800 Years: Managing Expectations

Here, at this transition between The Variety of Merits chapter and The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing this Sutra chapter, I want to address expectations. Specifically, I want to discuss the expectations we should have when we declare faith in the Lotus Sutra.

When I first chanted the Daimoku in 1989 as a member of Nichiren Shoshu of America and later Soka Gakkai, I had no idea what to expect. I simply accepted that this was a Buddhist practice, and, at the start, that was all I wanted. But it was not long before I became troubled by the singular emphasis placed on material rewards. Looking for a job? Chant. Want a new girlfriend? Chant. Need a new car? Chant. Surely there must be more to Buddhism, I thought.

Nikkyō Niwano explains the perils of such a focus in one’s practice in Buddhism for Today:

“Almost all people who enter a religious faith have some form of suffering. It is natural for them to want to free themselves from such sufferings, and they are not to be blamed for this. But when they are concerned only with the desire to recover from illness or to be blessed with money, they are merely attaching themselves to the idea of ‘disease’ or ‘poverty.’ Though they wish to rid themselves of these problems, instead they become their victims because their minds grasp the idea of illness or poverty so tightly that they cannot let go.”

Buddhism for Today, p259

Another way to look at this, is to realize that focusing on material pleasures pins one’s life in the realm of hungry spirits. There can be no lasting satisfaction when one’s focus remains on self-interest without consideration for all others. But that doesn’t mean we are without extraordinary benefits from our practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren often encouraged believers to expect practical, even supernatural, benefits from their practice. As he writes in “Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers”:

“And yet even though a finger might point to the great earth and miss it, a person tie up the sky, the ocean’s tide lack an ebb and flow, or if the sun should rise in the west, there cannot be a time when the prayer of a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra is not answered. If the various bodhisattvas, human and heavenly beings, eight kinds of gods and demi-gods who protect Buddhism, the two sage bodhisattvas (Medicine King and Brave Donor Bodhisattvas), two heavenly kings (Jikoku-ten and Bishamon-ten), and ten female rākṣasa demons, or even one out of 1,000, do not rush to protect practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, they commit the sin of fooling Śākyamuni and the other Buddhas above and in the nine realms below. Thus, they will protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra without fail regardless if the practicers are insincere, unwise, impure, and do not observe the precepts so long as they chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 68


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Daily Dharma – Sept. 4, 2022

Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.

These verses are sung by the sixteen children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. When the children learned of their father becoming enlightened, they gave up their toys and preoccupations and begged that Buddha to teach them. With this declaration they showed their father that they were ready to receive his wisdom and set off on the path to their own enlightenment.

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

The Diamond Pounder

The diamond-pounder was originally a kind of weapon used in ancient India. In Buddhism it is regarded as a symbol of the bodhi-mind because it can destroy all defilement and false views. Therefore the phrase “pointing his diamond-pounder at the six organs” indicates the believer’s power to destroy the defilement of his six organs. It bears witness to the fact that his mind is moving toward repentance. The expression “the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue will preach to the follower the law of repentance to obtain the purity of the six organs” means that through his practice of repentance the believer can gain the awareness of being purified in body and mind.

Another noteworthy expression is: “When these words are spoken, the follower sees all the innumerable worlds in the eastern quarter. …”

This indicates that if everyone deeply understands the holiness of the Buddha’s teachings and the preaching of them (jewel trees and jewel thrones), and if the Buddha’s teachings spread universally, all people, society, and the whole world will become beautiful.

Buddhism for Today, p438

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.


Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, we return to the top of today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and consider the position of the Lotus Sūtra.

Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva mahāsattvas:
“I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.

“Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

“Medicine-King, know this! Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe. He also will be protected by the present Buddhas of the other worlds. He will have the great power of truth, the power of vows, and the power of roots of good. Know this! He will live with me. I will pat him on the head.

See Covered by the Robe of the Buddha

800 Years: The merits of religious practice

In discussing faith it is important to acknowledge the merits that flow to us from our practice and the impact of those merits on our lives. Thich Nhat Hanh explains it this way in Peaceful Action, Open Heart:

“Chapters 17, 18, and 19 of the Lotus Sutra all have to do with the idea of merit. The word “merit” (Sanskrit: punya), when rendered in Chinese is made up of two characters. The first character means “daily practice or daily work,” and the second means “virtuous conduct.” Merit is a kind of spiritual energy that can be accumulated when we maintain a steady practice. This energy protects us and brings us joy and insight.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p121

What daily practice entails and what qualifies as virtuous conduct are as varied as those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, but Nikkyō Niwano offers this guideline in Buddhism for Today:

“In considering the merits of religious practice, we must place great importance on being upright in character and gentle in mind, as taught in chapter 16. We should focus our gaze on the Buddha alone, not worrying ourselves about divine favors in this world. We should be united with the Buddha and act obediently according to his guidance. If our actual life should consequently change for the better, that is a natural phenomenon produced because our minds and actions have been set in the direction of the truth. We should receive such phenomena gratefully and frankly.”

