Monthly Archives: July 2020

WONS

Supreme of All the Scriptures of Buddhism

Lord Buddha Śākyamuni, the Buddha of Many Treasures and Buddhas in manifestation from all the worlds in the universe determined that the Lotus Sūtra was entirely true compared to the sūtras preached before, at the same time, and after the Lotus Sūtra. After this Śākyamuni Buddha retired to Mt. Sacred Eagle while the Buddha of Many Treasures and replica Buddhas from all the worlds in the universe went back to their respective homelands. Who, other than Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and replica Buddhas, can reverse the decision of the Lotus Sūtra being supreme of all the scriptures of Buddhism?

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 162.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 16, 2020

My body is pure and indestructible.
I will appear in any of many thousands of billions of worlds
During many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And expound the Dharma to the living beings.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. We can hear these lines and assume that the body of the Buddha is somehow a permanent version of the man who lived in this world of conflict 2500 years ago. The body of the Buddha takes many forms. We can see it in his teachings: the Wonderful Dharma he left for us. We can see it in every raindrop, every mountain, every smile and snarling face that comes into our lives. We can see it in the capacity we and all beings have to shed our delusions and live peacefully. The Buddha is always leading us to our better selves, whether we realize it or not.

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

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, we return to Chapter 12, Devadatta, and the king who sought the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for innumerable kalpas without indolence.

Thereupon the Buddha said to the Bodhisattvas, gods, men and the four kinds of devotees:
“When I was a Bodhisattva] in my previous existence, I sought the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for innumerable kalpas without indolence. I became a king [and continued to be so] for many kalpas. [Although I was a king,] r made a vow to attain unsurpassed Bodhi. I never faltered in seeking it. I practiced alms-giving in order to complete the six pāramitās. I never grudged elephants, horses, the seven treasures, countries, cities, wives, children, menservants, maidservants or attendants. I did not spare my head, eyes, marrow, brain, flesh, hands or feet. I did not spare even my life.

“In those days the lives of the people of the world were immeasurably long. [One day] I abdicated from the throne in order to seek the Dharma[, but retained the title of king]. I entrusted the crown prince with the administration of my country. l beat a drum and sought the Dharma in all directions, saying with a loud voice, ‘Who will expound the Great Vehicle to me? If there is anyone, I will make offerings to him, and run errands for him for the rest of my life.’

“Thereupon a seer came to [me, who was] the king. He said, ‘I have a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If you are not disobedient to me, I will expound this sūtra to you.’

“Having heard this, I danced with joy, and immediately became his servant. I offered him anything he wanted. I collected fruits, drew water, gathered firewood, and prepared meals for him. I even allowed my body to be his seat. I never felt tired in body and mind. I served him for a thousand years. In order to hear the Dharma from him, I served him so strenuously that I did not cause him to be short of anything.”

See The Stories of Devadatta and the Dragon Princess

stories, LS32, d17b

The Stories of Devadatta and the Dragon Princess

In Chinese and Japanese versions of the Lotus Sutra and in translations from Chinese, the stories of Devadatta and the dragon princess comprise Chapter 12, while in Indian versions they appear at the end of the previous chapter. This gives a stronger impression of the chapter being an interruption of the longer story that begins in Chapter 11 with the emergence from the ground of the Stupa of Abundant Treasures Buddha. Originally these two stories may have circulated independently of the Lotus Sutra as one or two different texts. Putting them in a separate chapter in this way gives more emphasis and importance to them.

Superficially there is not much reason for these two stories to be together. In terms of characters, they have nothing in common. What makes sense – both in terms of their being together in one chapter and of the chapter being inserted at this point in the Sutra – is the teaching of universal awakening found throughout the Lotus Sutra. The chapter reinforces the idea that there can be no exception to the teaching that everyone is to some degree on the bodhisattva path to becoming a buddha – including those regarded as evil, and even women, who too often in India were regarded as inherently evil.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p147
Eyes

Looking Nowhere But to Our Own Awakening

Quote

[T]he Buddha’s final admonitions, and Nichiren’s four admonitions describe the responsibility and the empowerment of authentic Buddhist practice. We do not seek or require external saviors, or special initiations, or gurus, or external rules. Instead we are empowered by the Dharma itself to find within our lives the Buddha’s merits and awakening. This is also a great responsibility as well because it also means that we will have no one to blame but ourselves if we do not look within and live in accord with our true nature as awakened beings. Fortunately, through the practice of Odaimoku we have a simple yet powerful way of reminding ourselves to look to the Wonderful Dharma itself, the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra that assures us that not only are we all buddhas-in-the-making, but we are in fact buddhas actualizing buddhahood. Looking nowhere but to our own awakening for awakening is the true meaning of the Buddha’s final admonitions and the four admonitions of Nichiren. Here is the continuity between the Buddha’s passing, Nichiren’s taking up the banner of the Buddha’s teaching in the Latter Age, and our own reception of the banner of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō here and now.

Open Your Eyes, p353-353
Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Third Time Charm

Quote

Frequently the Buddha will not respond until he has been asked the same question three times or until he has been assured of some thing three different times. This repetition is an indication of the significance of a certain thing. It is a test of sincerity. It is a test of commitment. It is not intended to be viewed as being cruel or teasing. Three times is almost as if a seal has been made or a serious vow has been offered.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d12b, WONS

Germinate and Growing To Bear the Fruit of Buddhahood

As stated in the seventh chapter, “The Parable of a Magic City,” when the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha was a king, Śākyamuni Buddha, his sixteenth prince, sowed the seed of Buddhahood in the people. With the help of the pre-Lotus sūtras, such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, some were able to attain enlightenment afterwards by germinating the seed planted at the time of the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, cultivating it to maturity to bear fruit. This, however, is not the true intent of the Buddha. Just as a poison might show its effect on some people without their knowledge, only in certain people does the seed of Buddhahood have a chance to germinate and grow to maturity without the help of the Lotus Sūtra. The aim of Śākyamuni Buddha to be born in this world was to gradually lead the two kinds of Hinayāna sages called Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) and ordinary people to the Lotus Sūtra, by the way of the pre-Lotus sūtras, whereby the seed may germinate and grow to bear the fruit of Buddhahood.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 151

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 15, 2020

I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story of the Physician and his children, the father leaves and sends word that he has died when his children refuse to take the antidote he has prepared for them. He gave his children no choice but to accept what they already had and make the effort to improve themselves and set aside their deluded minds. In the same way, when we take the Buddha for granted, and close our eyes to the Wonderful Dharma he has given us, he disappears. It is only when we open our eyes and see clearly this world and ourselves in it that we can recognize the Buddha and how he is always leading us.

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

LS32

Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 16 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month witnessed witness Śākyamuni open the door to the Stupa of Treasures and reveal Many Treasures Tathāgata, we witness Śākyamuni sharing seat with Many Treasures and raising the congregation into the air.

Having seen that the Buddha, who had passed away many thousands of billions of kalpas before, had said this, the four kinds of devotees praised him, saying, “We have never seen [such a Buddha as] you before.” They strewed heaps of jeweled flowers of heaven to Many-Treasures Buddha and also to Śākyamuni Buddha.

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stūpa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha, saying, “Śākyamuni Buddha, sit here!”

Śākyamuni Buddha entered the stūpa and sat on the half-seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with in a loud voice:

“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”

See The Universe and Shakyamuni and Our World

stories, LS32, d15b, d16b

The Universe and Shakyamuni and Our World

This story [of the arrival of the Stupa of Treasures] presents us with an interesting image of the universe as a place in which Shakyamuni and his world, which is our world, is central, and yet Shakyamuni is far from being the only buddha. First of all, there is the buddha named Abundant Treasures, who comes out of the distant past in a dramatic way in order to praise Shakyamuni Buddha for teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra. The resulting image of two buddhas sitting side by side on a single seat is a unique one. But this image is dependent on another, which reaches not into the distant past, but into distant reaches of contemporary space to reveal the innumerable buddhas in all directions. In other words, it is only after all the worlds have been integrated into a single buddha land that the congregation is able to see Abundant Treasures Buddha and the two buddhas sitting together in the stupa.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p141