Monthly Archives: March 2019

LS32

Day 8

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās Mahā-Kāśyapa’s explanation of the meaning of the parable, we consider the realization of the śrāvakas of how the Buddha prepared them with expedients.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has āsravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvāṇa-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.

You said [to us]:
“When you attain enlightenment infallibly,
You will have already repaid
The favors I gave you.”

Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.

The Daily Dharma of May 23, 2018, offers this:

Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.

Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana, all disciples of the Buddha, speak these lines in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra as they explain their story of the wayward son. They compare the father’s treasure house in the story to the Buddha’s enlightenment. Until they had been led by the Buddha’s expedient teachings, they could not even imagine themselves as enlightened, any more than the wayward son in the story could imagine the contents of his father’s treasure house.

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

WONS

Four Practicers of Lotus Sūtra

[I]t is stated in a letter signed by Former Governor of Musashi Province, Lord Hōjō Nobutoki, directing the Province of Sado on the seventh of the twelfth month in the tenth year of the Bun’ei Period (1273):

“There is a report that Nichiren, a priest exiled to Sado Province, and his disciples are engaging in corruption. His actions are inexcusable. From this point forward, those who follow Nichiren will be punished severely. Report the names of those who disobey this order. This is by the order of Lord Hōjō Nobutoki. 7th day of the 12th month in the 10th year of Bun’ei…”

The accusation in the letter of “engaging in corruption” is equivalent to the non-Buddhists who slandered the Buddha as a corrupt man. Moreover, the Buddha encountered the nine great difficulties such as the murder of Śākya Clan members by King Virūḍhaka, enduring begging without receiving alms and cold winds without proper clothes. I encountered persecutions in which my disciples were killed. I ate snow to stay alive, and I had no clothes to protect myself from cold winds. Do these difficulties exceed those endured by the Buddha? Perhaps T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō had not endured difficulties such as these. You should know that by adding myself to Śākyamuni Buddha, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyō, there are now four practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, one of whom is in the Latter Age of Degeneration. How happy I am that I correspond with the Buddha’s prediction, “Needless to say, more people will do so (hate the Lotus Sūtra) after my extinction.” However, it is pitiful that people in Japan are falling into the Hell of Incessant Suffering by slandering me. The details are too complicated so I will stop here before this letter becomes too involved. Please consider the issue carefully.

Hokke Gyōja Chinan-ji, Difficulty of the Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 15

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 24, 2019

Ajita, know this, these great Bodhisattvas
Have studied and practiced
The wisdom of the Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.

They are my sons because I taught them
And caused them to aspire for great enlightenment.

The Buddha sings these verses to his disciple Maitreya, also known as Invincible (Ajita) in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sutra. In the story, great Bodhisattvas have just appeared from under the ground of this world of conflict after the Buddha asks who will continue to teach and practice this Lotus Sūtra after the extinction of the Buddha. None of those gathered to hear the Buddha teach, including other great Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya, had ever seen them before. Late in his life Nichiren realized that he was a reincarnation of Superior-Practice, the leader of the Bodhisattvas from underground, and that we who practice the Lotus Sūtra are his followers. Our lives are much greater than we realize, as are our capacities, our patience, our wisdom and our merit. It is through the Wonderful Dharma that we awaken to all these and clarify the Buddha Land we live in now.

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

original

The Original Enlightenment of Ordinary Worldlings

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It should also be noted that Nitchō’s* strong doctrinal emphasis on the original enlightenment of ordinary worldlings was modified by the presence of other elements in the context of practice. For example:

[Question]: By upholding the truth and not abandoning it, one eventually arrives at the fruit of Buddhahood–if this is the case, then whether or not Buddhahood is realized depends solely on the mind. The power of the sūtra, it would appear, is not involved. How should this be understood?

Answer: This is an essential matter. When it is said that one who maintains one’s resolve without abandoning it will achieve great merit, in reliance upon what do we understand that great merit to be achieved? By relying for one’s good roots upon the Lotus Sūtra and not losing one’s resolve, any merit can be achieved. Thus, even the slightest good roots can result in the fruit of Buddhahood. But should one not rely upon the Lotus Sūtra, no matter how vast one’s good roots may be, one will not arrive at the fruit of Buddhahood.

Or again:

All persons, by receiving the Wonderful Dharma transmitted by Bodhisattva Superior Conduct and having faith in it, will eradicate within this lifetime the delusions of the three poisons of greed, hatred, and folly [accumulated] since beginningless vast kalpas and, when this life is ended, with their final breath, shall at once realize the cherished desire of going to [the Pure Land of] Eagle Peak.

