONS

False Words

Their petition also states that Nichiren insists that the sūtras preached before the Lotus Sūtra were all false. This also is not my personal opinion because it is preached in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “I have not revealed the truth yet for forty years or so.” Not revealing the truth is tantamount to false words. In “A Parable” chapter in the second fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, it is stated that when the Buddha asked the congregation whether or not they believe the Buddha preaches any lie, they all replied, “No.” The Buddha also asked the question in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the sixth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, “Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?” Then the audience all replied, “No.” The Nirvana Sūtra states, “Although the Buddha has no false words, he will expound other sūtras if people rely on false teachings.” And Grand Master T’ien-t’ai stated that the Buddha’s guarantee of Buddhahood to Hinayana Buddhists is “the Buddha’s temporal expedient words.” It is not my personal opinion to say that sūtras expounded in the forty years or so before the Lotus Sūtra were false words.

Gyōbin Sojō Goetsū, Understanding Gyōbin’s Petition, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Desciples, Volume 5, Page 6

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 23, 2019

Bhikṣus, know this! I can enter skillfully deep into the natures of all living beings. Because I saw that they wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and that they were deeply attached to the five desires, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa to them. When they heard that teaching, they received it by faith.

The Buddha gives this explanation to the Bhikṣus (monks and nuns) gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. As difficult as it is to hear the Buddha’s highest teaching, he would not give it to us unless we were ready to receive it. Still, we who would receive it must set aside his earlier teachings as a means to our personal happiness, and see them as preparations to learn how to benefit all beings. Our faith in the Buddha is the confidence that we will become as enlightened as he is, and that he is helping all of us on the path to that enlightenment.

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

original

Contemplation of the Mind with Daimoku

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[T]he “contemplation of the mind” in Nichiren’s teaching is not the introspective meditation on the moment-to-moment activity of one’s (unenlightened) mind, but rather embracing the daimoku, which is said to embody the enlightenment of the eternal Buddha of the origin teaching, that is, the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment in actuality.

“Embracing” the daimoku has the aspects both of chanting and having the mind of faith (shinjin); for Nichiren, the two are inseparable. Faith is also all-inclusive: in the Final Dharma age, it substitutes for the three disciplines of precepts, meditation, and wisdom. “That ordinary worldlings born in the Final Dharma age can believe in the Lotus Sūtra is because the Buddha realm is inherent in the human realm.” Thus the “one thought-moment containing three thousand realms” is also the “single moment of belief and understanding.” In the moment of faith, the three thousand realms of the original Buddha and those of the ordinary worldling are one. This moment of faith corresponds to the stage of myōji-soku. Like that of many medieval Tendai texts, Nichiren’s thought focuses on realizing Buddhahood at the stage of verbal identity, which he understood as the stage of embracing the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra and taking faith in it. (Page 270)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

Garlands of the Mind

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Five meanings that are related to mind are enumerated by Chih-i. …

With regard to the mind that contains the meaning “garlands being tied together” (Hsin-han Chieh-man), it is illustrated by Chih-i in reference to text, practice and doctrine. In terms of the mind that is related to tying text up without mistake, this means that when one’s thought is correct, one makes no mistakes in understanding a text. In terms of the mind that is related to tying practice up without mistake, this means that with mind contemplation, one gains the power of perceiving the Path. In terms of the mind that is related to tying doctrine up without mistake, this means that with the mind contemplation, one gains concentration and knowledge. (Vol. 2, Page 397)

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


LS32

Day 10

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Day 10 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard the prediction for the future Buddhahood of Subhūti, we hear the prediction for Great Kātyāyana.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to the bhikṣus:

