Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 50-52Q: The meaning of the One Vehicle is established on the basis of what Sutra passages?
A: The Lotus Sutra says, “All Buddhas, the World Honored
Ones, appear in this world for one great deed as cause and condition.”Q: What is the meaning of “one great deed as cause and condition”?
A: “One” refers to the one true reality that there are not three, five, seven, or nine vehicles. Therefore it is “one.” It is called “great” because its nature is vast and expansive. It is called “deed” because it is the activity of all Buddhas who appear in this world. It is called “cause” because sentient beings who have the capability thus approach the Buddha. It is called “condition” because the Buddha responds in accordance with their capabilities.
Q: Although you have quoted this text, the meaning is still not clear. Are there other passages?
A: There are truly many passages. The Lotus Sutra says, “The words of all Buddhas and Tathāgatas are not vain delusions. There is no other vehicle but the one Buddha-vehicle.” It also says, “In the Buddha-lands in the ten directions there is only one Buddha dharma, not two and not three.” It also says, “The appearance of all Buddhas in this world is only one true deed.” It also says, “All the World Honored Ones expound the Path of the One Vehicle.” It also says, “The words of all the Buddhas are not different. There is only one and not two vehicles.” It also says, “It is widely said to the great multitude that all Bodhisattvas and Śrāvaka disciples are taught and transformed only with the way of the One Vehicle.”
Also, the chapter on “Expedient Means” [in the Lotus Sutra] contains sections on five kinds of Buddhas. The first section on “All Buddhas” says, “All Buddhas preach the Dharma in accordance with what is appropriate.” This [illustrates that] the three tentative [teachings: Tripiṭaka, Shared, and Distinct] are the exposition of expedient means. The Sutra says, “This Dharma cannot be understood through conceptualization or discrimination.” This [illustrates] the One True [Perfect Teaching], which manifests true reality. Next, the section on the Buddhas of the past says, “All Buddhas utilize innumerable and incalculable expedient means and various stories, parables, and words to expound all Dharmas for the sake of all sentient beings.” This clarifies the exposition of the tentative. The Sutra says, “These Dharmas are all those of the One Buddha-vehicle.” This clarifies the manifestation of the real. Next, the section on future Buddhas says, “Śāriputra, all future Buddhas should, upon appearing in this world, utilize innumerable and incalculable expedient means and various stories, parables, and words to expound all Dharmas for the sake of all sentient beings.” This clarifies the exposition of the tentative. The Sutra says, “All of these Dharmas correspond to the One Buddha-vehicle. Therefore all sentient beings hear the Dharma from the Buddha and everyone ultimately attains universal wisdom.” This clarifies the manifestation of the real. Next, the section on present Buddhas says, “Śāriputra, at the present time, in the immeasurable hundred thousand million billion Buddha-lands in the ten directions, in the many places where all Buddhas, World Honored Ones, benefit and pacify sentient beings, all of these Buddhas also utilize innumerable and incalculable expedient means and various stories, parables, and words to expound all Dharmas for the sake of sentient beings.” This clarifies the exposition of the tentative. The Sutra says, “All of these Dharmas correspond to the One Buddha-vehicle. Therefore all sentient beings hear the Dharma from the Buddha and everyone ultimately attains universal wisdom.” This clarifies the manifestation of the real. Next, in the section on the Buddha Śākyamuni it says, “Śāriputra, I also now do the same. Knowing that all sentient beings have various desires and profound attachments, I therefore utilize various stories, parables, words, and the power of expedient means in order to preach the Dharma, in accordance with their inherent natures.” This clarifies the exposition of the tentative. The Sutra says, “Śāriputra, in this way all attain the One Buddha vehicle and universal wisdom.” This clarifies the manifestation of the real.
Monthly Archives: March 2023
Daily Dharma – March 28, 2023
I do not deceive
Those who believe me and rely on me.
I am not greedy or jealous
Because I have eliminated all evils.
Therefore, in the worlds of the ten quarters,
I am fearless.
The Buddha proclaims these verses to his disciple Śāriputra in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sutra. In this world of conflict, people believe that they must constantly strive to show that they are better than everyone else. Acquiring more material goods or a higher rank or position supposedly proves superiority. And if there is an encounter with someone who is better, that person must be brought down. What people do not realize that the source of greed and jealousy is fear. Like the Buddha, we too can eliminate our fears when we are satisfied with what we have and regard superior beings as a source of benefit.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 16
Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered Śākyamuni’s purification of the Sahā-World in preparation for the arrival of the Buddhas of the worlds of ten quarters, we consider the entreaty from the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha and the opening of the Stupa of Treasures.
Thereupon the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha in the worlds of the east, who were expounding the Dharma in those worlds numbering hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas, that is, as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, came [to this expanded world]. So did the Buddhas of the worlds of the nine other quarters. They sat on the seats [under the jeweled trees]. [The Sahā-World and] the four hundred billion nayuta worlds of each of the eight quarters[, which were amalgamated into one Buddha world,] were filled with those Buddhas, with those Tathāgatas.
Thereupon one of the Buddhas on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees, wishing to inquire after Śākyamuni Buddha, gave a handful of jeweled flowers to his attendant, and said to him, [wishing to] dispatch him:
“Good man! Go to Śākyamuni Buddha who is now living on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa! Ask him on my behalf, ‘Are you in good health? Are you peaceful? Are the Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas peaceful or not?’ Strew these jeweled flowers to him, offer them to him, and say, ‘That Buddha sent me to tell you that he wishes to see the stūpa of treasures opened.”‘
All the other Buddhas also dispatched their attendants in the same way.
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha, having seen that all the Buddhas of his replicas had already arrived and sat on the lion-like seats, and also having heard that they had told their attendants of their wish to see the stūpa of treasures opened, rose from his seat, and went up to the sky. All the four kinds of devotees stood up, joined their hands together towards him, and looked up at him with all their hearts. Now he opened the door of the stūpa of the seven treasures with the fingers of his right hand. The opening of the door made a sound as large as that of the removal of the bolt and lock of the gate of a great city. At that instant all the congregation saw Many Treasures Tathāgata sitting with his perfect and undestroyed body on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of treasures as if he had been sitting in dhyāna-concentration. They also heard him say:
“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have joyfully expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. I have come to hear this sūtra [directly from you].”
The Daily Dharam from Aug. 1, 2022, offers this:
“Good man! Go to Śākyamuni Buddha who is now living on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa! Ask him on my behalf, ‘Are you in good health? Are you peaceful? Are the Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas peaceful or not?’ Strew these jeweled flowers to him, offer them to him, and say, ‘That Buddha sent me to tell you that he wishes to see the stūpa of treasures opened.’”
In Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra, Buddhas and their devotees from innumerable worlds come to our world of conflict and delusion to see Śākyamuni Buddha open the tower inhabited by Many-Treasures Buddha. As our capability for enlightenment wells up from within us, the tower of treasures sprang up from underground when the Buddha asked who would teach the Wonderful Dharma after the Buddha’s extinction. The treasures in the tower are nothing more than Many-Treasures Buddha declaring the Lotus Sūtra to be the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas and the Dharma upheld by the Buddhas.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Expiating Sins
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
As with last week’s chapter, there is no substantive difference between Senchu Murano’s English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and H. Kern’s English translation of Chapter 19, Sadāparibhūta from an 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document
For example, Murano has:
When he was about to pass away, he heard [from a voice] in the sky the twenty thousand billion gāthās of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, which had been expounded by the Powerful-Voice-King Buddha. Having kept all these gāthās, he was able to have his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind purified as previously stated. Having his six sense-organs purified, he was able to prolong his life for two hundred billion nayuta more years.
Kern has:
Under those circumstances, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sadāparibhūta happened to hear this Dharmaparyāya of the Lotus of the True Law when the end of his life was impending, and the moment of dying drawing near. It was the Lord Bhīṣhmagargitasvararāja, the Tathāgata, &c., who expounded this Dharmaparyāya in twenty times twenty hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of stanzas, which the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sadāparibhūta heard from a voice in the sky, when the time of his death was near at hand. On hearing that voice from the sky, without there appearing a person speaking, he grasped this Dharmaparyāya and obtained the perfections already mentioned: the perfection of sight, hearing, smell, taste, body, and mind. With the attainment of these perfections he at the same time made a vow to prolong his life for twenty hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of years, and promulgated this Dharmaparyāya of the Lotus of the True Law.
Vowing to attain a long life after purification and receiving it as a consequence of his purification is an interesting point to consider.
What’s of more interest to me is a difference between the prose section of the chapter and the gāthās that is in both Kumārajīva’s Chinese text and Kern’s Sanskrit.
Murano offers this about those who abused Never-Despising Bodhisattva:
“Great-Power-Obtainer! The four kinds of devotees: the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās at that time failed to meet the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and see the Saṃgha for twenty thousand million kalpas because they abused me with anger. They suffered much in the Avici Hell for one thousand kalpas. Having expiated their sin in this way, they met [me, who was] Never-Despising Bodhisattva again, and were led into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.
In Kern’s telling:
As to the hundreds of monks, nuns, male and female lay devotees, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, to whom under that Lord the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sadāparibhūta promulgated this Dharmaparyāya by saying: I do not contemn you; you all observe the course of duty of Bodhisattvas; you are to become Tathāgatas, &c., and in whom awoke a feeling of malignity towards that Bodhisattva, they in twenty hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of Æons never saw a Tathāgata, nor heard the call of the law, nor the call of the assembly, and for ten thousand Æons they suffered terrible pain in the great hell Avīci. Thereafter released from the ban, they by the instrumentality of that Bodhisattva Mahāsattva were all brought to full ripeness for supreme, perfect enlightenment.
This distinction of “expiating” sins as opposed to the vague “release from a ban” is present in the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese. The Modern Risshō Kōsei-kai translation has “When their recompense was complete…”, and Burton Watson has “After they finished paying for their offenses…”.
More important, however, is a switch in the focus of this expiation in the gāthās.
In telling the story of how Never-Despising Bodhisattva earned his name in the gāthās, Murano has:
Never-Despising Bodhisattva
Went to them,
And said,
“I do not despise you
Because you will practice the Way
And become Buddhas.”When they heard this,
They spoke ill of him and abused him.
But Never-Despising Bodhisattva
Endured all this.Thus he expiated his sin.
When he was about to pass away,
He heard this sūtra,
And had his six sense-organs purified.
This is absent entirely from Kern:
3. Other monks and nuns who did not believe but in what they saw, he would approach (and say): I never am to contemn you, for you observe the course leading to supreme enlightenment.
4. It was his wont always to utter those words, which brought him but abuse and taunts from their part. At the time when his death was impending he heard this Sūtra.
This “expiation” of Never-Despising’s sins is consistent among the translations of Kumārajīva.
The BDK English Tripiṭaka translation has:
As he neared the time of his death,
When he had expiated his past errors,
He was able to hear this sutra,
And his six sense faculties became pure.
Gene Reeves offers:
When he had been cleansed of his sins
And his life was coming to an end,
He heard this sutra
And his six faculties were purified.
Interestingly, Murano explicitly rejects this interpretation of the gāthās in a footnote following the line “Thus he expiated his sin.”
The expiation of sin is referred to in connection with those who abused the Bodhisattva, not with the Bodhisattva, on p. 294.
One assumes Murano blames Kumārajīva for this misinterpretation. Nichiren disagreed. See Expiating His Past Errors
Essence of the One Vehicle
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 50Q: What is the essence of the One Vehicle?
A: There are two: the common essence and the distinctive essence.
Q: What are the meanings of “common essence” and “distinctive essence”?
A: The common essence is the true aspect of reality. The distinctive essences are the four categories of oneness.
Q: The common essence is understood, but what is meant by “the four categories of oneness” of the distinctive essences?
A: Oneness of reality, oneness of teaching, oneness of practice, and oneness of persons.
Q: What is the meaning of “the oneness of reality,” and so forth?
A: Exposing the reality of the three vehicles as manifested in the reality of the One Vehicle is called “the oneness of reality.” Exposing the teaching of the three vehicles as manifested in the teaching of the One Vehicle is called “the oneness of teaching.” The practice of the three vehicles is brought in harmony with the practice of the One Vehicle; this is called “the oneness of practice.” The people in the three vehicles are brought in harmony with those in the One Vehicle; this is called “the oneness of persons.”
Q: Why is it said that the reality of the three vehicles is brought into harmony with the reality of the One Vehicle, and so forth?
A: Because the three vehicles are not the fundamental intent of the Buddha. The One Vehicle is the fundamental import of the Buddha.
Daily Dharma – March 27, 2023
Extol the teaching of the One Vehicle
In the presence of those who are modest,
Who are pure in heart,
And who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha!
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In Nichiren’s writings, he taught that since the Wonderful Dharma saves all beings, it is suited to the time in which we live. As Bodhisattvas who are certain of our own enlightenment, we are committed to nourishing the seed of enlightenment in others. These verses show us what to keep in mind as we help to clear away the delusion and suffering in this world. We learn to see purity in the hearts of others, and understand their motivation towards enlightenment, even if they do not realize this themselves.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 15
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month considered in gāthās the man on a plateau who felt thirsty, we conclude Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
If anyone speaks ill of you, or threatens you
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones
While you are expounding this sūtra,
Think of me, and be patient!My body is pure and indestructible.
I will appear in any of many thousands of billions of worlds
During many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And expound the Dharma to the living beings.If a teacher of the Dharma expounds this sūtra
After my extinction,
I will manifest the four kinds of devotees:
Bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, and men and women of pure faith,
And dispatch them to him
So that they may make offerings to him,
And that they may lead many living beings,
Collecting them to hear the Dharma [from him].If he is hated and threatened
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones,
I will manifest men and dispatch them to him
In order to protect him.If an expounder of the Dharma
Reads and recites this sūtra
In a retired and quiet place,
Where no human voice is heard,
I will show my pure and radiant body to him.
If he forgets a sentence or a phrase of this sūtra,
I will tell it to him
For his complete understanding.Anyone who expounds this sūtra to the four kinds of devotees,
Or reads or recites this sūtra in a retired place,
After doing these [three] virtuous things,
Will be able to see me.If he lives in a retired place,
I will dispatch gods, dragon-kings, yakṣas,
Demigods, and others to him,
And have them hear the Dharma [from him].He will expound the Dharma with joy.
He will expound it without hindrance.
He will cause a great multitude to rejoice
Because he is protected by all the Buddhas.Those who come to this teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to complete the Way of Bodhisattvas quickly.
Those who follow him and study will be able to see
As many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.
The Daily Dharma from Jan. 24, 2023, offers this:
Those who come to this teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to complete the Way of Bodhisattvas quickly.
Those who follow him and study will be able to see
As many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.
The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. By teacher of the Dharma, the Buddha means anyone who keeps, reads, recites, copies and expounds this Sūtra. As we continue on this Way, we learn to recognize the Buddha’s presence in every aspect of our experience. We learn to appreciate everything the Buddha does for us, and to show that gratitude to all those in whom we recognize the Buddha. Then we realize there is no shortage of teachers, no shortage of joy and no shortage of opportunities to benefit others.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Explanation of One Vehicle Terms
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 49Question: What is the meaning of the term “One Vehicle”?
Answer: “One” means non-dual and “vehicle” refers to a means of transportation.
Q: What are the meanings of “non-dual” and “a means of transportation”?
A: It is called “non-dual” because there are not two or three vehicles, and because it [the One Vehicle] transcends the relativity of two or three [vehicles]. It is called “a means of transportation” because practitioners ride on it to attain omniscience.
Daily Dharma – March 26, 2023
He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. As Bodhisattvas we chose to come into this world, as frightening and dangerous as it is, to make things better for all beings. We do not lose any of the six senses we have, but learn to use them in ways that may seem impossible to others. Any of our senses can be deluded. When we remove our attachments and delusions, we see with the Buddha’s eye the world as it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 14
Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month considered in gāthās the keeper of the Lotus Sutra, we consider in gāthās the plight of those who disparage the keeper of the Lotus Sutra and those who encourage the keeper of the Lotus Sutra.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra in the future
Should be considered
To have been dispatched by me
To the world of men in order to do my work.Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions.
Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.Whoever for as long as a kalpa
Joins his hands together towards me
And praises me with innumerable gāthās
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Will obtain innumerable merits
Because he praises me.
Whoever praises the keeper of this sūtra
Will obtain even more merits.
The Daily Dharma from Feb. 26, 2023, offers this:
Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions. Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.
The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Why is it worse to criticize someone who is even beginning to practice the Wonderful Dharma than it is to criticize the Buddha who is fully enlightened? It is like the difference between kicking a full-grown tree and kicking a young sapling. The Buddha knows how to handle criticism. One who has just started with the Buddha Dharma could be discouraged from this practice through criticism. We should encourage anyone who wants to practice with us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com