Monthly Archives: September 2019

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 25, 2019

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Śrāvakas.
They are purifying my world.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. The Śrāvakas are those who hear the teachings of the Buddha and put it into practice only for themselves. They are concerned with ending their own suffering and do not believe they have the capacity to reach the Buddha’s enlightenment. But because they can serve as an example to those who are also unsure about receiving this great wisdom, they can be an inspiration to make progress on the path. With the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha declares that all beings have the capacity for enlightenment, and reveals that all of our pursuits are for the sake of benefiting others. It is when we realize this directly and openly that we perform the Bodhisattva practice, the selfless effort of awakening the world.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Flower Virtue Bodhisattva’s questions about Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we learn of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva transformations.

“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva already made offerings to innumerable Buddhas, attended on them, and planted the roots of virtue a long time ago. He also already saw hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

“Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places. He became King Brahman, King Sakra, Freedom God, Great-Freedom God, a great general in heaven, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, a wheel-turning-holy-king, the king of a small country, a rich man, a householder, a prime minister, a brahmana, a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, the wife of a rich man, that of a householder, that of a prime minister, that of a brahmana, a boy, a girl, a god, a dragon, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being. [After he transformed himself into one or another of these living beings,] he expounded this sūtra, and saved the hellish denizens, hungry spirits, animals, and all the other living beings in the places of difficulties. When he entered an imperial harem, he became a woman and expounded this sūtra.

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 24, 2019, offers this:

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.

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

Saicho

Saichō’s Personality

Quote

Saichō’s personality was crucial to his eventual success. In his retreat to Mount Hiei, his voyage to China, his debates with Tokuitsu and his pursuit of independence for the Tendai School, Saichō exhibited a single-minded seriousness of purpose. Throughout his life he stressed the importance of strict adherence to monastic discipline. In his quest for approval of the Shijōshiki and other petitions, he repeated his request almost every year. In approving his proposals, the court recognized that there was no element of self-seeking in Saichō’s reforms. A less serious monk would probably never have succeeded in obtaining approval for such a major revision of the precepts against so much opposition.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p165
Lotus Path

Having Freedom to Enjoy the Process

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We have a choice over how we carry out the activities of our daily life. We can choose to be either weighted down by heavy burdens or we can choose to approach our obligations with a joyful heart. It is a fact that our perception is a very powerful influence over our life condition. How we choose to view things affects how we experience those things. When we can look at our lives as lives that are continually manifesting the benefit of the Lotus Sutra we can experience greater joy. Is this merely mind over matter? I would say not. The reason why I would disagree is because we are not relying on some empty promise. Because we can know the outcome we have a freedom to enjoy the process. And we truly do know the outcome if we maintain our consistent daily effort and practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

d21b, WONS

The Person who has Lost his Right Mind

The reason why such śrāvaka disciples as Śāripūtra and Maudgalyāyana were in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as 3,000 or 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa was not because they committed the crime of ten evil acts, five rebellious sins, or eight rebellious sins such as treason. It was simply because they met “evil friends,” abandoned the faith in the Lotus Sūtra, and moved to the faith in the expedient teachings. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai explains this in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 6, “Upon meeting an ‘evil friend,’ people lose their right mind.” The right mind refers to the mind of putting faith in the Lotus Sūtra, and losing the right mind means abandoning the faith in the Lotus Sūtra and putting faith in other sūtras. Therefore, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, “No matter how effective a medicine is, such a person will never take it.” This is explained by Grand Master T’ien-ta’i in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 6, “A person who has lost his right mind will not take a good medicine, no matter how effective it is, choosing instead to roam about the street of life and death, and run away to foreign countries.”

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 75

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 24, 2019

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the merits given to a woman who hears and keeps this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we learn this sūtra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people.

“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises [this chapter], saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.

“Therefore, Star-King-Flower! I will transmit this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva to you. Propagate this chapter throughout the Jambudvipa in the later five hundred years after my extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Mara the Evil One, the followers of Mara, gods, dragons, yakṣas, and kumbha]das should take advantage [of the weak points of the people of the Jambudvipa].

“Star-King-Flower! Protect this sūtra by your supernatural powers! Why is that? It is because this sūtra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people of the Jambudvipa. The patient who hears this sūtra will be cured of his disease at once. He will not grow old or die.

Nichiren writes in his Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha:

The Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7 (chapter 23, “Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva”), reads: “Propagate this sūtra throughout this world (Jambudvīpa) in the last 500-year period, namely at the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration, lest it should become extinct.”

Coming across this passage, I once lamented saying: “It has already been more than 2,220 years since Śākyamuni Buddha passed away. For what sin of mine was I neither born during the Buddha’s lifetime, nor fortunate enough to see the Four Reliances, four ranks of bodhisattva teachers whom people relied on after the death of the Buddha, in the Age of the True Dharma, or such great masters as T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō in the Age of the Semblance Dharma?”

Thinking it over, however, I was elated and said to myself, “How lucky I am to have been born in the last 500-year period and encounter the true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra!”

Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 169

Saicho

Saichō’s Death

Quote

On the fourth day of the sixth month of 822, Saichō died. His most influential lay patrons, Minister of the Right (udaijin) Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, Vice Councilor (chūnagon) Yoshimine no Yasuyo, Provisional Vice Councilor (gonchūnagon) Fujiwara no Mimori, and Vice Controller of the Left (sachūben) Ōtomo no Kunimichi, submitted a petition to the Emperor requesting approval of the Shijōshiki (Regulations in Four Articles). Seven days after he died, Saichō’s request was granted. …

Saichō’s death had presented Fuyutsugu and Saichō’s other supporters with a chance to press for approval of the Shijōshiki. In addition, it had presented the court with an opportunity to grant Saichō’s request as a token of its grief at his passing. Thus the court was able to honor Saichō without allowing the Tendai School an undue advantage over the Nara schools. Approval of Saichō’s requests during his lifetime would have been the equivalent of court recognition of Tendai superiority.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p162-163
WONS

Beginner Practice

Fascicle nine of the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra says, “The beginner is afraid that getting drawn into the myriad activities that are supporting conditions will hinder their practice of right action. At this time, they should solely uphold this sūtra which is the best kind of offering. By dispensing with other matters in order to uphold the principle they will gain enormous benefit.”

This commentary says that the supporting conditions are the first five of the six bodhisattva practices. A beginner who tries to practice them as well will hinder his own right action of faith. For instance, if a small boat overloaded with treasure tries to cross the ocean, both the boat and the treasure will sink. The phrase “solely uphold this sūtra” does not even refer to the whole sūtra but only to upholding the daimoku, not any other passages. If even reading and writing the whole sūtra is not allowed, then still less (should a beginner attempt to practice) the first five bodhisattva practices.

The phrase, “dispensing with other matters in order to uphold the principle” means to give up the observation of the precepts and other matters and only practice the daimoku, which is the principle. “They will gain enormous benefit” means, conversely, that a beginner who tries to practice everything else and the daimoku at the same time will lose all the benefits of their practice.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 105

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 23, 2019

Tomorrow, I, Nichiren, will be exiled to Sado Island. In this cold evening I am thinking of you in the cold dungeon. My thought is that you have read and practiced the Lotus Sutra with your thought and action, which would save your parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, ancestors and everyone around you. Other people read the sutra vocally without feeling it in their hearts. Even though they might read it with their heart, they do not experience it as the sutra teaches. Compared with them you are very precious since you are practicing the sutra with your actions, voice and spirit.

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Letter to his Disciple Nichiro (Tsuchi-ro Gosho). At this point in Nichiren’s life, he had been placed on the execution mat at Tatsunokuchi Beach, only to have the execution stopped at the last minute. Instead of deterring him from teaching the Wonderful Dharma, this experience cemented his resolve to continue admonishing all those who were harming the people of Japan. He taught that rewarding delusions and leading people away from the Buddha’s wisdom only causes misery. Nichiren recognized that his life was the experience of the Lotus Sūtra, and showed his appreciation to everyone who, as he put it, “reads it with their bodies.”

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