“Now I will tell you. This Great Kātyāyana will make many offerings to eight hundred thousand millions of Buddhas, attend on them, respect them, and honor them in his future life. After the extinction of each of those Buddhas, he will erect a stūpa-mausoleum a thousand yojanas high, and five hundred yojanas wide and deep. He will make it of the seven treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby. He will offer flowers, necklaces, incense to apply to the skin, incense powder, incense to burn, canopies, banners and streamers to this stūpa-mausoleum. After that he will make the same offerings to two billions of Buddhas. Having made offerings to those Buddhas, he will complete the Way of Bodhisattvas, and become a Buddha called Jambunada-Gold-Light, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The ground [of his world] will be even, made of crystal, and adorned with jeweled trees. The roads will be marked off by ropes of gold, and wonderful flowers will cover the ground to purify it. Anyone will rejoice at seeing it. The four evil regions: hell, the region of hungry spirits, that of animals, and that of asuras, will not exist in that world. Many gods and men will live there. Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas, many billions in number, also will live there to adorn that world. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be twelve small kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twenty small kalpas, and the counterfeit of his right teachings also will be preserved for twenty small kalpas.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Bhikṣus!
Listen with one mind!
What I say
Is true, not false.

This Kātyāyana
Will make
Wonderful offerings
To the Buddhas.

After the extinction of each of the Buddhas,
He will erect a stūpa of the seven treasures,
And offer flowers and incense to the śarīras
[Of the Buddha enshrined in the stūpa].

On the final stage of his physical existence,
He will obtain the wisdom of the Buddha
And attain perfect enlightenment.
His world will be pure.
He will save many billions of living beings.
All living beings
In the worlds of the ten quarters
Will make offerings to him.

No light will surpass
The light of that Buddha.
The name of that Buddha will be
Jambu [nada]-Gold-Light.

Innumerable Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas
Will live in his world, and adorn that world.
They will have already eliminated
The bonds of existence.

It is of note that Katyayana was foremost in explaining the Dharma, according to list of the top 10 Voice Hearers. But as Nichiren points out, it is only through the Lotus Sūtra that these great disciples can attain Buddhahood.

The purpose of the Tripiṭaka teaching is to emancipate people from the Six Realms of the triple world. As a result, because the teaching reveals no place but the triple world to attain emancipation, śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha are unaware of the existence of the Pure Land where bodhisattvas are born. They also do not know that they still possess other evil passions and attachments besides the delusions in view and thought. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas believe they will eliminate the cause of being reborn in the triple world if they do away with the delusions in view and thought and that they will exist in a void where there is no body or mind, since they will have transformed the body to ashes and annihilated consciousness. Thus it is said that men of the two Vehicles cannot be saved by the Tripiṭaka teaching, and that they will never be able to become Buddhas without the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 72

d3b, d4b, Blog, LS Biography

Odds and Ends from The Lotus Sutra: A Biography

This is a followup to yesterday’s post about The Lotus Sutra: A Biography with a few additional ideas I want to save for later retrieval.

On the fate of the 5,000 arrogant monks who walked out in Chapter 2, Expedients, of the Lotus Sūtra:

For Zhiyi, and for many readers over the centuries, the Lotus Sūtra has two major messages. The first, found in the first half of the sūtra, is that there are not three vehicles; there is one vehicle, which will eventually transport all sentient beings to buddhahood. The second, found in the second half of the sūtra, is that the lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable. These two doctrines are generally compatible with the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, allowing Zhiyi to continue to uphold the supremacy of the Lotus. But if everything is said in the Lotus, what is the purpose of the Nirvāṇa? Here, those five thousand haughty monks and nuns who walked out in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra come to the rescue. The sūtra does not explain what became of them, but Zhiyi explains that they returned to the assembly that surrounded the Buddha’s deathbed. The Buddha thus compassionately reiterated the central message of the Lotus Sūtra to those who had missed it the first time. It was also important, at the moment of his apparent passage into Nirvāṇa, for the Buddha to reiterate what he had declared in the Lotus: that like the wise physician, the Buddha only pretends to die; in fact his lifespan is immeasurable. (Page 56-57)

On the great merit earned by the grasshopper.

