Monthly Archives: May 2021

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 19, 2021

Because we are your messengers,
We are fearless before multitudes.
We will expound the Dharma.
Buddha, do not worry!

In Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra, innumerable Bodhisattvas sing these verses before the Buddha from whom they had come to hear the Wonderful Dharma. The Buddha had asked who would continue to spread and practice his highest teaching after his extinction. These Bodhisattvas vowed to uphold this teaching through all obstacles, particularly those created by people who were so attached to their delusions that they would slander and persecute anyone who keeps this Lotus Sūtra. The fearlessness of these Bodhisattvas comes from their certainty that this Sūtra leads all beings to enlightenment, and their compassionate resolve to benefit everyone.

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

LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the second peaceful practices, we repeat in gāthās the second peaceful practices.

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

The Bodhisattva should wish
To make all living beings peaceful,
And then expound the Dharma to them.
He should make a seat in a pure place,
Apply ointment to his skin,
Wash dirt and dust off himself,
Wear a new and undefiled robe,
Clean himself within and without,
Sit on the seat of the Dharma peacefully,
And then expound the Dharma in answer to questions.

He should expound with a smile
The wonderful meaning of the Dharma
To bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs,
To upāsakās and upāsikās,
To kings and princes,
To government officials,
And to common people.
When he is asked questions,
He should answer
According to the meaning of the Dharma.

He should expound the Dharma to them
With stories of previous lives, parables and similes.
With these expedients he should cause them
To aspire for enlightenment,
To promote their understanding step by step,
And finally to enter into the Way to Buddhahood.

He should give up indolence,
Negligence, grief and sorrow.
He should expound the Dharma to them
Out of his compassion towards them.

He should expound to them
The teaching of unsurpassed enlightenment
With stories of previous lives
And with innumerable parables and similes
Day and night,
And cause them to rejoice.

He should not wish to receive
Garments or bedding,
Food and drink, or medicine
From them.

He should expound the Dharma to them,
Wishing only two things:
To attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
And also to cause them to do the same.
This is a peaceful offering to them.
This offering will bring them a great benefit.

A Bhikṣu who expounds this Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
With patience
After my extinction,
Will be emancipated
From jealousy, anger, and other illusions,
That is to say, from all obstacles.
He will have no sorrow.
He will not be spoken ill of.
He will not be in fear.
He will not be threatened with swords or sticks,
Or driven out [of his monastery].

A man of wisdom
Who controls his mind
As previously stated
Will be peaceful.

His merits will be innumerable.
You would not be able to tell the number of them
By any parable or simile even if you tried to do so
For thousands of billions of kalpas.

See Peaceful vs. Hostile Practices

Fire

The Dharani that Contains All Dharanis

In Fire in the Lotus, Daniel Montgomery offers this explanation of the Daimoku. (He lists his source material inside parentheses.)

Just as the Dharma Flower is the quintessence of both universal truth and universal life, so its sacred title, Myoho Renge Kyo, is the quintessence of the sutra. All that remains is for us to identify ourselves with the Absolute. This is done by adding the first word, Namu, ‘I devote myself to’. The dharani which contains all dharanis, the mantra which contains all mantras, is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

Shakyamuni obtained enlightenment when he completely identified himself with the Absolute. We obtain enlightenment exactly the same way. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the enlightenment of the Buddha. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is our own enlightenment, too. In Namu Myoho Renge Kyo we identify with the Buddha. In Namu Myoho Renge Kyo the Buddha identifies with us.

This identification is complete in every respect. Just as the Buddha is three bodies in one, so are we. ‘The person who chants Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is a Buddha. His body is the Dharma-body of the Buddha; his mind, the Reward-body of the Buddha; and his behavior, the Manifestation-body of the Buddha’ (Myoho-ama-gozen-gohenji, Showa-teihon, 1535).

The sects, Nichiren says, from the old Nara sects on down to the recent Kamakura sects, seek identity with only part of the threefold body of the Buddha. For example, to concentrate on the precepts taught by the historical Shakyamuni, as is done in the Little Vehicle is to worship only the Manifestation-body. To go to the other extreme worshipping only the eternal Principle (Dharma-body) as is done in esotericism, is to cut oneself off from the historical foundations. To worship only Amida is to concentrate on the Reward-body at the expense of the other two. The only correct object of worship is the three-in-one and one-in-three as expounded by Chih-i and Saicho. This is expressed in the Dharma Flower as the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni.

