Monthly Archives: August 2019

Lotus Path

Priorities

Quote

Language and the words we use are very interesting. Sometimes we can change a word and while the result is the same there is a shift of awareness of the problem in a different way. Take the example of not having enough time to do something, perhaps your daily practice. Now instead of saying I don’t have enough time, try inserting “it’s not a priority.” Hmmm?

I think we almost always manage to get things done that are important to us, especially if we phrase it in such stark language. When we say we don’t have time, it is important to ask ourselves if we are just being polite or if we are hiding behind some other reason.

We have only so much time in every day, it truly is a precious commodity. How we use it is critical, and this shift in our language may help to highlight what is important and what isn’t. It may allow us to actually get to the bottom of something that is prohibiting us from becoming happy.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

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Why the Lotus Sūtra is the Wonderful Dharma

The Lotus Sūtra is named the “Wonderful Dharma” because it expounds that each of the Ten Realms mutually possesses the characteristics of the other nine realms, which means that all of the Ten Realms are equipped with the realm of Buddhas. In the mutual possession of the Ten Realms, each realm includes the other nine realms. As a result the Ten Realms have other Ten Realms, consisting of the hundred realms of all phenomena. The second fascicle of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra says, “The one realm of all phenomena equipped with the other nine realms of all phenomena means the hundred realms of all phenomena.” It is not only in the Lotus Sūtra that the Ten Realms are mentioned. The cause and effect of the Ten Realms is revealed in the pre-Lotus sūtras as well. The reason why the Lotus Sūtra is regarded as the Wonderful Dharma is because the sūtra expounds the mutual possession of the cause and effect of the Ten Realms.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 86

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 5, 2019

Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattva who keeps this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should have great loving-kindness towards laymen and monks, and great compassion towards those who are not Bodhisattvas. He should think: ‘They do not know that the Tathāgata expounded expedient teachings according to the capacities of all living beings. They do not hear, know or notice it, or ask a question about it or believe or understand it. Although they do not ask a question about this sūtra, or believe or understand it, I will lead them and cause them, wherever they may be, to understand the Dharma by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom when I attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Until we reach enlightenment, we may not be able to reach all beings. Rather than blaming them for not having the capacity to learn from us, or blaming ourselves for not being skillful enough to reach them, the Buddha reminds us to be patient and realize there is no hurry to being free from our delusions.

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

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Day 11 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what happened when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha finally attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east.

“The palaces of the Brahman-heavenly[-kings] of the five hundred billion worlds in the east were illumined twice as brightly as ever. The Brahman-heavenly-kings [of those worlds] each thought, ‘My palace has never been illumined so brightly before. Why is that?’ They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called All-Saving among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Why are our palaces illumined
More brightly than ever?
Let us find [the place]
[From where this light has come].
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds went to the west, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great­Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion­like seat under the Bodhi-tree at the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly­kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the ten-yojana-tall Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
It is difficult to meet you.
You have innumerable merits.
You are saving all living beings.

As the great teacher of gods and men,
You are benefiting all living beings
Of the worlds of the ten quarters
Out of your compassion towards them.

We have come here from five hundred billion worlds.
We gave up the pleasure
Of deep dhyāna-concentration
Because we wished to make offerings to you.
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
Because we accumulated merits in our previous existence.
We offer [these palaces] to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings! Open the Way to Nirvāṇa!’ They simultaneously said in a gāthā with all their hearts:

Hero of the World,
Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Dharma!
Save the suffering beings
By the power of your great compassion!

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.

The Daily Dharma for April 23, 2019, offers this:

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

The Brahma Heavenly Kings of the East sing these verses as part of a story the Buddha tells in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. Long ago there was another Buddha named Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence. When he became enlightened, the entire universe was illuminated. Beings who had never seen each other could recognize each other clearly. We can see this story as a metaphor for what happens when the Buddha’s wisdom comes into our lives. We leave the darkness of our ego attachment and come into the light of the world as it is.

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

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Suffering Today for Happiness Tomorrow

As the words of the sūtra correspond to me, the deeper I fall into disgrace with the shogunate, the greater my pleasure is. This is like a Hinayāna bodhisattva, who has not completely exterminated all delusions and evil passions, wishing to be reborn in this world. That is to say, as he sees his parents suffering greatly in hell, he would intentionally accumulate bad karma in order to go to hell himself, where he would be glad to share their sufferings. I, Nichiren, am in a similar situation. Though my sufferings today are difficult to bear, I am happy for in the future I will be free from the evil realms.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 57

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 4, 2019

You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago.’

Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has just assured them of reaching the same enlightenment he found. These monks had worked diligently for many years to rid themselves of suffering, and taught many other beings to become Bodhisattvas and reach the Buddha’s enlightenment, thinking they were not capable of reaching this wisdom. Not believing we are capable of something obscures the capability we have. When the Buddha proclaims that he leads all beings, he reminds us of this capacity and inspires us make efforts to bring all beings, including ourselves, to his joy.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 10

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Day 10 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha waited 10 kalpas for the Dharma of the Buddhas to come into his mind, we meet the 16 sons

“Bhikṣus! At the end of the period of ten small kalpas, the Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal­Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. Now he attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Before he left home, he had sixteen sons. The first son was called Accumulated-Wisdom. Each of the sons had various playthings. When the sons heard that their father had attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, they gave up the playthings, left home, and came to that Buddha.

