Monthly Archives: September 2022

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month compared the merits of the great almsgiver with the 50th person who rejoices, we consider the merits of encouraging others to learn about the Lotus Sutra.

“Furthermore, Ajita! Anyone who goes to a monastery in order to hear this sūtra and hears it even for a moment while he is sitting or standing, in his next life will be able to go up to the palace of heaven, riding in a beautiful and wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart or in a palanquin of wonderful treasure by his merits. Anyone who, while sitting in the place of the expounding of the Dharma, persuades another per on to it down or shares his seat with him to hear [the Dharma] when he sees him coming to the place, in his next life by his merits, will be able to obtain the seal of King Sakra, of the Brahman Heavenly-King or of a wheel-turning-holy-king.

“Ajita! Anyone who[, while he is staying outside the place of the expounding of the Dharma,] says to another person, ‘Let us go and hear the sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which is being expounded [in that place],’ and cause him to hear it even for a moment, in his next life by his merit , will be able to live with the Bodhisattvas who obtain dharanis. He will be clever and wise. He will not be dumb throughout thousands of millions of his future existences. His breath will not be foul. He will have no disease of the tongue or the mouth. His teeth will not be defiled, black, yell w, few, fallen out, uneven or crooked. His lips will not be pendulous, shrunk, chapped, cracked, broken, distorted, thick, large, yellow-black or loathsome. His nose will not be flat or awry. His face will not be black, long, distorted or displeasing. His lips, tongue and teeth will be well-shaped; his nose, long, high and straight. His face will be full; his eyebrows, thick and long; and his forehead, broad and even. In a word, he will have all the good features of a man. He will be able to see the Buddhas, hear the Dharma from them, and receive their teachings by faith throughout his future existences.

“Ajita, look! The merits of the person who causes even a single man to go and hear the Dharma are so many. It is needless to speak of the merits of the person who hears [this sūtra] with all his heart, reads it, recites it, expounds it to the great multitude, and acts according to its teachings.

The Daily Dharma from June 18, 2022, offers this:

Ajita! Anyone who[, while he is staying outside the place of the expounding of the Dharma,] says to another person, ‘Let us go and hear the sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which is being expounded [in that place],’ and causes him to hear it even for a moment, in his next life by his merits, will be able to live with the Bodhisattvas who obtain dhāraṇīs.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. The dhāraṇīs are promises made by Bodhisattvas to protect those who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra. They are included in the sūtra so that we can use them to remind these Bodhisattvas, and ourselves, of the protection we enjoy from our practice. This protection is not just meant for us. It is for all beings. When we share the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma with others, we help them become aware of their potential to become enlightened.

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

800years, d23b, d24b, Blog

800 Years: Becoming a Teacher of the Dharma

In Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we learn of the merits to be given the beginner in faith and in Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we learn of the merits to be earned by a teacher of the dharma. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today, becoming such a teacher is part of the natural progression of faith:

“The practices of a preacher are of five kinds (goshu hosshi): receiving and keeping the sutra (juji), reading it (doku) and reciting it (ju), expounding it (gesetsu), and copying it (shosha). … In each of these five practices, the state of our gradually deepening faith is clearly shown.

“If we believe and discern the teaching after hearing it, and if we raise the mind of joyful acceptance of it, we proceed first to keep it firmly, then, reading and reciting the sutra, to inscribe it on our memory. As a personal discipline, this practice is done to establish the foundation of our faith. When our faith reaches this stage, we cannot help transmitting the teaching to others. As a result, we expound the sutra (the teaching) and copy it. We cannot say we have attained true faith until we go through each process of the five kinds of practices of the preacher.”

Buddhism for Today, p295

The Chapter 19’s specifics of how the teacher’s sense organs will be affected have always caused me pause. I want too much for literal benefits:

“He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.”

But in Peaceful Action, Open Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a more nuanced view of the benefits that flow from our growing faith:

“The merit of this teaching effects a great change in the field of our six sense organs (sadayatana) – our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. When we are able to receive the truth of the Lotus Sutra our sense perceptions undergo a profound transformation. Automatically our eyes are able to see things that before we were not able to see. We attain the eyes of the Dharma that are able to look deeply and see the true nature and suchness of all dharmas, all phenomena in the world of our perceptions. With Dharma eyes we can look into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and see its wonderful, fresh green nature. We can see that one leaf, whether old and yellow or green and fresh, contains all the merits, all the wonderful suchness of the universe. The eyes of someone who has received and who maintains the teaching of this Sutra, the truth of the ultimate, are able to see the limitless life span, the unborn and undying nature of everything. This is the first merit, the transformation of our sight perception into the eyes of the Dharma.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p125

While using my sense of smell to locate buried treasure seems farfetched, I can imagine looking into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and seeing its wonderful, fresh green nature.

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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 11, 2022

You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago.’

Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has just assured them of reaching the same enlightenment he found. These monks had worked diligently for many years to rid themselves of suffering, and taught many other beings to become Bodhisattvas and reach the Buddha’s enlightenment, thinking they were not capable of reaching this wisdom. Not believing we are capable of something obscures the capability we have. When the Buddha proclaims that he leads all beings, he reminds us of this capacity and inspires us make efforts to bring all beings, including ourselves, to his joy.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits, we begin and consider great benefits of hearing the the duration of the Buddha’s life.

Thereupon the innumerable, asaṃkhya living beings in the great congregation, who had heard from the Buddha that the duration of his life was so many kalpas as previously stated, obtained great benefits.
At that time the World-Honored One said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva:

“Ajita! When I said that the duration of my life was so long, six hundred and eighty billion nayuta living beings, that is, the living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, obtained the truth of birthlessness. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas numbering one thousand times the number of these living beings obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize all that they had heard. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru-world obtained eloquence without hindrance. Another group of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru world obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize many hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the wheel of the pure Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after three rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas twice the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after two rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi immediately after this life. Living beings as many as the particles of earth of eight Sumeru-worlds aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

See Four Entrances to the Power of the Dharma

b4today, Blog

Certified

20220910_RKINA_201_Certificate-web

After eight months of weekly 90-minute-plus Zoom classes, I’m now certified to have completed RKINA 201: Threefold Lotus Sutra Online Learning Course. Even received a face mask suitable for visiting a Risshō Kōsei Kai Buddhist Center and a lapel pin marking the occasion.

I have more than 200 posts and pages on this website that reference Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today. That’s not because I’m a fan of the organization he founded in 1938 with Mrs. Myoko Naganuma, but because much of what he writes about the Lotus Sutra and how to make Buddhism a part of our daily life is so relevant today. Not being a Risshō Kōsei Kai member allows me the freedom to discard those points that I find troublesome. See here and here. I would like to believe I can quibble on some points – strongly in some instances – and still reference the teachings of Nikkyō Niwano.

As of today, Sept. 10, 2022, I have 10,460 posts published on this website and another 188 in the queue scheduled to be published. I have 123 pages of additional content.   The 200 or so posts concerning Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today represent a tiny fraction, but they are an important contribution to the overall understanding of the Lotus Sutra that I’m seeking to create.

Face mask and lapel pin

800years, d23b, Blog

800 Years: The Merits of the Inexperienced Practicer

In the Trace Gate of the Lotus Sutra, the first 14 chapters, and even before that in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, the preface to the Lotus Sutra, we are told that it is very difficult to understand what the Buddhas realize about the reality of the equality and differences of all things. That difficulty has been used as the basis for declaring the sutra too profound to be useful. But in Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we learn of the great merits to be gained by the person who holds even a passing knowledge of this supreme teaching.

Nichiren addresses this in his “Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra”:

“The Pure Land Buddhists today … [say] it is impossible to practice the Lotus Sūtra unless one possesses a high capacity to understand and it bewilders the evil ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Are they not contradicting themselves? Grand Master Miao-lê in his Annotations to the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra asserts, ‘Most people make mistakes, without knowing how great the merits of the inexperienced practicers can be. They imagine that only the experienced practicers can have merits and slander the inexperienced. Therefore, in the ‘Merits of Rejoicing at Hearing This Sūtra’ chapter it is shown that the merits of the inexperienced practicer can be great and how great the merits of the Lotus Sūtra are.’ This passage means that the merit of the 50th person rejoicing at hearing the Lotus Sūtra transmitted one after another was preached to show that the merit of an ignorant person with little capacity in the Latter Age rejoicing even for a moment at hearing the sūtra preached is superior to the merit of sages who practice the pre-Lotus sūtras preached during the 40 or so years before the Lotus Sūtra.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4,
Page 7-8

