Ultimately, faith is the key to following the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. If we think that we can sit on the sidelines and ponder our way to enlightenment then we have missed a fundamental message from Chapter II. Faith opens up the path to us by freeing us from doubting the truth of the teaching. When we abandon doubts and free ourselves from the hindrance of needing to rationalize all things then we are able to begin to practice with joy. As we practice we begin to see the theories manifest as truths in our lives that are beyond words and transcend to the realm of actualization. After all, the theory of Buddhism has no value beyond what we actually practice and apply to our own lives.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraMonthly Archives: April 2020
Seeing One’s Own Eyebrows
Just as it is said that one cannot see one’s own eyebrows, it is not easy to see our own mistakes.
Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 152.
Daily Dharma – April 6, 2020
I knew that you were mean and timid. In order to give you a rest halfway, I expounded expediently to you the teaching of Nirvāṇa by the two vehicles. To those who attained the two [vehicles], I say, ‘You have not yet done all that you should do. You are near the wisdom of the Buddha. Think it over and consider it! The Nirvāṇa you attained is not true. I divided the One Vehicle of the Buddha into three only expediently.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra after he tells the parable of the magic city. In that parable he compares himself, leading all beings to enlightenment, to a guide leading a group of travelers through a dangerous wilderness. The Buddha knows how frightening this world of conflict can be, so he uses teachings about ending suffering to keep us moving on the path. But then as the guide in the parable made the magic city disappear so that the travelers would continue to the real city, the Buddha tells us to abandon preoccupations with our own suffering so that we can enjoy his enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 18
Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.
Having last month considered the Bodhisattva’s place of practice and the truths he should know, we repeat in gāthās the proper practices a Bodhisattva should perfrom.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
A Bodhisattva who wishes
To expound this sūtra without fear
In the evil world
After [my extinction]
Should perform proper practices
And approach proper things.He should keep away
From kings, princes and ministers,
From other government officials,
From players of dangerous sports,
From caṇḍālas, from heretics,
And from aspirants for the teaching of Brahman.He should not approach arrogant people,
Or the scholars who are deeply attached
To the Three Stores of the Lesser Vehicle,
Or the bhikṣus
Who violate the precepts,
Or self-appointed Arhats,
Or the bhikṣunīs/
Who like to laugh playfully.He should not approach the upāsikās
Who are attached to the five desires
Or who seek in their present life
The extinction[-without-remainder].When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.He should not approach
Or make friends with a widow
Or with an unmarried woman
Or with a eunuch.He should not approach
Slaughterers or cooks
Or those who kill for profit,
Such as hunters or fishermen.He should not approach
Butchers
Or procurers
Of prostitutes.He should not approach
Dangerous wrestlers
Or makers of various amusements
Or immoral women.He should not expound the Dharma
To a woman in an enclosed place.
When he expounds the Dharma to her,
He should not laugh playfully.When he goes to a village to beg for food,
He should take a Bhikṣu with him.
If he cannot find a Bhikṣu [to take with him],
He should think of the Buddha with all his heart.These are the proper practices he should perform
And the proper things he should approach.
He should expound the Dharma peacefully
Only after doing all this!
The Daily Dharma from Oct. 1, 2019, offers this:
When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.
The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. In our zeal to practice this Wonderful Dharma we may come to expect that because this is such a wonderful teaching, we deserve to be rewarded for providing it to others. With this expectation, we then lose our focus on using the Dharma to benefit others and instead use it to benefit ourselves. When we show how to give freely, without expectations, we embody generosity, the same generosity the Buddha himself demonstrated when he provided the teaching to us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
An Apology
Last August, at the suggestion of a good friend, I created a page here where people new to Nichiren Shu could receive some direction. Where to Begin.
I was particularly happy to be able to provide the basic Nichiren Shu service so that those new to the practice could follow along with recordings of the various parts of the service and practice their pronunciation. The Basic Nichiren Shu Service
Today – more than seven months later – I am deeply embarrassed to have discovered that the shindoku text I provided for Hoben Pon was missing words and entire lines. Had I done a simple test of following along with the recording while reading the shindoku, I would have caught this back in August.
These errors in the Hoben Pon shindoku have been corrected along with some additional typos in other areas where words ran together.
I apologize for having failed to adequately check my work.
