Monthly Archives: June 2021

WONS

If Nobody Points Out the Sin of Slandering the True Dharma

[A] sleeping lion will not roar if nobody wakes it. If nobody puts an oar in a rapid current, it will not cause high waves. A burglar will not get angry if nobody is in his way. Without adding fuel, fire will not burn briskly. If nobody points out the sin of slandering the True Dharma, the land will appear to be at peace. It was under such a situation that Buddhism came to Japan. There was no commotion in the beginning, but when Mononobe no Moriya burnt images of the Buddha, persecuted Buddhist monks, and burnt down Buddhist temples; a rain of fire fell from heaven, smallpox spread throughout the country, and fighting broke out one after another. These circumstances were quite different from those at present. Slanderers of the True Dharma fill this country. I, Nichiren, attack them at the risk of my life, causing fighting no less fierce than a battle between asura demons and Indra, or one between the Buddha and the king of demons.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 33.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 22, 2021

The Lotus Sutra 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 sutra, one can gain innumerable merits by just reading it. Just as 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 Sutra become naturally virtuous.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his treatise The Sutra Preached in Accordance to [the Buddha’s] Own Mind (Zui-jii Gosho). In this passage, he makes clear what the Buddha meant by abandoning expedient teachings, and that the Lotus Sutra contains the Buddha’s highest teaching.

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 repeated in gāthās the second peaceful practices, we consider the third set of peaceful practices.

“Again, Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to keep, read and recite this sūtra in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should not nurse jealousy against others, or flatter or deceive them. He should not despise those who study the Way to Buddhahood in any way. He should not speak ill of them or try to point out their faults. Some bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās will seek Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the Way of Bodhisattvas. He should not disturb or perplex them by saying to them, ‘You are far from enlightenment. You cannot obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things because you are licentious and lazy in seeking enlightenment.’ He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others. He should have great compassion towards all living beings. He should look upon all the Tathāgatas as his loving fathers, and upon all the Bodhisattvas as his great teachers. He should bow to all the great Bodhisattvas of the worlds of the ten quarters respectfully and from the bottom of his heart. He should expound the Dharma to all living beings without partiality. He should be obedient to the Dharma. He should not add anything to the Dharma or take away anything from the Dharma. He should not expound more teachings to those who love the Dharma more [than others do].

“Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who performs this third set of peaceful practices in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, will be able to expound the Dharma without disturbance. He will be able to have good friends when he reads and recites this sūtra. A great multitude will come to him, hear and receive this sūtra from him, keep it after hearing it, recite it after keeping it, expound it after reciting it, copy it or cause others to copy it after expounding it, make offerings to the copy of this sūtra, honor it, respect it, and praise it.”

See Peaceful Practices of the Mind

Foundations

‘Immeasurable’ and ‘Beyond Conceptualization’

The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says that that which is great is called “immeasurable” and “beyond conceptualization;” therefore it is called “great.”287 It is analogous to the fact that space is called “great” even though this is not due to [a greatness contrasted with] small spaces. Nirvāṇa is also like this. It is not due to [a contrast with] small characteristics that it is called “great” nirvāṇa.

The “subtle” is also like this. “Subtle” means “beyond conceptual thought”; it is not subtle due to [a contrast with] crudities. If it is determined that there is a dharmadhātu [the Dharma or Absolute Reality] which is vast, great, independent, and absolute. This kind of “great thing” must be described as existing [in contrast to nothingness], but how then can it be called absolute [in the absolute, non-relative sense?]288

Now, the dharmadhātu is pure and not something which can be seen, heard, realized, known, or verbalized. The text says, “Cease, cease, it is not necessary to explain. My dharma is subtle and difficult to conceptualize.”289 The “Cease, cease, it is not necessary to explain” refers to the absolute severance of words. The “My dharma is subtle and difficult to conceptualize” refers to the absolute severance of conceptualization.

It also says, “This dharma cannot be expressed; the marks of words are quiescent.”290 This also refers to the limits of praising [the Buddha, or the subtlety of reality] with language. [The Buddha-dharma] cannot be expressed with relative terms, and it cannot be expressed with absolute terms. It means the extinguishing of the relative and the absolute. Therefore it is said, “[words are] quiescent.”

It is also said that all dharmas have “the mark of eternal quiescent extinction which finally is reduced to emptiness.”291 This emptiness is also empty, therefore neither the relative nor the absolute have substantial Being. The Mūlamadhyamakakārika says, “If dharmas arise in relation to [something else], that dharma in turn gives rise to relative dharmas.”292

