Monthly Archives: December 2021

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Saying Goodbye to 2021

20211231_kasane_offering-web

The end of one year and the beginning of the next has always been my favorite time of year. You get to review the causes made in the previous year and look ahead to the coming effects of those causes in the new year.

I began my day decorating my altar with a kasane offering of mochi topped with a Mandarin tangerine. Funny thing about that tangerine: Normally we get bags and bags of tangerines from the tree in our backyard. The harvest normally comes in around Thanksgiving. This year we had just one tangerine and that tangerine didn’t ripen until this week. Not sure of what to make of that, but there is on my altar.

At 10:30am I joined Rev. Shoda Kanai at the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada for the end of year service and the striking of the temple bell 108 times to chase out any lingering bad karma and prepare for the new year.

LS32

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the prohibition against expounding the sutra, we consider the punishments for slandering the Lotus Sutra.

Some will scowl at this sūtra
And doubt it.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

In my lifetime or after my extinction
Some will slander this sūtra,
And despise the person
Who reads or recites
Or copies or keeps this sūtra.
They will hate him,
Look at him with jealousy,
And harbor enmity against him.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

When their present lives end,
They will fall into the Avici Hell.
They will live there for a kalpa,
And have their rebirth in the same hell.
This rebirth of theirs will be repeated
For innumerable kalpas.

After that they will be reborn
In the world of animals.
Some of them will become dogs or small foxes.
They will be bald, thin and black.
They will suffer from mange and leprosy
Men will treat them mercilessly,
And hate and despise them.
They will always suffer from hunger and thirst.
Their bones will project; their flesh sag.
They will always suffer in their present existence.
After their death, they will be put
Under pieces of tile or stones.
Those who destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become
Camels or asses.
They will always be heavily loaded,
And beaten with sticks or whips.
They will think of nothing
But water and hay.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become small foxes.
They will suffer
From mange and leprosy.
They will have only one eye
When they come to a town,
They will be struck by boys.
Some of them
Will be beaten to death.
After they die
They will become boas.
Their bodies will be large,
Five hundred yojanas long.
They will be deaf and stupid.

They will wriggle along without legs.
They will be bitten
By many small vermin.
They will suffer day and night.
They will have no time to take a rest.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become men again.
They will be foolish, short, ugly,
Crooked, crippled, blind, deaf,
And hunchbacked.
No one will believe their words.
They will always have fetid breath.
They will be possessed by demons.
Poverty-stricken and mean,
They will be employed by others.
Worn-out, thin,
And subject to many diseases,
They will have no one to rely on.
Anyone who employs them
Will not take care of them.
They will lose before long
What little they may have earned.
When they study medicine,
And treat a patient with a proper remedy,
The patient will have another disease
Or die.
When they are ill in health,
No one will cure them.
Even when they take a good medicine,
They will suffer all the more.
They will be attacked by others,
Or robbed or stolen from.
Their sins will incur these misfortunes.
These sinful people will never be able to see
The Buddha, the King of the Saints,
Who expounds the Dharma
And teaches all living beings.
They will always be reborn
In the places of difficulty
[In seeing the Buddha].
They will be mad, deaf or distracted.
They will never be able to hear the Dharma.
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
They will be deaf and dumb.
They will not have all the sense organs.
Accustomed to living in hell,
They will take it for their playground.
Accustomed to living in other evil regions,
They will take them for their homes. They will live
Among camels, asses, wild boars, and dogs.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

When they are reborn in the world of men,
Deafness, blindness, dumbness,
Poverty, and many other defects
Will be their ornaments;
Dropsy, diabetes, mange,
Leprosy, carbuncles, and many other diseases
Will be their garments.
They will always smell bad.
They will be filthy and defiled.
Deeply attached to the view
That the self exists,
They will aggravate their anger.
Their lust will not discriminate
Between [humans,] birds or beasts.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

See Why Is Slandering Lotus Sūtra So Important?

history, d3b, d4b, d16b

Extending Awakening to Those Left Out

The Nirvāṇa Sūtra was preached to extend awakening to those who had been left out during the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra and failed to benefit from it. These included the 5,000 people who left the Buddha in the Chapter 2, those who were left on the ground when the ceremony was lifted up in the air in Chapter 11, “Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures,” and those who were skeptical about both this newly revealed truth, the eternity of Buddha’s life, and disregarding the provisional Buddhist teachings and practices.

