If Ichinen Sanzen is the theory of the interpenetration of the universal (the Three Thousand Worlds) and the particular (in a single moment of thought), then the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha is the concrete actualization of this theory. The Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha is not at all a transcendent, theistic savior, but the living proof that the Wonderful Dharma is the true nature of our lives and not just a cold abstraction or an unattainable ideal. With this in mind, Nichiren Shonin insisted that the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha alone should be the true Focus of Devotion.
Lotus SeedsMonthly Archives: July 2020
Despising the Messenger of the Buddha
Observing the present state of Japan reflected upon the clear mirror of the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvana Sūtra, it is plain to see who is revered by rulers of Japan as an arhat with six superhuman powers, and who made false charges against the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in an attempt to behead him. Who is the person revered like a great bodhisattva by a number of people? What wise man, who devotes himself to propagating the True Dharma, has often been banished from his dwelling, has been wounded in the head, has suffered from his disciples being killed, has been exiled twice, and was nearly beheaded in the end? Those who are blind or deaf can be pardoned, but those who have eyes and ears had better read and listen to the sūtras. Everybody today claims: “I have read the sūtras or believe in them,” but such people just hate Nichiren without trying to understand what is preached in the sūtras. If such people truly believed in them, they would think about who the three kinds of resentful enemies are. Instead, they hate Nichiren, who reads and recites the sūtras and puts into practice what the sūtras preach. Doesn’t this mean they hate sūtras and despise the messenger of the Buddha?
Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 77,/strong>
Daily Dharma – July 24, 2020
The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sutra He is like the light of a firefly in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sutra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sutra?
Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). When we encounter someone we consider great because of their fame, their wisdom, or anything else that leads them to be dear to us, our natural inclination is to show our gratitude to them by offering them gifts or services. When we learn about the Buddha, his life and what he taught us, even from a distance of 2500 years, we cannot help but be grateful for everything he has done to benefit us and all beings. But, as Nichiren instructs, when we realize the treasure of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, and how it is the embodiment of the Ever-Present Buddha who continues to teach all beings through all worlds and all time, our gratitude to it is even greater. We make offerings to the Sūtra through our practice, our determination not to allow suffering to dictate what we do, but to cultivate the wisdom and compassion within us, and repay the Ever-Present Buddha with the enlightenment of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 25
Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.
Having last month considered what happened on Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s deathbed, we learn that Never-Despising Bodhisattva was Śākyamuni in a previous life.
“Great-Power-Obtainer! What do you think of this? The Never-Despising Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself. If I had not kept, read or recited this sūtra or expounded it to others in my previous existence, I should not have been able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi so quickly. Because I kept, read and recited this sūtra, and expounded it to others under those past Buddhas, I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi quickly.
“Great-Power-Obtainer! The four kinds of devotees: the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās at that time failed to meet the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and see the Saṃgha for twenty thousand million kalpas because they abused me with anger. They suffered much in the Avici Hell for one thousand kalpas. Having expiated their sin in this way, they met [me, who was] Never-Despising Bodhisattva again, and were led into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.
“Great-Power-Obtainer! What do you think of this? The four kinds of devotees who always abused [me, who was] that Bodhisattva at that time are now present here in this congregation in the persons of the five hundred Bodhisattvas including Bhadrapala, the five hundred bhikṣunīs including Lion-Moon, and the five hundred upāsakās including Thinking-Of-Buddha. Now they do not falter in seeking Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.
“Great-Power-Obtainer, know this! This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma benefits Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and causes them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, they should keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra after my extinction.”
Bodhisattva Practice Begins with Respecting Others
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p216-216Teachers of the Lotus Sutra often say that it teaches the bodhisattva way of helping others. Unfortunately, this is sometimes understood to mean intruding where one is not wanted, interfering with the lives of others, in order to “do good.” But the story of Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva may lead us to see that doing good for others begins with respecting them, seeing the buddha in them. If we sincerely look for the potential in someone else to be a buddha, rather than criticizing or complaining about negative factors, we will be encouraged by the positive things that we surely will find. And furthermore, by looking for the good in others, we can come to have a more positive attitude ourselves and thus move along our own bodhisattva path.
In earlier chapters of the Lotus Sutra, it is the Buddha who is able to see the potential to become a buddha in others. But here it becomes very clear that seeing the buddha or the buddha-potential in others is something we all should practice, both for the good of others and for our own good.
Expressing Buddhahood Through Ritual Practices
Kūkai’s understanding was that all beings are originally enlightened or awakened, and that they only have to realize their intrinsic unity with Mahāvairocana Buddha. This realization can come about through the practice of the three mysteries. He explains it as follows in his essay The Meaning of Becoming a Buddha in This Very Body.
On the basis of this meaning it says, “When empowered by the three mysteries, [Buddhahood] is quickly manifested.” “Empower” (lit., “add and hold”) expresses the great compassion of the Tathāgata and the faithful minds of sentient beings: the reflection of the Buddha sun appearing on the mind-water of sentient beings is called “adding” and the mind-water of the practitioner sensing the Buddha-sun is called “holding.” If the practitioner contemplates well on this guiding principle, through the intercorrespondence of his three mysteries [with those of the Tathögata] he will quickly manifest and realize in his present body the originally existent three bodies. Therefore it is said, “[Buddhahoodl is quickly manifested.” (Giebel 2004, p. 79)
The thought that all beings are originally enlightened and possessed of the three bodies of the Buddha and only need to take faith in the Eternal Buddha (whether understood as the Dharma-body Mahāvairocana Buddha or the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha of the Lotus Sūtra) and express buddhahood through ritual practices utilizing mudrās, mantras, and the contemplation of mandala images would later be incorporated into Tendai Buddhism and then into Nichiren Buddhism. The result was that practices such as meditative cultivation of the mind in order to perceive the truth were believed to be surpassed by practices in which the original enlightenment made itself immediately manifest in concrete ritual practices that would transform the practitioner into a buddha. …
In regard to Nichiren specifically, [Jacqueline] Stone wrote:
Where Chih-i’s form of meditative discipline was that of “principle,” or introspective contemplation to perceive the truth aspect of reality in one’s mind, Nichiren’s was that of “actuality,” or the chanting of the daimoku, the title of the Lotus Sūtra, said to embody the reality of the Buddha’s enlightenment and the seed of Buddhahood.
