Monthly Archives: August 2019

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard the gāthās explaining why the 5,000 listeners left as Śākyamuni was about to talk, we hear Śākyamuni explain the immeasurable power of Buddha’s to employ expedients.

Śāriputra, listen attentively!
The Buddhas, having attained the Dharma,
Expound it to all living beings
By their immeasurable power to employ expedients.

I caused all living beings to rejoice
By telling them stories of previous lives,
Parables, similes and discourses,
That is to say, by employing various expedients
Because I knew their thoughts,
The various teachings they were practicing,
Their desires, their natures,
And the good and evil karmas they have previously done.

The sūtras were composed of prose, gāthās, and geyas.
The contents of them were
Miracles, parables, similes, upadesas,
And stories of the previous lives
Of Buddhas and of their disciples.
The reasons why the sūtras were expounded were also given.

I expounded the teaching of Nirvana to the dull people
Who wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
Who were attached to birth and death,
And who were troubled by many sufferings
Inflicted on them because they have not practiced
The profound and wonderful teachings under innumerable Buddhas.

I expounded this expedient teaching in order to cause them
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.
I never said to them:
“You will be able to attain the enlightenment of the
Buddha.” I never said this
Because time was not yet ripe for it.
Now is the time to say it.
I will expound the Great Vehicle definitely.
I expounded various sūtras of the nine elements
According to the capacities of all living beings.
I expounded various sūtras
Because those sūtras were a basis for the Great Vehicle.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this Provisional Imprinted Traces:

Chapter Two, “Expedients,” is one of the most important in the book. It clarifies the fundamental ideas of the “provisional Imprinted Traces,” or first half of the sutra. What are these fundamental ideas?

It is widely known that the Lotus Sutra contains the authentic teaching of the Buddha, or the long-awaited final Dharma—the law which underlies all other laws. Prior to the emergence of the Lotus Sutra, a variety of sutras were preached as means or expedients to lead living beings to enlightenment. This chapter also begins with expedients, suggesting that such expedients and the true teaching cannot be separated from each other. They are closely related, and should be considered as parts of one whole.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Blog

Nichiren Shu Brochure from 1991

nichiren-shu-1991-cover

Recently I found a stack of old brochures at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. The 28-page 6 inch by 8 inch brochure was produced by Nichiren Order of North America in 1991.

You can read the brochure on the church website here.

I enjoyed this description of the Odaimoku:

According to Nichiren Shonin, the Odaimoku is not a mere representation of Buddha’s Truths. Rather it is the embodiment of Buddha’s Truths when the formula is uttered with a firm belief of the truths contained in the Lotus Sutra and with full acceptance of Buddha as the Saviour.

It also includes this handy list of “Holy Days”:

The Buddha’s Nirvana Day, February 15
After 45 years of preaching, Śākyamuni Buddha entered into Nirvana, perfect tranquility, at the age of 80 in Kusinagara.
Nichiren Shonin’s Birthday, February 16
Nichiren Shon-in was born on February 16, 1222, at Kominato, Chiba.
Sakyamuni Buddha’s Birthday, Apri1 8
Sakyamuni Buddha was born in Lumbini, on April 8, 565 B.C., as a pricce of the Sakya Clan.
Proclamation of the establishment of a new order, April, 28 ·
Nichiren Shonin declared he would establish his faith in the Lotus Sutra at Seichoji Temple in his home town, Kominato on April 28, 1253.
Exile to Izu Peninsula, May 12
In 1260 Nichiren Shōnin presented his work, the “Rissho Ankoku Ron” and admonished the government against believing wrong teachings. On May 12, 1261, he was exiled to Jzu Yeniosula because of his admonition.
Matsubagayatsu ‘ Persecution August 27
The presentation of the “Risshō Ankoku-ron” caused rioters to attack Nichiren Shōnin and they set fire to his hermitage at Matsubagayatsu on Aug. 27, 1260.
Tatsunokuchi Persecution, September J2
In 1271 the government was displeased by Nichiren Shōnin’s propagating acts and he was arrested and exiled to Sado Island. On September 12, on the way to Sado, he was about to be executed at Tatsunokuchi, but his life was saved by a mysterious light from the sky.
Sado Exile, October 10
After Nichiren Shōnin escaped execution at Tatsunokuchi, he was exiled to Sado Island on October 10, 1271. He was there for three years.
Oeshiki, October 13
On the way from Mt. Minobu to Hitachi Spa to cure his illness, Nichiren Shōnin ended his 60 years of eventful life at Ikegami, Tokyo, on October 13, 1282.
Komatsubara Persecution, November 11
Nichiren Shōnin and his disciples were attacked by the lord Kagenobu Tojo, and his conspirators on a path in the forest of Komastubara in Tojo’s territory on November 11, 1264. Nichiren Shōnin was injured on his head and one of his disciples and one follower were killed.