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 203
287
A summary of a passage in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra which discusses the meaning of “great nirvāṇa” in contrast to a Hinayāna nirvāṇa. The terms “immeasurable” and ‘”beyond conceptualization” appear on T. 12, 746b21-26: “Good man! ‘Great’ means ‘beyond conceptualization.’ If something is beyond conceptualization, it is something that all sentient beings are not able to believe. Therefore it is called ‘great final nirvāṇa’ (mahāparinirvāṇa). It is something perceived only by Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Therefore it is called ‘great final nirvāṇa.’ It is also called ‘great’ because it is attained only after innumerable causes and conditions. Therefore it is called ‘great’.” return
288
In other words, as soon as words are used to describe the absolute, one is describing the absolute which is so in contrast to the relative. return
289
From the Lotus Sūtra; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 28. return
290
Also from the Lotus Sūtra; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23. return
291
From the chapter on “Medicinal Herbs” in the Lotus Sūtra. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 103, translates: “Those grasses and trees, shrubs and forests, and medicinal herbs do not know themselves whether their nature is superior, intermediate, or inferior; but the Thus Come One knows this Dharma of a single mark and a single flavor, namely, the mark of deliverance, the mark of disenchantment, the mark of extinction, the mark of ultimate nirvāṇa, finally reducing itself to Emptiness. The Buddha, knowing this, observes the heart’s desire of each of the beings, and guides them accordingly.” return
292
I was unable to locate the source of this quote. return
WONS

The King of Devils and His Henchmen

Inasmuch as one is able to find a worthy instructor and a genuine teaching, to rid oneself of fetters, and to approach the state of Buddhahood, one will inevitably be faced with seven imposing outgrowths called the three hindrances and four devils (disturbances that come in the way of Buddhist practices), just as sure as a shadow follows its source, and as clouds are present when it rains. Though one perseveres and succeeds in relieving oneself of six of the above, one would not be able to attain Buddhahood should one succumb to the seventh disturbance. I will refrain from discussing the six disturbances here. The seventh great disturbance is called the king of devils in the sixth heaven. When we, mere ordinary humans of the latter period, have completely absorbed the spirit of all the holy teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime, understood the heart of the widely acclaimed work of the Great Concentration and Insight by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai and approach Buddhahood, we nonetheless realize how difficult a task this is to accomplish. Upon the sight of one within the reach of Buddhahood, the king of devils in the sixth heaven would be stirred to say: “If one is an entity of this world, he (one) not only strives to depart from the illusion of life and death and become Buddha but also tries to lead as many as possible into Buddhism, controls this world, and transforms this defiled world into a paradise. What ought to be done?” He called together all his henchmen in the triple world, the three regions of desire, form and non-form, and commanded them: “Put each of your specialties to good use, causing trouble for that practicer (to escape the world of delusions). If it is not possible, invade the hearts of his students and believers, or of the people of his nation, to remonstrate and coerce him into giving up his practice. And if that does not work, I will go down to earth myself, penetrate the body and soul of the leader of the state, through whom I can oppress the practicer and put an end to his or her acquisition of Buddhahood.” So, in this manner, did the king of devils and his henchmen discuss.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 239-240

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 21, 2021

When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.

The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. In our zeal to practice this Wonderful Dharma we may come to expect that because this is such a wonderful teaching, we deserve to be rewarded for providing it to others. With this expectation, we then lose our focus on using the Dharma to benefit others and instead use it to benefit ourselves. When we show how to give freely, without expectations, we embody generosity, the same generosity the Buddha himself demonstrated when he provided the teaching to us.

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 considered the vows of the Arhats and the Śrāvakas, we consider the plea of Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī.

There were Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the sister of the mother of the Buddha, and six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together with all their hearts, and looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Gautamī:

“Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. You will become a great teacher of the Dharma under six billion and eight hundred thousand million Buddhas in the future. The six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom have something more to learn while others have nothing more to learn, also will become teachers of the Dharma. [By becoming a great teacher of the Dharma,] you will complete the Way of Bodhisattvas in the course of time, and become a Buddha called Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. Gautamī! That Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Buddha will assure the six thousand [bhikṣunīs, that is,] Bodhisattvas of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another.”

The Daily Dharam from Aug. 6, 2020, offers this:

Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

The Buddha has this discussion with his aunt, Mahā-Prajāpatī, also called Gautamī, in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. She raised the young Siddhartha after his mother Queen Māyā died when he was only six weeks old. Gautamī was also the first woman to be ordained into the Sangha. Since women then were thought by some to be not as capable as men, the Buddha specifically assures Gautamī, and thus all women, of the certainty of her enlightenment.

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

Blog

Eternal Father’s Day

Rev. Shoda Kanai
Rev. Shoda Kanai meditating during the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada Shodaigo service Sunday, June 20, 2021.

My father is dead. He died in 2009. Now I have no role on Father’s Day other than to be appreciative of whatever my wife and son cook up to mark the occasion. At least that was my outlook before Rev. Shoda Kanai’s Shodaigo service from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada.

Following the service, Rev. Kanai discussed our other father, the Eternal Śākyamuni, who has been teaching us since the remotest past. The sermon was something of a revelation for me. While I am very familiar with Chapter 7’s lesson about our link to Śākyamuni when he was among the 16 śramaṇeras who were the sons of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata, the lens of Father’s Day brought this relationship into focus.

