Monthly Archives: February 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 15, 2020

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. When the Buddha taught in India 2500 years ago, people took for granted that their lives continued from previous lives and would continue on into future lives. Whatever comforts we enjoy or calamities we endure in this life were thought to be caused by what we did in our former lifetimes. Our actions today were thought to determine what happens in our future lives. To our modern understanding this can sound mystical and unlikely. But if we understand that everything, including our joy and suffering, has causes and conditions, whether or not we realize these results immediately, we know that the result of creating benefit is benefit, and the result of creating harm is harm. When we hold the happiness of all beings to be as precious as our own, we would no more mistreat others than we would want them to mistreat us.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered some of the practices of the Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees, we consider additional practices of the Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Concentrating their minds, having wisdom,
Expounding the Dharma to the multitude
With innumerable parables and similes,
Expounding the Dharma with joy,
Teaching [other] Bodhisattvas,
Defeating the army of Mara,
And beating the drum of the Dharma.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Being tranquil and peacefully calm,
Not delighting in being respected
By gods or dragons.

I also see some Bodhisattva
Living in forests, and emitting ray of light
In order to have the denizens in hell,
And cause them to enter the Way to Buddhahood.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Walking about forests without sleeping
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some of them
Observing the precepts with due deportment,
And keeping purity like that of gems,
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Enduring abuse
Or blows with sticks
Inflicted by arrogant people
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Giving up wanton pleasures,
Parting from foolish companions,
Approaching men of wisdom,

Controlling their minds from distraction,
And concentrating their minds in hills or forests
For thousands of billions of years
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

See Our Stagnation or Retrogression Hinders Others

LS32, d1b, b4today

Our Stagnation or Retrogression Hinders Others

The Buddha’s teachings instruct us that sin and evil did not originally exist in this world. They are due to the cessation of the proper progress of human life or the return to a wrong course. Therefore, the moment we abandon such negative uses of energy, that is, as soon as we are free from illusion, evil disappears and the world of the light of the brilliant rays of the Buddha is revealed before us. Our “non-advance,” our “non-approach” to the Buddha, is sin and evil because such action is contrary to the proper course of human life.

From the selfish point of view of ego, we think that we can do as we like so long as we are prepared to accept the consequences of our actions, and we ask only to be left alone and not be interfered with by others. However, such an attitude is a fundamental error because our lives are related in some way to the lives of all others, so that the evil produced by one per son inevitably exerts an influence upon other people somewhere, and the negligence of one person is sure to prevent others from advancing. If we understand this, we can be spiritually awakened to the fact that our own stagnation or retrogression hinders others, so that we determine to advance upward bit by bit. This is the true spirit of the law that nothing has an ego, and this is the reason why the true spirit of Buddhism consists in constant endeavor.

Buddhism for Today, p31-32
d13b, WONS, 2buddhas

Never for an Instant Separated from the Wish-Granting Jewel

In Chapter Eight [The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples], to express their understanding of the one vehicle teaching, five hundred arhats who have just received a prediction from the Buddha relate the parable of the jewel hidden in the garment. Like the other parables of the Lotus Sūtra, this one was well known to educated Japanese and provided a frequent subject for traditional waka poems based on the sūtra, as in this twelfth-century example:

if the wind
from Vulture Peak
had not blown
my sleeves inside out—
would I have found
the jewel
inside the reverse
of my coat?

Here the poet expresses his recognition that, without the Buddha’s preaching of the Lotus Sūtra, he would never have discovered the treasure he had possessed all along.

For Nichiren, the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is what enables that discovery. He writes that living beings “have never for an instant been separated from the wish-granting jewel.” Although they could quickly realize buddhahood simply by chanting Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, being deluded by the wine of ignorance, they do not realize this and are instead satisfied with trivial gains, such as achieving rebirth in the heavens as the gods Brahmā or Indra or the status of rulers or great ministers of state in the human world. But the Buddha taught that these are mere illusory pleasures. Rather, “we should simply uphold the Lotus Sūtra and quickly become buddhas.” In the sūtra text, the man being “satisfied if he just obtains a very meagre amount” represents the Buddha’s disciples accepting the teachings of the two lower vehicles and being content with the arhat’s goal of nirvāṇa, not aspiring to the bodhisattva path. It thereby conveys an implicit criticism of the Indian Buddhist mainstream at the time of the sūtra’s compilation. Nichiren reorients the parable to suggest that any transient acquisition — including all the wealth, pleasures, and power to be had in the human or heavenly realms — is vastly inferior to realizing buddhahood by embracing the Lotus Sūtra.

Two Buddhas, p125-126
WONS

Grass Growing Near a Large River

I am greatly concerned about the illness of your lord. Even though your lord does not seem to place his full trust in you, you are fortunate enough to be his retainer and to receive his favor, which in turn enables you to believe in and support the Lotus Sūtra. This will certainly be considered a prayer for the recovery of your lord from illness. Although a bush under a large tree does not receive the rain directly, and the grass growing near a large river does not have immediate access to the river water, the bushes receive dew from the large tree, and the grass absorbs moisture from the great river to survive and grow. The same can be said of the relationship between you and your lord.

Sushun Tennō Gosho, The ‘Emperor Sushun’ Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119-120

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 14, 2020

We will wear the armor of endurance
Because we respect and believe you.
We will endure all these difficulties
In order to expound this sūtra.

Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva, along with their attendants, declare these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha had asked previously who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death. These Bodhisattvas declare their aspirations to maintain their practice of the Buddha Dharma in the face of unimaginable difficulties. We may believe that this practice will lead to permanent comfort and pleasure. But knowing that we are in a world that is constantly changing, we realize that any difficulty is temporary, and that the way to a beneficial outcome may only go through difficulties. This knowledge and faith in the Buddha’s teachings increases our capacity to be a beneficial force in this world of conflict.

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

LS32, Innumerable, Blog

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Each time through The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra (Watson translation this time), I’m confronted with the question of how to describe the Buddha’s appearance. In particular, the sign that appears on his chest.

It was during my 21-day stay-cation retreat last year that I first read The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings (Reeves translation that time) and found this:

His chest, marked with a swastika,
Is like the chest of a lion.

I have known about the use of the swastika as a Buddhist marking for some time. I wrote about the decoration atop the Hanamatsuri shrine at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. That post has a lot of nice background information that I won’t bother to duplicate here.

The point today is the decision of translators – other than Reeves – to avoid confusing the mark with the Nazi symbol.

The BDK English Tripitaka translation by Kubo and Logan offers:

Your chest is like that of a lion, and it is marked with the sign of virtue. (Page 13)

While the Kosei publishing 1975 translation by Tamura, Schiffer and Del Campana used the “swastika mark,” the “Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers” (Kosei 2019) translated by Shinozaki, Ziporyn and Earhart follows the BDK English Tripitaka example and offers:

His chest, bearing the mark of virtue, is like a lion’s chest.

Which brings us the reason I’m rehashing all this today.

Burton Watson’s translation of The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra chooses to keep the literal character while eschewing the word swastika.

… breast displaying a fylfot pattern; lion chested; …

The Buddha and the Fylfot

While I admire Watson’s effort to remain true to the literal text (see A Note About Translations at the bottom of yesterday’s post for another example), why can’t translators use the proper spelling of the word swastika, which is svastika? That eliminates the Nazi baggage and restores the idea that this image on the Buddha’s chest “is a statement of affirmation, ‘It is!’ ‘Life is good!’ ‘There is value’ ‘There is meaning!’ Svastika is a term that affirms the positive values of life.” (Also see this discussion of the Japanese meaning of the symbol Manji.)

And getting back to the topic of The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra …

See The Essential Point

LS32, Innumerable, b4today

The Essential Point

The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings ends with the following words: “At that time all in the great assembly, greatly rejoicing together, made salutation to the Buddha, and taking possession of the sutra, withdrew.” To sum up briefly the essential point of this sutra, it is that all the laws originate from one Law, namely, the real state of all things. All phenomena of the universe, including human life, manifest themselves in myriad different ways, and appear, disappear, move, and change. Man’s mind is apt to be led astray in suffering from and worrying about discrimination and change. If we pay no attention to such visible discrimination and change, and if we are able to see in depth the true state of things transcending surface discrimination, the true state that is unchangeable forever, we will be able to attain the mental state of being free of all things while leading ordinary everyday lives.

However, the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings does not explain in detail what the “real state of all things” is and what we should do to discern it. This important point is elucidated in the Lotus Sutra, which follows.

Buddhism for Today, p19
Basics

The Acquisition of Religious Spirit

Quote

The true spirit of religion does not arise from a desire for economic security or a hope of being cured of disease. Worship inspired by the prospect of worldly benefits is not true worship and does not accord with the higher teachings of the Buddha. It cannot be denied, however, that many people whose original motive for turning to religion was desire for mundane well-being have gone on to acquire consciousness of higher ideals and awareness of the genuine meaning of faith. The religious experience can occur on many levels. The acquisition of the religious spirit is more often than not gradual, and ideals tend to become loftier and deeper as experience grows.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

d9b, 2buddhas

Reciprocal Bonds

Nichiren … commented on the “great king’s feast” [Chapter 6: Assurance of Future Buddhahood] in connection with memorial prayers that he offered on behalf of followers who had lost family members. In so doing, he evoked associations between the arhat Maudgalyāyana (Ch. Mulian, J. Mokuren), whose attainment of buddhahood is predicted in this chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, and Buddhist funerary and memorial rites. Maudgalyāyana was celebrated in the early Buddhist tradition as the Buddha’s disciple most accomplished in supernatural powers. After his mother had died, the story goes, Maudgalyāyana scanned the cosmos with his divine eye to see where she had been reborn and found her suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts as retribution for her greed and stinginess when alive. He then attempted to send her magically conjured food, but it burst into flames and scorched her when she tried to eat it. Bewildered, he consulted the Buddha, who advised him to offer a meal to the assembly of monks at the end of the summer monsoon retreat. Maudgalyāyana did so, and with that merit, his mother gained release from the hungry ghost realm. This legend became the basis throughout East Asia of the annual “Ghost Festival” (Skt. Ullambana; Ch. Yulanpen; J. Urabon), in which lay people make special offerings to monks at the close of the summer retreat, a period during which monastics are said to heighten their spiritual powers. The monks in turn perform services to transfer merit to their patrons’ deceased relatives, confirming the reciprocal bonds between monastics and laity, the living and the dead. Maudgalyāyana’s story was also related to the “ritual for hungry ghosts,” a merit offering for those deceased who had no relatives to sponsor services on their behalf. In Japan, this ritual was often performed in conjunction with Urabon, or for persons who had died in battle, of starvation, or under other unfortunate circumstances.

Two Buddhas, p107-108