Monthly Archives: December 2020

Foundations, Books

Foundations of T’ien-T’ai Philosophy

The Flowering of the Two Truths Theory In Chinese Buddhism

tien-tai-philosophyFrom the Forward by David W. Chappell
This volume represents the first comprehensive study in English of the teaching of the Threefold Truth, perhaps the single most important doctrine in T’ien-t’ai Buddhism. Its author, Paul Swanson, stands as the first of a new generation of Buddhist scholars attempting to provide a comprehensive analysis of T’ien-t’ai for the West and thus to open new vistas for understanding East Asian Buddhism as a whole.

As the first major school of Buddhism in East Asia, T’ien-t’ai marked a watershed in Chinese philosophy. Subsequent developments in Buddhist thought defined themselves in terms of the position they took in its regard, and this is what makes its understanding so critical for the study of Buddhist intellectual history.

To take but one example, it has always been something of a minor mystery why the Three-Teatise (Sanlun) theories of the Chinese Mādhyamika School vanished after having played a decisive role in fifth and sixth century China. The present study provides part of the answer in arguing that Mādhyamika did not in fact die in China but only ceased to exist as a distinct, sociologically discernible entity because it had become absorbed into the foundations for a new breed of indigenous Buddhist schools. First among these new schools, as the author shows, was Tien-t’ai.

The key figure in this first of the major Chinese Buddhist schools was Chih-i (538-597), who is rightly considered the greatest of all Chinese Buddhist philosophers and has been ranked with Thomas Aquinas and al-Ghazali as one of the great systematizers of religious thought and practice in world history. In contrast to Ch’an and Pure Land Buddhism, however, T’ien-t’ai Buddhism is so multidimensional and comprehensive that it is often not easy to understand. This fact, together with its failure to attract a strong following in the West, has led to its neglect by serious scholars.

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Peaceful Action, d25b

Sharing in the Tathagata’s Limitless Lifespan and Great Spiritual Power

To complete our discussion of the ultimate dimension we skip ahead to Lotus Sutra Chapter 21, “The Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One.” The supernatural power, or spiritual energy, of the Tathagata is his capacity to realize the practice. Naturally this spiritual power is based in the infinite life span of the Tathagata, the Buddha’s ultimate nature. We have already seen that the Tathagata cannot be placed in a frame of calculable space and time. The Tathagata is beyond our conception of the bounds of space and time. The Tathagata is not one but many; the Tathagata is not only here in this moment but everywhere at all times, in manifestation bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. So, based on the foundation of his infinite life span and ultimate nature, we can see that the spiritual power of the Tathagata is very great, beyond our ability to imagine it.

The essential message of Chapter 21 is that our practice is to share in the Tathagata’s limitless lifespan and great spiritual power. Just as when we look deeply into a leaf, a cloud, or any phenomenon, we are able to see its infinite lifespan in the ultimate dimension, and we realize that we are the same. If we look deeply enough, we will discover our own nature of no birth, no death. Like the Buddha, we also exist and can function in a much greater capacity than the ordinary frame of time and space we perceive ourselves to be bounded by.

We participate in the Buddha’s infinite life span and limitless spiritual strength when we are able to get in touch with the ultimate dimension of everything we see. When we are in touch with the Tathagata’s life span and spiritual power, we are also in touch with our own ultimate nature and spiritual power. Many of us go around all the time feeling that we are as small as a grain of sand. We may feel that our one small human life doesn’t have very much meaning. We struggle to get through life, and at the end of our life we feel that we have accomplished very little. This is a kind of inferiority complex many people suffer from. If we see reality only in terms of the historical dimension, it may seem to us as if there is little one ordinary human being can do. But if we get in touch with the ultimate dimension of reality, we know that we are just like the Buddha. We share in the Buddha’s nature – we are Buddha nature. When we are able to see beyond the limitations of perceived time and space, beyond our own notions of inferiority and powerlessness, we find we have great stores of spiritual energy to share with the world.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p127-128
WONS

Neither Loyal Retainers Nor Filial Sons

[A letter of explanation written by Nichiren Shōnin on behalf of Shijō Yorimoto on the 25th of the sixth month in the third year of the Kenji Period (1277) and submitted to the lord of the Ema Family.]

In your same letter to me, Your Lordship wrote also that to accept wholeheartedly the idea of one’s master or parents regardless of whether or not they are morally right would please the gods and Buddhas, and it would be exemplary of world propriety. Yet as this is a matter of prime importance, I hesitate to express my own opinions directly. Instead, I would like to explain by quoting some passages from the works of ancient sages.

