In so many ways it is easy for us to actually deny the Buddha, the very thing, which we seek to understand. We think the Buddha isn’t here; this place is too messed up. We think the Buddha isn’t in me; I’m too messed up. We think the Buddha isn’t in others; they’re too messed up. Bodhisattva Never-Despise was able to see the Buddha in others, and the Buddha tells us that he always is here. But this is difficult to believe, and difficult to practice. Part of the process of becoming enlightened is, I believe, to develop the ability, to awaken within us the capacity to begin to see our own Buddha potential and then to see it in others. It is to learn to not deny in others or ourselves the very promised reality of being Buddhas. Enlightenment is after all being awakened.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Monthly Archives: March 2019
Haters
Grand Master Miao-lê defines in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra (Fahua wén-chü-chi) that all the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha who attached themselves to Hinayana enlightenment, and bodhisattvas who believe in the Buddha’s attaining enlightenment in this world without believing in the eternal life of the Buddha are those who hate the Lotus Sūtra. He also declares that those who do not want to listen to, believe in or accept the Lotus Sūtra are “haters ” of the Lotus Sūtra even if they do not slander it publicly.
As I contemplate the state of affairs today after the death of the Buddha against that in His lifetime, scholars of various sects today are all like heretics during the days of the Buddha. They called the Buddha the worst, and it fits me, Nichiren, today. “Evil people in the world all coming together to join His group” fits Nichiren’s disciples. Misunderstanding the teachings expounded by the past Buddhas in the previous lives, heretics harbored evil thoughts, hated and persecuted Śākyamuni Buddha in this world. Scholars of various Buddhists sects today are acting similarly to those heretics in the past. In a word, they misunderstand what the Buddha preached and this misunderstanding leads them to hold wicked ideas. It is like a dizzy man seeing a great mountain turning around.
Teradomari Gosho, A Letter from Teradomari, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 10
Daily Dharma – March 8, 2019
For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you. Propagate it with all your hearts, and make it known far and wide!
The Buddha entrusts his highest teaching to all those gathered to see him in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. He had already explained how difficult it is to believe and practice this highest teaching, and all the trouble it took for him to reach it. He also realizes that this teaching is not something he can keep for himself, and is meaningful only when it was shared with others. This is yet another example of the Buddha showing us how to live with the beings we want to benefit. We realize that our treasure is not what we keep for ourselves, but what we have in common with others. We are diminished not by what we lose, but by attempting to hold on to our delusions.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
‘Original Time’
“Original time” (honji) differs from linear time. It has no distinction of past, present, and future, and no proceeding from a deluded to an enlightened state; the Buddha and the ordinary worldling–the Buddha realm and the nine realms–are always one. This “original time” is the “actuality” of the three thousand realms in one thought-moment of the original Buddha and is accessed in the “now” (ima) of embracing the daimoku. In the single thought-moment of faith, the three thousand realms of the practitioner are those of the original Buddha. And because the person and the land are nondual, in the moment of faith and practice, the Sahā world is the eternal Buddha land. In the words of Chan-jan, a passage Nichiren quotes in this context: “You should know that one’s person and the land are [both] the single thought-moment comprising three thousand realms. Therefore, when one attains the Way, in accordance with this principle, one’s body and mind in that moment pervade the dharma realm.” (Page 291)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismThe Rabbit, the Horse and the Elephant
Seeing that the correct Ultimate Truth as substance is difficult to describe, Chih-I employs three analogies to single it out. With these analogies, four cases are illustrated that correspond to the Four Teachings. This indicates that the Ultimate Truth bears different definitions in each of the Four Teachings.
The employment of the first analogy singles out the authentic Ultimate Truth by comparing three animals with each other. The simile of the three animals going across the river is a parable of three kinds of the Absolute Truth corresponding to the Three Vehicles (Śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva). A rabbit and a horse can only cross the river by swimming over the surface, but they are unable to touch the bottom. A big elephant, heavy as it is, can get to the bottom of the river in reaching the other shore. Water is analogous with emptiness as the Absolute Truth, and the bottom is analogous with no-emptiness (i.e., the Middle Way) as the Absolute Truth. The Two Vehicles (Śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), because of their lack of wisdom, cannot seek deeply, which are analogous with the rabbit and the horse. The bodhisattva is analogous with the big elephant, for he has deep wisdom, and can perceive both emptiness and no-emptiness.
