Monthly Archives: August 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 24, 2020

We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?

Maitreya Bodhisattva sings these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has asked who among those gathered to hear him teach will continue teaching this Wonderful Dharma in our world of suffering after the Buddha passes into his final extinction. Some Bodhisattvas say they will teach in other worlds, since the beings of this world are too defiled to hear the Buddha’s teaching. Other Bodhisattvas vow to remain in our world, but the Buddha tells them not to bother. At that moment, the ground cracks open, and innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up and vow to carry on the work of the Buddha. Maitreya and others had never seen these Bodhisattvas before. His asking the Buddha respectfully to explain what they do not understand. This example emphasizes that we must continue to question how the Buddha’s teaching applies to our lives rather than dogmatically accepting whatever happens.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the benefits of keeping this sūtra, we conclude Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits

Anyone who respects the stupa-mausoleum,
Who is modest before bhikṣus,
Who gives up self-conceit,
Who always thinks of wisdom,
Who does not get angry when asked questions,
And who expounds the Dharma
According to the capacities of the questioners,
Will be able to obtain innumerable merits.

When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.

You should think
“He will go to the place of enlightenment before long.
He will be free from āsravas and free from causality.
He will benefit all gods and men.”

Erect a stupa in the place
Where he expounded even a gāthā of this sūtra
While he was standing,
Walking, sitting or reclining!
Adorn the stupa beautifully,
And make various offerings to it!

He is my son.
I will accept his place as mine.
I will be there.
I will walk, sit or recline there.

See Living Rich Lives Filled with Hope

LS32, d22b, b4today

Living Rich Lives Filled with Hope

Man’s life is not limited to this world but continues eternally in each world to come. However, if we could foresee the repetition of the various occurrences of our daily lives in each and every world to come, we would be discouraged and would reject such a bleak prospect. Most people repeat the same suffering without any repentance in world after world because they cannot foresee this repetition. On the other hand, those who have been able to gain a true faith do not tire of and feel no objection to the journey of human life, however long it may be, because they know they can approach Perfect Enlightenment step by step. They can live rich lives filled with hope. This can be said to be the very greatest merit, which only believers in Buddhism can obtain.

Buddhism for Today, p264
Lotus Seeds

Transcendent And Mundane

Quote

The life of a buddha cannot be discussed in terms of a beginning or an end because the true reality of life has no beginning or end. This is in keeping with the Three Truths of Emptiness, Provisionality, and the Middle Way. The Buddha has no birth or death because the Buddha is the selfless, dynamic, and interdependent true nature of life which has no birth or death. However, as a part of the dynamic interplay of all things, the Buddha’s awakening unfolds in terms of this world’s concepts of birth and death, striving and awakening. From the perspective of the Middle Way, the Buddha’s awakened life is what it is and cannot be defined as either transcendent or mundane, though it displays both aspects.

Lotus Seeds

Japanese Culture, d15b, d16b

Lessons from the Jeweled Stupa

Chapter 11, “Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa,” relates that the Stupa in which the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna (Abundant Treasures) sat rose into the sky and Śākyamuni moved from the earth to the precious Stupa in the sky, seating himself next to Prabhūtaratna. Almost simultaneously, buddhas who had emanated from Śākyamuni gathered from all directions, returning to Śākyamuni, and as they did so, all their worlds were united, becoming the world of the one Buddha. This has been interpreted to mean that the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna was the past manifestation of Śākyamuni and that Sakyamuni’s taking his seat beside him symbolizes that Śākyamuni has been a buddha eternally. In other words, Śākyamuni is the eternal Buddha, and the return of the buddhas and the unification of their worlds in the world of the one Buddha are expressions of Śākyamuni as the “unifying Buddha.” Thus the “Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa” chapter has been interpreted as a preliminary statement of the theme of chapter 16, the eternal life of the Tathāgata. Both chapters, however, advocate bodhisattva practices and activities in this sahā world of the decay of the law, and expound entrusting the law to bodhisattvas. This being the case, the concepts of the precious Stupa rising up, the gathering of buddhas who are emanations of the eternal Buddha, and the united world of the one Buddha should be understood as expressions from the standpoint of advocacy of bodhisattva practices.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}
WONS

Nothing But a Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

No matter how serious my sin is, I am nothing but a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. In the same way, a person who chants “Namu Amida-butsu,” is a “nembutsu practicer” no matter how serious the crime committed. Because I chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” I have been maligned, beaten, exiled, and even faced the loss of my life. Nevertheless, I have never stopped encouraging people to chant the daimoku. How can anyone say that I am not a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra?

Matsuno-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Matsuno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 69

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 23, 2020

If those of high rank reproach you, view them as formidable enemies of the Lotus Sutra. Consider the opportunity as rare as seeing an uḍumbara that blooms only once in 1000 years, or a blind turtle by chance encountering a log floating in the ocean, and respond with confidence. Even a person who possesses a fief as large as 1000 or 10,000 chō may have his land confiscated or lose his life over a small matter. If you must lay down your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, have no regrets.

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). Lord Ueno enjoyed a privileged position in society and was concerned about losing his status and belongings as a result of his faith in the Lotus Sūtra. In this letter, Nichiren reminded Lord Ueno of his true purpose in life, that he had come as a Bodhisattva to benefit all beings by leading them to enlightenment with the Buddha Dharma.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard the Buddha’s call for everyone to “understand my sincere and infallible words by faith,” we learn about the Buddha’s hidden core and supernatural powers.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing that they repeated their appeal even after they repeated it three times, said to them:

“Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers. The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. Suppose someone smashed into dust five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds, which were each composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and went to the east [carrying the dust with him). When he reached a world at a distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds [from this world], he put a particle of dust on that world. Then he went on again to the east, and repeated the putting of a particle of the dust [on the world at every distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds] until the particles of the dust were exhausted. Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that the number of the world he went through is conceivable, countable, or not?”

Maitreya Bodhisattva and others said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable, uncountable, inconceivable. No Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha could count them even by his wisdom-without-āsravas. We are now in the state of avaivartika, but cannot, either. World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable.”

Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:

“Good Men! Now I will tell you clearly. Suppose those worlds, whether they were marked with the particles of the dust or not, were smashed into dust. The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since I became the Buddha is on hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced. All this time I have been living in this Sahā-World, and teaching [the living beings of this world] by expounding the Dharma to them. I also have been leading and benefiting the living beings of one hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds outside this world.

See Mañjuśrī and Maitreya; Wisdom and Compassion

LS32, d21b, b4today

Mañjuśrī and Maitreya; Wisdom and Compassion

Another thing that we must not forget is that, on behalf of the great host of bodhisattvas, the Bodhisattva Maitreya asked the Buddha to expound the teaching. In chapter 1 of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha sent forth from the circle of white hair between his eyebrows a ray of light that illuminated all the lands in the universe. At that time the Bodhisattva Maitreya wondered at this marvel and asked the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to explain it. Then, on the basis of his past experience, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī predicted, “The World-honored One now intends to preach a very important law, the truth in the utmost depth of his mind.” From this episode we can judge that Mañjuśrī was the most senior bodhisattva. In chapters 12 and 14 the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī again requested the Buddha to instruct the host of bodhisattvas. However, from the latter half of chapter 15 onward, the Bodhisattva Maitreya represents the host of bodhisattvas, and the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī does not appear in the later chapters of the Lotus Sutra. This change is not incidental but has deep significance.

As indicated by the saying “the wisdom of Mañjuśrī,” the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī is regarded as the idealization or personification of the wisdom of the Buddha. Therefore, in the Law of Appearance as the teaching of wisdom, this bodhisattva usually represents the host of bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattva Maitreya, on the other hand, is believed to represent the Buddha’s compassion. Therefore, in the Law of Origin as the teaching of compassion, which begins with the latter half of chapter 15, the Bodhisattva Maitreya is the representative of all the bodhisattvas. However, in chapter 28, “Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue,” the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue acts as the representative of the bodhisattvas. This is because Universal Virtue typifies the practice of the Buddha. This bodhisattva is actually regarded as representing the teaching, practice, and attainment of the Buddha, but in the Lotus Sutra he most strongly represents the practice of the Buddha.

The appearance of these three bodhisattvas— Mañjuśrī, who represents the wisdom of the Buddha; Maitreya, who typifies the compassion of the Buddha; and Universal Virtue, who personifies the practice of the Buddha—reflects the organization of the Lotus Sutra itself.

Buddhism for Today, p212-213
Japanese Culture, d17b

Realizing Buddhahood Within Three Lifetimes

Saichō argued that the story of the dragon king’s daughter was significant for all sentient beings, not just for one individual. Her story revealed that the power of the Lotus Sutra could be effective for virtually any sentient being. Even if a person could not emulate the dragon king’s daughter’s rapid realization of buddhahood, merely recognizing and appreciating her achievement was sufficient to lead a person to a significant advance in practice as demonstrated by the achievements of those beings who witnessed the dragon king’s daughter’s realization. Since not all sentient beings possessed the same religious faculties, Saichō admitted that those with lesser abilities might require additional time to realize buddhahood, but they would still realize buddhahood much more rapidly than the Hossō practitioner who was said to require three incalculable eons. If those with superior faculties did not realize enlightenment in this life, they surely would realize buddhahood within three lifetimes.

The dragon king’s daughter who converted others (to the ultimate teaching) had not undergone a long period of religious austerities; nor had the sentient beings who were converted undergone a long period of austerities. Through the wondrous power of the sutra, they all realized buddhahood with their bodies just as they are (sokushin jōbutsu). Those with the highest grade of superior faculties realize buddhahood in one lifetime; those with the medium grade of superior faculties require two lifetimes to realize buddhahood. And those with the lowest grade of superior faculties will realize buddhahood within three lifetimes. They will meet the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, enter the ranks of the bodhisattvas, and acquire the dhārāṇi which will enable them to master nonsubstantiality.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}