Monthly Archives: October 2020

WONS

Showing the Infallibility of the Buddha’s Prediction

QUESTION CLOSELY: You are more self-conceited than Mahādeva of ancient India, who caused the first great schism in the community of Buddhist monks and nuns, or Shizen Biku, a disciple of the Buddha who believed himself to be an arhat and ended up in the Hell of Incessant Suffering. What do you say about this?

ANSWER: The grave sin you have committed in accusing me, Nichiren, is more serious than what was committed by Devadatta, who fell in hell alive, or by Vimalamitra, the Hinayāna master who died a mad man for slandering Mahāyāna Buddhism.

My words may sound self-conceited, but they were solely to show the infallibility of the Buddha’s prediction. Suppose they were self-conceited, then whom can you name among all the people in Japan, except me, Nichiren, to be the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? In order to slander me, Nichiren, you are saying that the Buddha’s prediction is false. Is it not you who are very wicked?

Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 175

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 18, 2020

Thereupon Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to King Wonderful-Adornment, ‘So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives. The teachers will do the work of the Buddha, show the Way [to them], teach them, benefit them, cause them to rejoice, and cause them to enter into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi (Perfect Enlightenment). Great King, know this! A teacher is a great cause [of your enlightenment] because he leads you, and causes you to see a Buddha and aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

These lines are part of a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha uses this story to remind us of how much benefit we get from our teachers. When we see the world with the eyes of the Buddha, and know that he is always thinking of how to lead us, we can find innumerable teachers, and know to show our gratitude to them.

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 considered how the Buddha preaches the Dharma untiringly and without partiality, we consider the comparison of plants to those who follow the Buddha’s teaching.

Those who live among gods and men,
Or those who live with a wheel-turning-holy-king,
Or with King Sakra or with King Brahman,
May be likened to the small herbs.

Those who know the Dharma-without-āsravas,
Who attained Nirvana,
And who obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
May be likened to the middle herbs.
So may those who live alone in mountains or forests,
Who practice dhyāna-concentrations,
And who attained the enlightenment of cause-knowers.

Those who seek the stage of the World-Honored One,
Who practice endeavors and concentration of mind,
And who wish to become Buddhas,
May be likened to the large herbs.

My sons [, that is, the Bodhisattvas]
Who seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha exclusively,
Who believe that they will become Buddhas definitely,
And who have compassion towards others,
May be likened to the short trees.

The Bodhisattvas
Who turn the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma
By their supernatural powers,
And who save many thousands of myriads
Of millions of living beings,
May be likened to the tall trees.

Although my teachings are of the same content to anyone
Just as the rain is of the same taste,
The hearers receive my teachings differently
According to their capacities
Just as the plants receive
Different amounts of the rain water.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this:

Traditionally, the small herbs are interpreted as humans and deities, the middle-sized herbs as “hearers” and “private Buddhas,” and the large herbs, stems, and branches as Bodhisattvas. The latter can be divided into three levels of accomplishment. The vast compassion of Sakyamuni is distributed equally to all living beings in order to lead them all to the enlightenment of the Buddha.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Vasubandhu

Three Types of Sullied Pride

Quote

What are the three types of sullied pride for the three types of people who have no defilements? They are referred to as the three biased beliefs. What are these three? 1) The belief that the various vehicles are different, 2) the belief that the conventional world and nirvana are different, and 3) the belief that the bodies [of the Buddha] are different. It should be known that [the Buddha] has explained the three equalities as the antidotes to [those who possess] these three types of sullied pride.

What are the three equalities and what do they remedy? 1) The equality of the vehicles means that the disciples receive the prediction of enlightenment since there are not two vehicles, only the single Great Vehicle, and this vehicle is equal and undifferentiated. 2) The equality of the conventional world and nirvana means that in accordance with Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata being in [final] nirvana [even while appearing in the world], the conventional world and nirvana are equal and undifferentiated. 3) The equality of the bodies [of the Buddha] means that although Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata had already entered [final] nirvana, he manifested his body since his own body, the other bodies, and the absolute body [of all the buddhas] are equal and undifferentiated. Thus, the three types of people with sullied pride but no defilements who see this and the other bodies make distinctions and do not understand that the buddha-nature and the absolute body are equal. These people think they have realized the Dharma although they have not. It should be known that as a counteragent to this, the disciples are given a prediction [of their enlightenment].

Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 140
d13b, WONS

The Lineage of Aniruddha

When we consider the lineage of Aniruddha, he was descended from the Wheel-turning Noble King, the original lord of India. He was born as a grandson of Shimuhahanu, a nephew of King Śuddhodana, and was the crown prince of King Doronodana. Thus Aniruddha was born to a noble family widely known in the world. Moreover, he was very wealthy, and his house was always crowded with visitors — as many as 12,000 people, 6,000 seeking loans and 6,000 returning them, would come and go in a day. Besides being such a wealthy person, he had the foremost in divine eyesight among His disciples and was guaranteed to become the future Universal Brightness Buddha.

Inquiring how meritorious the acts of Aniruddha in his previous life were, we find the following: “Once in the past there was a hunter. He made a living by hunting the mountain beasts and raising barnyard millet. It was during a year of famine, when he was eating a bowl of millet rice, which was all that he had, a sage pratyekabuddha named Rita came along begging for food, ‘I have not eaten anything for the last seven days. Please let me share your food.’ The hunter answered, ‘My millet rice has been disgraced in a dirty bowl,’ but Rita insisted, ‘Please do not be concerned about that. I will die if I don’t eat now.’ Feeling embarrassed the hunter passed his bowl of millet rice to Rita, who finished eating it and returned the bowl with one grain of millet left in it to the hunter.

“But, the grain of millet transformed into a wild boar, which in turn changed to a piece of gold, which turned into a dead person, then into a golden person. When the hunter pulled out a finger of the golden person to sell, a new finger grew back. Thus, the hunter was reborn as an immensely wealthy man for as long as 91 kalpa (aeons). Ultimately, he was reborn in this world as Aniruddha and became a disciple of the Buddha. Though it was merely a bowl of millet rice, Aniruddha offered it to a sage during a famine to prolong his life. Thus, Aniruddha was rewarded with such a splendid fortune.”

Tokimitsu-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Tokimitsu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 24-25

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 17, 2020

What do you think of this? Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva was no one but Medicine-King Bodhisattva of today. He gave up his body in this way, offered it [to the Buddha], and repeated this offering many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of times [in his previous existence]. [He knows that he can practice any austerity in this Sahā-World. Therefore, he does not mind walking about this world.]

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The story of the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva shows us the capacities we have already developed and are not aware of. When we see ourselves as choosing to come into this world of conflict to benefit all beings, rather than stuck where we do not want to be and just making the best of it, then it is much easier to let go of our delusions.

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 considered how the Buddha is like the rich man, we consider the rich man in gāthās.

Thereupon Mahā-Kāśyapa, wishing to repeat what they had said, sang in gāthās:

Hearing your teaching of today,
We are dancing with joy.
We have never had
Such joy before.

You say:
“The Śrāvakas will be able to become Buddhas.”
We have obtained unsurpassed treasures
Although we did not seek them.

Suppose there lived a boy.
He was young and ignorant.
He ran away from his father
And went to a remote country.
He wandered from country to country
For more than fifty years.

The father anxiously sought him
In all directions.
Finally tiring of looking for him,
He settled in a certain city.

He built a house,
And enjoyed satisfaction
Of the five desires.
He was very rich.
He had a great deal of gold, silver,
Shell, agate, pearl and lapis lazuli;
And many elephants, horses,
Cows, sheep,
Palanquins, carts,
Farmers and attendants.
He invested his money in all the other countries,
And earned interest.
Merchants and customers
Were seen everywhere [around him].

Thousands of billions of people
Surrounded him respectfully.
He was favored by the king,
And respected
By the ministers,
And by the powerful families.

Many people came to see him
For various purposes. Because he was rich,
He was very powerful.
As he became older,
He thought more of his son.
He thought from morning till night:
“I shall die before long.
It is more than fifty years
Since my ignorant son left me
What shall I do
With the things in the store-houses?”

See A Loving Father

stories, LS32, d5b, d6b, d7b, d8b

A Loving Father

In many of the parables in the Dharma Flower Sutra, it is a father figure who represents the Buddha. It is possible that the use of such stories influenced the teachings of the Dharma Flower Sutra, leading it, probably more than any other Buddhist text, to emphasize the father-like nature of the Buddha, personalizing him as it were. Over and over, the Lotus Sutra uses personal language to speak of an ultimately important reality. Far from being “absolute,” or even “omniscient,” as the Buddhist tradition has sometimes claimed, the Buddha of the Dharma Flower Sutra is someone who is very concerned for his children. This means, in effect, that the happiness of the Buddha, the fulfillment of the Buddha’s purpose, depends – again – on us.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p55
Vasubandhu

The Merit of the Bodhisattva and the Merit of the Disciple

Quote

Question: Is it the case that the disciples are given their prediction because they will actually achieve buddhahood, or are they given it even though they will not achieve [buddhahood]? If disciples can actually achieve buddhahood, why [then] do bodhisattvas practice and accumulate a countless variety of merit for immeasurable world-ages? If disciples cannot achieve buddhahood, then why do [the tathāgatas] give them a false prediction?

Answer: That the disciples have received their prediction [shows that] they have attained fixed resolve. It is not the case that these disciples have perfected the true nature (dharmatā). The tathāgatas teach the Dharma of the single vehicle through the three equalities. [They] give the disciples their predictions because the absolute body of the Buddha and the absolute body of the disciples are equal and undifferentiated. It is not the case that [the disciples] have completed the practice of cultivating merit. Therefore [the distinction between the disciples and the bodhisattvas is that] the merit of a bodhisattva is complete, while the merit of a disciple is not.

Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 140-141
WONS

Each Character of the Lotus Sūtra

A plant can increase in number when its seed is planted. A dragon can transform a small body of water into a lot of rain, and humans can turn a small flame into a fiery blaze. Likewise, although the piece of cloth for a clerical robe and an unlined kimono is limited to one each, their number will be 69,384 each when they are donated to the Lotus Sūtra consisting of 69,384 Chinese characters. As each Chinese character of the Lotus Sūtra represents a living Buddha, the offering to the sūtra is equivalent to the offerings to 69,384 Buddhas. These Buddhas of the Lotus Sūtra are equipped with the hearts of regeneration that enable the Two Vehicles to attain Buddhahood as if a rotten seed has been revitalized; their life spans are as eternal as that of the Original True Buddha revealed in the sūtra; their throats are made of the ever-lasting Buddha-nature; and their primary object is the practice of the One Vehicle teaching. The figures of Buddhas appearing in this world to save living beings are not that of the true Buddha. Rather than Buddhas of corresponding manifestation with 32 marks or 80 minor marks of physical excellence, those Buddhas represented by each character of the Lotus Sūtra are the true Buddhas. Of those who encountered the Buddha and became His followers during His lifetime, some were unable to become Buddhas. Nevertheless, according to the golden words of the Buddha, those who embrace the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra after the passing of the Buddha “will never fail to attain Buddhahood” (the “Expedients” chapter).

When I have this clerical robe tailored, put on upon the unlined kimono and recite the Lotus Sūtra, though Nichiren is a priest without observing a Buddhist precept, as the Lotus Sūtra is the golden words of the Buddha, the merit of your donation will reach you just as a poisonous snake spits out a gem or sandalwood trees grow among eraṇḍa.

Onkoromo narabini Hitoe Gosho, Thank-you Note for a Clerical Robe and an Unlined Kimono, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 9