Monthly Archives: June 2021

LS32, WONS

Daily Dharma – June 18, 2021

We do not see a shadow in the dark. Man does not see the flight path of a bird in the air. We do not see the path of a fish in the sea. We do not see everyone in the world reflected on the moon. However a person with “heavenly eyes” sees all these. The scene of the chapter “Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” exists in the mind of Lady Nichinyo. Though ordinary people do not see it, Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and Buddhas throughout the universe recognize it. I, Nichiren, also can see it. How blessed are you!

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady Nichinyo (Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji). The Chapter Nichiren mentions describes the assembly of the Buddha, Many-Treasures Buddha, and innumerable Buddhas from other worlds gathered to hear the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren used a representation of this scene for the Omandala Gohonzon, his representation of the Buddha’s highest teaching. In this response, Nichiren recognizes that Lady Nichinyo sees this assembly in the reality of her everyday life. The Buddha taught that this is the most difficult of his teachings to believe and understand. Nichiren and Lady Nichinyo are examples for us that, despite this difficulty, we too can learn to see this world of delusion and ignorance as the Buddha’s pure land.

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

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the question posed by Ānanda, Rahula and the other Śrāvakas, we consider the Buddha’s prediction for Ananda.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Ānanda:

“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, 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. You will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.

“Ānanda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddhas or Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathāgatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.”

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

Now I announce to the Saṃgha:
Ānanda, the keeper of the Dharma,
Will make offerings to Buddhas,
And then attain perfect enlightenment.

He will be called
Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King.
His world will be pure, and called
Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory.

He will teach as many Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.
He will be exceedingly powerful and virtuous.
His fame will extend over the worlds of the ten quarters.

The duration of his life will be immeasurable
Because he has compassion towards all living beings.
His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life;
The counterfeit of them, for twice as long as his right teachings.

Under him, as many living beings
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will obtain the seeds
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

See The Dispeller of Gloom in the Darkness

Foundations

The Relative Meaning of Subtle and Crude

Now, to consider that which is “subtle” in relation to that which is “crude” is to interpret “crude” as a relative term denoting incompleteness and to clarify “subtle” as a term denoting completeness.266 This means one contrasts “crude” and “subtle” as relative terms [in the same way as one contrasts the terms] eternity and transiency, or great and small [or Mahāyāna and Hinayāna].

The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra says, “I explain that dharmas neither exist nor inexist; all dharmas arise due to causes and conditions.”267 This clarifies completeness [i.e., the meaning of “subtle”]. “First he [the Buddha] sat under the Bodhi-tree and with his power conquered passions [Māra] and attained the ambrosia-like extinction and perfected the path of awakening.”268 This refers to the incomplete [attainments of the] past and compares it with completeness [the attainment of Buddhahood].

The Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtra [Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-five Thousand Lines] says, “In Jambudvīpa the second turning of the wheel of the law was seen.”269 This [second turning] is in contrast to the first [turning of the wheel of the law] at the Deer Park. The Prajn͂āpāramitā [Sūtras] are the second [turning of the wheel of the law].

The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “In the past there was the first turning of the wheel of the law at Vārāṇasī; now there is another turning of the wheel of the law at Kuśinagara.”270 All Sūtras [which contain the sermons preached] at the Deer Park are incomplete, small, and crude. [The teachings of the Mahayana are] complete, great, and subtle in relative contrast to these [Hinayāna teachings]. [This is the meaning of “relative subtlety.”]

This Lotus Sūtra clarifies that “In the past in Vārāṇasi you turned the Dharma-wheel concerning the four truths, preaching the Dharma with discrimination concerning the arising and perishing of the five aggregates. Now again you are turning the wheel of the Dharma which is most subtle and supreme.”271 This also shows the subtlety of the Lotus teachings in relative contrast to the crudity of [the teachings of] Deer Park. The meaning of subtle here is the same [as in the other Mahāyāna texts mentioned above]; it is in relative contrast to the crude. This is the meaning of this text.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 199-200
266
On the terms “incomplete word” and “complete word” see note 177 on the Mahāprajāpatī Sūtra chapter “On Letters.”