‘All the sects except the Tendai Sect,’ he wrote in 1272, ‘worship wrong objects. The Kusha, Jojitsu, and Ritsu Sects (Hinayana) worship Buddha Shakyamuni, who is regarded as the person who eliminated illusions and attained enlightenment for the first time under the bodhi tree. They are as wrong as a crown prince who thinks that he is the son of a subject. The Kegon (Flower Garland), Shingon, Sanron, and Hoso (‘Consciousness-only’) Sects are Mahayana. The Hosso and Sanron Sects worship Buddha Shakyamuni as defined in the provisional Mahayana. They are as wrong as a crown prince who thinks he is the son of a colonel. The Kegon and Shingon Sects despise Buddha Shakyamuni and worship Buddha Vairocana (personifying the Absolute). They are as wrong as a crown prince who deserts his father and follows another king of unknown ancestry. The Pure Land Buddhists hold that Buddha Amitabha is their Buddha, and do not worship Buddha Shakyamuni. They do not know that Buddha Amitabha is one of the manifestations of Buddha Shakyamuni. The Zen Buddhists (who reject all traditions) are like a man of low birth who criticizes his parents when he gets some position in society. They despise the Buddhas and the sutras. All these sects worship wrong objects’ (Kaimoku-sho, 182-4, slightly altered).

Only in the Dharma Flower does Shakyamuni reveal the universal Buddha-seed, which permeates all life, and the fulfilment of that seed. It is the king of sutras just as the Original Buddha Shakyamuni, the fulfilment of the seed, is the origin of all Buddhas.

Next: Where Do Prayers Go?

Foundations

Ten Dharmas of the Realms of Men and Gods

Next I will discuss the ten dharmas of the realms of men and gods. These are different from the four evil destinies only in that one can recognize goodness and pleasure. Their “appearance” is pure and superior. Their “nature” is good. Their “essence” is a peaceful body and mind. Their “power” is the potential capability to do good. Their “activity” is to perform good deeds and abstain from evil deeds. Their “causes” are good deeds. Their “conditions” are good [but they still have mistaken views concerning] self and possessions. Their “results” are the spontaneous arising of the results of a good mind. Their “retribution” is the experience of pleasures which are natural [to men and gods]. “Sameness” is as explained above.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 187
WONS

The Realm of the Eternal Buddha

If the passage in the second chapter stating (that the dharma attained in the place of enlightenment is wonderful and beyond comprehension and discretion) as cited above is true, the Wonderful Dharma is the very realm of the Buddha, who attained enlightenment in the eternal past and is now at the Supreme Stage of Enlightenment. This realm of the Eternal Buddha cannot be attained by the lord teachers of pre-Lotus sūtras, the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, other Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The chapter on “Expedients” states, “Only the Buddha has mastered this dharma.” It means that the Buddha, who was enlightened for the first time in this world under the bodhi tree, completely mastered from His viewpoint and within the realm which He could attain with His ability the teaching of the ten realms and the ten aspects, and the three thousand existences expounded in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. The Wonderful Dharma of the objective reality that Śākyamuni Buddha in the realm of the eternal enlightenment has attained since the eternal past is beyond the consideration of the Buddha of the theoretical section, to say nothing of the bodhisattvas and ordinary people.

Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 228

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 18, 2021

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.’

The Buddha sings these verses to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In our zeal to help other beings, we may create expectations of how they will receive our efforts, or how they will change themselves after hearing the Buddha Dharma. We may even blame them for not improving as quickly as we might want. These verses remind us that there is no shortage of time available for our efforts to benefit others.

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

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard the vow of Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, we consider the vows of the Arhats and the Śrāvakas.

At that time there were five hundred Arhats in this congregation. They had already been assured of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. They said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! We also vow to expound this sūtra [but we will expound it] in some other worlds [rather than in this Sahā-World].”

There were also eight thousand Śrāvakas some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They had already been assured of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together towards the Buddha and vowed:

“World-Honored One! We also will expound this sūtra in some other worlds because the people of this Sahā-World have many evils. They are arrogant. They have few merits. They are angry, defiled, ready to flatter others, and insincere.”

