History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 36Abhidharma thought also analyzes material units. For example, a paramāṇzu or particle is the smallest unit of matter, and a kṣaṇa, said to be 1/65th the length of a finger snap, is the smallest unit of time. A kalpa or eon is the longest unit of time. It is said to be half a day for Brahman and 4.32 billion years in the human world.
Monthly Archives: October 2021
The Reason for Persecution of Practicers of Lotus Sūtra
QUESTION: True practicers of Buddhism should be able to live in tranquility in this life. Why are they persecuted by these three kinds of rampant enemies?
ANSWER: Our Lord Śākyamuni Buddha encountered the nine great persecutions during His lifetime for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Never-Despising Bodhisattva was beaten with sticks and pieces of wood, and pieces of tile and stones were thrown at him for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Chu Tao-shêng, one of the four great disciples of Kumārajīva, was banished to a mountain in Suchou in Southern China when he insisted on the presence of the Buddhanature in all sentient beings including icchantika. Tripitaka Master Fa-tao, who dared to remonstrate with Emperor Hui-tsung of Sung China against the persecution of Buddhists, was branded on the face with a hot iron rod. Venerable Simha (Shihi Sonja), twenty-fourth patriarch of Buddhism, was beheaded by King Mihilakula (Dammira). Grand Master T’ien-t’ai of China was regarded with hostility by three Southern and seven Northern masters, and Grand Master Dengyō of Japan was hated by monks of the six schools of Buddhism in Nara. These people—the Buddha, a bodhisattva, and great sages—were severely persecuted because they were practicers of the Lotus Sūtra. If we don’t view them as real practicers of Buddhism simply because they did not lead peaceful lives, where can we find real practicers?
Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 82-83
Daily Dharma – Oct. 22, 2021
To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion.
To wear his robe means to be gentle and patient.
To sit on his seat means to see the voidness of all things.
Expound the Dharma only after you do these [three] things!
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Our compassion leads us to engage with the world and benefit others. Cultivating our gentle and patient nature lets us live the peace everyone wants and show them how to obtain it. To see the voidness of things does not mean acting as if they don’t exist. We presume that things that do not exist forever do not exist at all. A wisp of smoke. A fleeting smile. The Buddha teaches that there is nothing permanent and self-existing. Only what is interdependent and changing truly exists.Only that which is connected with everything else truly exists.Nothing hinders us. Nothing opposes us. When we see the harmony in our changing existence, then we see the Buddha Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 4
Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Śāriputra, listen attentively!
The Buddhas, having attained the Dharma,
Expound it to all living beings
By their immeasurable power to employ expedients.I caused all living beings to rejoice
By telling them stories of previous lives,
Parables, similes and discourses,
That is to say, by employing various expedients
Because I knew their thoughts,
The various teachings they were practicing,
Their desires, their natures,
And the good and evil karmas they have previously done.The sūtras were composed of prose, gāthās, and geyas.
The contents of them were
Miracles, parables, similes, upadesas,
And stories of the previous lives
Of Buddhas and of their disciples.
The reasons why the sūtras were expounded were also given.I expounded the teaching of Nirvana to the dull people
Who wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
Who were attached to birth and death,
And who were troubled by many sufferings
Inflicted on them because they have not practiced
The profound and wonderful teachings under innumerable Buddhas.I expounded this expedient teaching in order to cause them
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.
I never said to them:
“You will be able to attain the enlightenment of the
Buddha.” I never said this
Because time was not yet ripe for it.
Now is the time to say it.
I will expound the Great Vehicle definitely.
I expounded various sūtras of the nine elements
According to the capacities of all living beings.
I expounded various sūtras
Because those sūtras were a basis for the Great Vehicle.Some sons of mine are pure in heart, gentle and wise.
They have practiced the profound and wonderful teachings
Under innumerable Buddhas
[In their previous existence].
I will expound this sūtra of the Great Vehicle to them,
And assure them of their future Buddhahood, saying:
“You will attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
In your future lives.”Deep in their minds they are thinking of me,
And observing the pure precepts.
Therefore, they will be filled with joy
When they hear they will become Buddhas.
I know their minds.
Therefore, I will expound the Great Vehicle to them.Any Śrāvaka or Bodhisattva
Who hears even a gāthā
Of this sūtra which I am to expound
Will undoubtedly become a Buddha.
The Daily Dharma from July 22, 2021, offers this:
Some children of mine are pure in heart, gentle and wise.
They have practiced the profound and wonderful teachings
Under innumerable Buddhas
[In their previous existence].
I will expound this sūtra of the Great Vehicle to them,
And assure them of their future Buddhahood, saying:
“You will attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
In your future lives.”
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In the difficulties we face in this world of conflict and attachment, we can lose sight of our purpose to benefit all beings and try to avoid whatever is uncomfortable. When we hear the Buddha assure us of our inherent wisdom, and that our capacity to benefit others will continue to grow despite any obstacles we find, we learn to persevere through misfortunes, and increase our determination to lead all beings to enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Transmigration
History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 35-36Beings … transmigrate through the four states of existence: life, death, intermediateness, and birth. The intermediate state is the time from when a being has finished one mode of existence until obtaining the next mode of existence, and it usually said to be 49 days. “Transmigration” is a translation of the Sanskrit word saṃsāra, which means “flowing” or “wandering.” Ancient Indian Upaniṣads held that after going through five processes that occur after cremation, one is either born as a human or goes to heaven. This was known as the “five fires and two paths” teaching. In contrast, Buddhism held that in these four states of existence one transmigrates between the six paths, the five destinies and the heavens.
