Monthly Archives: July 2019

WONS

A Good Relationship Shared

The human mind is indefinite and ever changing. While I already thought it was wonderful that you had faith in me while I was in Sado Province as an exile, you now sent Lord Lay Priest, your husband, all the way here on Mt. Minobu. How kind you are! We have been separated by provinces, and years and months have gone by, thus I was afraid that you had become lax in your faith. Knowing that your faith is all the more steadfast, earning a great deal of merit, however, I can’t help but believe the relationship we share is not limited to one or two lifetimes.

Since it is difficult to have faith in the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha helps us to believe in the sūtra by appearing as a child, parent, or wife of a human being. You have parents but no child. As it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “All beings living in it (the Sahā World) are My own children,” Lord Preacher Śākyamuni Buddha is the compassionate father of Lord Lay Priest of Kō and My Lady the Nun. And I, Nichiren, am your child, though in order to save the people of Japan I was not born in Sado and stayed in Kamakura instead. This good relationship we shared in the past is valuable.

Kō Nyūdō-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Lay Priest of Kō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 158-159

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 6, 2019

These good men and women are great Bodhisattvas. They should be considered to have appeared in this world by their vow to expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma out of their compassion towards all living beings, although they already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [in their previous existence].

The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sūtra. In the teachings of Nirvāṇa, the goal is to remove suffering so that we can be reborn in a peaceful realm. In this Sūtra, the Buddha reminds us that we who keep this Sūtra have given up the privilege of higher realms so that we can benefit beings where we find ourselves now. We do not fear rebirth in lower realms since our compassion takes us even there so we can benefit beings in those realms.

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

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the Lotus Sūtra and practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas, we learn how good men or women who live after the Buddha’s extinction should expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

“Medicine-King! The Bodhisattvas who, having been surprised at hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, doubt and fear it, know this, are beginners in Bodhisattvahood. The Śrāvakas who, having been surprised at hearing this sūtra, doubt and fear it, know this, are men of arrogance.

“Medicine-King! How should the good men or women who live after my extinction expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees when they wish to? They should enter the room of the Tathāgata, wear the robe of the Tathāgata, sit on the seat of the Tathāgata, and then expound this sūtra to the four kinds of devotees. To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion towards all living beings. To wear the robe of the Tathāgata means to be gentle and patient. To sit on the seat of the Tathāgata means to see the voidness of all things. They should do these [three] things and then without indolence expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees.

“Medicine-King! Although I shall be in another world [after my extinction], I will manifest men and women [by my supernatural powers], dispatch them [to the expounder of the Dharma], and have them collect people to hear the Dharma from him. I also will manifest monks, nuns and men or women of faith [by my supernatural powers], dispatch them, and have them hear the Dharma from them. These people manifested [by my supernatural powers] will hear the Dharma [from him], receive it by faith, follow it, and not oppose it. If he lives in a retired place, I will dispatch gods, dragons, demigods, gandharvas, asuras, and others to him, and have them hear the Dharma from him. Although I shall be in another world, l will cause him to see me from time to time. If he forgets a phrase of this sūtra, I will tell it to him for his complete [understanding].”

On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 5 of 21.

21days, Blog

Day 5 of 21

20190705_pacer_map_snapshotSuddenly today I realized the difference between walking for an hour simply to exercise and walking for an hour meditating on Namu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo. They are not the same.

Namu

The left foot steps.

Myo

The right foot.

Ho

The left foot.

Ren

The right foot.

Ge

The left foot.

Kyo

The right foot.

Homage to the Dharma Flower

The left foot.

Wonderful Lotus Sutra

The right foot.

Homage to the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, again and again and again.

And all the while the mind is quiet, allowing the senses to heighten.

The sounds.

Each step rhythmic, here a crunch of gravel, there the scrap of a leaf, step, step, step. Birds chirp and sing on the left, now the right, nearby, faraway. Cars pass close, the sound rushing closer and then racing away. Distant sounds fade in and out. Aircraft fly overhead.

The smells.

Suburban lawns freshly watered. Rose bushes and honeysuckle. The unscented cool morning air.

The sights.

Dawn’s light peaking over homes and between tree branches. In a yard up ahead, a flower is bathed in a single ray of sunlight while all around is still in shade. The flowers glow as if radiating the light themselves. As I approach I consider pulling out my phone and taking a photo. I don’t. I realize a snapshot of this moment would not be real. The causes and conditions that placed this plant here and the sun there with the trees so arranged just as I walked up mindful of Namu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo – what would a photo show?

That moment was perfect and then it was another moment.

