Monthly Archives: June 2021

d26b, WONS

Definitely and Without a Doubt

In the Lotus Sūtra, after forty some years [wherein the other sūtras taught that women could not attain Buddhahood,] a woman at last attained Buddhahood; and even Devadatta, who was called an icchantika who broke the five rebellious sins, attained Buddhahood. Thus, there is no doubt that in this evil age those monks, laymen, nuns, and laywomen who are icchantika because they have broken the five rebellious sins and slandered the Dharma, will all attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra. Moreover, we must trust these words from fascicle seven of the Lotus Sūtra:

After my passing
He who upholds this sūtra
Will attain the Buddha Way
Definitely and without a doubt.

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

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 20, 2021

My words are true.
Believe me with all your hearts!
I have been teaching them
Since the remotest past.

The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya Bodhisattva and others gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Maitreya had never seen any of the other Bodhisattvas who sprang up from underground in this chapter, despite his memory of previous lives and other worlds. The Buddha explains that the beings who had just appeared are also his disciples and have come to spread this Wonderful Dharma in our world. Nichiren teaches that when he realized that he was an incarnation of Superior-Practice, the leader of the Bodhisattvas from underground, then all of us who follow Nichiren and continue to keep the Lotus Sūtra are the followers of Superior-Practice. We do not need to wait for someone to come to our world and lead us. The world does not need anyone other than those already here to teach the Dharma. We are the Bodhisattvas from underground.

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

LS32

Day 16

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.

Day 16 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the story Many Treasures Buddha’s vow, we consider the Buddha’s question: Who will protect and keep this sūtra, and read and recite it after my extinction?

(The Buddha said to the great multitude.)
Who will protect
And keep this sūtra,
And read and recite it
After my extinction?
Make a vow before me to do this!

Many-Treasures Buddha,
Who had passed away a long time ago,
Made a loud voice like the roar of a lion
According to his great vow.

Many-Treasures Tathāgata and I
And the Buddhas of my replicas,
Who have assembled here,
Wish to know who will do [all this].

My sons!
Who will protect the Dharma?
Make a great vow
To preserve the Dharma forever!

Anyone who protects this sūtra
Should be considered
To have already made offerings
To Many-Treasures and to me.

Many-Treasures Buddha vowed to go
About the worlds of the ten quarters,
Riding in the stūpa of treasures,
In order to hear this sūtra [directly from the expounder].

Anyone [who protects this sūtra] also
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the Buddhas of my replicas, who have come here
And adorned the worlds with their light.

Anyone who expounds this sūtra
Will be able to see me,
To see Many-Treasures Tathāgata,
And to see the Buddhas of my replicas.

The Daily Dharma from April 15, 2021, offers this:

Anyone who protects this sūtra
Should be considered
To have already made offerings
To Many-Treasures and to me.

The Buddha makes this declaration to all those assembled to hear him teach the Dharma in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Many-Treasures Buddha has just appeared to confirm the truth of the sūtra, and the Buddha has asked who will protect and preserve this sūtra after his extinction. By considering anyone who defends the meaning of the Lotus Sūtra to be one who has been personally present before these Buddhas, the Buddha invites us to consider not just our previous lives, but our current lives. We repay these Buddhas for this wonderful teaching by bringing it to life ourselves. As Nichiren wrote, “even if only a word or phrase, spread it to others.”

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

Foundations

Three Ships and One Private Boat

Question: When milk reaches [the level of] ghee, it is in the same way called “complete.” How about this analogy?279

Answer: Now I will use an analogy to explain an analogy. It is like an official who has three ships [great, middle and small-sized] and one private boat for the purpose of taking people from this shore to that shore.

The milk teachings are analogous to using the great and middle-sized ships to help people cross from this shore. The cream teachings are analogous to using the private boat to ferry people to the island in the middle [of the river]. The curds teachings are analogous to using the four types [of boats]: using the small ship and private boat to ferry people to the island in the middle [of the river], and the two [middle- and large-sized] ships to ferry people to the other shore. The butter teachings are analogous to using the three ships, one ship for the island in the middle [of the river] and two for the other shore. The ghee teachings are analogous to the great ship which ferries people to the other shore. The three ships are alike in that they are official property, therefore they deserve the title “complete.” The private boat is not official property, so it is called “incomplete.” Of the official ships, two ships are small with few rooms. The great ship is grand and splendid and with many decorations; only this one can be called “subtle.” Wise men, by means of this analogy, can gain understanding. Thus this analogy is explained.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 201-202
279
In other words, why is only the Lotus Sūtra called “complete” if all the Sūtras implicitly contain the complete truth, as milk can eventually turn into ghee. return
Lotus Seeds

Making Buddhism Accessible to All

Quote

The teaching of Nichiren Shonin makes the path of Buddhism accessible to all, no longer just for those who have the predilection, time, or leisure to become recluses or monastics. More than that, the Buddhism of Nichiren Shonin truly endeavors to make the world a better place. The teaching of the oneness of life and its environment tells us that when we improve ourselves, we contribute to improving the world. Nichiren Buddhism also assures us that this world is the Buddha’s pure land; it is only our delusion that prevents us from seeing this. As we practice to achieve this realization and to assist others in the same pursuit the world looks more and more like a pure land to everyone in it.

