Monthly Archives: July 2020

WONS, Eyes

Nichiren’s Compassion

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People were, and continue to be, put off by Nichiren’s prophetic warnings about the dire fate Japan faced of invasion by the Mongols if the Japanese people did not turn away from the provisional teachings and uphold the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren was well aware that people thought he was just issuing hateful threats. His motivation was the compassionate one of correcting error so that people would not have to suffer such an invasion. To Shijō Kingo he wrote:

“When I say this, the ruler of the country might think that I am issuing threats, but I do not say this out of hatred. I say this out of compassion; I hope to save them from the torment of the Hell of Incessant Suffering in future lives by enduring light retribution in this life. Great Master Zhang’an states in his Annotations on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, ‘To remove the evil of another is to be like a compassionate parent. ‘ According to this I am the mother and father of the ruler of the country and the teacher for all the living beings. ” (Hori 2010, pp. 128129 adapted)

Nichiren felt that it was compassionate and kind to speak seemingly harsh words if it would get people to reconsider their positions, avoid slander, and embrace a more authentic path, whereas it was actually cruel to say only what is agreeable to the listener. In this Nichiren is in agreement with the Buddha who had advised that one should only speak in a timely manner what is true and beneficial, regardless of whether it is agreeable or not. What is agreeable should not be spoken if it is untrue or not of any benefit. In a letter attributed to Nichiren, the writer says:

“Even though one may resort to harsh words, if such words help the person to whom they are addressed, then they are worthy to be regarded as truthful words and gentle words. Similarly, though one may use gentle words, if they harm the person to whom they are addressed, they are in fact deceptive words, harsh words. (Gosho Translation Committee 1999, p. 178)

People may question whether Nichiren was really compassionate or just dogmatic and self-righteous. That is something that no one can possibly judge. Obviously, those of us who are his modern-day followers give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word that his motivation was compassion, and that his denunciation of other monks was rooted in his earnest desire to correct error and proclaim the True Dharma. The important thing for us is to keep in mind that when we discuss Buddhism with others, we must always make sure that we are speaking out of compassion and not some lesser and more egotistic motivation.

Open Your Eyes, p574-575
d24b, WONS

Service to Your Employer Is Practicing the Lotus Sūtra

Putting aside other matters, I will beseech the Buddha to protect each of you from now on. Continue to serve your lord as you have done till now. It is equivalent to practicing the Lotus Sūtra twenty-four hours a day. How precious this is.

Please remember that the service to your lord itself is practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Interpreting the scriptural statement in the Lotus Sūtra (“The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma” chapter), Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, therefore, states in his Great Concentration and Insight, “All the activities and daily work of the people in the secular world do not contradict the truth preached by the Buddha.” Please contemplate the spirit of this scriptural statement again and again.

Dannotsu Bō Gohenji, Response to a Follower, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 131

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 8, 2020

No matter what happens, abandoning the Lotus Sutra will cause us to be plunged into hell. I have made a vow. Even if someone says they will make me the ruler of Japan on the condition that I give up the Lotus Sutra and rely on the Sutra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life for my salvation in the next life, or even if someone threatens me saying he will execute my parents if I do not say “Namu Amida-butsu,” and no matter how many great difficulties fall upon me, I will not submit to them until a man of wisdom defeats me by reason. Other difficulties are like dust in the wind. I will never break my vow to become the pillar of Japan, to become the eyes of Japan, and become a great vessel for Japan.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Opening the Eyes (Kaimoku-shō). For Nichiren living in the 13th Century, the country of Japan was his world. For us in the 21st Century, the entire Earth is our world. From Nichiren’s determination to save Japan we have an example of what we need to do to save our Earth. From his experience through terrible ordeals and persecutions we realize that despite the comforts of our modern lives, we too have the capacity to uphold our faith in the Lotus Sūtra in any situation. We show our gratitude to the Buddha for his teaching and to Nichiren for his guidance in the respect we give to other beings and the efforts in our practice.

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

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Day 9 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month begun the gāthās, we consider the Simile of the Herbs.

Kāśyapa, know this!
Suppose a large cloud rose in the sky,
And covered everything on the earth.
The cloud was so merciful
That it was about to send a rainfall.
Lightning flashed,
And thunder crashed in the distance,
Causing people to rejoice.

The cloud covered the sun,
And cooled the earth.
It hung down
As low as if we could reach it.

Now the rain came down
To all the quarters of the earth.
The rainwater was immeasurable.
It soaked all the earth.
There were many plants
In the retired and quiet places
Of the mountains, rivers and ravines.

They were herbs, cereal-plants, young rice-plants,
Vegetables, sugar canes, and other grasses;
Fruit-trees including vines,
And other trees, tall and short.
They were sufficiently watered by the rain.
So were all the dry lands.

The herbs and trees grew thick by the rain.
All the grasses and trees in thickets and forests
Were watered variously according to their species
By the rain water of the same taste
Coming down from the [same] cloud.

All the trees grew differently
According to their species.
They became superior or middle or inferior
Or tall or short trees.

The roots, trunks, branches, leaves,
Flowers and fruits of the various trees
Were given a fine and glossy luster
By the same rain.

Although watered by the same rain,
Some of them were tall, while others not,
Because they were different
In their entities, appearances and natures.

