Monthly Archives: January 2023

LS32

Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Day 29 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva’s supernatural powers, we consider more ways in which World-Voice-Perceiver will save all living beings.

Suppose you are thrown into a large pit of fire
By someone who has an intention of killing you.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver
The pit of fire will change into a pond of water.

Suppose you are in a ship drifting on a great ocean
Where dragons, fish and devils are rampant.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The ship will not b sunk by the waves.

Suppose you are pushed
Off the top of Mt. Sumeru by someone.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
You will be able to stay in the air like the sun.

Suppose you are chased by an evil man,
And pushed off [the top of] a mountain made of diamond.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
You will not lose even a hair.

Suppose bandits are surrounding you,
And attempting to kill you with swords.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The bandits will become compassionate t wards you.

Suppose you are sentenced to death,
And the sword is drawn to behead you.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The sword will suddenly break asunder.

Suppose you are bound up
In pillories, chains, manacles or fetters.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
You will be released from them.

Suppose someone curses you to death,
Or attempts to kill you by various poisons.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
Death will be brought to that person, instead.

Suppose you meet rākṣasas
Or poisonous dragons or other devils.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
They will not kill you.

Suppose you are surrounded by wild animals
Which have sharp, fearful tusks and claws.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver
They will flee away to distant places.

Suppose you meet lizards, snakes, vipers or scorpions
Emitting poisonous vapor like flames.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
They will go away as you call his name.

Suppose clouds arise, lightning flashes, thunder peals,
Hail falls, and a heavy rains comes down.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The thunderstorm will stop at once.

World-Voice-Perceiver will save
All living beings from misfortunes
And from innumerable sufferings of the world
By the wonderful power of his wisdom.

He has these supernatural powers.
He employs various expedients with his wisdom.
In the ten quarters there is no ksetra
In which he does not appear at all.

Hell, the region of hungry spirits, and the region of animals,
That is the [three) evil regions will be eliminated.
The sufferings of birth, old age, disease and death
Will gradually be eliminated.

He sees the truth of all things and their purity.
He sees all things with his great wisdom.
He sees all things with loving-kindness and compassion.
Think of him constantly! Look up at him constantly!

All darkness is dispelled by the light of his wisdom
As spotless and as pure as the light of the sun.
The light destroys the dangers of wind and fire,
And illumines the whole world brightly.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 31, 2022, offers this:

Suppose you are sentenced to death,
And the sword is drawn to behead you.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The sword will suddenly break asunder.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion. When we think of this Bodhisattva, and the power that she holds in this world, we realize what we can accomplish through compassion. When we can be present for the suffering that exists in other beings, and see them without judgement for the flawed creatures that they are, then we allow them to make that same connection with us. The power of compassion is that it inspires others to face what lies at the core of their being: the wish that all beings be peaceful and free from suffering. To break the sword of violence in this world, we must first break it within ourselves.

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

Important Matters

Faith and Action

When we place faith in our practice, what best represents our faith is our actions. If, in our prayers, we somehow believe we are no longer responsible for taking appropriate actions on our own behalf, or that we no longer need to change our patterns of behavior, then our prayers are misguided and potentially harmful.

Important Matters, p 52
WONS, PhraseADay

Realization of Buddhahood

KANJIN HONZON SHO

The Saha-world is the world of the Original Buddha and is the eternal Pure Land, which is free from the three calamities and the four kalpa. In this eternal world, the Buddha never disappeared in the past, nor is He to appear in the future. In consequence, all living beings under the Buddha in the Saha-world are one with Him and eternal. It is because those who believe in the Lotus Sutra, live in the land where they have united themselves with the Buddha and attained the truth of “the three thousand existences in one thought.”

(Background : April 25, 1273, 51 years old, at Sado, Showa Teihon, p.712)

Explanatory note

The world of the Original Buddha Sakyamuni is permanently peaceful and blissful without the traumas of birth and death. Contrarily, in the Saha-world of human beings, there are various sufferings and anxieties caused by three calamities of fire, flood, and storms; and the four types of transitions (Four kalpa): origination, duration, destruction, and annihilation.

In fact, in the realm of the Original Buddha, all existences are absolutely pure and tranquil. The Buddha himself with all other existences has never disappeared in the past nor will He appear in the future. The Buddha and all His disciples are equally enlightened by the glory of the sacred power of Odaimoku.

All beings have already been saved by the Original Buddha and are identified as one with the Buddha.

Despite the Buddha-land being perfect and beautiful, many people still have perverted views in which everything is still burning by the fire of illusions.

Nichiren Daishonin has found truth in the Lotus Sutra which is neither extreme idealism nor extreme realism. According to his teaching, the Buddha-land is not different from the human world. This land is the Buddha-land because it is where the Buddha is expounding the Lotus Sutra.

We, human beings, are the real disciples of the Original Buddha Sakyamuni, and had been taught by Him and have accomplished the Supreme Enlightenment.

This is the sacred relationship between the Original Buddha and the human beings in the Latter Age of the Declining Law. While we believe in the Lotus Sutra and recite Odaimoku, we can recognize our own existence and be able to realize our own divine Buddhahood.

Rev. Syaku

Phrase A Day

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 31, 2023

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

With these words, the Buddha prepares those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. “Understanding by faith” can be a difficult idea for those of us who believe faith is opposed to understanding; that it means believing something even though we do not understand it. The Buddha does not ask us to set aside our curiosity or our comprehension to practice his highest teaching. But he does say that it takes more than understanding to reach the wisdom he attained. As we apprehend more of what the Buddha teaches us, our confidence in him grows. As we set aside our doubts about the benefits of the Buddha Dharma, we increase our ability to see the world for what it is.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we start again and consider a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom and a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha [faced the east and] emitted rays of light from the fleshy tuft on his head, that is, from one of the marks of a great man, and also from the white curls between his eyebrows. The light illumined one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds, that is, as many worlds in the east as there are sands in the River Ganges. There was a world called [All-] Pure-Light-Adornment [in the east] beyond those worlds. In that world was a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom, 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. He expounded the Dharma to a great multitude of innumerable Bodhisattvas who were surrounding him respectfully. The ray of light, which was emitted from the white curls [between the eyebrows] of Śākyamuni Buddha, also illumined that world.

At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World. He had already planted roots of virtue a long time ago. He had already made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and attended on them. He had already obtained profound wisdom. He had already obtained hundreds of thousands of billions of great samadhis, that is, as many great samadhis as there are sands in the River Ganges, such as the samadhi as wonderful as the banner of a general, the samādhi for the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the samādhi for pure virtue,1 the samadhi for the traveling of the king of the stars, the samadhi for freedom from causality, the samadhi for the seal of wisdom, the samadhi by which one could understand the words of all living beings, the samadhi by which one could collect all merits, the samadhi for purity, the samadhi for exhibiting supernatural powers, the samadhi for the torch of wisdom, the samadhi for the Adornment-King, the samadhi for pure light, the samadhi for pure store, the samadhi for special teachings, and the samadhi for the revolution of the sun.

See Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s 16 Samādhis

Kern, d17b, d18b, Blog

Encouragement

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

Chapter 13 in the Kumārajīva translation and Chapter 12 in H. Kern’s translation follow the story of Devadatta and the Dragon King’s Daughter. If you assume the chapter title foreshadows the content, then there is a distinction difference in focus between Kumarajiva and the 11th century Sanskrit document Kern translated.

Among the English translators of Kumarajiva, we have titles of:

  • “Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra,” Senchu Murano.
  • “Encouragement to Uphold the Sutra,” Gene Reeves.
  • “Encouraging Devotion,” Soka Gakkai, (Burton Watson).
  • “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 1975.
  • “Encouragement to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 2019.

Kern has simply “Exertion” and Leon Hurvitz, who incorporates both Kumārajīva and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers “Fortitude.”