The Classic of Filial Piety states: “A child should remonstrate with his father if the father is wrong, and retainers should remonstrate with their lords if their lords are immoral.” Cheng-hsüan, a scholar in Latter Han in China, said: “If retainers and children do not remonstrate with their lords and parents when their actions are not righteous, their countries and homes will be destroyed without fail.” In the Hsin-hsii it is asserted: “Those who do not remonstrate with their tyrannical lord are not loyal retainers. Those who do not speak up due to fear of death are not brave men.” Grand Master Dengyō also stated: “If injustice has been done by their fathers and lords, children will have to fight against their fathers and retainers against their lords. Those who do not remonstrate are neither loyal retainers nor filial sons. In the same way, a disciple must remonstrate with his teacher in cases when his master is wrong.”

In the Lotus Sūtra it is further stated: “I have no concern for my life and body; I have only concern for the unsurpassed way.” The Nirvana Sūtra states: “When a man, who excels in debate and discussion, is sent to a foreign country by the emperor on a diplomatic mission, he should never have the imperial order insulted even at the cost of his life. Sages should act likewise!” Grand Master Chang-an interprets this passage of the Nirvana Sūtra to mean that as the dharma is greater than life itself, we should not hesitate to spread the dharma even at the cost of our lives. He further states that what undermines Buddhism is antagonism within Buddhism, and that seeing someone acting immorally, if you have no compassion to remonstrate with him, you will in the end become his antagonist. “Sternly reprimanding him and helping him overcome his misconduct is an act of parents,” said Chang-an.

Perhaps my fellow workers consider me, Yorimoto, brazen and disrespectful. We should obey our parents and lord on anything of worldly matters, but seeing my lord to whom I owe much, being deceived by practicers of evil teachings and about to fall into hell, how can I not lament? In ancient India, ever since King Ajātaśatru upheld Devadatta and the Six Brahman Masters as his teachers and stood against Śākyamuni Buddha, all the people of the Magadha Kingdom as well as his 580,000 relatives all became enemies of Buddhism. Among them, Minister Jivaka alone remained a disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha. King Ajātaśatru, just as Your Lordship is to me, Yorimoto, was displeased that Minister Jivaka continued to be a disciple of the Buddha. In the end, however, the king abandoned the evil teachings of his six ministers and became a devotee of the true teaching of the Buddha in which Jivaka believed. Likewise, I, Yorimoto, hope to save Your Lordship in the end.

Yorimoto Chinjō, Yorimoto’s Letter of Explanation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 107-108

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 20, 2020

His wonderful voice [comes from] his perceiving the voice of the world.
It is like the voice of Brahman, like the sound of a tidal wave.
It excels all the other voices of the world.
Therefore, think of him constantly!

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva is the embodiment of compassion. When we allow ourselves to hear and be present for all of the suffering that happens in the world, then we are hearing compassion. When we have the courage not to run away from misery but to face it and live through it, we bring this Bodhisattva to life in our world and inspire compassion in all beings.

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

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered how all Buddhas utilize expedients to teach the dharma, we consider the simple acts of those who have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who met a past Buddha,
Who heard the Dharma from him,
And who obtained various merits and virtues
By almsgiving or by observing the precepts
Or by patience or by making endeavors
Or by dhyāna or by wisdom,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Were good and gentle,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Erected billions of stupas,
And who purely and extensively adorned [those stupas]
With treasures
Such as gold, silver, crystal,
Shell, agate, ruby, and lapis lazuli,
And who offered those adornments to his śarīras;
Or those who made the mausoleum [of the Buddha]
With stone, bricks, or clay,
Or with many kinds of wood,
Such as candana, aloes, or agalloch;
Or those who made the mausoleum of the Buddha
With heaps of earth
In the wilderness;
Or the boys who made the stupa of the Buddha
With heaps of sand by playing,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who carved an image of the Buddha
With the [proper] physical marks in his honor
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who made an image of the Buddha
With the seven treasures;
Or those who made it
Of copper, copper-gold alloy, nickel,
Pewter lead, tin, iron, wood, or clay;
Or those who made it in plaster work,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who drew or caused others to draw in color
A picture of the Buddha adorned with his physical marks,
Each mark representing one hundred merits,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.

Those who respectfully offered
Flowers, incense, streamers, and canopies
Enshrined in a stupa-mausoleum;
Or those who caused men to make music
By beating drums, by blowing horns and conches,
And by playing reed-pipes, flutes, lyres, harps,
Lutes, gongs, and copper cymbals,
And offered the wonderful sounds produced thereby
To the image or picture of the Buddha;
Or those who sang joyfully in praise of him for his virtues;
Or those who just murmured [in praise of him],
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.

