Monthly Archives: March 2021

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the fate of the good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we repeat in gāthās the need to make offerings to the keeper of the sūtra.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

If you wish to dwell in the enlightenment of the Buddha,
And to obtain the self-originating wisdom,
Make offerings strenuously to the keeper
Of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma!

If you wish to obtain quickly the knowledge
Of the equality and differences of all things,
Keep this sūtra, and also make offerings
To the keeper of this sūtra!

Anyone who keeps
The sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
Know this, has compassion towards all living beings
Because he is my messenger.

Anyone who keeps
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Should be considered to have given up his pure world and come here
Out of his compassion towards all living beings.

Know that he can appear wherever he wishes!
He should be considered
To have appeared in this evil world
In order to expound the unsurpassed Dharma.

Offer flowers and incense of heaven,
Jeweled garments of heaven,
And heaps of wonderful treasures of heaven
To the expounder of the Dharma!

Join your hands together and bow
To the person who keeps this sūtra
In the evil world after my extinction,
Just as you do to me!

Offer delicious food and drink,
And various garments to this son of mine,
And yearn to hear the Dharma [from him]
Even if for only a moment!

See Difference Between Worshiping Idol and Worshiping With Help An Image

stories, LS32, d14b, d15b

Difference Between Worshiping Idol and Worshiping With Help An Image

Since one of the sixteen practices is making offerings to the Sutra, a kind of worship, it may be useful to discuss the difference between worshiping an idol (or statue) and worshiping with the help of an image, or worshiping through or before an image. Among many Protestant Christians, as in the Bible, idolatry is vigorously condemned. It is understood to be worship of a false god, something that is not God. Virtually all Buddhists, on the other hand, make a great deal of use of physical objects in both personal and public worship. Most prominent among these, of course, are buddha statues and, in Mahayana Buddhism, statues of famous bodhisattvas, especially Kwan-yin/Kannon, Maitreya, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra – all of whom are prominent in the Lotus Sutra – and Kshitigarbha/Ti-tsang/Jizo (who does not appear in the Lotus Sutra). But it is not only such statues and paintings that are used in worship – the Lotus Sutra itself, in physical form, has often been treated as an object of worship in East Asia.

To worship an idol itself is to confuse one’s ultimate object of worship or devotion with some physical thing. One morning my wife and I went to the Great Sacred Hall of Rissho Kosei-kai in Tokyo. As Rissho Kosei-kai’s main object of worship and devotion, a wonderful statue of the universal or eternal Shakyamuni Buddha dominates the main hall. Inside of this statue is a copy of the Threefold Lotus Sutra in calligraphy inscribed by Founder Niwano. But we did not worship either the statue or its contents. Before, through, and with the help of the statue that was in front of us, we paid our respects to the Buddha who is everywhere. This does not make the statue any less important, indeed it makes it truly more important, for it can lead us to the truth – something that worshiping the statue itself could never do.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p131
Higan, perfections

Energy: Beyond Initial Practice

In transition from the first three perfections to the final set of three, the classic texts of Mahayana Buddhism announce a significant shift of emphasis. The first three – generosity, morality, tolerance – are appropriate practices for anyone. The final three, however – energy, meditation, wisdom – operate at a higher level of spiritual awareness and therefore tend to be the focus of monks, nuns, and others who give priority in their lives to spiritual practice and insight. At this point in the practice, high levels of energy are required to undertake the practices of concentration and meditation prescribed in the fifth perfection, and in order to sustain the transformation in personal orientation experienced through insight and wisdom in the sixth. Thus, energy marks the transition from one level of practice to another, from preparatory exercises to a loftier level of endeavor. …

The final three perfections, beginning with energy, mandate a movement beyond these initial levels of practice. They are more abstract, less worldly in character, and their rewards are more difficult to visualize. But once they are initiated, the final three perfections begin to provide the basis on which the first three can be more profoundly comprehended and thus more wisely practiced. The transition between the two groups marks a point beyond which focus on enlightenment is more clearly defined. It is in this light that one sutra claims that “where there is energy there is enlightenment.”

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 137-138
WONS

People Who Do Meritorious Good Acts Will Never Fail to Prosper

Thank you very much for the offering of 60 steamed rice cakes, a tub of sake, 50 yams, 20 tangerines, and one range of persimmons dried on skewers which you took the trouble of sending to me.

I respectfully put them on the altar of the Lotus Sūtra. It was on the third day of the New Year and I was so glad that I was able to put various offerings on the altar of the Lotus Sūtra. When flowers bloom, they are bound to bear fruits, the moon inevitably becomes full, and plants flourish when it rains. Likewise, people who do meritorious good acts will never fail to prosper.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 36

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Mar. 7, 2021

Therefore, the man of wisdom
Who hears the benefits of these merits
And who keeps this sūtra after my extinction,
Will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
Definitely and doubtlessly.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the embodiment of the fourth vow of a Bodhisattva: The Buddha’s teachings are immeasurable; I vow to attain supreme enlightenment. It is through our determination to benefit all beings, and our confidence in the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, that we maintain our lives in this world of conflict.

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

LS32

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the Parable of the Priceless Gem, we conclude Chapter 8 in gāthās.

Thereupon Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others, wishing to repeat what they had said, sang in gāthās:

Your assurance of our future Buddhahood
Gives us unsurpassed peace.
Hearing your voice, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.
We bow to you, to the Buddha of Immeasurable Wisdom.

Now in your presence,
We reproach ourselves for our faults.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was
Only part of the immeasurable treasures of yours.
We were like a foolish man with no wisdom.
We satisfied ourselves with what little we had attained.

Suppose a poor man visited
His good friend, who was very rich.
The friend feasted him
With delicacies.

He fastened a priceless gem
Inside the garment of the man as a gift to him,
And went out without leaving a word.
The sleeping man did not notice [the gift].

The man woke up, and went to another country.
He worked to get food and clothing.
He had much difficulty
In earning his livelihood.

He satisfied himself with what little he earned.
He did not wish to get anything more.
He did not notice the priceless gem
Fastened inside his garment.

The good friend who gave the gem to the poor man
Happened to see him later.
He blamed him severely,
And showed him the gem fastened [inside the garment].

Seeing the gem,
The poor man had great joy.
Now he satisfied his five desires
With many treasures.

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satisfying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

See Universal Light Tathāgata

LS32, d13b, b4today

Universal Light Tathāgata

We must not feel that this is merely a story set in the remote past. The great compassion of the Buddha suggests that, although the other band of śrāvakas left the assembly, they would also become buddhas named Universal Light Tathāgata, like those who heard the Buddha’s proclamation through Kāśyapa and further endeavored to practice the way to buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s assurance that if we enter the path of his teachings through the Lotus Sutra and accumulate the practices of the bodhisattva-way, we too will surely become Universal Light Tathāgata. This is the meaning of so many people being predicted to become buddhas with the same title, Universal Light Tathāgata. The designation “Universal Light Tathāgata” means a person who emits light from his body and by it brightens all of society. We often see people around us like Universal Light Tathāgata or his followers. Somehow just seeing or talking with them makes us feel more cheerful. Such tathāgatas are necessary in our lives in the sahā-world. We ought at least become the followers of Universal Light Tathāgata, who can brighten our surroundings.

Buddhism for Today, p128-129
Higan

The Meaning of Higan

The Spring Equinox, the day on which Higan is celebrated, falls on March 20 this year. This article is reprinted from the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church March 2016 newsletter.

Higan is the practice of leaving our deep attachments in order to reach the world of enlightenment. Specifically, Higan is a practice comprised by six components. They are: charity, observing precepts, perseverance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. There is a story I would like to share with you concerning this practice. In the 9th century, a monk named Kyoukai wrote a series of books called Nippon Reiiki. Spanning three volumes long, these books contained stories concerning his experiences that seemed to transcend the logic and understanding of this world. This particular story I would like to share with you comes from this book, in the second volume of the series in the 38th chapter.

During the era in which Emperor Shomu ruled, there was a monk who lived in a temple in the mountains of Maniwa, located in the city of Nara. That monk had told his disciples upon his deathbed, “After my death, you must not open the entrance to my room for three years.” Saying this, he passed away. Forty-nine days after his death, a venomous snake had appeared before the deceased monk’s door, coiled in place, refusing to move. The disciples quickly realized that this snake was the reincarnation of their master. By chanting towards the snake, the disciples were able to move it, and enter the monk’s room. In the room, the disciples discovered thirty kan (currency used at the time, equaling approximately $30,000 today) saved up and hidden away. Realizing that their master had reincarnated as a venomous snake to protect this money, the disciples used the money to invite many ministers and hold a memorial service for him.

Kyoukai realizes that this particular monk was so desperate to protect his money, that he reincarnated into a snake in order to protect it. Kyoukai says, “No matter how high the mountain, we are able to see its peak. The mountain residing in humans called greed however is so great, that we cannot see its peak.” In other words, the greed and desire residing in humans is so vast and ever-growing, that it has no limit. Higan is a very important practice which aims to rid this greed and desire within us.

Ven. Kenjo lgarashi
March 2016

WONS

Even a Misfortune Can Become Happiness

Regarding the Chinese character “myō” of the Lotus Sūtra, Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna states in his Great Wisdom Discourse, “It can transform poison into medicine.” Grand Master T’ien-t’ai also explains it this way, “The guarantee of future Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles in the Lotus Sūtra is the conversion of poison into medicine.” I am confident, therefore, even a misfortune can become happiness.

Dōjōjin Shugo-ji, Protective Deities for the Place of Practicing Buddhism, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 16

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Mar. 6, 2021

Hearing this truthful voice of yours, I feel like dancing [with joy]. I have never felt like this before. Why is that? We [Śrāvakas and the Bodhisattvas] heard this Dharma before. [At that time] we saw that the Bodhisattvas were assured of their future Buddhahood, but not that we were. We deeply regretted that we were not given the immeasurable insight of the Tathāgata.

The Buddha’s disciple Śāriputra makes this proclamation to the Buddha in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had just explained that everything he taught before the Lotus Sūtra was not his true enlightenment; it was preparation for receiving his highest teaching. Śāriputra, the wisest of the Buddha’s disciples, understood immediately that he would be able to do far more than end his own suffering. He would eventually become a Buddha himself. Those gathered were also overjoyed, knowing that Śākyamuni was not the only Buddha they would meet. This ties together the Buddha’s insight that when we are assured of our enlightenment, we are able to meet innumerable enlightened beings.

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