The above is why the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is also called the teaching of supporting the Buddhist precepts and expounding the eternity of buddhahood, in Japanese furitsu-danjō-kyō, or teaching of gleaning, in Japanese kunjū-kyō. In contrast the Lotus Sūtra is called the teaching of great gathering, in Japanese daishu-kyō.

Also another characteristic of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is to “reiterate and remove,” in Japanese tsuisetsu-tsuimin. This means reiterating all sūtras for those who had missed their opportunities, in Japanese tsuisetsu, and removing teachings other than the Lotus Sūtra that do not lead to buddhahood, in Japanese tsuimin. However, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is not regarded as a pure One Vehicle teaching like the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, in spite of being classified in the same period, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is ranked lower than the Lotus Sūtra.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 170
WONS

Nichiren’s Boundless Compassion

This daimoku chanting has not yet been spread in the world. For 2,225 years after the extinction of the Buddha no one has chanted this yet. I, Nichiren, alone have been chanting “Namu Myōhōrengekyō, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō without saving my voice.

As you know, the size of waves depends on the strength of the winds, the height of a fire depends on firewood, the size of lotus flowers depends on the size of the ponds, the quantity of rain depends upon dragons; the deeper the roots of a tree are, the wider its branches grow; and the farther away a river begins, the longer it flows. The Chou dynasty lasted seven hundred years because King Wen paid much attention to propriety and filial piety. Early destruction of the Ch’in dynasty was due to the tyranny of its First Emperor.

With Nichiren’s boundless compassion, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō” will be heard forever even beyond the ten thousand year-period. It has the merit of curing the “blindness” of all the people in Japan, blocking the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyō, T’ien-t’ai, Nāgārjuna, and Kāśyapa. Practice for a hundred years in the Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting the daimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the daimoku in a two thousand year-period following the death of the Buddha is not worth as much as spreading the daimoku for even a short while in the Latter Age of Degeneration. This is not from my wisdom; it is solely due to the time in which I live. In spring, flowers bloom; in autumn, fruits ripen; in summer, it is warm; and in winter, it is cold; they all go along with the laws of nature.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 58.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 31, 2021

Anyone, be he a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha or a Bodhisattva, who believes this sūtra expounded by these sixteen Bodhisattvas, keeps it, and does not slander it, will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, the wisdom of the Tathāgata.

The Buddha makes this promise to all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This promise is for all of us who practice the Buddha Dharma. When we live firmly assured that the Buddha’s unsurpassed enlightenment is available to us even within all the suffering in this world of conflict, then we have the clarity to truly benefit ourselves and others.

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 the expedient used by the rich man to save his children, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 3, A Parable.

Seeing them come out
Of the burning house
To the safe crossroad,
He sat on the lion-like seat,
And said to others with joy:
“I am happy.
These children are difficult to bring up.
They are young and ignorant.
They entered the dangerous house.
In that house were
Many poisonous vermin
And many dangerous mountain spirits.
Raging flames of big fires rose
From the four sides of the house
At the same time.
But my children were
Engrossed in playing.
Now I saved them
From the dangers.
Therefore, I am happy.”

The children saw their father
Sitting in peace.
They came to him,
And said:
“Give us
The three kinds of jeweled carts
That you promised us!
You said:
“Come out, and I will give you
The three kinds of carts as you like.”
Now is the time for that.
Give them to us now!”

