Monthly Archives: October 2019

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 13, 2019

Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.

We can read these words of the Buddha from Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra as if we had to wait until another life to see Buddhas. But by making offerings to an image of the Buddha, by practicing respect towards a representation of the Buddha, we start to look for and recognize the Buddha in ourselves and in all of the beings who share the world with us. When we see this world of conflict and suffering as the Buddha’s Pure Land, then we see all beings as our enlightened teachers. We see innumerable Buddhas.

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

LS32

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 12 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered those who were taught by the śramaṇeras, we hear the Parable of the Magic City.

“Bhikṣus! I will collect Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas and expound this sūtra to them when I realize that the time of my Nirvāṇa is drawing near, that the living beings have become pure in heart, that they can understand the truth of the Void by firm faith, and that they have already entered deep into dhyāna-concentration. No one in the world can attain [true] extinction by the two vehicles. [True] extinction can be attained only by the One Buddha-Vehicle.

“Bhikṣus, know this! I can enter skillfully deep into the natures of all living beings. Because I saw that they wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and that they were deeply attached to the five desires, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa to them. When they heard that teaching, they received it by faith.

“I will tell you a parable. Once upon a time there was a dangerous, bad road five hundred yojanas long. It was so fearful that no men lived in the neighborhood. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man, clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road. He took them along this dangerous road, but halfway the people got tired of walking. They said to him, ‘We are tired out. We are also afraid of the danger of this road. We cannot go a step farther. Our destination is still far off. We wish to go back.’

“The leader, who knew many expedients, thought, ‘What a pity!

They wish to go back without getting great treasures.’ Having thought this, he expediently made a city by magic at a distance of three hundred yojanas from the starting-point of this dangerous road. He said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home.’

“Thereupon the worn-out people had great joy. They said, ‘We have never had such joy as this before. Now we shall be able to get off this bad road and become peaceful.’

“Then they made their way forward and entered the magic city.

They felt peaceful, thinking that they had already passed [through the bad road]. Seeing that they had already had a rest and relieved their fatigue, the leader caused the city to disappear, and said to them, ‘Now the place of treasures is near. I made this city by magic in order to give you a rest.’

See Our Karmic Connection to Śākyamuni Buddha

LS32, d7b, d12b, WONS, 2buddhas

Our Karmic Connection to Śākyamuni Buddha

As with Chapter Three, Nichiren’s references to this chapter focus, not on the parable from which it takes its name, but on another element entirely, in this case, the story of the buddha Mahābhijfiājfiānābhibhū [Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata].

Nichiren drew three chief conclusions from this narrative. The first is that beings of our own, Sahā world have a karmic connection solely to Śākyamuni Buddha and not to the buddhas of other words. Everything about the dharma known in this world originated with Śākyamuni. None of the great Pure Land teachers, Nichiren said, had ever actually met the buddha Amitābha or renounced the world to practice the way under his guidance. The name Sahā, from the Sanskrit word meaning “to bear or endure,” refers to the tradition that this world is an especially evil and benighted place where it is difficult to pursue the Buddhist path — quite unlike the radiant pure lands with which the Mahāyāna imagination populated the cosmos. Thus, Śākyamuni was said to have displayed exceptional compassion in appearing in this world. In the Greater Amitābha Sūtra or Sūtra of Immeasurable Life, Amitābha Buddha vows to accept into his pure land all who place faith in him except those persons who have committed the five heinous deeds or disparaged the dharma. Nichiren accordingly suggested that these most depraved of evil persons had been excluded from the pure lands of the ten directions and were gathered instead in the present, Sahā world, where Śākyamuni had undertaken to save them. This was the meaning, he said, of Śākyamuni Buddha’s statement in Chapter Three, “I am the only one who can protect them.” To forsake the original teacher Śākyamuni was a grave error, as the people of this world cannot escape samsāra by following any other buddha.

