Ultimate Truth as Substance

Chih-i cites various passages in the Lotus Sūtra to support his own argument of taking the Ultimate Truth as substance (as this substance conveys the principle of neither cause nor effect). The phrases such as those in the chapter on “Introduction”: “Presently, the Buddha signals ray of light, wishing to reveal the doctrine of the Ultimate Truth,” “The doctrine of the Ultimate Truth of all dharmas, I have already taught you” and that in the chapter on “Expedient Means”: “Only Buddhas and Buddhas can exhaust the Ultimate Truth of all dharmas,” etc., prove that only the Ultimate Truth concerns leading beings to open the Buddha’s knowledge and insight, which can be characterized as the substance concerning the principle of neither cause nor effect. (Vol. 2, Page 408)

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


Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Having last month considered the merits of those who keep or copy this sūtra or causes others to copy it after the Buddha’s extinction, we consider what those who believe will see.

“Ajita! The good men or women who hear of my longevity of which I told you, and understand it by firm faith, will be able to see that I am expounding the Dharma on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, surrounded by great Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. They also will be able to see that the ground of this Sahā-World is made of lapis lazuli, that the ground is even, that the eight roads are marked off by ropes of Jambunada gold, that the jeweled trees are standing in lines, and that the magnificent buildings are made of treasures. They also will be able to see that the Bodhisattvas are living in those buildings. They will be able to see all this because, know this, they have already understood [my longevity] by firm faith.

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 21, 2018, offers this:

Ajita! The good men or women who hear of my longevity of which I told you, and understand it by firm faith, will be able to see that I am expounding the Dharma on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, surrounded by great Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. They also will be able to see that the ground of this Sahā-World is made of lapis lazuli, that the ground is even, that the eight roads are marked off by ropes of jāmbūnada gold, that the jeweled trees are standing in lines, and that the magnificent buildings are made of treasures.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita – Invincible, in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We can hear this explanation as a promise of some great otherworldly vision which will be revealed to us if our faith is strong enough. We can also hear it as a promise that we will learn to deny that all the terrible things in the world as as bad as we think. But when we remember the Buddha telling us, “I do not see the world as others do,” then we realize that our faith brings us to the Buddha’s own mind, where we can accept this frightening and dangerous world for what it is, and work to make it better for all beings.

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

Solely by the Strength of the Lotus Sūtra

It is stated in the Collection Concerning the Immediate Attainment of Buddhahood by Grand Master Jikaku:

“The Buddha’s wish to teach and save the people is fulfilled in the Lotus Sūtra. Thus, the Buddha emerges in this world and expounds the Lotus Sūtra. While practicing the bodhisattva way before attaining Buddhahood, various Buddhas take four great vows to save the people by causing them to eliminate delusions, master the teaching of the Buddha, and attain Buddhahood. If they complete the practice and are endowed with its resulting merits, they can fulfill the last three vows of the Four Great Vows. However, it is difficult for them to accomplish the first vow to lead the people and enable them to eliminate delusions. Not even the Flower Garland Sūtra can enable the people in the Ten Realms (from the realm of Buddhas to hell) to attain Buddhahood. The same is true with the Āgama sūtras, the Hōdō (various Mahāyāna) sūtras, and the Wisdom Sūtra. Though expounding all the teachings again after the Lotus Sūtra, the Nirvana Sūtra cannot accomplish the Buddha’s will to enable all the people to attain Buddhahood. Now it becomes clear that all living beings of the Ten Realms can attain Buddhahood by the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Devadatta who had once fallen into the Hell of Incessant Suffering was assured in the Lotus Sūtra to become Heavenly King Buddha; the daughter of a dragon king and the ten female rākṣasa demons attained Buddhahood; an asura demon was assured of future Buddhahood, and bodhisattvas in the realm of men, heavenly beings and the Two Vehicles and all bodhisattvas who mastered the teachings other than the Lotus Sūtra are all able to enter the perfect realm of the Buddha. It is preached in the “Expedient” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra that the Buddha has accomplished His Vow to lead all the people to the way of the Buddha. Since the realm of men is limitless, there still are people who have not entered the way of the Buddha. However, all the people of the Ten Realms will surely attain Buddhahood solely by the strength of the Lotus Sūtra. The Lotus Sūtra fulfills the will of the Buddha to save all the people.”

Nizen Nijō Bosatsu Fu-sabutsu Ji, Never-Attaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles and Bodhisattvas in the Pre-Lotus Sūtras, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 222

Chanting Chapters 2 and 16

Chapters 12 and 23 of the Lotus Sūtra, “Devadatta” and the “Previous Life of the Medicine-King Bodhisattva,” both preach the attainment of Buddhahood by women, but chapter 12 is a branch of chapter 2 and chapter 23 is a branch of chapter 16. Therefore, I recommend that you make a point of chanting chapters 2 and 16 daily and the other chapters sometimes when you have free time.

Gassui Gasho, A Letter on Menstruation, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 32

Daily Dharma – March 6, 2019

His wonderful voice [comes from] his perceiving the voice of the world.
It is like the voice of Brahman, like the sound of a tidal wave.
It excels all the other voices of the world.
Therefore, think of him constantly!