Side by side with his discussion of realizing enlightenment in the moment of chanting the daimoku are notions of realizing Buddhahood at the moment of death or going at death to the Pure Land of Eagle Peak. Nitchō’s case thus supports the suggestion, offered earlier in the context of medieval Tendai, that original enlightenment discourse was a rhetorical strategy rooted in commitment to a philosophical position of nonduality; in actual practice, it often existed side by side and was constrained by ideas that did not necessarily cohere with it logically, including the need to rely on superior powers (such as Buddhas or sūtras), the importance of cultivating lifelong faith, and birth after death in a pure land. (Page 324-325)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


*Gyōgakuin Nitchō (1422-1500), eleventh kanju of Minobu and the leading scholar among the itchi faction of the Hokkeshūand studied under the ninth kanju of Minobu, Nichigaku.

Profound

Abiding in the One Buddha-Vehicle

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Chu-i Hsien-i (Abiding in the one and revealing the one) is the function related to the Subtlety of the Threefold Track. This is spoken of in terms of the original intention of the Buddha. Chih-i emphasizes that the Buddha’s intention is to apply the ultimate knowledge to transform living beings. Therefore, the Buddha always abides in the One Buddha-vehicle, and expounds this One Vehicle to teach and transform living beings. (Vol. 2, Page 445)

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


LS32, WONS

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the fate of those who scowl at this sūtra, we conclude the listing of punishments for slandering the Lotus Sūtra

After that they will be reborn
In the world of animals.
Some of them will become dogs or small foxes.
They will be bald, thin and black.
They will suffer from mange and leprosy
Men will treat them mercilessly,
And hate and despise them.
They will always suffer from hunger and thirst.
Their bones will project; their flesh sag.
They will always suffer in their present existence.
After their death, they will be put
Under pieces of tile or stones.
Those who destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become
Camels or asses.
They will always be heavily loaded,
And beaten with sticks or whips.
They will think of nothing
But water and hay.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become small foxes.
They will suffer
From mange and leprosy.
They will have only one eye
When they come to a town,
They will be struck by boys.
Some of them
Will be beaten to death.
After they die
They will become boas.
Their bodies will be large,
Five hundred yojanas long.
They will be deaf and stupid.

They will wriggle along without legs.
They will be bitten
By many small vermin.
They will suffer day and night.
They will have no time to take a rest.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become men again.
They will be foolish, short, ugly,
Crooked, crippled, blind, deaf,
And hunchbacked.
No one will believe their words.
They will always have fetid breath.
They will be possessed by demons.
Poverty-stricken and mean,
They will be employed by others.
Worn-out, thin,
And subject to many diseases,
They will have no one to rely on.
Anyone who employs them
Will not take care of them.
They will lose before long
What little they may have earned.
When they study medicine,
And treat a patient with a proper remedy,
The patient will have another disease
Or die.
When they are ill in health,
No one will cure them.
Even when they take a good medicine,
They will suffer all the more.
They will be attacked by others,
Or robbed or stolen from.
Their sins will incur these misfortunes.
These sinful people will never be able to see
The Buddha, the King of the Saints,
Who expounds the Dharma
And teaches all living beings.
They will always be reborn
In the places of difficulty
[In seeing the Buddha].
They will be mad, deaf or distracted.
They will never be able to hear the Dharma.
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
They will be deaf and dumb.
They will not have all the sense organs.
Accustomed to living in hell,
They will take it for their playground.
Accustomed to living in other evil regions,
They will take them for their homes. They will live
Among camels, asses, wild boars, and dogs.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

When they are reborn in the world of men,
Deafness, blindness, dumbness,
Poverty, and many other defects
Will be their ornaments;
Dropsy, diabetes, mange,
Leprosy, carbuncles, and many other diseases
Will be their garments.
They will always smell bad.
They will be filthy and defiled.
Deeply attached to the view
That the self exists,
They will aggravate their anger.
Their lust will not discriminate
Between [humans,] birds or beasts.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Nichiren links this section of Chapter 3, A Parable, to śrāvaka disciples such as Śāriputra, Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and Rāhula in a letter to the Ikegami Brothers:

The śrāvaka disciples such as Śāriputra, Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and Rāhula, who were guaranteed to be future Buddhas in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra through the three cycles of the Buddha’s preaching (dharma, parable, and past relationships) had learned the Lotus Sūtra far in the past, 3,000 dust-particle kalpa (aeons) ago, from a bodhisattva who was the 16th prince of the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, namely Śākyamuni Buddha today. Nevertheless, due to evil karma they abandoned the Lotus Sūtra, embracing such Mahāyāna sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Wisdom Sūtra, Sūtra of Great Assembly, Nirvana Sūtra, Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, and Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life or Hinayana Āgama sūtras. While doing so, they gradually declined in status to the realms of heavenly and human beings and finally to the three evil realms. As a result for as long as 3,000 dust-particle kalpa they spent much of their time in the Hell of Incessant Suffering, some of their time in the seven major hells, once in a long while in the other one hundred or so hells, and on rare occasions in the realms of hungry souls, beasts, and asura. It was after the 3,000 dust-particle kalpa (aeons) that they were able to be born in the realm of human or heavenly beings.

