Monthly Archives: February 2021

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 World-Holding Heavenly-King, we meet the 10 rākṣasas.

There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings. These ten rākṣasas [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

Then they uttered spells before the Buddha:

“Ideibi (1), ideibin (2), ideibi (3), adeibi ( 4), ideibi (5), deibi (6), deibi (7), deibi (8), deibi (9), deibi (10), rokei (11), rokei (12), rokei (13), rokei (14), takei (15), takei (16), takei (17), tokei (18), tokei (19).”

See How Hārītī Came to Defend the Dharma

Foundations

Buddha-Nature as the Complete Cause of Buddhahood

Buddha-nature as the conditional causes of Buddhahood refers to the inherent potential and propensity for Buddhahood within all sentient beings which allows them to practice and build up the proper causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to one’s inherent disposition , if not obstructed by sundry passions and delusions, to perform the deeds required to realize the wisdom of a Buddha.

Buddha-nature as the complete cause of Buddhahood refers to the inherent potential for wisdom in all sentient beings. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to the illumination of wisdom, which destroys delusions and reveals the true nature of reality. Buddha-nature as the direct cause of Buddhahood refers to the fact that all beings are inherently endowed with “the reality of true thusness” in that they all participate in the true nature of reality. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to the true nature of reality which is non-illusory and un-differentiated.

These three aspects, again, are not detached from each other but different aspects of one Buddha-nature and one reality. The Buddha-nature, the potential in each sentient being to attain Buddhahood, consists of the ability to practice, the prior presence of wisdom which only needs to be uncovered, and participation in true reality, which is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent.

The rest of the characteristics of the Buddha consist of various virtuous qualities such as the four Universal Vows, the perfection of the six pāramitā, and so forth. The Buddha’s “retribution” is actually the “reward” of perfect enlightenment and so forth for completing all practices and attaining Buddhahood.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 133-134
WONS

The Significance of Offering a Donation to the Lotus Sūtra

I have written exhaustively about your deep resolution to make a donation for the cause of the Lotus Sūtra that my writing brush is worn out and my fingers are too tired to hold the brush. It may be possible to count the number of rain drops falling in seven days over the triple thousand worlds. There must be a person who knows the amount of dust on the earth in all the worlds throughout the universe. In contrast, however, the Buddha has declared that the merit of offering a donation to just one character of the Lotus Sūtra is unfathomably great. Please realize the significance of offering a donation to the Lotus Sūtra through this teaching.

Kubo-ama Gozen Gohenji, Response to My Lady, the Nun of Kubo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 95

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 17, 2021

Deep in their minds they are thinking of me,
And observing the pure precepts.
Therefore, they will be filled with joy
When they hear they will become Buddhas.
I know their minds.
Therefore, I will expound the Great Vehicle to them.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. He speaks of those who come to his teachings wanting only to end their own suffering. He understands the part of our existence that is obscured by our delusions, and that the teaching of enlightenment of all beings in the Lotus Sūtra inspires us to purify this world of conflict. The joy we find in the Buddha’s wisdom is incomparable to the happiness we find when our desires are met. When we learn the Buddha’s mind through his teachings, we learn about our own true minds.

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

LS32

Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Day 29 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, we begin again with the question of how World-Voice-Perceiver got his name.

Thereupon Endless-Intent Bodhisattva rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined rus hands together towards the Buddha, and said, “World-Honored One! Why is World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva called World-Voice-Perceiver?”
The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva:

“Good man! If many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings hear [the name of] World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and call his name with all their hearts when they are under various sufferings, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will immediately perceive their voices, and cause them to emancipate themselves [from the sufferings]. Those who keep the name of this World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will not be burned when they are put into a conflagration [because they are protected] by, the supernatural powers of this Bodhisattva. Those who call his name will be able to take ground when they are washed by an inundation. Suppose hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings are crossing an ocean in order to obtain gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, coral, amber pearl, and other treasures, and suppose the ship carrying them is blown to the country of rākṣasa-devils by a storm. If one of the crew calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, all the crew will be saved from the attacks of the rākṣasas. Because of this, [this Bodhisattva] is called World-Voice-Perceiver.