The fact that these Arhats and Śrāvakas refused to preach this sutra in the Sahā-World underscores the need for Encouragement for Keeping This Sutra

Foundations

Ten Suchlike Characteristics of the Four Evil Destinies

[B]y arranging together those [dharma realms] of like characteristics, we have four categories. The four [evil] destinies [of hell, preta, beasts, and asura]; men and gods; śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; and bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

First I will clarify the ten suchlike characteristics of the four evil destinies.

  1. “Suchlike appearance” refers to their evil appearances which are made manifest by their falling into a state which is not desirable [such as falling into a hellish state]. It is analogous to a man who has not yet met disaster but he already shows maladious signs. A soothsayer, upon examination, can predict his ill fortune. If these evil appearances arise, it is clear that he will fall into hell in the future. Common men cannot recognize [these signs], but those of the two vehicles can recognize them slightly, bodhisattvas recognize them but not profoundly, and Buddhas recognize them exhaustively. It is like a skillful fortuneteller who has penetrating insight into the beginning and end [of all things]. Therefore it is called “such-like appearances.”
  2. “Suchlike nature“: [these beings in the four evil destinies] have an intrinsic nature which is “black.” They are so accustomed to “black evil” [deeds] that it is difficult for them to change. It is like wood: when it comes into contact with fire, in the right conditions it will burn [and turn black]. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “Since the dharmas of passions have the nature of arising, therefore it is possible for them to arise.”171 These evil beings have the propensity [“nature”] to be born in these four destinies. Therefore if the conditions are such, they are born [in these four evil destinies]. Even if a clay or wooden image has the outer appearance [of something], it lacks the inner nature [of that which it represents] so it is not able to arouse birth. The nature of evil beings is not like this.172 Therefore it is called “suchlike nature.”
  3. “Suchlike essence“: [these beings in the four evil destinies] are attached to evil forms and mentalities173 which have been pounded and hacked to dust. This is their essential quality. Also, first in this life they abuse their minds, and in the next life their material body is abused. Also, the results and retributions from this world in which the mind and body is abused is such that in the next world the results and retributions will consist of the abuse of mind and body. Therefore the abuse of body and mind is the essence [of those in the four evil destinies].
  4. “Suchlike power” refers to evil potentialities. It is like a broken object which, though it is not useful [for what it what meant to do], first becomes useful when it fulfills another purpose.174 The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “In building a house one utilizes wood, not silk threads. In making cloth one utilizes silk threads, not clay and wood.”175 Hellish beings have the potential to tread the edge of a blade,176 preta have the potential to swallow copper and to chew steel [in their attempt to satisfy their unlimited hunger], beasts [have the potential of] the strong overcoming the weak – fish eat other fish, and [other animals] pull carts or other heavy objects. These are all evil [or unpleasant] powers and potentialities.
  5. “Suchlike activity“: to make conceptual constructions, perform daily routines, and in general perform verbal, physical, and mental actions is to establish all sorts of evil [deeds, causes, and results]. This is called “activity.” The eighth section of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “It is like one who indulges in evil deeds in the world is called only half a person.”177 Thus to indulge in evil deeds is called the activity of hellish beings.
  6. “Suchlike causes“: these are the repetitive causes of evil. These give rise to [evil results] of an identical type [as the cause], which habitually continue and are not severed. Since they arise habitually it is easy to [continue to] do evil. Therefore these are called “suchlike causes.”
  7. “Suchlike conditions” are auxiliary causes, such as [the erroneous belief in] the self and possessions, which contributes to the maturation of repetitive karma. It is like water which can moisten the seed [and cause a plant to grow]. Therefore that which functions as the cause of a retribution is called “conditions.”