The Hell of Great Burning Heat
The Hell of Great Burning Heat, the seventh of the eight major hells, is located beneath the Hell of Burning Heat, and its length and breadth are the same as the Hell of Burning Heat. However, the torment in this hell is ten times more severe than all the torments of the six hells mentioned above combined. The life span of sinners in this hell is half the length of a medium kalpa.
Those who commit the sin of violating a nun who observes the precept of purity, in addition to the grave sins of killing, stealing, adultery, drinking intoxicants, lying and harboring a false view will fall into this hell. Buddhist monks violating women who observe the precept against adultery by making them drunk with sake or fooling them with the gift of property or money will fall into this hell. Many Buddhist monks today are committing this grave sin.
Referring to this, the Great Compassion Sūtra preaches: “In the Latter Age of Degeneration many men and women in the laity are being reborn in heaven, but many priests and nuns are falling into hell.” People with conscience should be ashamed of themselves.
Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 110-111.
Daily Dharma – Oct. 21, 2021
The Buddha said to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva: “The good men or women will be able to obtain this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after my extinction if they do the following four things: (1) secure the protection of the Buddhas, (2) plant the roots of virtue, (3) reach the stage of steadiness [in proceeding to enlightenment], and (4) resolve to save all living beings. The good men or women will be able to obtain this sūtra after my extinction if they do these four things.”
For us who aspire to this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma, the Buddha gives this guide in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. For us to have even heard of this sūtra in this life we must have already done these four things. In order to maintain this practice, we need to use the Buddha’s protection for the benefit of all beings, not just for our benefit alone. We need to nourish the virtuous seeds we have already planted, remain steady and confident on the path to enlightenment, and sustain our determination to maintain our respect for everyone.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 3
Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.
(He said to Śāriputra again:)
I have already attained
The profound and wonderful Dharma,
The Dharma without āsravas, the inconceivable Dharma.
It is known only to me
And to the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.Śāriputra, know this!
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
Have great power of faith
In the Dharma expounded by the Buddhas!
As a rule, the World-Honored Ones expound the true teaching
Only after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings].(He said to the Śrāvakas
And to those who were seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers:)
I saved all living beings
From the bonds of suffering,
And caused them to attain Nirvāṇa.
I showed to them
The teaching of the Three Vehicles as an expedient
In order to save them from various attachments.
The abhidharma worldview
History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 35The abhidharma worldview … analyzed humans and their surrounding world in detail. First, the world is divided into three realms or the triple world: (1) the desire realm in which individuals exist with desires for sex and food, (2) the form realm in which individuals have left behind the above two desires but are not free from material restrictions, (3) the formless realm as spiritual since it is free from material restrictions. It is held that the desire realm contains the six paths (or five paths if asura are not included): hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, demigods called fighting demons (asuras), and humans. There are also the six heavens of the desire realm: Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, Yāma or Heaven of Time, Tuṣita or Heaven of Contentment, Heaven of Delight in Creation, and Heaven of Controlling the Creation of Others. In the form realm are seventeen heavens. First is the group of the heavens of the first meditative concentration: Heaven of Brahma’s Retainers, Heaven of Brahma’s Ministers, and Great Brahma’s Heaven. The next grouping is the heavens of the second meditative concentration: Heaven of Lesser Radiance, Heaven of Immeasurable Radiance, and Heaven of the Ultimate Radiance. The third grouping is the heavens of the third meditative concentration: Heaven of Lesser Purity, Heaven of Immeasurable Purity, Heaven of Pervasive Purity. The last grouping is the heavens of the fourth meditative concentration: Cloudless Heaven, Heaven of Meritorious Birth, Heaven of Extensive Fruition, Heaven Free from Afflictions, Heaven Without Torment, Heaven of Perfect Form, Heaven of Perfect Vision, and the Highest Heaven. Lastly in the formless realm are four heavens: Heaven of Infinite Space, Heaven of Infinite Consciousness, Heaven of Nothingness, and Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception.
‘Provisional Extinction’
The 16th chapter of the Lotus Sūtra on “The Life Span of the Buddha” states, “Various sūtras preached by the Buddha ever since His attainment of Buddhahood in the eternal past are nothing but the truth; none of them are provisional.” This is interpreted by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 9: “All those who overcame illusions of the triple world through provisional teachings inevitably attained enlightenment. From this we can see that provisional pre-Lotus sūtras were expounded for the purpose of leading the people to the True Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra.”
Grand Master Miao-lê explains it further in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 9: “Overcoming illusions of the triple world through provisional teachings of pre-Lotus sūtras is provisional, not true, extinction. Therefore, it is termed ‘provisional extinction.’ Those who practiced three kinds of Buddhist practice (bodhisattvas, men of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) during the pre-Lotus periods all got rid of illusions of the triple world, and there exist no humans and heavenly beings who did not escape from the suffering of the three lowest realms (hell, realm of hungry spirits and that of beasts). Compared to the complete extinction of illusions of the triple world through the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, however, theirs is merely a provisional extinction.”
Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 276