Monthly Archives: April 2021

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month conclude Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata, we begin again with the Buddha’s request that we understand his sincere and infallible words by faith.

Thereupon the Buddha aid to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
He said to the great multitude again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”

He said to them once again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”

Thereupon the great multitude of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, joined their hands together and said to the Buddha, “World-Honor done, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”

They said this three times. Then they said once again, “Tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”

The Daily Dharma from March 31, 2021, offers this:

Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”

With these words, the Buddha prepares those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. “Understanding by faith” can be a difficult idea for those of us who believe faith is opposed to understanding; that it means believing something even though we do not understand it. The Buddha does not ask us to set aside our curiosity or our comprehension to practice his highest teaching. But he does say that it takes more than understanding to reach the wisdom he attained. As we apprehend more of what the Buddha teaches us, our confidence in him grows. As we set aside our doubts about the benefits of the Buddha Dharma, we increase our ability to see the world for what it is.

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

Foundations

Twelve Links in a Single Moment

For the twelve [links of] conditioned [co-arising to be included in] one moment means that if one takes life due to a covetous mind, the corresponding foolishness is “ignorance;” the corresponding thoughts are the “volitional actions;” the corresponding mind is “consciousness;” if karma is produced, “name-and-form” necessarily follows; if karma is produced, “the six senses” necessarily follow; the corresponding contact is “contact”; the corresponding experience is “experience;” the covetousness is “passion”; the corresponding bonds are “attachment”; the physical, verbal and mental [actions] are “existence”; in this way all dharmas arise, this is “rebirth”; for all these dharmas to change is “decay”; and for all these dharmas to be destroyed is “death.”

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 217
WONS

Latter Age of Degeneration Is Time for Lotus Sūtra

[L]ooking at the Lotus Sūtra, we find that the Buddha says, “Many people hate it (the Lotus Sūtra) with jealousy even in My lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after My extinction” in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter, and “In order to spread the Lotus Sūtra for a long time in this world” in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter. Considering these statements, the Lotus Sūtra is expounded for those of us living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Therefore, referring to this period, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai says, “Up to the fifth 500-year period after the Buddha’s extinction, people receive merit of the Wonderful Dharma afar.” Grand Master Dengyō also speaks of this period, “The Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma have almost passed, and the Latter Age of Degeneration is shortly coming.” The Latter Age of Degeneration is coming shortly means that the time when he lived was not the time for the Lotus Sūtra to spread, but the Latter Age of Degeneration is.

Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 214

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 17, 2021

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

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the response of Śākyamuni to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground, we consider the reaction of Maitreya Bodhisattva.

Thereupon the World-Honored One praised the leading great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Excellent, excellent, good men! [l am glad that] you rejoice at seeing me.”

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva and the [other] Bodhisattvas [who had already been present in the congregation before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in number, thought:

‘We have never before seen these great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, stood before [Śākyamuni,] the World-Honored One, joined their hands together towards him, and made offerings to him. [Now we see that their leaders] inquire after him.’

See The Vow of the Bodhisattvas Who Sprang Up from Underground

Foundations

Twelve Links of the Past, Present and Future

Vasumitra393 says that causes are “conditioned arising” and dharmas which are born from causes are “conditioned birth.” Of the twelve links of causation, two [ignorance and volitional activity] refer to the past and are merely [the extreme of] eternalism. Two [links of rebirth and decay-and-death] refer to the future and are merely [the extreme of] nihilism. The present [i.e., the other eight links] clarifies the Middle Path. By analyzing the three causes of the present [of passion, attachment, and existence] one explains the two results [of rebirth and decay-and-death] in the future. By analyzing the five results in the present [of consciousness, name-and-form, six senses, contact, and experience] one explains the two causes in the past [of ignorance and volitional activity].

The past, present, and future all have the twelve links. By analyzing causes and results these sorts of explanations are made.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 215
393
This probably refers to the Vasumitra who was one of the authoritative commentators on the – Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra. Once again I could not track down the source for, nor figure out the meaning and significance of, Chih-i’s comments. return
WONS

Indra and the Fox

Fascicle four of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight says: “Long ago in the great country Bima, a fox pursued by a lion tried to escape but fell into a dry well. The lion leapt over the well and ran on, but when the fox tried to climb out it couldn’t because the well was too deep. Many days passed and the fox was close to starving to death. At that time the fox cried out: “Woe is me! I am going to die miserably in this dry well. All things are impermanent. It would have been better if the lion had eaten me. Hail all the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions, with your wisdom see that my heart is pure and precious.”

