The perfection of patience is of course about being patient when suffering setbacks in life, physical or emotional harm, or even malice from other beings. They overcome anger and ill-will through their compassion and the insight that in the interplay of causes and conditions there is nothing ultimately personal about any of the injuries suffered. Again, this perfection is perfected as the bodhisattva overcomes attachment and aversion and the idea that there are ultimately real beings and objects to grasp or reject. The bodhisattva must also be patient with the Dharma itself. The teaching that all things are empty of any self-nature or essence can be quite disconcerting, and its subtleties are hard to understand. The bodhisattva must patiently continue to contemplate the perfection of wisdom until they see that in fact no unchanging independent essence can be found amidst causes and conditions and that the unobstructed true nature of reality is the groundless ground (so to speak) of the liberated selfless compassion of buddhahood.
Open Your Eyes, p198-199Monthly Archives: May 2020
Opening The Gate to the Insight of the Buddha
Please read the sūtra carefully, so that you may understand that the doctrine of “mutual possession of ten realms” is clearly preached in it. For instance, we read in the second chapter that the purpose of the Buddha appearing in the world was “to cause all living beings to open their gates to the insight of the Buddha.”
Interpreting this passage in the Lotus Sūtra, T’ien-t’ai said: “If the insight of the Buddha does not exist in all living beings, how can He open the gate to it? You should know from this that the insight of the Buddha is inherent in the minds of all living beings.” And Chang-an declared: “If the insight of the Buddha is non-existent in living beings, how can anyone cause them to open the gate to or be aware of it? For instance, how can a poor woman without a treasure house show off
treasure?”
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 142
Daily Dharma – May 19, 2020
Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva-mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood, saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’ Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able to hear his answer.
This passage from Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra is the answer one of the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha gives to his attendant. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas have come up through the ground of this world of conflict after the Buddha asked who would continue his teaching after his extinction. Neither the attendant, nor anyone gathered to hear the Buddha teach had seen those Bodhisattvas before and wanted to know where they came from. Our practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not mean merely accepting what we do not understand. We need to raise questions when they occur. These questions show that we are capable of greater understanding. They lead us even closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 27
Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered how this sūtra saves all living beings, we consider the benefits of hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
“Star-King-Flower! Anyone who hears [especially] this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva also will be able to obtain innumerable merits. The woman who hears and keeps this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva will not be a woman in her next life. The woman who hears this sūtra and acts according to the teachings of it in the later’ five hundred years after my extinction, will be able to be reborn, after her life in this world, [as a man sitting] on the jeweled seat in the lotus flower blooming in the World of Happiness where Amitayus Buddha lives surrounded by great Bodhisattvas. He [no more she] will not be troubled by greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, jealousy, or any other impurity. He will be able to obtain the supernatural powers of a Bodhisattva and the truth of birthlessness. When he obtains this truth, his eyes will be purified. With his purified eyes, he will be able to see seven billion and two hundred thousand million nayuta Buddhas or Tathāgatas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. At that time those Buddhas will praise him, saying simultaneously from afar, ‘Excellent, excellent, good man! You kept, read and recited this sūtra, thought it over, and expounded it to others under Śākyamuni Buddha. Now you have obtained innumerable merits and virtues, which cannot be burned by fire or washed away by water. Your merits cannot be described even by the combined efforts of one thousand Buddhas. Now you have defeated the army of Mara, beaten the forces of birth and death, and annihilated all your enemies. Good man! Hundreds of thousands of Buddhas are now protecting you by their supernatural powers. None of the gods or men in the world surpasses you. None but the Tathāgatas, none of the Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas or Bodhisattvas surpasses you in wisdom and dhyāna-concentration.’ Star-King-Flower! [He is a Bodhisattva.] This Bodhisattva will obtain these merits and the power of wisdom.
“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises [this chapter], saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.
Nichiren writes about this prediction in his People in the World Letter:
QUESTION: In the 23rd chapter on the “Previous Life of Medicine King Bodhisattva” in the epilogue section of the Lotus Sūtra, women are encouraged to practice the sūtra wholeheartedly so that they may be reborn in the Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life upon death. How about this?
ANSWER: The Buddha of Infinite Life in the “Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter is not the same as the Buddha of Infinite Life in the pre-Lotus sūtras and in the first half of the Lotus Sūtra. They merely have the same name. The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning (Muryōgi-kyō) says, “Even though they have the same name, their meanings are different.” Miao-lê says in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Even though you find the name of the Buddha of Infinite Life in the hommon section of the Lotus Sūtra, it does not at all mean the Buddha of Infinite Life mentioned in the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life.” These should dispel all your doubts. After all, Bodhisattvas who are advanced in practice may easily come to this Sahā World from Pure Lands in the universe and can also easily go back there.
