The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p143Whatever else it is, the great Stupa in this story is a literary device providing a reason for assembling all of the buddhas from all directions. This Stupa springing out of the earth from the past could be material from a dream, or from a rich imagination. But it can also be said that Abundant Treasures Buddha symbolizes the truth, the Dharma that does not change and is a kind of ground or basis for all teaching of the Dharma. In this way, Shakyamuni Buddha can symbolize the teacher of the Dharma. And the two buddhas sitting together on a single seat would indicate both that the teacher is to be respected as much as the truth itself, and the opposite, namely, that however devoted we may be to Shakyamuni Buddha for teaching, we should remember that our devotion should be based on his teaching the truth.
Monthly Archives: October 2020
Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
In discussing Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra it is important to underscore that Thich Nhat Hanh is not Nichiren or a follower of Nichiren or even a follower of T’ien T’ai.
Nichiren and T’ien T’ai looked upon the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, the ocean into which all of the rivers of expedient teachings flowed. To understand the Buddha’s expedient teachings, one must view them through the lens of the Lotus Sutra. Think of this as looking from the inside out.
Thich Nhat Hanh views the Lotus Sutra from the outside looking in. Here’s an example:
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p100-101The Sangha has gathered on the Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, Vulture Peak. Their feet are on the earth; they are in the historical dimension. They see their teacher Shakyamuni; they see they are among a great assembly of disciples. They are in the realm of reality that we normally perceive, which is subject to past, present, and future. Suddenly, with the appearance of the jeweled stupa, everyone has been transported from the historical realm into the realm of the ultimate nature of reality, where there is no time or space. From the world of relative phenomena, we are able to touch the absolute, and this recognition brings about a powerful vibration, something like an electric shock. Those who have learned the art of mindfulness are finely tuned and are able to receive this vibration. The ultimate goal of our practice and studies is to be able to touch the true nature of reality with our mindfulness. In the beginning our mindfulness is not yet strong, but little by little it becomes more steady and solid. And as our mindfulness becomes more stable, the ultimate dimension of reality will appear more and more clearly to us, right here and now in the historical realm, the world of appearances.
And for the vast sea of people who are not monastics trained in meditation but have received Nichiren’s teaching, we have Śākyamuni’s Jewel:
For those who are incapable of understanding the truth of the “3,000 existences contained in one thought,” Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, with His great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Latter Age of Degeneration.
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 164
- Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
- Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra
- Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Avatamsaka Sutra
- Errata
- Thich Nhat Hanh’s Practice
The Way of Bodhisattvas
There is one sentence in Chapter XVI where the Buddha makes the claim that the benefits he obtained by the practice of the Way of Bodhisattvas have not yet been exhausted. There are some who have tried to make the claim that this statement refers to the chanting of Odaimoku as being the Way of Bodhisattvas and this circles back to indicate that Nichiren is somehow superior to Shakyamuni. It is a convoluted argument, and a false one.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraMastering Buddhism
Mastering Buddhism … remains impossible without enough time to absorb it. And if you are to devote enough time to studying Buddhism, it will be nearly impossible to obey one’s parents, masters, and the sovereign as well. Those who aim at attaining Buddhahood cannot afford to be obedient to parents, masters, and sovereign until they reach the ultimate way to cut the chain of birth and death.
Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 2.
Daily Dharma – Oct. 23, 2020
A man of shallow faith pretends to have right faith and is contemptuous towards other followers, so as to harm the faith of others. Leave such people alone. By the intention of the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra and other deities, I believe that such a time will certainly come when all the people of Japan will simultaneously believe in the Lotus Sutra. I am sure that many people will then say, “I have believed in this sutra all along.”
Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). In Nichiren’s life, he tolerated the contempt of many who refused his call to set aside expedient teachings and take up the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra. Despite repeated attempts to reach these people, and after enduring his home being burned down, attacks with swords, a mock execution and numerous exiles, he retired to a hermitage on Mt. Minobu to spend the last days of his life. As the Buddha showed no contempt towards his cousin Devadatta, Nichiren showed no contempt towards his persecutors. When we find others who despise us for our practice, we have the example of these two men. They both took the long view towards enlightenment, and did not let themselves be wounded by the follies of human nature.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 14
Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month considered the objection of the eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, we consider the Buddha’s prediction for his son, Rāhula.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Rāhula:
“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Walking-On-Flowers-Of-SevenTreasures, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will make offerings to as many Buddhas, as many Tathāgatas, as the particles of dust of ten worlds. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will become the eldest son of those Buddhas just as you are now mine.
