Monthly Archives: August 2022

800years, d21b, Blog

800 Years: Believing the Buddha’s true words

In Senchu Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, Chapter 16 begins:

“Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, ‘Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’ ”

In considering the meaning of “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith,” it is useful to see how other translators have rendered the Buddha’s words.

Hendrik Kern, working from an 11th century Sanskrit original in 1884, rendered the Buddha’s words opening the chapter of The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata:

“Trust me, young men of good family, believe in the Tathāgata speaking a veracious word.”

In Risshō Kōsei Kai’s 1975 translation, working from the same Chinese translation as Murano used, we get:

“Believe and discern, all you good sons, the veracious word of the Tathāgata.”

Risshō Kōsei Kai’s 2019 undated translation offers:

“Good children, you should believe and understand the sincere and true words of the Tathagata.”

And so “Understand … by faith” can be seen to mean “Trust” and “believe” or “Believe and discern.” “Trust” and “believe” require faith. “Discern” is the process with which we come to understand. What we are not being told is to have unquestioning faith.

As explained in the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:

“There is a Japanese saying that ‘even the head of a sardine seems blessed if you have faith in it.’ This is not what we mean by faith. We can maintain a belief that is inspired by the experience of something beyond our ordinary capacities. We can evaluate it by means of our intellect and reason and form our own mental attitudes.”

As Nikkyō Niwano observes in Buddhism for Today:

“The Buddha’s saying ‘Believe and discern it’ instead of commanding ‘Believe it’ has an important meaning. Śākyamuni Buddha never forced his ideas upon his disciples or other people. He preached the truth as it was and exhorted his listeners, saying, ‘You, too, behold it.’ He led them on the way of the truth and coaxed them, saying, ‘You, too, come to me.’ His exhortation to ‘behold the truth’ instead of saying only ‘Believe it’ is a very important point. This short phrase of the Buddha speaks for the character of his teachings. His words ‘Behold it’ are equivalent to the ‘scientific spirit’ in today’s parlance. The Buddha shows in these few words that if anyone thoroughly views the truth, studies it, and discerns it, he will surely be able to accept it to his satisfaction.

“His words ‘You, too, come to me’ include the same important idea. They mean: ‘Come to me and practice the Law as much as I do. Then you are sure to understand the value of the Law.’ The Buddha could never have uttered these words unless he had absolute confidence in the Law and the Way.

“Because Śākyamuni Buddha was a reasonable person, he did not say even to his leading disciples, ‘Believe the truth,’ but said, ‘Believe and discern it,’ that is, ‘Believe it after understanding it.’ ”

Buddhism for Today, p211-212
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Daily Dharma, d29b

Daily Dharma – Aug. 7, 2022

Make offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva with all your hearts! This World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives fearlessness [to those who are] in fearful emergencies. Therefore, he is called the ‘Giver of Fearlessness’ in this Sahā-World.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion. When we make offerings to compassion, we show how much we value it. In this world of conflict, we are taught to value aggression and violence rather than compassion. Those who do not dominate others are judged as targets for domination. If we clear away the delusion of our self-importance, and see other beings as worthy of happiness just as we are, we find ways for everyone to benefit together.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered why the Buddha pretends to enter into Nirvāṇa, we consider the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children.

“I will tell you a parable. There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred. [One day] he went to a remote country on business. After he left home, the sons took poison. The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not. All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy. They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us, and give us back our lives!’

“Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’

“The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

“The father thought, ‘These sons are pitiful. They are so poisoned that they are perverted. Although they rejoice at seeing me and ask me to cure them, they do not consent to take this good medicine. Now I will have them take it with an expedient.’

“He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. lam leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!’ Having thus advised them, he went to a [remote] country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, ‘Your father has just died.’

“Having heard that their father had passed away from this world, leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, ‘If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has
deserted us and died in a remote country.’

“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. On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.

The Daily Dharma from July 10, 2022, offers this:

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

800years, d19b, d20b, Blog

800 Years: The Sky Below This Sahā-World

In considering the lessons of Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, we normally start with something like this from Rev. Ryusho Jeffus’ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

“We each may think we are rather ordinary people, not capable of great things. Yet our ordinariness is in fact a disguise for our true self, Bodhisattvas from beneath the ground, the disciples of the Buddha from the infinite past, and beings perfectly endowed with Buddhahood.”

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

For those new in faith, that may be challenging. Still more difficult is the idea of a place in the sky below this world. I’ve facetiously suggested the sky above Melbourne, Australia, but the question is worth serious consideration. In Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Gene Reeves addresses the ambiguity of the hiding place:

“Exactly what is meant by the empty space below the earth is unclear. … The dramatic effect of the story is dependent on the existence of these bodhisattvas being unknown to all but Shakyamuni, so they have to be hidden somewhere. But it is also important for the thrust of the story that they not be from some other world, or even from one of the heavens or purgatories associated with this world. In other words, both for the sake of the story and for the sake of the central message of the Dharma Flower Sutra, it is important that these bodhisattvas be both hidden and somehow of this world. Thus the Buddha says, ‘They are my children, living in this world…’ .”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p189

Nikkyō Niwano has an interesting alternative take in Buddhism for Today:

“That these bodhisattvas [from Underground] did not originally dwell in the earth but that they, who were in the infinite space below the sahā-world, came out of the earth and rose into the sky has a deep meaning. These bodhisattvas were people who had been freed from illusion in their previous lives by means of the Buddha’s teachings. For this reason, they had been dwelling in infinite space. But hearing the Buddha declare that he would entrust the instruction of the sahā-world to them, they entered into the earth, namely, this sahā-world, experiencing suffering there, and practiced religious disciplines so zealously as to attain the mental state of bodhisattvas. Therefore, they rose into the sky again after coming out of the earth. Though the bodhisattvas had been free from illusion in their previous lives, they voluntarily passed through various sufferings and worries in sahā-world for the purpose of saving the people here, endeavored earnestly to become enlightened, and preached the teaching to others. As mentioned before, this is a very important process; without completing such an endeavor, they could not truly acquire the divine power to save the people in the sahā-world.”

Buddhism for Today, p179

Ordinary people or extraordinary beings, we have a job. As Ryusho Jeffus says in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

“At the heart of Buddhism is making great effort at practicing and changing our lives, something that does not happen without concerted continued effort.”

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 6, 2022

To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathāgata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathāgata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathāgata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathāgata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sūtra. Therefore, keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra, and act according to the teachings of it with all your hearts after my extinction!

The Buddha makes this declaration to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Two, the Buddha told those gathered to hear him teach that his highest teaching could not be attained by reasoning alone. These two passages show us faith to look beyond the words in this book to find the Buddha Dharma in every aspect of our lives, and the ever-present Buddha leading us all to enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, we return the top today’s portion of Chapter 15 and consider the Buddha’s response to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to them in the presence of the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:
“Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathāgata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sūtra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.”

Thereupon the [four] great Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās:

Excellent, excellent, Great Hero!
World-Honored One!
The living beings are ready to be saved
Because in their previous existence
They already asked the [past] Buddhas
About their profound wisdom,
And having heard about it, understood it by faith.
We rejoice at seeing you.

Thereupon the World-Honored One praised the leading great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Excellent, excellent, good men! [I am glad that] you rejoice at seeing me.”

The Daily Dharma from Feb. 1, 2022, offers this:

Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good.

The Buddha makes this proclamation to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas appeared when the Buddha asked who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death, and asked about the Buddha’s health and whether those he was teaching could keep what he provided for them. The Buddha assures us not only of the certainty of our future enlightenment, but that for us to receive his teaching, there was an earlier time, which we may have forgotten, when we met him. This awareness of our future and our past helps us to see our place in the world and maintain our determination to benefit all beings.

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

800years, WONS

800 Years: A Laughingstock’s Faith

I, Nichiren, am a laughingstock, but how can it be said that the Lotus Sūtra, which I believe in, is also a laughingstock? For instance, even if a purse emits a foul odor, the gold in the purse is beautiful. Even if a pond it stagnant and filthy, the lotus flowers that bloom in the pond are pristine. Likewise, though I am the most insignificant being in Japan, the Lotus Sūtra, which I put faith in, is the supreme of all the Buddhist scriptures.

A sensible person who wants to get hold of gold should not discard it just because the purse containing the gold reeks. If one loves the lotus flower, one should not have disdain for the pond where the lotus plant grows. If I, though insignificant, become a Buddha, it proves the great power of the Lotus Sūtra. Accordingly, if the last moment of my life is not positive, I will hurt the reputation of the Lotus Sūtra. If the last moment of my life happens to be negative, I will not only be viewed as evil by everyone in the world but I will also become a very evil person who ruins the name of the Lotus Sūtra.

Nishiyama-dono Goke-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Widow of Lord Nishiyama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 101

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 5, 2022

The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.

The Buddha makes this proclamation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This was the first time he revealed himself not as the temporal Siddhartha Gautama, the man who left home and became enlightened, but as the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni who has been alive for innumerable eons helping beings to become enlightened and will continue that existence for twice that time into the future. This is the highest teaching of the Buddha, the purpose of all his expedient teachings that came before, and the Wonderful Dharma that is most difficult to believe and understand. When we comprehend the existence of this Ever-Present Buddha for even the blink of an eye, we gain more clarity about the world than through any of the Buddha’s other teachings.

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

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, we return to today’s portion of Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and consider the practices to be performed in the latter days.

“Again, Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who keeps this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should have great loving-kindness towards laymen and monks, and great compassion towards those who are not Bodhisattvas. He should think: ‘They do not know that the Tathāgata expounded expedient teachings according to the capacities of all Jiving beings. They do not hear, know or notice it, or ask a question about it or believe or understand it. Although they do not ask a question about this sūtra, or believe or understand it, I will lead them and cause them, wherever they may be, to understand the Dharma by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom when I attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.’

“Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who performs this fourth set of [peaceful] practices after my extinction, will be able to expound the Dharma flawlessly. Bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, kings, princes, ministers, common people, brāhmanas and householders will make offerings to him, honor him, respect him, and praise him. The gods in the sky will always serve him in order to hear the Dharma from him. When someone comes to his abode located in a village, in a city, in a retired place or in a forest, and wishes to ask him a question, the gods will protect him day and night for the sake of the Dharma so that the hearer may rejoice because this sūtra was, is, and will be protected by the supernatural powers of the past, present and future Buddhas.

The Daily Dharma from Nov. 15, 2021, offers this:

Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattva who performs this fourth set of [peaceful] practices after my extinction, will be able to expound the Dharma flawlessly. Bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, kings, princes, ministers, common people, brāhmaṇas and householders will make offerings to him, honor him, respect him, and praise him. The gods in the sky will always serve him in order to hear the Dharma from him. When someone comes to his abode located in a village, in a city, in a retired place or in a forest, and wishes to ask him a question, the gods will protect him day and night for the sake of the Dharma so that the hearer may rejoice because this sūtra was, is, and will be protected by the supernatural powers of the past, present and future Buddhas.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. The fourth set of peaceful practices is not blaming those who do not hear the Lotus Sūtra and resolving to save them when one becomes perfectly enlightened. Rather than becoming upset with those who do not accept this teaching, it is useful to know that we are not alone in wanting to save them, and that by reducing our own delusions we increase our capacity to benefit others.

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

history, 800years

800 Years: A Question Related to the Root of Faith

There is a belief that the Lotus Sūtra was taught over eight years at the end of the life of Śākyamuni Buddha. From the standpoint of the believer, this position is fine. However, from an academic standpoint, we cannot assert such a thing. A Buddhist historian would assert that there is no evidence that the historical Śākyamuni Buddha taught the Lotus Sūtra. In other words, the Lotus Sūtra is not a direct record of the historical Śākyamuni Buddha’s teaching. In that case, when, where and by whom was the Lotus Sūtra produced?

[W]e can present the standard answer that the Lotus Sūtra was one of the Early Mahāyāna sūtras, created in India around 100-200 CE. Was it created in a relatively short period of time, or was it gradually compiled and revised over a longer period of time? Who or what group compiled the Lotus Sūtra into one work? Regarding such issues, many academic theories have been presented, and opinions are certainly not in accord. …

Nevertheless we would like to pose a rather mean question. What if the Lotus Sūtra was not directly taught by the historical Śākyamuni Buddha, but was created in the form of Śākyamuni Buddha’s direct teachings? In other words, the Lotus Sūtra is written in the form of lectures by Buddha, but from an academic standpoint, we cannot easily accept the contents as the words of the Buddha. In this case, if we are asked, “Should we only consider sūtras that we can affirm were taught by the historical Śākyamuni Buddha as legitimate Buddhist sūtras?” What shall we answer? It is a difficult question to answer in a nutshell. But it is a question related to the root of faith.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 61-62