Incidentally, your donation is not to me — someone who is imperfect. Your donation is instead to the Lotus Sutra, Śākyamuni Buddha, Buddha of Many Treasures, and various Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe. They will reward you for your benevolence. You may leave it to them.
Kubo-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun of Kubo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 98
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When the sky is blue, the land is bright. In this way those who know the Lotus Sutra can see the reasons for occurrences in the world. For those who are incapable of understanding the truth of the “3000 existences contained in one thought,” Lord Śākyamuni Buddha with his great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge and kyō and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The four great Bodhisattvas will protect such people, just as the Duke of Chou assisted the young ruler, King Chen, or the Four Elders attended the child Emperor Hui.
Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). This reminds us that whether or not we are able to make sense of the Buddha’s most difficult teaching, what is important is to rely on his determination to help us become enlightened. It is in our practice of reciting the sacred title: “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,” that we express all the teachings of the Buddha and help all beings become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
“Śāriputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart. I am also a father, the father of all living beings. Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvāṇa, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathāgata.’
“To those who have left the triple world, I will give the dhyāna concentrations and emancipations of the Buddhas for their pleasure. These things are of the same nature and of the same species. These things are extolled by the saints because these things bring the purest and most wonderful pleasure.
“Śāriputra! The rich man persuaded his children to come out at first by promising them the gifts of the three kinds of carts. But the carts which he gave them later were the largest and most comfortable carts adorned with treasures. In spite of this, the rich man was not accused of falsehood. Neither am I. I led all living beings at first with the teaching of the Three Vehicles. Now I will save them by the Great Vehicle only. Why is that? It is because, if I had given them the teaching of the Great Vehicle at first directly from my store of the Dharma in which my immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness are housed, they would not have received all of the Dharma. Śāriputra! Therefore, know this! The Buddhas divide the One Buddha-Vehicle into three by their power to employ expedients.”
The Daily Dharma from Jan. 4, 2023, offers this:
I led all living beings at first with the teaching of the Three Vehicles. Now I will save them by the Great Vehicle only. Why is that? It is because, if I had given them the teaching of the Great Vehicle at first directly from my store of the Dharma in which my immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness are housed, they would not have received all of the Dharma.
The Buddha speaks these words to Śāriputra in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. This is part of his explanation of why he needed to use expedient teachings of the Three Vehicles prior to giving the Great Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, and why expedient teachings need to be set aside. Since the earlier teachings were tailored to the limited capacity of the hearers, they could not hold all of the Buddha’s wisdom. In the Great Vehicle, the Buddha teaches us with his wisdom, and increases our capacity.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Important Matters, p 64-65There is no distinction between you and the Dharma. Your practice doesn’t make you into someone else. It doesn’t change who you are. What does happen is that the good or beneficial characteristics of all the Ten Worlds are strengthened so that they rise above the potential negative. In other words, you reveal the greatness that lies within you, the greatness of the Bodhisattva from beneath the ground who has been taught by the Eternal Buddha since the infinite past. You become the living manifestation of the truth of the Lotus Sutra. Now the book that was sitting on the coffee table is not merely a manuscript recorded thousands of years ago, but a living document of today.
The fact that you are not transported to some new magical perfect place with no troubles is a blessing. If that were the case, you would not be in this Sahā world. You would not be able to fulfill the vows of the Bodhisattvas from beneath the ground. And no one would be able to relate to you. You, with all your foibles and imagined shortcomings, are the perfect person for the role you are to play in spreading the Dharma. This, too, is the Middle Way. You are not perfect. You are just who you need to be. Awakening the Myoho Renge Kyo within your life allows all the truth of the Dharma to manifest in your life, allowing you to reveal it to others through your very real experiences.
And in truth, the realm of self, the realm of Buddhas, and the realm of living beings are all one. There is no distinction in terms of the True Dharma of the Myoho Renge Ryo. There is no you to be cast off. There is no Buddha to be taken on. There is only the one, fully awakened through your Namu, at one with Myoho Renge Kyo.
A millionaire Sudatta was the wealthiest person in India who built the Jeta Grove Monastery for Śākyamuni Buddha. However, the temple vanished without a trace in a fire. Originally, this wealthy man made his fortune through a fish-killing business. Because of this, the temple disappeared completely.
Likewise, meritorious good acts of people these days seem great in all appearances. When we inquire about their source of revenue, however, we learn that it was either from a domain granted for a glorious achievement in war or savings made by torturing people without a cause. They may look like great acts of charity (fuse) in Buddhism, but because their acts are not pure at the root, they are not only unable to attain Buddhahood, but they also cause their descendants to vanish without a trace.
Kubo-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun of Kubo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 97-98
He was strenuous and resolute in mind.
He concentrated his mind,
And refrained from indolence
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.
The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this Chapter, the Buddha describes the benefits from practicing generosity, discipline, patience, perseverance, and in these verses, concentration. He then compares these benefits to those which come from understanding the ever-present nature of the Buddha, even for a time no longer than the time it takes to blink. The merits of the latter outshine the former as the sun in a clear sky outshines the stars. When we are assured of the Buddha’s constant presence, helping all of us to become enlightened, we find that we can accomplish far more than we thought possible.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Thereupon Śāriputra said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! Now my doubts are gone. You assured me of my future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These twelve hundred people now have freedom of mind. When they had something more to learn, [that is to say, when they had not yet completed their study for Arhatship,] you taught them, saying, ‘My teaching is for the purpose of causing you to emancipate yourselves from birth, old age, disease, and death, and to attain Nirvāṇa.’ The [two thousand] people, including those who have something more to learn and those who have nothing more to learn, also think that they attained Nirvāṇa because they emancipated themselves from such a view as ‘I exist,’ or ‘I shall exist forever,’ or ‘I shall cease to exist.’ But [both the twelve hundred people and the two thousand people] are now quite perplexed because they have heard from you [the Dharma] which they had never heard before. World-Honored One! In order to cause the four kinds of devotees to remove their doubts, explain why you said all this to them! ”
Thereupon the Buddha said to Śāriputra:
“Did I not tell you, ‘The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, expound the Dharma with expedients, that is, with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, with various similes, and with various discourses only for the purpose of causing all living beings to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi’? All these teachings of the Buddhas are for the purpose of teaching Bodhisattvas.
Important Matters, p 63-64We have these images of the Buddha sitting under a tree, and we think that’s all we need to do. But that’s only part of the story. Yes, the Buddha attained enlightenment or awakening, but only after defeating Mara. I believe that one of the toughest battles the Buddha waged against Mara was doubt.
The Buddha doubted he could teach people. Mara tempted him by playing to those doubts, first creating them and expanding them, and then by offering alternatives. Had the Buddha not gotten up from beneath the tree and gone to teach the Four Noble Truths, whatever awakening that was achieved would have meant nothing. The awakening would have died right there, and Mara would have won. The image for us to hold on to is not of the Buddha sitting under the tree. The image of the Buddha we should hold on to is a man who got up and walked. He walked wherever he could, and he taught whomever he could. He did not rest. Sitting under the tree is a misrepresentation of the Buddha and Buddhism. Buddhism requires you to participate, and to participate with your entire life. The more of your life that participates the more Myoho Renge Kyo will manifest because of your Namu.
When one fixes [the mind] on the Dharma-realm [as it is], then there is not a single sight nor smell that is not the Middle Way. The same goes for the realm of self, the realm of Buddha, and the realm of living beings ” Grand Master Miao-lé
Shutei Hoyo Shiki, page 399
As our Namu more fully awakens our Myoho Renge Kyo and our lives manifest the fullness and truth of the Dharma, there is no distinction or separation of self and Myoho Renge Kyo. Every bit of our lives and our experiences of life more and more take on all the truth and beauty of the Lotus Sutra.
The cool thing is that as you, the subject, and Myoho Renge Kyo, the object, become more unified, you begin to experience your world differently. You begin to smell the flavor and scent of Myoho Renge Kyo. It’s everywhere, and it’s very pleasing, sort of like Christmas cookies. The tastes, the sights, the sensations, everything and everywhere is Myoho Renge Kyo. What’s even cooler is that it was always there, you just couldn’t see it, feel it, smell it, or sense it. You aren’t transported anywhere. You stay where you are, but your eyes are opened. You become awakened.
The “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, preaches, “Among the sūtras which had been preached, are now being preached, and will be preached, this Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to embrace and perceive.” The “Peaceful Practices” chapter also states that the Lotus Sūtra is above all other sūtras. The “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter enumerates the ten kinds of simile to confirm the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra among all the scriptures of Buddhism. Beside the Lotus Sūtra such sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Hōdō Sūtras, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, the Great Cloud Sūtra, the Sūtra of Mystic Glorification, and the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor speak of the comparative superiority of sūtras. However, they claim to be supreme against Hinayāna sūtras, call the Principle of the Middle Way superior to the truth of emptiness and that of temporariness, or claim to be supreme for simply being able to explain finger signs (mudrā) and mantras. Though they make various claims to be supreme, their claims of superiority have never been as absolute as that of the Lotus Sūtra, which is said to be superior to all the sūtras preached in the past, present, and future.
Soya Jirō Nyūdō-dono Gohō, Response to Lay Priest Lord Soya Jiro, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 68
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.
The Buddha sings these verses to Śāriputra in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. We sometimes think of arrogance as acting as if we know something that we really do not. These verses contrast arrogance with respect and faith. Faith does not mean blind belief. It is still important to ask questions when we don’t understand. Respect does not mean blind obedience, but it does mean that we have confidence in what the Buddha teaches, no matter how difficult it may seem. Arrogance blocks our ability to hear the Buddha. Respect and Faith open our hearts to his enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