Day 4 of 21Day 6 of 21

Lotus Path

Emerging from the Dark

Quote

If you think where you are is dark and isolated remember that this is also the condition from which butterflies emerge. With our practice of Buddhism it is possible for us to change any karma. We can begin to respond to the things that arise in our life in different ways and thereby experience new outcomes. It isn’t necessary for us to remain trapped in a cycle of suffering or despair.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS

The Single Moment of Understanding by Faith

In the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, Miao-lê writes: “The single moment of understanding by faith is foremost of the practices in the essential section.” The first of the four depths of faith in the time when the sūtra was taught is the single moment of understanding by faith and the first of the five stages of practice after the Buddha’s passing away is the stage of rejoicing. Within these two can be found all 100 realms, 1,000 aspects, and 3,000 modes of existences as if in a treasure chest. They are the gate out of which all the Buddhas of all time and space emerge.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page101

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 5, 2019

When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.

The Buddha gives these instructions in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. They remind us to be patient with those whom we work to benefit. Even though they may not be ready to hear the Wonderful Dharma, we can use the Expedient Teachings to prepare them for the Buddha’s highest teaching. When we are assured that countless beings are helping us all to become enlightened, we are less likely to be disappointed in the progress that we see.

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

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard the desire of Ānanda and Rāhula to receive a prediction, we hear Śākyamuni’s prediction for Ānanda.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Ānanda:

“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, 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. You will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.

“Ānanda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddhas or Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathāgatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.”

On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 4 of 21.

21days

Day 4 of 21

The Lotus Sutra can be understood in many ways, or, to put it another way, the teachings of the Lotus Sutra are varied and multivalent. Actually, one of the most important of these many meanings of the Lotus Sutra is its very vagueness and that it presents itself as of “innumerable meanings.” This potential—latent in its self-proclaimed “innumerable meanings”—provides the possibility for the Lotus Sutra to have meaning, not just in the past, but also specifically for the modern age.

Allow me to illustrate. In the introductory chapter we find Śākyamuni entering “the samādhi of the abode of immeasurable meanings.” As if to put the electronic lasers and pyrotechnics of Disneyland to shame, flowers rain down from heaven and the Buddha emits a ray of light that illuminates uncountable universes. Then the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī announces that the Buddha is about to preach the Lotus Sutra. However, the Buddha never does get around to preaching it. In short, an extravagant show is made to prepare for a sermon whose content is never exactly delineated.

What is this “Lotus Sutra” that is never preached? The content of the Lotus Sutra from chapter 2 on consists not so much in the Lotus Sutra itself, as in various praises for and instructions concerning the Lotus Sutra. The reason is that, in a broad sense, all of the Buddha-dharma is the Lotus Sutra, preached by the Buddha from the beginningless past. And if, in the words of the Ta Chih tu lun (Treatise on the Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom), the Buddha-dharma is not limited to the words of the sutras, but all good and beautiful words are the Buddha-dharma, then the same can be said of the Lotus Sutra.

The Lotus Sutra is of immeasurable meanings because it is equivalent to the Buddha-dharma. …

This does not mean that the Lotus Sutra can mean anything we want it to, or that we can arbitrarily interpret it to our own liking. “Immeasurable” does not mean “anything” or “everything.” It is important to know what the “Lotus Sutra” (in the limited, textual sense) says (and does not say), what it has meant (or not meant) to people in the past, how it has inspired (or not inspired) people, and what kinds of religious or other experiences it has led to.

On that basis we can more accurately and critically conclude what meaning the Lotus Sutra can have for our modern world. This is the duty of all religionists, whether Buddhist, Christian, or Muslim—to discover the meaning of their faith in their own social, historical, and cultural situation. For the Lotus Sutra adherent, it means the obligation to seek the meaning of the Lotus Sutra that is alive and meaningful for today. And precisely because the Lotus Sutra is of immeasurable meanings, it has the potential for providing meaning in our day.

Paul L. Swanson
From an essay that appeared in A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra; Gene Reeves editor; Kōsei Publishing; 2002

I want to add this quote early in my 21-day stay-cation retreat because it underscores an important point about why I am doing this:

For the Lotus Sutra adherent, it means the obligation to seek the meaning of the Lotus Sutra that is alive and meaningful for today.

Day 3 of 21Day 5 of 21

WONS

Discarding Expedient Teachings

I wonder what the Buddha had in mind when He declared in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “I had preached the Dharma variously through expedient means without revealing the truth for forty years or so.” The Buddha thus invalidated the teachings of all the sūtras preached in the first 40 years or so, including such teachings as “Rebirth in the Land of Utmost Bliss,” like an outdated living will of parents. The Buddha further stated in this sūtra, “With those teachings, no one can attain enlightenment even if one practices them for innumerable and incalculable kalpa.” In the second chapter on the “Expedients” of the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha also preached, “Honestly discarding the expedient teachings, I will expound only the unsurpassed way.” He preaches to us to discard expedient teachings. It means that we should abandon the teachings that were expounded during the forty years or so, …

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 139.