Buddhism for Today, p448-449“At this time the buddhas will send forth rays of bright light that illuminate the practitioner’s body, causing the practitioner to become spontaneously joyful in body and mind and to bring forth great mercy and compassion pervasively in thoughts of all things. The buddhas will then extensively expound ways of great compassion and benevolence for the practitioner’s benefit. Furthermore, they will teach the practitioner to use kind words and to follow the six ways of harmony and respect. Hearing these teachings and commands, the practitioner’s heart will overflow with joy, and he or she will then fully internalize and master them without laziness or pause.”
Joy and indifference are two of the four infinite virtues. The infinite virtue of joy means enjoying the sight of those who have obtained happiness. That of indifference signifies abandoning attachment to the benefits one gives to others and even to the harm he receives from his enemies. Taken together, the words “joy and indifference” indicate a mental attitude in which one abandons attachment to himself and thinks only of the benefit of others.
The expression “kind words” means affectionate words, one of the four virtues of the bodhisattva. The six ways of harmony and reverence are the six kinds of practices through which believers harmonize with and respect each other in the course of seeking enlightenment.
Monthly Archives: September 2022
800 Years: Understood Through Faith
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuWith the Odaimoku of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo the Buddha’s virtue of Ichinen Sanzen is transferred to us naturally. It is the Buddha’s way to save living beings in Mappō. Nichiren Shōnin understood this through his faith. It is the virtue of the Odaimoku left by the Buddha for those who are in Mappō. It is the Buddha’s ultimate compassion.
Daily Dharma – Sept. 6, 2022
How did you teach these innumerable Bodhisattvas
In such a short time,
And cause them to aspire for enlightenment
And not falter in seeking enlightenment?
Maitreya Bodhisattva sings these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Despite the Buddha’s explanation that he personally taught all of the Bodhisattvas who appear in Chapter Fifteen, Maitreya and others are still confused by what the Buddha has told them. Since they have faith that whatever the Buddha teaches is for their benefit, they persist with their sincere questioning, assured that the Buddha is leading them to enlightenment. While faith is an important part of our practice, recognizing our own confusion, and using questions to resolve that confusion are equally important. The Buddha does not ask for blind obedience. He knows we cannot find peace until we bring our whole being to his practice.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 17
Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.
Having last month considered the promise of the Arhats and Śrāvakas to preach in other lands, we consider the request of Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī.
There were Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the sister of the mother of the Buddha, and six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together with all their hearts, and looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes.
Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Gautamī:
“Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. You will become a great teacher of the Dharma under six billion and eight hundred thousand million Buddhas in the future. The six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom have something more to learn while others have nothing more to learn, also will become teachers of the Dharma. [By becoming a great teacher of the Dharma,] you will complete the Way of Bodhisattvas in the course of time, and become a Buddha called Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. Gautamī! That Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Buddha will assure the six thousand [bhikṣunīs, that is,] Bodhisattvas of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another.”
The Daily Dharma from Dec. 11, 2021, offers this:
Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].
The Buddha has this discussion with his aunt, Mahā-Prajāpatī, also called Gautamī, in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. She raised the young Siddhartha after his mother Queen Māyā died when he was only six weeks old. Gautamī was also the first woman to be ordained into the Sangha. Since women then were thought by some to be not as capable as men, the Buddha specifically assures Gautamī, and thus all women, of the certainty of her enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Our Merciful Fathers
Buddhism for Today, p447“You must now face the buddhas of the ten directions and praise and give voice to the Great Vehicle! Before the buddhas, relate your faults yourself! The buddha tathāgatas are your compassionate fathers.
The words “the buddhas, the tathāgatas, are your merciful fathers” are very important. Because the follower has repeatedly practiced repentance to the point of being extremely severe with himself, some people, taking a superficial view of such repentance, may feel oppressed. Other people may regard the repenting follower as a pitiable person who trembles with fear and prostrates himself before a ruler sternly scrutinizing his sins, confesses them, and begs the ruler’s pardon. However, such an idea is greatly mistaken. The buddhas are our merciful fathers, who think only of the salvation of all living beings. Therefore the buddhas praise us because through our repentance we remove defilements from our mind little by little. We do not practice repentance because we fear the buddhas but rather with the hope of being extolled by the buddhas, for whom we cherish a longing desire and a thirsting heart. The expression “the buddhas, the tathāgatas, are your merciful fathers” has this profound significance.
The Sutra Taught Before the Lotus Sutra
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
At the start of the Lotus Sutra after everyone in the audience has been introduced, the Buddha expounds a sutra and then enters into a samādhi. The name of that sutra and that samādhi are different depending on whether you are translating from Kumārajīva’s Chinese or the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit.
When I was preparing to write about this I was surprised to discover Senchu Murano translates Kumārajīva’s title of the sutra differently than almost of the other English-language translations that I possess.
Murano states:
Thereupon the four kinds of devotees, who were surrounding the World-Honored One, made offerings to him, respected him, honored him, and praised him. The World-Honored One expounded a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the “Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.” Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha sat cross-legged [facing the east], and entered into the samadhi for the purport of the innumerable teachings. His body and mind became motionless.
The 1975 Rissho Kosei-Kai translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and “the contemplation termed the station of innumerable meanings.”
The 2019 Rissho Kosei-Kai translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and “the Samadhi of the Domain of Innumerable Meanings.”
Gene Reeves’ translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and the “state of concentration called the place of innumerable meanings.”
Burton Watson’s translation names this sutra “Immeasurable Meanings” and the “samadhi of the place of immeasurable meanings.”
The BDK English Tripiṭaka translation names the sutra “Immeasurable Meanings” and “the samadhi called the abode of immeasurable meanings’.”
Having read the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings more than 30 times as part of my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice, I’m surprised that Murano could have titled the sutra Innumerable Teachings. Clearly the lesson of the sutra is the infinite meanings the listeners of the one teaching create. But then Murano is translating Kumārajīva’s Chinese words, not the actual sutra that the Buddha is said to have taught.
Leon Hurvitz, whose translation is considered the gold standard, agrees with Murano:
At that time, the World-Honored One, surrounded by the fourfold multitude, showered with offerings, deferentially treated and revered, for the bodhisattvas’ sake preached a scripture of the great vehicle named the Immeasurable Doctrine (Ananta-nirdeséa), a dharma to be taught to bodhisattvas, a dharma which the buddha keeps ever in mind. When he had preached this scripture, cross-legged he entered into the samādhi [state of concentration] of the Abode of the Immeasurable Doctrine (Anantanirdeśapratiṣṭhänasamādhi), where his body and mind were motionless.
Getting back to Kern’s translation of the 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra, he offers:
Now at that time it was that the Lord surrounded, attended, honored, revered, venerated, worshipped by the four classes of hearers, after expounding the Dharmaparyāya called ‘the Great Exposition,’ a text of great development, serving to instruct Bodhisattvas and proper to all Buddhas, sat cross-legged on the seat of the law and entered upon the meditation termed ‘the station of the exposition of Infinity;’ his body was motionless and his mind had reached perfect tranquility.
The Translators’ Introduction to “The Infinite Meanings Sutra” from the BDK English Tripiṭaka offers this explanation of the difference between Kumārajīva’s translation and the extant Sanskrit texts:
The Infinite Meanings Sutra may be regarded as an introduction to the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra). In light of this, it is noteworthy that in English versions of the Lotus Sutra based on Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation (Taishō no. 260), in the beginning of the introductory chapter one can find a passage similar to the following:
[The Buddha] then taught the bodhisattvas the Mahayana sutra called Immeasurable Meanings. After having taught this sutra, the Buddha .… entered the samādhi called the “abode of immeasurable meanings.”
Extant Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra, however, give mahā-nirdeśa, “great exposition,” as the name of the sutra, and ābhujyūnanta-nirdeśa-pratiṣṭhāna, “foundation of infinite exposition,” as the name of the samādhi. Since ananta-nirdeśa, “infinite exposition,” is not found in reference to the name of the sutra that was taught, this gives rise to the speculation that if Kumārajīva translated from manuscripts similar to those that now remain, he must have used the same Chinese translation, wu liang yi, “infinite (immeasurable/innumerable) meanings,” in both instances.
While the Lotus Sutra is never mentioned by name in this text, the Infinite Meanings Sutra, like the Lotus, is a strong proponent of the concept of bodhisattva practice. In his discourse in the sutra, the Buddha emphasizes that leading others to the Way is a prime factor in attaining ultimate enlightenment, and that the teaching of the sutra itself is infinite in its meanings because it relates to the unlimited desires of living beings.
800 Years: Stronger Faith = Greater Protection
When Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva brought the Lotus Sūtra to China, the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa dispatched countless soldiers to escort him safely over the Pamirs. When Priest Dōshō read the Lotus Sūtra in a waste land, innumerable tigers came together to protect him. You will also be protected in the same way; the thirty-six earthly deities and the twenty-eight heavenly gods will protect you. Moreover, two heavenly gods always accompany each person just as a shadow follows the body. One is called God Dōshō, and another is God Dōmyō. Both protect a person by accompanying him on both his shoulders, so that Heaven will not punish the innocent by mistake, not to speak of a lady with virtue like you. Grand Master Miao-lê has stated: “As long as one has strong faith, he certainly will receive greater protection.” It means that the stronger one’s faith is, the greater the gods’ protection.
Oto Gozen Go-shōsoku, A Letter to Lady Oto, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 120
Daily Dharma – Sept. 5, 2022
If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sūtra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. Out of his gratitude for the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma, Universal Sage promises to encourage anyone who may be struggling in their practice of the Buddha Dharma. This is a reminder of how no matter what obstacles or difficulties we may encounter, great beings are helping us and we are in harmony with things as they truly are.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 16
Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the message from Śākyamuni’s replicas, we witness the opening of the stupa and see Many Treasures Tathāgata.
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha, having seen that all the Buddhas of his replicas had already arrived and sat on the lion-like seats, and also having heard that they had told their attendants of their wish to see the stūpa of treasures opened, rose from his seat, and went up to the sky. All the four kinds of devotees stood up, joined their hands together towards him, and looked up at him with all their hearts. Now he opened the door of the stūpa of the seven treasures with the fingers of his right hand. The opening of the door made a sound as large as that of the removal of the bolt and lock of the gate of a great city. At that instant all the congregation saw Many Treasures Tathāgata sitting with his perfect and undestroyed body on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of treasures as if he had been sitting in dhyāna-concentration. They also heard him say:
“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have joyfully expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. I have come to hear this sūtra [directly from you].”
Having seen that the Buddha, who had passed away many thousands of billions of kalpas before, had said this, the four kinds of devotees praised him, saying, “We have never seen [such a Buddha as] you before.” They strewed heaps of jeweled flowers of heaven to Many-Treasures Buddha and also to Śākyamuni Buddha.
Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stūpa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha, saying, “Śākyamuni Buddha, sit here!”
Śākyamuni Buddha entered the stūpa and sat on the half-seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with in a loud voice:
“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”
The Daily Dharma from Sept. 3, 2021, offers this:
The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”
This description comes from Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. Many-Treasures Buddha has arrived where the Buddha was teaching so that he could endorse this Wonderful Dharma. He invited the Buddha to join him in an enormous stūpa tower hanging in the sky. When the Buddha raises up those gathered to hear him teach, he puts them all on the same level as himself and all the other Buddhas. He shows them that they too have the capacity to hear his teachings and put them into practice. Nichiren depicted this “ceremony in the air” in the Omandala Gohonzon and advised us to use this as the focus of our practice. When we put ourselves into this great multitude we listen for the Buddha teaching and realize the benefit we create in this world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Seeing the Buddhas Emanated from Śākyamuni
Buddhism for Today, p440“After saying these words, the practitioner will perceive Mount Vulture Peak composed of the seven precious metals and gems, monks and śrāvakas with countless others together in a great assembly, rows of jewel trees lining level jewel ground on which a magnificent jeweled lion seat has been arranged, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits from between his eyebrows a beam of light that passes through the innumerable worlds of the ten directions and illuminates worlds everywhere in the universe. From everywhere this light reaches in the ten directions, the buddhas that emanated from Śākyamuni gather together at one time into a great assembly, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each emanated buddha has a body that is purple-gold in color and boundless in size, each sits on a lion seat, and each has a retinue of countless thousands of millions of great bodhisattvas. Each bodhisattva follows the same practice as Universal Sage; it is like this as well in the bodhisattva retinues of all of the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions.”
The above paragraph contains four important descriptions. The first is that the buddhas emanated from Śākyamuni Buddha are seen through a ray of light emitted from his eyebrows. This means that if a person takes refuge in the Buddha’s teachings, his mind will communicate with the minds of all the buddhas; in other words, if he realizes the truth taught by Śākyamuni Buddha, he will come to understand the true meaning of all the teachings. The second is that the buddhas emanated from Śākyamuni Buddha preach the same Law as preached in the Lotus Sutra. This proves that all the teachings are unified in the Lotus Sutra. The third is that the practice of each one of the countless hundreds of koṭis of great bodhisattvas is equal to the practice of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. This means that the holiness of a bodhisattva consists before all else in his practice. The fourth is that when rays of light emitted from the eyebrows of the emanated buddhas stream onto the head of Śākyamuni Buddha, the emanated buddhas emit from all the pores of their bodies rays of light in each of which innumerable transformed buddhas abide. This signifies that the Buddha’s teachings spread limitlessly. The light of the truth reaches everywhere, and everything consonant with the truth shines by its reflected light. But anything that covers the truth with illusions and sins does not shine even if it receives the reflected light of the truth. Therefore, so long as a person does not remove illusions and sins from his mind by the practice of repentance, he remains spiritually base.