Having last month considered the declaration of the Bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground and the response of the Buddha, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas with reaction of the gods in the skies of the worlds of the ten quarters.
At that time the gods in the skies [of the worlds of the ten quarters] said loudly:
“There is a world called Sahā beyond a distance of many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds. In that world lives a Buddha called Śākyamuni. He is now expounding to Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas a sūtra of the Great Vehicle, called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ Rejoice from the bottom of your hearts! Bow and make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha!”
Having heard their voice from the skies, the living beings of those worlds joined their hands together towards the Sahā World, and said, “Namah Sakyamunaye Buddhaya, namah Sakyamunaye Buddhaya.” Then they strewed various flowers, various kinds of incense, various necklaces, streamers, canopies, personal ornaments, treasures, and other wonderful things to the Sahā-World from afar.
The strewn things came from the worlds of the ten quarters like gathering clouds and changed into a jeweled awning over the Sahā-World. The awning extended over the Buddhas staying in this world. At that time the worlds of the ten quarters became passable through each other without hindrance as if they had been a single Buddha-world.
There are indeed many different speeds in the process of the attainment of enlightenment. The difference in people’s capacity to understand the Buddha’s teachings exists only in the area encompassed by “this shore” (shigan), the world of birth and death. But people become buddhas equally when they reach “that shore” (higan), the realm of nirvana. Therefore, there is no essential difference in their capacity to understand the Buddha’s teachings. This is the teaching of mirai-ki’itsu, “man’s capacity to understand the Buddha’s teachings is one in the future.” The Buddhist term fugen-daie, “all creatures universally see the great assembly of the Buddha surrounded by many other buddhas,” indicates the idea that the Buddha has the divine power to lead all living beings equally to the realm of nirvana in the future.
The expression “all the gods in the sky sang with exalted voices” means that all living beings in the sahā-world received inspiration from all the gods. Such an expression is not limited to Buddhism. The phrase “a voice was heard from heaven” appears in Christian writings, and the words “I hear heaven’s voice” are often used in the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. These words imply that people receive revelations from heaven, that is, that they perceive the truth of faith as if an inspiration had flashed across their minds.
What did all the living beings in the sahā-world receive by inspiration from the exalted voices of all the gods in the sky? They realized that in the sahā-world, Sakyamuni Buddha preached the teaching called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, the Law by which bodhisattvas are instructed and which the buddhas watch over and keep in mind. This is a true and peerless teaching, which causes all beings in the universe to live, bestows harmony on them, and brings about their peace of mind. This realization means that although the sahā-world is now a realm of suffering, it will surely become the most sacred land of the universe in the future, when all teaching and learning will be united into one in the Buddha’s teachings.
On Sunday, March 3, I got up early, did my regular morning service and then drove to the Sacramento Amtrak station downtown to catch the 9 am Capitol Corridor train to Oakland.
A group of rowers on Lake Merritt on Sunday morning.
It is a little more than 3 miles from the Oakland Jack London Square Amtrak station to Greenbank Avenue in Piedmont. From the Second Street station, I walk to Jackson Street and then to Lake Merritt. I walk around Lake Merritt to Grand Avenue and then continue up the hill to Greenbank Avenue. The only physical difficulty is my bladder. At 68 I’m prone to extra trips to the potty, especially after drinking tea on the two-hour train trip. Anyway, thank you, Safeway, for providing public toilets.
The altar and practice area at Mark Herrick’s home.
The train trip and the walk get me to Herrick’s house some time after noon. Services are scheduled to begin at 12:30 pm, with a lecture by Michael Ryuei McCormick Shonin following. In addition to Ryuei and Ryugan and me, there were two other men who attended. I was told fear of the Corona Virus was keeping a couple of regulars away. The quarters are tight and vigorous chanting could fill the air with pathogens. This will be the last service at Herrick’s house until the virus scare has passed.
Michael Ryuei McCormick Shonin
Ryuei Shonin’s lectures are part of his Buddhist Study Program. You can read more about that here. Today’s topic was Chapter 5 of The Vimalakirti Sutra.
The Burton Watson translation opens Chapter 5:
INQUIRING ABOUT THE ILLNESS
At that time the Buddha said to Manjushri, “You must go visit Vimalakirti and inquire about his illness.”
Manjushri replied to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, that eminent man is very difficult to confront. He is profoundly enlightened in the true nature of reality and skilled at preaching the essentials of the Law. His eloquence never falters, his wisdom is free of impediments. He understands all the rules of bodhisattva conduct, and nothing in the secret storehouse of the Buddhas is beyond his grasp. He has overcome the host of devils and disports himself with transcendental powers. In wisdom and expedient means he has mastered all there is to know. Nevertheless, in obedience to the Buddha’s august command, I will go visit him and inquire about his illness.” (Page 34)
Of particular interest for me was Vimalakirti’s explanation of his own illness in response to Manjushri:
“Layman, this illness of yours—can you endure it? Is the treatment perhaps not making it worse rather than better? The World-Honored One countless times has made solicitous inquiries concerning you. Layman, what is the cause of this illness? Has it been with you long? And how can it be cured?”
Vimalakirti replied, “This illness of mine is born of ignorance and feelings of attachment. Because all living beings are sick, therefore I am sick. If all living beings are relieved of sickness, then my sickness will be mended. Why? Because the bodhisattva for the sake of living beings enters the realm of birth and death, and because he is in the realm of birth and death he suffers illness. If living beings can gain release from illness, then the bodhisattva will no longer be ill.
