Monthly Archives: July 2021

The Buddhist Prophet

Nichiren: The Buddhist Prophet – Chapter 2, Part 7

The “consummation and perpetuation”

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All of the remaining [Lotus Sutra] chapters (17-28), the “Consummation and Perpetuation” of the truths revealed, have always been a strong inspiration to Buddhist piety. The narratives and prophecies contained in them gave consolation in various ways, and the saints in the stories were the objects of pious devotion on the part of many Buddhists. Especially the compassionate help promised to Buddhists by Avalokiteśvara, the god of mercy (chapter 25), was regarded as a powerful incentive to grateful piety. Other saints or deities appearing in these chapters were regarded as protectors of Buddhists, and their worship consisted in devotion to them and dependence on their divine grace. In short, for most Buddhists before Nichiren, the admiration of these chapters and the worship of the divine beings who appear in them amounted to praying for benefits, and even to superstition.

Now Nichiren interpreted the “Consummation and Perpetuation” (chapters 17-28) in a totally different manner. The inspiration he derived from these narratives was a spirit of emulation, instead of mere piety; the life of the true Buddhist was to be lived in emulating the courageous and compassionate spirit of the divine beings and the vows they uttered. This was due to Nichiren’s peculiar conception of the whole [Lotus Sutra], namely, that it was a book not to be read simply by the eyes, or merely understood by the mind, but to be “read by the body,” that is, by flesh and blood. The truths revealed therein were, for Nichiren, the records of the true Buddhist life, which was realized by the saints of the past, and therefore to be striven for by all Buddhists of the coming ages.

Seen in this light, the whole book, and especially the part on the “Consummation and Perpetuation,” was a storehouse of exhortations and precepts, prophecies and assurances, given to the future Buddhists, especially to those living in the latter days of the world. For instance, take chapter 21, on the “Mysterious Power of the Tathāgata.” It is not only a revelation of Buddha’s own divine work, but an assurance given to all Buddhists, that the “Mysterious Power” should be realized and embodied in every Buddhist’s actual life. Nichiren regarded as of the highest importance a passage pointing to a definite person, designating him as “this man.”

Just as the light of the sun and moon
Expels all dimness and darkness,
So this man, living and working in the world,
Repels the gloom (of illusion) of all beings.

How this statement was taken as a prophecy concerning the leader of the true Buddhism in those days, that is, Nichiren himself, will be seen as we follow his growing consciousness of his mission. To take another instance, there is a passage in chapter 23, on the Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja [Medicine King], foretelling the propagation of the Lotus of Truth in the fifth five hundred years after Buddha’s death. Herein Nichiren saw another prophetic assurance given to his mission.


NICHIREN: THE BUDDHIST PROPHET

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WONS

Three Delusions

“Evil passions” can be categorized into three delusions: delusions arising from incorrect views and thoughts, delusions as numerous as particles of dust and delusions which hinder the knowledge of the ultimate reality. “Bad actions” refer to such serious sins as the five rebellious sins, the ten evil acts and the four major sins. Dharma Body stands for the Buddha with the Dharma Body, unsurpassed wisdom stands for the Buddha with the Reward Body, and emancipation refers to the Buddha with the Accommodative Body. From an indefinite past, we have been connected with the three paths: evil passions, karma and suffering. Fortunately, because of our association with the Lotus Sūtra, we can be assured that the illusions of the three paths instantly convert to the three merits of Dharma Body, unsurpassed wisdom, and emancipation.

Shimon Butsujō-gi, Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 247

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 14, 2021

Bhikṣus, know this! I can enter skillfully deep into the natures of all living beings. Because I saw that they wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle and that they were deeply attached to the five desires, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa to them. When they heard that teaching, they received it by faith.

The Buddha gives this explanation to the Bhikṣus (monks and nuns) gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. As difficult as it is to hear the Buddha’s highest teaching, he would not give it to us unless we were ready to receive it. Still, we who would receive it must set aside his earlier teachings as a means to our personal happiness, and see them as preparations to learn how to benefit all beings. Our faith in the Buddha is the confidence that we will become as enlightened as he is, and that he is helping all of us on the path to that enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 6

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 6 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered why the Buddha needed to use an expedient to save his children, we consider the three vehicles.

“In the same manner, I save all living beings from the burning house of the triple world, not by my powers or fearlessness, but with a skillful expedient. I expounded the teaching of the Three Vehicles: the Śrāvaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Buddha-Vehicle, as an expedient. I said, ‘Do not wish to live in the burning house of the triple world! Do not crave for inferior forms, sounds, smells, tastes or things tangible! If you cling to them and crave for them, you will be burned by them. Get out of the triple world quickly and obtain the teaching of the Three Vehicles: the Śrāvaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Buddha-Vehicle! I now assure you that you will never fail [to obtain those vehicles]. Exert yourselves, make efforts!’