Those who bowed to the image of the Buddha,
Or just joined their hands together towards it,
Or raised only one hand towards it,
Or bent their head a little towards it
And offered the bending to it,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
They attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
Saved countless living beings,
And entered into the Nirvana-without-remainder
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.

Those who entered a stupa-mausoleum
And said only once “Namo Buddhaya,”
Without even concentrating their minds,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who heard the Dharma
In the lifetime of a past Buddha
Or after his extinction
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

See Taking the Bodhisattva Way

stories, LS32, d4b, d25b

Taking the Bodhisattva Way

In Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra we find such expressions as this:

If anyone, even while distracted,
With even a single flower,
Makes an offering to a painted image,
They will progressively see countless buddhas. (LS 94)

If making an offering with just a single flower while being distracted can be a sign of taking the Buddha Way, surely such things as expressions of gratitude or apology, even superficial ones, can be signs of respect for others. Just as “merely formal” Dharma is better than no Dharma at all, small signs of respect are much better than no respect at all.

Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva tells everyone he meets, even extremely arrogant monks, even those who are angry, disrespectful, and mean-spirited, that they have taken the bodhisattva way. If what he says is true, surely whenever we make even superficial expressions of gratitude or apology, we are to some degree showing respect, a sign that, like Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, we too have—to some slight but very important degree—taken the bodhisattva way that will lead to our awakening.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p218
Blog

32 Divisions Equals One Truth


Recently I’ve needed to compare English translation of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translations of the Lotus Sutra. I thought this stack of books, all tabbed to divide the sutra into 32 parts, made an interesting photo. I’m using it to illustrate my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice.

Peaceful Action, d23b, d24b

The Flavor of the Buddhadharma

Having received this great merit, with our mind faculty transformed, any thought we have, any concept we entertain – all have the flavor of the Buddhadharma. Even though we may not yet have realized perfect wisdom or put an end to all our mental afflictions (kleshas), with a purified mind faculty every thought, every calculation, every deduction, every word we speak is in accord with the Buddhadharma. There is nothing we teach that is not the truth, and the value of what we teach is equivalent to that of the Dharma taught by all the Buddhas in the sutras. The far-reaching merit of the Lotus Sutra transforms all those who hear it, understand it, accept it in faith, and practice it into teachers of Dharma who share their insight and joy with others in order to help them realize the truth of the ultimate dimension and cross to the shore of freedom.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p126
d30b, WONS

The Life Span in the Realm of Heavenly Beings

It has been 2,200 years or so since the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra. As the life span of human beings is short, there is no one still alive who was able to see the Buddha in person. The length of a day as well as the life span in the realm of heavenly beings, however, are so long that there exist numerous heavenly beings who listened to the Buddha preach the Lotus Sūtra. Fifty years for human beings is equivalent to one day and night for the Four Heavenly Kings. Passing the day and night in this way, with 30 days in a month and 12 months to a year they live altogether 500 years. Accordingly, 2,200 years or so in the human realm is equivalent to 44 days of the Four Heavenly Kings, and it has been only 44 days since the sun and moon and Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamon, one of the Four Heavenly Kings) saw the Buddha enter Nirvana. In other words, it has not been two months yet since the Buddha passed away. To such heavenly beings as Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven it has been a month or so since the Buddha passed into Nirvana. How can they forget all about the vow they made before the Buddha, the great favor of the sūtra in which they attained Buddhahood, and abandon the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra in such a short span? When we think of things in this way, we are sure we can depend on these heavenly beings.

Accordingly, the prayer said by the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra will inevitably be fulfilled just as a sound is echoed, a shadow follows the body, the moon reflects upon the clear water, a water nymph invites the water, a magnet attracts iron, amber eliminates dust, and a clear mirror reflects the color of everything.

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 62-63

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 19, 2020

In order to save the [perverted] people,
I expediently show my Nirvāṇa to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Dharma.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is part of the explanation that his existence in the physical form of Śākyamuni was only one way that he leads all beings to enlightenment. The Buddha described his ever-present nature as the most difficult of his teachings to believe and understand. Recognizing the presence of the Buddha in the world is the same as recognizing Buddha nature in ourselves and all beings. Knowing that the Buddha is always available to help us in this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma means we do not need to rely on our own limited abilities. The store of the Dharma is always available to us. We just need to find it and use it.

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