Monthly Archives: April 2020

LS32, WONS

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 2, Expedients, we return to the top and the World-Honored One emerging quietly from his samādhi.

Thereupon the World-Honored One emerged quietly from his samādhi, and said to Śāriputra:
“The wisdom of the [present] Buddhas is profound and immeasurable. The gate to it is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. [Their wisdom] cannot be understood by any Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha because the [present] Buddhas attended on many hundreds of thousands of billions of [past] Buddhas, and practiced the innumerable teachings of those Buddhas bravely and strenuously to their far-flung fame until they attained the profound Dharma which you have never heard before, [and became Buddhas,] and also because [since they became Buddhas] they have been expounding the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings in such various ways that the true purpose of their [various] teachings is difficult to understand.

“Śāriputra! Since I became a Buddha, I [also] have been expounding various teachings with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, and with various similes. I have been leading all living beings with innumerable expedients in order to save them from various attachments, because I have the power to employ expedients and the power to perform the pāramitā of insight.

“Śāriputra! The insight of the Tathāgatas is wide and deep. [The Tathāgatas] have all the [states of mind towards] innumerable [living beings,] unhindered [eloquence,] powers, fearlessness, dhyāna-concentrations, emancipations, and samādhis. They entered deep into boundlessness, and attained the Dharma which you have never heard before.

“Śāriputra! The Tathāgatas divide [the Dharma] into various teachings, and expound those teachings to all living beings so skillfully and with such gentle voices that living beings are delighted. Śāriputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

Nichiren discusses how the dharma can be understood only between Buddhas and Buddhas alone in his letter “Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time”:

Pondering the Great Wisdom Discourse, we are reminded of the quotation in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “Expedients,” which reads: “Only between Buddhas and Buddhas alone can this be understood.” This quotation exists for the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) who, through pre-Lotus teachings, have overcome the delusions arising from incorrect views and thoughts, have undertaken extreme austerities, turning the body to ashes and annihilating consciousness, and are allowed to gain enlightenment by the grace of the Lotus Sūtra, which assures that the three ways of evil passions, karma, and suffering would immediately be transformed into the three merits of the Dharma Body, wisdom, and emancipation. Since what was believed to be beyond the reach of the Two Vehicles is attainable, it can be assumed that bodhisattvas and the untutored may also anticipate enlightenment. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra claims: “Granted that the condition in which someone of the Two Vehicles reaches a state of extreme mental and physical exhaustion where desires, which were called ‘poison,’ are thoroughly extinguished, then with the advent of enlightenment as guaranteed by the Lotus Sūtra such a poison would be transformed into medicine. This summarizes Nāgārjuna’s position. Nāgārjuna’s Great Wisdom Discourse further claims, ‘The Lotus Sūtra is indeed truly representative of an esoteric teaching; other teachings cannot be referred to as being so defined.’ ”

Shimon Butsujō-gi, Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 249

Eyes

The Buddha’s View of Monotheism

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We might wonder if Buddhism itself has anything to say about monotheism or religion based upon revelation and salvation by a transcendent God. Actually, throughout the Pāli canon, the Buddha did teach a lot of things that are relevant to the claims of Western monotheism. To begin with, the three Western monotheistic traditions all base themselves upon some form of revelation wherein God speaks to humanity. The Buddha, however, saw all teachings based on revelation, tradition, hearsay, or any other system of authority not based on direct experience as doubtful. The Buddha’s teachings about this were famously expressed in the following exchange between himself and the Kalama people of the town of Kesaputta:

“There are, Lord, some ascetics and brahmins who come to Kesaputta. They explain and elucidate their own doctrines, but disparage, debunk, revile and vilify the doctrines of others. But then some other ascetics and brahmins come to Kesaputta, and they too explain and elucidate their own doctrines, but disparage, debunk, revile and vilify the doctrines of others. For us, Lord, there is perplexity and doubt as to which of these good ascetics speak truth and which speak falsehood?”

“It is fitting for you to be perplexed, O Kalamas, it is fitting for you to be in doubt. Doubt has arisen in you about a perplexing matter. Come, Kalamas. Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of scriptures, by logical reasoning, by inferential reasoning, by a reflection on reasons, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, by the seeming competence of a speaker, or because you think: The ascetic is our teacher.’ But when you know for yourselves, ‘These things are unwholesome, these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; these things if undertaken and practiced lead to harm and suffering’, then you should abandon them. “

Open Your Eyes, p121-122
d3b, d4b, d17b, d19b, d21b, d25b, d30b, WONS

Lotus Sūtra and Ten Realms

The second, “Expedients,” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra (fascicle 1) states that the purpose of the Buddhas appearing in the worlds was “to cause all living beings to open the gate to the insight of the Buddha.” This means that of the nine of the ten realms of living beings (excepting the realm of Buddhas), each embraces the realm of Buddhas. In the sixteenth chapter, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” the sūtra also declares: “As I said before, it is immeasurably long since I, Śākyamuni Buddha, obtained Buddhahood. My life spans an innumerably and incalculably long period of time. Nevertheless, I am always here and I shall never pass away. Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by practicing the way of bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It will last twice as long as the length of time as stated above.” This passage also shows that the nine realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.