Buddhism for Today, p260

Whatever the practice, the merit that flows from our faith has a real, observable impact on our emotional and physical lives. This is the true measure of the depth of our faith. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, ‘I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.’

“It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.

“The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.”

Buddhism for Today, p257-258

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Daily Dharma – Sept. 3, 2022

The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the leader of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground in Chapter Fifteen when the Buddha asked who would continue to keep and practice this sūtra after his physical extinction in this world. Nichiren saw himself as the embodiment of Superior-Practice, and all of us who are determined to lead all beings to enlightenment through this Wonderful Dharma as embodiments of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground. The powers of the Buddhas only seem supernatural to those who are mired in delusion and ignorance. They are nothing more than turning the poison of anger into the medicine of energy; the poison of isolation into the medicine of compassion; the poison of attachment into the medicine of wisdom.

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

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.


Having last month considered Ānanda reaction to the prediction of his future Buddhahood, we consider the prediction for Rāhula.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Rāhula:

“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Walking-On-Flowers-Of-SevenTreasures, 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. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will make offerings to as many Buddhas, as many Tathāgatas, as the particles of dust of ten worlds. [Before you become that Buddha,] you will become the eldest son of those Buddhas just as you are now mine.

“The adornments of the world of Walking-On-Flowers-Of­Seven-Treasures Buddha, the number of the kalpas for which that Buddha will live, the number of his disciples, the duration of the preservation of his right teachings, and the duration of the preservation of the counterfeit of his right teachings will be the same as in the case of Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power­King Tathāgata.

“After you become the eldest son of the [Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King] Buddha, you will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [, and become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven­Treasures Buddha].”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

When I was a crown prince,
Rāhula was my eldest son.
When I attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He received the Dharma, and became the son of the Dharma.

In his future life he will see
Many hundreds of millions of Buddhas,
Become the eldest son of those Buddhas, and seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha with all his heart.

Only I know his secret practices.
He shows himself
To all living beings
In the form of my eldest son.

He has many thousands of billions of merits.
His merits are countless.
He dwells peacefully in the Dharma of the Buddha,
And seeks unsurpassed enlightenment.

See The Great Secret Practice of Rāhula

Only Sakyamuni Buddha Preaches the Law

A very important expression occurs in the above paragraph: “In his dreams, he will also see constantly the Seven Buddhas of the past, among whom only Śākyamuni Buddha will preach the Law to him.” It is true that all the buddhas of the past are sacred, but among them only Śākyamuni Buddha preaches his teachings to us in the sahā-world. Through these teachings we can know the truth that has existed unchanged since the infinite past. Therefore, we have only to take refuge in Śākyamuni Buddha; through doing so we also take refuge in the other buddhas (the various manifestations of the truth).

To see the buddhas in one’s dreams means that one gains a vague awareness of existing together with the buddhas. Gaining such an indistinct awareness, one feels still more spiritual joy and universally salutes the buddhas in all directions. Then the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue will appear before the believer and will teach him that he has been unable to see the buddhas because of all the karmas and environments of his former lives and will cause him to confess his sins. This means that the believer awakens to his own sins through the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. This is the repentance that one practices before the buddhas. The expression “he should confess his sins with his own mouth” implies the repentance that he performs mentally.

Buddhism for Today, p436

800 Years: Rewards of Faith

It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 8 (chapter 28): “If someone will uphold, read, and recite this sūtra in the future, his wishes will be fulfilled, and he will receive a happy reward in his present life.” It is said also: “If someone reveres and praises the Lotus Sūtra, he will receive a real reward in his present life.” Regarding these two passages, the eight characters meaning “he will receive a happy reward in his present life” and another eight characters meaning “he will receive a real reward in this life;” if these sixteen characters are not realized and I, Nichiren, do not receive a great reward in this life; the golden worlds of the Buddha would be as worthless as the empty words of Devadatta, and the testimony of the Buddha of Many Treasures would be no different from the lies of Kokālika, the disciple of Devadatta. All the people who slander the Lotus Sūtra would not fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and there would be no Buddhas throughout life in the past, present and future. Therefore, I urge you, my disciples, to practice Buddhism as preached in the Lotus Sūtra without sparing your life and put Buddhism to proof once for all. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō!”

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 249

Daily Dharma – Sept. 2, 2022

In this profound sūtra
The teachings for the Śrāvakas are criticized.
Those who hear
That this sūtra is the king of all the sūtras,
And think over this sūtra clearly after hearing it,
Know this, will approach the wisdom of the Buddha.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. He has already declared that the sūtra he is teaching is the closest to his own wisdom, that it is different from anything he has taught before, and that it is the teaching for Bodhisattvas. The expedient teachings he gave to Śrāvakas before this sūtra were limited because they did not show the way to enlightenment for all beings. As we keep this sūtra in our minds, and learn to recognize it in our daily lives, we not only approach our own enlightenment, we lead all beings to enjoy the Buddha’s wisdom.

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