Monthly Archives: June 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 23, 2020

The Buddha will remove
Any doubt of those who seek
The teaching of the Three Vehicles.
No question will be left unresolved.

Mañjuśrī declares these verses at the end of Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. They remind us how important questions are to what the Buddha teaches. Questions come up throughout the book, and they lead to many important aspects of this Wonderful Dharma. It is important for us to ask questions respectfully whenever we hear a teaching, knowing that we will find an answer.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month greeted the arrival of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we learn about the root of good Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva planted.

[Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha] also wishes to know whether Many-Treasures Tathāgata is peaceful and healthy, and able to stay long or not World-Honored One! Now I wish to see Many-Treasures Buddha World-Honored One! Show him to me!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Many-Treasure Buddha, “This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha said to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

Excellent, excellent! You have come here to make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and see Mañjuśrī and others.”

Thereupon Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva said to Śākyamuni Buddha:

“World-Honored One! What root of good did this Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva plant and what kind of meritorious deeds did he do in order to obtain this supernatural power?”

Śākyamuni Buddha said to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva:

“There was once a Buddha called Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world was called Appearance-Of-All-Worlds; and the kalpa in which he lived, Gladly-Seen. [There lived] a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice [under that Buddha. The Bodhisattva] offered hundreds of thousands of kinds of music and eighty-four thousand patras of the seven treasures to Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King Buddha for twelve thousand years. Because of this, he was able to appear in the world of Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha, and obtain supernatural power such as this.

“Flower-Virtue! What do you think of this? Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva who had offered the music and the jeweled bowls to Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King Buddha [at that time] was no one but this Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva [whom you see here now].

“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva already made offerings to innumerable Buddhas, attended on them, and planted the roots of virtue a long time ago. He also already saw hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

See The Missing Voice

stories, LS32, d28b

The Missing Voice

That the title figure of this chapter’s story is named “Wonderful Voice,” or perhaps “Wonderful Sound,” is another curiosity of the Lotus Sutra: absolutely nothing is said about his voice or sounds. “Wonderful Body” would be more appropriate, as his wonderful body is described in some detail: some forty-two thousand leagues tall, radiant and brilliant, powerful, pure gold in color, with eyes the size of lotus leaves, and a face as beautiful as millions of moons together. But there is not a word about his voice!

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p257
WONS, Eyes

Subtle and Complex Interplay of Karma

Quote

Based upon the teachings of the sūtras and the classic treatises explaining Buddhist cosmology and the working of karma, Nichiren believed that the fruition of karma was not just an individual matter but also something that unfolded in terms of whole societies, even nations. This is what we would today call “collective karma.” He also believed that the effects of karma could occur in conspicuous or obvious ways, such as when there are wars or tragic accidents; however, it could occur in more subtle and inconspicuous ways, such as the slow and quiet progress of an illness. Nichiren also taught that the effects of karma can unfold in the present life, in the next life, or even be deferred to some other future lifetime. The intertwining of wholesome and unwholesome karmic seeds, the intermingling of individual and collective karma, and the uncertainty of when causes and conditions will bring about the karmic effects of past deeds all combine to make the unfolding of the karmic law of cause and effect quite subtle and complex.

Open Your Eyes, p519
d21b, WONS

The Eternal Pure Land

[W]hen the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, this world of endurance (Sahā World) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction, and emptiness. Śākyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this Pure Land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past, present, and future. All those who receive His guidance are one with this Eternal Buddha. It is because each of our minds is equipped with the “3,000 modes of existence” and the “three factors,” namely, all living beings, the land in which they live, and the five elements of living beings (matter, perception, conception, volition and consciousness).