Nichiren’s usage reflects the strong influence of esoteric Buddhism, in which ri refers to formless truth that is contemplated inwardly, and ji, to its expression in outwardly manifest practices involving concrete forms.(Stone 1999, pp. 68)
Open Your Eyes, p444-446Adhering to the True Intent of Śākyamuni Buddha
Compared to this Eternal Buddha and His teaching preached in the essential section, those preached in the theoretical section, the pre-Lotus sūtras, the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, and the Nirvana Sūtra, namely, all the sūtras preached prior to, at the same time as, and after the Lotus Sūtra, are easy to believe in and understand. It is because they are provisional teachings adjusted to meet the faith and comprehension of the unenlightened while what is preached in the essential section transcends them all and is difficult to believe in and comprehend because it adheres to the true intent of Śākyamuni Buddha.
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 152
Daily Dharma – July 23, 2020
Now I will tell you.
Listen to me
With one mind!
The Buddha speaks these verses in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. When we understand what someone tells us, it is as if we share a mind with that person. When we listen and understand what the Buddha teaches us, we are of one mind with him. We then have the Buddha mind.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 24
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the eight hundred merits of the nose, we repeat in gāthās the merits of the nose.Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Their nose will be purified.
They will be able to know
The smells of all things,
Be they good or bad.They will be able to recognize by smell
The sumanas-flowers and jātika-flowers;
Tamala[pattra] and candana;
Aloes and sappanwood;
Various flowers and fruits;
And all Jiving beings including men and women.Anyone who expounds the Dharma will be able to locate
All living beings from afar by smell.
He will be able to locate by smell
The wheel-turning-kings of great [countries],
The wheel-turning-kings of small [countries],
And their sons, ministers and attendants.He will be able to locate by smell
The wonderful treasures of personal ornaments,
The underground stores of treasures,
And the ladies of the wheel-turning-kings.He will be able to recognize persons
By smelling their ornaments or garments
Or by smelling their necklaces
Or by smelling the incense applied to their skin.Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to know by smell
Whether the gods are walking, sitting, playing or performing wonders.Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to locate by smell, without moving about,
The flowers and fruits of trees,
And the oil taken from sumanas-flowers.He will be able to recognize by smell
The flowers of the candana-trees
Blooming in steep mountains,
And the living beings in those mountains.Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to locate by smell
The living beings in the Surrounding Iron Mountains,
In the oceans, and underground.He will be able to know by smell
Whether asuras and their daughters
And their attendants are fighting
Or playing with each other.He will be able to locate by smell
Lions, elephants, tigers,
Wolves, wild oxen and buffalos
In the wilderness and in steep places.He will be able to know by smell
Whether an unborn child is a boy or a girl,
Or a child of ambiguous sex,
Or the embryo of a nonhuman being.He will be able to know by smell
Whether a woman is an expectant mother,
Or whether she will give an easy birth
To a happy child or not.
These eight hundred merits of the nose are problematic for those who want a literal meaning in everything. I confess to suffering here a little. But what if one could “know by smell whether a woman is an expectant mother, or whether she will give an easy birth to a happy child or not”? Better yet, given today’s modern sensitive to gender-typing, how about knowing “by smell whether an unborn child is a boy or a girl, or a child of ambiguous sex”?
The Precepts and Development of Morality
The precepts and the development of morality is a very fundamental part of the Buddhist path. The precepts lay the groundwork for the further mental and emotional development that will eventually lead to liberation. In taking up the precepts, the follower of the Buddha consciously affirms the most basic values that all people seem to know instinctively. Through the development of basic morality, we are protected from all manner of evil; whether the inner torment of a guilty conscience, the social and legal consequences of wrongdoing, or a future rebirth in unfortunate circumstances. Taking the precepts is also a sign of determination and sincerity. It shows that we are no longer willing to compromise our integrity or harm others for worldly gain, because we have aspired to the highest goal. The precepts also cause us to be more mindful of our daily activities; they provide a yardstick by which we can improve our character in every facet of life through exploring their implications in everyday situations.
The precepts are not just negative injunctions either; each of the precepts has a positive value as well. Those who truly follow the precepts against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants will naturally develop the qualities of humility, love, compassion, generosity and honesty. Such people will not harm themselves or others; and instead, will seek to protect all beings. In being guided by the precepts, we can cultivate a character that is not only blameless, but also pure and worthy of respect.
Morality is an indispensable element of the Buddhist path, but moral discipline is not an end unto itself. Morality that is not supported by the practice of concentration and insight can easily wither away or degenerate into puritanical self-righteousness. It is only truly fulfilled when it acts as the basis for the cultivation of the mind that leads to perfect and complete awakening for the sake of oneself and all other beings. For the bodhisattva, morality functions as one of the perfections when it is guided by wisdom and thus accompanied by generosity, patience, energy, and meditation, all of which are practiced for the sake of all beings.
Open Your Eyes, p460