Download PDF copy of this brochure

WONS

Believers of the Lotus Sūtra

The believers of the Lotus Sūtra today are like the cold winter. Winter inevitably becomes spring. Has anyone experienced winter turning back to autumn? Likewise, there has never been a case of a believer of the Lotus Sūtra being an ordinary person without attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “Expedients” chapter, “Having heard of the Lotus Sūtra, no one remains without attaining Buddhahood.”

Myōichi-ama Gozen Goshōsoku, A Letter to My Lady, the Nun Myōichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 134

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 31, 2019

But the merits to be given to the person who fills the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds with the seven treasures and offers that amount of the seven treasures to the Buddhas, to the Great Bodhisattvas, to the Pratyekabuddhas, and to the Arhats, are less than the merits to be given to the person who keeps even a single gāthā of four lines of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Generosity is the first of the perfections of a Bodhisattva, a being who vows to delay their own enlightenment so that they can benefit others. The offering of material goods helps remove the suffering caused by our sense of self-importance, and prepares us for the Buddha’s highest teaching. By offering the Buddha’s wisdom, embodied in this Lotus Sūtra, we benefit all beings.

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

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the puzzlement of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, we consider Śāriputra’s request for an explanation.

Thereupon Śāriputra, seeing the doubts of the four kinds of devotees, and also because he, himself, did not understand [why the Buddha had said this], said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why do you extol so enthusiastically [what you call] the highest [Truth, and the power of the Buddhas to employ) expedients? [Why do you extol) the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand? I have never heard you say all this before. The four kinds of devotees also have the same doubts. World-Honored One! Explain all this! Why do you extol so enthusiastically the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand?”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Sun of Wisdom, Great Honorable Saint!
You expound the Dharma for the first time after a long time.
You say that you obtained
The powers, fearlessness, samādhis,
Dhyana-concentrations, emancipations,
And other inconceivable properties [of a Buddha].

No one asks you about the Dharma you attained
At the place of enlightenment.
[The Dharma] is too difficult for me to measure.
[So it is for others; therefore,] no one asks you.

Although you are not asked, you extol the teachings
[Of the past Buddhas] which you practiced.
Your wisdom is wonderful.
It is the same wisdom that the other Buddhas obtained.

The Arhats-without-āsravas
And those who are seeking Nirvāṇa
Are now in the mesh of doubts, wondering:
“Why does the Buddha say all this?”

Those who are seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers,
And the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, gods, dragons,
Gandharvas, and other supernatural beings,
Are exchanging glances of perplexity.

They are looking up at you, at the Honorable Biped
Thinking:
“What is this for?
Buddha! Explain all this!”

You once said to me:
“You are the most excellent Śrāvaka.”
With all my wisdom, however, I now doubt.
I do not understand
Whether the Truth I attained is final or not,
Whether the teachings I practiced are true or not.

Your sons born from your mouth are looking up at you
With their hands joined together, entreating:
“With your wonderful voice,
Explain all this as it really is!”

As many gods and dragons
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
And the eighty thousand Bodhisattvas
Who are seeking Buddhahood,
And the wheel-turning-holy-kings
Of billions of worlds
Are joining their hands together respectfully,
Wishing to hear the Perfect Way.

The Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1, offers this on expedient teachings:

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

Blog

Why We Chant Ten Suchnesses Three Times

By Rev. Ryuei McCormick
Nichiren Shu News, Aug. 1, 2019

A common practice of Nichiren Buddhism is a triple repetition of a portion of the opening prose section of Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra, but not many know why we do this. In English, this passage reads “…that is all phenomena in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their causes as such, their conditions as such, their effects as such, their recompenses as such, and their equality as such despite these differences.” This is the list of the “ten suchnesses” or aspects of phenomena (dharmas in Sanskrit) that comprise reality.

