Suppose one sets up a needle on top of Mt. Sumeru and throws a piece of string on a windy day from another Mt. Sumeru standing too far to see. It is impossible to thread the needle set up on the first Mt. Sumeru. It is, however, even more difficult to experience the great title of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore you should realize that being able to chant the great title of this sutra is more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). Those with great talents, or who have worked hard and made great accomplishments, tend to think that what they have done is normal. They can lose any appreciation for what they have and focus only on what they lack. This passage reminds us of the treasure we enjoy in the five syllables of Myo Ho Ren Ge and Kyo. Just hearing this Great Title is the result of great efforts we have made in the past, whether we appreciate and remember those efforts or not.
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Having last month considered those who those who keep, read and recite this sūtra, we consider the merits of keeping or copying the Lotus Sutra or causes others to copy it after the Buddha’s extinction.
“Ajita! Anyone who, after hearing this sūtra, keeps or copies it or causes others to copy it after my extinction, should be considered to have already built many hundreds of thousands of billions of monasteries, that is to say, innumerable monasteries, each of which was installed with thirty-two beautiful halls made of red candana, eight times as tall as the tala-tree, and spacious enough to accommodate one hundred thousand bhikṣus. He also should be considered to have already furnished [those monasteries] with gardens, forests, pools for bathing, promenades, and caves for the practice of dhyāna, and filled [those monasteries] with clothing, food, drink, bedding, medicine, and things for amusements, and offered [those monasteries] to me and to the Saṃgha of bhikṣus in my presence. Therefore, I say, ‘Anyone who keeps, reads or recites this sūtra, expounds it to others, copies it, causes others to copy it, or makes offerings to a copy of it after my extinction, need not build a stupa or a monastery, or make offering to the Saṃgha.’ Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observe the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.
Chapter 17 sets forth the four stages of faith of those who believe in the Lotus Sutra during the Buddha’s lifetime, and the five stages of practice for those who follow it after his death. The four stages of faith are:
“Those living beings who have heard that the lifetime of the Buddha is of such long duration and have been able to receive but one thought of faith and discernment—the merits they obtain . . . [will bel beyond [the merits of practicing] the five pāramitās.”
“If anyone hears of the duration of the Buddha’s lifetime and apprehends its meaning, the merit obtained by this man will be beyond limit and he will advance to the supreme wisdom of tathāgatas.”
“The one who is devoted to hearing this sutra, or causes others to hear it, or himself keeps it, or causes others to keep it, or himself copies it, or causes others to copy it, or . . . pays homage to the sutra; this man’s merit will be infinite and boundless and able to bring forth perfect knowledge.”
“If any good son or good daughter, hearing of my declaration of the duration of my lifetime, believes and discerns it in his inmost heart, such a one will see the Buddha always on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa preaching the Law. And he will see this Sahā-world whose land is lapis lazuli , it has towers, halls, and galleries all made of jewels, in which dwell together its bodhisattva host.”
The five stages of practice:
“If [anyone], after the extinction of the Tathāgata, hears this sutra, and does not defame but rejoices over it, you may know that he has had the sign of deep faith and discernment.”
“The one who reads and recites, receives and keeps [this sutra] – this man carries the Tathāgata on his head. Such a good son or good daughter need no more erect stupas, temples, or monasteries for me, nor make offerings of the four requisites to the monks.”
“If anyone after the extinction of the Tathāgata receives and keeps, reads and recites it, preaches it to others, either himself copies it or causes others to copy it, and pays homage to the sutra, he need no longer erect stupas and temples or build monasteries and make offerings to the monks.”
“He who is able to keep this sutra and add thereto [the six pāramitās . . . he will speedily reach perfect knowledge.”
“If anyone reads and recites, receives and keeps this sutra, preaches it to other people is able to … serve and extol the śrāvaka-monks … [and] is able to keep [the six pāramitās] those people … are near Perfect Enlightenment, sitting under the tree of enlightenment. … Wherever those good sons or good daughters sit or stand or walk in that place, [you] should erect a caitya [stupa without relics; stupa of the dharma]; all gods and men should pay homage to it as a Stupa of [the relics of] the Buddha.”
The work to be done was, of course, of quite a different sort from that which he had done in combating others. The fifty years before the “resurrection” were introductory to the proper part of his mission. There, in Sado, he was to arrive at the climax of his life, the revelation of the profound truth of his gospel. This idea was a necessary consequence of Nichiren’s belief that his own life was an embodiment of the Lotus of Truth, because the [Lotus Sutra] was always divided by interpreters into three parts, the introduction, the climax, and the consummation and perpetuation. Nichiren conceived his own mission in conformity with this division, and the task to be done in the climax of his life, now begun, was to reveal the essence of his religion, which in the event proved to be the revelation of the “Supreme Being” [Gohonzon Maṇḍala] in a symbolic representation of the universe.