It is not difficult to have faith in this sutra. Nichiren’s thinking is explained in Donald Lopez and Jacqueline Stone’s Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side:

“ ‘What other sūtra,’ Nichiren asks, ‘teaches that incalculable merit accrues to one who arouses even a single thought of willing acceptance, or to the fiftieth person who rejoices upon hearing it? Other sūtras do not claim such merit for even the first, second, third, or tenth hearer, let alone the fiftieth!’ …

“If ease of practice were to be a criterion, [Nichiren] said, no practice could be easier than spontaneously rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren argued that, far from excluding the ignorant, it is precisely because the Lotus Sūtra is so profound that it can save beings of any capacity whatsoever. In this connection, he often cited Zhanran’s remark: ‘The more true the teaching, the lower the capacity of the persons it can bring to liberation.’ However limited one’s capacity might be, that person is ennobled by their Lotus Sūtra practice.”

Two Buddhas, p199-200

What could be more reassuring to the person who takes faith in Lotus Sutra for the first time?

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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 10, 2022

When he expounds or reads this sūtra, he should not point out the faults of other persons or sūtras. He should not despise other teachers of the Dharma. He should not speak of the good points or bad points or the merits or demerits of others. He should not mention Śrāvakas by name when he blames them. Nor should he do so when he praises them. He should not have hostile feelings against them or dislike them. He should have this peace of mind so that he may not act against the wishes of the hearers. When he is asked questions, he should not answer by the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, but expound the Dharma only by the teachings of the Great Vehicle so that the questioners may be able to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. For us who aspire to be Bodhisattvas in this world of conflict, this passage reminds us not to create more conflict in our efforts to benefit others. Rather we should work to remind them of their good qualities and demonstrate the respect we want to receive

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

Universal Sage, b4today

The Sixfold Laws and Eightfold Laws

After saying this, the practitioner must again humbly pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas, and reflect on the comprehensive principle over the course of one to three-times-seven days. Whether renunciant or layperson, the practitioner will not need a mentor, will not need stewards, and will not need to take vows in a ceremony because of the power of accepting, keeping faith with, reciting, and internalizing the Great Vehicle sutras, and because of Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s encouragement to engage in this practice. This is the core of the true Way of the buddhas in the ten directions. By means and reason of this Way, the practitioner will naturally attain the five attributes of an enlightened one: perfection in behavioral principles, perfection in concentration, perfection in wisdom, perfection in emancipation, and perfection in the perspective that pertains to emancipation. Buddha tathāgatas become so by following this Way; the promise of their buddhahood is obtained in the Great Vehicle sutras.

The sixfold laws are the following six Buddhist precepts: not to take life, not to steal, to refrain from wrong sexual activity, not to lie, not to drink intoxicants, and not to speak of other people’s faults. The eightfold laws are the preceding six precepts plus two others: not to conceal one’s faults and not to emphasize other people’s shortcomings rather than their good points. Jñapti-karman is a compound word having two meanings; Jñapti signifies announcement or declaration, while karman means the proceedings at a meeting of a Buddhist assembly. This is part of the Buddhist ordination ceremony, in which the candidate confesses his past sins and vows to follow the Buddha’s teachings.

Buddhism for Today, p457
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 the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children, we consider whether the Buddha’s use of expedients is the same as lying.

“Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said:

“I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.”

The Daily Dharma from July 14, 2022, offers this:

I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story of the Physician and his children, the father leaves and sends word that he has died when his children refuse to take the antidote he has prepared for them. He gave his children no choice but to accept what they already had and make the effort to improve themselves and set aside their deluded minds. In the same way, when we take the Buddha for granted, and close our eyes to the Wonderful Dharma he has given us, he disappears. It is only when we open our eyes and see clearly this world and ourselves in it that we can recognize the Buddha and how he is always leading us.

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 Mountain of Faith

Rivers come together to form an ocean. Particles of dust accumulate to become Mt. Sumeru. When I, Nichiren, began having faith in the Lotus Sūtra, it was like a drop of water or a particle of dust in Japan. However, when the sūtra is chanted and transmitted to two, three, ten, a million, and a billion people, it will grow to be a Mt. Sumeru of perfect enlightenment or the great ocean of Nirvana. There is no way other than this to reach Buddhahood.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 243-244