Two Buddhas, p144-145We have already touched on how, in part under the influence of the esoteric Buddhist teachings, medieval Tendai notions of practice and attainment shifted from a linear model of practice, in which one gradually cultivates merit and wisdom, striving for buddhahood as a future goal, to what one might call a timeless or “mandalic” model, in which buddhahood is revealed in the very act of faith and practice. Medieval Tendai texts sometimes express this conceptual shift with the phrase, “The assembly on Sacred Vulture Peak is still awesomely present and has not yet dispersed.” Just as enlightenment was redefined as accessible in the present, so the assembly of the Lotus Sūtra where the two buddhas sat side by side in the jeweled stūpa came to be represented not as an event in the distant past, but as still ongoing. Some medieval Tendai writings identify this ever-present Lotus assembly with the liberating discernment of the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment, or more specifically, of the buddha realm within oneself.
Monthly Archives: December 2019
Ultimate Truth of the Phenomenal Realm
In the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i reminds his audience that the “mind” in no way differs from all other dharmas and is singled out as the object of contemplation only because it is closest to us. (p.197)
Every dharma, contemplated in its ultimate truth, reveals itself as pervading all phenomena. Most significantly, the ordinary moment of consciousness encompasses all dharmas: “All one can say is that the mind is all dharmas and that all dharmas are the mind.” We are now in a better position to understand how the image of Śākyamuni in the Lotus Sutra represents the ultimate truth of the phenomenal realm, the Buddha-nature. From Chih-i’s standpoint, the depiction of the all-pervading Śākyamuni does not figure a “pure” consciousness that is devoid of conceptuality and its objects and simultaneously the ground of phenomenal existence; it is rather an image of the “true aspect” of the phenomena themselves, the ordinary dharmas that are at once empty and provisionally existent, each encompassing the totality and therefore both “one” and “many.” This ultimate truth of the phenomenal realm is the “Middle Way” that Chih-i refers to as the resplendent realm of the Buddha which is “eternal, blissful, selfhood and pure.” The ultimate truth may be identified as the cause of Buddhahood or the Buddha-nature (tathāgata-garbha) because it is the identity of one’s own mind with this truth which makes the realization of the truth and the attainment of Buddhahood possible. However, it must be stressed that the Buddha-nature for Chih-i is not the transcendent pure mind of the Tathāgata-garbha sutras, but simply the “true aspect” of the moment of ordinary consciousness and of all phenomena.
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Susan Mattis, Chih-i and the Subtle Dharma of the Lotus Sutra: Emptiness or Buddha-nature?, Page 255-256
Don’t Give Up the Lotus Sūtra
If those of high rank reproach you, view them as formidable enemies of the Lotus Sūtra. Consider the opportunity as rare as seeing an udumbara that blooms only once in 1,000 years or a blind turtle by chance encountering a log floating in the ocean and respond with confidence. Even a person who possesses a huge fief as large as 1,000 or 10,000 chō may have his land confiscated and lose his life over a small matter. If you must lay down your life for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra, have no regrets. Once Bodhisattva Medicine King practiced Buddhism by burning his own body for as long as 1,200 years before becoming a Buddha. King Suzudan allowed his body to be Asita’s seat for 1,000 years and served him. With those merits, he became the Śākyamuni we know Buddha today.
Therefore, make no mistake. If you give up the Lotus Sūtra now, you will become a laughing stock.
Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 113
Daily Dharma – Dec. 22, 2019
He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. As Bodhisattvas we chose to come into this world, as frightening and dangerous as it is, to make things better for all beings. We do not lose any of the six senses we have, but learn to use them in ways that may seem impossible to others. Any of our senses can be deluded. When we remove our attachments and delusions, we see with the Buddha’s eye 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
Day 14
Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month heard the Buddha’s prediction for Rāhula, we repeat the prediction for Rāhula in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
When I was a crown prince,
Rāhula was my eldest son.
