Autumn Writings, p 56-57What is the meaning of chanting Odaimoku?
Nowadays it is getting difficult for us to find the time and space to practice. Nichiren Shōnin left a cheerful practice for such people as us to approach Buddhahood, which as you know, was positively chanting the Odaimoku as many times as possible, and to believe in the Lotus Sūtra sincerely. Although we don’t know about the Buddha’s teachings such as 3000 existences contained in one thought in detail, the Buddha’s wisdom and great merits are included in the five characters of the Odaimoku: Myō, Ho, Ren, Ge, and Kyō. Consequently, a person who puts Odaimoku into practice shall naturally take over all of the Buddha’s wisdom and great merits. By chanting Odaimoku, we are automatically led to Buddhahood in daily life without special practices.
Monthly Archives: January 2023
The Path Revealed
Important Matters, p 27Practicing the Lotus Sutra allows us to first see and experience and then open to the vast treasures of the universe. The Buddha, a common mortal, a prince from a small tribe in ancient India, did just that very thing. As a result, here we are today, some 2,500 years or so removed from him, and yet we can benefit from the insight and enlightenment he gained. The path is revealed to us in this very teaching. Rather than keep it to himself, rather than dilute it, rather than change it, he gave it to us in the form of the Lotus Sutra.
Religious Exaltation
SHOHO JISSO SHO
Tears roll down when I think of the great hardship which I have to endure today, but I cannot stop tears of joy when I think of obtaining Buddhahood in the future. Birds and insects cry without shedding tears. Nichiren does not cry but tears keep falling. These tears are shed not for worldly matters. They are solely for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, they could be said to be tears of nectar.
(Background : May 17, 1273, 51 years old, at Sado, Showa Teihon, p.728)
Explanatory note
Nichiren Daishonin is admired as a man who has a very stong mind and who can bear all hardships. The people are moved to more admiration when they know that Nichiren has a warm heart and compassionate tears and that he is always thinking, “l must stretch my hands to those who suffer,” and “I must lead them into the salvation in the Lotus Sutra.”
Why did Nichiren face so many persecutions? He said that it was because he had slandered the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in his previous lives, and that these persecutions were meant to erase these sinful karmas which he had created before, so that he could attain Buddhahood in the future. When he realized the persecutions were to attain Buddhahood, he easily accepted them with gratitude.
Thus, Nichiren faced all persecutions positively. He had pity on the people who wished to attain Buddhahood in vain because of unfaithfulness to the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren did not cry nor shed tears because of worldly matters. But his eyes were full of tears because the people did not believe in the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren, therefore, pushed himself and overcame the numerous persecutions for leading the people into Buddhahood.
Rev. Kanai
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 12, 2023
If you hear his name, and see him,
And think of him constantly,
You will be able to eliminate all sufferings.
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. The power of World-Voice-Perceiver is the power of compassion.World-Voice-Perceiver is also known as the one who brings fearlessness. When we can face up to the suffering in the world, both our own and that of others, we can see it for what it is. Then we are no longer afraid of suffering. What else is there to be afraid of?
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 9
Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood Buddhahood.
Having last month considered the prediction for Mahā-Kāśyapa, we consider the reaction of Great Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana and conclude today’s portion of Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood Buddhahood.
Thereupon Great Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana trembled, joined their hands together with all their hearts, looked up at the World-Honored One with unblenching eyes, and sang in gāthās in unison:
Great Hero, World-Honored One!
King of the Dharma of the Śākyas!
Give us your voice
Out of your compassion towards us!
If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.Suppose a man came
From a country suffering from famine.
Now he saw the meal of a great king.
He did not partake of it in doubts and fears.
After he was told to take it by the king,
He took it at once.
We are like that man.
We know the defects of the Lesser Vehicle.
But we do not know how to obtain
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.Although we hear you say [to us],
“You will become Buddhas,”
We are still in doubts and fears about it,
Just as that man was about the meal.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall be happy and peaceful.You, the Great Hero, the World-Honored One,
Wish to give peace to all the people of the world.
If you assure us of our future Buddhahood, we shall be
Like the man who was permitted to take the meal.
The Greatness In Our Daily Practice
Important Matters, p 27When you engage in your daily practice, however it manifests, do you approach your devotion with the awareness of the greatness of the teaching and your incredible fortune to have been exposed to this profound teaching? Nothing that has come along in my life has come close to the greatness of the Lotus Sutra. It is unimaginable that I should have been exposed to it in this lifetime. A seemingly chance encounter in a military barracks only a few nights before Christmas has led me on a path that has given me fortune beyond what I could have imagined at the time. Even now, having lived it, I still find it hard to believe.
Merits of Chanting Odaimoku
MYOMITSU SHONIN GO-SHOSOKU
I, Nichiren, sincerely keep the most profound Lotus Sutra among other sutras which have been preached, are being preached, and will be preached. I also chant Odaimoku, gist of the sutra, by myself and teach others to chant it. Mugwort grass grows straight amidst the hemp field. Trees do not grow straight, but by cutting it straight, it becomes useful. If you chant the sutra as it states, your mind will be straightened. Be aware that it is hard for us to chant Odaimoku unless the spirit of the Eternal Buddha enters into our bodies.
(Background : March 5, 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p. 1166)
Explanatory note
“To live honestly” is fundamental in Nichiren Daishonin’s life and in his religion. Honest means for him not only to be honest in a moral sense but also to be faithful to the spirit of the Buddha Sakyamuni. In other words, it is to be honest to the essential spirit of the Buddha.
Chapter ten of the Lotus Sutra states that the sutra is the most profound among others, so that it is hard to understand and difficult to practice. Accepting this truth, Nichiren Daishonin simplified the difficulty by chanting Odaimoku from the depth of his heart and persuaded others to do the same.
The merits of Odaimoku are like the creeping mugwort grass growing straight in hemp field, or a crooked tree can be cut straight into useful objects. If we earnestly recite Odaimoku, our wavering hearts will unknowingly become right, because we cannot recite it without the spirit of the Eternal Buddha entering our bodies and influencing our life.
When we recite Odaimoku with our whole heart, we are overwhelmed with a mysterious force dwelling within us. It is a refreshing power that only those who have experienced it could understand.
Religion is not necessarily in the realm of reason, but it is in the realm of experience. We can not tell the exact taste of a banana to a person who has never tasted it, even though we may explain its shape, color, and texture. Similarly, Odaimoku is not a theory of life but a way of life. Happiness and sorrow are like the front and back of a single sheet of paper. Many people in the depth of sorrow have found comfort in the recitation of Odaimoku. Others in the depth of suffering, not knowing where to turn, have found their spirits refreshed with the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
We can never go astray with the sincere recitation of Odaimoku because through this practice we are accepting the teaching of the Buddha with our hearts and bodies.
Rev. Igarashi
Phrase A DayDaily Dharma – Jan. 11, 2023
Therefore, the man of wisdom
Who hears the benefits of these merits
And who keeps this sūtra after my extinction,
Will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
Definitely and doubtlessly.
The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the embodiment of the fourth vow of a Bodhisattva: The Buddha’s teachings are immeasurable; I vow to attain supreme enlightenment. It is through our determination to benefit all beings, and our confidence in the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, that we maintain our lives in this world of conflict.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 8
Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month concluded The Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son, we consider how the Buddha is like the father in the parable.
You are like the father.
Knowing that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle,
You did not say to us, “You will become Buddhas.”
You said of us to others:
“Though they are my disciples, they are Śrāvakas.
They eliminated āsravas,
But attained only the Lesser Vehicle.”You said to us:
“Expound the most excellent Way [to Bodhisattvas]!
Those who practice the Way
Will be able to become Buddhas.”By this order of yours
We expounded the unsurpassed Way
To the great Bodhisattvas
With various stories of previous lives,
With various parables and similes
And with various discourses.•Hearing the [Way, that is, the] Dharma from us,
Those sons of yours
Thought it over day and night,
And practiced it strenuously.Thereupon the Buddha assured them
Of their future Buddhahood, saying to them:
“You will become Buddhas
In your future lives.”You expounded the real thing,
That is, the store
Of the hidden core of the Buddhas
Only to the Bodhisattvas.
You did not expound
This truth to us.The poor son came to his father,
And took custody
Of the things of his father,
But wished to take none of them.The same can be said of us.
We did not wish to have the treasure-store
Of the teachings of the Buddhas
Although we expounded it [to the Bodhisattvas].We were satisfied with the elimination
Of illusions within ourselves.
What we accomplished was that elimination.
We did nothing more.You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has āsravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvāṇa-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.You said [to us]:
“When you attain enlightenment infallibly,
You will have already repaid
The favors I gave you.”Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.
The Daily Dharma from April 27, 2022, offers this:
‘I Shin Kyo Rai’
Important Matters, p 26Many of the Shomyo, or Buddhist hymns, that priests sing, contain the phrase “I shin kyo rai” (Jpn), which means “with our whole heart we bow.” With our whole heart we bow to the Three Treasures, not the One Treasure, not the Two Treasures, but to all Three Treasures.
“Our own bowing and the Buddhas who are bowed to are all originally within one mind in which there is no bowing and no one to receive it. Although there is no bowing and no one to receive it there is certainly the response of the Buddhas and the receptivity of the ordinary people.”
Shute Hoyo Shiki – Udana-in Nichiki, page 391