Two Buddhas, p116-117
Saicho

Five Types of Bodhisattva

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Saichō’s most innovative classification systems were devoted to revealing the differences between the practices advocated by the various Buddhist schools. One of the most important of these systems was based on a hierarchical classification of five types of bodhisattva found in the Pu pi ting ju ting ju yin Ching (Niyatāniyatagatimudrāvatārasūtra). Each type was compared with a man who was attempting to travel to a distant place. If the man boarded the wrong type of vehicle, he would never arrive at his destination because winds and storms would constantly delay him and force him to turn back. If he chose a more suitable vehicle, he would eventually arrive at his destination, but only after a very long period of time. If he rode the best vehicle, he would quickly arrive at his destination. The five types of bodhisattvas described in the sūtra and their vehicles were:

    1. The bodhisattva who followed sheep vehicle practices (yōjōgyō)
    2. The bodhisattva who followed elephant vehicle practices (zōjōgyō)
    3. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with superhuman powers enabling him to reach the sun and moon (gatsunichi jinzū jōgyō)
    4. The bodhisattva who followed the practices of the vehicle which endowed him with the superhuman powers of a Śrāvaka (shōmon jinzū jōgyō)
    5. The bodhisattva who followed the practices which endowed him with superhuman powers like those of the Buddha (Nyorai jinzū jōgyō)

The sūtra did not describe the actual practices which each vehicle represented. Rather, the main theme of the sūtra was that not all religious practices were of the same efficacy. Some practices enabled a person to advance rapidly towards his religious goal without any danger of backsliding. Others, especially Hinayāna practices, caused him to regress, removing him further away from his goal than ever. Although the sheep vehicle and the elephant vehicle were both subject to backsliding, the other three vehicles were not.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p183-184
WONS

Suffering Minor Torments in this Life

It is stated in the six-fascicle Nirvana Sūtra (Hatsunaion Sūtra by Fa-hsien), fascicle 4 (‘Four Reliances’ chapter), “Short supply of clothing or food, the inability to make a fortune, being born to a poor family or parents with a wrong view, or persecutions by the king and various other people are the retributions for past crimes in this world. This is due to the merit of upholding the True Dharma.”

These scriptural statements mean that because we persecuted the practicer of the True Dharma in a past life, our destiny is to fall into the Great Avīci Hell. However, by strongly upholding the True Dharma in this life, we absolve the major torment of the future by suffering the comparatively minor torments in this life. According to these scriptural statements, retributions for the past slandering of the True Dharma include being born in a poor family or a family with mistaken views, and persecution by the king. A family with mistaken views means a family of parents who slander the True Dharma while persecution by the king means to be born during the rule of an evil king.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 77

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 12, 2019

Muddy water has no mind but it still catches the moon’s reflection and naturally becomes lucid. Plants and trees catch the rain in order to blossom, but can we say they do this deliberately? The five characters of Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo are not the text of the sutra nor a mere explanation; rather they are the sole intent of the whole sutra. Beginners may practice this without knowing the heart (of the Lotus Sutra), but their practice will naturally harmonize with its intention.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-Shō). This is another way of saying that we do not need to rely on our own skills or wisdom to practice the Buddha Dharma. Whether we are brilliant or slow, focused or distracted, calm or agitated, when we rely on the Ever-Present Buddha, we are in harmony with the world.

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 the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the southeast, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the south.

“Bhikṣus! The great Brahman-[heavenly-]kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the south, who saw their palaces illumined more brightly than ever, also danced with joy. They wondered why [their palaces were so illumined]. They visited each other and discussed the reason, saying, ‘Why are our palaces illumined so brightly?’ There was a great Brahman-heavenly­king called Wonderful-Dharma among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Our palaces are illumined so brightly.
There must be some reason.
Let us find [the place]
[From where the light has come].

We have never seen this [light]
For the past one hundred thousand kalpas.
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha appear
Somewhere in the universe?

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [worlds] went to the north, 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 of 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. They 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-king offered flowers also to the 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:

It is difficult to see a World-Honored One.
You, the World-Honored One, eliminated all illusions.
We have not seen a World-Honored One
For the past one hundred and thirty kalpas.

Send the rain of the Dharma
On the hungry and thirsty beings!
Possessor of immeasurable wisdom,
We have never seen anyone wiser than you.
You are as rare as an udumbara-flower.
Now we have met you today.

Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
World-Honored One, receive them
Out of your great 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 so that Mara, Brahman, the other gods, śramaṇas, and brahmanas of the world may be peaceful, and that they may be saved!’ They simultaneously praised the Buddha in gāthās with all their hearts:

Most Honorable of Gods and Men!
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
Beat the drum of the Great Dharma,
Blow the conch-shell horn of the Great Dharma,
Send the rain of the Great Dharma,
And save innumerable living beings!
Devoting ourselves to you, we beg you.
Resound your profound teaching!

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

See Sowing, Maturing, and Harvesting

LS32, d10b, d11b, d12b, 2buddhas

Sowing, Maturing, and Harvesting

Nichiren drew from the Mahābhijfiājfiānābhibhū [Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata] story an understanding of how the Buddha’s pedagogical method unfolds over time. Zhiyi had identified three standards of comparison by which the Lotus Sūtra could be said to surpass all others. The first, based on Śākyamuni’s declaration of the one buddha vehicle in the “Skillful Means” and subsequent chapters, is that it encompasses persons of all capacities. The second, based on the present, “Apparitional City” chapter, is that it reveals the process of the Buddha’s instruction from beginning to end. Drawing on the Mahābhijfiājfiānābhibhū narrative, Zhiyi described this process with the metaphor of “sowing, maturing, and harvesting.” That is, the Buddha implants the seed of buddhahood in the mind of his disciples with an initial teaching; cultivates it through subsequent teachings, enabling their capacity to mature; and finally reaps the harvest by bringing those disciples to full enlightenment. As the opening passage of this chapter describes, the buddha Mahābhijfiājfiānābhibhū lived an immensely long time ago, so long that one could measure it only by grinding a vast number of world systems to dust and using each dust speck to represent one eon. In that distant time, Mahābhijfiājfiānābhibhū and his sixteen sons planted the seed of buddhahood in the minds of their auditors by preaching the Lotus Sūtra. Those who heard the Lotus Sūtra from the sixteenth son were born together with him in lifetime after lifetime, as he nurtured their capacity, bringing it to maturity with subsequent teachings over the course of innumerable lifetimes. When that son preached the Lotus Sūtra in the Sahā world as Śākyamuni Buddha, some were at last able to reap the harvest of enlightenment, while others would do so in the future. In other words, Śākyamuni’s resolve to lead all beings to the one vehicle was not merely a matter of this lifetime, but a project initiated in the inconceivably remote past. Indeed, this chapter offers another early hint that Śākyamuni’s buddhahood encompasses a time frame far exceeding the present lifetime, a theme that the Lotus Sūtra develops in later chapters.

Two Buddhas, p117-118
Saicho

Revealing the Superiority of Tendai Teachings

Quote

In his writings Saichō frequently mentioned traditional Tendai classifications of Buddhist doctrine, such as the division of the Buddha’s teaching into five periods and eight types of teaching (goji hakkyō). In addition, he developed a number of new systems of classification which were designed to reveal various aspects of the superiority of Tendai teachings over those of other schools. Even before studying in China, Saichō had divided Buddhist schools into two categories, those based on sūtras (the words of the Buddha) and those based on Sāstras (works by Buddhist monks). Using this classification, Saichō criticized the two preeminent Buddhist schools in Japan, the Hossō and Sanron, because they were based on works (sāstras) by Buddhist monks rather than on the words of the Buddha. Twenty years later in the Hokke shūku he further refined this system by dividing the schools based on sūtras into two groups: the Tendai School, which was based on the Lotus Sūtra, and all other schools based on sūtras, such as the Kegon School.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p183
WONS

What Is the Merit of Only Chanting the Daimoku?

QUESTION: If someone chanted Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō without understanding its meaning will the benefit of understanding still be received?

ANSWER: When a baby nurses, it does not comprehend the taste; nevertheless, it receives the benefits of the milk naturally. Did anyone know the ingredients or formula for Jīvaka’s wondrous medicines? Water is without intent but it can extinguish fire; and even though fire consumes many things, can we say it does this deliberately? This is Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai’s idea! I am merely repeating it.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 106-107