She said, “Look at me with your supernatural powers! I will become a Buddha more quickly.”
These are the words of the young daughter of Dragon-King Sāgara in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva knew that she was capable of becoming a Buddha, but none of the other Bodhisattvas or anyone else gathered to hear the Buddha teach believed that she could attain enlightenment. Before making this statement, she offered a priceless gem to the Buddha. In less time than it took for the Buddha to accept her offering, she herself became a Buddha before the eyes of all who doubted her. This story shows that all beings can become enlightened, male and female, young and old, human and non-human. When we lose our doubts about others’ enlightenment, we also lose our doubts about our own.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month witnessed the opening of the door to the Stupa of Treasures, we witness Many Treasures Buddha offer half of his see to Śākyamuni.
Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stūpa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha, saying, “Śākyamuni Buddha, sit here!”
Śākyamuni Buddha entered the stūpa and sat on the half-seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with in a loud voice:
“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi explains meaning of Memorial Prayers
Following the Hanamatsuri service Sunday, Ven. Kenjo Igarashi brought out his portable chalkboard and set in on an easel next to his lectern. Already written in chalk were two Chinese characters. These were labeled E and Kou, which translate to Memorial Prayers.
For some reason I feel compelled to point out that the easel originally was part of a large floral display used at a funeral. After the funeral, the display was moved to the parking lot and attendees were invited to scavenge individual flowers to take home. When all the flowers were gone, Rev. Igarashi kept the easel. The thin green legs of the easel and the green chalkboard look as if they were purchased together. The easel can be found on the altar dais behind a curtain next to his lectern.
And I think the juxtaposition of these two peripherally related tidbits inadvertently illustrates why I am unable to give a detailed recounting of the sermon Rev. Igarashi gave on the topic of Memorial Prayers.
Last month, I recorded Rev. Igarashi’s sermon after the Ohigan service, knowing in advance that I’d want a record of what he said so I could add it to my Higan content. But instead of immediately posting the sermon after I transcribed the recording, I let it sit around for a week. Sunday I didn’t record the sermon and instead I am left to try to remember the lesson he gave.
Here is my dilemma: I want to explain the lesson I took from the sermon on E Kou without impugning Rev. Igarashi’s lesson. What I took in, what I recall, the lesson I received – it’s quite possible none of that was Rev. Igarashi’s intent.
This is what happens when “a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, or some other wise person, whether young or old, rejoices at hearing this sūtra in a congregation after my extinction. After leaving the congregation, he or she goes to some other place, for instance, to a monastery, a retired place, a city, a street, a town, or a village. There he or she expounds this sūtra, as he or she has heard it, to his or her father, mother, relative, friend or acquaintance as far as he or she can. Another person who has heard [this sūtra from him or her], rejoices, goes [to some other place] and expounds it to a third person. The third person also rejoices at hearing it and expounds it to a fourth person. In this way this sūtra is heard by a fiftieth person.” [Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra]
What I can provide is my “fiftieth person” understanding. Please don’t blame Rev. Igarashi.
For Memorial Services, I’ve operated under a simple understanding: I accumulate merit with my practice and during the services I transfer that merit to my deceased ancestors. “Simple” is key here. Rev. Igarashi explained that the merit attained from our daily practice allows us to seek the intercession of Śākyamuni, Tahō Buddha, the great Bodhisattvas and all the protective deities. That’s where the power to help our deceased ancestors lies.
When I heard this I was reminded of a quote from Nichiren:
The Lotus Sūtra is called “Zui-jii,” namely it expounds the true mind of the Buddha. Since the Buddha’s mind is so great, even if one does not understand the profound meaning of the sūtra, one can gain innumerable merits by just reading it. Just as a mugwort among hemp plants grows straight and a snake in a tube straightens itself, if one becomes friendly with good people, one’s mind, behavior, and words become naturally gentle. Likewise, the Buddha thinks that those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra become naturally virtuous.
Zui-jii Gosho, The Sūtra Preached in Accordance to [the Buddha’s] Own Mind, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 155
It is this merit of Śākyamuni that we are able to transfer to our deceased ancestors. The more we practice Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, our practice of the Lotus Sutra, the greater the merit. Rev. Igarashi explained that we need to devote our entire body to the effort. Not literally but figuratively like Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, in the previous life of Bodhisattva Medicine King, who sacrificed his body as an offering to the Buddha.
Rev. Igarashi recalled his five times through the grueling Aragyo 100-day ascetic practice to illustrate how he gained his ability to offer purifying prayers for those who attend Kaji Kito services.
I will be 70 in December. Not a lot of physical body I can devote to my practice, but what there is goes to Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.
While I was at the church I asked Rev. Igarashi to bless a new set of Juzu I had purchased from the Nichiren Buddhist International Center. The beads came with a brochure, which offered this tidbit:
Prayer Beads are used by all Buddhists and by many other religions as well. These beads are called Juzu or Nenju in Japanese, Mala by the Tibetans and in Sanskrit they are called Japamala. When the Romans first saw prayer beads (Japamala) used by the Hindus, they mistakenly heard “jap” instead of “japa.” Jap in Sanskrit stands for rose. Translated into Latin Japmala comes out as “Rosarium” and in English as “Rosary.” The Juzu or Mala may have been the inspiration for the prayer beads used by some Christians and Muslims today.