When I attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He received the Dharma, and became the son of the Dharma.In his future life he will see
Many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Become the eldest son of those Buddhas, and seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha with all his heart.Only I know his secret practices.
He shows himself
To all living beings
In the form of my eldest son.He has many thousands of billions of merits.
His merits are countless.
He dwells peacefully in the Dharma of the Buddha,
And seeks unsurpassed enlightenment.
Universal Buddhahood
Two Buddhas, p58-60Because the notion of universal buddhahood now seems so obvious to those familiar with the Mahāyāna, it is difficult to imagine how radical this declaration of a single vehicle would have been in its own time. Up until this point, in the mainstream tradition, the goal of the Buddhist path was to become an arhat. The achievement of buddhahood was far more difficult, and the path to buddhahood was far longer; only the rarest of individuals in a given cosmic age was capable of undertaking that task. The arhat’s path to nirvāṇa was shorter and easier. Furthermore, there was no need for many buddhas as long as the teaching of a single buddha remained known in the world; hence the idea that there is only one buddha in the world at a time. Here, the Buddha is therefore saying something new. While his disciples had thought that they were following the path of the two vehicles culminating in nirvāṇa, in reality, that was the Buddha’s “skillful means,” taught in order to guide them to the bodhisattva path. This revelation could not be ignored; Śākyamuni declares that those who claim to be arhats and yet do not accept that the buddhas “lead and inspire only bodhisattvas” are not true arhats, nor are they true disciples of the Buddha.
He further declares that those who claim to be arhats and do not aspire to buddhahood are arrogant. It is impossible that a true arhat should not accept this dharma. He makes an exception for those who might become arhats after his death; such individuals might not believe in the single buddha vehicle because, after the Buddha has passed into nirvāṇa, it will be difficult to find people who preserve, recite, and understand the Lotus Sūtra. We have here again a barb directed at the opponents of the Lotus Sūtra. At the time of the text’s composition, centuries after the Buddha’s death, there would have been those who denied its authenticity. The sūtra, setting itself in the final years of the Buddha’s life, explains that such people are merely ignorant of his true intent.
The Ultimate Truth of Phenomenal Entities
Chih-i expresses his conception of the ultimate truth of phenomenal entities as the simultaneous affirmation of “three truths”: That which originates dependent on causes and conditions is (1) empty (k’ung), (2) provisionally (i.e., dependently) existent (chia), and (3) the middle way (chung). The simultaneous affirmation of emptiness and dependent existence is obviously in accord with Mādhyamika philosophy. The assertion of the third, middle truth, however, has reinforced the view that Chih-i introduces to his conception of the ultimate truth notions from the tathāgata-garbha tradition. While some interpreters believe that the third, middle, truth is nothing more than the explicit affirmation of the identity of the truth of emptiness and the truth of provisional existence, others hold that the middle truth is a reference to the real, absolute pure mind of the tathāgata-garbha tradition.
Indeed, Chih-i’s characterizations of the ultimate truth are ambiguous and often appear to affirm monistic conceptions like that found in the Tathāgata-garbha sutras. In addition to defining ultimate truth as the simultaneous affirmation of emptiness and dependent existence, he defines it on some occasions as the negation of both emptiness and dependent existence and on others as the simultaneous affirmation and negation of emptiness and dependent existence. The impression created by these descriptions of an absolute reality transcending the realm of empty, dependently originating phenomena is further reinforced by Chih-i’s consistent use of the term tathāgata-garbha to refer to the ultimate truth.
Nonetheless, the central importance in Chih-i’s thought of the identity of all phenomena with ultimate truth militates against the idea that Chih-i understands the ultimate truth as a pure mind. When ultimate truth is conceived as a pure consciousness, in itself devoid of conceptuality and its objects, there is a fundamental dichotomy between the ultimate truth and the phenomenal realm. Even when, as in the Hua-yen tradition, the pure consciousness is understood as the ground for the appearance of the phenomenal realm, a true oneness of the phenomena and ultimate truth is not obtained; the phenomena are one with ultimate truth only insofar as phenomenal particularity is transcended and one discovers the unitary pure consciousness within all.