“The adornments of the world of Walking-On-Flowers-OfSeven-Treasures Buddha, the number of the kalpas for which that Buddha will live, the number of his disciples, the duration of the preservation of his right teachings, and the duration of the preservation of the counterfeit of his right teachings will be the same as in the case of Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-PowerKing Tathāgata.
“After you become the eldest son of the [Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King] Buddha, you will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [, and become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-SevenTreasures Buddha].”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
When I was a crown prince,
Rāhula was my eldest son.
When I attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He received the Dharma, and became the son of the Dharma.In his future life he will see
Many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Become the eldest son of those Buddhas, and seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha with all his heart.Only I know his secret practices.
He shows himself
To all living beings
In the form of my eldest son.He has many thousands of billions of merits.
His merits are countless.
He dwells peacefully in the Dharma of the Buddha,
And seeks unsurpassed enlightenment.
Rahula – First in Quietly Doing Good
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p115-116Rahula was also known as a “first” – first in quietly doing good. It is said that this means that he followed the Vinaya precepts, the rules for monks, very strictly. Like Ananda, he became one of the Buddha’s ten principal disciples.
As he was Shakyamuni’s only biological son, it was only natural that Shakyamuni Buddha would make an extra effort not to show any favoritism toward him. Thus there are many stories of Rahula being treated by his father just like any other follower.
While the name Ananda means “bliss” or “joy,” the name Rahula means “obstruction,” “bond,” or “fetter.” Born just shortly before the future Buddha left home to pursue enlightenment, it is said that he was named Rahula by his grandfather after the future Buddha announced immediately after the birth of his son that an “obstruction” (rahula) had been born. Like many sons of noble Shakya families of the time, the future Buddha apparently had been thinking of leaving home from a fairly young age. It is said that his own father, the king, had arranged for his marriage to Yashodhara when he was nineteen in order to discourage him from leaving home. Ten years later, Rahula was born, and it was said that Shakyamuni called him Rahula because he created “bonds” of affection. This story would later be used to show how a bond of love can be an impediment or hindrance to one who wants to follow the life of a monk.
Though his age at the time is far from certain, Rahula was about seven years old when Shakyamuni returned to his home in Kapilavasthu with many of his followers and stayed in a bamboo grove outside the city. Yashodhara pointed his father out to the boy, but at first Shakyamuni paid no attention to his son. When they were about to leave, Yashodhara told Rahula to ask for his father’s blessings. He did so, and Shakyamuni beckoned to him to follow him. When they reached the forest, Shakyamuni told Shariputra to shave the boy’s head, put him in monk’s robes, and make him the first novice monk. In some accounts, Yashodhara tells Rahula to ask his father for his inheritance and his wealth, and the Buddha instead makes him the inheritor of his spiritual wealth by turning him into a novice monk.
Just as according to Fa-hsien nuns worshiped at the stupas of Ananda, novice monks worshiped at the Stupa of Rahula, who apparently died before his father did.
Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra
From AmazonPeaceful Action, Open Heart shines 60 years of study and practice upon one of the crowning scriptures of the path of the Buddha, and is destined to be known as one of the most significant writings by Thich Nhat Hanh.
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most revered of Mahayana sacred texts and is sometimes called “the king of sutras.” Despite this fact, there are very few commentaries in English available today. Thich Nhat Hanh explores the Sutra’s main theme – that everyone has the capacity to become a Buddha, and that Buddha-nature is inherent in everything – but he also uniquely emphasizes the sutra’s insight that Buddha-nature is the basis for peaceful action. Since we all will one day become a Buddha, he says, we can use mindfulness practices right now to understand and find solutions to current world challenges. In his interpretation of the sutra, he suggests that if the practices, views, and insights of the Lotus Sutra would find application not only by individuals but also by nations, it would offer concrete solutions to transform individual suffering and the global challenges facing the world today.
Stamped with his signature depth of vision, lucidity, and clarity, Thich Nhat Hanh’s insights based on the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra invoke a wide range of contemporary topics and concerns, such as the Palestinian-Israeli war, the threat of terrorism, and the degradation of our environment. In proposing radical new ways of finding peaceful solutions to universal, contemporary conflicts, he not only challenges the U.N to change from an organization to a real organism working for peace and harmony in the world, but also encourages all branches of all governments to act as Sangha. In so doing, he demonstrates the practical and direct applicability of this sacred text to today’s concerns.
This book has been re-released with a new title. The earlier hardcover edition was entitled Opening the Heart of the Cosmos.
One must assume that the publisher offered the third paragraph for purposes of expanding the potential reach of the book. While the environment is an important aspect of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching, the suggestion that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the United Nations are significant topics is unfounded, at least in the 2008 edition published under the title, Peaceful Action, Open Heart.”
I was introduced to this book in July, 2020, when Ryuei Shonin announced the creation of an Amazon Wish List for his Lotus Sutra Study program. This is the first book by Thich Nhat Hanh that I’ve read. And as with Nikkyō Niwano’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra, I feel a need to distance myself from some of the interpretations of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Here is an example from Thich Nhat Hanh’s discussion of the Buddha’s prediction for Shariputra in Chapter 3, A Parable:
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p46-47Hearing this the Buddha said, “Shariputra, in past lives you studied and practiced with me, and I taught you the bodhisattva way. But in this lifetime you forgot it and, following the path of the shravaka, believed you had reached the final goal of your practice, nirvana. Now, through teaching this Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, I am able to reestablish you on the bodhisattva path. In the future you will become the Buddha Flower Glow (Padmaprabha) in a Buddha Land called Free of Defilements (Viraja). You will do as I do, and teach the three vehicles to guide living beings, and finally you will also teach the One Vehicle, just as I am teaching now.”
Thich Nhat Hanh book’s endnotes indicate that he is using Leon Hurvitz’s translation of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma for his English language quotes, but in this instance Thich Nhat Hanh has not only grossly paraphrased but also fabricated new text.
Here’s the relevant portion from Hurvitz:
Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, p51“Flower Glow, the Thus Come One, shall furthermore by resort to the three vehicles teach and convert the beings. Śāriputra, though the time of that buddha’s emergence shall not be an evil age, by reason of his former vow he shall preach the dharma of the three vehicles.”
Few things in the Lotus Sutra are more puzzling to me than the prediction that Śāriputra will teach the Three Vehicles even though the kalpa in which he becomes that Buddha “will not be an evil age.” If only the Buddha, as Thich Nhat Hanh erroneously inserts, had added, “finally you will also teach the One Vehicle, just as I am teaching now.” But the Buddha doesn’t say Śāriputra will ever teach the One Vehicle or the Lotus Sutra.
Before I start posting quotes here from the book I’ll be posting several articles concerning problems of one sort or another that I have with Thich Nhat Hanh interpretation.
Having said that, I should underline my overall satisfaction and favorable opinion of “Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra.”
I fully endorse this from the Introduction:
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p8This book shows how the teachings of the Sutra can help us realize the practices of mindfulness, compassion, and love for the well-being of our family, our community, our society, and the world.
And this beautiful poem by Thich Nhat Hanh:
Reciting the Lotus Sutra
At night as I recite the Lotus Sutra
The sound moves the galaxies
The Earth below wakes up
In her lap suddenly flowers appear
At night as I recite the Lotus Sutra
A jeweled Stupa appears resplendent.
All over the sky bodhisattvas are seen
And Buddha’s hand is in mine.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
- Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
- Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra
- Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Avatamsaka Sutra
- Errata
- Thich Nhat Hanh’s Practice
Book Quotes
Verifying the Words of the Buddha
QUESTION: How do you know that you are a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration?
ANSWER: The following statements in the Lotus Sūtra attest it to be the truth: “Many people hate this sūtra with jealousy even in the lifetime of the Buddha, not to say after His death” (chapter 10, “The Teacher of the Dharma”). “Ignorant people will speak ill of us (who propagate this sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration), abuse us, and threaten us with swords and sticks. … We will be driven out of our monasteries from time to time” (chapter 13, “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra”). “Many people in the world will hate this sūtra and few will believe it” (chapter 14, “Peaceful Practices”). “People struck him (a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra) with sticks, pieces of wood, pieces of tile, and stones” (chapter 20, “The Never-Despising Bodhisattva”). “King of devils, his subjects, gods, dragons, yaksa demons, and kumbhāṇḍa demons will take advantage of the time (the first 500-year period in the Latter Age of Degeneration)” (chapter 23, “Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva”).
In order to see that these words of the Buddha are not false, when we see the faces of all the people in Japan, the king and his subjects, monks and nuns, and laymen and laywomen, reflected upon these clear mirrors of the Lotus Sūtra, there is nobody but I, Nichiren, who fits them perfectly. As for the time, we certainly are at the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration. Should there be no Nichiren today, these words of the Buddha would all be proved false.
Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 175
Daily Dharma – Oct. 22, 2020
He should respect the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,
As his unsurpassed fathers.
He should give up arrogance
So that he may expound the Dharma without hindrance.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. By arrogance, the Buddha means not only acting as if we know what we do not, but any fixed understanding of the world and the beings in it. This opening of our minds allows us to be receptive to the innumerable ways the Buddhas are teaching us, and to learn to see the world for what it is. This receptivity also allows us to see the Buddha nature in all beings, no matter how deluded they are and how much harm they create. Respect is what allows us to fully hear and be present for what the world has to offer us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com