Monthly Archives: April 2023

Daily Dharma, d32b

Daily Dharma – April 15, 2023

He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

The Buddha gives this description of the person who keeps and practices the Lotus Sūtra to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Powers of merits are what we have when we see things clearly. The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance. The practice of Universal-Sage is to support and encourage everyone who takes on this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma. This is another Bodhisattva who gives us an example of how we can live 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

Innumerable

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month concluded Chapter 2, Dharma Discourse, we consider Chapter 3, Ten Beneficial Effects.

The great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed then addressed the Buddha once again, saying: “World-honored One! The World-honored One has declared that this transcendent, profound, incomparable, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra’s truth is surpassingly deep, and its depth is surpassingly profound! Why is this so? Upon hearing this profound, peerless, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra, those in this gathering—all the great-being bodhisattvas, and all of the four kinds of followers, heavenly beings, nāgas and other guardian spirits, rulers and citizens, and various living beings as well—unfailingly gain access to Dharma-grasping empowerments, or realize the three teachings, or attain the four fruits or the aspiration for enlightenment.

“It should be known that the content and principles of this sutra are true and correct, that its value is supreme and unsurpassed, and that it is embraced by the buddhas of the past, present, and future. It is impervious to the influence of disruptive forces and the influence of differing views, and is neither corrupted nor destroyed by any deluded perception or the cycle of births and deaths. Why is this so? Because upon hearing it one can intuit all dharmas.

“If there are living beings who can hear this sutra, they will reap great benefit. Why is this so? If they are capable of practicing it, they will surely realize and quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment. As for those living beings who cannot hear it, it should be known that they are ones who miss out on great benefit: even after the passing of innumerable, unimaginable, infinite myriads of kalpas, they still will not realize and achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment. What is the reason for this? It is because, not knowing the great direct route to enlightenment, they travel an uphill path full of hardships that detain them.

“World-honored One! This sutra is beyond thought and word! I earnestly wish that the World-honored One, out of compassion and sympathy for the great assembly, would explain the profound and wondrous matters of this sutra in detail. World-honored One! What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide to accordingly possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect that it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment?”

The World-honored One then addressed the great-being bodhisattva Fully Composed, saying: “Well done, you of good intent! Well done! It is just like this; it is just as you have said. O you of good intent! I have declared that this sutra is surpassingly profound in depth, and surpassingly deep in truth. Why is this so? Because it enables all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment, because upon hearing it one can intuit all dharmas, and because it greatly benefits all living beings—because of it they will travel the great direct route with no hardships to detain them.

“O you of good intent! You ask, “What is this sutra’s origin, what is its extent, and where does it abide?” You must hear clearly and well! O you of good intent! This sutra originally comes from within the place where buddhas dwell; it encompasses all living beings that have awakened the aspiration for enlightenment; and it abides in any place where bodhisattvas practice. O you of good intent! This sutra has such an origin, such an extent, and such a place where it abides. That is why this sutra can possess such immeasurable, inconceivably powerful beneficial effect and enable all to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment.

Tendai Lotus

Craving and Enlightenment, Delusion and Awakening

Q: Craving and enlightenment, and delusion and awakening, are distinct. Is it not careless [to emphasize] the relative aspect of their meaning?

A: A distinction is made between delusion and awakening with regard to conditions, but since they are [fundamentally] unchanging, the essence of the defiled and of the pure are one. Therefore it is said that craving and enlightenment, and the cycle of birth and death and Nirvāṇa, are identical.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 81
Daily Dharma, d23b

Daily Dharma – April 14, 2023

He will be able to recognize
All the sounds and voices
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds,
[Each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avīci Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
And yet his organ of hearing will not be destroyed.
He will be able to recognize everything by hearing
Because his ears are sharp.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra about those who practice the Buddha Dharma. We may believe that a spiritual practice leads us to “otherworldly” experiences that allow us to escape the problems we find in the world around us. These verses remind us that the teachers of the Dharma become more engaged with the world around us rather than becoming separate from it. It is through our right practice of the Lotus Sūtra that we become aware of the world as it is, and our place in making it better.

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

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: The Function of the Sense Faculty of Hearing

Having last month considered the arrival of the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha, we consider the function of the sense faculty of hearing.

The practitioner, having seen the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha, must then turn again to Universal Sage Bodhisattva, place his or her palms together, pay homage, and say:

“Great Teacher, teach me the way of self-amendment for my faults!”

Universal Sage will respond, saying:

“Throughout many kalpas, the function of your sense faculty of hearing has caused you to chase after and follow external sounds. When you hear wonderful sounds, your mind develops infatuation and attachment. When you hear unwholesome sounds, one hundred and eight25 kinds of delusive worldly passions arise to do you harm. Adverse conditions are the consequences reaped from such a dysfunctional ear, and your constant hearing of unwholesome sounds gives rise to numerous complications. Because you hear things contrary to reality, you fall into bitter conditions, or into faraway realms where there are wrong views and where the Dharma is not heard.

“You now internalize and keep faith with the Great Vehicle – the treasury of an ocean of beneficial effects. You see the buddhas in the ten directions by reason of this cause! The stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha appears to you as proof! Accordingly, you must express your errors and faults yourself, and amend yourself of impurities!”

Then, having heard these words, the practitioner must again place palms together, cast his or her body upon the ground, and speak thus:

“Fully Enlightened World-honored One! Manifest and bear witness for me that the comprehensive sutras are the core of mercy and compassion! May you commune with me and hear my words!

“Throughout many kalpas – up to my existence at this point – my sense faculty of hearing has caused me to become deluded and to become attached to the sounds I hear, just as glue adheres to straw. The poisons of delusive worldly passions are stirred up whenever I hear unwholesome sounds, and I become deluded and attached to them unceasingly everywhere. Being around these hollow sounds exhausts my mental functions, and I fall into the three unwholesome realms. My awareness of this is now awakened for the first time. I face the World-honored One to make acknowledgement and amend myself!”

See The Everyday Actions of Teachers of the Dharma

Tendai Lotus

Causes and Results of Twelvefold Conditioned Co-arising

Q: This Twelvefold Conditioned Co-arising consists of how many causes and how many results?

A: There are two causes from the past, five results of the present, three causes from the present, and two results of the future.

Q: What are the two causes from the past and so forth?

A: The two causes from the past are (1) ignorance and (2) volitional activity. The five results of the present are (1) consciousness, (2) name and form, (3) the six senses, (4) contact, and (5) experience. The three causes from the present are (1) passion, (2) attachment, and (3) existence. The two results of the future are (1) rebirth and (2) decay and death.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 78
Daily Dharma, d21b

Daily Dharma – April 13, 2023

To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is where the Buddha reveals for the first time his ever-present nature. He became enlightened in the remotest past, and will continue teaching all beings far into the future. There is a view that to see a Buddha in our time requires a supernatural way of seeing, even a personal vision or a revelation not available to ordinary people. What the Buddha teaches here is that he is always visible to anyone, anywhere. It is when we look for him to teach us and are compassionate and disciplined in our desires that he appears to us.

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

LS32

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Universal-Sage Bodhisattva’s promise to those who keep the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we consider Śākyamuni Buddha’s response to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva’s vow.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha praised him, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Universal-Sage! You will protect this sūtra so that many living beings may obtain peace and benefits. You have already obtained inconceivable merits and great compassion. You aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi and vowed [to protect this sūtra] by your supernatural powers in the remotest past, and have been protecting this sūtra since then. By my supernatural powers, I will protect anyone who keeps your name.

“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it, should be considered to see me, and hear this sūtra from my mouth. He should be considered to be making offerings to me. He should be considered to be praised by me with the word ‘Excellent!’ He should be considered to be caressed by me on the head. He should be considered to be covered with my robe. He will not be attached to worldly pleasures. He will not like to read heretical scriptures or any other writings of heretics. He will not be intimate with heretics, slaughterers, boar-breeders, sheep-breeders, fowl-breeders, dog­breeders, hunters, prostitutes, or any other evil people. He will be upright. He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

The Daily Dharma from March 25, 2022, offers this:

He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

The Buddha gives this description of the person who keeps and practices the Lotus Sūtra to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Powers of merits are what we have when we see things clearly. The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance. The practice of Universal-Sage is to support and encourage everyone who takes on this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma. This is another Bodhisattva who gives us an example of how we can live 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

Tendai Lotus

Colors of Interpretation

Q: What is the meaning of the passage quoted from the Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra that speaks of “distributing the five colors”?

A: The combination of ignorance with the most evil activity arouses the conditioned co-arising of the hellish realm, like painting with the color black. The combination of ignorance with middling evil activity arouses the conditioned co-arising of the realm of beasts, like painting with the color red. The combination of ignorance with lesser evil activity arouses the conditioned co-arising of the realm of hungry spirits, like painting with the color blue. The combination of ignorance with lesser good activity arouses the conditioned co-arising of the realm of the asuras, like painting with the color yellow. The combination of ignorance with middling good activities arouses the conditioned co-arising of the realm of human beings, like painting with the color white. The combination of ignorance with the best good activity arouses the conditioned co-arising of the realm of gods, like painting with the most superior white color. The analogy of the five colors has this meaning. The arousing of these six destinies should be known as having these causes.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 77-78
Daily Dharma, d8b

Daily Dharma – April 12, 2023

The son thought: “I was poor, base and mean.
Now I have obtained
The treasures, houses,
And all the other things
From my father.
Never before
Have I been so happy.”

These verses are part of the story of the Wayward Son told by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. The son in the story has come into his inheritance after years of training and preparation by his father. The story explains the disciples’ understanding of how the Buddha uses expedients over time to prepare us for enlightenment. When we are not ready for the Buddha’s wisdom, he teaches to the capacity of our own minds. Now that we are ready for his highest teaching, he reveals his own mind in the Lotus Sutra.

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