Gochū Shujō Gosho, People in the World Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 203
Perfection of Morality
The perfection of morality is stated in terms of what came to be known as the three categories of pure precepts to be followed by bodhisattvas (to give up what is evil, to do what is good, and to benefit all beings) and the ten courses of wholesome conduct that carried over into Buddhism from Brahmanism (though in this case abstention from intoxicants replaces abstention from abusive speech). Again, all of this is done without any attachment or aversion.
Open Your Eyes, p198Comparing the Superiority and Profundity of the Lotus Sūtra
[In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto.]
I stopped reciting the Amitābha Sūtra for the following reasons. In the summer of the eleventh year of the Bun’ei Era (1274), Nichiren Shōnin, who has recently become widely known in Japan, came to live in seclusion at the foot of an isolated mountain called Mt. Minobu located in the districts of Iino, Mimaki, and Hakii in the same province of Kai, to which Shimoyama also belongs. Even those of considerably high social standing are not allowed to listen to him preach except if they have special connections.
Having heard of a certain person seeing Nichiren, I sneaked into the backyard of his hermitage and hid myself. I did not intend to become a follower but wanted just to have a glance at how things were. I could roughly hear what he preached as he answered questions.
Nichiren Shōnin compared the superiority and profundity of the Lotus Sūtra with such sūtras as the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, the Entering Laikā Sūtra, and the Amitābha Sūtra. I could understand that the Lotus Sūtra is far superior to the Amitābha Sūtra, not just two or three times, but as much as the difference between heaven and earth. For instance, the differences among them are likened to the differences between Indra, the master, and a monkey, his retainers, a gorgeous Chinese phoenix and a small black magpie; a huge mountain and a particle of dust; or the sun and the moon and a firefly. Comparing the passages of the Lotus Sūtra with those of the other sūtras, Nichiren Shōnin enlightened ignorant people like me to understand the differences among those sūtras quite clearly. Therefore, that the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra can be perceived by many people is not surprising at all.
Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 66
Daily Dharma – May 18, 2020
Suppose one sets up a needle on top of Mt. Sumeru and throws a piece of string on a windy day from another Mt. Sumeru standing too far to see. It is impossible to thread the needle set up on the first Mt. Sumeru. It is, however, even more difficult to experience the great title of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore you should realize that being able to chant the great title of this sutra is more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). Those with great talents, or who have worked hard and made great accomplishments, tend to think that what they have done is normal. They can lose any appreciation for what they have and focus only on what they lack. This passage reminds us of the treasure we enjoy in the five syllables of Myo Ho Ren Ge and Kyo. Just hearing this Great Title is the result of great efforts we have made in the past, whether we appreciate and remember those efforts or not.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 26
Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered why Medicine-King Bodhisattva walks about this Sahā-World, we consider the reaction of Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva when the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra.“Thereupon [Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue] Buddha expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, to the other Bodhisattvas, and also to the Śrāvakas. Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva willingly practiced austerities under Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha. He walked about the world, seeking Buddhahood strenuously with all his heart for twelve thousand years until at last he obtained the samadhi by which he could transform himself into any other living being: Having obtained this samadhi, he had great joy.
“He thought, ‘I have obtained the samadhi by which I can transform myself into any other living being because I heard the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Now I will make offerings to Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha and also to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.’
“He entered into this samadhi at once. He filled the sky with the clouds of mandārava-flowers, mahā-mandārava-flowers and the powdered incense of hard and black candana, and rained down those flowers and incense. He also rained down the powdered incense of the candana grown on this shore of the sea [between Mt. Sumeru and the Jambudvipa]. Six shu of this incense was worth the Sahā-World. He offered all these things to the Buddha.
The Contemplation of Revelation of All Forms
Buddhism for Today, p353The contemplation of revelation of all forms is the contemplation by which a bodhisattva freely appears in a suitable body or form and gives suitable instruction to lead people to the teaching. If they are people who can be led gently, the bodhisattva assumes a gentle expression and uses soft words. If they are people who need to be instructed strictly, he adopts a threatening expression like Fudō Myō-ō and utters harsh words. The bodhisattva can make such changes with perfect freedom and without fail. A person who has not yet attained the mental state of this contemplation is prone to misjudge others’ capacity to understand the teaching and therefore to fail in leading them to it. This is a very important warning to us believers in the Lotus Sutra who practice it in the age of degeneration.
Perfection of Generosity
The perfection of generosity … consists in the teaching of the
Dharma, the giving of material goods (including even one’s own body and life), and even the giving of fearlessness. All of this, however, is done without any thought of clinging, or self-congratulation, or expectation of return. It is done with the insight that there is ultimately no giver, no gift, and no receiver.