“With this expedient, I caused them to advance. I said to them again, ‘Know this! This teaching of the Three Vehicles is extolled by the saints. This teaching saves you from any attachment or bond or desire. Ride in these Three Vehicles, eliminate āsravas, obtain the [five] faculties, the [five] powers, the [seven] ways to enlightenment, and the [eight right] ways, and practice dhyāna concentrations, emancipations, and samadhis so that you may be able to enjoy immeasurable peace and pleasure!’

“Śāriputra! Those who have intelligence, who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World Honored One, and who seek Nirvāṇa with strenuous efforts in order to get out of the triple world, are called Śrāvakas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the sheep-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who seek the self-originating wisdom with strenuous efforts, who wish to have good tranquility in seclusion, and who perfectly understand the causes of all things, are called Pratyekabuddhas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the deer-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self-originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathāgata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are called Mahasattvas because they seek this vehicle. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the bullock-carts.

See Correspondences for the Parable of the Burning House

elements, d5b, d6b

Correspondences for the Parable of the Burning House

According to Tendai’s “Branches of the Lotus Sutra,” the parables are divided into two portions, the exposition and the explanation of correspondences.

Correspondences for the Parable of the Burning House

The elder is the Tathāgata, the father of all the worlds. He has already cut off and ended all fear, distress, sadness, ignorance, and darkness; he has perfected his boundless knowledge, powers, and fearlessness; possessing great superhuman power and the power of knowledge, he is endowed with skillful means and the pāramitā of wisdom.

The five hundred people living in the elder’s house represent living beings for whom the Tathāgata is greatly compassionate and tireless, and ever seeks the good, benefiting all.

The thirty children in the burning house are the living beings for whose sake the Tathāgata is born in the triple world (of the desire, form, and formless realms) to save them from the fires of birth, old age, illness, death, grief, sadness, suffering, lamentation, and the three poisons, and to teach them to attain perfect and supreme enlightenment.

Just as the elder sees the conflagration spring up on every side, living beings are scorched by the fires of birth, old age, illness, death, grief, sadness, suffering, and lamentation, and suffer because of the five desires and the greed for gain. They suffer in hell, or as animals or hungry spirits, and experience as heavenly or human beings the sufferings of poverty and distress, separation from loved ones, and meetings with those they hate.

Just as the elder tells the children that there are various carts outside the gate, in order to get them to leave the burning house, the Tathāgata, through wisdom and skillful means, saves living beings from the burning house of the triple world, teaching three vehicles, the śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha, and the Buddha (“bodhisattva” in the Sanskrit text) vehicles. The Tathāgata by these skillful means brings living beings forth, saying, “This Dharma of the three vehicles is praised by the sages. In them you will be free and unbound, depending on nothing else. Riding in these three vehicles you will gain peace and joy through the roots, the powers, perceptions, ways, concentrations, emancipations, and contemplations.” In the same way the children seeking the goat carts come out of the burning house, if there are living beings who have a spirit of wisdom within, and hearing the Dharma from the Buddha, the World-Honored One, receive it in faith and zealously make progress, desiring speedily to escape from the triple world and seek nirvana for themselves, they will be named the śrāvaka vehicle.

Just as the children seeking the deer carts come out of the burning house, if there are living beings who hear the Dharma from the Buddha, the World-Honored One, and receive it in faith, zealously make progress, seeking natural wisdom, delighting in the tranquility of their own goodness, and know the causes and conditions of the dharmas, these will be called the pratyekabuddha vehicle.

Just as the children seeking the bullock carts come out of the burning house, if there are living beings who, following the Buddha, the World Honored One, hear the Dharma, receive it in faith, diligently practice and zealously advance, seeking the complete wisdom, the wisdom of the Buddha, the natural wisdom, the wisdom without a teacher, and the knowledge, powers, and fearlessness of the Tathāgata, who take pity on and comfort innumerable creatures, benefit gods and men, and save all, these will be called the Great Vehicle. Because bodhisattvas seek this vehicle they are called mahāsattvas.

Just as the elder, seeing his children leave the burning house safely, going to a place free from fear, and, pondering on his immeasurable wealth, gives each of his children a great cart, the Tathāgata is the father of all living beings, and seeing innumerable beings escape from the suffering of the triple world and from fearful and perilous paths by the Buddha’s teaching, and gain the joys of nirvana, he reflects: “I possess infinite wisdom, power, fearlessness, and other Law-treasuries of buddhas. The living beings are all my children. I will give them equally the great vehicle. There will be no one who gains nirvana separately. All will gain nirvana by the same nirvana as the Tathāgata. They are able to produce pure, supreme pleasure.”

Just as the elder at first attracted his children by the three carts and afterward gave them only a great cart and is yet not guilty of falsehood, the Tathāgata first preached the three vehicles to attract the living beings and afterward saved them by the Great Vehicle alone. The Tathāgata possesses infinite wisdom, power, fearlessness, and the treasury of the dharmas, and gives all beings the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. Through their skillful means, the buddhas discriminate the One Vehicle and expound the three.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 330-333
The Buddhist Prophet

Nichiren: The Buddhist Prophet – Chapter 2, Part 6

The revelation of the real entity of Buddha’s personality

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Having been quickened by Buddha’s urging, the Bodhisattvas in the congregation ask the Lord to entrust to them the task of propagating and perpetuating the Truth. Quite contrary to their expectation – and ours – they are counselled to keep themselves quiet. While they are astonished at the Lord’s dissuasion, he summons the innumerable hosts of saints, who appear out of the earth from all quarters. Among them four figures are conspicuous, who were never known before to any in the assembly, and whose names, they are told, are Viśiṣṭacāritra, Anantacāritra, etc. (Viśiṣṭacāritra, Jōgyō in Japanese, means “Superior Conduct.” Anantacāritra, Muhengyō in Japanese, Endless or Boundless Conduct. Jōgyō was the one with whom Nichiren was most eager to identify himself.)

The endless hosts, following the four leaders, pay adoration to Buddha, and pledge themselves to work for the perpetuation of the Truth and the salvation of all beings. The surprise of the other members of the assembly is voiced by Maitreya, the highest of the Bodhisattvas, who asks Buddha, “Who are these saints who have appeared out of earth?” The answer is that they have existed from all eternity and have always been Śākyamuni’s disciples – an answer that puzzles the inquirers still more, because their idea of Buddha as a man who no great while ago attained Buddhahood under the Bodhi-tree at Gayā is incompatible with the statement that these miraculous beings existing from eternity are his disciples (chapter 15, entitled the “Issuing-out-of-the-Earth”). How Nichiren believed himself to be a reincarnation of Viśiṣṭacāritra, or Jōgyō, will be seen later on; and his reference to an eternal and primeval discipleship to the eternal Buddha can be understood by turning to this scene.

The sixteenth chapter, entitled the “Duration of the Tathāgata’s Life,” is meant to solve the puzzle, and to reveal the eternal existence of Buddha’s personality. The Buddha who was born and is going to die, or to disappear from among mankind, is but a manifestation, and his (apparent) death is in order to dispel the disciples’ vain hope of having his earthly manifestation with them forever. Neither is birth the beginning, nor death the end of life; the true life extends far beyond both of these commonly assumed limits. Things come and pass away, but truth abides; men are born and disappear, but life itself is imperishable. Buddhahood is neither a new acquisition nor a quality destined to destruction. The One who embodies the cosmic Truth, Buddha, the Tathāgata, neither is born nor dies, but lives and works from eternity to eternity; his Buddhahood is primeval and his inspiration everlasting. How, then, can it be otherwise with any other beings, if only they realize this truth and live in full consciousness of it? Thus, the revelation of the everlasting life discloses the infinite measure of the Tathāgata’s life, which means at the same time the share of the true Buddhists in the eternal life of Buddha, and in the inextinguishable endurance of the Truth.

It was this teaching of the eternal life, both of Buddha and of ourselves, that inspired in Buddhist belief boundless strength, and led T’ien T’ai and Dengyō to systematize their theory about the primeval dignity of Buddhahood and the pre-established possibility of our supreme enlightenment. Nichiren inherited and emphasized these doctrines as the very basis of his religious thought, but we shall see later how he applied the conception of the primeval relationship between the Lord and his disciples to the moral life of mankind.

The climax of the revelation is followed by a series of encouraging assurances given by Buddha, and of enthusiastic vows made by the disciples and celestial beings. The revelation of the eternal past is thus followed by the assurance for the everlasting future. The past and the future are united in the oneness of the Truth, by the unity of purpose, methods, and power, in all the Buddhas of all ages – in short, in the Sole Road of Truth [One Vehicle]. This is the cardinal teaching of the Lotus, as in other Buddhist books or systems; but the special emphasis laid by the Lotus, particularly in the last twelve chapters, is upon the question, Who shall really be the one who will perpetuate and realize this truth of the Sole Road? The Truth abides eternally, but it is an abstraction, a dead law, without the person who perpetuates the life of the Truth. The Buddha Śākyamuni, in his human manifestation, was the one, the Tathāgata par excellence; but who shall be the one in the future, nay in the present, in these days of degeneration and vice? This was the question of Nichiren, who at last, as the result of his hard experience and perilous life, arrived at the conclusion that he himself was the man destined to achieve the task of the Tathāgata’s messenger.


NICHIREN: THE BUDDHIST PROPHET

Table of Contents

WONS

Anyone Who Says ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō’ Will Not Fail to Become a Buddha

[There] once was an ordinary man who strictly observed the precept against telling lies. Although his eyes were gouged out, his skin stripped, his flesh cut off, his blood sucked up, his bones broken, his children killed, and his wife attacked, he refused to lie even once for innumerable kalpa (aeons), and thereby attained Buddhahood. As the Buddha, he then preached the Expedients chapter in the Lotus Sūtra: “There is none who will not become a Buddha.” Namely, he has preached that anyone who said “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” even once will not fail to become a Buddha. Even if Śākyamuni Buddha alone said this, there should be absolutely no doubt about its veracity. How could the Buddha utter a false statement before the assembly of various Buddhas from all the worlds in the universe? Besides, Śākyamuni Buddha as well as all the Buddhas from the worlds throughout the universe at the same time extended their long tongues to the Mahābrahman Heaven to prove its truthfulness.

Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 41-42

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 13, 2021

Your face is most wonderful.
Your light illumines the worlds of the ten quarters.
I once made offerings to you.
Now I have come to see you again.

Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva sings these verses to Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha in a story told in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. That Bodhisattva was the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva who accepted all of the misfortunes of this world of delusion and ignorance so that he could benefit all beings living here. When we awaken our nature as Bodhisattvas, and resolve to use the Buddha’s teachings to purify this world, then we are assured we will never fail to meet Buddhas and repay the good they do for us.

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

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 5 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered Śāriputra’s concern for the remaining doubts of others in the congregation, we consider the plight of the father and his burning house.

Śāriputra! Now I will explain this with a parable. Those who have wisdom will be able to understand the reason if they hear the following parable.

“Śāriputra! Suppose there lived a very rich man in a certain country, in a certain village, in a certain town. He was old. His wealth was immeasurable. He had many paddy fields, houses, and servants. His manor house was large, but had only one gate. In that house lived many people, numbering a hundred or two hundred or five hundred. The buildings were in decay, the fences and walls corrupt, the bases of the pillars rotten, and the beams and ridgepoles tilting and slanted.

“All of a sudden fires broke out at the same time from all sides of the house, and it began to burn. In this house lived children of the rich man, numbering ten or twenty or thirty. The rich man was very frightened at the great fires breaking out from the four sides of the house. He thought, ‘I am able to get out of the gate of the burning house safely, but my children are still inside. They are engrossed in playing. They do not know that the fires are coming towards them. They are not frightened or afraid. They are about to suffer, but do not mind. They do not wish to get out.’ Śāriputra! He also thought, ‘I am strong-muscled. I will put them in a flower-plate or on a table and bring them out.’

“But he thought again, ‘This house has only one gate. Worse still, the gate is narrow and small. My children are too young to know this. They are attached to the place where they are playing. They may fall [out of the plate or table] and get burned. I had better tell them of the danger. This house is already burning. They must come out quickly so as not to be burned to death.’

“Having thought this, he said to his children as he had thought, ‘Come out quickly!’ He warned them with these good words out of his compassion towards them, but they were too much engrossed in playing to hear the words of their father. They were not frightened or afraid. They did not wish to come out. They did not know what a fire was, what a house was, and what they would lose. They ran about happily. They only glanced at their father occasionally.

See Vyākaraṇa

elements, d5b, d8b, d13b, d14b

Vyākaraṇa

The central concern of the first half of the Lotus Sutra is the uniting of the three vehicles into the One. Early proponents of Mahayana, whose thought is expressed in the Wisdom sutras, denigrated the existing Buddhism as Hinayana, contending, in their efforts to give precedence to the practice of the bodhisattva as a candidate for buddhahood, that neither śrāvakas nor pratyekabuddhas were capable of attaining the buddha degree. As the compassion of the Buddha came to be emphasized more and more, though, it became necessary to resolve the question of the buddhahood of the other two vehicles. The “Tactfulness” chapter of the Lotus Sutra specifically addresses the issue, and following chapters repeat its ideas one by one, using a number of parables and allegories. The Buddha’s disciples, the śrāvakas, previously described as having as their ultimate goal the attainment of arhatship, receive in the Lotus Sutra, together with the pratyekabuddhas, predictions of their ultimate buddhahood. Therefore the sutra can truly be called adbhuta-dharma (“the unprecedented law and teaching”).

Buddhism employs a special word, vyākaraṇa, to express a prediction about someone’s future attainment of buddhahood. It had been used in sutras preceding the Lotus, and can be traced right back to the Jātakas (stories of the Buddha’s former lives) and other early scriptures. It has various forms of expression and, appearing in a broad spectrum of sutras, is a major contributor to the development of the idea of prediction in Buddhism. With the growth of the concepts of buddha-nature and tathāgata-garbha in middle-period Mahayana works, such as the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and Śrimālādevi-sūtra, the idea of prediction gave way to those new ways of thinking.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 283-284