For this ultimate revelation he had to prepare the way, just as the revelation of the Tathāgata’s infinite life (chapter 16) had been preceded by the issuing of the innumerable hosts of the primeval disciples (chapter 15). These preparations consisted of a concise exposition of his doctrines, and of a critical estimate of the relative values of various religious and ethical systems. The exposition is contained in an essay entitled, “The Heritage of the Sole Great Thing Concerning Life and Death,” together with a cognate essay on “The Oral Instruction for the Attainment of Buddhahood by Trees and Grasses.” After this, in the same month, was finished the “Opening the Eyes,” Nichiren’s greatest treatise on the ethical aspect of his religion, with reference to his own mission as well as to his followers’ duties toward himself and Buddha. All these were completed by the time the first winter in Sado was coming to an end, and, with the return of vernal breezes, the outlook was growing brighter. “Do even trees and grasses attain Buddhahood?” you ask. “But the truth is, Buddha manifests himself as trees and grasses. The whole universe in its essence is nothing but Buddha’s own body.” In these utterances we can see the cosmological aspect of Nichiren’s doctrine, as well as the surroundings in which the words were written down.
Now, let us see what is said concerning the Heritage of the Great Thing.
“What I call the Heritage of the Great Thing Concerning Life and Death is nothing else than the Scripture, the Lotus of the Perfect Truth. For the Sacred Title of the Lotus was handed down from the two Buddhas, Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, to the Bodhisattva Viśiṣṭacāritra, when the Buddhas appeared in the Heavenly Shrine, and from eternity the heritage has been kept without interruption. “Perfect” represents death, and “Truth” life; while life and death make up the essence of the ten realms of existence – the essence identical with that of the Lotus. … All that is born and dies is a birth and death of the [Lotus Sutra] (Truth), the Lotus in its ultimate reality. … Then, to utter the Sacred Title of the Lotus with the conviction that the three are one – the three, that is, Śākyamuni, the Buddha who from eternity has realized Buddhahood; the Lotus of Truth, which leads all beings, without exception, to Buddhahood; and we, beings in all the realms of existence. To utter the Sacred Title is, therefore, the Heritage of the Sole Great Thing Concerning Life and Death. This is the essential key to (the religious life of) Nichiren’s disciples and followers, namely, adherence to the Lotus of Truth. …
“Wherever Nichiren’s disciples and followers utter the Adoration of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth – being united in heart, even in separate existences, like the association existing between fish and water, there, lies the Heritage of the Sole Great Thing Concerning Life and Death. This is the essence of what is promulgated by Nichiren. If it should be fulfilled, the great vow of propagating (the Truth throughout the Latter Days) over the whole world would be achieved. …
“Will the Bodhisattva Viśiṣṭacāritra appear in these days of the Latter Law to open wide the gateway of the Truth, or will he not appear? The [Lotus Sutra] tells us so; yet will it surely happen? Will the Bodhisattva appear, or not? At any rate, I, Nichiren, have now accomplished the pioneer work.
“Whatever may happen to you, arouse in yourselves a strong faith and pray that you may, at the moment of death, utter the Sacred Title in clear consciousness and with earnest faith! Do not seek besides this any heritage of the sole great thing concerning life and death. Herein lies the truth of the saying that there is Bodhi even in depravities, and Nirvāṇa even in birth and death. Vain it is to hold the Lotus of Truth without this heritage of faith! I shall tell you more about this at another time. In sincerity and reverence.”
(Nichiren interpreted the word “Perfect” (Sanskrit, sad) to mean resurrection, the mysterious continuity and perpetuity of life through births and deaths. In this sense death is but a phase in the perpetual flow of life, a step to another manifestation of life. Therefore, this interpretation. This thought of Nichiren’s reminds us of Marcus Aurelius, when he said: Death, like birth, is a revelation of nature.)
Nichiren had passed through many perils and was now going to reveal the kernel of his mission. For whose sake? Of course, for the sake of all beings living and going to live; but his vision was chiefly directed toward the future. Hence the “coming myriad of years” was the motto of his work. But could that task for the future be fulfilled without a remote cause and solid foundation laid in the past? All beings are to be saved. The task is grand and the end remote. The preparation for it must be proportionate to the magnitude of the future accomplishment. The necessary connection between the future and the past is shown in the revelation of the Heavenly Shrine before which all primeval disciples of Buddha were summoned and took the vow to perpetuate the Truth throughout the coming ages. The link between the past and future is Nichiren, who represents in this country at this moment the solemn pledge of salvation and is commissioned to work in the days of degeneration. Thus, his person is the key to the efficacious working of the everlasting Truth, which has its origin in eternity and is destined to prevail forever in the future.
Chapter 6 The Exile In Sado And The Ripening of Nichiren's Faith in His Mission
Prince Siddhārtha … was born as the heir to King Śuddhodana. His father-king wanting to place his son on the throne, abdicated his rule, but Prince Siddhārtha, acting against the wish of his father-king, left the royal castle in the middle of the night. The king regretted his son’s unfilial act, but the first thing that his son did after attaining Buddhahood was to lead King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā to the Buddhist Way. No parent would advise his (or her) children to leave his home to attain Buddhahood.
Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Answer to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 94
No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sūtra because there are Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Sahā-World. They are each accompanied by attendants also numbering sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges. They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra after my extinction.
The Buddha makes this declaration to the uncountable number of Bodhisattvas who came from other worlds to hear him teach in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas had responded to the Buddha’s question of who would keep and expound the Buddha’s highest teaching after his death. They promised that they would remain in this world of conflict and fulfill the Buddha’s request. After the Buddha spoke these words, an unimaginable number of Bodhisattvas came up from underground and paid their respects to the Buddha. We can understand this story, and this image, as showing that our capacity for enlightenment, and our ability to benefit all beings, is already within us. We do not need an outside agent to give these to us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Having last month considered why the Buddha gave himself various names, we consider the purpose of the Buddha’s teaching.
“Good men! All the sūtras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sūtras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sūtras]. I showed my replicas [in some sūtras,] and my transformations [in other sūtras]. I described my deeds [in some sūtras,] and the deeds of others [in other sūtras]. All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which l do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly. The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. I have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.
The eternally enlightened Original Buddha, as taught in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, is the eternally unchanging dharma-kāya; Śākyamuni, who was enlightened at Gayā, was none other than the Buddha revealing himself as the nirmāṇa-kāya. Unenlightened understanding (“skillful means”) contrasts with the “truth” of the Buddha. These contrary modes of understanding do not, however, mean that there are two opposing existences (the One vehicle and the three vehicles; the Original Buddha and the manifested form) or two times (without beginning or end, having beginning and end); rather they are different ways of looking at the same existence, the same time. Ultimately, the Buddha’s absolute truth is one. The verse section of the same chapter can be considered the expression of the culmination of religious uniāty:
“[When] all creatures have believed and obeyed,
In [character] upright, in mind gentle,
Wholeheartedly wishing to see the Buddha,
Not caring for their own lives,
Then I with all the Saṃgha
Appear together on the Divine Vulture Peak.
“When all the living see, at the kalpa’s end,
The conflagration when it is burning,
Tranquil is this realm of mine,
Ever filled with heavenly beings, Parks, and many palaces
With every kind of gem adorned,
Precious trees full of blossoms and fruits,
Where all creatures take their pleasure;
All the gods strike the heavenly drums
And evermore make music,
Showering mandārava flowers
On the Buddha and his great assembly.
My Pure Land will never be destroyed,
Yet all view it as being burned up,
And grief and horror and distress
Fill them all like this.”
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The place where Nichiren was abandoned was a hut in a cemetery, little sheltered from wind and snow. No regular supply of food reached him. He was clad only in coarse hempen robes. It is a wonder how he survived these severities. He “felt in his body the eight kinds of icy cold,” yet there was a fire in his inner heart; he almost starved, but he was provided with spiritual ambrosia. Yet he would have died of cold and hunger if a zealous adversary, who at first attempted to kill him, had not been, contrary to his intention, converted by Nichiren. The man was a warrior who had come thither in attendance on the ex-emperor, who had been banished to the island more than fifty years before.
He continued to live there and was a devout Amita-Buddhist. The honest but simple-minded man, having heard of Nichiren’s antagonism to Amita-Buddha, determined to kill the devil monk. He approached the solitary hut and watched for an opportunity to stab the hated man, but was involuntarily attracted by Nichiren’s voice as he recited the [Lotus Sutra], and finally entered into religious discussion with him, because he thought it not proper for a Buddhist and a warrior to kill another without giving him warning and attempting to convert him. The man, no match in learning and piety for Nichiren, was converted by him whom he had formerly hated. His wife followed the example of her husband, and it was they who supplied Nichiren with food. They remained faithful to him until death; and, as in the case of the fisherman and his wife in Izu, the prophet never forgot to be grateful to them. Several tender letters written to them later are testimonies to the close relation established between the master and his converts. Hatred and persecution, on the one hand, but consolation and protection, both miraculous and human, on the other, all worked to strengthen Nichiren’s gratitude toward the [Lotus Sutra] and his faith in his mission as the messenger of Buddha.
In this way the severest of the winter season was passed. Several communications were meanwhile received from Nichiren’s followers on the mainland. By the time the snow and frost began to melt and the sun was pouring down its warm rays, the exile was no longer solitary and deserted, but had about him a few converts, and was preparing to continue his work.
Chapter 6 The Exile In Sado And The Ripening of Nichiren's Faith in His Mission
When Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and many other Buddhas and bodhisattvas from all over the Universe gathered at the assembly up in the sky above Mt. Sacred Eagle, what Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures agreed upon was solely for the sake of perpetually spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration. When the Buddha of Many Treasures who had already been inside the Stupa shared his seat with Śākyamuni Buddha, what was decided by the two Buddhas as generals standing under the flag of Myōhō Renge Kyō was nothing but the truth. It was a meeting to help us living beings achieve Buddhahood. Although I was not at the scene, I have no doubt about it when I read the sūtra. However, I may have been there, but I don’t remember it simply because I am an ordinary man. And yet I can see clearly in the present time that I am a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. Moreover, it is determined that I will surely visit the practicing place of the Buddha in the future. Considering the past according to these things, I may have been at the assembly up in the sky because the past, present, and future are not separated from one another.
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78-79