  8. “Suchlike results” refer to repetitive results. It is like a man who is full of desires and experiences a hellish body. He sees instruments of suffering but [mis]takes them to be desirable objects, and thus passionate attachments are increased further. This is called “repetitive results.”
  9. “Suchlike retributions” are the retributive results. It is like a man who is full of desire is in a hellish state, and when he approaches the objects of his desires he experiences the sufferings of the copper pillars and steel beds. Therefore this is called “suchlike retributions.”
  10. “The beginning and end both the same” has three meanings.178 First, since both the beginning and end are empty [of substantial Being], they are called “the same.” Second, the evil results and retributions already exist within the initial appearances and nature [and so forth of sentient beings]. Therefore the beginning [appearances and natures] and end [results and retributions] are “the same.” If the later states are not [contained in] the initial [appearances and causes], then the soothsayer would not be able to predict [the future]. If the later [results and activities occur] apart from the initial state, the soothsayer would not be able to continue his predictions. One should know that the beginning and end exist as mutually interdependent, and that these conventional states are thus called “the same.” Third, the mind [which understands] the true aspects of reality179 is not different from Buddhahood; there is not one visible form nor one scent which is not a part of the middle way. From this point of view of the principle of reality, [beginning and end] are called “the same.” Due to these [three] meanings it is said that “the beginning and the end are the same.” These three meanings are also contained in each other. Therefore they are “the same.”
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 184-187
171
See Yamamoto II, 514. This passage follows a long section which discusses the meaning of arising and non-arising which Chih-i examines in more detail in his section of the Four Noble Truths. The immediate context reads: “O good man! The dharmas of outflow (of passions, sāsrava-dharma), at the time when they have not yet arisen, already have the nature of arising. Therefore they are able to arise. The dharmas of no outflow (of passions, anāsrava-dharma) fundamentally have no nature of arising. Therefore they are not able to arise.” In other words, it is in the inherent nature of passions to arise and perish, but the lack of any passions has no “existence” and thus it makes no sense to talk of it as “arising” or “perishing.” return
172
That is, unlike a clay or wooden image, they do have the nature which leads to birth in an evil destiny. return
173
Body and mind, rūpa-citta. return
174
This phrase is very vague in the original. It refers to the various unpleasant and undesirable “abilities” of those in the four destinies, which are a deviant and abusive utilization of abilities which should be used to help others and gain enlightenment. return
175
This is a paraphrase of the original which reads: “It is like when Devadatta wishes to make a wall he takes up mud and not colors; when he wishes to make a painting he gathers colors and does not take up grass and wood; in making a robe he takes up threads and does not take up mud and wood; in making a house he takes up mud and not threads. One can know the result of what one is able to make from what one takes up.” return
176
This refers to the pursuit of satisfying one’s desires whatever the cost. For example, people abuse their bodies and minds in a futile attempt to satisfy their appetites. return
177
Yamamoto I, 206-207. This passage is in the chapter “On Letters” in which each of the Sanskrit letters is given a doctrinal interpretation. At the beginning of the chapter it is explained that the letters of the alphabet themselves are “half-words” and though these form the basic foundation for all verbal communication, it is only when they are put together to form words, called “complete words,” that meaning and communication is possible. The passage in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “The meaning of ‘halfwords’ is the foundation for verbalizing all good dharmas. Therefore they are called ‘half-words.’ ‘Complete words’ refers to the foundation of verbalizing all good dharmas. It is like one who does evil deeds in the world is called half a person, and one who cultivated good practice is called a complete person.” In T’ien-t’ai doctrine, the Hinayāna teachings are called “the teachings of half-words.” return
178
Corresponding to the threefold truth. return
179
Lit., “middle-real-principle of reality-mind.” This refers either to reality itself or to the mind which understands the true aspects of reality as the middle, i.e., simultaneously empty of substantial Being yet conventionally existent. return
Fire