“It is like the case of a rich man who has only one child. If the child falls ill, then the father and mother too will be ill, but if the child’s illness is cured, the father and mother too will be cured. The bodhisattva is like this, for he loves living beings as though they were his children. If living beings are sick, the bodhisattva will be sick, but if living beings are cured, the bodhisattva too will be cured. You ask what cause this illness arises from – the illness of the bodhisattva arises from his great compassion.” (Page 35-36)
Which brings us to the topic of this blog post: This photo.
The service concluded at 2:30 pm and I caught a Lyft ride back to the Jack London Square station in time to get a seat on the 3 pm Capitol Corridor train for Sacramento. The ride was relaxing and uneventful until congestion in the Sacramento station caused our train to come to a halt across the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.
Looking out the window I saw a man climb our of his tarp shelter and proceed to inject something into his left arm. I took a photo and posted it on Instagram on my @jomariworks account.
When I eventually arrived home I did my regular evening service and my daily 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra posts. I then did a quick post of the photo and the first Bodhisattva Vow.
And so here I am today attempting to put that photo into the context of the Bodhisattva compassion shown in Vimalakirti’s illness.
If nothing else, this offers graphic illustration of the difficulty of the Bodhisattva path.
By devotion to the Lotus Sūtra and to its daimoku practice, Nichiren taught, one manifests the reality of ichinen sanzen — or more simply stated, the Buddha’s enlightened state — within oneself, opening a ground of experience that is joyful and meaningful, independent of whether one’s immediate circumstances are favorable or not. Nichiren called this the “joy of the dharma.” In the Lotus Sūtra’s language, even in a world “ravaged by fire and torn with anxiety and distress” one can, so to speak, experience the gardens, palaces, and heavenly music of the buddha realm.
It is I, Nichiren, alone who can rectify the false views of other schools and lead the people in the right direction.
The Nirvana Sūtra states that if a good monk sees others destroying Buddhism and ignores them without accusing them of their sins and chasing them out of their residences, he is an enemy of Buddhism. Grand Master Chang-an explains this passage in the Nirvana Sūtra: “A man who destroys Buddhism is an enemy of Buddhism. One who does not have compassion does not blame such a man, and instead pretends to be friendly to him. Such a man is his enemy. One who blames a destroyer of Buddhism and removes his evil mind is a man of kindness.”
Shingon Shoshū Imoku, Differences between the Lotus Sect and Other Sects Such as the True Word Sect, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 122
I see all living beings equally.
I have no partiality for them.
There is not ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ to me.
I transcend love and hatred.
The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares himself to a rain shower that waters all plants equally. He uses this example to show us how we should approach all living beings. Our respect for them and wish that they become enlightened cannot depend on whatever personal feelings we have towards them.
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Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the twelve hundred merit of the tongue, we consider the eight hundred merits of the body.
“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the body. Their bodies will become as pure as lapis lazuli. All living beings will wish to see them. Some of the living beings in the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds are just born or have just died. All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women]. The Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru, and the other great mountains, and the living beings in those mountains also will be reflected on their bodies. [All the six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven and the living beings therein also will be reflected on their bodies. The Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas as well as the Buddhas who are expounding the Dharma, also will show their reflections on their bodies.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to have his body purified like lapis lazuli.
All living beings will wish to see him.
Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this]
Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.
The gods, men, asuras,
Hellish denizens,
Hungry spirits and animals,
That is, all living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-world
Will be reflected on his body.
The palaces of the gods in the heavens
Up to the Highest Heaven,
The Surrounding iron Mountains,
Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru,
And the great oceans also
Will be reflected on his body.
The Buddhas, Śrāvakas, Bodhisattvas who are sons of the Buddhas
[That is, the saints] of whom some live a solitary life
While others are expounding the Dharma to the multitude,
Also will be reflected on his body.
Although he has not yet obtained the wonderful body
[Of the Bodhisattva who knows] the nature of the Dharma-without-āsravas,
He will be able to have all these things
Reflected on his pure and natural body.
[Chapter 18] details the merits of a beginner, one who has just entered the teaching. [Chapter 19] expounds the merits of a preacher who has moved to a higher level. “Preacher” does not necessarily mean monk or nun but means any person – including Buddhist monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen – who receives and keeps the Buddha’s teachings and endeavors to spread them. The practices of a preacher are of five kinds (goshu hosshi): receiving and keeping the sutra (juji), reading it (doku) and reciting it (ju), expounding it (gesetsu), and copying it (shosha). … In each of these five practices, the state of our gradually deepening faith is clearly shown.
If we believe and discern the teaching after hearing it, and if we raise the mind of joyful acceptance of it, we proceed first to keep it firmly, then, reading and reciting the sutra, to inscribe it on our memory. As a personal discipline, this practice is done to establish the foundation of our faith. When our faith reaches this stage, we cannot help transmitting the teaching to others. As a result, we expound the sutra (the teaching) and copy it. We cannot say we have attained true faith until we go through each process of the five kinds of practices of the preacher.
Another important implication that [the Life Span] chapter held for Nichiren was indeed this very possibility of realizing the buddha land in the present world. In the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni describes the world as a “burning house” in which there is no safe place. But now in the “Lifespan” chapter, having revealed his true identity as the primordially awakened buddha, Śākyamuni declares that, even in the fire that destroys the world at the end of the cosmic cycle, his land — the present world — is “tranquil” and “never decays”; it is a place where sentient beings are “joyful.” This is the realm depicted on Nichiren’s mandala. Alluding to this sūtra passage, Nichiren writes, “Now the Sahā world of original time is the constantly abiding pure land, liberated from the three disasters and beyond the [cycle of the] four kalpas [eons]. Its buddha has not already entered nirvana in the past, nor is he yet to be born in the future. And his disciples are of the same essence. This [reality] … is the three thousand realms of one’s own mind.”