“[When they were leaving home,] their mothers saw them off, weeping. Not only the wheel-turning-holy-king, who was their grandfather, but also one hundred ministers and hundreds of thousands of billions of subjects surrounded and followed the princes, wishing to come to the place of enlightenment, to see Great­Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata, to make offerings to that Buddha, respect him, honor him, and praise him.

“Having come [to that Buddha], the princes worshipped him at his feet with their heads, walked around him, joined their hands together towards him with all their hearts, looked up at the World­ Honored One, and praised him in gāthās:

In order to save all living beings,
You, the World-Honored One,
Who have great powers and virtues,
[Made efforts] for many hundreds of millions of years.
Now you have become a Buddha.
You have finally fulfilled your vows. Congratulations!

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
When you were sitting,
You were quiet and peaceful.
You did not move your body, hands or feet
For ten small kalpas.

Your mind was tranquil, not distracted.
You have finally obtained tranquil extinction.
You now dwell peacefully in the Dharma-without-āsravas.

Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

You are the Most Honorable One.
You have obtained the peaceful
Dharma-without-āsravas.
Not only we but also all gods and men
Will be able to obtain the greatest benefit.
Therefore, we bow and devote ourselves to you,
The Most Honorable One.

Nichiren writes on the 16 princes and the Buddhas they became:

The seventh chapter on “The Parable of a Magic City” of the Lotus Sūtra states that the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha had been the king of a country with 16 princes before entering the priesthood; when the king became a Buddha, his 16 princes awakened aspiration for Buddhahood and became novices. Meanwhile the 16 novices grew to be 16 bodhisattvas, preaching the Lotus Sūtra as their father Buddha had taught them and planting the seed of Buddhahood in all the people in the Sahā World. These 16 bodhisattvas all attained Buddhahood, the seventh chapter continues, and they became 16 Buddhas, the first of whom was Akṣobha Buddha, the ninth was Amitābha Buddha, and the sixteenth was Śākyamuni Buddha. Akṣobha Buddha has connection with the world to the east, Amitābha (Buddha of Infinite Life) is connected to the world of the west, and only Śākyamuni Buddha has a karmic relationship with this Sahā World. Each of these Buddhas is equipped with the three benefits of guidance (sowing, maturing, and harvesting) and the three virtues (of lord, master and parents), but both Akṣobha and Amitābha Buddhas are provisional Buddhas who appeared in the world to preach expedient teachings. Therefore, they have neither the three benefits nor the three virtues in the true sense of the word. In other words, their benefits and virtues are recognized only in term of their guidance of the people in their respective worlds, whereas the Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni is perfectly equipped with the three benefits and three virtues.

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 248

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Faith and Physicians

Now, you are a female and are suffering from a physical illness, which matches the prediction of the Buddha made in the Lotus Sūtra. Why not reaffirm your faith in the Lotus Sūtra and practice it? I am sure this will be effective, but I also would like you to consult Lord Nakatsukasa Saburōzaemon (Shijō Kingo), a skillful physician, who is a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.

Kaen Jōgō Gosho, Writing About Lengthening the Life Span, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 114

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 3, 2019

The “mutual possession of ten realms” doctrine is as difficult to maintain as it is to see fire in a rock or flowers in wood. However it is not totally impossible because rocks spark when struck together and a tree blooms in spring. It is most difficult to believe that the realm of Buddhas is contained in the realm of humans because it is like saying that fire is in water or water in fire.

Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). “Mutual Expression of Ten Realms” is one of the more difficult ideas from the Chinese Master T’ien-t’ai. Nichiren uses it to illustrate what the Buddha teaches in the Lotus Sūtra: that Buddha nature is contained within all beings. Even though this idea is difficult, we can see it in the transformations of everyday objects we encounter: rocks, fire, flowers and trees. With his similes, Nichiren reminds us that with the Lotus Sūtra as our guide, we can see the Buddha Dharma in all aspects of our lives.

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

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Day 9 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how the Buddha sees the world, we consider how types of plants relate to those who hear the Dharma.

Those who live among gods and men,
Or those who live with a wheel-turning-holy-king,
Or with King Sakra or with King Brahman,
May be likened to the small herbs.

Those who know the Dharma-without-āsravas,
Who attained Nirvana,
And who obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
May be likened to the middle herbs.
So may those who live alone in mountains or forests,
Who practice dhyāna-concentrations,
And who attained the enlightenment of cause-knowers.

Those who seek the stage of the World-Honored One,
Who practice endeavors and concentration of mind,
And who wish to become Buddhas,
May be likened to the large herbs.

My sons [, that is, the Bodhisattvas]
Who seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha exclusively,
Who believe that they will become Buddhas definitely,
And who have compassion towards others,
May be likened to the short trees.

The Bodhisattvas
Who turn the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma
By their supernatural powers,
And who save many thousands of myriads
Of millions of living beings,
May be likened to the tall trees.

Although my teachings are of the same content to anyone
Just as the rain is of the same taste,
The hearers receive my teachings differently
According to their capacities
Just as the plants receive
Different amounts of the rain water.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this:

Traditionally, the small herbs are interpreted as humans and deities, the middle-sized herbs as “hearers” and “private Buddhas,” and the large herbs, stems, and branches as Bodhisattvas. The latter can be divided into three levels of accomplishment. The vast compassion of Sakyamuni is distributed equally to all living beings in order to lead them all to the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra