Monthly Archives: March 2023

Higan

The Practice of Higan

Today is the Spring Equinox, the middle of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Below is a 2016 newsletter article on Higan by Ven. Kenjo Igarashi of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

Higan is the practice of leaving our deep attachments in order to reach the world of enlightenment. Specifically, Higan is a practice comprised by six components. They are: charity, observing precepts, perseverance, energy, meditation, and wisdom. There is a story I would like to share with you concerning this practice. In the 9th century, a monk named Kyoukai wrote a series of books called Nippon Reiiki. Spanning three volumes long, these books contained stories concerning his experiences that seemed to transcend the logic and understanding of this world. This particular story I would like to share with you comes from this book, in the second volume of the series in the 38th chapter.

During the era in which Emperor Shomu ruled, there was a monk who lived in a temple in the mountains of Maniwa, located in the city of Nara. That monk had told his disciples upon his deathbed, “After my death, you must not open the entrance to my room for three years.” Saying this, he passed away. Forty-nine days after his death, a venomous snake had appeared before the deceased monk’s door, coiled in place, refusing to move. The disciples quickly realized that this snake was the reincarnation of their master. By chanting towards the snake, the disciples were able to move it, and enter the monk’s room. In the room, the disciples discovered thirty kan (currency used at the time, equaling approximately $30,000 today) saved up and hidden away. Realizing that their master had reincarnated as a venomous snake to protect this money, the disciples used the money to invite many ministers and hold a memorial service for him.

Kyoukai realizes that this particular monk was so desperate to protect his money, that he reincarnated into a snake in order to protect it. Kyoukai says, “No matter how high the mountain, we are able to see its peak. The mountain residing in humans called greed however is so great, that we cannot see its peak.” In other words, the greed and desire residing in humans is so vast and ever-growing, that it has no limit. Higan is a very important practice which aims to rid this greed and desire within us.

Ven. Kenjo lgarashi
March 2016

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 20, 2023

These ten rākṣasīs [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously: “World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

These fierce demons make this promise to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra. Mother-of-Devils, also known as Kishimojin, was once a demon who stole and ate human children, until the Buddha reminded her that humans loved their children in the same way she loved her own. The Buddha does not judge or condemn any being. Instead he uses his insight to transform our understanding to see the harm we create in the world through satisfying our selfish desires. When we work for the benefit of all beings, we find all beings working for our benefit also.

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

LS32

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.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, we start at the top again and consider the expedient the rich man used to attract his son to him.

Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless, ‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay. If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’
“The two messengers looked for the poor son. Having found him, they told him what they had been ordered to tell. The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them. Seeing him, the father had compassion towards him, and wondered [why he was so base and mean]. Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust. The father took off his necklace, his garment of thin and soft cloth, and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing, smeared himself with dust, and carried a dirt-utensil in his right hand. He looked fearful. He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

“With this expedient the father came to his son. He said to him, ‘Man! Stay here and work! Do not go anywhere else! I will pay you more. Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar as much as you need! You can have an old servant if you want to. Make yourself at home! I feel like your father. Do not worry any more! I am old, and you are young. When you work, you do not deceive [the other workers]. You are not lazy. You do not get angry [with the other workers], or reproach them. You are not like the other workers who do these evil things. From now on I will treat you as my son.’

“The rich man gave him a name and called him son. The poor son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was a humble employee. Therefore, the rich man had him clear dirt for twenty years. After that the father and son trusted each other. Now the son felt no hesitation in entering the house of his father, but still lodged in his old place.

See Basic Lessons

Tendai Lotus

The Meaning of the Five Flavors

Reality itself is beyond verbalization, but one must use conventional language to encounter reality. The Path cannot be grasped through discussion, but stages [of attainment] can be discerned through the process of discussion. Therefore many explanations are conventionally presented for the sake of beings in this realm of suffering, and to teach [the truth for the sake of] the deaf and the blind. [The classification scheme of] the Five Periods is utilized to illumine the hidden minuteness of the tranquil light of inherent awakening. Therefore we list the five light and heavy flavors and clarify the progression of the teachings. This meaning is interpreted in three sections: Introduction, Scriptural Support, and Interpretation.

A. Introduction

Question: What are the names of the Five Flavors?

Answer: (1) The flavor of milk, (2) the flavor of cream, (3) the flavor of curds, (4) the flavor of butter, and (5) the flavor of ghee.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 45
Higan, perfections

Getting Past Anger and Hatred

Today is the third day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Each of the days before and after the equinox are devoted to one of the Six Paramitas, the practice of perfection taught to Bodhisattvas. Today we consider the third perfection, Tolerance.

A variety of techniques is offered in the sutras and other texts for getting past anger and hatred. Calming meditation is considered the most effective because its focus is on state of mind, especially on bringing passions such as anger to a still point. But there is also a variety of techniques related to insight meditation, techniques that encourage the practitioner to transform his or her understanding of the situation in a way that dissipates passionate antipathy. The three most common are (l) meditative reflection on the thought that every negative thing that is done to us is a direct karmic result of our own past actions; (2) contemplative reflection on the idea that those who treat us unjustly and with malice are, unbeknownst to them, serving us as our teachers in the perfection of tolerance; and (3) reflection on the basic Buddhist concepts of “dependent arising” and “no-self” in order to depersonalize interpersonal relations.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 101-102
Daily Dharma, d26b

Daily Dharma – March 19, 2023

Even if I praise for innumerable kalpas
The keeper of this sūtra,
To whom it is to be transmitted,
I cannot praise him highly enough.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. When the Buddha praises us for keeping the Lotus Sūtra, he is praising our Buddha-Nature and encouraging us to develop it. When we praise the Buddha and show our gratitude for the practice he has given us, we are praising the Lotus Sūtra. When we praise and value the Lotus Sūtra, we are encouraging the Buddha-Nature in all beings, just as the Buddha has promised to do. Therefore when we keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra, we are fulfilling the Buddha’s promise of our enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered why the Buddha expounded expedient teachings and how he revealed the One Vehicle, we consider why all living beings taught by the Buddha are Bodhisattvas.

(The Buddha said to Śāriputra:)
All of you
Are my children.
I am your father.

You were under the fires of many sufferings
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Therefore, I saved you
From the triple world [ with expedients].

I once told you that you had attained extinction.
But you eliminated only birth and death
[By that extinction].
The extinction you attained was not the true one.
What you should do now is
Obtain the wisdom of the Buddha.

The Bodhisattvas in this multitude
Should hear
With one mind
The true teaching of the Buddhas.

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,
Say only expediently [that some are not Bodhisattvas]
To tell the truth,
All living beings taught by them are Bodhisattvas.

The Daily Dharma from June 13, 2022, offers this:

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,
Say only expediently [that some are not Bodhisattvas]
To tell the truth,
All living beings taught by them are Bodhisattvas.

This verse comes from Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Two, the Buddha declared that he only teaches Bodhisattvas. If we believe that we are not Bodhisattvas, we could conclude that the Buddha does not teach us. Part of what the Buddha is explaining here is that we are all Bodhisattvas. The way to reach the Buddha’s enlightenment is by living as Bodhisattvas: beings whose every breath is intended to improve our world.

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

Tendai Lotus

Six Perfections Tendai Examples

Q: In cultivating the Six Perfections, is there a specific time when this practice is perfected?

A: There is a time of perfection when one has no obstacles in giving alms. For example, charity was perfected when King Sivi gave his body [to be eaten by a hawk] on behalf of a dove. The keeping of the precepts was perfected when King Sutasoma, though losing his throne, still wrote a verse praising the moral life and did not indulge in slander. Patience was perfected when the hermit Kṣānti bore no resentment as his limbs were severed by King Kali, and his body was restored. Diligence was perfected when Prince Mahātyāgavat entered the sea to search for a [wish-fulfilling] jewel for the sake of all the people. He finally obtained the jewel [from the hair of the Dragon King] to help the poor. However, the sea god hid the treasure while he was sleeping. When the Prince awoke he vowed to scoop out the entire ocean with his own body. Indra was moved by this sight and all the heavenly deities helped him until it was half done. Also, for seven days Śākyamuni stood on one foot and praised the Buddha Puṣya. Concentration was perfected when a bird built a nest in the hair of the hermit Śaṅkhācārya while he was in a concentrative state. He did not emerge from his concentrative state until the chicks could fly away. Wisdom was perfected when the Prime Minister Govinda divided the land of Jambudvipa into seven parts, which put an end to the bitter fighting between [the seven] countries.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 43
Higan, perfections

Where the Path to Morality Begins

Today is the second day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Each of the days before and after the equinox are devoted to one of the Six Paramitas, the practice of perfection taught to Bodhisattvas. Today we consider the second perfection, Morality.

The fact that the ideal motivation for moral action is selfless compassion toward others does not mean that other more worldly motives do not play a significant role. Indeed, Mahayana sutras and other writings sometimes appear to feature what might seem to be selfish motivations for a moral life. It is true that moral life tends to bring many mundane and worldly benefits—the respect, trust, and goodwill of other people, worldly success and plentitude, enlightenment for oneself, to name just a few – and these are not insignificant. The fact that these are just the beginning of the “wealth” that morality confers on its practitioners does not invalidate them. This is where the path begins and, given the fact that the sutras are written to inspire initiating the journey, this is where they often focus their attention. Thus the texts frequently point to the reward of a good rebirth or the respect and fame that truly moral people receive.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 61
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 18, 2023

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stūpa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stūpa just as they do to the stūpa of a Buddha.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this mysterious description, the Buddha seems to say that anyone who practices this Lotus Sūtra as it instructs is his equal, that this person deserves as much respect as the Buddha himself. In this world of conflict it is rare to even find this teaching, and even more rare to practice it. The Buddha encourages Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya and other protective deities to serve and care for those who bring the Buddha’s greatest wisdom to life. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma, it is as if the Buddha himself appears among us.

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