Important Matters, p 8I’m going to quote the entire first paragraph from Honshu Nakanishi’s writing believing I could do no better at expressing his thoughts than he has, important thoughts for us to always maintain as we engage in our own services.
“Ceremonies and protocols are art. Because they are the foundations of noble faith, Nichiren ceremonies are a solemn, refined, comprehensive art that is created by our entire body and heart. Anyone who says they are no more than formalized sutra chanting has no idea of their true nature. It is sometimes said that art needs no goal; that art exists for its own sake. Buddhist ceremonies do not exist for proselytizing or teaching. Instead they are supreme expressions of pure, unmitigated devotion to the Three Treasures. Only when this is true can the performer and the observer steep themselves in unobstructed concentrated meditation. From awareness of the true nature of ceremonies, as an unexpected collateral effect, awakening arises.”
Monthly Archives: January 2023
Aspiration for Enlightenment
MATSUNO DONO GOHENJI
There are thousands of fish eggs, but few become fish. Hundreds of mango blossoms bloom, but few become fruit. It is the same with human beings, because most people are turned aside by evil distractions. There is an army of warriors wearing armor, but few are able to fight bravely. Many people search for truth, but few attain Buddhahood
(Background : December 9th, 1276, 54 years old, at
Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1269)
Explanatory note
Before the above quotation, Nichiren Daishonin said to Lord Matsuno that there was no difference between Odaimoku, “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,” chanted by Daishonin himself and by his followers. Therefore, he encouraged us to believe that if one chanted Odaimoku, he or she was surely able to reach the same stage as Daishonin.
People are volatile, quick to warm up and to cool down, but Nichiren Daishonin advised Lord Matsuno to have a constant faith like water, not short, enthusiastic faith like fire. It must be difficult to keep faith constantly. Nichiren is advising us that it is important to realize our own Buddha-nature within ourselves and to endeavor constantly at perfecting ourselves.
Rev. Kanai
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 3, 2023
The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He describes the methods he used to prepare those whom he taught for receiving his highest teaching. In this chapter, the Buddha reveals that his existence is not limited to that of the physical body of Siddhartha Gautama 2500 years ago. In truth he has been leading all beings to his enlightenment for an unimaginably long time, and will continue to lead us for twice that time into the future. We approach the Buddha’s true wisdom when we see the purpose of our existence as benefiting all beings, and are certain that the outcome of whatever troubles us now is the enlightenment of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1
Having last month considered how water is like the Dharma, we consider the teachings that followed the Buddha arising from beneath the bodhi tree.
“O you of good intent! Arising from beneath the bodhi tree, I went to Deer Park in Vārāṇasī. When I turned the Dharma wheel of the Four Noble Truths for the five renunciants including Ājñātakauṇḍinya, I was also saying that all phenomena intrinsically are empty and tranquil, successively occurring but not remaining, coming forth and becoming void moment to moment. When I proclaimed, narrated, and lectured on the twelve-linked chain of dependent origination or the perfection of the six spiritual attitudes for the monks or for the assemblies of bodhisattvas, respectively, here and at other places during the middle period, I was also saying that all phenomena are intrinsically empty and tranquil, successively occurring but not remaining, coming forth and becoming void from moment to moment. Now, again at this place, discoursing on the all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra, I am also saying that all phenomena are intrinsically empty and tranquil, successively occurring but not remaining, coming forth and becoming void moment to moment. O you of good intent! This is why the initial-period discourses, the middle-period discourses, and the current discourse express the same thing even though they differ in meaning. Because meanings differ, living beings understand differently. Because their understanding differs, so does their grasp of the Dharma, their attainment of its fruits, and their realization of the Way.
See Reality as Empty of Substantial Being Yet Conventionally Existent
Shouldering the Buddha
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
In Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma – or as H. Kern entitles it simply “The Preacher” – we get an interesting example of Kumārajīva’s brevity vs. the 11th century Sanskrit’s clarity.
Senchu Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva offers this at the conclusion of the initial prose section of Chapter 10:
“Medicine-King! An evil man who speaks ill of me in my presence with evil intent for as long as a kalpa is not as sinful as the person who reproaches laymen or monks with even a single word of abuse for their reading and reciting the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
“Medicine-King! Anyone who reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, know this, will be adorned just as I am. I will shoulder him. Wherever he may be, bow to him! Join your hands together towards him with all your heart, respect him, make offerings to him, honor him, and praise him! Offer him flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments, food and various kinds of music! Make him the best offerings that you can obtain in the world of men! Strew the treasures of heaven to him! Offer him heaps of the treasures of heaven! Why is that? It is because, while he is expounding the Dharma with joy, if you hear it even for a moment, you will immediately be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
Note that there is no specific explanation of why it is worse to slander the preacher of the Dharma than the Buddha. It simply is.
Kern’s translation of the Sanskrit, however, is very specific about this:
Again, Bhaiṣajyarāja, if some creature vicious, wicked, and cruel-minded should in the (current) Age speak something injurious in the face of the Tathāgata, and if some should utter a single harsh word, founded or unfounded, to those irreproachable preachers of the law and keepers of this Sūtrānta, whether lay devotees or clergymen, I declare that the latter sin is the graver. For, Bhaiṣajyarāja, such a young man or young lady of good family must be held to be adorned with the apparel of the Tathāgata. He carries the Tathāgata on his shoulder, Bhaiṣajyarāja, who after having copied this Dharmaparyāya and made a volume of it, carries it on his shoulder. Such a one, wherever he goes, must be saluted by all beings with joined hands, must be honored, respected, worshipped, venerated, revered by gods and men with flowers, incense, perfumed garlands, ointment, powder, clothes, umbrellas, flags, banners, musical instruments, with food, soft and hard, with nourishment and drink, with vehicles, with heaps of choice and gorgeous jewels. That preacher of the law must be honored by heaps of gorgeous jewels being presented to that preacher of the law. For it may be that by his expounding this Dharmaparyāya, were it only once, innumerable, incalculable beings who hear it shall soon become accomplished in supreme and perfect enlightenment.
Also note who carries whom? Kumārajīva has the Buddha supporting the preacher; “I will shoulder him.” Kern’s translation has the preacher carrying the Buddha because he carries the Lotus Sutra. Kern’s translation actually sets the stage for when we learn later in the chapter that the sutra, not the śarīras of the Buddha, should be enshrined in a stupa and honored.
Here’s Murano:
“Medicine-King! Erect a stupa of the seven treasures in any place where this sūtra is expounded, read, recited or copied, or in any place where a copy of this sūtra exists! The stupa should be tall, spacious and adorned. You need not enshrine my śarīras in the stupa. Why not? It is because it will contain my perfect body.
Kern offers:
Again, Bhaiṣajyarāja, on any spot of the earth where this Dharmaparyāya is expounded, preached, written, studied, or recited in chorus, on that spot, Bhaiṣajyarāja, one should build a Tathāgata shrine, magnificent, consisting of precious substances, high, and spacious; but it is not necessary to depose in it relics of the Tathāgata. For the body of the Tathāgata is, so to say, collectively deposited there.
The awkwardness of Kern’s translation underscores why Kumārajīva is so beloved, even if it lacks some of Kern’s details.
Next: Digging Into A Story
Shutei Hoyo Shiki History
Important Matters, p 3The first publication of this book, which presents the standards and protocols, was accomplished in 1951. The effort to produce this book began much earlier. In response to a wartime government decree, three Nichiren schools — Nichiren Shu, Honmon Shu, and Kempon Hokke Shu merged into today’s Nichiren Shu on April 3, 1941.
Included in the first Shutei Hoyo Shiki were documents and letters providing important background on the motivations for the merger and the creation of this book. It is in the spirit of understanding and clarification that I present a summary of this important information here.
Learn About Last Moments in Life
MYOHO AMA GOZEN GOHENJI
I, Nichiren, have learned Buddhism since I was a child. One’s life is uncertain. Even if you exhale, you are not sure that you can inhale next. One dies quicker than the dew vanishes in the wind. The wise and the fool, the young and the old, are under the law of the transient life. Therefore, one should always know death comes to everyone and should accept it solemnly and spend the valuable life meaningfully.
(Background : July 14, 1278, 56 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1535)
Explanatory note
Nichiren Daishonin said, “One should always know death comes to everyone and should accept it solemnly and spend the valuable life meaningfully.” He meant that we should accept transiency of life and strive for positive works, and that the value of one’s life will be confirmed at the moment of his or her death.
The above quotation was the response of Nichiren Daishonin to a letter from Myoho Ama. According to her letter, her husband was sick but still chanted the Lotus Sutra day and night. Just before his death, he chanted “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” twice loudly.
Nichiren assured her that the last chanting of Odaimoku by her husband changed his wrong karma not only In this life but also in his previous lives to Buddhahood. Moreover, Nichiren assured her that since Myoho Ama’s husband carried through his faith in the Lotus Sutra, he was able to go calmly to Mt. Sacred Eagle, where the Buddha Sakyamuni is continuously preaching the Lotus Sutra.
To accept “death” solemnly helps us to resist our temptation to commit evil acts. This earnest attitude is the first step in becoming Buddhists.
Rev. Kanai
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 2, 2023
Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.
The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Between Day 32 and Day 1: Emerging from the Specialized Focus of Mind
Having last month considered envisioning Śākyamuni Buddha at Mount Vulture Peak, we consider the instructions for the purification of the six sense faculties.
At this time Universal Sage Bodhisattva will also emit a beam of light from between his eyebrows – the sign of a great person – and send it into the practitioner’s mind. After the light has entered his or her mind, the practitioner will remember that he or she accepted, kept faith with, recited, and internalized the Great Vehicle sutras in the presence of countless hundreds of thousands of buddhas in the past. As if possessing the wondrous faculty of remembrance of former states of existence, the practitioner clearly and completely perceives his or her former selves. Experiencing a sudden flash of great awakening, he or she attains a Dharma-grasping empowerment of interaction and exchange and access to a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of other Dharma-grasping empowerments.
Emerging from the specialized focus of mind, the practitioner will perceive, in front of him- or herself, all the emanated buddhas sitting on lion seats beneath numerous jewel trees. He or she will also perceive soil of lapis lazuli, resembling clusters of lotus flowers, springing up from the space below the ground. Between each flower are untold countless numbers of bodhisattvas sitting in the lotus posture. The practitioner will also discern bodhisattvas emanated from Universal Sage giving praise to the Great Vehicle within their own assemblies.
Then, with one voice, the bodhisattvas will instruct the practitioner on the purification of the six sense faculties.
One instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Buddha!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Dharma!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Sangha!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of your attitude toward the behavioral principles!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful to have consideration for others!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful that blissful conditions exist!Becoming mindful in these six ways constitutes the aspiration for enlightenment and gives birth to bodhisattvas! Now, therefore, face the buddhas, avow your past wrongdoings, and sincerely undertake self-amendment!
Online and IRL: Welcoming 2023
In 2020 everything shut down and Zoom was all that allowed the sangha to meet and celebrate the Dharma. Now, as I begin 2023, I am grateful for the merger of the two worlds – online and IRL.
New Year’s Eve morning I celebrated the end of the year with Rev. Shoda Kanai’s Zoom service from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada. The services ends with the ringing of the temple bell 108 times.
Then at 11 pm New Year’s Eve I attended the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church‘s end of year service with my wife, Mary, and son, Richard, and his fiancée, Alexis. After the service we had cookies and tea while we waited for the New Year to arrive.
At midnight everyone gathered outside to ring the church bell 108 times. We each rang the bell 12 times and Alexis, who will deliver my first grandchild in early January, rang the bell 24 times.
After the New Year service we toasted the arrival of 2023 with a sip of sake.
On New Year’s morning I attended Rev. Shoda Kanai’s Zoom service from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada, which includes his recitation of members’ New Year’s prayers and a purification ceremony for the New Year.
A fine start to a New Year.