Monthly Archives: November 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 15, 2020

I collected firewood and the fruits of trees and grasses,
And offered these things to him respectfully from time to time.
I never felt tired in body and mind
Because I was thinking of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Buddha teaches these verses in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story of one of his previous lives. He was a king who gave up his throne to search for someone to teach him. When he found a seer who knew the Wonderful Dharma, he became the servant of the seer and served him with enthusiasm. These verses remind us of the enthusiasm that comes from hearing the Buddha’s teachings.

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

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard Śāriputra repeat in gāthās his puzzlement over what the Buddha has said, we consider Śāriputra’s request and the Buddha’s response.

Thereupon the Buddha said to him,
“No, no, I will not. If I do, all the gods and men in the world will be frightened and perplexed.”

Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Explain it, explain it! The many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of living beings in this congregation have active functions of mind and clear wisdom because they have seen the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence. If they hear you, they will respect and believe you.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in a gāthā:

King of the Dharma, Most Honorable One!
Explain it! Do not worry!
The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe you.

The Buddha checked him again, saying, “No. If I do, all the gods, men and asuras in the world will be frightened and perplexed, and arrogant bhikṣus will fall into a great pit.”

Thereupon the Buddha repeated this in a gāthā:

No, no, I will not say any more.
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

Thereupon Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Expound the Dharma, expound the Dharma! The hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings in this congregation like me followed the [past] Buddhas and received their teachings in their consecutive previous existences. They will respect and believe you. They will be able to have peace after the long night and obtain many benefits.”

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

Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Highest Truth!
I am your eldest son.
Expound the Dharma!

The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe the Dharma.
They have been taught by the [past] Buddhas
In their consecutive previous existences.
They are joining their hands together [towards you],
Wishing with all their hearts to hear and receive your words.

Expound the Dharma
To us twelve hundred men,
And also to the other people
Who are seeking Buddhahood!
We shall be very glad to hear the Dharma.
The other people will also.

The Daily Dharma from Feb. 21, 2020, offers this:

No, no, I will not say any more.
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. This was his response the first time Śāriputra asked to receive the Buddha’s highest teaching. The Buddha knew we must be prepared for his wisdom. We must discern clearly the difference between what we know and what we do not know. Because all things are impermanent, the truths we cling to may no longer apply. The ignorance and confusion at the root of our suffering will disappear as we set aside what is no longer true and gain wisdom.

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

Peaceful Action, d5b, d6b

Burning Craving

When we hear this story [of the burning house], we may think it’s just a children’s story and that it doesn’t really have anything to do with our lives. But if we look more deeply into our minds and the state of mind of those around us, we see that this parable expresses the truth about our situation. We’re full of craving, always running after things. We want to become the director or president of a company, we want to buy a beautiful car or a nice house, or go on an exotic vacation. We don’t see that the world we’re living in, driven by craving and delusion, is like a burning house.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p49
WONS

Who Except Nichiren Is Foreshadowed by Great Omens?

Twenty-one years have already passed since I, Nichiren, became aware of the appearance of the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra at the beginning of the Latter Age in the land of Japan. During these years, especially in the last few years, I have encountered a continuous series of calamities day by day and month by month. I must be executed soon. It seems difficult for me to survive this month or this year. Who except me, Nichiren, is foreshadowed by those great omens? Those who have any doubt may ask my disciples to instruct them further.

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

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 14, 2020

Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.

These verses are sung by the Brahma King Great Compassion in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. He invites his fellow Brahma Kings, creators of entire worlds, to leave the luxury of their palaces to find a Buddha who is leading all beings to enlightenment. They value the Buddha’s words more than anything that they have created for themselves, and know how rare it is to encounter an enlightened being. These kings give us an example of how we can learn to treasure 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 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard Mañjuśrī’s response to Maitreya, we learn from Mañjuśrī of a long-ago Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light.

“Good men! Innumerable, inconceivable, asamkya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light, the Tathagata, 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. He expounded the right teachings. His expounding of the right teachings was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The meanings of those teachings were profound. The words were skillful, pure, unpolluted, perfect, clean, and suitable for the explanation of brahma practices. To those who were seeking Śrāvakahood, he expounded the teaching of the four truths, a teaching suitable for them, saved them from birth, old age, disease, and death, and caused them to attain Nirvāṇa. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, a teaching suitable for them. To Bodhisattvas, he expounded the teaching of the six paramitas, a teaching suitable for them, and caused them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

“After his extinction there appeared a Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. After his extinction there appeared another Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. In the same manner, seventy thousand Buddhas appeared in succession, all of them being called Sun­Moon-Light with the surname Bharadvaja.

See This Fantastic Ability to be Creative

stories

This Fantastic Ability to be Creative

These kinds of stories are like invitations to unfreeze our imagination, our creativity, so that we too might be empowered through them to make use of the power that is within us to be the Buddha, which means nothing more or less than being representatives of Shakyamuni Buddha in this world by practicing, like him, the bodhisattva way.

The purpose of the enchantment is in part to have us know not only intellectually that we have buddha-nature, but also to have us know it physically, in our very muscles and bones. We can become the hands and feet of, the very body of, the Buddha. We are empowered by the Lotus Sutra to take charge of our lives, so that the world will be a better place because of our choices and our actions. In this way, the Dharma Flower Sutra, chanted and studied and embraced, can give us fantastic power, helping us to realize that we too have this fantastic ability to be creative, to use our imaginations and our energy to make ourselves and those around us, that is the entire world, a bit better than it would be otherwise.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p27-28
Peaceful Action, d5b, d6b

Like a Burning House – Full of Traps and Dangers

A phrase that appears often in Buddhist texts is, “The three realms are in disturbance, just like a house on fire.” According to classical Buddhist thought, the three realms are three levels of existence in the world of samsara: the realm of desire (kamadhatu), the ordinary world we inhabit, where beings are subject to the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion; the realm of form (rupadhatu), a higher realm of existence in which beings have severed some attachments; and the realm of formlessness (arupadhatu), the highest realm of samsaric existence in which beings are free of attachment to form. Even though the higher two of the three realms may offer some respite from the afflictions, all three are still samsara. None of the three realms can provide real peace or security. They are like a burning house, full of traps and dangers.

Imagine a group of chickens in a cage. They fight each other to get the corn, and they fight over whether the corn or the rice tastes better. And while they are competing with each other over a few kernels of corn or grains of rice, they are unaware that in a few hours they will be taken to the slaughterhouse. We too live in a world full of insecurity, but we don’t see it because we’re so caught up in our craving and delusions.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p47-48
WONS

The Spirit of Śākyamuni Buddha

All the scriptures of Buddhism are characters written on pieces of paper. They look like, for instance, stars and the moon scattered in the sky or plants growing on the earth. The characters of all the scriptures of Buddhism are the spirit of Śākyamuni Buddha, namely His strength of Life.

Sokumotsu Santoku Gosho, On the Three Utilities of Food, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 178-179

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 13, 2020

Only perverted people say:
“All things exist,” or “Nothing exists,”
Or “All things are real,” or “Nothing is real,”
Or “All things are born,” or “Nothing is born.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. Hearing these descriptions can be confusing. We think that we have to choose from among these views, and that these are the only views possible. The Buddha shows us another way. When we think of things as either unchanging or nonexistent, we live in a world of either judgement or despair. The Buddha shows us how to value what exists as it is changing and not attach ourselves to our expectations of stability. It is only because we are changing, and the world is changing around us, that we have the potential to become enlightened.

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