At that time, the god Indra heard the fox’s cry and came down himself to lift the fox from the well and ask it to teach the Dharma. “This is all wrong,” said the fox. “The disciple is on top and the teacher is on the bottom.” All in the heavens laughed to hear this. When Indra, acknowledging that the fox was correct, nevertheless sat at his feet and asked him to preach, the fox said, “This is all wrong. It is not right for disciple and teacher to sit down together.” Thereupon Indra took all the heavenly robes and piled them up to make a tall seat for the fox, and again asked him to preach the Dharma. The fox said: “There are those who rejoice to live and hate death. There are those who rejoice to die and hate life.” Ignorant people are ignorant regarding future lives and so they hope to live and hate death. Good people know the truth of the workings of karma and retribution and so they hope to die and hate life. Indra learned this and followed the fox as his teacher. The Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said: “The Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains offered himself to a demon to gain half a verse, Indra revered an animal and made him his teacher. No one discards gold because the purse stinks.” No matter how humble, if someone knows the True Dharma, you must not look down on them. Fascicle 8 of the Lotus Sūtra says: “Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life.” This means that if one accuses the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra of faults, whether one is justified or not, one will contract white leprosy in this life and in the next life will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 128

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 16, 2021

Thereupon Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to King Wonderful-Adornment, ‘So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives. The teachers will do the work of the Buddha, show the Way [to them], teach them, benefit them, cause them to rejoice, and cause them to enter into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi (Perfect Enlightenment). Great King, know this! A teacher is a great cause [of your enlightenment] because he leads you, and causes you to see a Buddha and aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

These lines are part of a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha uses this story to remind us of how much benefit we get from our teachers. When we see the world with the eyes of the Buddha, and know that he is always thinking of how to lead us, we can find innumerable teachers, and know to show our gratitude to them.

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

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the Parable of the Priceless in the Top-Knot, we repeat in gāthās the Parable Parable of the Priceless in the Top-Knot.

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

Be patient, and compassionate
Towards all living beings,
And then expound this sūtra
Praised by the Buddhas!

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
In the latter days after my extinction
Should have compassion towards laymen and monks
And towards those who are not Bodhisattvas.
He should think:
‘They do not hear this sūtra.
They do not believe it.
This is their great fault.
When I attain the enlightenment of the Buddha,
I will expound the Dharma to them
With expedients
And cause them to dwell in it.’

I will tell you a parable.
A wheel-turning-holy-king was powerful.
Some of his soldiers
Distinguished themselves in war.
He was glad to honor them.
He gave them elephants or horses,
Vehicles or ornaments,
Paddy fields or houses,
Villages or cities,
Garments or various treasures,
Menservants or maidservants,
Or other valuables.

He took a brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it to the bravest man
Who had done the most difficult feats.

See Worthy of the Jewel in His Topknot

Foundations

‘Twelve-fold Conditioned Arising’ and ‘Twelve-fold Conditioned Birth’

[A] re “twelve-fold conditioned arising” and “twelvefold conditioned birth” the same or different?386

[Answer] They are the same. They are not different in the sense that they refer to all conditioned things [saṃskṛta-dharma]. However, there are distinctions [which can be made].

“Conditioned arising” refers to causes [hetu] and “conditioned birth” refers to results [phala]. The first two [links of ignorance and activity] are “conditioned arising.”387 The next five [links of consciousness, name-and form, the six senses, contact, and sensation] are “conditioned birth.”388 The next three [links of passion, attachment, and existence] are “conditioned arising.”389 The last two [links of rebirth and decay-and-death] are “conditioned birth.”390

Also, [another distinction between conditioned arising and conditioned birth is that] ignorance corresponds to “conditioned arising,” volitional activity corresponds to “conditioned birth,” and so forth to rebirth corresponding to “conditioned arising” and decay-and-death corresponding to “conditioned birth.”

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 214-215
386
These phrases are two different Chinese translations for the same Sanskrit term, Pratītyasamutpāda. One can imagine that various ingenious scholastic interpretations were constructed in China to explain the supposed subtle difference between these two terms, as Chih-i proceeds to do. Chan-jan and the other commentators trace this issue back to the Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra. return
387
The causes of one’s present life. return
388
The results of past lives, which is this present life. return
389
The causes for future lives. return
390
The results which will be the content of future lives. return