Monthly Archives: November 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 19, 2020

When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.

The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. In our zeal to practice this Wonderful Dharma we may come to expect that because this is such a wonderful teaching, we deserve to be rewarded for providing it to others. With this expectation, we then lose our focus on using the Dharma to benefit others and instead use it to benefit ourselves. When we show how to give freely, without expectations, we embody generosity, the same generosity the Buddha himself demonstrated when he provided the teaching to us.

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

LS32

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month learned that all living beings taught by Buddhas are Bodhisattvas, we consider the Buddha’s warning not to propagate this sutra carelessly.

I am the King of the Dharma.
I expound the Dharma without hindrance.
I appeared in this world
In order to give peace to all living beings.

Śāriputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.
Do not propagate it carelessly
At the place where you are!

Anyone who rejoices at hearing this sūtra,
And who receives it respectfully,
Know this, has already reached
The stage of avaivartika.

Anyone who believes and receives this sūtra
Should be considered
To have already seen the past Buddhas,
Respected them, made offerings to them,
And heard the Dharma from them
In his previous existence.

Anyone who believes what you expound
Should be considered
To have already seen all of us,
That is, you and me,
And the Saṃgha of bhikṣus,
And the Bodhisattvas.

I expound only to people of profound wisdom
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Because men of little wisdom would doubt this sūtra,
And not understand it even if they heard it.
No Śrāvaka
Or Pratyekabuddha
Can understand
This sūtra.

Even you, Śāriputra,
Have understood this sūtra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Śrāvakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sūtra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.

See Gateways to More Sincere Practice

stories, LS32

Gateways to More Sincere Practice

It is a fact that Shakyamuni Buddha, who was once alive and who taught the Dharma, died. He became a “historical figure,” someone really dead in an important sense. In his place as objects of devotion were such things as relics, stupas, pictures, and statues. Compared with a living human being, such things are dead. And then these dead things are put into museums and become even less alive. Or temples housing them become museums, tourist attractions, or funeral parlors, where the Dharma can be said to be dead. Teachings may be followed, but not in a very profound or sincere way.

But while an “image” of the Buddha is not the real thing, neither is it without value. It can be a way of keeping the Buddha alive in the world and in ourselves, though not in the way he was alive as a historical human being. I will always be grateful to “the Buddha” in the basement of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts with whom I sat quite regularly when experiencing difficult times as a student. I did not receive the whole Dharma, the living Dharma, from that Buddha, but I did receive something very valuable. So, too, if a temple comes to function mainly as a tourist attraction, or as only a place for funerals and memorial services for the dead, it may serve as a skillful means to lead some to deeper interest in the Buddha Dharma. And teachings that are not followed in a very profound way can nonetheless be gateways to more sincere practice. This is, I believe, one reason that in the Dharma Flower Sutra, periods of merely formal Dharma are not followed by periods of the decline of the Dharma but rather by new periods of true Dharma.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p215
Peaceful Action

The Mark of a Skillful Dharma Talk

Quote

Whether a Dharma talk succeeds or fails does not depend on the teacher’s eloquence or on whether his or her knowledge of the Dharma is profound or superficial. The transformative power of a teaching depends entirely on the teacher’s understanding and clear perception of the psychological state and situation of those who will receive it. A Dharma talk must always be appropriate in two ways: it must accord perfectly with the spirit of the Dharma, and it must also respond perfectly to the situation in which it is given. If it only corresponds perfectly with the teachings but does not meet the needs of the listeners, it’s not a good Dharma talk, it’s not appropriate.

The Dharma is like a powerful lamp, helping people to see deeply into their situation and releasing them from suffering. When a teaching touches real concerns, real suffering, it can unblock the obstacles and difficulties that are there in the mind of the listener. When you hear a Dharma talk that is appropriate in these two ways, faithful to both the true teaching and the actual conditions and situation of the listeners, you have the feeling that it is directed to you personally. It is as if the teacher has seen right into your heart and is speaking to you and you alone. When many people have this feeling, that is the mark of a skillful Dharma talk.
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p63-64

WONS

Four Masters in Three Lands

I, Nichiren, of Awa Province graciously received the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra from three masters (Śākyamuni Buddha, T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō) and spread it in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Therefore, I dare add myself to the three masters, calling ourselves “four masters in three lands.”

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō!

Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 178

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 18, 2020

Extol the teaching of the One Vehicle
In the presence of those who are modest,
Who are pure in heart,
And who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha!

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In Nichiren’s writings, he taught that since the Wonderful Dharma saves all beings, it is suited to the time in which we live. As Bodhisattvas who are certain of our own enlightenment, we are committed to nourishing the seed of enlightenment in others. These verses show us what to keep in mind as we help to clear away the delusion and suffering in this world. We learn to see purity in the hearts of others, and understand their motivation towards enlightenment, even if they do not realize this themselves.

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

LS32

Day 6

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 6 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered why the Buddha gives the large cart, we repeat in gāthās the description of the manor house.

Thereupon the Buddha, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

I will tell you a parable.
A rich man had a manor house.
It was old, rotten,
Broken and ruined.
The house was about to collapse.
The lower parts of the pillars were rotten;
The beams and ridge-poles, tilting and slanted;
The foundation and steps, broken;
The fences and walls, corrupt;
The plaster of the walls, peeling;
The rush thatched on the roof, falling;
The rafters and eaves, slipping out of each other;
The hedges around the house, bent;
And refuse and debris, scattered all over.

In this house lived
Five hundred people.
Kites, owls, crested eagles,
Eagles, crows,
Magpies, doves, pigeons,
Lizards, snakes, vipers, scorpions,
Millipedes, wall lizards, centipedes,
Weasels, badgers, mice, rats,
And poisonous vermin
Were moving about.

Maggots and other vermin
Assembled on the excretions
Scattered all over
In the house.

Foxes, wolves, and small foxes
Were crawling on corpses,
Biting them, chewing them,
And dismembering them.

Many dogs were scrambling for their prey.
Weak and nervous from hunger,
They were seeking food here and there.
They were fighting with each other,
Snapping at each other,
And barking at each other.
The house was
So dreadful, so extraordinary.

Mountain spirits, water spirits,
Yakṣas and other demons
Lived here and there.
They fed on people and poisonous vermin.

Wild birds and beasts
Hatched their eggs,
Suckled or bred.
They protected their offspring.
Yakṣas scrambled for their young,
Took them, and ate them.
Having eaten to their hearts’ content,
They became more violent.
They fought with each other.
Their shrieks were dreadful.

The demons called kumbhandas
Crouched on the ground
Or jumped a foot or two above the ground.
They walked to and fro
And played at their will.
They seized dogs by the legs,
Or hit them
Until they lost their voices,
And held their feet against their necks.
They enjoyed seeing them frightened.

Some demons,
Tall, large,
Naked, black, and thin,
Lived in the house.
They were crying for food
With loud and evil voices.

The necks of some demons
Were as slender as needles.
The heads of some demons
Were like that of a cow.
They ate people or dogs.
Their hair was disheveled
Like mugworts.
They were cruel and dangerous.
Always hungry and thirsty,
They were running about, shrieking.

Yakṣas, hungry spirits,
And wild birds and beasts
Were unbearably hungry.
They were looking out of the windows
In all directions for food.
The house was so dangerous, so dreadful.

See Problem Children

stories, LS32, d5b, d6b, d8b, d21b

Problem Children

In many stories in the Dharma Flower Sutra we find that characters who represent the Buddha have problems leading their children. In the early parable of the burning house, for example, the children in the burning house initially refuse to pay any attention to their father. Similarly, the children of the physician in Chapter 16 … also refuse to obey their father’s exhortation to take the good medicine he has prepared for them. The poor son in Chapter 4 is a runaway. In addition, we also often find sympathy being expressed for Shakyamuni Buddha because he is responsible for this world of suffering.

Collectively, both of these elements, disobedient children and sympathy from others, and many other things as well, point to the similarity of the Buddha to ordinary human beings. Some might think of the Buddha as being extremely distant and different from ourselves – along the lines of how the famous Christian theologian Karl Barth describes God: “totally other.” But in the Dharma Flower Sutra it is the opposite: the Buddha is very close to us, concerned about us, affected by us – thus similar to us. That is why the Buddha’s work, so to speak, is difficult. It is only because he cares about this world that his job is difficult.

We will often have the most difficulty leading those who are closest to us, our own children, or parents, or wives, or husbands. Often this can be a sign that things are as they can be. If life is difficult for the Buddha because he is close to the world, we should expect to have difficulties with those who are closest to us. Those difficulties should be taken as a sign that we should strive to improve our relationships with those closest to us, even though we can expect this to be difficult at times.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p117
Peaceful Action, d7b

Dharma Doors

The Buddha says in a gatha:

I am the Dharma King,
With respect to the Dharma acting completely at will.

The Buddha, the Dharma King, grasps the true nature, the ultimate dimension, of all things (dharmas) and therefore has the ability to use various skillful means to teach beings in the phenomenal realm – this world of form and appearances called “samsara.” The various teachings are Dharma doors, and a Buddha is someone who can enter any of these Dharma gateways at will and use them in a very free and skillful way, just as a great poet knows how to use words with great artistry and skill. So the teachings may appear in different forms, but ultimately they all lead to the One Vehicle, the Buddha vehicle, in which all beings realize their innate Buddha nature. This is absolute freedom in the field of time and space, nirvana right in the realm of samsara, and this is the great insight of the Buddha that was renewed in the Mahayana.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p52-53
WONS

Believe the Dharma, Not the Man

[In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto.]

I am sorry to trouble you, but I would like to inform you of one thing in advance. This master, Nichiren Shōnin, is the one and only master of virtue and is a sagacious and irreplaceable person. If the worst should happen, you would surely be sorry. It is rather foolish for you not to believe in him just because the people in the world do not believe in him. When the rulers of Japan put faith in him, everyone will believe in him. It will be useless for you to believe in him then. Putting faith in him because the rulers of Japan believe in him means that you believe in a man, not the dharma. The people in the world think that children must obey their parents, retainers obey their lord, and disciples follow their masters, but this is a wrong idea held by those who know neither Buddhism nor non-Buddhist teachings. In the Filial Piety, a Confucian classic, it is stated that when a father makes a mistake, his son should remonstrate with him, and that when a lord makes a mistake, his retainer should admonish him. In Buddhism it is preached: “He who enters Buddhism, discarding the favors of his parents, is one who truly compensates the favors received from his parents.”

Prince Siddhārtha, who had become a monk against the wishes of His father, King Suddodana, became the Buddha to lead His parents to Buddhahood. In the end He became the most filial son in the world. Filial Pi-kan was killed for remonstrating his father, King Chou Hsin of the Yin Dynasty, and left behind the fame of being a man of wisdom. If you disregard what I say as words of a petty monk, I am sure you will regret it not only in the present life but also in the one to come.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 96