Buddhism for Today, p71[Another] lesson that we learn from chapter 4 is that an excellent way to progress from faith to discernment is revealed here. The four śrāvakas listened to the Parable of the Burning House and understood it. They not only thought that they had understood it but demonstrated their understanding to the Buddha in another parable. Not only to receive the teaching passively but also to announce actively what we have been able to realize is a very good way both to deepen our discernment and to elevate our faith. Moreover, it also helps to deepen others’ discernment and elevate their faith. We must not overlook the importance of telling others of our own religious experiences, as demonstrated in this chapter.
Monthly Archives: October 2022
Daily Dharma – Oct. 25, 2022
Mañjuśrī! What are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattva should perform? He should be patient, mild and meek. He should not be rash, timorous, or attached to anything. He should see things as they are. He should not be attached to his non-attachment to anything. Nor should he be attached to his seeing things as they are. These are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattva should perform.
The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. When we learn to see things differently, we act differently. Conversely, when we act in ways that are not beneficial, either to ourselves or to others, it is an indication that we are not seeing things as they are. At the same time, not being attached to non-attachment helps us realize that becoming enlightened is a process, and that becoming proud of our achievements is another indication of being stuck and not seeing things as they are.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 32
Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month concluded Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we begin again at the top with the arrival of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.
Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, who was famous for his virtues and supernatural powers without hindrance, came from a world [in the distance of many worlds] to the east [of this Sahā-World]. He was accompanied by innumerable, uncountable great Bodhisattvas. All the worlds quaked as he passed through. [The gods] rained down jeweled lotus-flowers, and made many hundreds of thousands of billions of kinds of music. He was also surrounded by a great multitude of innumerable gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They reached Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa of the Sahā-World by their virtues and supernatural powers.
See Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s Obligation To Spread the Lotus Sūtra
Variations to Puzzle Over
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
Many of the variations between H. Kern’s translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document and Kumārajīva’s fifth century translation fall into a category I call, “Now that’s interesting, but what does it mean?”
Consider the Parable of the Burning House. In the gāthās re-telling, Kern states:
62. In such a state is that awful house, where thousands of flames are breaking out on every side. But the man who is the master of the house looks on from without.
63. And he hears his own children, whose minds are engaged in playing with their toys, in their fondness of which they amuse themselves, as fools do in their ignorance.
64. And as he hears them he quickly steps in to save his children, lest his ignorant children might perish in the flames.
But Senchu Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva offers this:
The house was so dreadful.
[In that house] there were
Poisonings, killings and burnings.
There were many dangers, not just one.At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate.
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.
All of the English translations of Kumārajīva include this point, but what is added to the meaning of the story to have someone telling the father his children are inside versus the father hearing his children inside?
Further down in the gāthās, Kern says:
105. This, Śāriputra, is the closing word of my law which now at the last time I pronounce for the weal of the world including the gods. Preach it in all quarters.
But Murano adds a caution:
Śāriputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.
Do not propagate it carelessly
At the place where you are!
Again, the “do not propagate it carelessly” is unique to Kumārajīva, but why has it been added? Does Kumārajīva want to presage the later warnings about teaching to those who won’t benefit? Both Kern and Kumārajīva caution future preachers.
Kern:
111. But do not speak of this matter to haughty persons, nor to conceited ones, nor to Yogins who are not self-restrained; for the fools, always reveling in sensual pleasures, might in their blindness scorn the law manifested.
112. Now hear the dire results when one scorns my skillfulness and the Buddha-rules for ever fixed in the world; when one, with sullen brow, scorns the vehicle.
Murano:
Śāriputra
Do not expound this sūtra
To those who are arrogant and idle,
And who think that the self exists!Do not expound it to men of little wisdom!
They would not be able to understand it
Even if they heard it
Because they are deeply attached to the five desires.Those who do not believe this sūtra
But slander it,
Will destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Of all living beings of the world.Some will scowl at this sūtra
And doubt it.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.
I expect to have many more of these “Now that’s interesting, but what does it mean?” discussions.
800 Years: If a Person Fails To Have Faith
Putting aside secular matters, regarding those who go against the Buddhist dharma, it is preached in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2, “When such persons pass away, they will fall into the Avīci Hell.”
QUESTION: What kind of people are such persons?
ANSWER: The passage cited above from the “Parable” chapter is preceded by a statement saying, “Only I can save living beings. However, there are some who do not believe in what I teach them.” Then in the same chapter, following a clause, “If a person fails to have faith,” it is stated, “Such a person may frown to show displeasure” and “Upon seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sūtra, such a person will despise, hate, envy and harbor a grudge against them.” It is preached in the fifth fascicle (“Appearance of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter), “Those who are skeptical of the Lotus Sūtra and do not hold faith in it will inevitably fall into the evil realms.” It is also stated in the eighth fascicle (“Encouragement of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva” chapter), “There will be such persons who despise and abuse the faithful (practicers of the Lotus Sūtra) saying, ‘You are a lunatics. It is useless to carry out such a practice. It will gain you nothing!’ ” The “such persons” mentioned in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra refer to these people who slander the Lotus Sūtra.