See When Inequality Threatens the Ecosystem

stories, LS32, d9b

When Inequality Threatens the Ecosystem

According to the simile of the great cloud and rain, every living being is, in one sense, equally valuable. Each has its own function within the larger whole. Each has its own integrity, its own value for itself, its own goodness, its own purposes, its own beauty. The rain nourishes according to the needs of the various plants. A big tree requires more water than a small shoot of grass. But this does not necessarily mean that the big tree is superior to the small blade of grass; it’s just bigger. Different living beings play different roles in the ecology of the planet. Each of us depends on a vast network of living beings, which are dependent on each other. Thus, a certain harmony or peace is required – not necessarily a perfect harmony, but enough of a harmony to enable the system to function and survive through growth and modification.

Today, many believe that the minimal harmony necessary for human survival on earth is being destroyed by earth’s dominant group of living beings – human beings. Whole habitats – rainforests, wetlands, uncultivated plains, natural rivers and streams – have been destroyed and are still being destroyed, probably at an increasing rate. Increased economic activity virtually everywhere also means increasing pollution of the air and water and the very soil upon which we depend for much of our food. In addition to such environmental destruction, humankind has developed weapons of enormous destructive power that could hardly have been imagined a century ago.

In this sense, human beings have made themselves more important, that is, more powerful, than other living beings in this ecosystem. They threaten to destroy even the minimal harmony that makes life on earth possible.

This is a situation well beyond what the Indian compilers of the Lotus Sutra could have imagined. It would be foolish to claim that the Sutra provides a recipe for solving the kind of problems that threaten the planet today. But, in principle, the Sutra is hardly silent about such matters. It calls upon us to recognize that – in important respects – all living beings are equal. All are nourished by the same processes, symbolized in the simile as the rain of the Dharma.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p 81-82
WONS, Eyes

Nichiren’s Nonviolence

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One issue that I would like to address first is whether Nichiren was encouraging his followers to become belligerent and fight with those who refused to believe in the Lotus Sūtra in the same way they did. The answer is that he clearly did not. In fact, he even told them not to take up arms even if provoked. In response to the persecution of Nichiren’s lay followers in the village of Atsuwara, he sent a letter called Persecution Befalling the Sage (Shōnin Gonan Ji) to his follower Shijō Kingo. In that letter he wrote: “Even if they cause a commotion by taking up arms against my followers, we should not act likewise. If any follower of mine tries to take up arms, please send me his name at once.” (Hori 2008, p. 120) Nichiren was clearly opposed to violence on the part of his followers even in the face of provocation.

Open Your Eyes, p573
WONS

The Divine Mirror of the Lotus Sūtra

Of the spotless mirrors of the holy teachings preached in His lifetime, the Lotus Sūtra is the special divine mirror. A copper mirror can show the figure of a man but not his mind. The divine mirror of the Lotus Sūtra shows not only a man’s figure but also his mind. Not only the current mind of a man but also his karma in the previous life and his reward and retribution in the future can clearly be spotlighted.

Shinkoku-ō Gosho, Sovereigns of Our Divine Land, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 177

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 7, 2020

The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva: “Good man! In a certain world, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha. He takes the shape of a Śrāvaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Śrāvaka.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. Like all Bodhisattvas, World-Voice-Perceiver can adapt his appearance to whatever we need to remove our delusions. In one way, this is a guide for us, reminding us that as Bodhisattvas ourselves, we can learn to adapt our approaches to others so that we can benefit them. In another way, it helps us to realize that more beings than we realize are helping us with our practice.

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

LS32

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.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, we return to the top and the expedient the rich man used to entice his son to work for him.

Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, ‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay. If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’
“The two messengers looked for the poor son. Having found him, they told him what they had been ordered to tell. The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them. Seeing him, the father had compassion towards him, and wondered [why he was so base and mean]. Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust. The father took off his necklace, his garment of thin and soft cloth, and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing, smeared himself with dust, and carried a dirt-utensil in his right hand. He looked fearful. He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

“With this expedient the father came to his son. He said to him, ‘Man! Stay here and work! Do not go anywhere else! I will pay you more. Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar as much as you need! You can have an old servant if you want to. Make yourself at home! I feel like your father. Do not worry any more! I am old, and you are young. When you work, you do not deceive [the other workers]. You are not lazy. You do not get angry [with the other workers], or reproach them. You are not like the other workers who do these evil things. From now on I will treat you as my son.’

See Hopeless Cases

stories, LS32, d7b, d8b

Hopeless Cases

For followers of the Dharma Flower Sutra, there is no such thing as a “hopeless case.” Everyone, without exception, has within himself or herself an inner strength, a great power, to flourish in some way.

And yet, in this story, upon seeing the great power and wealth of the father, the son runs away in fear. Sometimes, when we see how great is the Buddha’s treasury – how great the responsibility of compassionate knowing – we too may run away in fear. It is not easy to be a follower of the Dharma Flower Sutra or of the bodhisattva way. It involves taking responsibility, both for one’s own life and for the lives of others. And that can be frightening. That is why it is not enough for a religion to teach doctrine; it must provide assurance, over and over again – assurance that life can be meaningful, even wonderful, assurance that can overcome our natural tendency to run away in fear.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p72