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva is the embodiment of compassion. When we allow ourselves to hear and be present for all of the suffering that happens in the world, then we are hearing compassion. When we have to courage not to run away from misery but to face it and live through it, we bring this Bodhisattva to life in our world and inspire compassion in all beings.

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

The Place of Practice

In its most specific sense, the place of practice is understood in terms of the “ordination platform of the origin teaching” (honmon no kaidan), the third of the three great secret Dharmas entrusted by the original Śākyamuni to Bodhisattva Superior Conduct for the sake of persons in the Final Dharma age. However, as rules governing conduct, neither the ssu-fen lü precepts nor the bodhisattva precepts receive much attention in Nichiren’s thought. Although he maintained celibacy, refrained from meat-eating, and generally observed the standards of monastic conduct, he described himself as “a monk without precepts.” Like Hōnen, Nichiren saw the Final Dharma age as an age without precepts, when “there is neither keeping the precepts nor breaking them.” From a very early period, he held that “merely to believe in this [Lotus] sūtra is to uphold the precepts,” a statement based on the sūtra’s claim that one who can receive and keep the sūtra after the Buddha’s Nirvāṇa is “a keeper of the precepts.” A later writing explains this in terms of the all-inclusiveness of the daimoku:

Myōhō-renge-kyō, the heart of the origin teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, assembles in five characters all the merit of the myriad practices and good (acts] of the Buddhas of the three time periods. How could these five characters not contain the merit of [upholding] the myriad precepts? After the practitioner has once embraced this perfectly endowed, wonderful precept, it cannot be broken, even if one should try. No doubt this is why it has been called the vajra precept of the jeweled receptacle (kongō hōki kai). By embracing this precept, the Buddhas of the three time periods realized the Dharma, recompense, and manifested bodies, becoming Buddhas without beginning or end. … Because so wonderful a precept has been revealed, the precepts based on the pre-Lotus Sūtra teachings and on the trace teaching are now without the slightest merit.

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


The Ultimate Empty Space

Chih-I portrays the Ultimate Truth by equating it with empty space in a house. Empty space in a house has neither roof beams nor pillars. The substance of a house, empty space, thus represents the Ultimate Truth. On the other hand, the roof beams and pillars are taken to analogize the cause and effect of Buddhahood. This is because if a house has no void, it cannot contain and receive anything. If the cause and effect of Buddhahood are not based on the Ultimate Truth as substance, they cannot sustain themselves. Thus, Chih-i holds that it is necessary to single out the correct substance that consists of only one empty space, upon which everything is able to function. (Vol. 2, Page 407-408)

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


Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Having last month considered the purpose of the sūtras expounded to this point, we learn why Śākyamuni says ‘I shall pass away.’

“Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time as previously stated. Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views. If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I will pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore I say [to them] expediently, ‘Bhikṣus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in [this] world.’ Why is that? It is because some men of little virtue cannot see me even during many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas while the others can. Therefore, I say [to them], ‘Bhikṣus! It is difficult to see a Tathāgata.’ Those who hear this and know that it is difficult to see me, will adore me, admire me, and plant the roots of good. Therefore l say [to them], ‘I shall pass away,’ although I shall not.

The Daily Dharma from July 8, 2018, offers this:

Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This Chapter is the first time he reveals himself as the Ever-Present Buddha who became enlightened in the far distant past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment into the far distant future. The Buddha uses the death of his physical body as an expedient so that those who take him for granted will make efforts to practice his teachings. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, then we learn to see the Buddha in ourselves and all beings.

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

Śākyamuni Buddha’s Six Paramita

The character Myō in the Myōhō Renge Kyō (Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma) was verified by the tongues of the two Buddhas (Śākyamuni and Many Treasures). The tongues of these two Buddhas are an eightfold double-blooming lotus flower. A wish-fulfilling gem, on top of this double-blooming lotus flower, is the character Myō. This wish-fulfilling gem, the character Myō, contains all the merits of Śākyamuni Buddha’s Six Paramita (the six kinds of practice by which He attained Buddhahood). In a previous life, Śākyamuni offered His own body to a hungry tiger and sacrificed His life to a hawk to save a dove (charity). When He was King Śrutasoma, he did not violate the Buddhist precepts even at the cost of his life (precepts). When he was Hermit Forbearance, he willingly endured the tortures of King Kālika cutting off his four limbs (forbearance). When he was Prince Dāna, he devoted his life to finding a wishfulfilling gem to save people (effort). When he was the Hermit Shōjari, he did not move until the eggs that a heron placed on his head hatched (meditation). And so on. Therefore, we in the Latter Age of Degeneration who simply believe in the Lotus Sūtra are able to receive the same merit gained by practicing the Six Pāramitā in full even if we haven’t performed any good deeds.

Nichimyō Shōnin Gosho, A Letter to Nichimyō Shōnin, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 138-139

Daily Dharma – March 5, 2019

Anyone who reads this sūtra
Will be free from grief,
Sorrow, disease or pain.
His complexion will be fair.
He will not be poor,
Humble or ugly.
All living beings
Will wish to see him
Just as they wish to see sages and saints.
Celestial pages will serve him.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. When we cultivate the mind of the Buddha, and bring his teachings to life, we help other beings find true happiness. This is different from our normal pattern of attempting to manipulate what others think about us through bribery, threats, and other forms of coercion. When we help others find their minds, they realize that they share our true mind of joy and peace.

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