The Life of Kumarajiva

Daniel Montgomery’s Fire in the Lotus offers many details of the characters who played a role in Nichiren Buddhism. Take the story of Kumarajiva, whose skillful translation of the Lotus Sutra into Chinese led to the sutra’s popularity in Asia.

Kumarajiva was born in Kucha, a Central Asian city on the northern trade route between India and China. His father Kumarayana was an Indian Brahmin of high rank, who had abandoned court life for that of an itinerant preacher. His mother Jiva was a sister of the King of Kucha. When Kumarayana’s travels took him to Kucha, he caused such a sensation that the princess demanded to have him for a husband. Their child was named after both his distinguished parents, Kumara for his father and Jiva for his mother.

Princess Jiva was a most remarkable woman. Under her husband’s influence, she became more and more interested in Buddhism and eventually surpassed him in wisdom and practice. She wanted to become a nun, but her husband objected, at least until a second child was born. When Kumarajiva was seven, his father finally relented. The mother took her son, and both of them entered the Buddhist Order.

When Kumarajiva was nine or ten, he travelled with his mother to India, where they studied under a famous Hinayana teacher. When he was 12, they returned to Central Asia, this time to Kushan, where they continued their studies. Already the boy was known as a precocious scholar and debater. The two spent a year in Kashgar studying Abhidharma (Hinayana philosophy) and other sutras, and then returned to Kucha to study the Hindu Vedas. Finally they were introduced to Mahayana, and Kumarajiva began his career of copying, translating, and lecturing on Mahayana sutras. He became a fully ordained monk, at the age of 20. His mother, who had attained the level of enlightenment called anagamin (one who will never be reborn in this world), retired to India.

Kumarajiva’s star was still rising. He became the most celebrated teacher in Central Asia, and his fame spread abroad as far as China. King Fu Chien (Fu Jian) of the former Ch’in kingdom resolved to bring him to his capital of Ch’ang-an. Around 382 he sent his general Lu Kuang (Lu Guang) with an army of 70,000 men to capture Kucha and bring back Kumarajiva. It was to be nearly 20 years, however, before Kumarajiva reached China.

General Lu Kuang stormed Kucha, killed the king, and captured the Buddhist sage. However, when he heard bad news from China, that the king had been overthrown and replaced by an inimical monarch, the general decided not to return home. Instead, he returned only part of the way, carved out a petty kingdom of his own, and took his prize captive with him.

The general took perverse delight in humiliating his prisoner. He was not a Buddhist, and was not impressed by Kumarajiva, who was then about 40 years old. He insisted that the monk marry a princess of Kucha. When Kumarajiva refused, the general got him drunk and locked him up in the same room with the princess. By dawn Kumarajiva was no longer either a teetotaler or a virgin.

Kumarajiva, always a scholar at heart, did not waste his time during his long sojourn in western China. He became fluent in the Chinese language, attracted many disciples, and even won the grudging admiration of the general. When the new king of Ch’in (called Later Ch’in), who was a Buddhist, begged the general to send Kumarajiva to China the general refused.

It took a second military invasion to get Kumarajiva into China at last. In 401 an army from China overthrew the general and brought his hostage safely to the capital of Ch’ang-an.

Here the famous teacher was treated with great respect. He was given the title of National Preceptor and put in charge of translating the sutras into Chinese. He was given every facility, including a team of linguists to assist him, and splendid quarters in the royal palace. Under such favorable circumstances he was able to turn out one translation after another, all of them unexcelled in their accuracy and elegant style. The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma (Myoho Renge-kyo in Sino-Japanese) was his masterpiece.

As Kumarajiva grew older, the king began to fear that his incomparable talent would be lost to the world after his death. The solution seemed to be for him to have an heir, who would carry on his work. He ordered that the sage be waited upon by ten comely maidens, hoping that at least one of them would become the mother of his child. Kumarajiva relented, but he was not proud of his luxurious lifestyle. He is said to have told his pupils, ‘You must take only the lotus flower that grows out of the mire, and not touch the mire itself.’

Many Buddhist monks resented Kumarajiva’s way of life, and a fellow Central Asian, Buddhabhadra, translator of the Flower Garland Sutra, criticized him openly. So popular was Kumarajiva, however, that it was the critic Buddhabhadra who was forced to leave the capital. Kumarajiva continued to live there in splendor until the day he died.

The story is taken from Kogen Mizuno’s “Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission,” which was published by Kosei Publishing in 1989.

Next The Dharani that Contains All Dharanis

WONS

The Buddha’s Time in the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven

In the past, the Buddha, wishing to repay his debt to his mother, Māyā, ascended to the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven on the fifteenth day of the fourth month. While he was there, everyone in the five regions of India from the rulers and their great vassals down to the ordinary men and women, sobbed with grief and lamented that they had lost the Buddha, like parents who had lost a child or a child who had lost his parents. For a man to be separated from a beloved wife or a woman from her beloved husband is unbearable. How much more unbearable a separation from the World Honored One of Great Enlightenment with the thirty-two marks and eighty signs, whose color is a beautiful purple-gold, and whose voice is that of the kalaviṅka bird, and who teaches that all sentient beings will attain Buddhahood. Because of the Buddha’s deep loving-kindness and compassion, their longing and grief for Him is indescribable. It exceeded the grief of the beautiful lady imprisoned in the Shang-yang Palace; it exceeded the grief of the two daughters of Emperor Yao, O-huang and Nu-ying, when they were parted from Emperor Shun; and it exceeded the longing of Su Wu, banished for nineteen years to live amidst the snow in a foreign land.