Lotus Seeds

WONS

A Mite Riding on the Tail of a Dragon-Horse

Grand Master Dengyō has said in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra: “You should know this. As basic canons of other schools are not the supreme sūtras, those who uphold those sūtras are not enlightened above all the people. The basic canon of the Tendai Lotus School is the supreme sūtra, so those who uphold it are enlightened above all the people. These are the words of the Buddha. How can this be self-conceit?” When a mite riding on the tail of a dragon-horse, which can run 1,000 ri a day boasts that it (mite) can run 1,000 ri a day, or when a follower of the Wheel-turning Noble King claims to run around the world in a second, who would blame or suspect him? We should remember by heart: “How can this be self-conceit?” If so, since those who uphold the Lotus Sūtra exactly as it is are above the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra, they should be able to have Mt. Sumeru carried by asura demons and a great ocean swallowed up by dragons.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 248

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 19, 2021

Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva-mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood, saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’ Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able to hear his answer.

This passage from Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra is the answer one of the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha gives to his attendant. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas have come up through the ground of this world of conflict after the Buddha asked who would continue his teaching after his extinction. Neither the attendant, nor anyone gathered to hear the Buddha teach had seen those Bodhisattvas before and wanted to know where they came from. Our practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not mean merely accepting what we do not understand. We need to raise questions when they occur. These questions show that we are capable of greater understanding. They lead us even closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.

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

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 10, we witness a stupa of the seven treasures spring up from underground and hang in the sky before the Buddha.

Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha. The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep. lt was adorned with various treasures. It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers. It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down. The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world. Many canopies, adorned with streamers, and made of the seven treasures-gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby were hanging in the sky [one upon another from the top of the stupa] up to the [heaven of the] palaces of the four heavenly-kings. The thirty-three gods offered a rain of heavenly mandārava-flowers to the stupa of treasures. Thousands of billions of living beings, including the other gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, also offered flowers, incense, necklaces, streamers, canopies and music to the stupa of treasures, venerated the stupa, honored it, and praised it.

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:

“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

See The Arrival of the Stupa of Seven Treasures

Foundations

Caution in Determining Certain Time Periods for Teachings

Question: If the [teachings concerning] reality were already complete in the Vaipulya*[Sūtras], then all should be called “subtle.”

Answer: Now, one should not determine certain time periods for teachings; why do you speak of “just the Vaipulya”?272 Even if we make distinctions [such as superior or inferior], this has its reasons. The reason is that, [for example,] bodhisattvas of high competence are able to comprehend the subtle [teaching] through these [Vaipulya Sūtras] no different than from [comprehending the subtle teaching through] the Lotus Sūtra.273

Bodhisattvas of dull faculties and those of the two vehicles are still wrapped up in [the conventional] expedient means and controlled by worldly tastes. The Vaipulya period contains the “curds” teachings; it teaches the subtle in contrast to the crude. The Prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtras contain the “butter” teachings; they teach the subtle in contrast to the crude. This Lotus Sūtra lacks the expedient means of the above two [groups of] sūtras: it teaches only the true “ghee” of the subtle in contrast to the crude. The meaning of “subtle” in this [Lotus Sūtra] and in those [Vaipulya and Prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtras] is not different. They are different only in that one contains expedient means and one does not contain expedient means.274

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 200
*
Sūtras falling into the vaipūlya category include the Prajñā-pāramitā Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Ratnakūṭa collection of sūtras, and the Chinese Nirvāṇa Sūtra. Oxford Reference Dictionary return
272
In other words all teachings are preached either implicitly or explicitly at all times. If this is a correct reading of Chih-i here, then can it not be interpreted as a criticism of later attempts such as the Tien-t’ai ssu chiao i to produce a strict and rigid classification system? return
273
In other words, some people who are particularly insightful can realize the ultimate, complete and perfect truth just by being exposed to the teachings of the Āgama, Vaipulya Sūtras, or Prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtras, even though it is the Lotus Sūtra which is the final complete teaching which contains the naked truth without any embellishments or expedient devices. return
274
For details on this subject of doctrinal classification see Hurvitz, Chih-i and Chappell’s translation of the Tien-t’ai ssu chiao I [An outline of the Fourfold Teachings]. Chih-i also discusses this subject in more detail later in the Fa hua hsüan I [Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra]. return
WONS

Truly Understanding the Country

Japan is a country where the Lotus Sūtra should be spread exclusively, in the same manner that the Kingdom of Śrāvastī in India was a country where Mahāyāna teachings were spread solely. In India, some areas were exclusively Hinayāna, others were exclusively Mahāyāna, and still others were Hinayāna and Mahāyāna simultaneously. Japan is a country exclusively for Mahāyāna teachings. Of the Mahāyāna teachings, especially the true Mahāyāna of the Lotus Sūtra should be spread in Japan (as recorded in such writings as the Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practices; the Postscript to Translating the Lotus Sūtra by Sêng-chao; Biography of Prince Shōtoku; Grand Master Dengȳö’s The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra and Treatise on the Protection of the Nation; and Comprehensive Interpretations by Venerable Annen). Thus, properly understanding that Japan is a country where the Lotus Sūtra should be spread is to truly understand the country.

Kyō Ki Ji Koku Shō, Treatise on the Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 102