Soya Jirō Nyūdō-dono Gohō, Response to Lay Priest Lord Soya Jiro, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 65
Daily Dharma – Oct. 24, 2022
My words are true.
Believe me with all your hearts!
I have been teaching them
Since the remotest past.
The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya Bodhisattva and others gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Maitreya had never seen any of the other Bodhisattvas who sprang up from underground in this chapter, despite his memory of previous lives and other worlds. The Buddha explains that the beings who had just appeared are also his disciples and have come to spread this Wonderful Dharma in our world. Nichiren teaches that when he realized that he was an incarnation of Superior-Practice, the leader of the Bodhisattvas from underground, then all of us who follow Nichiren and continue to keep the Lotus Sūtra are the followers of Superior-Practice. We do not need to wait for someone to come to our world and lead us. The world does not need anyone other than those already here to teach the Dharma. We are the Bodhisattvas from underground.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 31
Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered two sons’ request to renounce the world, we consider the family’s decision to see the Buddha.
“Thereupon the [father came to them. The] two sons said to their parents, ‘Excellent, Father and Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, see him, and make offerings to him because to see a Buddha is as difficult as to see an udumbara flower or as for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a floating piece of wood! We accumulated so many merits in our previous existence that we are now able to meet the teachings of the Buddha in this life of ours. Allow us to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha, and also because it is difficult to have such a good opportunity as this to see him.’
“Thereupon the eighty-four thousand people in the harem of King Wonderful-Adornment became able to keep the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
“Pure-Eyes Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for a long time. Pure-Store Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the release from evil regions in order to release all living beings from evil regions for many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas.
“Now the queen practiced the samādhi for the assembly of Buddhas, and understood the treasury of their hidden core. The two sons led their father by these expedients and caused him to understand the teachings of the Buddha by faith and to wish [to act according to those teachings].
Family Oeshiki
800 Years: In the Service of Others
If anything can be said to be a practice of those who take faith in the Lotus Sutra, it is the Bodhisattva practice of helping others. In Chapter 23, we learned that Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva obtained a samādhi by which he could transform himself into any other living being. He even caused others to obtain this samādhi. But he himself did not demonstrate this samādhi. It is in Chapter 24 that we see this samādhi put to practice by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:
“This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Sahā World with the many rays of light of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know.”
The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra explains that while such transformations may seem miraculous, they can be a product of our daily practice:
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra“[W]hen we sincerely devote ourselves to the service and welfare of others, we can reach a stage of nonself – real selflessness – and become one with them. In appearance, we may even look like one of them. An adult playing happily with children may look like a child himself. He may feel like a child, too. The children may even consider him to be one of them. Such ‘transformations’ are far from impossible, but they do require a special state of mind. The samādhi by which one can transform himself into other living things is an expression of the Bodhisattva-spirit of devoting one’s self to others.”
By far the more famous Bodhisattva who performs this samādhi in the Lotus Sutra is World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, whom we meet in Chapter 25. As Gene Reeves points out in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, the fact that multiple bodhisattvas posses this power underscores that every bodhisattva can have it:
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p265-266“We are not talking about magical tricks here. The ability to take on different forms according to what is needed means just that, an ability to adapt to different situations, particularly to the different needs of people. Taking on different forms is no more and no less than the ability to serve others usefully, practically, and effectively. This is a power given not only to the bodhisattvas Kwan-yin and Wonderful Voice, but to each and every one of us.
“Thus, one obvious meaning of this story for us is that we too can become bodhisattvas who take on different forms and roles in order to help others. And there is another side to this, even its opposite – anyone can be a bodhisattva for us. If Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva can take on any form, anyone we meet might be Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva in a form designed to help us!”
The task for the faithful is to see how we can help others and allow others to help us.
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Daily Dharma – Oct. 23, 2022
Thus, what the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration should be afraid of are not swords and sticks, tigers and wolves, or the ten evil acts and the five rebellious sins but those monks who wear Buddhist robes and pretend to be high priests without knowing the true teaching and those people who regard monks of provisional teachings as venerable and hate the practicers of the True Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). In Nichiren’s time, Buddhist monks had a great influence on the leaders of Japan, and thus on the lives of ordinary people. Wars, taxes, disease and education were no less important in Nichiren’s time than they are now. Nichiren recognized that the greatest danger came not from external forces, but from those within the country who took positions of power to benefit themselves rather than others. Nichiren’s reliance on the Wonderful Dharma, and his refusal to be coerced by his persecutions, show us how to live in this degenerating age.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com