The following passages in the Lotus Sūtra also show that the ten realms of living beings embrace one another. It is said in the twelfth chapter, “Devadatta,” that after an incalculably long period of time, Devadatta will be a Buddha called “Heavenly King.” This shows the realm of Buddhas included in the realms of hells as it says that even a man as wicked as Devadatta, who had tried to kill the Buddha and had gone to hell, will be able to become a Buddha.

In the twenty-sixth chapter on the “Mystic Phrases,” the Buddha praises the ten female rākṣasa demons such as Lambā saying, “Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Lotus Sūtra.” Since even these rākṣasa demons in the realm of hungry spirits protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, the ten realms, from hells up to the realm of Buddhas, are comprised in the realm of hungry spirits.

The “Devadatta” chapter states also that a daughter of a dragon king attained perfect enlightenment, proving the existence of the ten realms in the realm of beasts.

The tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” says that even a semi-god like Asura King Balin (a king of asura demons mentioned in the first “Introduction” chapter) will obtain Buddhahood if he rejoices for a moment at hearing a verse or a phrase of the Lotus Sūtra. This shows that the ten realms are contained in the realm of asura demons.

It is stated in the second “Expedients” chapter: “Those who carve an image of the Buddha with proper physical characteristics in His honor have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,” showing that the realm of man includes the ten realms in it.

Then in the first “Introduction” and the third “A Parable” chapters, various gods such as the great King of the Brahma Heaven declare, “we also shall be able to become Buddhas,” proving that the ten realms are contained in the realm of gods. In the third chapter, the Buddha assures Śāripūtra, the wisest of His śrāvaka disciples, that he will also attain Buddhahood in future life and will be called “Kekō (Flower Light) Buddha.” This confirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of śrāvaka.

The second chapter states that those monks and nuns who sought emancipation through the way of pratyekabuddha (without guidance of teachers by observing the principle of cause and effect) pressed their hands together in respect, wishing to hear the Perfect Way. This affirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of pratyekabuddha.

It is written in the twenty-first chapter, “Divine Powers of the Buddha,” that bodhisattvas as numerous as particles of dust of 1,000 worlds, who had sprung up from underground, beseeched the Buddha for this true, pure, and great dharma, namely the Lotus Sūtra. This verifies the existence of the ten realms in the realm of bodhisattvas.

Finally, in the sixteenth chapter, the Buddha sometimes appears as a Buddha in the realm of Buddhas but at other times appears as some of the others who reside in the other nine realms. This indicates that the ten realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 132-133

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 24, 2020

To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is where the Buddha reveals for the first time his ever-present nature. He became enlightened in the remotest past, and will continue teaching all beings far into the future. There is a view that to see a Buddha in our time requires a supernatural way of seeing, even a personal vision or a revelation not available to ordinary people. What the Buddha teaches here is that he is always visible to anyone, anywhere. It is when we look for him to teach us and are compassionate and disciplined in our desires that he appears to us.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month met a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Light and heard the Lotus Sūtra, we learn what happened after the extinction of Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha.

“At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Virtue-Store. Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha assured him of his future Buddhahood. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Pure-Body, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha.’

“Having assured him of his future Buddhahood, the Buddha then entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder at midnight. After his extinction, Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and expounded it to men for eighty small kalpas. The eight sons of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha became his disciples. He taught them and caused them to resolve to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and then attained the enlightenment of the Buddha [one after another]. The son who became a Buddha last was called Burning-Light. One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame­Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sūtras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sūtras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.

“Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you. This good omen we see now is not different from what I saw at that time. Therefore, l think that the Tathagata of today also will expound the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

See The Immeasurable Value of the Buddha’s Mental Powers

LS32, d2b, b4today

The Immeasurable Value of the Buddha’s Mental Powers

What is most impressive in this chapter is the immeasurable value of the Buddha’s mental powers. Vividly expressed in the story of the last Buddha Sun Moon Light is the fact that Sakyamuni Buddha, who knew that the time of his entering nirvana was approaching, was determined to leave the most important experience of his enlightenment to posterity. However, we know that at that time his body had grown very weak from illness and old age. In spite of this fact, he began to preach the vast and profound Law of the Lotus Sutra, the strongest, most positive, and most affirmative teaching of his life. We must bow down before the greatness of his mental power and the depth of his enlightenment. And we must not forget that his mental power came from his great compassion for the yet unborn people of later times.

Buddhism for Today, p40
WONS, Eyes

Nichiren’s View of Abrahamic Religions

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Nichiren may indeed have included the three major forms of Western monotheism if he had known about them, as he seems to have wanted to account for all the major religions in the world. I also believe that he would have evaluated them using the same method of comparison in terms of the scope of time scales. To review: just as the Buddha criticized the sixty-two (or ninety-five) views of his contemporaries who drew dogmatic conclusions about the nature of life based on limited experiences either in this life or even from past-life recall, Nichiren evaluated Confucianism, Taoism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, and other philosophies and religions based on how limited or vast a scope of time their teachings accounted for. Confucianism fares the worst for not even attempting to account for life before birth or after death but limiting itself to teaching morality only in terms of the present lifetime.