267
From the introductory section of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra. Boin, 9, translates this as “Neither being (sat) nor not-being (asat), all dharmas are born dependent on causes.” return
268
This phrase follows soon after the above phrase in the introduction of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra. Boin, 10, has “Great Ascetic (munindra), you have overcome Māra and his hordes; you have conquered supreme enlightenment (pravarabodhi).” return
269
This quote follows the version as found in the Ta Chih tu lun [The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā]: The Kumārajīva translation of the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtra, T. 8, 553a16, is slightly different, but different enough to be significant. It has “I, at Jambudvipa, again saw the turning of the wheel of the law.” In this version there is no indication that it is a second, and different, turning of the wheel of the dharma. Nevertheless Chih-i interprets this phrase as supporting his idea that the Prajn͂āpāramitā Sūtras were a second and distinct step in the evolution of the Buddha’s preaching ministry. return
270
The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, if this is indeed the passage to which Chih-i is referring, merely lists the events in the life of Śākyamuni and says, “. . . at Vārāṇasi he first turned the wheel of the law for the five monks, and so forth until he entered Parinirvāṇa at Kuśinagara.” This interpretation of the life of Śākyamuni, however, is dismissed by the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra as an inferior Hinayāna interpretation. return
271
This is from the chapter “On Parables” in the Lotus Sūtra. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 56-57, translates it as follows: “Formerly, in Vārāṇasi/ you turned the Dharma-wheel of the four truths/ with discrimination preaching the dharmas/ the origination and extinction of their five collections (skandhānām udayaṃ vyayam)./ Now again you are turning the most subtle/ Unexcelled great Dharma-wheel.” return
WONS

A Sage Knows the Future

They say that a sage knows the future. Of the three periods, past, present and future, being able to foresee the future defines the true worth of a sage. Not that Nichiren is a sage, but I have always known that Japan in this present day is on her way to destruction (unless she is converted to the true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra). Undoubtedly, this corresponds with the sūtra that claims, “Problems are bound to increase after the death of the Buddha.” For one to possess knowledge of this, and yet make remonstrations, such a person is indeed a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration whom the Buddha had predicted. Even if one is aware of the consequences, if one does not step forward, one will encounter problems within the cycle of life and death. Such a person and not anyone else, would be made out to be a sworn enemy of Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, and a rival foe of the head of the Japanese state as well. Upon death, that person would fall to the Hell of Incessant Suffering, a hell much like a large castle to which the most vile of sinners are sent. The scene of people being tormented there is certainly indicative of this, so I have thought. We may be deprived of food and clothing, be admonished by our parents, brothers and sisters, and teachers, and be coerced by the head of the state and the masses; but, let us protest without the slightest hesitation. These days, I am resolved that if one is to have reservations, then one should not protest at all.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 240-241

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 17, 2021

The two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, came to their mother, joined their ten fingers and palms together, and said, ‘Mother! Go to Cloud Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha! We also will go to attend on him, approach him, make offerings to him, and bow to him because he is expounding the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to all gods and men.

The Buddha tells the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The two sons chose to be born at a time when Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha was alive and led their parents to follow that Buddha and learn the Wonderful Dharma from him. They overcame their father’s attachment to wrong views, not by arguing against those views, but by demonstrating the wonders that come from the Buddha’s great teaching. This shows how when we as Bodhisattvas live this difficult teaching we lead others to it.

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

LS32, Blog

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Pūrṇa’s past lives, we consider the prediction for Pūrṇa’s future Buddhahood.

“Bhikṣus! Pūrṇa was the most excellent expounder of the Dharma under the seven Buddhas. He is the same under me. He will be the same under the future Buddhas of this Kalpa of Sages. He will protect the teachings of those Buddhas and help them propagate their teachings. After the end of this kalpa also he will protect the teachings of innumerable Buddhas, help them propagate their teachings, teach and benefit innumerable living beings, and cause them to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. He will always make efforts to teach all living beings strenuously so that the worlds of those Buddhas may be purified. He will perform the Way of Bodhisattvas step by step for innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas, and then attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this world. He will be called Dharma-Brightness, 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. The world of that Buddha will be composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, that is, as many Sumeru-worlds as there are sands in the River Ganges. The ground [of that world] will be made of the seven treasures. It will be as even as the palm of a hand. There will be no mountains nor ravines nor ditches. Tall buildings adorned with the seven treasures will be seen everywhere in that world, and the palaces of gods of that world will hang so low in the sky that gods and men will be able to see each other. There will be no evil regions nor women. The living beings of that world will be born without any medium. They will have no sexual desire. They will have great supernatural powers, emit light from their bodies, and fly about at will. They will be resolute in mind, strenuous, and wise. They will be golden in color, and adorned with the thirty-two marks. They will feed on two things: the delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyāna. There will be innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattvas, that is, thousands of billions of nayutas of Bodhisattvas. They will have great supernatural powers and the four kinds of unhindered eloquence. They will teach the living beings of that world. There will also be uncountable Śrāvakas there. They will have the six supernatural powers including the three major supernatural powers, and the eight emancipations. The world of that Buddha will be adorned with those innumerable merits. The kalpa [in which Pūrṇa will become that Buddha] will be called Treasure­Brightness; and his world, Good-Purity. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas, and his teachings will be preserved for a long time. After his extinction, stupas of the seven treasures will be erected [in his honor] throughout that world.”

This last Sunday was the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the Bay Area’s lecture on Chapter 8. Since it falls so conveniently to my monthly rotation through the Lotus Sutra, I’m embedding the lecture below.

Stick around after the lecture for Danny Boyd’s comments on maintaining our practice and the peril when people think they are no longer worthy because they fail to meet some standard of practice.

Foundations

The Dharma of Mind

Also, “like space” means that if the contemplation of the mind arose spontaneously from the mind itself, then causes and conditions are not necessary. The mind exists [due to] causes and conditions. The mind has no power to arise [spontaneously on its own]. The mind has no power to arise [spontaneously], but neither do conditions arise [spontaneously].261 If the mind and conditions each lack substantial Being, how can they have Being when they are joined together? It is difficult [to speak of substantial Being, or of them arising] when they are joined together; when they are separate they do not arise at all.

Now, if just one arising is lacking in substantial Being, how can one speak of the hundred realms and the thousand suchlike characteristics as having substantial Being? Since the mind is empty [of substantial Being], therefore all things which arise dependent on the mind are empty.

This emptiness is also empty. If emptiness is not empty, then one can posit conventional existence as the opposite of emptiness. But conventional existence is not conventional Being.”262 The substantial Being of] neither conventional existence nor emptiness” is ultimate purity [the middle].

Also, “the objective realm of the Buddha” refers to the sameness of the dharma of the Buddhas at the top and the dharma of sentient beings at the bottom.263

Also, “the dharma of mind” refers to the non-differentiation of the three [dharmas of] mind, Buddha, and sentient beings. This is called “the dharma of mind.”

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 198
261
In others words, all things are interdependent and nothing arises in and of itself. return
262
Properly understood, conventional existence and emptiness are not opposite but synonymous. return
263
In other words, the “sameness” or integrated nature of all reality. return
WONS

The Horse King of Parthia

Once in the neighboring land of India there was a great king in a country called Parthia, who loved to breed horses. He not only improved the quality of horses but also tried to transform cattle into horses. Eventually he even changed the men of Parthia into horses and rode them. The people of his own land were so grief-stricken over his actions that he began to change foreigners into horses instead.

When a merchant from a foreign country visited his country, the great king forced him to take a potion, turned him into a horse, and tied him in a stable. The merchant missed his native land and longed for his wife and children but was unable to go home without the king’s permission. Even if he were able to return home, what could he do in the form of a horse?

While he grieved over his misfortune day and night, his only son in his homeland began to prepare for a trip to look for him, since the expected date of his father’s return had passed. The son wondered, “Was my father murdered? Or is he too sick to move? How can I, his child, stay here and not go looking for my father?” His mother lamented saying, “My husband has not yet returned from abroad. What will I do if my only son goes away too and doesn’t return?” Nevertheless, the son missed his father deeply, so he went all the way to Parthia to look for him.

While staying in a small house, the master of the house told him:

“What a pity! You are still very young and extraordinarily handsome. I had a son, but he went abroad and never returned. I don’t know whether he is dead or what became of him if he is still alive. When I think of my own son, it saddens me to even look at you. The reason why I feel very sorry for you is that there is a terrible development in this country. The king of this country, out of his love for horses, uses a mysterious herb. When the king forces a person to eat a slender leaf of the herb, that person will become a horse, and when the king feeds a horse with a wide leaf, the horse becomes a man. Recently the king forced a foreign merchant to eat the herb, changing him into a horse, and tied him in the first royal stable and keeps him as a treasure.”

Believing that the king must have changed his father into a horse, the young man asked the master, “Do you know what kind of hair the horse has?” The master replied, “It is a chestnut horse with white dapples on its shoulders.”

Hearing this, the young man devised a secret plan and entered the royal palace, stole a wide leaf herb, and fed it to the horse, which reverted to its original form as a human being.

The great king, who investigated the whole episode, was impressed by the filial act of the young man, returned the father to his son and stopped changing men into horses. Unless a child is filial, how can a child go to such lengths to go abroad searching for his father?

Venerable Maudgalyāyana saved his late mother who suffered among hungry beings, and Princes Pure Store and Pure Eyes changed the erroneous views of their father, Wonderful Adornment King. These are the fine examples of good children being the treasure of parents.

Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Pages 162-163

LS32, d15b

Daily Dharma – June 16, 2021

Anyone who expounds this sūtra to the four kinds of devotees,
Or reads or recites this sūtra in a retired place,
After doing these [three] virtuous things,
Will be able to see me.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. While the Buddha was alive 2500 years ago, people traveled great distances and endure great hardships just to see him. Today, even though the man named Siddhartha Gautama is no longer in our world, we are assured that the ever-present Śākyamuni is always with us and leading us to his enlightenment. When we make the effort to keep, read, recite, copy and expound this Sūtra, it is as if we are traveling great distances and enduring great hardships.

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

LS32

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 12 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, we begin again with the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the zenith pleading with the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [worlds], having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said to him, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma so that
all living beings may be peaceful, and that they may be saved!’ They said in gāthās:
World-Honored One, turn the wheel of the Dharma,
Beat the drum of the Dharma as sweet as nectar,
Save the suffering beings,
And show them the way to Nirvāṇa!

Assent to our appeal!
You studied the Dharma for innumerable kalpas.
Expound it with your exceedingly wonderful voice
Out of your compassion towards us!

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata, having assented to the appeals made by the Brahman-heavenly­kings of the words of the ten quarters and also by the sixteen princes, turned the wheel of the teaching [of the four truths] three times, making twelve proclamations altogether. The wheel of this teaching could not be turned by any other one in the world, be he a śramaṇas, a brahmana, a god, Mara or Brahman. The Buddha said, ‘This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is extinction of suffering. This is the Way to extinction of suffering.’

“Then he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, saying, ‘Ignorance causes predisposition. Predisposition causes consciousness. Consciousness causes name-and-form. Name­and-form causes the six sense organs. The six sense organs cause impression. Impression causes feeling. Feeling causes craving. Craving causes grasping. Grasping causes existence. Existence causes birth. Birth causes aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. When ignorance is eliminated, predisposition is eliminated. When predisposition is eliminated, consciousness is eliminated. When consciousness is eliminated, name-and-form is eliminated. When name-and-form is eliminated, the six sense organs are eliminated. When the six sense organs are eliminated, impression is eliminated. When impression is eliminated, feeling is eliminated. When feeling is eliminated, craving is eliminated. When craving is eliminated, grasping is eliminated. When grasping is eliminated, existence is eliminated. When existence is eliminated, birth is eliminated. When birth is eliminated, aging-and-death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation are eliminated.’

“When the Buddha expounded these teachings to the great multitude of gods and men, six hundred billion nayuta men emancipated themselves from āsravas, and obtained profound and wonderful dhyāna-concentrations, the six supernatural powers including the three major supernatural powers, and the eight emancipations because they gave up wrong views. At his second, third and fourth expoundings of these teachings also, thousands of billions of nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges, emancipated themselves from āsravas because they gave up wrong views. [They became Śrāvakas.] Those who became Śrāvakas thereafter were also innumerable, uncountable.

See Four Noble Truths and Three Ways of Preaching