Buddhism for Today, p41Called the core of the Law of Appearance, this important chapter is the pivot of the Buddha’s preaching in the first half of the Lotus Sutra. The Japanese title of this chapter, “Hōben,” is a compound word consisting of two characters, hō and ben. Hō originally means “a square” but sometimes means “right.” Ben means “method” or “means.” Therefore hōben means “a right method” or “a right means.” As seen in the Japanese proverb Uso mo hōben (A lie can be expedient), it is regrettable to see how far the understanding of this word has deviated from its true meaning. The word hōben originally indicated the idea, “an enlightening method appropriately applied to the person and the occasion.” Unless we keep in mind this original meaning, we cannot correctly understand this chapter.
Monthly Archives: January 2020
The perspective of two historical moments
Two Buddhas, p9-10[Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side] takes the form of a chapter-by-chapter discussion of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sūtra. We consider the significance of each chapter from the perspective of two historical moments: what it may have meant in the first centuries of the Common Era in the Indian cultural sphere as the Lotus Sūtra came to take its present form, and how it was read by Nichiren in Japan roughly a thousand years later. Rather than divide the volume into two sections, the first commenting on the Lotus Sūtra itself and the second introducing Nichiren’s reading, we have intentionally alternated our discussion of the Lotus text with Nichiren’s comments in each chapter, to avoid as much as possible a somewhat artificial division between the original text and Nichiren’s later interpretations. For devotees of the Lotus Sūtra, text and interpretation have been inseparable – in effect, parts of the same scripture – as has been the case with many great religious texts over the course of history.
The Mirror of Buddhism
Some might wonder: “How do you know that your banishment and death sentence are results of your sins in your past lives?” To them I would answer that copper mirrors reflect only colors and shapes, and the mirror the First Emperor of Ch’in used to test his subjects showed only present sins, but the mirror of Buddhism shows the virtues or vices of one in the past. Therefore, it is said in the six-fascicled Nirvana Sūtra (Hatsunaion-gyō): “Good men! Since you have committed numerous evil deeds and accumulated bad karma, you have to suffer in compensation for them. (…) You may be slighted, may look ugly, may suffer from lack of clothing or from insufficient food, unable to make a fortune, born to a poor family or to a heretic family, or suffer from royal persecutions, and many other difficulties. The reason you receive relatively light punishment like these in this world is due to your merit of upholding the dharma. Otherwise you might have been punished much more severely.”
This matches me, Nichiren, as perfectly as two halves of a tally. It explains why I have been persecuted, and all of my numerous doubts have faded away. Let us tally this sūtra, phrase by phrase against me. As for “being slighted,” which is phrased in the Lotus Sūtra, “A Parable” chapter, as “being slighted, despised, hated with jealousy,” I, Nichiren, have been despised for more than twenty years. “Being ugly looking,” and “suffering from lack of food and clothing,” “unable to make a fortune, being born to a poor family,” “suffering from royal persecutions,” and so on are all about me. Who can doubt it?
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 106
Daily Dharma – Jan. 13, 2020
Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.
Mañjuśrī declares this to Maitreya and all others gathered to hear the Buddha teach in Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had just produced the light from between his eyebrows illuminating the worlds of the ten directions, a sight none but Mañjuśrī had experienced. The great teaching the Buddha was about to expound is the Lotus Sutra. This statement awakens our interest and shows us how to listen to this teaching, as if it were a great cooling rain or the loud call of a conch-shell or drum.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 2
Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).
Having last month heard Mañjuśrī explaining to Maitreya Bodhisattva the meaning of this auspicious sign, we consider the Buddha Sun-Moon-Light.
“Good men! Innumerable, inconceivable, asamkya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. He expounded the right teachings. His expounding of the right teachings was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The meanings of those teachings were profound. The words were skillful, pure, unpolluted, perfect, clean, and suitable for the explanation of brahma practices. To those who were seeking Śrāvakahood, he expounded the teaching of the four truths, a teaching suitable for them, saved them from birth, old age, disease, and death, and caused them to attain Nirvāṇa. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, a teaching suitable for them. To Bodhisattvas, he expounded the teaching of the six paramitas, a teaching suitable for them, and caused them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.
“After his extinction there appeared a Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. After his extinction there appeared another Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. In the same manner, seventy thousand Buddhas appeared in succession, all of them being called SunMoon-Light with the surname Bharadvaja.
“Maitreya, know this! All those Buddhas were called Sun-Moon-light with the ten epithets. Their expounding of the Dharma was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha was once a king. He had eight sons born to him before he renounced the world. The first son was called Having-Intention; the second, Good-Intention; the third, Infinite-Intention; the fourth, Treasure-Intention; the fifth, Increasing-Intention; the sixth, Doubts-Removing-Intention; the seventh, Resounding-Intention; and the eighth, Dharma-Intention. These eight princes had unhindered powers and virtues. Each of them was the ruler of the four continents [of a Sumeru-world]. Having heard that their father had renounced the world and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, they abdicated from their thrones, and followed their father. They renounced the world, aspired for the Great Vehicle, performed brahma practices, and became teachers of the Dharma. They had already planted the roots of good under ten million Buddhas in their previous existence.
The Power of Impermanence
Buddhism for Today, p29-30When we look back upon the evolutionary process that gave birth to life on the earth, which was originally filled only with melted lava, metals, gas, and vapor, and how lifeforms divided into plants and animals, the latter evolving gradually through insects, fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals, and finally into man, we realize also that wood, stone, metal, and all other substances in the world have the same ultimate ancestors as ourselves. We can regard all plants, birds, and beasts as our kin. We then feel a natural gratitude to plants, insects, fish, birds, and beasts. If we feel grateful to these creatures, how much more deeply thankful should we be for our parents and grandparents, our nearest kin, and for the spirits of other ancestors! We come to understand this clearly and feel it deeply.
Truly all things in the universe are related; what can we say when human beings in this world are not brothers to one another? They oppose each other, hate each other, attack each other, even kill each other. This is not what man’s life was intended to be. The reason that we do not realize this truth is because we are overwhelmed by the changes that impinge on us directly and are blinded by considerations of immediate gain and loss. If all men could see clearly the Buddha’s teaching that all things are impermanent, they would be awakened from such illusion and could realize a peaceful and correct way of life in this world.
Variatons on Namu
Two Buddhas, pxiiWe have rendered the daimoku, the invocation of the Lotus Sūtra’s title taught by Nichiren, as Namu Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, which represents the proper romanization for scholarly writing. However, actual pronunciation may vary slightly according to the practice community; some groups collapse the second and third syllables, giving Nam Myōhō-Renge-Kyō (sometimes written without diacritics in their publications). The difference is not one of correct versus incorrect but simply reflects variations among the traditions of individual Nichiren Buddhist lineages.
Declare Yourself a Disciple of Nichiren
If something happens on your way to the Pure Land, you should declare yourself as a disciple of Nichiren. Even in this small country of Japan, one who claims to be a family member of the Lord of Sagami Province, Shogunal Regent Hōjō Tokimune, is sometimes respected with no questions asked. All the more so I am the foremost priest in the Jambudvīpa as far as the devotion to the Lotus Sūtra is concerned, though worldly the most outrageous priest in Japan. The name of such a man surely resounds in the Pure Lands throughout the universe. His name is known both to heaven and earth. When you declare yourself to be a disciple of Nichiren, even demons, no matter how evil they may be, will not say that they have never heard of such a man.
Myōshin-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Myōshin Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 103-104
Daily Dharma – Jan. 12, 2020
World-Honored One! Explain all this so that we may be able to remove our doubts and that the good men in the future may have no doubts when they hear these words of yours!
The Bodhisattva Maitreya makes this request to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. There are several ways that the Buddha leads us to his enlightenment. One is by making us aware of the mysteries that abound in this world of conflict. The Lotus Sūtra promises in Chapter One that no question will be left unresolved. But unless we are aware of these questions, and these mysteries, then they cannot be explained. When we allow ourselves to wonder, to question, to become aware of the mystery of existence, and resist being ashamed of not knowing. then we are coming to understand the Buddha’s own mind.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month considered the Bodhisattvas and kings whom Maitreya sees, we consider some of the practices of the Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees.
I also see some Bodhisattvas
Becoming bhikṣus,
Living alone in retired places,
And joyfully reciting sūtras.I also see some Bodhisattvas
Zealously and courageously
Entering remote mountains, and pondering
The enlightenment of the Buddha.I also see some of them having given up desires,
And living in retired places,
Entering deep into dhyāna-concentration,
And obtaining the five supernatural powers.I also see some Bodhisattvas finding peace in dhyāna,
Joining their hands together [towards the Buddha],
And praising the King of the Dharma
With tens of millions of gāthās.I also see some Bodhisattvas resolute in mind.
They have obtained profound wisdom
By questioning the Buddha.
And now they remember what they heard from him.