Brahmanism fares better for it does teach that there is a cycle of rebirth that unfolds according to the law of karma, and thus accounts for a much greater scope of time. In fact, Brahman cosmology teaches that there are whole cycles wherein world systems are created, maintained, and then destroyed over the course of eons and within those cycles beings are reborn continually until they can attain one of the heavenly realms. The Upanishads taught that those who realized the Ātman or True Self would be forever liberated from these cycles, but the Buddhist sūtras do not mention the Upanishads nor does Nichiren.

From the Buddhist point of view, however, in the course of time even those reborn in the heavens will exhaust their merit and they will have to be reborn elsewhere depending on what causes are able to come into fruition. From the Buddhist perspective even the vast amounts of time spent in a hell-realm or a heavenly-realm is still a finite period of time because all caused and conditioned states will eventually come to an end. Such is the universal law of the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena.

Coming back to Western monotheism, … The important thing is that the mainstream view posits only one lifetime to be followed by an eternal afterlife of some sort. Going by Nichiren’s criteria, I think he would perhaps have placed Western monotheism ahead of the agnostic Chinese schools of thought because it at least provides for some kind of afterlife wherein the causes one makes in this life will come to fruition for good or for ill. On the other hand, I think he would not have put Western monotheism on the level of Brahmanism, as the latter accounts for many lifetimes and its understanding of the unfolding of cause and effect over many lifetimes is more developed. From a Brahmanist point of view, one might live in heaven or hell for thousands or millions of years, but it is not actually an eternity though mistaken as such by those who don’t see larger time scale. I stress, again, that this is my guess based on how Nichiren evaluated the other non-Buddhist traditions.

Open Your Eyes, p118-119
WONS

Nichiren’s Vow

As you know, I, Nichiren, have been eagerly studying since childhood and began praying when I was twelve years old to Bodhisattva Space Repository to help me to become the wisest in Japan. The reason for my prayers was complicated, too complicated to explain here in detail. Later I first began to study the doctrines of the Pure Land and Zen Sects. Then I studied the doctrines of the Tendai and Shingon Sects on Mt. Hiei, at the Onjōji Temple, and on Mt. Kōya. I further studied the doctrines of the various sects at temples in Kyoto and the provinces, but these studies did not serve to clear up the doubts I had in mind about Buddhism.

In my initial prayer I made a vow that: I would not favor any particular sect; I would adopt whichever sect that provided the evidence of being the teaching of the Buddha and was reasonable; I would be guided solely by the sūtras, not by the commentators in India, translators and minister-masters in China; I would not be afraid, regarding the doctrines of Buddhism, of even being punished by a king, not to mention persecutions by the people below him; I would not follow instructions against the Buddha’s teachings even if they were given by my parents, teacher and elder brother; and that I would speak up honestly as expounded in the sūtras regardless of whether or not people believed in me.

Ha Ryōkan-tō Gosho, A Letter Refuting Ryōkan-bō and Others, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 60

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 23, 2020

Star-King-Flower! This sūtra saves all living beings. This sūtra saves them from all sufferings, and gives them great benefits. All living beings will be able to fulfill their wishes by this sūtra just as a man who reaches a pond of fresh water when he is thirsty, just as a man who gets fire when he suffers from cold.

The Buddha gives this description of the merits of the Lotus Sūtra to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The comparison of our bodily desires to our desire for enlightenment shows the kind of joy we can expect when we realize what this teaching can accomplish. Anyone whose thirst is quenched is sure to become thirsty again, now matter how pleasant it is to drink. The Buddha Dharma fulfills a thirst of which we may not even be aware. We are certain that things in this world of conflict will bring us joy. When we realize they can only bring us pleasure, and know the difference between joy and pleasure, we become aware of our true wishes and what this sūtra does for 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 the final practices of those Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory.

The supernatural powers of the Buddha
And his wisdom are rare.
He is illumining innumerable worlds
By emitting a pure ray of light.
We were astonished
At seeing [those worlds].

Mañjuśrī, Son of the Buddha!
Remove our doubts!
The four kinds of devotees
Are looking up with joy at you and me,
Wishing to know why this ray of light is emitted
By the World-Honored One.

Son of the Buddha, answer me!
Remove our doubts and cause us to rejoice!
For what purpose is the Buddha
Emitting this ray of light?

Does he wish to expound the Wonderful Dharma
Which he attained when he was sitting
At the place of enlightenment?
Does he wish to assure us of our future Buddhahood?

He shows us the worlds of the Buddhas
Adorned with many treasures.
We can see the Buddhas of those worlds.
This cannot be for some insignificant reason.

Mañjuśrī, know this!
The four kinds of devotees and the dragons
Are looking at you, thinking:
“What is he going to say?”

See A Person of Perfect Generosity