In Chapter II, the Buddha reveals that there are not separate and incomplete practices but simply the Single Buddha practice of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddhas show the insight of the Buddha completely and unobstructed so that all people are able to benefit fully from the path the Buddha awakened to.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraMonthly Archives: March 2020
The Twofold Transmission
Two Buddhas, p220Nichiren’s idea of the transmission of the Lotus Sūtra is also twofold in another sense. On the one hand, the transmission unfolds through a line of teachers in historical time. Nichiren saw himself as heir to a lineage that passed from Śākyamuni Buddha, to Zhiyi, to Saichō, and then to himself — the “four teachers in three countries,” as he put it. The Nichiren tradition terms this the “outer transmission,” passing over the centuries from Śākyamuni Buddha down to Nichiren and his followers. At the same time, however, it speaks of an “inner transmission” received directly from the primordial buddha, namely, the daimoku itself. Nichiren said that teachers such as Zhiyi and Saichō had known inwardly of Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō but had not spoken of it openly because the time for its dissemination had not yet come.
Forcibly Planting Seeds of Buddhahood
Contemplating the time after the death of the Buddha in light of the capacity of people and method of preaching during the Buddha’s lifetime mentioned above, we see the three periods following the passing of Śākyamuni Buddha—the Ages of the True Dharma, Semblance Dharma and the Latter Age of Degeneration. In the 2,000 year period of the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma, there existed people who had the seed of Buddhahood planted in them just as in the pre-Lotus years of 40 years or so. This was the period when care was needed not to preach the True Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra arbitrarily. Now, however, we live in the Latter Age of Degeneration, when those who made connections with the Lotus Sūtra during the Buddha’s lifetime have gradually dwindled and people with the capacity to attain Buddhahood by listening to the provisional or true teachings have all disappeared. Thus, this is the time when the seed of Buddhahood (of the Lotus Sūtra) should forcibly be planted, in the same manner as Never-Despising Bodhisattva appearing in the Latter Age of Degeneration beating the “poisonous drum.”
Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 151.
Daily Dharma – March 27, 2020
All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly.
The Buddha makes this revelation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, he has just explained that although beings see him as a man who became enlightened after growing up as a crown prince, in reality he has been enlightened since an unimaginable amount of time in the past, and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment for twice that period of time into the future. As we learn to see the historical Śākyamuni Buddha as the ever-present Śākyamuni Buddha, our vision of the world changes too.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 8
Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month learned how the Buddha is like the father, we consider how the Śrāvakas shunned the Bodhisattva teaching for themselves.
Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.
The Daily Dharma from Nov. 25, 2019, offers this:
Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.
Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana, all disciples of the Buddha, speak these lines in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra as they explain their story of the wayward son. They compare the father’s treasure house in the story to the Buddha’s enlightenment. Until they had been led by the Buddha’s expedient teachings, they could not even imagine themselves as enlightened, any more than the wayward son in the story could imagine the contents of his father’s treasure house.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Ten Factors: Activity
Of the Ten Factors, Activity is the actual change brought about through power. It should be pointed out that things will not necessarily be done just because someone or something has the power to do them. Nothing exists by itself and nothing happens in a vacuum. In order to have an actual effect on the world, the right circumstances must exist. These circumstances, based upon the power of the beings involved, call forth the appropriate activity or response to produce the actual effect. A match will not light itself. It must be struck against a wall or a match box first.
Lotus SeedsGeneral Transmission
Two Buddhas, p220[I]n Nichiren’s reading, in the “Transcendent Powers” chapter, the Buddha first transmitted the daimoku, Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, to the bodhisattvas who had emerged from the earth, for them to propagate in the Final Dharma age. To presage this momentous event, the Buddha displayed his ten transcendent powers and, extracting the essence of the Lotus Sūtra, entrusted it to the four bodhisattvas. Then, in the “Entrustment” chapter, he made a more general transmission of the Lotus and all his other teachings to the bodhisattvas from other worlds, the bodhisattvas of the trace teaching who had been his followers in his provisional guise as the buddha who first attained awakening in this lifetime, and persons of the two vehicles. This general transmission was intended for the more limited period of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma ages.
The Dharma Sound
Today I was scanning my news feed and ran across an article at Buddhistdoor entitled, Frequencies, the Brain, and Wisdom Traditions, which explores the effects of sound frequencies and music on mental states. The take-away point for me was this:
The use of sound has been historically central also in the Buddhadharma. In the Mahayana traditions (which includes Vajrayana), every practice is transmitted first and foremost through sound, irrespective of whether or not the recipient understand the meaning of the words being transmitted. It is said that only hearing the sound of a particular Buddhist teaching initializes the mindset necessary to benefit from Dharma practices.
This is exactly why Nichiren Buddhists chant the Lotus Sūtra in Shindoku. As Ryuoh Michael Faulconer explains in the introduction to Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized:
Around the world, the Lotus Sūtra is traditionally read in shindoku, a reading of the Chinese translation of the Sūtra with a Japanese pronunciation. It is a form of faith reading done as a practice which our inner Buddha nature understands.
And, of course, this is also the foundation of why we chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō:
QUESTION: If someone chanted Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō without understanding its meaning will the benefit of understanding still be received?
ANSWER: When a baby nurses, it does not comprehend the taste; nevertheless, it receives the benefits of the milk naturally. Did anyone know the ingredients or formula for Jīvaka’s wondrous medicines? Water is without intent but it can extinguish fire; and even though fire consumes many things, can we say it does this deliberately? This is Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai’s idea! I am merely repeating it.
Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice,
Volume 4, Page 106-107
Knowing the Superiority of a Man Through the Sūtra He Practices
The most beautiful and brightest star is the moon. What is brighter than stars and the moon is the sun. A man without a cabinet post in a large country ranks higher than a minister of a small country. Likewise, it is as clear as heaven is different from earth that a practicer of Hinayāna Buddhism who has not attained enlightenment or even one superhuman power is superior to a man who practices non-Buddhist religion in India attaining five supernatural powers. Even a great bodhisattva who practices sūtras other than the Lotus is inferior to an ordinary person who is in the beginner’s stage of Notional Understanding in practicing the Lotus Sūtra and is moved upon hearing just its title. You must be surprised to hear this. We must decide the superiority of a man through the sūtra he practices. How can we discuss the superiority of a man without knowing the superiority of the sūtra he practices?
Shingon Shoshū Imoku, Differences between the Lotus Sect and Other Sects Such as the True Word Sect, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 124
Daily Dharma – March 26, 2020
I see that all living beings are burned by the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. They undergo various sufferings because they have the five desires and the desire for gain…Notwithstanding all this, however, they are playing joyfully. They are not conscious of the sufferings. They are not frightened at the sufferings or afraid of them. They do not dislike them or try to get rid of them. They are running about this burning house of the triple world, and do not mind even when they undergo great sufferings.
The Buddha offers this explanation to his disciple Śāriputra in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares his teaching of suffering and Nirvāṇa to a father luring his children from a dangerous house with a promise of better toys. The children were so preoccupied with their own entertainment that they could not hear their father’s warning. In this triple world of beautiful forms, fascinating ideas and consuming desires, it is easy to stay with our childish games and ignore the Buddha’s teaching. Our maturity as Bodhisattvas comes when we set these aside for the benefit of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com