Monthly Archives: July 2019

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered that all Buddhas use expedients, we consider the puzzlement of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.

The great multitude at that time included Śrāvakas. [They also included] Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, and other Arhats, twelve hundred altogether, who had already eliminated āsravas. [They also included] the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās, [that is, the four kinds of devotees] who had already aspired for Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood. All of them thought:

“Why does the World-Honored One extol so enthusiastically the power of the Buddhas to employ expedients? Why does he say that the Dharma attained by him is profound and difficult to understand, and that the true purpose of his teachings is too difficult for Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas to know? He expounded to us the teaching of emancipation. We obtained this teaching and reached Nirvāṇa. We do not know why he says all this.”

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1 offers this on the followers’ puzzlement:

Previous to teaching the Lotus Sutra the Buddha taught expedients to lead people to the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra. In many ways it was as if he were leading the blind to the train station so they could then find the way to the true complete teachings contained in the Lotus Sutra. But we need to remember that the train station is not the destination, the expedients are not the sum of the Buddha’s teachings.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

21days, Universal Sage

21 Days: Practice Diligently and Never Be Lazy

This quote (Reeves, p408) from The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva follows a reference to the Lotus Sutra and Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma. This is part of the instructions given to the contemplating practitioner by “hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of innumerable buddhas everywhere”:

“Now you should practice diligently and never be lazy. These Great Vehicle sutras are the buddhas’ storehouse of the Dharma; they are the eyes of the buddhas in all directions and in the past, present, and future; and they are the seeds that give birth to tathagatas in the past, present, and future. One who embraces these sutras embraces the body of the Buddha and does the work of the Buddha. Such a person should understand that he or she has been sent by the buddhas and are covered by robes of buddhas, the world-honored ones. This is a child of the true Dharma of the buddhas, the tathagatas. Practice the Great Vehicle and do not cut off the seeds of Dharma!

The source of the instruction underscores the universality of the message, which is full of concepts also found in the Lotus Sutra.

buddhaseed

Acknowledging Favors Received; Repaying Favors to Others

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The doctrine of cause and effect or Ichinen Sanzen teaches us to acknowledge favors received from others and to repay favors to others. It is a totally a incorrect view to relate cause and effect to feelings of guilt or fear because it cannot improve our minds and lives.

As an example, when we hold memorial services for the deceased, we should hold them from the heart of compassion and to repay favors. This is how our heart gets connected to the deceased. According to the doctrines of Ichinen Sanzen and cause and effect, we share the fortune and misfortune of our own relatives, including the deceased, as our own. Thus, when we wish to help relatives or others having difficulty, such as an illness, we accumulate and dedicate merits for all beings including our ancestors.

Buddha Seed: Understanding the Odaimoku

WONS

Refusing to follow Ruler, Parents, and Teacher

Generally speaking, one who acts against one’s parents or disobeys the ruler of the country is chastised by the heavens for being unfilial. Nevertheless, when the enemies of the Lotus Sūtra are one’s parents or the ruler of the country, it is an act of filial piety or patriotism to the country not to follow their directions. Therefore, ever since I encountered this sūtra I fearlessly upheld my faith in it even though my parents tried to restrain me by rubbing their hands together in prayer, my teacher disowned me, and the Kamakura Shogunate exiled me twice, indeed I was almost beheaded. Because my faith did not falter people in Japan are now beginning to believe I might be right. Besides me, Nichiren, who else in Japan has refused to follow the ruler of the country, parents, and teacher and still received heavenly blessings?

Ōshajō-ji, Town of Rājagṛha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 128

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 27, 2019

World-Honored One! I have never seen anyone like you before. Your teachings have these inconceivable, wonderful merits. The practices performed according to your teachings and precepts are peaceful and pleasant. From today on, I will not act according to my own mind. I will not have wrong views, arrogance, anger or any other evil thought.

King Wonderful-Adornment makes this declaration to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The king had been led to this Buddha by his sons, who showed him the wonders they learned from their practice of the Buddha Dharma. With his mind purified by hearing the Buddha’s teachings, he makes this aspiration to behave differently. Whether or not he can keep this aspiration, he shows his realization that hearing the teachings is not enough. Practicing them means changing our minds and how we live.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what Mañjuśrī saw as a result of the light emitted by the Buddha in the past, we witness what happened when Sun-Moon-Light Buddha emerged from his samādhi.

The four kinds of devotees
Of the world of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha
Also saw the Buddha displaying this great wonder.
They had great joy.
They asked one another:
“Why is he doing this?”

He who was honored by gods and men
Emerged from his samādhi,
And praised Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva, saying:
“You are the eyes of the world.

You are believed and relied on
By all living beings.
You are keeping the store of the Dharma.
Only you will understand the Dharma which I shall expound.”

Having praised Wonderful-Light
And caused him to rejoice,
That World-Honored One expounded
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
He never rose from his seat for sixty small kalpas.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma,
Kept the Wonderful Dharma
Expounded by that World-Honored One.

That the Buddha expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for sixty small kalpas underscores that there are many versions of the Lotus Sutra beyond what we read here.

21days, Innumerable

21 Days: Where This Sutra Comes From

Gathering quotes from the The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, here’s the Buddha’s response to a question from Magnificently Adorned Bodhisattva (Reeves, p42):

“Good son, you ask where this sutra comes from, where is it headed, and where it will live. Now you should listen carefully. Good son, this sutra originally comes from the home of all the buddhas, goes toward the aspiration for awakening of all the living, and lives wherever bodhisattvas practice. Good son, this sutra comes like this, goes like this, and lives like this. Thus, having such innumerable blessings and amazing powers, this sutra enables people to attain unexcelled awakening quickly.”

Lotus Path

Seeing the Gem

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Looking into our lives to find those things that prevent us from accomplishing what we wish is fundamental to Buddhist practice. … Also a hindrance is the desire to seek out some new and improved practice. Focus less on the tool and more on the skill. We can become like junk collectors accumulating lots of needless and useless things in an attic. We have the gem; the wisdom to see it and use it is what’s important.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS

Regarding Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō

Regarding “the wonderful” of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai declares in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “Wonderful means something mysterious, absolute and beyond expression;” “the Lotus Sūtra is called wonderful because it is the hidden teaching of the Buddha,” or “it is named so because the sūtra is the supreme and ultimate Dharma like nectar.”

As for “the Dharma,” T’ien-t’ai’s Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra states, “The Dharma means the law of provisional and true teachings with ten realms and ten levels of suchness.” (The reality of all things means that each of the ten realms has ten suchness-aspects. When the reality of all things is considered, the ten suchness-aspects of nine realms are provisional because those are the worlds of delusions, while those of the Buddha realm is true because it is the true world. Because the ten realms represent the reality of all things, they are non-duality in their form of provisional or true teachings). It is said also, “The Dharma is so named because the provisional and true teachings are not separated from each other as the ultimate truth.”

The meaning of the “Lotus Flower” is explained in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The lotus flower is the simile of the provisional and true teachings. ‘Flower’ is applied to the provisional and ‘lotus’ is the true. Putting the two together, the provisional and true teachings are one as the lotus flower.” It is also stated, “It shows the true result (attainment of Buddhahood) of the Eternal Buddha and reveals the non-duality of the provisional and true teachings.”

Grand Master Chang-an speaks of “the Sūtra” in the second prologue of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Buddha’s voice teaches the Way to Buddhahood, which is called a sūtra.”

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 85

Daily Dharma, d26b

Daily Dharma – July 26, 2019

The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the leader of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground in Chapter Fifteen when the Buddha asked who would continue to keep and practice this sūtra after his physical extinction in this world. Nichiren saw himself as the embodiment of Superior-Practice, and all of us who are determined to lead all beings to enlightenment through this Wonderful Dharma as embodiments of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground. The powers of the Buddhas only seem supernatural to those who are mired in delusion and ignorance. They are nothing more than turning the poison of anger into the medicine of energy; the poison of isolation into the medicine of compassion; the poison of attachment into the medicine of wisdom.

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