The three repetitions are actually a recognition of three ways of reading the ten suchnesses in accordance with the threefold truth taught by Tiantai Zhiyi (538-597). The threefold truth consists of: (1) the truth of emptiness, meaning that all phenomena are empty of a permanent unchanging or independent self-nature; (2) the truth of provisionality, meaning that nevertheless they do have a provisional existence on the basis of the interdependent flow of causes and conditions; and (3) the truth of the middle way, meaning that things are simultaneously empty and provisionally existent. All three truths of the threefold truth imply one another. Because things have no self-nature, they have a provisional existence, and vice versa. Both emptiness and provisionality express the middle way of empty yet provisionally existent. This is a very subtle and complex teaching which is at the heart of Tiantai Buddhism and was also held in great esteem by Nichiren Shonin.

In the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, the Great Master Tiantai points out that by rearranging the Chinese characters of each of the ten phrases, one can read them so that one part or another of the threefold truth is emphasized. The first way is to emphasize the suchness of each of the ten. Because suchness is a synonym for emptiness this is a recognition of the truth of emptiness. For instance, to read “such their appearance is” (ze-so-nyo); The second way is to emphasize the distinct character of each of the ten as a recognition of the truth of provisionality. For instance, to read, “their appearances as such” (nyo-ze-so); The third way is to emphasize the copula “as,” representing the truth of the middle way. For instance, to read “as such their appearance” (so-nyo-ze;).

This doesn’t work as well in English as in classical Chinese, and we don’t actually rearrange the characters in our own practice. Nevertheless, the triple repetition is a way of recognizing that each of the ten suchnesses should be understood in terms of the threefold truth of emptiness, provisionality, and the middle way.

Source

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Shock and Awe Buddhism

Quote

I think the authors of the Lotus Sutra wanted to shock the shit out of their readers, to slap them in the face or pour buckets of cold water on them, a sort of a shock and awe of Buddhism. First, the ultimate truth of Buddhism is that we are all capable of becoming Buddhas. Second, there isn’t a whole bunch of petty differing ways of going about attaining Buddhahood. Third, we should quit expecting others to do for us what we are fully capable of doing for ourselves.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d7b, WONS

Those Who Abandon the Lotus Sūtra

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 Hinayāna 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

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 30, 2019

Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.

The Heavenly-King Brahmas from the zenith sing these verses to Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They describe how beings live in a world in which they can find no Buddha, their joy that Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha has appeared, and their hope that this Buddha will lead all beings from the regions of difficulties. When these Brahmas speak of pleasure, it is not what comes from getting what we want. It is the pleasure of the Dharma, the pleasure enjoyed by all Buddhas when they become enlightened, and the pleasure available to us when we resolve to benefit all beings and practice the Buddha Dharma as Bodhisattvas.

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 witnessed what happened when Sun-Moon-Light Buddha emerged from his samādhi, we consider the final nirvana of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha.

Having expounded the Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
And caused the multitude to rejoice,
The Buddha told the gods and men
At that moment on that day,
“I have already expounded to you
The truth of the reality of all things.
I shall enter into Nirvāṇa at midnight tonight.
Make efforts with all your hearts!
Leave the life of license!
It is difficult to see a Buddha, who can be seen
Only once in hundreds of millions of kalpas.”

Having heard that the Buddha would enter into Nirvāṇa,
Those sons of the World-Honored One
Were filled with sorrow.
They said, “How quickly the Buddha is gone!”

The Saintly Master, the King of the Dharma,
Consoled the countless living beings, saying:
“Although I shall pass away,
You must not worry.
This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva has already understood
The truth of the reality [of all things]
[To be attained by the wisdom] without asravas.
He will become a Buddha immediately after me.
He will be called Pure-Body.
He will save innumerable living beings.”

The Buddha passed away that night
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.
His śarīras were distributed.
Countless stupas were erected to enshrine them.

As many bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Redoubled their endeavors
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this on the importance of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha’s example:

Manjusri’s narrative on Sun-Moon-Light Buddha illustrates that the Lotus Sutra was expounded in the past just as it is in the present. It is the universal teaching transcending even the concept of time. It is not some recent invention. The subsequent appearance of twenty thousand Buddhas with the same name suggests that the personalities of all Buddhas originate in the spirit of the very first One. Here we get the first glimpse of the “infinite absolute Buddha,” or Original Buddha, who will fully reveal himself in Chapter Sixteen, “The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra