Monthly Archives: September 2019

WONS

Remonstrating the Moon God

It was night on the thirteenth day of the month. Dozens of soldiers were on guard duty around my room and in the big garden. As it was the thirteenth night of the ninth month and the moon was shining in the clear sky, I stepped out into the garden at midnight to recite the verse at the end of the 16th chapter, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” of the Lotus Sūtra several times. In addition, after briefly explaining the comparative superiority of various Buddhist schools and outline of the Lotus Sūtra, I declared to the moon:

“Are you not the Moon God who attended the assembly in which the Buddha Śākyamuni preached the Lotus Sūtra? Are you not the very Moon God who was ordered directly by Śākyamuni Buddha in the eleventh chapter, “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” of the Lotus Sūtra to spread the Lotus Sūtra and protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra after His death? Are you not the god who was touched by the Buddha on the head three times and made a great vow to carry out the Buddha’s order without fail in the twenty-second chapter, “Transmission,” of the Lotus Sūtra? The vow you made in front of the Buddha would be mere empty words if not for the great difficulties of Nichiren and if you had no chance to carry out your vow. At this moment I am faced with such a great difficulty for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. You should be delighted to take the place of a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, carry out the Buddha’s order and show the evidence of your oath. It is quite unbelievable that you have not shown any sign of fulfilling your oath at the very moment when Nichiren is condemned for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Should there be no sign in Japan where Nichiren is sentenced to be exiled, I will not return to Kamakura even if I were to be pardoned. What happens to you, Moon God, who does not show any sign but continues to shine carefree in a clear sky? It is preached in the Sūtra of the Great Assembly: ‘The sun and moon will not shine;’ in the Sūtra of the Benevolent King: ‘The sun and moon will lose their brightness;’ and in the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor ‘The 33 gods each gets angry’ in the land where the True Dharma is slandered. What happened to you, Moon God? Why can you not respond?”

In this manner I sternly accused the Moon God. Perhaps because of this a star looking like Venus suddenly came down from the heaven and perched on a branch of a plum tree in the front garden. The soldiers on guard duty were all astonished at its sight and jumped off the veranda. Some crouched in the garden, while others ran and hid themselves behind the house. Soon the whole sky became dark, strong winds began to blow, and the horrible sound of the howling sea of Enoshima Island echoed in the sky as loudly as huge drums.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 30-31

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 20, 2019

Those who come to this teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to complete the Way of Bodhisattvas quickly.
Those who follow him and study will be able to see
As many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. By teacher of the Dharma, the Buddha means anyone who keeps, reads, recites, copies and expounds this Sūtra. As we continue on this Way, we learn to recognize the Buddha’s presence in every aspect of our experience. We learn to appreciate everything the Buddha does for us, and to show that gratitude to all those in whom we recognize the Buddha. Then we realize there is no shortage of teachers, no shortage of joy and no shortage of opportunities to benefit others.

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

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the merits of those who invite others to hear the Lotus Sūtra, we repeat the merits of the 50th person in gāthās.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Suppose a man rejoices at hearing this sūtra
Or at hearing even a gāthā of it
In a congregation,
And expounds it to a second person.

The second person expounds it to a third person.
In this way it is heard by a fiftieth person.
Now I will tell you of the merits
Of the fiftieth person.

Suppose there was a great almsgiver.
He continued giving alms
To innumerable living beings
For eighty years according to their wishes.

Those living beings became old and decrepit.
Their hair became grey; their faces, wrinkled;
And their teeth, fewer and deformed.
Seeing this, he thought:
“I will teach them because they will die before long.
I will cause them to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.”

Then he expounded the truth of Nirvana to them
As an expedient, saying:
“This world is as unstable
As a spray of water,
Or as a foam, or as a filament of air.
Hate it, and leave it quickly!”

Hearing this teaching, they attained Arhatship,
And obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
And the eight emancipations.

The superiority of the merits of the fiftieth person
Who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā [of this sūtra]
To the merits of this [great almsgiver]
Cannot be explained by any parable or simile.

The merits of the [fiftieth] person
[Who hears this sūtra] are immeasurable.
Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person
Who rejoices at hearing it in the congregation.

The Daily Dharma from May 2, 2019, offers this:

The merits of the [fiftieth] person
[Who hears this sūtra] are immeasurable.
Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person
Who rejoices at hearing it in the congregation.

The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. This chapter includes a story of a person who hears the Wonderful Dharma, then explains it to the best of their ability to someone else. In this way there is a chain of fifty people who hear versions of this teaching modified by the capacities of those transmitting it. The effectiveness of this teaching does not depend on who delivers it. No matter what our capacity, any of us can teach the Lotus Sutra and practice it in our lives.

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

Saicho

The Rules on Dignity for the Sheep Vehicle

Quote

[In Saichō’s On Submitting the Kenkairon, (Jōkenkaironhyō) he writes]

The Lotus School was established for the benefit of the nation by the late Emperor Kanmu. Its two (yearly) ordinands are to be Mahāyāna monks of the Lotus School. Its Sudden and Perfect students do not seek the three vehicles outside the gate. Of what use would the rules on dignity for the sheep vehicle be to them? They do not desire the castle in the middle of the road. How much less would they be likely to take a round-about detour? Tomorrow when they are given riches, they will know their father and know that they are his sons. What need is there to be a stranger (in their own house)? Or to sweep up dung? On the night when (the king) extolls (his troops’) deeds, he undoes his topknot and gives them his pearl. Why should one wish for a mansion? Why should one search for a castle? I know that there is nothing in the past or present to compare with this teaching in which the late Emperor believed. It protects the nation and benefits sentient beings. How pale (Hinayāna practices) which require many kalpas (are when compared to the ultimate teaching).

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p151-152
d19b, Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Manifesting Our Completeness

One thing you might have noticed, I certainly do, is that when the Bodhisattvas arose from the ground they did not look to the Buddha for permission or for a prediction. They approached the Buddha and asked how he was and if he was tired. I think this is significant in our own lives. When we practice Buddhism are we doing so in order to be given something or do we approach our practice out of gratitude for what we have.

Remember the Bodhisattvas appear in this world in many shapes and sizes doing many different things, they appear as ordinary beings and yet their true identity is that of these golden-hued beings who have a relationship with the Buddha that spans all time.

When we change our mind, when we realize that we are already Buddhas, and when we practice with the confidence of manifesting and not of trying to be something different, then we are practicing as these great Bodhisattvas. We are complete as we are; we just need to manifest that completeness.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d27b, WONS

The Lotus Sūtra Mountain

Let me next use a metaphor of a mountain to help explain the Lotus Sūtra. There are ten mountains of treasures, of which Mt. Sumeru is supreme. The ten mountains of treasures consist of 1. Sessen (Snowy Mt.), 2. Kōsen (Fragrant Mt.), 3. Karira-sen (Mt. Kharādiya), 4. Senshō-sen (Hermit Sage Mt.), 5. Yugenta-sen, 6. Meni-sen, 7. Nimindara-sen, 8. Shakara-sen, 9. Shukue-sen, and 10. Mt. Sumeru. The first nine of these ten mountains are like sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra, though each of them is equipped with a treasure. Mt. Sumeru is equipped with all the nine treasures, each of which is superior in quality to the one in the corresponding mountain. It is like how gold in the mundane world is valuable but not comparable to the purplish gold said to be from the river running through the mango forest in the Jambudvīpa continent.

Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 30

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 19, 2019

The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”

This description comes from Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. Many-Treasures Buddha has arrived where the Buddha was teaching so that he could endorse this Wonderful Dharma. He invited the Buddha to join him in an enormous stūpa tower hanging in the sky. When the Buddha raises up those gathered to hear him teach, he puts them all on the same level as himself and all the other Buddhas. He shows them that they too have the capacity to hear his teachings and put them into practice. Nichiren depicted this “ceremony in the air” in the Omandala Gohonzon and advised us to use this as the focus of our practice. When we put ourselves into this great multitude we listen for the Buddha teaching and realize the benefit we create in this world.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits, we begin again with the merits received by those who heard of the duration of the Buddha’s life.

Thereupon the innumerable, asaṃkhya living beings in the great congregation, who had heard from the Buddha that the duration of his life was so many kalpas as previously stated, obtained great benefits.

At that time the World-Honored One said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva:

“Ajita! When I said that the duration of my life was so long, six hundred and eighty billion nayuta living beings, that is, the living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, obtained the truth of birthlessness. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas numbering one thousand times the number of these living beings obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize all that they had heard. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru-world obtained eloquence without hindrance. Another group of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru world obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize many hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the wheel of the pure Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after three rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas twice the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after two rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi immediately after this life. Living beings as many as the particles of earth of eight Sumeru-worlds aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

One of the great messages here, for me, is not the benefits received but the variety of those benefits. We are all equal but different.

Lotus Seeds

The Ten Worlds: Hungry Ghosts

Quote

The world of the hungry ghosts is only slightly better than that of hell-dwellers. Hungry ghosts are said to have large mouths and bellies, but only tiny throats. Hungry ghosts can never be satisfied and are consumed by craving. This is the state of those who suffer from addictions that control and dominate their lives. These addictions can be to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, power, work, entertainment, or even religion.

Lotus Seeds

Saicho

Mahāyāna Rules and Hinayāna and the Lotus Sūtra

Quote

[In Saichō’s “Petition Asking For Permission To Use The Mahāyāna Precepts” he states:]

Saichō has heard that the Buddha’s precepts vary according to the faculties of the person who follows them. The aims of people differ according to whether they are Hinayāna or Mahāyāna practitioners. The place of honor (jōza) differs according to whether it is occupied by Mañjuśrī or Piṇḍola. The ordination ceremony differs according to whether one or ten teachers participate.

The late Sagely Emperor Kanmu supported the Lotus School and established it anew here. The [virtue] of His Majesty, the Sagely, Literary and Martial Konin Emperor, pervades heaven and earth. His brightness is equal to the sun and moon. His literary genius surpasses the old. His calligraphy is fresh. He gladdens the hearts of the myriad nations and converts the barbarians. He rules the nation and regulates propriety.

Now, at this time, I sincerely request that the monks of both courses turn away from Hinayāna rules and firmly adhere to Mahāyāna rules, and that in accordance with the Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna rules not be mixed with the Hinayāna ones. In the third month of every year, on the anniversary of the late emperor’s death, we shall initiate those who have been pure in their practice as bodhisattva novices on Mount Hiei. We shall also confer the full bodhisattva precepts and ordain them as bodhisattva monks. Then they shall live and practice on the mountain for twelve years. They shall be guards for the nation and shall benefit the people. They shall be the nation’s treasure and shall benefit the nation as is specified in the School’s regulations.

[Submitted in 819]