Therefore, it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2 (chapter 3), “They will always stay in hell, strolling in it as though it were a garden, and remain in other evil realms as if they were at home.” Those who committed the ten evil acts will fall into such hells as the hell of regeneration and that of black ropes, where they spend 500 or 1,000 years. Those who committed the five rebellious sins, are destined to the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as one medium kalpa before being reborn. Those who abandoned the Lotus Sūtra, however, will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering and remain there for innumerable number of kalpa, though their sin does not seem to be as terrible as the sin of murdering parents.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 73

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

The Promise and the Hope

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Long before theorists began to delve into hope the Buddha has already demonstrated his understanding of the elements of hope theory, and the workings of the human psyche. He did this by giving all of his disciples, both contemporary and future, the promise of enlightenment. He also did this by demonstrating both in story and in action the importance and necessity of Sangha.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

WONS

Slandering the Lotus Sūtra With Provisional Doctrine

[S]cholars today, while praising the Lotus Sūtra as superior to all other scriptures, maintain it is unsuitable for the inferior capacity of the people in the Latter Age, a contention that people accept. Are they not the slanderers of the True Dharma? You should wholeheartedly reject these scholars. After all, the text of the Lotus Sūtra can be broken up or cut up, but its spirit cannot be destroyed. Even if someone criticizes the Lotus Sūtra by comparing conducts of evil in the world with the practice of the Lotus Sūtra, people will not believe him. Only when someone slanders the Lotus Sūtra with the provisional doctrine similar to that of the Lotus Sūtra, will people be deceived.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 14

Daily Dharma, d14b

Daily Dharma – March 23, 2019

The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and offer flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments and music to a copy of this sūtra, or just join their hands together respectfully towards it, should be respected by all the people of the world.

The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. The notion of respect appears in many parts of this Sūtra. These lines tell us that we should be respected by people of the world, even though sometimes we are not. It is more important for us to respect each other, and everyone who practices the Wonderful Dharma in any way. It is also important that we respect ourselves, knowing that we are working 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

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Oneness of the True and Provisional Teachings

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Scholars have called attention to the Shoshin kangaku shō (Encouraging beginners in study), a Muromachi period introductory text written and studied at the Senba dangisho. Under the heading “Oneness of the true and provisional teachings,” it reads:

Right at hand we have the transmissions passed down from virtuous teachers of the past, who have said, “The Lotus Sūtra itself has no essence. It takes as its essence the teachings expounded before it.” Nonetheless, in the present age, the followers of Nichiren profoundly revere only the Lotus and deeply reject the teachings expounded before it. This is a grave error. While the Lotus is indeed to be revered, to slander other sutras in fact destroys the intent of the Lotus. …

Question: In their repudiation of the provisional teachings, we find that the Nichiren followers cite as their proof texts these passages from [the “Skillful Means” chapter] of the Lotus: “Honestly discarding skillful means, I will expound only the unexcelled Way” and “[There is the Dharma of only one vehicle, there are not two or three,] excepting the Buddha’s preaching of skillful means.” How do you respond?

Answer: When one reads the character for “to discard” (sha) in “hon estly discarding skillful means” as “to place” (oku), then it means that the skillful means of the provisional teachings, just as they are, are placed within the Lotus. This being the case, the fact that the “Skillful Means” chapter is placed among the [sūtra’s] twenty-eight chapters expresses the meaning of skillful means being precisely true reality. As for “excepting the Buddha’s preaching of skillful means,” this is interpreted to mean that attachment to these teachings is to be removed, not the dharma-teachings themselves. In other words, one is simply to remove emotional attachment to the [notion of] skillful means expounded before the Lotus as provisional teachings.

The Kantō Tendai of Senba and Hokke positions on this issue can be seen as representing two poles in the interpretation of the notion of kaie, or the “opening and integration” of all other teachings into the one vehicle of the Lotus Sūtra. The Senba side, as represented in the above passage from the Shoshin kangaku shō, took this to mean that since all teachings are encompassed by the one vehicle, to practice other teachings is in effect to practice the Lotus Sūtra. This interpretation is sometimes termed “absolute integration” (or zettai kaie) and has enjoyed a prominent place in the history of Japanese Tendai thought. The Hokke side, on the other hand, maintained that Lotus is, quite simply, superior to all other teachings; when integrated into it, they lose their separate identity. This is the interpretation of “relative integration” (sōtai kaie) that Nichiren had emphasized. The idea that all practices may be understood as aspects of the one vehicle and are thus the practice of the Lotus Sūtra had been well established in Tendai circles since Heian times. The invocation “Namu-Amida-butsu,” for example, was often referred to as the “six-character Lotus Sūtra.” The fact that the scholars of Senba felt compelled to argue this already well established position in such detail suggests that they were being hard pressed by their Hokke counterparts. (Page 307-308)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism