Monthly Archives: July 2022

800years, d17b, Blog

800 Years: Mahāprajāpatī, Yaśodharā And Universal Salvation

In Nichiren’s Toki-ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My Lady the Nun Toki, he writes:

“[W]hen we believe in the certainty of attaining Buddhahood, is there anything to fear? It is pointless to become royalty and enjoy the pleasures of this life. It is useless to be born in heaven and enjoy its pleasures. Instead, follow the example of the dragon girl who attained Buddhahood in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, and align yourself with Mahā-Prajāpatī.

How delightful it will be! How joyful it will be! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 116

Sprouts of faith grow and mature in the soil of the Lotus Sutra, watered with the assurances lavishly offered throughout the 28 chapters. No one is excluded from finally attaining enlightenment. Is there anything to fear?

The predictions given in Chapter 13 to Mahā-Prajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother, and her followers and Yaśodharā, the Buddha’s wife and mother of his only son, are just one of these important assurances.

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano raises an interesting point about the timing of these predictions:

“It may seem strange that the Buddha in his predictions had left [Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā] until last and that before mentioning them he had given his prediction to the dragon king’s daughter, who was, so to speak, an indirect disciple instructed by Mañjuśrī, and only an eight-year-old girl. This priority has the following meanings. First, as already mentioned in the explanation of the Buddha’s prediction to Ānanda and Rāhula, for those closest to the Buddha, like the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī, who had brought up Śākyamuni from babyhood, and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā, who had been his wife and had given birth to his son, such intimacy could have become a hindrance rather than a help to their practice. The Buddha teaches us that someone like the dragon king’s daughter, who is a perfect stranger to the Buddha, can receive the Law with ease, while we may find great difficulty in instructing those closest to us, such as our parents and spouses. The delay of the Buddha’s prediction to the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā does not mean that they were considered inferior to the dragon king’s daughter.

Buddhism for Today, p162

And if you want to quibble and say the dragon girl’s prediction was a later addition to the sutra, then Chapter 13’s predictions for Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā become even more important. The enlightenment of Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā put to rest any doubts of whether women are qualified to attain Buddhahood. Everyone has the potential to become a Buddha.

As a postscript, I should add Gene Reeves’ interesting interpretation of the prediction for these female śrāvakas:

“In contrast with the story of the dragon princess, there is no mention of these nuns having to become male. Clearly, as Dharma teachers and bodhisattvas at least, they are female.”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p172
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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 10, 2022

They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison.

The Buddha explains his parable of the wise physician in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the physician’s children take poison by mistake. Some refuse the antidote provided by their father until he leaves home and sends word back that he has died. The children realized that they had to accept what their father had left for them, rather than continuing to refuse his cure. In the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha stops adapting to our minds and brings us into his mind. It is only when we use our suffering to increase our determination to reach enlightenment, rather than as an indicator of our shortcomings, can we recover our right minds and realize what the Buddha teaches.

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

LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we start again and consider Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha’s extinction.

“Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

“Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha said to Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, ‘Good man! The time of my Nirvana is near at hand. The time of my extinction is coming. Prepare me a comfortable couch! I shall enter into Parinirvana tonight.’ “Then he instructed Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, saying, ‘Good man! I will transmit all my teachings to you. [I also will transmit] to you all the Bodhisattvas and all my great disciples. [I also will transmit] to you my teachings for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. I also will transmit to you the one thousand Sumeru worlds made of the seven treasures, the jeweled trees, the jeweled platforms, and the gods attending on me. I also will transmit to you the śarīras to be left after my extinction. Distribute my śarīras far and wide and make offerings to them! Erect thousands of stupas [to enshrine them]!’

“Having given these instructions to Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha entered into Nirvana in the last watch of that night. Having seen the extinction of the Buddha, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva was overcome with sorrow. He adored the Buddha all the more. He made a pyre of the candana grown on this shore of the sea, offered it to the body of the Buddha, and burned it. After it burned up, he collected the śarīras. He made eighty-four thousand stupas of treasures[, and put the śarīras therein]. He erected eighty-four thousand stupas[, and enshrined the urns therein]. The stupas were higher than the Third Dhyana-Heaven. They were adorned with yastis. Many streamers and canopies were hanging down [from the stupas]. Many jeweled bells also were fixed [on the stupas].

The Daily Dharma from March 28, 2022, offers this:

Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

This description of the life of Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva comes from Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In a previous existence, this Bodhisattva had given up his body and his life for the sake of teaching the Wonderful Dharma. He was then reborn into a world in which the Buddha he served previously was still alive and benefitting all beings. Recognizing this unchanging aspect of the Buddha despite his changing appearances helps us see into our own capacity for enlightenment.

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

800years, d17b, Blog

800 Years: The Enlightenment of a Small Snake

When considering the story of the dragon king’s daughter and how this applies to faith it is appropriate to begin with a warning offered in the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:

“[I]t would be a serious mistake to take the teaching of the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this life’ as meaning we can attain enlightenment without any effort. Even if we believe strongly in a religion, we must still practice it and apply its principles to our life. But by the power of their faith, ordinary people can attain the power of the Buddha without first completing difficult studies and practicing for eons and eons. This is what is meant by the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this very life’ ”

The power of faith is not the only requirement, however. Gene Reeves in his Stories of the Lotus Sutra has an important observation of the requirements for the dragon girl to become a Buddha.

As we learn in the Lotus Sutra, Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva challenged the girl’s assertion that she could become a Buddha quickly. The girl then took a priceless gem and offered it to Śākyamuni. He accepted the gem immediately. As Reeves observes:

“ ‘Just watch,’ she says, ‘use your holy powers to watch me become a buddha even more quickly than it took for Shakyamuni Buddha to take a jewel from my hand.’ In a sense, a little girl becomes a buddha for them, but she can do this only if they used their ‘holy powers,’ their vision, to allow her to be a buddha for them, to open themselves to her being a buddha for them.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p266-267

In the end, as Nichiren explains, this story offers actual proof for the faithful:

“Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living beings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. … The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women. Grand Master Dengyō of Mt. Hiei, who first spread the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, annotated in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “Neither the dragon girl, who became a Buddha to preach the dharma, nor the people who heard her preach the dharma needed a roundabout way to Buddhahood. They immediately attained Buddhahood with their present bodies by the power of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 146-147

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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 9, 2022

Anyone who expounds this sūtra
Will be able to see me,
To see Many-Treasures Tathāgata,
And to see the Buddhas of my replicas.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. We can hear this teaching with an aspiration to see visions of Śākyamuni Buddha and other Buddhas. But we can also hear the Buddha’s promise that when we keep in mind his assurance that we and all beings have the capacity for enlightenment, we will see the world differently. We will start to interpret the actions of ourselves and others in a new light. We will see many more beings who are helping us to become enlightened, rather than beings who are frustrating our efforts at pursuing our selfish goals.

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

LS32

Day 26

Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 26 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, we consider Chapter 22, Transmission.

Chapter 22: Transmission

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha rose from the seat of the Dharma, and by his great supernatural powers, put his right hand on the heads of the innumerable Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and said:

“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you. Propagate it with all your hearts, and make it known far and wide!”

He put his [right] hand on their heads twice more, and said:

“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit [the Dharma] to you. Keep, read, recite and expound [this sūtra in which the Dharma is given], and cause all living beings to hear it and know it! Why is that? It is because I have great compassion. I do not begrudge anything. I am fearless. I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathāgata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings. I am the great almsgiver to all living beings. Follow me, and study my teachings without begrudging efforts! In the future, when you see good men or women who believe in the wisdom of the Tathāgata, you should expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to them, and cause them to hear and know [this sūtra] so that they may be able to obtain the wisdom of the Buddha. When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.”

The Daily Dharma from June 16, 2022, offers this:

When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.

The Buddha gives these instructions in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. They remind us to be patient with those whom we work to benefit. Even though they may not be ready to hear the Wonderful Dharma, we can use the Expedient Teachings to prepare them for the Buddha’s highest teaching. When we are assured that countless beings are helping us all to become enlightened, we are less likely to be disappointed in the progress that we see.

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

800years, WONS

800 Years: Difficulty in Believing

After all, those with capacity to understand and have full faith in Buddhism who had the luck of listening to Śākyamuni Buddha preach the Lotus Sūtra in India must have accumulated a great deal of merit in their past lives. Moreover, they were fortunate to have been assisted and guided by the Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, who had come to attest to the truth of Śākyamuni’s words, various Buddhas in manifestation who had come from all over the universe, numerous bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground, and such distinguished disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha as Mañjuśrī and Maitreya. Nevertheless, there were some who were not converted to the Lotus Sūtra. This is the reason why those self-conceited, as many as 5,000, moved out when the Buddha was about to start preaching (chapter 2, “Expedients”), and why some men and gods were transferred to other worlds (chapter 11, “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures”). It was so even while Śākyamuni Buddha was alive. How much more difficult is it to believe in the Lotus Sūtra in the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, not to say in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration? If you could easily believe in the sūtra, it would mean that the sūtra is not the True Dharma.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 134

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – July 8, 2022

If those of high rank reproach you, view them as formidable enemies of the Lotus Sutra. Consider the opportunity as rare as seeing an uḍumbara that blooms only once in 1000 years, or a blind turtle by chance encountering a log floating in the ocean, and respond with confidence. Even a person who possesses a fief as large as 1000 or 10,000 chō may have his land confiscated or lose his life over a small matter. If you must lay down your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, have no regrets.

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). Lord Ueno enjoyed a privileged position in society and was concerned about losing his status and belongings as a result of his faith in the Lotus Sūtra. In this letter, Nichiren reminded Lord Ueno of his true purpose in life, that he had come as a Bodhisattva to benefit all beings by leading them to enlightenment with the Buddha Dharma.

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

LS32

Day 25

Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

Day 25 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the declaration of the Bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground, we consider the supernatural powers displayed by the Buddha and his replicas.

Thereupon the World-Honored One displayed his great supernatural powers in the presence of the multitude, which included not only the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who had already lived in this Sahā-World [before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], headed by Mañjuśrī, but also bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. He stretched out his broad and long tongue upwards until the tip of it reached the World of Brahman. Then he emitted rays of light with an immeasurable variety of colors from his pores. The light illumined all the worlds of the ten quarters. The Buddhas who were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees also stretched out their broad and long tongue and emitted innumerable rays of light. Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddhas under the jeweled trees displayed these supernatural powers of theirs for one hundred thousand years. Then they pulled back their tongues, coughed at the same time, and snapped their fingers. These two sounds [of coughing and snapping] reverberated over the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters, and the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways. By the supernatural powers of the Buddhas, the living beings of those worlds, including gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, saw the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees in this Sahā-World. They also saw Śākyamuni Buddha sitting by the side of Many-Treasures Tathāgata on the lion-like seat in the stupa of treasures. They also saw that the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas and the four kind of devotees were surrounding Śākyamuni Buddha respectfully. Having seen all this, they had the greatest joy that they had ever had.

See 10 Divine Powers

800years, Odaimoku

800 Years: With Pure Buddhist Faith and Practice

The lotus grows in muddy ponds and stagnant waters. It is often said that the dirtier the water, the more beautiful the flower. If we establish an analogy between this and everyday life, it illustrates that with pure Buddhist faith and practice, the problems and sufferings we experience every day are transformed into the pure and wonderful conditions of Buddhahood, in the same way a beautiful and pure lotus emerges from muddy water.

Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo