Monthly Archives: January 2020

LS32

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.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month repeated the prediction for Rāhula in gāthās, we hear the prediction for the two thousand Śrāvakas and conclude 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.

Thereupon the World-Honored One saw the two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They were gentle, quiet and pure. They looked up at the Buddha with all their hearts.

The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Do you see these two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some have something more to learn while others have nothing more to learn?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Ānanda! These people will make offerings to as many Buddhas, as many Tathāgatas, as the particles of dust of fifty worlds. They will respect those Buddhas, honor them, and protect the store of their teachings. They will finally go to the worlds of the ten quarters and become Buddhas at the same time. They will be equally called Treasure-Form, the Tathāgata, 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. They will live for a kalpa. They will be the same in regard to the adornments of their worlds, the number of the Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas of their worlds, the duration of the preservation of their right teachings, and the duration of the preservation of the counterfeit of their right teachings.”

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

I assure the future Buddhahood
Of these two thousand Śrāvakas
Who are now present before me.
They will become Buddhas in their future lives.

They will make offerings to as many Buddhas
As the particles of dust as previously stated.
They will protect the store of the teachings of those Buddhas,
And attain perfect enlightenment.

They will go to the worlds of the ten quarters.
Their [Buddha-]names will be the same.
They will sit at the place of enlightenment
And obtain unsurpassed wisdom at the same time.

Their [Buddha-]names will be Treasure-Form.
[The adornment of] their worlds, [the number of] their disciples,
[The duration of the period of] their right teachings,
[And that of] the counterfeit of them will be the same.

By their supernatural powers, they will save
The living beings of the worlds of the ten quarters.
Their fame will extend far and wide.
They will enter into Nirvana in the course of time.

Thereupon the two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn, having heard the Buddha assure them of their future Buddhahood, danced with joy, and sang in a gāthā:

You, the World-Honored One, are the light of wisdom.
Hearing from you
That we are assured of our future Buddhahood,
We are as joyful as if we were sprinkled with nectar.

See General Vows and Special Vows

LS32, d14b, b4today

General Vows and Special Vows

In Buddhism, there are two kinds of vow: “general vow” (sōgan) and “special vow” (betsugan). “General vow” means the vow common to all people. The common desire of all Buddhists is to study the teachings of the Buddha and to extinguish illusions. Their desire is also to benefit many others through attaining enlightenment. This desire is called the general vow. It is divided again into four parts, which are known as the four great vows of the bodhisattva (shi gu-sei-gan).

Buddhism for Today, p133
Basics

The Doctrine of Dependent Origination

Quote

The doctrine of dependent origination found in Theravada and sectarian Buddhism and in the teachings of later schools of East Asian Buddhism emphasizes the sequential time relationship with regard to karmic effects. According to this view, cause necessarily precedes effect. The second interpretation is found in the teachings of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras; Indian Madhyamika Buddhism and its Chinese incarnation, the San-lun (Three Treatises) school; and the T’ien-t’ai school, whose doctrines are derived from the Lotus Sutra. This interpretation insists that all causes and effects exist simultaneously and likens their influence on one another to spatial relations rather than to time sequence. Although the two interpretations seem separate and exclusive, in fact each includes elements of the other, since dependent origination describes all things in both time and space.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

d18b, WONS, 2buddhas

Preaching the Exclusive Truth of the Lotus Sūtra

For Nichiren, preaching the exclusive truth of the Lotus Sūtra was not only about leading individuals to enlightenment, but also about saving the country and establishing an ideal buddha land in this world, a task he came to see as his personal mission and responsibility. In declaring the supremacy of the Lotus Sūtra, he found it necessary to rebuke attachment to other, provisional teachings; in consequence, he encountered repeated antagonism. Nichiren was often beset by danger and privation. Out of this experience, he developed what might be called a soteriology of undergoing persecution. The Lotus Sūtra itself speaks of the hostility that will confront its devotees in a latter evil age. Nichiren and his followers therefore understood the persecutions they faced as both fulfilling the sūtra’s prophecies and confirming the veracity of their mission to propagate it. Nichiren also taught that to endure hardships and opposition in spreading faith in the Lotus Sūtra is to repay one’s debt to the Buddha, eradicate one’s past evil karma, fulfill the bodhisattva’s mandate to sacrifice even one’s life, if need be, to save others, and guarantee one’s future buddhahood. Indeed, one could say that Nichiren’s teaching on buddhahood has two temporal modes: immediately manifesting the all-encompassing buddha realm in the act of chanting the daimoku, and realizing buddhahood as an unfolding process in devoting oneself to the daimoku’s propagation.

Two Buddhas, p31-32
WONS

Entering Mt. Minobu and Recalling Hometown

On the eighth day of the fourth month I met with Hei no Saemonnojō Yoritsuna. I was prepared to withdraw into the mountains and forests as my warnings to the government that would save Japan from destruction went unheeded three times. I left Kamakura on the twelfth day of the fifth month and entered Mt. Minobu. Before coming to Minobu I wanted to return to my hometown and visit my parents’ grave. However, as an edict in Confucianism and Buddhism stipulates that one should return home in glory, it would have been unfilial of me to return home without successfully remonstrating with the government. However, just as I was able to return to Kamakura from exile on Sado Island, where I never imagined it possible to leave alive, I hope that the government might someday heed my warnings. I will visit my parents’ grave then, not under the present circumstances. Even so, I miss my hometown and long to return such that whenever winds and clouds come from the east, I go outside of my hermitage just to feel the wind and see the cloud.

Kōnichi-bō Gosho, A Letter to Nun Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 50

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 24, 2020

A singing bird in a cage attracts uncaged birds, and the sight of these uncaged birds will make the caged bird want to be free. LIkewise the chanting of Odaimoku will bring out the Buddha-nature within ourselves. The Buddha-nature of the gods Bonten and Taishaku will be called by the chanting and protect the chanter. The Buddha-nature of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be pleased to be called. For attaining Buddhahood quickly, one must lay down the banner of arrogance, cast away the club of prejudice and chant, “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.”

Nichiren write this in his Treatise on Attaining Enlightenment through Faith in the Lotus Sūtra (Hokke Shoshin Jōbutsu Shō). While we whose faith is in the Lotus Sūtra are assured that we and all other beings will become Buddhas, we often wonder when that will happen. The Lotus Sūtra describes time in terms of uncountable kalpas, and each kalpa itself is an unimaginable amount of time. There is no shortage of time, or of lives into which we can be born to benefit other beings. But by practicing Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, we continue on our path to enlightenment, rather than being diverted into delusion.

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

LS32

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the reaction of the five hundred Arhats and heard the Parable of the Priceless Gem, concluded Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples, we begin again with Pūrṇa’s reaction to the Buddha’s expedient teaching.

Thereupon Pūrṇa, the son of Maitrāyanī having heard from the Buddha the Dharma expounded with expedients by the wisdom [o£ the Buddha] according to the capacities of all living beings, and having heard that [the Buddha] had assured the great disciples of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and also having heard of the previous life of the Buddha, and also having heard of the great, unhindered, supernatural powers of the Buddhas, had the greatest joy that he had ever had, became pure in heart, and felt like dancing [with joy]. He rose from his seat, came to the Buddha, and worshipped him at his feet with his head. Then he retired to one side of the place, looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes, and thought:
‘The World-Honored One is extraordinary. What he does is exceptional. He expounds the Dharma with expedients by his insight according to the various natures of all living beings of the world, and saves them from various attachments. The merits of the Buddha are beyond the expression of our words. Only the Buddha, only the World-Honored One, knows the wishes we have deep in our minds.’

See Pūrṇa’s True Mental Courage

LS32, d13b, b4today

Pūrṇa’s True Mental Courage

Pūrṇa was so eloquent that he has been described as “the personification of eloquence.” “To speak as eloquently as Pūrṇa” became a common figure of speech in later times. However, he never showed off his superiority but led the same kind of life as ordinary men. He was such a great man that though he seemed mild, he had true mental courage. The following story about Pūrṇa has been handed down from old times.

When Sakyamuni Buddha permitted certain of his disciples to preach his teachings, Pūrṇa, desiring to preach in Śroṇāparanta, a region he knew well, asked the Buddha’s permission to do so. The Buddha said, “It will be very difficult for you to do missionary work in Śroṇāparanta, where the people are very stubborn. What would you do if they didn’t listen to your preaching however hard you tried?” Pūrṇa answered, “Even if they didn’t listen to my preaching, I would not be disappointed. I would consider myself fortunate not to be made fun of.” Then the Buddha asked, “What if you were derided?” Pūrṇa replied, “If I were, I would consider myself fortunate not to be slandered.” When asked, “What if you should be slandered?” he answered, “Even if I were, I would consider myself fortunate not to be beaten with sticks or stoned.” Asked, “What if you were beaten or stoned?” he replied, “I would consider myself fortunate not to be wounded by a sword.” Then asked, “What if you were wounded by a sword?” he answered, “Even if I were, I would consider myself fortunate not to be killed.” Next asked, “What if you were mortally wounded?” he replied, “I would consider myself fortunate to give up my life in spreading your teachings.” Thereupon the Buddha permitted Pūrṇa to go to Śroṇāparanta, saying, “You may go there if you have such a firm determination in doing your missionary work.” From this story, we can well understand that Pūrṇa was no common preacher.

Buddhism for Today, p123-124
d4b, 2buddhas

Hōnen vs. Nichiren

Hōnen’s followers maintained one should set aside the Lotus in this lifetime and chant the nenbutsu instead, achieve birth in Amitābha’s pure land, and attain the awakening of the Lotus Sūtra there.

Nichiren fiercely opposed this argument. For him, Hōnen’s focus on human limitations ignored the Buddha’s own distinction between true and provisional teachings. The Lotus was the sūtra of which Śākyamuni himself had said, “For more than forty years I have expounded the dharma in all manner of ways through adeptness in skillful means, but the core truth has still not been revealed,” and, “Having openly set aside skillful means, I will teach only the highest path.”

Precisely because the Lotus Sūtra is profound, Nichiren argued, it can save even the most depraved individuals. He also maintained that the nenbutsu belonged to the lesser category of provisional Mahāyāna and did not represent the Buddha’s final intent. He likened it to the scaffolding erected in building a large stūpa: once the stūpa (the Lotus Sūtra) has been completed, the scaffolding (the nenbutsu) should be dismantled.

Like Hōnen, Nichiren taught a universally accessible mode of practice, grounded in faith and centered on the chanting of a single phrase. But despite these outward similarities, the doctrine and attitude underlying the two practices differ radically. Rather than promising enlightenment after death and in a distant realm, the daimoku as taught by Nichiren offers direct access to a dimension in which the self opens to pervade the universe, and buddhahood is realized “in this body.” In his teaching, mappō is accordingly revalorized as the moment when the “perfectly encompassing path” of immediate enlightenment becomes accessible to all.

Two Buddhas, p28-29
WONS

Knowing Whether Scriptures Are Correctly Translated.

It is predicted in the Nirvana Sūtra, in such fascicles as the third and ninth, that in the process of transmission from India to foreign lands, Buddhism would beget many misinterpretations, and as a result few people would be able to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, Grand Master Miao-lê says, “Whether or not there are mistakes in Buddhist scriptures, it all depends on translators. It has nothing to do with the Buddha Himself.” He means that no matter how hard people today try to attain Buddhahood according to sūtras, they would be unable to do so if the sūtras are false, and that they can’t blame the Buddha for it. In studying Buddhism, besides knowing the differences between Mahāyāna, Hinayāna, provisional, real, exoteric, and esoteric teachings, one must first of all know whether or not scriptures are correctly translated.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 212