Two Buddhas, p86-88Because the consequences of slandering the Lotus Sūtra are so frightful, in the verse section of this third chapter of the sūtra, after summarizing the karmic retribution that would attend that offense, the Buddha admonishes Śāriputra “never to expound this sūtra to those who have little wisdom. … You should teach the Lotus Sūtra to those who are able to accept it.” Some among Nichiren’s disciples wondered why he himself failed to follow this injunction. Would one not do better to lead people gradually through provisional teachings, as Śākyamuni Buddha himself had done, rather than insisting on immediately preaching the Lotus Sūtra to persons whose minds were not open to it? In Nichiren’s understanding, however, the sūtra’s warning against preaching the Lotus Sūtra to the ignorant had applied only to the Buddha’s lifetime and to the subsequent two thousand years of the ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, when people still had the capacity to achieve buddhahood through provisional teachings. Now, in the age of the Final Dharma, he argued, no one can achieve liberation through such incomplete doctrines. Therefore, the Buddha had permitted ordinary teachers such as himself to preach the Lotus Sūtra directly, so that people could establish a karmic connection with it, “whether by acceptance or rejection.” Here Nichiren invoked and assimilated to the Lotus Sūtra the logic of “reverse connection” (J. gyakuen), the idea that even a negative relationship to the dharma, formed by rejecting or maligning it, will nonetheless eventually lead one to liberation. Persons who have formed no karmic connection to the true dharma may perhaps avoid rebirth in the lower realms but lack the conditions for attaining buddhahood; those who slander the dharma paradoxically form a bond with it. Though they must suffer the fearful consequences of disparaging the Lotus Sūtra, after expiating that offense, they will be able to encounter the Lotus again and achieve buddhahood by virtue of the very karmic connection to the sūtra that they formed by slandering it in the past. Now, in the age of the Final Dharma, Nichiren maintained, most persons are so burdened by delusive attachments that they are already bound for the hells. “If they must fall into the evil paths in any event, it would be far better that they do so for maligning the Lotus Sūtra than for any worldly offense. … Even if one disparages the Lotus Sūtra and thereby falls into hell, the merit gained [by the relationship to the sūtra that one has formed thereby] will surpass by a billion times that of making offerings to and taking refuge in Śākyamuni, Amitābha, and as many other buddhas as there are sands in the Ganges River.” Thus in this age, Nichiren maintained, one should persist in urging people to embrace the Lotus Sūtra, regardless of their response, for the Lotus alone can implant the seed that bears the fruit of buddhahood.
Monthly Archives: October 2019
Preaching the One-Vehicle Sudden Teaching
One of the central teachings of the Lotus Sūtra is that during most of his life the Buddha preached expedient teachings for those with lesser faculties, but waited until the faculties of people had matured sufficiently before he preached his ultimate teaching, the Perfect teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, at the end of his life. As Saichō stated in the Hokke shūku, “The basic teaching of the One-vehicle (is not preached) until the proper time has arrived and (the audience) has the proper faculties. Only when their faculties have matured and the appropriate time has come does the Buddha preach it. Thus the Buddha waited until the Sudden faculties (tonki) of people had matured before preaching the One-vehicle Sudden Teaching.”
Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p181The Moon that Brightens the Darkness of Night
The three delusions (delusions arising from incorrect views and thoughts, delusions which hinder knowledge of salvation methods, and delusions which hinder knowledge of the ultimate reality) that exist in the mind of all people as well as the karma of committing the ten evil acts, and the five rebellious sins are like the darkness of night. All the Buddhist scriptures such as the Flower Garland Sūtra are like stars in the dark night whereas the Lotus Sūtra is comparable to the moon that brightens the darkness of night. Those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra only half-heartedly are like the half-moon shining in the dark night. Those who deeply believe in the sūtra are likened to the full moon brightening the darkness of night. In the night with only stars twinkling in the sky without the moon, aged persons, women and children are unable to go out, though strong and healthy persons may. When the full moon brightens the night, even older persons and women and children are free to go out to play, attend parties, or meet friends and acquaintances. Likewise, in sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra, though bodhisattvas and ordinary people with superior nature may be able to attain Buddhahood, the Two Vehicles, ordinary people, evil persons, women, or aged people, idlers and those without precepts in the Latter Age will never be able to be reborn in the Pure Land or attain Buddhahood. That is not the case with the Lotus Sūtra. The Two Vehicles, evil persons and women all attain Buddhahood in the Lotus Sūtra, not to speak of bodhisattvas and ordinary people with superior nature. Again, the moon shines brighter at dawn than in the early evening and in autumn and winter than in spring and summer. Likewise, the Lotus Sūtra has more divine help in the Latter Age of Degeneration than during the 2,000 years of the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma.
Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 31
Daily Dharma – Oct. 7, 2019
The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.
The Buddha speaks these verses in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are his assurance to us as those who follow and practice the Lotus Sūtra that we are firmly on the path to enlightenment, no matter what challenges we find in the world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 6
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month heard Śākyamuni explain how the burning house represents this Sahā World, we consider Śākyamuni decision to use expedients.
“Śāriputra! Seeing all this, I [also] thought, ‘I am the father of all living beings. I will eliminate their sufferings, give them the pleasure of the immeasurable wisdom of the Buddha, and cause them to enjoy it.’
“Śāriputra! I also thought, ‘If I extol my insight, powers, and fearlessness in the presence of those living beings only by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom, that is to say, without any expedient, they will not be saved because they have not yet been saved from birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation, but are burning up in the burning house of the triple world. How can they understand the wisdom of the Buddha?’
“Śāriputra! The rich man did not save his children by his muscular power although he was strong enough. He saved them from the burning house with a skillful expedient and later gave them each a large cart of treasures.
“In the same manner, I save all living beings from the burning house of the triple world, not by my powers or fearlessness, but with a skillful expedient. I expounded the teaching of the Three Vehicles: the Śrāvaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Buddha-Vehicle, as an expedient. I said, ‘Do not wish to live in the burning house of the triple world! Do not crave for inferior forms, sounds, smells, tastes or things tangible! If you cling to them and crave for them, you will be burned by them. Get out of the triple world quickly and obtain the teaching of the Three Vehicles: the Śrāvaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Buddha-Vehicle! I now assure you that you will never fail [to obtain those vehicles]. Exert yourselves, make efforts!’
“With this expedient, I caused them to advance. I said to them again, ‘Know this! This teaching of the Three Vehicles is extolled by the saints. This teaching saves you from any attachment or bond or desire. Ride in these Three Vehicles, eliminate āsravas, obtain the [five] faculties, the [five] powers, the [seven] ways to enlightenment, and the [eight right] ways, and practice dhyāna concentrations, emancipations, and samadhis so that you may be able to enjoy immeasurable peace and pleasure!’
See “A Vehicle To Carry Lotus Sūtra Practitioners to ‘Pure land of Vulture Peak’”
A Vehicle To Carry Lotus Sūtra Practitioners to ‘Pure land of Vulture Peak’
Two Buddhas, p82By Nichiren’s time, educated people were often familiar with these stories, and the Lotus Sūtra’s message that all could attain buddhahood was widely accepted — although how that buddhahood was to be achieved and how long it might take were subjects of debate. Nichiren himself sometimes alludes to these parables in advocating the daimoku as the path of realizing buddhahood in the present age, but he rarely dwells on them at length.
Nichiren makes only limited reference to the parable of the burning house that occupies most of this chapter’s narrative. In a few passages, he refers to the great cart drawn by a white ox metaphorically as the vehicle that will carry Lotus Sūtra practitioners to “the pure land of Vulture Peak,” that is, the realm of enlightenment, or as a war chariot that he rides in a great dharma battle between true and provisional teachings. He does not provide an extended discussion of the parable itself. Rather, as we go through these initial chapters of the Lotus, we will see how Nichiren drew out the significance of other passages that might not seem central to the sūtra’s narrative but that assume considerable importance in his reading, a reading that was shaped by the sūtra’s reception history, by his contemporary circumstances, and by his own perspective.