A Buddhist Kaleidoscope; Susan Mattis, Chih-i and the Subtle Dharma of the Lotus Sutra: Emptiness or Buddha-nature?, Page 253
Practicers of the Lotus Sūtra Are Not Found Anywhere
Some raise the question:
Although there seem to be the three kinds of enemies of the Lotus in this world today, practicers of the Lotus Sūtra are not found anywhere. It is difficult for us to call you a practicer of the Lotus because there is a great deal of discrepancy. Affirming divine intervention in favor of a practicer, the Lotus Sūtra in the chapter on the “Peaceful Practices” says: “Heavenly servants will come to serve the man who upholds the Lotus Sūtra so that swords and sticks will not injure him, and poisons will not harm him;” in the fifth chapter on “The Simile of Herbs,” “His life in this world will be peaceful and he will be reborn in a better place in the future;” in the 26th chapter on “Mystic Phrases,” “Should anyone hate and speak ill of the man who upholds the Lotus Sūtra, his mouth will be sealed—anyone who does harm to him will have his head split into seven pieces like a twig of an arjaka tree;” and in the 28th chapter on the “Encouragement of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva,” “He will be rewarded with happiness in this present life;” and “If anyone, upon seeing a man upholding this sūtra, exposes his faults, justifiably or not, such a man will be afflicted with white leprosy.”
They have a good reason to doubt me. So I will answer their question to dispel their doubt. It is said in the “Never-Despising Bodhisattva” (20th) chapter of the Lotus Sūtra that the practicer of the Lotus will be spoken ill of, despised, or struck with sticks, tiles, and stones; while it is said in the Nirvana Sūtra that such a man will be killed or hurt. The Lotus Sūtra also states in the “Teacher of the Dharma” (10th) chapter that those who spread it will be the target of much hatred and jealousy even during the lifetime of the Buddha.
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 103
Daily Dharma – Dec. 21, 2019
When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude with their tongues, they will be able to raise deep and wonderful voices, to cause their voices to reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful. Hearing their speeches given in good order by their deep and wonderful voices, Śakra, Brahman, and the other gods and goddesses will come and listen to them.
The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we share the Buddha Dharma with others, it is as if the Buddha’s mind is finding voice in our words. It should then come as no surprise to us that beings of all dispositions will want to hear more of what the Buddha has taught us. When we “practice the sūtra with our bodies,” as Nichiren described, when we make this teaching a part of our lives, then we find the words we need to reach all beings and lead them to the Buddha’s enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 13
Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.
Having last month considered the reaction of the five hundred Arhats and heard the Parable of the Priceless Gem, we repeat in gāthās and conclude Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.
Thereupon Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others, wishing to repeat what they had said, sang in gāthās:
Your assurance of our future Buddhahood
Gives us unsurpassed peace.
Hearing your voice, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.
We bow to you, to the Buddha of Immeasurable Wisdom.Now in your presence,
We reproach ourselves for our faults.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was
Only part of the immeasurable treasures of yours.
We were like a foolish man with no wisdom.
We satisfied ourselves with what little we had attained.Suppose a poor man visited
His good friend, who was very rich.
The friend feasted him
With delicacies.He fastened a priceless gem
Inside the garment of the man as a gift to him,
And went out without leaving a word.
The sleeping man did not notice [the gift].The man woke up, and went to another country.
He worked to get food and clothing.
He had much difficulty
In earning his livelihood.He satisfied himself with what little he earned.
He did not wish to get anything more.
He did not notice the priceless gem
Fastened inside his garment.The good friend who gave the gem to the poor man
Happened to see him later.
He blamed him severely,
And showed him the gem fastened [inside the garment].Seeing the gem,
The poor man had great joy.
Now he satisfied his five desires
With many treasures.We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satisfying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.