He was a very rich man.
He had many storehouses.
He made many large carts
Adorned with treasures,
Such as gold, silver,
Lapis lazuli, shell and agate.

[The carts] were beautifully adorned.
Railings were put around them.
Bells were hanging on the four sides
With ropes of gold.

[The carts] were roofed
With nets of pearls.
Garlands of golden flowers
Were hanging on all sides.

Other ornaments of fabrics
Of divers colors
Encircled the bodies of the carts.
Bedding was made of soft cloth.
[The bedding] was covered
With the most wonderful woolen fabrics.
They were bright, white, pure and clean,
Worth hundreds of thousands of millions.

Large white bullocks,
Fat, stout, powerful,
And beautiful in their build,
Were yoked to the jeweled carts.
The carts were also guarded
By many attendants.

[The rich man] gave to each of his children
One of these wonderful carts.
The children
Danced with joy.

They drove these jeweled carts
In all directions.
They were happy and delighted.
Nothing could stop their joy.

(The Buddha said to Śāriputra:)
I am like the father.
I am the Saint of Saints.
I am the father of the world.

All living beings are my children.
They are deeply attached
To the pleasures of the world.
They have no wisdom.

The triple world is not peaceful.
It is like the burning house.
It is full of sufferings.
It is dreadful.

There are always the sufferings
Of birth, old age, disease and death.
They are like flames
Raging endlessly.

I have already left
The burning house of the triple world.
I am tranquil and peaceful
In a bower in a forest.

See Awakening

history

Opening and Merging

According to Tiāntái Zhiyi, the characteristic teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is “opening and merging,” in Japanese kai-e. This means unifying all the past provisional teachings into the one true teaching. Tiāntái classified 28 chapters of the Lotus Sūtra into two parts: the first 14 chapters as Trace Gate, in Japanese shakumon, and the last 14 chapters as Original Gate, in Japanese honmon. The Trace Gate takes the form of preaching by a “provisional Buddha,” the historical Śākyamuni Buddha depicted as having first awakened during his lifetime in India. The Original Gate takes the form of preaching by the Buddha who has discarded this provisional status and revealed his true identity as the Buddha who attained awakening in the remotest past. in Japanese kuon-jitsujō, as revealed in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sūtra.

Accordingly, in the period of the Lotus Sūtra, the past provisional Buddha and the provisional teachings were all unified to the pure Eternal Buddha and his true teaching.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 169-170
WONS

Śākyamuni Buddha Is Our Very Master

It can’t be helped if they do not know these things. However, I have been trying for the last 28 years to stop their delusion and tell them that Śākyamuni Buddha is our very master by citing a passage from the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “This triple world is My domain, in which all living beings are My children.” They not only refused to believe me but also shot an arrow at me, cut me, tried to kill me, exiled me and banished me. Therefore, the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman burned his shrine and went back to heaven. This is what I stated in my “Risshō-ankoku-ron (Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma)” which I submitted to the shogunate.

Chimyō-bō Gohenji, A Reply to Chimyō-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 207

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 30, 2021

He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

The Buddha gives this description of the person who keeps and practices the Lotus Sūtra to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Powers of merits are what we have when we see things clearly. The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance. The practice of Universal-Sage is to support and encourage everyone who takes on this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma. This is another Bodhisattva who gives us an example of how we can live in this world of conflict.

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 understanding, we hear from the Buddha about Śāriputra’s past life.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Śāriputra:

“Now I will tell you in the presence of this great multitude including gods, men, śramaṇas, and brāhmanas. Under two billion Buddhas in the past, I always taught you in order to cause you to attain unsurpassed enlightenment. You studied under me in the long night. I led you with expedients. Therefore, you have your present life under me.

“Śāriputra! I caused you to aspire for the enlightenment of the Buddha in your previous existence. You forgot all this, and thought that you had already attained extinction. In order to cause you to remember the Way you practiced under your original vow, I now expound to the Śrāvakas this sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

See Shariputra’s Transformation