With regard to touching the bottom of the river, there are two situations to be differentiated. Chih-i elucidates that the bottom is analogous with the Ultimate Truth. A small elephant can only reach the surface of mud, and a big elephant can touch the bottom of mud. The small elephant refers to the wisdom of the Separate Teaching. Although the bodhisattva of the Separate Teaching can perceive no-emptiness, he does not have insight into an integrated reality of all dharmas. Therefore, his view of no-emptiness is not the Ultimate Truth. The big elephant refers to the wisdom of the Perfect Teaching. The bodhisattva of the Perfect Teaching can perceive no-emptiness perfectly. This means that he knows that one dharma embraces all dharmas and all dharmas are an integrated reality of one dharma. Since the Ultimate Truth is embedded in all dharmas, by such an exhaustion of all dharmas, the Ultimate Truth is manifested. From the point of view of attaining the Ultimate Truth, not only the view of emptiness of the Two Vehicles is excluded by this analogy, but also the view of no-emptiness of a small elephant (i.e., Separate Teaching) is excluded by this analogy. Only the view of the no-emptiness of a big elephant (i.e., Perfect Teaching) is taken as the substance of the Lotus Sūtra. (Vol. 2, Page 410-411)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 23
Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month begun Chapter 19: The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we consider the eight hundred merits of the eye.
With their pure eyes given by their parents, these good men or women will be able to see all the mountains, forests, rivers and oceans inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, [each of which is composed of six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to see the living beings of those worlds, to know the karmas which those living beings are now doing and the region to which each of those living beings is destined to go by his karmas.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Listen! I will tell you of the merits
Of those who fearlessly expound
To the great multitude
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.They will be able to obtain the excellent eyes
Adorned with eight hundred merits.
Their eyes will be pure
Because of this adornment.With their eyes given by their parents,
They will be able to see Mt. Meru, Mt. Sumeru,
The Surrounding Iron Mountains,
And the other mountains,
And the forests, oceans and rivers
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.They will be able to see the living beings
Of those worlds [each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
Although they have not yet obtained heavenly eyes,
They will be able to see all this
With their natural eyes.
The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra offers this explanation of the Five Kinds of Practices.
In the Lotus Sutra, we often see the sentence, “You should keep, read, recite, expound, and copy this Sutra.” These activities are called the Five Kinds of Practice for a Teacher of the Dharma. To keep the Sutra is to steadily accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra in one’s mind. To read the sutra means to peruse the Sutra and read it. To recite the Sutra means to recite it or portions of it by heart. To expound the Sutra means to interpret it and teach it to others. To copy the Sutra means to copy it by hand. Practitioners of the Lotus Sutra should undertake these five practices. They have two aspects: practice for one’s self and practice for others. [Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma] says that persons who endeavor to practice the Five Kinds of Practice will be rewarded with splendid merits of their six sense-organs of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Sakyamuni explains this to a great Bodhisattva by the name of Constant-Endeavor.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraPersonal Faith or Just Heritage and Formal Observance
This blog post was originally published Nov. 8, 2015, and is reprinted here as the last quote from the History of Japanese Region book.
For the past several weeks I’ve been publishing quotes from History of Japanese Religion. Today’s quote from the book concerned a battle fought in Miyako in 1536 between followers of Nichiren and soldier-monks of Hiei in alliance with Ikkō fanatics. The Nichiren followers were driven out of town after 21 of their great temples were burnt down.
Shouts of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” the slogan of the Nichirenites, vied with “Namu Amida Butsu,” the prayer of the Ikkō men; many died on either side, each believing that the fight was fought for the glory of Buddha and that death secured his birth in paradise.
This history of Japanese Buddhism written in 1918 stretches from the passion of warring monks to the then modern view:
For the people at large religion was rather a matter of family heritage and formal observance than a question of personal faith.
Today, I attended the Komatsubara Persecution service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church, surrounded by people who have been followers of Nichiren and members of Nichiren Shu for generations. The church in Sacramento was founded in the early 1930s, and many members can tell you the various addresses in downtown Sacramento where the church was located before the current church was built in 1970 in south Sacramento.