In the Maṇḍala Gohonzon, the object of our worship, is shown the origin of how the Mandala was written.
One day in the 12th month of 1274 (11th year of Bunnei), I (Nichiren) wrote the Gohonzon in the village of Hakii, Province of Kai (the present-day Minobusan, Yamanashi Prefecture).
Nichiren
It was the time when over 2220 Years had passed since Śākyamuni Buddha passed away. Nevertheless, in the three countries of India, China and Japan, namely in the world, there had never existed a Gohonzon like this. This is probably because none of our past masters attempted to spread the Gohonzon among the society even though they were aware of its existence. Or it may be that nobody knew about it.
Śākyamuni Buddha, after careful consideration, determined that He should conceal the Gohonzon until the arrival of an opportune moment to reveal it, leaving it to the people in the period of Mappō.
In fact, the Buddha preached in the Lotus Sutra that His messenger, Jōgyō Bosatsu, should spread the Buddha’s teachings in the first 500 years of Mappō. As predicted by the Buddha, Nichiren Daishōnin appeared in this world to reveal the Gohonzon, and expounded the teachings of the Odaimoku.
The minds of living beings dwelling in the nine realms and the six paths are different. For instance, the faces of people, regardless if they are in a small group of a few people or a large group of a hundred or a thousand in number, are all about the same size — about 30 centimeters — but there is no pair of faces completely identical to each other. As their minds are different, their faces, too, are not the same. If the minds of two or ten people are different, how much more so are the differences between the minds of all living beings in the nine realms and the six paths? As a result the inclinations of people are varied as well. Some love to watch flowers while others love the moon. Some like a sour taste while others a bitter taste. Some love the small-sized while others prefer the large-sized. People’s sense of value also differs. Some prefer the good while others indulge in wickedness. People are thus varied and diverse. However, when they enter the world of the Lotus Sūtra, they all become one body and their minds are one. It is like how the many river waters will have the same salty taste upon entering the ocean, or how the many birds become a single golden color upon nearing Mt. Sumeru.
Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 159-160
The “mutual possession of ten realms” doctrine is as difficult to maintain as it is to see fire in a rock or flowers in wood. However it is not totally impossible because rocks spark when struck together and a tree blooms in spring. It is most difficult to believe that the realm of Buddhas is contained in the realm of humans because it is like saying that fire is in water or water in fire.
Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). “Mutual Expression of Ten Realms” is one of the more difficult ideas from the Chinese Master T’ien-t’ai. Nichiren uses it to illustrate what the Buddha teaches in the Lotus Sūtra: that Buddha nature is contained within all beings. Even though this idea is difficult, we can see it in the transformations of everyday objects we encounter: rocks, fire, flowers and trees. With his similes, Nichiren reminds us that with the Lotus Sūtra as our guide, we can see the Buddha Dharma in all aspects of our lives.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Having last month considered the support the Buddha offers those who expound the Dharma, we repeat in gāthās the three things needed to be done before expounding this sutra.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
If you wish to give up all indolence,
Hear this sūtra!
It is difficult to hear this sūtra.
Few receive it by faith.
A man on a plateau, feeling thirsty,
Dug a hole in order to get water.
As long as he saw the dug-out lumps of earth were dry,
He knew that water was still far off.
When he found the earth wet and muddy,
He was convinced that water was near.
In the same manner, Medicine-King, know this!
Those who do not hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Are far from the wisdom of the Buddha.
In this profound sūtra
The teachings for the Śrāvakas are criticized.
Those who hear
That this sūtra is the king of all the sūtras,
And think over this sūtra clearly after hearing it,
Know this, will approach the wisdom of the Buddha.
If you wish to expound this sūtra,
Enter the room of the Tathāgata,
Wear the robe of the Tathāgata,
Sit on the seat of the Tathāgata,
[And after doing these three things,]
Expound it to people without fear!
To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion.
To wear his robe means to be gentle and patient.
To sit on his seat means to see the voidness of all things.
Expound the Dharma only after you do these [three] things!
Toward the end of Chapter 10, we find these words:
If people are to teach this sutra, Let them enter the Tathagata’s room, Put on the Tathagata’s robe, And sit on the Tathagata’s seat.
Facing the multitude without fear, Let them teach it clearly everywhere, With great compassion as their room, Gentleness and patience as their robe, And the emptiness of all things as their seat. Doing this, they should teach the Dharma. (LS 232)
In this beautiful poetic expression we have another indication of what it means to follow the bodhisattva way. It means nothing terribly complicated, just the very difficult matter of being compassionate, gentle, and patient and living from an understanding of the emptiness of all things. To enter the room of the Buddha, wear his robe, and sit on his seat is a wonderful metaphor for living the life of a bodhisattva, living the Dharma in a way that goes beyond our sixteen simple practices. This is what it means to be a teacher of the Dharma.
To carry out the Way of the Buddha as a Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha has been expounding His teachings without rest, from the beginning to this day, not only in our world but also in innumerable worlds.
Among His teachings, the Lotus Sutra is the most important. If you devote yourself completely to the faith in the Lotus Sutra, you will surely become a person who truly practices the Way of the Buddha.
All of you, even after my death, should continue having faith in the Lotus Sutra and reciting it. Make this oath before me now.