This truth was not made clear in the first fourteen chapters of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. Perhaps it was because the time was not ripe at this stage of preaching the Lotus Sūtra; and capacity of comprehension on the part of the listeners was not yet sufficient.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 148

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 22, 2020

[This] pure world of mine is indestructible.
But the [perverted] people think:
“It is full of sorrow, fear, and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. When we are not aware of our own potential for enlightenment, and of the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni who is helping us and all beings to reach this potential, we can easily sink into despair. So long as we are preoccupied with suffering, when we live as if our purpose were to feel good as much as possible and feel bad as little as possible, we long for escape from this world of conflict. As we continue to grow the Buddha’s own mind within us, we see how this world is being transformed. When we know where we are going, all obstacles become stepping stones.

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

LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the benefits of hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 23.

“Therefore, Star-King-Flower! I will transmit this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva to you. Propagate this chapter throughout the Jambudvipa in the later five hundred years after my extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Mara the Evil One, the followers of Mara, gods, dragons, yakṣas, and kumbha]das should take advantage [of the weak points of the people of the Jambudvipa].

“Star-King-Flower! Protect this sūtra by your supernatural powers! Why is that? It is because this sūtra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people of the Jambudvipa. The patient who hears this sūtra will be cured of his disease at once. He will not grow old or die.

“Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keep this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Mara. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’

“In this way, those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha should respect the keeper of this sūtra whenever they see him.”

When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas obtained the dharanis by which they could understand the words of all living beings. Many-Treasures Tathāgata in the stupa of treasures praised Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Star-King-Flower! You obtained inconceivable merits. You asked this question to Śākyamuni Buddha, and benefited innumerable living beings.”

See The Life of a Dharma Flower

stories, LS32, d26b

The Life of a Dharma Flower

Why does Medicine King Bodhisattva travel around in this world of suffering? This is the question with which the chapter begins. He does so because he wants to help all those in need, and over many lifetimes has prepared himself to do so. We too, the story of Seen with Joy by All the Living suggests, can bring comfort and satisfaction to those in need by embodying the Dharma Flower Sutra in our own lives, that is, by being Dharma flowers.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p255
WONS, Eyes

Revealing Hidden Seeds of Past Evil Karma

Quote

Nichiren speaks of the power of practice to reveal the hidden seeds of past evil karma in terms of two analogies — the forging of iron and the collection of hemp oil. “It is like forging iron, for instance. Unless you hit it and forge it hard, hidden scars will not be seen. They appear only when the iron is hit hard many times on an anvil. Or it is analogous to squeezing hemp seeds. Unless squeezed hard, there is little oil.” (Murano 2000, p. 107) Nichiren states that he would not have faced any resistance if he had remained content to teach the provisional sūtras that others were already teaching. “Ever since l, Nichiren, strongly condemned those who slander the True Dharma in Japan, I have been persecuted. It must be that grave sins in my past lives are revealed through my merits in defending the Dharma in this life.” (Murano 2000, p. 107) From this perspective, to encounter resistance and even persecutions is proof that one’s practice is valid, that it is making a real difference in one’s life and the lives of others. I think it is true that if we challenge ourselves in our Buddhist practice, we will find ourselves coming up against latent forces of ego and the power of unwholesome habit patterns. We may even find ourselves having to stand up to and confront the people around us who are invested in an unwholesome or unjust status quo. Substance abusers, for instance, who try to break their addictions and change their way of living will meet resistance from “friends” and sometimes even family or co-workers when they try to change their habits and accustomed ways of doing things, and needless to say they will also have to confront their own inner demons. On the other hand, sometimes the resistance we meet in others is not because we are cultivating a more liberated, wholesome, and compassionate way of living but because we are acting out in ways that are needlessly provocative, arrogant, belligerent, and/or paranoid and mistaking that for taking a revolutionary or prophetic stance for everyone’s good. We must be very wary of the view that resistance automatically proves we are right or that we are expiating karma. Sometimes it can be proof that we are on the wrong track, that we are hardening our ego instead of realizing selfless compassion, and actually sowing the seeds of conflict rather than harmony due to our belligerent self-righteousness.

Open Your Eyes, p518
WONS

Mixing Other Teachings with the Odaimoku

Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.

We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.

It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 129