A man who longed to see the Buddha took wood to make an image of Him, but he was unable to carve the likeness of even one of the thirty-two marks of the Buddha. At that time the great King Udayāna summoned Viśvakarman, the Carpenter, down from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven and had a statue carved from red sandalwood. That statue went to meet the original Buddha in the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven, because of King Udayāna’s deep faith. This was the first statue of the Buddha carved in Jambudvīpa.

Again, there was a wealthy man called Sudatta. When the Buddha was to descend to India from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven on the fifteenth of the seventh month, Sudatta wished to build a monastery, but he had no land on which to build. Prince Jeta, a son of King Prasenajit, owned a park called Jetavana, which was about 40 li wide. This park was such a sacred and peaceful place that if one were to bring in swords or knives, the weapons would suddenly break apart. When the wealthy man Sudatta asked for the park in which to build his monastery, the prince told him he would only sell it for the amount of gold it would take to cover the park 4 inches thick. Sudatta agreed to the terms, but the prince then said, “I was only joking. The park is not for sale.” Sudatta insisted, “The Son of Heaven can never be double-tongued. How could you lie, even for a moment?” and he told King Prasenajit what had happened. “Prince Jeta is the heir to the throne. How could he lie even in jest,” wondered the king. Prince Jeta had no choice but to sell the park. Then, when the wealthy man Sudatta paid for the park with gold piled four inches thick as promised and joyfully prepared to build the monastery, Śāriputra appeared with a rope to demarcate the grounds of the park. Then he looked up into the sky and laughed. Sudatta remarked, “A great sage always has a dignified bearing and maintains self-control. What strange thing have you seen to cause you to laugh?” Śāriputra replied, “Because of this monastery you are building the six heavens of the realm of desire are each raising armies to contend for you. Each of the gods wants the person who is cultivating such a tremendously good deed in his own heaven. I am laughing at them for fighting. When your life-span is over, you will be born in the Tuṣita Heaven.” Thus the monastery was built and named the Jeta Grove Monastery.

On the night of the fifteenth of the seventh month when the Buddha was about to enter the temple, Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven built three bridges made of gold, silver, and crystal from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven. The Buddha entered by the middle bridge, while Indra on his left and the King of the Brahma Heaven on his right held a canopy over the Buddha. Behind the Buddha came the four categories of Buddhists (monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen); the eight kinds of supernatural beings (gods, asura, dragons, gandharva, kiṃnara, garuda, mahoraga, and yakṣa); twelve hundred arhats led by Kāśyapa, Kātyāyana, Maudgalyāyana, and Subhūti; twelve thousand hearers; and eighty thousand bodhisattvas.

All the people of the five regions of India gathered together to collect oil to offer lamps. Some lit ten thousand lamps, some lit one thousand lamps, some lit one hundred lamps, and some could only light one lamp. Among them was an impoverished woman, incomparably poor. She had no clothes except a mat woven of wisteria vines even coarser than a rush mat. She ran about in all four directions but was not able to get enough money to buy enough oil for even a single lamp. She looked up to the sky and cried, thinking that if her tears had been oil they could have fueled one hundred or one thousand or ten thousand lamps or more. After much thought, she cut off her own hair, and braided it into a wig that she sold to buy oil for a single lamp. Perhaps because her devotion was accepted by the Buddha and gods, the three treasures, the heavenly deities, and the terrestrial deities, her lamp alone was not extinguished by the fierce winds that blow at the destruction of the world and the beginning of a new world cycle, and it lit the way as the Buddha entered the Jeta Grove Monastery.

As you see, even if people are rich and give great treasures as alms, if their faith is weak they cannot attain Buddhahood. Even though people are poor, if they have strong faith and deep determination they will attain Buddhahood without fail.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 129-131