See The Embodiment of Compassion

stories, LS32, d29b

The Embodiment of Compassion

Kwan-yin is not only a symbol of compassion, she is compassion, so that wherever compassion can be seen, Kwan-yin can be seen. Kwan-yin is not some god looking down at the world from a distance but the Buddha’s compassion embodied in the actual world of quite ordinary men and women.

Tradition also says that we should understand that we ourselves should embody Kwan-yin, that if, for example, we concentrate on Kwan-yin or recite the Kwan-yin chapter, we can open ourselves to compassion, not to some abstract compassion from a distance, but to actually embodying compassion by being compassionate in our own lives and behavior.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p277
Foundations

‘Tentative’ and ‘Real’ Are Inseparable and Interdependent

Another way to classify dharmas, or reality, is in terms of “tentative” and “real”. The term “tentative” refers to the conventional realm of language, expedient means, and the worldly truth, while the term “real” refers to the way things truly are, reality itself, the supreme truth. According to Chih-i, Fa-yün classified the first five suchlikes aspects as being “tentative” and corresponding to ordinary people, while the next four suchlikes are “real” and correspond to the insight of the sages. For Chih-i, however, the “tentative” and “real” are inseparable and interdependent – ordinary people and sages alike partake in both the tentative and the real – and the distinction between them is merely one of expediency. This is illustrated by interpreting the ten dharma realms with the threefold truth pattern. First, all ten realms from hell to Buddhahood are part of the same dharmadhatu, which is united by the fundamental universal nature of emptiness. Second, these are ten distinct realms in which there are conventional, yet real, differences between ordinary people and sages. Third, these ten realms are identical with the universe, and all of reality is included in the ten realms. Since each of the ten dharma realms contains the ten suchlike characteristics, there are one hundred suchlike characteristics. Since the ten dharma realms are also interpenetrating, there are one hundred dharma realms and one thousand suchlike characteristics.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 131-132
WONS

Unaffected by the Eight Winds

It is said that a sage is not affected by the “eight winds”: profit, sorrow, slander, fame, praise, censure, and pleasure. This means that a sage neither takes delight in his crowning hour nor grieves during depths of despair. Those who are unaffected by the “eight winds” are protected by the heavenly deities without fail, but not so for those who carry an irrational grudge against their lord, no matter how hard they pray.

Shijō Kingo Shakabutsu Kuyō, Opening the Eyes Service of Shijō Kingo’s Statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 135

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 16, 2021

Śāriputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart.

The Buddha tells the parable of the Burning House in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, a man tries to warn his children who are playing in a dangerous house of the harm that will come to them if they do not set aside their preoccupations and come out. The children did not listen to him, so he told them about nonexistent toys outside the house. The Buddha then compares himself promising an end to suffering to the father promising nonexistent toys, and himself leading all beings to Enlightenment to the father giving his children toys more wonderful than they could imagine.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard Mañjuśrī’s question and witness Many-Treasures Tathāgata invite Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva to come to the Saha world, we witness the arrival of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva.

[Before he started,] he stepped on a platform of the seven treasures. The platform went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala[-tree, and moved through the sky, carrying him]. Together with the Bodhisattvas surrounding him respectfully, he came to Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa of this Sahā-World, and descended from the platform of the seven treasures. He came to Śākyamuni Buddha, carrying with him a necklace worth hundreds of thousands. He worshipped the feet of the Buddha with his head, offered the necklace to the Buddha, and said to him:

“World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not di respectful to śramaṇas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not. Is Many-Treasures Tathāgata, who passed away a long time ago and has now come here riding in the stupa of the seven treasures, hearing the Dharma or not? [Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha] also wishes to know whether Many-Treasures Tathāgata is peaceful and healthy, and able to stay long or not World-Honored One! Now I wish to see Many-Treasures Buddha World-Honored One! Show him to me!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Many-Treasure Buddha, “This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha said to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

Excellent, excellent! You have come here to make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and see Mañjuśrī and others.”

See The Interdependent Character of This World