The contents of Kumārajīva’s chapter and the Sanskrit document Kern translated clearly offer the same lesson, but Kumārajīva focuses on encouraging future devotees while Kern simply stresses that it will take work to propagate the Lotus Sutra in a world full of “malign beings, having few roots of goodness, conceited, fond of gain and honor, rooted in unholiness, difficult to tame, deprived of good will, and full of unwillingness.”

There is, however, a notable difference between how Kumārajīva handles the concerns of Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the Buddha’s stepmother.

Murano sets the stage in this way:

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].

Kern, however, offers:

Then the noble matron Gautamī, the sister of the Lord’s mother, along with six hundred nuns, some of them being under training, some being not, rose from her seat, raised the joined hands towards the Lord and remained gazing up to him. Then the Lord addressed the noble matron Gautamī: Why dost thou stand so dejected, gazing up to the Tathāgata? (She replied): I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment. (He said): But, Gautamī, thou hast received a prediction with the prediction regarding the whole assembly.

Perhaps not a big deal that Kern has Maha-Prajapati voice her concerns – “I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment” – but notable.

Another minor difference is the number of nuns accompanying Maha-Prajapati. Kumarajiva has 6,000 and Kern only 600. Hurvitz sticks with the 6,000.

Personally, the biggest difference between the translations involves the the Bodhisattvas. I’ve always been moved by Murano’s story.

Thereupon the World-Honored One looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis. They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together [towards him] with all their hearts, and thought, “If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sūtra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.”

They also thought, “The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?”

The image of the Buddha inviting the Bodhisattvas but sitting silent is not present in Kern’s translation.

Thereafter the Lord looked towards the eighty hundred thousand Bodhisattvas who were gifted with magical spells and capable of moving forward the wheel that never rolls back. No sooner were those Bodhisattvas regarded by the Lord than they rose from their seats, raised their joined hands towards the Lord and reflected thus: The Lord invites us to make known the Dharmaparyāya. Agitated by that thought they asked one another: What shall we do, young men of good family, in order that this Dharmaparyāya may in future be made known as the Lord invites us to do?

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva note the silence of the Buddha. Even Hurvitz mentions it. Given the chapter’s focus on “Encouragement,” this silence is important. The loss of that dimension from Kern’s translation diminishes the significance of the Bodhisattvas’ vow.

Next: The Plight of an Ordinary Bodhisattva

Important Matters

With Great Joy and Confidence

When I lead Daimoku chanting at my temple I always tell people as we begin to “chant with great joy and confidence.” I do this because I’ve experienced the difference. I can feel the difference from chanting with joy and confidence deep down in my life. Even if my voice is weak, as it sometimes is now as I age, in my mind, in my heart, I hold the thought of strength, confidence, and joy.

When we can approach our practice with the thought that what we are doing is huge, it is phenomenal, it is significant, it is powerful, and we are doing this thing and we are a part of it and we are making it happen in our lives, that is when we can begin to approach the tremendous joy that the Lotus Sutra holds for us. The Lotus Sutra is there waiting for us to enter and enter in a big way.

Important Matters, p 49
WONS, PhraseADay

Great Compassion

HO-ON JO

I, Nichiren, believe my compassion is boundless because I am devoting myself to salvation of all mankind, overcoming many persecutions. Therefore, “Namu Myoho Renge Ryo,” the teaching for the people in the Latter Age of the Declining Law, will spread forever beyond the ten-thousand-year period. It has the merit of curing the (religious) blindness of all people and blocks the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyo of Japan, T’ien-t’ai of China, Nagarjuna of India, and Kasyapa, who was the Buddha’s disciple.

Therefore, the practice for a hundred years in the peaceful Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting Odaimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the Lotus Sutra in the two-thousand-year period following the death of the Buddha does not give benefit as much as spreading Odaimoku for a while in the Latter Age of the Declining Law. This is not due to my wisdom; it is solely due to the time of the Latter Age in which I live.

(Background ; July 21, 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1248)

Explanatory note

What is the truth of humankind? This has been a long quest in human history. The development of human society was only possible through this quest, and our ancestors had sought the fundamental truth by physical and spiritual training. In other words, the history of humankind is the history of seeking happiness. Civilization has proved that happiness could be attained not by satisfaction of one’s own self but by faith in truth.

However, the quick development of the modern science made us forget this fundamental spirit of humankind, and the civilization that our ancestors have built up is in danger of being corrupted because modern people became more selfish and forgot to work together with others in harmony.
Buddhism also has tried to find true nature of humankind which Buddha taught us. In this modern age, we, Buddhists, should not neglect to find the true spirit of Buddhism and the true mind of the Buddha Sakyamuni.

It is easy to chant “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” But it is difficult to understand and believe it, unless we find the true teaching and salvation of the Lotus Sutra, which the Buddha Sakyamuni revealed to us. “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” was what the Buddha had kept deep in the sutra, and Nichiren Daishonin has revealed it for the first time in the thirteenth century. Nichiren believed that Odaimoku was the most important virtue he could leave behind for us in Buddhist history and proudly announced it to people. He said that it is most important for us to have faith in the teaching and practice in this real world, rather than to practice it in the Pure Land.

Although we read this “Ho-on Jo” quite often without thinking deeply, we must think of the true meaning of the words which Nichiren showed us.
We receive Odaimoku and preserve it in our bodies. At the same time we attain Buddhahood as a natural result of accepting and maintaining the “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. ”

Rev. Akahoshi

Phrase A Day

Daily Dharma, d19b

Daily Dharma – Jan. 30, 2023

All this while Śākyamuni Buddha sat in silence. The four kinds of devotees also kept silence for the fifty small kalpas. By his supernatural powers, however, the Buddha caused the great multitude to think that they kept silence for only half a day.

We find this description of the Buddha and his congregation in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Innumerable Bodhisattvas have sprung up from underground and come to pay their respects to the Buddha. This passage shows that in our suffering and attachment, we have a different concept of time than the Buddha. The kalpas the Lotus Sūtra uses to measure time are unimaginably long periods. When a stone a mile on each side is worn down to a pebble by a celestial being flying past it every thousand years and brushing it with her veil, a kalpa expires. When we see the world on this scale of time, rather than the limited years we have in our lives, it opens us up to the Buddha’s wisdom.

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

LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the reward promised to the woman who hears and keeps this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we conclude Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises [this chapter], saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.

“Therefore, Star-King-Flower! I will transmit this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva to you. Propagate this chapter throughout the Jambudvipa in the later five hundred years after my extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Mara the Evil One, the followers of Mara, gods, dragons, yakṣas, and kumbha]das should take advantage [of the weak points of the people of the Jambudvipa].

“Star-King-Flower! Protect this sūtra by your supernatural powers! Why is that? It is because this sūtra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people of the Jambudvipa. The patient who hears this sūtra will be cured of his disease at once. He will not grow old or die.

“Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keep this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Mara. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’

“In this way, those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha should respect the keeper of this sūtra whenever they see him.”

When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas obtained the dharanis by which they could understand the words of all living beings. Many-Treasures Tathāgata in the stupa of treasures praised Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Star-King-Flower! You obtained inconceivable merits. You asked this question to Śākyamuni Buddha, and benefited innumerable living beings.”

The Daily Dharma from May 29, 2022, offers this:

Therefore, Star-King-Flower! I will transmit this Chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva to you. Propagate this chapter throughout the Jambudvīpa in the later five hundred years after my extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Māra the Evil One, the followers of Māra, gods, dragons, yakṣas, and kumbhāṇḍas should take advantage [of the weak points of the people of the Jambudvīpa].

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Jambudvīpa is the name the Buddha gives to this world of conflict and attachment in which we live. Nichiren interprets “the later five hundred years” as the time in which we are living today. The story of Medicine-King Bodhisattva is one of a being who does not spare any part of his life to benefit others. This Bodhisattva is confident that he will become enlightened, and that whatever happens to his physical body, he will always be reborn in worlds where he has the chance to benefit others and lead them by the wisdom of the Buddha. This chapter, and all those towards the end of the Lotus Sūtra, give us examples of how to bring the teachings of the Buddha to life.

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