Monthly Archives: October 2021

LS32, Innumerable

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the reaction of Bodhisattva Fully Composed, we conclude the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings

At that time the Buddha addressed the great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed and the eighty thousand great-being bodhisattvas, saying: “Regarding this sutra, all of you should bring forth a deeply respectful attitude, practice the way of its teaching, and, with determined minds, disseminate it widely and inspire all living beings. You should always diligently endeavor to uphold it day and night and universally cause each and every living being to reap the benefits of the Dharma. In this you will truly be greatly merciful and highly compassionate. Cultivate a transcendent power of will to uphold this sutra, and never let doubt or hesitation arise. Make sure that it is widely practiced in this world in the future, and see that all living beings surely come to experience it, hear it, internalize it, recite it, make records of it, and honor it. This will also enable all of you to swiftly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment.”

The great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed and the eighty thousand great-being bodhisattvas then immediately rose from where they sat, respectfully made their way to where the Buddha was, bowed their heads at his feet in homage, and walked around him a hundred thousand times. They then knelt formally on one knee before the Buddha and addressed him in one voice, saying: “World-honored One! We are all happy to receive the World-honored One’s compassion. You have expounded this profound, transcendent, supreme, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra for all of us equally. We respectfully accept the Buddha’s directive that, after your passing, we should be those who widely disseminate this sutra and inspire all living beings to accept it, keep faith with it, internalize it, recite it, make records of it, and honor it. May the World-honored One not be concerned! Through the strength of our resolve we will see that all living beings everywhere surely come to experience, hear, internalize, recite, make records of, and honor this sutra, and gain the dynamic transcendent power of its teaching.”

The Buddha then said, in praise, “Well done, you of good intent! Well done! Truly you are now successors of the Buddha! You are surely the ones capable of thoroughly eliminating suffering and alleviating misfortune with great kindness and compassion! You will be bountiful spheres of kindness for all living beings, excellent guides who benefit all far and wide, sources of great support for all living beings, and all living beings’ great benefactors! Constantly, with the benefits of the Dharma, be of universal service to all!”

Thereupon the entire assembly greatly rejoiced, paid homage to the Buddha, and, with understanding and acceptance, departed.

See Implanting Our Ideal of the Buddha

LS32, Innumerable, b4today

Implanting Our Ideal of the Buddha

[In the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings], all the beings, including the Bodhisattva Great Adornment, praised the holy mind of the Buddha who had realized all, had transcended all, and had led all creatures of the universe as he wisted. …

Praise of the Buddha serves to implant our ideal of the Buddha deep in our memory. It sets forth the eternal goal of buddhahood by constructing a picture of the Buddha’s figure and power as the one who receives the greatest honor and is absolutely perfect.

Buddhism for Today, p6
history

Saṃgha

The term saṃgha means “something gathered,” “assembly,” and similar ideas. It is sometimes translated into Chinese as zhòng, which means congregation. In Buddhism, it refers to the group of religious trainees. Along with the Buddha and the Dharma it is considered one of the Three Treasures. The saṃgha is comprised of the following: (1) bhikṣu: fully ordained renunciate male religious trainees, (2) bhikṣuṇī: fully ordained renunciate female religious trainees, (3) śramaṇera: male renunciates who have not yet been fully ordained, (4) śramaṇerī: female renunciates who have not yet been fully ordained, (5) upāsakā: laymen, (6) upāsikā: laywomen, and (7) śikṣamāṇā: a śramaṇerī between the age of 18 and 20 who maintains the six precepts. The saṃgha was run using a consensus system.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 30
WONS

No Mistaking the True Words of the Buddha

The “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter in the fourth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra also states: “Bodhisattva Medicine-King, I am telling you that the Lotus Sūtra is the best of all the sūtras I have preached.” In the chapter on “Peaceful Practices” in the fifth fascicle, it declares: “Mañjuśrī, the Lotus Sūtra is the secret storehouse of all Buddhas. It is supreme of all sūtras.” The “Medicine-King Bodhisattva” chapter in the seventh fascicle states: “This Lotus Sūtra is supreme of all the sūtras” and “It is most brilliant and revered.”

These statements in the sūtra are not my own creation. They are the true words of the Buddha; there cannot be any mistake about them.

Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 178

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 17, 2021

Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! If anyone keeps this sūtra in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], I will protect him so that he may be free from any trouble, that he may be peaceful, and that no one may take advantage [of his weak points].”

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. In this world of conflict, it can seem like very few people are practicing the Buddha Dharma with us. Nichiren compared those beings alive in this world of conflict to the amount of soil in the whole earth, while those who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra are like the dirt under a fingernail. The vow of Universal-Sage reminds us that innumerable beings support our practice and that in turn, we support them with our practice.

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

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: Practicing Self-Amendment

Having last month considered how reflection on the true principle of the Great Vehicle has allowed all Buddhas to become rid of impurities, we consider the Buddha’s advice to Ānanda.

The Buddha spoke thus to Ānanda:

“When living beings wish to contemplate the bodhisattva Universal Sage, they should do this contemplation. Contemplating in this manner is known as correct contemplation; contemplation done in any other manner is called errant contemplation.

“When followers of Buddha practice self-amendment according to the Buddha’s instructions after the Buddha has passed away, it should be known that they are doing the practice of Universal Sage. Those who follow the practice of Universal Sage will not experience negative situations or detrimental karmic consequences. Those living beings who pay homage to the buddhas of the ten directions at the six specified times of day and night, internalize the Great Vehicle sutras, and reflect on the ultimate principle – the most profound truth of emptiness – will, in an instant, become rid of the impurities from innumerable hundreds of millions of myriads of kalpas of the cycle of births and deaths. Those who follow this practice are truly buddha successors, born of all of the buddhas. The buddhas of the ten directions, and the bodhisattvas as well, will be their mentors. They will be recognized as those who fully conform to the behavioral principles of bodhisattvas: without the need of a ceremony, they will fulfill them on their own. They will become worthy of being honored and rendered service by all human and heavenly beings.”

See Repentance: An Indispensable Requisite of Religious Life

history

Conditions that Arise Together

“Dependent origination” is the basis of [the] “no-self” concept. It is a fundamental part of Śākyamuni’s teachings, unique to the Buddha, and is not found in Hindu schools. The term “dependent origination” is a translation of the Sanskrit “pratītyasamutpāda.” “Pratītya” means “condition” and “samutpāda” means “to arise together.” Dependent origination holds that all beings arise based on conditions. They come into being and are mutually dependent. This was the antithesis of the theory, generally accepted in India, that everything comes into existence based on the ātman or self.

This idea of dependent origination developed into teachings such as the “twelvefold chain of dependent origination,” which describes the cause of suffering in this world and the conditions for its extinction. It holds that (1) ignorance, (2) volitional formations, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form, (5) the six sense bases, (6) contact or impression, (7) feeling or sensation, (8) craving or desire, (9) clinging or attachment, (10) becoming or existence, (11) birth, and (12) old age and death, each of these arise due to the link that comes before it. This way of looking at the twelve links is called anuloma or “sequential observation.” Observing that volition is extinguished when ignorance is extinguished, and that extinguishing the suffering of old age and death comes from extinguishing ignorance is called pratiloma or “reverse observation.”

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 29
d1b, WONS

They Began With ‘Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō’

Venerable Ānanda and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī listened to every word of the wonderful teaching of the Lotus Sūtra for eight years and at the assembly for compilation of all the sūtras after the Buddha’s extinction, nine hundred ninety-nine arhats wrote them down. They began with “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” and chanted “Thus have I heard.” Doesn’t this prove that the five Chinese characters of “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” are the essence of the one volume Lotus Sūtra, twenty-eight chapters in eight fascicles?

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 52.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 16, 2021

World-Honored One! Explain all this so that we may be able to remove our doubts and that the good men in the future may have no doubts when they hear these words of yours!

The Bodhisattva Maitreya makes this request to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. There are several ways that the Buddha leads us to his enlightenment. One is by making us aware of the mysteries that abound in this world of conflict. The Lotus Sūtra promises in Chapter One that no question will be left unresolved. But unless we are aware of these questions, and these mysteries, then they cannot be explained. When we allow ourselves to wonder, to question, to become aware of the mystery of existence, and resist being ashamed of not knowing. then we are coming to understand the Buddha’s own mind.

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

LS32

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the promise of protection by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Universal-Sage’s dhārāṇis spells.

“World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me. I will expound the Dharma to them, show them the Way, teach them, benefit them, and cause them to rejoice. I also will give them dhārāṇi spells. If they obtain these dhārāṇis, they will not be killed by nonhuman beings or captivated by women. Also I myself will always protect them. World-Honored One! Allow me to utter these dhārāṇis spells!”

Thereupon he uttered spells before the Buddha:

“Atandai (1), tandahatai (2), tandahatei (3), tandakusharei (4), tandashudarei (5), shudarei (6), shudarahachi (7), botsudahasennei (8), sarubadarani-abatani (9), sarubabasha-abataru (10), hu­abatani (11), sōgyahabishani (12), sōgyaneku-kyadani (13), asogi (14), sōgyahagyadai. (15), teirei-ada-sōgyatorya-aratei-haratei (16), sarubasogya-sammaji-kyarandai (17), sarubadaruma­shuharisettei (18), saru-basatta-rodakyōsharya-atogyadai (19), shin-abikiridaitei (20).”

The Daily Dharma from April 5, 2021, offers this:

World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this declaration to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren interprets “the later five hundred years” as the time in which we live today. Universal sage describes the ways in which we can practice this Sūtra. To seek it is to find it in all aspects of our lives. To keep it is to rely on its teachings and have confidence in its ability to lead us to the Buddha’s wisdom. To read and recite it is to continue to remind ourselves and others of the details of the teachings. To copy it is to make it available to others. The merits we gain through these practices allow us to see the world for what it is and be part of making it better for everyone.

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