During the Dharma talk at the end of the service, Ven. Kenjo Igarashi explained that it is important to remember and celebrate the various trials and tribulations suffered by Nichiren because it was these trials suffered while propagating the Lotus Sutra during the Latter Day of the Law that prove the sutra’s predictions. And they also illustrate Nichiren’s need, and by example our own, to expiate bad karma.
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, there was a revival of Nichiren Buddhism. As History of Japanese Religion described the time:
On the part of many of its enthusiasts, it amounted to a religion of hero-worship, which remains still a force in the religious life of the Japanese. But many of the followers of Nichiren have narrowed down the horizon of Nichiren’s spiritual vision to the limits of chauvinistic patriotism. Thus, the movement has subsided to a great extent, but it is yet to be seen whether Nichiren’s profoundly religious ardour will inspire coming generations.
Attending Nichiren Buddhist services in Sacramento, California, nearly 100 years later, I’d like to think Nichiren’s “profoundly religious ardour” has indeed inspired many generations. And while for some it may be just formal observance and ritual, it remains vital and alive for many others.
Every Sūtra Preached By Śākyamuni Buddha
In determining the comparative superiority of all sūtras preached during His lifetime in the main discourse of the Lotus Sūtra proper, Śākyamuni Buddha uttered these golden words in the tenth chapter on the “Teacher of the Dharma”: “The sūtras I have preached number immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, and hundred millions. Of the sūtras I have preached, am now preaching, and will preach, this Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.” Just then the Buddha of Many Treasures emerged from underground in the eleventh chapter on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” to testify, “What is said in the Lotus Sūtra is all true,” while Buddhas manifested in the numerous worlds all over the universe came together in the 21st chapter on the “Divine Powers of the Buddha” to attest it to be the truth by touching the Brahma Heaven with their tongues.
Taking these into consideration, I guess it is in my own hands to compare the superiority and profundity in doctrine or difficulty in practice among sūtras as numerous as the number of dust particles in the whole universe, including those transmitted to China and Japan, more than 5,000 fascicles in old translations and more than 7,000 fascicles in new translations; those which have not been transmitted but existed in India, the Dragon’s Palace and the Four-king Heavens; those preached by the Past Seven Buddhas and those left out of Ananda’s collection.
How can the “immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, and hundred millions of sūtras” referred to in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra not include every sūtra preached by Śākyamuni Buddha? Is there any sūtra that does not fall into the time-span of the Buddha’s preaching when He “has preached, now preaches, and will preach” them?
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 19
Daily Dharma – March 7, 2019
He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others. He should have great compassion towards all living beings. He should look upon all the Tathāgatas as his loving fathers, and upon all the Bodhisattvas as his great teachers. He should bow to all the great Bodhisattvas of the worlds of the ten quarters respectfully and from the bottom of his heart. He should expound the Dharma to all living beings without partiality. He should be obedient to the Dharma. He should not add anything to the Dharma or take away anything from the Dharma.
The Buddha declares this passage in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In an earlier teaching, the Buddha proclaimed, “I do not quarrel with the world. The world quarrels with me.” The Buddha does not need to prove anything to anyone. He realized the truth and teaches it out of his compassion for all beings. He understood that when people reacted poorly to his teaching and began to argue with him or chastise him, it was due to the illusions they had not yet eliminated. This chapter of the sūtra instructs us to keep the same mind when we spread the Dharma. We teach from our compassion and respect.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Present World as the Buddha Land
We have already seen that Nichiren saw the Buddha’s pure land as immanent in the present world, based on the “Fathoming the Lifespan ” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, which says, “I [Śākyamuni] am always in this Sahā world.” In the Kanjin honzon shō, Nichiren developed this idea specifically in terms of the origin teaching and the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment:
Now (ima) the Sahā world of the original time (honji) [of the Buddha’s enlightenment] is the constantly abiding pure land, freed from the three disasters and transcending [the cycle of] the four kalpas [formation, stability, decline, and extinction]. Its Buddha has not already entered nirvana in the past, nor is he yet to be born in the future. And his disciples are of the same essence. This [world] is [implicit in] the three realms, which are inherent in the three thousand realms of one’s mind.
In a manner very similar to that of the Sanjū shika no kotogaki and other medieval Tendai writings, this passage conveys the sense of the moment of enlightenment as accessing a timeless, “constantly abiding” realm in which all change is suspended. (Page 290-291)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism