Monthly Archives: December 2020

LS32

Day 31

Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

Day 31 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard of a Buddha called Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom and the virtues of Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, we consider what happened when the two sons asks their mother to go hear Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha.

“Thereupon that Buddha expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, wishing to lead King Wonderful-Adornment also out of his compassion towards all living beings. The two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, came to their mother, joined their ten fingers and palms together, and said, ‘Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha! We also will go to attend on him, approach him, make offerings to him, and bow to him because he is expounding the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to all gods and men. Hear and receive [the sūtra]!’

“The mother said to them, ‘[Yes, I will. But] your father believes in heresy. He is deeply attached to the teachings of brahmanas. Go and tell him to allow us to go [to that Buddha]! ‘

“Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes joined their ten fingers and palms together, and said to their mother, ‘We were born in this family attached to wrong views although we are sons of the King of the Dharma.’

“The mother said to them, ‘Show some wonders to your father out of your compassion towards him! If he sees [the wonders], he will have his mind purified and allow us to go to that Buddha.’

See ‘Off the Path’

stories, LS32, d31b

‘Off the Path’

It is interesting that we find the Dharma Flower Sutra here being sensitive to the possibility of families having members with different religious perspectives. Sometimes the term “heretical” has been used to translate the Chinese/Japanese term gedo, which literally means “off the path,” where the path is the Way of the Buddha. It simply means non-Buddhist. Actually, one could say that Buddhism itself is a Hindu heresy. “Heresy” means departure from something already established, some “orthodoxy,” and is always more or less within some tradition. Thus “Christian heresy” is possible and so is “Buddhist heresy” but that is not what is meant by gedo, especially here, where the King is a follower of brahman views, that is, of orthodox views.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p286
Peaceful Action, d21b, d22b

Beyond the Eight Outer Forms

We sometimes use the expression “The Eight Outer Forms of Realizing the Path” to mean the appearances or forms through which every Tathagata passes: entering the womb, being born, getting in touch with suffering, becoming a practitioner, following the path, attaining enlightenment, teaching the Dharma, and entering nirvana. We practice in order to see that these outer forms of reality are really only magical appearances. In fact, the Buddha is not born and does not die; that is the true nature of the Buddha and of everything else. When we look deeply enough into any phenomenon – a pebble, a drop of dew, a leaf, a cloud – we recognize its ultimate nature in the Three Dharma Seals of impermanence, no-self, and interdependence. In this way we can discover its true nature of no birth, no death, which is exactly the same as the true nature of the Tathagata. A beautiful golden leaf in autumn is also just putting on a magical show for us. First the leaf plays at being born in the springtime, and later it pretends to fall down to earth and die. As far as the phenomenal world is concerned, we believe that the leaf comes into being and then passes away. But in terms of the ultimate dimension, birth and death, coming and going, existence and nonexistence are only a magic display, a mere appearance.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p116-117
Lecture on Lotus Sutra

This Perfect Medicine

Quote

The Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children reminds us that the Lotus Sutra is the perfect medicine to cure all the sufferings of this world and this life. It is perfect in every way and is the actual essence of Buddhism throughout eternity. The Buddha says, I have left you, meaning us, this perfect medicine in the form of the Lotus Sutra. Here “left” has two meanings, one being that he has given us the perfect medicine and the other that he has seemingly disappeared. The intent here is to cause us, the sick children, to pick up the good medicine because it will cure us of all our sufferings. All we need do is take it. And because he wants us to appreciate it he shows his death to us as an expedient to make us want to practice harder and to value this priceless teaching encapsulated in the Lotus Sutra.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

WONS

‘I Will Reach Buddhahood in the Future Without a Doubt.’

[I]n the 20th chapter on the “Never-Despising Bodhisattva” of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha describes Himself in His previous lives: “Once upon a time, there was a bodhisattva named Never-Despising. … He propagated the Lotus Sūtra fervently despite persecutions.” The sūtra describes how evil people spoke ill of him, abused him or struck him with a stick or a piece of wood, and threw pieces of tile or stones at him. By showing such ascetic practices in His previous lives, the Buddha encouraged those who propagate in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration. Propagating the Lotus Sūtra, Never-Despising Bodhisattva was persecuted, and was struck with a stick or a piece of wood but attained the rank of the Buddha instantly. As I propagated the Lotus Sūtra, my house was set on fire at Matsubagayatsu, and I was attacked by Tōjō Kagenobu at Komatsubara, exiled to Izu, and banished to Sado Island. Therefore, I will reach Buddhahood in the future without a doubt.

Hakii Saburō-dono Go-henji, A Response to Lord Hakii Saburō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 185

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 12, 2020

The Buddha is the master of the human and heavenly realms, the parent of all living beings, and the teacher who opens the way and leads us all to enlightenment. Lowly parents lack the virtue of a master, and the master without the virtue of parents is frightening. People with the virtues of parents or master do not necessarily possess the virtue of the teacher.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō). This illustrates three aspects of the ever-present Buddha to which we can aspire as we practice his highest teachings. Parents care about their children, but they can lack the skill and knowledge necessary to benefit them. A skillful master can be wise about how to live in this world of conflict, but without a true concern for the well-being of those he leads, can degenerate into cruelty and selfishness. As a teacher, the Buddha has found us all within himself, and cares for us as he cares for himself. He has also found himself within all of us, and knows what it takes to lead us to his wisdom.

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

LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the dhārāni spells offered by Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, we consider the dhārāni spells offered by Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King.

Thereupon Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! I also will utter dhārānis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of my compassion towards all living beings.”

Then he uttered spells, “Ari (1), nari (2), tonari (3), anaro (4), nabi (5), kunabi (6).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! I will protect this teacher of the Dharma with these divine spells. I also will protect the person who keeps this sūtra so that he may have no trouble within a hundred yojanas’ distance [from here].”

See Five Kinds of Untranslatable Words

Peaceful Action, d21b, d22b

The Ultimate Skillful Means

The appearance of the Buddha in the historical dimension, as a particular person born into a particular family, and having a normal human life span, is like a magic show designed to capture the attention of the living beings of that time and guide them to the path of transformation. In the chapters of the Lotus Sutra discussed in Part One, on the historical dimension, the Buddha used various skillful means in teaching the paths of the three vehicles, when in fact there is really only One Vehicle. We could say that of all the Buddha’s methods of teaching, his appearance in the form of various historical Buddhas throughout time and space is the ultimate skillful means. Through this method, the Tathagata has never stopped teaching and guiding beings to liberation.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p115
Lotus Seeds

The True Nature of Our Lives

Quote

In Nichiren Buddhism, a Middle Way is chosen between the way of awakening through self-effort and the way of awakening through total reliance on the Buddha. This Middle Way is the practice of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, which is the seed of awakening. This seed eventually bears fruit as the realization that the true nature of our lives is none other than the true Focus of Devotion, the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha.

Lotus Seeds

WONS

The Conclusion of the Nirvana Sūtra

Of the Lotus-Nirvana period, the Nirvana Sūtra was expounded in one day and night while facing death. Śākyamuni Buddha passed away at the age of 80, but traditions also say that Śākyamuni was 79, 80, 81, 82, 105, or 120 years old when He died. The Sūtra of Clarification of the Age of Semblance Dharma, which foretells the decline of Buddhism during the Age of Semblance Dharma and advises the practice of almsgiving, was preached by the Hiraṇyavatī River just before the death of the Buddha. Thus, this sūtra is regarded to be the conclusion of the Nirvana Sūtra.

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 244