Discussing Great Japanese Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sūtra (Dainihonkoku hokekyōkenki), completed in 1044 by the monk Chingen:

Grasshopper on a lotusOne of several anthologies of miracle tales about the Lotus, this collection includes rather standard Buddhist stories of miracle cures (a blind woman regains her sight by reciting the Lotus), divine retribution (a man who ridicules a reciter of the Lotus loses his voice), and deaths attended by heavenly fragrances, beautiful music, and auspicious dreams. In one story, a monk memorizes the first twenty-five chapters of the Lotus but, despite repeated efforts, is unable to memorize the final three. He eventually learns in a dream that in a previous life he had been a grasshopper who perched in a temple room where a monk was reciting the sūtra. After reciting the first seven scrolls of the sūtra (which contain the first twenty-five chapters), the monk rested before beginning the final roll. He leaned against the wall and inadvertently killed the grasshopper. The grasshopper was reborn as a human as a result of the merit he received from hearing the first twenty-five chapters of the Lotus. When he became a monk, however, he was unable to memorize the final three chapters because he, as the grasshopper, had died before he heard them. (Page 79-80)

On how Nichiren judged the six Buddhist schools of Nara.

He seems to have arrived at this conviction [of the supremacy of the Lotus Sūtra] through something of a process of elimination, but only after a serious survey of the Japanese sects of the day. He began with the belief that the word of the Buddha was superior to that of the various Indian Buddhist masters, such that one’s allegiance should be to a sūtra rather than to a treatise (śāstra). This immediately eliminated five of the six “Nara schools” of Buddhism, which were based on various Madhyamaka (Sanron), Yogācāra (Hossō), and Abhidharma treatises (Kusha and Jōjitsu), as well as on (in the case of Ritsu) the monastic code (vinaya). Among the Nara schools, that left only Kegon, based on the Flower Garland Sūtra, which Nichiren rejected. He already had an antipathy for Pure Land, but he was attracted to Shingon, famous for its doctrine that it is possible to “achieve buddhahood in this very body” (sokushin jōbutsu), that is, during the present lifetime. He found what would prove to be for him a more compelling doctrine in the Tendai sect, which, based in part on Zhiyi’s famous doctrine of “the three thousand realms in a single thought,” proclaimed that all beings are endowed with original enlightenment (hongaku). Nichiren eventually decided that the Tendai sect, with its conviction that the Lotus Sūtra was the Buddha’s highest teaching, was the superior form of Buddhism, although he felt that in the centuries since its founding, its purity had been diluted by the admixture of other practices, especially devotion to Amitābha. (Page 82-83)

On the topic of Nichiren Shoshu.

“We recall that in Nichiren Shōshū, the dharma in the three jewels is not the Lotus Sūtra; it is the three great secret doctrines: the honzon, the daimoku, and the kaidan.” (Page 221)

On SGI as a separate Buddhist organization

We find in the charter no mention of slandering the dharma (or the consequences of doing so), no mention of shakubuku, and no mention of the Lotus Sūtra. (Page 211)

Summer Writings

The Message

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O-Bon is a spiritual event held to pay respect and give gratitude to our ancestors, and to pray for all spirits. Why should we respect our ancestors? There is no complicated reason – all we require is respect and sense of gratitude for our ancestors, and we should realize how wonderful and precious our life is. If there were no parents, grandparents, great grandparents or ancestors, we would not be here. Also, we should realize that our nature and characteristics have come from the genes of our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents or ancestors. In other words, we should accept our genes as messages, and know that we are located at the end of the message.

Summer Writings

WONS

The Dangers Of An Evil Friend

The Nirvana Sūtra, fascicle 22, preaches: “You should not be afraid of evil elephants but should be fearful of the ‘evil friend.’ Why is this? It is because an evil elephant may hurt your body but not your heart. The ‘evil friend,’ however, may destroy both your body and mind. (…) Killed by evil elephants, you will not fall into the three evil realms, but if you are killed by an ‘evil friend,’ you will never fail to fall in the three evil realms.” Grand Master Chang-an interprets this in his Annotations on the Nirvana Sūtra: “Evil elephants cannot cause one to harbor an evil mind, but an ‘evil friend’ can cause one to have an evil mind through sweet words and flattery destroying the virtuous mind. The destruction of one’s virtuous mind is referred to as killing the man. Namely, the man goes to hell.” The meaning of this passage of Chang-an is that ‘evil friends’ destroy the virtuous mind of the ignorant by skillful use of words. To sum up the spirit of the Nirvana Sūtra, it warns us that those who slandered the Lotus Sūtra, which is the True Dharma, and icchantika are worse sinners than those who commit the sin of the ten evil acts and the five rebellious sins. The icchantika means those who slander the Lotus and Nirvana Sūtras.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 11