The Ikegami Family Battle
Two Buddhas, p253-254Some of Nichiren’s followers actually found themselves [at odds with their parents]. Among them were two brothers, samurai of the Ikegami family living in Kamakura. They may have been direct vassals of the Hōjō family who ruled the Bakufu or military government. The elder was called Munenaka, and the younger, Munenaga. Their father, Yasumitsu, was a supporter of the eminent monk Ryōkan-bō Ninshō, widely acclaimed as a holy man for his acts of public charity and scrupulous adherence to the precepts. By Nichiren’s account, however, Ninshō’s machinations had brought about his second arrest and exile to Sado Island; Nichiren and his followers had learned to regard Ninshō as an enemy. Because their father revered this cleric, the two brothers, like Śubhavyūha’s two sons, must have felt that they had been born into a “house of wrong views.” Yasumitsu demanded that Munenaka, whose faith was the stronger, renounce his commitment to the Lotus Sūtra and to Nichiren. When Munenaka refused, his father disowned him. At this point, the younger brother began to waver, swayed perhaps by a more conventional understanding of the obedience owed to one’s father and by the unexpected opportunity to replace Munenaka as his father’s heir. Nichiren admonished him, “If you obey your father who is an enemy of the Lotus Sūtra and abandon your brother who is a votary of the one vehicle, are you really being filial? In the end, you should resolve single-mindedly to pursue the buddha way like your brother. Your father is like King Śubhavyūha, and you brothers are like the princes Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra. Their situation occurred in the past while yours is happening in the present, but the principle of the Lotus Sūtra remains unchanged.”
In the end, perhaps strengthened by Nichiren’s admonishment, the younger brother stood firmly by his elder brother and refused to abandon his faith. Eventually the two were even able to convert their father, and Nichiren praised them as Vimalagarbha and Vimalanetra reborn.
The Ten Factors: Causes
Of the Ten Factors, Causes are those actions that contribute directly to the present. This factor and the next three – Conditions, Effects and Consequences – directly refer to the law of cause and effect. Cause, in this context, refers to all of our thoughts, words and deeds, which become the seeds in the depths of our lives. The accumulation of these seeds are the habit-patterns that determine the ways in which our life will unfold. In fact, the dominant world or state of mind that is our usual state of being is the fruition of these very seeds. Therefore, it is very important that we plant as many good seeds in our life as possible.
Lotus Seeds3,000 Modes of Existence at Any Given Moment
The “3,000 existences contained in one thought” (ichinen sanzen) doctrine was first expounded by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Great Concentration and Insight (Mo-ho chih-kuan), fascicle 5, (chapter 7). According to him:
“A mind by nature contains ten realms of living beings (realms of hells, hungry spirits, beasts, asura demons, men, gods, śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas). Since these ten realms contain one another, there exist 100 realms in one mind. Each of these 100 realms, furthermore, consists of ‘three factors,’ that is to say, living beings, the land on which they live, and the five elements of living beings (matter, perception, conception, volition, and consciousness). It also possesses “ten aspects” (form, nature, substance, function, action, cause, condition, effect, reward, and ultimate equality of these aspects). Thus, 30 modes of existence are in one realm and 3,000 modes of existence in 100 realms. In short, 3,000 modes of existence are contained in a mind at any given moment. When there is mind, even for a momentary flash, 3,000 existences are in it. … Thus a mind is unfathomable.”
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 127
Daily Dharma – April 5, 2020
The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and strewed the necklaces to the Buddha. The necklaces flew up to the sky [seven times as high as the tāla-tree], and changed into a jeweled platform equipped with four pillars. On the platform was a couch of great treasures, and thousands of millions of heavenly garments were spread [on the couch]. The Buddha [went up,] sat cross-legged [on the couch], and emitted great rays of light. King Wonderful-Adornment thought, ‘The Buddha is exceptional. He is exceedingly handsome. He has the most wonderful form.’
The Buddha uses this description as part of the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This King was led by the supernatural powers of his children to meet Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King Flower-Wisdom Buddha who was teaching the Wonderful Dharma in that world. The King and his wife the Queen were both so inspired by that Buddha that they allowed the symbols of their wealth and power to be transformed into a sacred platform from which the Buddha could lead all beings to enlightenment. When they found that Buddha, the beauty of his wisdom far outshone the beauty of their jewels.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 17
Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.
Having last month concluded Chapter 12, Devadatta, we begin Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and hear Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, along with Arhats and Śrāvakas, vow to uphold the Lotus Sūtra.
Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, together with their twenty-thousand attendants who were also Bodhisattvas, vowed to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, do not worry! We will keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra after your extinction. The living beings in the evil world after [your extinction] will have less roots of good, more arrogance, more greed for offerings of worldly things, and more roots of evil. It will be difficult to teach them because they will go away from emancipation. But we will patiently read, recite, keep, expound and copy this sūtra, and make various offerings to it. We will not spare even our lives [in doing all this].”
At that time there were five hundred Arhats in this congregation. They had already been assured of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. They said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! We also vow to expound this sūtra [but we will expound it] in some other worlds [rather than in this Sahā-World].”
There were also eight thousand Śrāvakas some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They had already been assured of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together towards the Buddha and vowed:
“World-Honored One! We also will expound this sūtra in some other worlds because the people of this Sahā-World have many evils. They are arrogant. They have few merits. They are angry, defiled, ready to flatter others, and insincere.”
See Holding Firm