Organic Buddhism
Though apparently mechanical, society moves in a purposeful way because all of its members are consciously goal oriented. Since they are morally neutral, the Buddhist doctrines of impermanence and the absence of a persisting self are as purposeless as the laws of physics and chemistry. The principles that all existence is suffering and that nirvana is tranquility, however, are purposeful: their goal is the elimination of suffering, and they set standards for religious – specifically, Buddhist – ideals. A course of action is organic when it has ideal purposes, regards as evil whatever runs counter to those purposes and as good whatever conduces to their achievement, and strives to move away from evil and toward good. The Buddhist law of dependent origination regards confinement to the cycle of transmigration and suffering as evil, interprets the elimination of the causes that produce such suffering as good, and teaches the way to attain that goal.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
Perfect Faculties
If a religious teaching is to be effective, it must be suited to the abilities and faculties of those to whom it is preached. If it is too profound for its listeners, they may be frightened by it and thus doubt their own abilities, or they may leave the assembly at which it is being preached. Even the earliest sūtras contain the idea that the Buddha adapted his teachings to fit the capabilities of his audience. The Buddha was often compared to a doctor who administered medicine to the sick. If the medicine (or doctrine) was not suited to their needs, it would not cure them. The Lotus Sūtra and the Hua yen Ching (Avatamsakasūtra) both contain passages which describe Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas who did not have faculties sufficiently mature to understand the Buddha’s more advanced teachings. These passages played key roles in Chih-i’s systems of classification of Buddhist teachings. The Hua yen Ching was criticized because it made no allowances for the faculties of its listeners. It was thus considered an ineffective teaching for most people, leaving them as if they were ‘deaf and dumb.’ The Lotus Sūtra, in contrast, did consider the faculties of its audience. According to the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha waited until his listeners were ready to hear his ultimate teaching before preaching the Lotus Sūtra. Despite this, five-thousand people left the assembly at which the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra because of their “overweening pride.” On the basis of this passage, Chih-i was able to argue that the Nieh p’an Ching (Mahāparinirvāpasātra), traditionally regarded in China as the Buddha’s last sermon, had the function of saving these five-thousand monks and nuns. Chih-i thus classified the Nieh p’an Ching in the same period of the Buddha’s life as the Lotus Sūtra and noted that the Nieh p’an Ching included elements if the Perfect Teaching.
Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p180-181Attainment of Buddhahood Through Minor Acts of Merit
Another example of slandering the Lotus Sūtra is treating the Lotus Sūtra as equal to the pre-Lotus sūtras and regarding the doctrine of “achieving Buddhahood through a minor act of merit” preached in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 2, on the “Expedients” as a mere expedient means of encouraging idlers. Therefore, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai declares in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 5, “If a person does not believe in the attainment of Buddhahood through a minor act of merit, he immediately destroys all the seeds for attaining Buddhahood in this world.” Grand Master Miao-lê explains further in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 5, “This Lotus Sūtra elucidates that all those in the six realms of the unenlightened possess the seeds for becoming a Buddha. One who slanders this sūtra, therefore, destroys all the seeds for attaining Buddhahood.”
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 31
Daily Dharma – Oct. 6, 2019
I see the [perverted] people sinking
In an ocean of suffering.
Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
And cause them to admire me.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. With the story of the wise physician in this chapter, the Buddha explains how he disappears from our view even though he is always present to us. The children in the story would not accept the remedy their father prepared for them to counteract the poison they had taken. Some of them hoped for another remedy, some believed the remedy would be worse than the poison. It was not until the father left and told them he would not return that the children realized the value of what they already had. When we take the Buddha for granted, as the children in the story took their father for granted, and ignore the path he has laid out for us, we lose sight of the Buddha. It is only when we realize we are lost that we look for a guide. When we bring the Buddha’s teachings to life, we find him everywhere.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com