Monthly Archives: January 2021

Lotus Seeds

Three Great Secret Dharmas, Three Treasures and Threefold Training

The Three Great Secret Dharmas can also be understood as a clarification of both of the Three Treasures and of the Threefold Training.

Three Great Secret Dharmas

The Three Great Secret Dharmas are not meant to replace or to change the traditional Three Treasures and Threefold Training. Rather, the Three Great Secret Dharmas are a way of clarifying and expressing their deepest meaning. Nichiren Buddhism is the Buddhism of Shakyamuni Buddha, but unlike other schools, it strives to practice according to the Buddha’s true intentions as expressed in the Lotus Sutra and as clarified by Nichiren Shonin.

Lotus Seeds

WONS

A Statue of the Living Buddha

The statue of the Buddha you have erected this time is the living Buddha. Yours is exactly the same as the wooden statue made by Great King Udayana and another one erected by King Bimbisāra. I am sure that such heavenly beings as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, Sun Deity, Moon Deity, and the Four Heavenly Kings will not fail to protect you and watch over you just as the shadow follows the body.

Shijō Kingo Shakabutsu Kuyō-ji, Opening the Eyes Service of Shijō Kingo’s Statue of Śākyamuni, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 133

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 20, 2021

They also will be able to locate the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas by smelling their bodies from afar. Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Our sense of smell is often unconscious. We associate smells with places, experiences or even people that we like or dislike. These smells can even cause an emotional reaction by causing us to relive a situation associated with that smell. In the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha teaches that our everyday experiences are no different from enlightenment, that his great wisdom is not about how to escape from this world. It is about how to use the senses and abilities with which we are blessed in ways we cannot imagine.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the teachings of Buddhas that Maitreya sees, we consider the practices of the Bodhisattvas of those worlds that Maitreya sees.

Mañjuśrī!
I see and hear
Hundreds of thousands of millions of things
Such as these
From this world.
I will tell you briefly some more of them.

I see as many Bodhisattvas of those worlds
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
Who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
[In various ways] according to their environments

Some of them practice almsgiving.
They joyfully give treasures
Such as gold, silver,
Pearls, manis, shells, agates, and diamonds.
They also give menservants and maidservants,
Vehicles and palanquins adorned with treasures.

They proceed to the enlightenment of the Buddha
By the merits obtained thereby,
Wishing to obtain this vehicle,
The most excellent vehicle
In the triple world,
The vehicle praised by the Buddhas.

Some Bodhisattvas give
Jeweled chariots yoked with four horses,
Equipped with railings and flower-canopies,
And adorned on all sides.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering their flesh or their limbs
Or their wives or their children
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Joyfully offering
Their heads or their eyes or their bodies
In order to attain the wisdom of the Buddha.

Mañjuśrī!
I see some kings coming to a Buddha,
And asking him about unsurpassed enlightenment.
They have renounced the world of pleasures,
Left their palaces,
Parted from their ministers and women,
And shaved their beard and hair.
They now wear monastic robes.

See What It Means To Be A Reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra

stories, LS32, d1b

What It Means To Be A Reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra

When contemplating any of the stories of the Dharma Flower Sutra, we would do well to ask oneself where we ourselves fit into the story – to remember in this case that I myself am a member of the great assembly gathered before the Buddha. That is what it means to be a hearer or reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p36
Peaceful Action, d29b

The More You Give, The More You Receive

Giving (dana) is an essential bodhisattva practice. In Chapter Twenty on Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, the Universal Gate, we learned about the four skillful means of a bodhisattva. The first of these is the practice of making offerings. There are three kinds of offering. The first is giving material goods. The second is giving the gift of the Dharma, the practice that liberates us from suffering. The third and ultimate offering of the bodhisattva is the gift of non-fear. We have to understand giving in this light. Dana paramita, the perfection of giving, has nothing to do with material wealth. It has to do with generosity and openness, our capacity to embrace others with our compassion and love. With that spirit, we quite naturally want to give everything we can to help them. So we can see right away that dana paramita intersects with the practice of kṣānti, inclusiveness, and it also has the element of prajn͂ā, wisdom, because it is through our understanding of interbeing that generosity and compassion arise. When we truly see ourselves as others and others as ourselves, we naturally want to do everything we can to secure their happiness and well-being, because we know that it is also our own well-being and happiness.

There’s a kind of vegetable in Vietnam called he (prounounced “hey”). It belongs to the onion family and looks like a scallion, and it is very good in soup. The more you cut the plants at the base the more they grow. If you don’t cut them, they won’t grow very much, but if you cut them often, right at the base of the stalk, they grow bigger and bigger. This is also true of the practice of dana. If you give and continue to give, you become richer and richer all the time, richer in terms of happiness and well-being. This may seem strange, but it is always true. The more you give away the things that you value – not just material things but also gifts of time and energy – the greater your store of riches. How is this possible? When you try to hoard things you may end up losing them, but everything you give to help others always remains with you as the foundation of your well-being.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p243-244
d17b, WONS

What Kinds of Doctrines Are Expounded in the Lotus Sūtra?

What kinds of doctrines are expounded in such a precious sūtra entitled the Lotus Sūtra? Beginning with the “Expedients” chapter in the first fascicle, the sūtra expounds that bodhisattvas, Two Vehicles (Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha) and ordinary people are all able to attain Buddhahood, though there is no actual proof yet. Suppose a guest visits you for the first time. He looks fine, speaks politely, and there is nothing dubious about his words, but until you confirm the truth about him, it would be difficult to believe him from merely his words. In such a case, if something important happens one after another to confirm his words, you can trust him thereafter without hesitation.

Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living beings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like turning black lacquer into white or purifying dirty water by putting a wish-fulfilling gem in it. The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women. Grand Master Dengyō of Mt. Hiei, who first spread the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, annotated in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “Neither the dragon girl, who became a Buddha to preach the dharma, nor the people who heard her preach the dharma needed a roundabout way to Buddhahood. They immediately attained Buddhahood with their present bodies by the power of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 146-147

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 19, 2021

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. Because the Buddha sees this world for what it is, his conception of time is much different from ours. We believe that our existence is tied up with the existence of our bodies. Here he reminds us that while our lives are certainly precious, this is not the whole story. Our existence is linked with that of countless beings, and there is no good reason to fear our extinction. There is no shortage of time, and no shortage of lives. Our opportunities to benefit others are truly boundless. The only things that restrict us are our own delusion and attachment.

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

LS32, Innumerable

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the third of the 10 Beneficial Effects of the Sutra of Innumerable Meaning, we consider the fourth beneficial effect:

“O you of good intent! Fourth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra – whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase – they will gain a dauntless attitude, they will become capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves, and they will gain the company of bodhisattvas. The buddha tathāgatas will always attend to such people and will expound the teachings to them. After hearing them, these people will be fully able to accept them, uphold them, and follow them without opposition; they will also, in turn, expound them appropriately to others far and wide. O you of good intent! Such people can be likened to the newborn prince of a king and queen. One day becomes two days, and then seven; one month becomes two months, and then seven; he becomes one year old, and then two, and then seven. Even though he cannot yet govern or administer the affairs of state, he is revered and respected by the people and enjoys the companionship of all great princes. The king and queen constantly give him earnest counsel and shower their affection upon him. Why is this so? It is because he is of tender age and has not yet matured. O you of good intent! So it is also with one who keeps faith with this sutra. The convergence of the buddhas and this sutra – the union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child. If this bodhisattva can hear this sutra – whether a phrase of it or whether a verse, whether one, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or, like myriad multiples of all the sands of the Ganges River, an infinite number of times – even though he or she will not yet be able to embody its principles and truths to the fullest extent, or be able to make lands in the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds tremble and shake from the rolling thunder of a Brahma voice that turns a great wheel of the Dharma, he or she will have gained the respect and admiration of all of the four kinds of followers and eight kinds of ever-present guardian spirits, will gain the company of great bodhisattvas, and will see deeply into doctrines preserved by the buddhas and be able to speak on them without fault or lack. Because this bodhisattva is just beginning to learn, he or she will always be kept in mind by the buddhas and will be wrapped in their affection. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fourth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: The union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child – capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves.

Peaceful Action

Six Doors of Action

Quote

The Sanskrit term “paramita” is usually translated in English as “perfection,” but in Chinese Buddhist literature it is always rendered in a character that translates literally as “crossing to the other shore.” The Six Paramitas are very concrete means for us to cross over the sea of suffering to the shore of freedom from craving, anger, envy, despair, and delusion. Through cultivating and perfecting these six ways of being, we can reach the other shore very quickly – it may take only a few seconds for us to cross over the river of suffering and arrive on the shore of well-being. We may have thought that it would take many years of practice in order to get free of the afflictions, but if we know how to cultivate and manifest these six qualities we can cross over right here and now.

The first paramita, the first door of action, is dana, giving and generosity. The second door of action is shila, the precepts, mindfulness trainings, and guidelines for ethical behavior. The third door is kṣānti, all-embracing inclusiveness. The fourth door of action is vīrya, diligence, energy, effort, and steadfastness in the practice. The fifth is dhyana, meditation, the practice of stopping and calming and looking deeply. And the sixth is prajn͂ā, wisdom and understanding.

We have already seen these qualities manifested in the bodhisattvas of the Lotus Sutra. Never Despising Bodhisattva and Pūrṇa exemplify the perfection of inclusiveness. Mañjuśrī is an example of complete realization of great wisdom. Earth Store Bodhisattva’s vow not to rest until all living beings are delivered from the hells of suffering is an example of the perfection of diligence.

All of the great bodhisattvas manifest the qualities of the Six Paramitas in various ways, and each of these six doors of action exists in interdependence with the others. In any one of these six qualities, you can see the other five. This is the approach that we should always take when we study and practice Buddhism, because the very foundation of Buddhist wisdom is interbeing – the one contains the all.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p239-240