“These sixteen Bodhisattvas willingly expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Each of them taught six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings were always accompanied by the Bodhisattva[, by whom they were taught,] in their consecutive existences. [In each of their consecutive existences,] they heard the Dharma from him, and understood it by faith. By the merits [they had thus accumulated], they were given a privilege to see four billion Buddhas, that is, four billion World­Honored Ones. They have not yet seen all of them. …

“Those living beings who followed me, heard the Dharma from me in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Some of them are still in Śrāvakahood. I now teach them the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They will be able to enter the Way to Buddhahood by my teaching, but not immediately because the wisdom of the Tathāgata is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [ when I was a śramaṇera], included you bhikṣus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Śrāvakahood after my extinction.

As Śāriputra says in Chapter 3:

Today I have realized that I am your son, that I was born from your mouth, that I was born in [the world of] the Dharma, and that I have obtained the Dharma of the Buddha.”

Rev. Kanai used a quote from Chapter 28 to illustrate his point:

Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it, should be considered to see me, and hear this sūtra from my mouth. He should be considered to be making offerings to me. He should be considered to be praised by me with the word ‘Excellent!’ He should be considered to be caressed by me on the head. He should be considered to be covered with my robe.

Happy Father’s Day.

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Quality, Not Quantity

Quote

Chanting Odaimoku is not an activity of quantity but of quality. We should be thinking of how much of our lives we can fill with Odaimoku and not how much of our time. I will not say it is wrong to chant fast, but I will say it is wrong to chant sloppily, lazily, or distractedly. Yes, we may loose our focus at times; we may feel the tug of day-to-day life and distractions. This whole chanting thing is meditation and so just as we do when we are in silent meditation we do when chanting, which is to come back to the present and return our focus whether it is breath or Odaimoku. But if we start out in a rush, in a hurry, or with mixed objectives then it will be more difficult if not impossible to move to a more deliberate, contemplative practice that allows us to nurture and absorb the benefit of the Lotus Sutra.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Foundations

The Meaning of Absolute Subtlety

[The meaning of] absolute subtlety consists of four parts [which correspond to the Four Teachings].

First, [the Tripiṭaka Teaching that] dharmas arise in three conventional ways280 [is taught] in accordance with the capacity of the listener. [It teaches that] if one comprehends the real truth [paramārthasatya], then the grasping of opposites is severed. Śāriputra said, “I have heard that within liberation there is no verbalization.”281 This is the meaning of the “absolute” in the Tripiṭaka Sūtras.

Second, [the Shared Teaching on] the three types of conventional existences [teaches] in accordance with reality. The whole world is like a magical transformation. The real is identical with phenomena; there is no thing which has substantial Being yet nothing which is not real. So, what thing is there which can be said to be unreal? [Answer: none.] The Tripiṭaka Teaching seeks the absolute by denying the non-absolute,282 but [reality is] identical with phenomena yet real. This is [the meaning of] “absolute” in the Shared Teaching.

Third, if the Distinct Teaching arises, [the bodhisattva of this Teaching] seeks the absolute as identical with the real, and then returns to [the conventional world of] the worldly truth.283 What is not great nirvāṇa? [Answer: Nothing.] This [nirvāṇa] is the worldly truth of saṃsāra, and the absolute in turn is present in the relative. If one comprehends the middle way of the Distinct Teaching, [one knows that] the relative and the absolute are identical.

Fourth, if the Perfect Teaching arises, then the non-discriminative dharma is explained. The extremes are integrated with the middle; there is nothing which is not the Buddha-dharma. All is quiescent and pure. How then can there be a Buddha-dharma that is not the Buddha-dharma?284 Because of [the universality of] the Tathāgata’s dharmadhātu there is no form or appearance outside of the dharmadhātu. [To speak of] mere relativity is “crude,” but through form alone one can attain the “subtle.”285 There is nothing which is relative, and nothing which is absolute. I do not know how to name it. If we must use words, it should be called “absolute.”286

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 202-203
280
This refers to the teaching of three kinds of conventional existence as taught in the Ch’eng shih lun [the Doctrine of Mere-consciousness]. … The three types of conventional existence are, in short, conventional existence as arising through causes, as continuity, and as relativity. return
281
This is not a direct quote but rather a paraphrase from the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra where Vimalakirti gives a long discourse on “inconceivable liberation” to Śāriputra. return
282
It sets up an absolute reality above and beyond the so-called “non-absolute” phenomenal world of conventional reality. return
283
In other words, this refers to the bodhisattva who realizes the identity of the “real” and “conventional,” of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, or the integrated nature of reality, and then “returns” to this conventional world to save other sentient beings. return
284
All things are inter-related and part of one reality. How can there be anything independent of this one reality? return
285
The subtle truth concerning reality can be realized through contemplation of only this phenomenal world, and it is not necessary to go beyond this conventional realm. return
286
The true nature of reality is beyond adequate verbalization and conceptualization, but since words must be utilized, terms such as “subtle” and “absolute” are the closest we can come to describing it. return