Monthly Archives: April 2023

Daily Dharma, d21b

Daily Dharma – April 9, 2023

I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story of the Physician and his children, the father leaves and sends word that he has died when his children refuse to take the antidote he has prepared for them. He gave his children no choice but to accept what they already had and make the effort to improve themselves and set aside their deluded minds. In the same way, when we take the Buddha for granted, and close our eyes to the Wonderful Dharma he has given us, he disappears. It is only when we open our eyes and see clearly this world and ourselves in it that we can recognize the Buddha and how he is always leading us.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the advice Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha gave to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we consider how Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva came to visit Śākyamuni Buddha.

Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva said to the Buddha “World-Honored One! I can go to the Sahā-World by your powers, by your supernatural powers of traveling, and by your merits and wisdom which adorn me.”

Thereupon Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva entered into a samadhi. He did not rise from his seat or make any other movement. By the power of this samadhi, he caused eighty-four thousand lotus flowers of treasures to appear in a place not far from the seat of the Dharma situated on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa. Those flowers had stalks of jambunada gold, leaves of silver, stamens of diamond, and calyxes of kimsuka treasures.

Thereupon Mañjuśrī, the Son of the King of the Dharma, having seen these lotus-flowers, said to Śākyamuni Buddha:

“World-Honored One! What does this omen mean? Tens of millions of lotus-flowers have appeared. They have stalks of jambunada gold, leaves of silver, stamens of diamond, and calyxes of kimsuka treasures.”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“This means that Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, surrounded by eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas, is coming from the World of Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha to this Sahā World in order to make offerings to me, attend on me, bow to me, make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and hear it.”

Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! What root of good did he plant and what kind of meritorious deed did he do in order to obtain this great supernatural power? What samadhi did he practice? Tell us the name of the samadhi! We also wish to practice it strenuously so that we may be able to see how tall he is and how he behaves himself. World-Honored One! Cause me to see him by your supernatural powers when he comes!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Mañjuśrī, “This Many-Treasures Tathāgata, who passed away a long time ago, will cause him to appear before you all.”

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha called [loudly] to [Wonderful-Voice] Bodhisattva [from afar], “Good man! Come! Mañjuśrī, the Son of the King of the Dharma, wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, accompanied by eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas, left his world [for the Sahā World]. As they passed through the [one hundred and eight billion nayuta] worlds, the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways; lotus flowers of the seven treasures rained [on those worlds], and hundreds of thousands of heavenly drums sounded [over those worlds] although no one beat them. The eyes of [Wonderful-Voice] Bodhisattva were as large as the leaves of the blue lotus. His face was more handsome than the combination of thousands of millions of moons. His body was golden-colored, and adorned with many hundreds of thousands of mark of merits. His power and virtue were great. His light was brilliant. His body had all the characteristics of the muscular body of Narayana.

See The Action of the Bodhisattvas

Tendai Lotus, d3b

Illuminating the Subtle Objective Realm

Q: Are these Ten Suchlikes the subject that illuminates or the object that is illuminated?

A: They are the subtle objective realm that is to be illuminated.

Q: How can we come to know them?

A: The Lotus Sutra first praises the wisdom through which there is illumination, that is, the two tentative and real wisdoms of all Buddhas. Next, the objective realm that is to be illuminated is clarified as the Ten Suchlikes.

Q: What does this text say?

A: In the chapter on “Expedient Means” it says, “The wisdom of all Buddhas is exceedingly profound and immeasurable. This gate of wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter” to “Only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality, that all dharmas have suchlike appearance” and so forth.

Q: Why do you establish such a troublesome scheme?

A: The [Fa-hua] hsüan-i and [Mo-ho] chih-kuan have this as their central theme, and the doctrines of this Tendai school are richly summarized therein.

Q: What is forfeited if one does not understand this topic?

A: If one is deluded concerning this meaning, one naturally misses the thrust of the course of all the teachings, and the streams that branch out from the single teaching [of the Buddha] dry up.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 73-74
Daily Dharma, d13b

Daily Dharma – April 8, 2023

You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago.’

Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has just assured them of reaching the same enlightenment he found. These monks had worked diligently for many years to rid themselves of suffering, and taught many other beings to become Bodhisattvas and reach the Buddha’s enlightenment, thinking they were not capable of reaching this wisdom. Not believing we are capable of something obscures the capability we have. When the Buddha proclaims that he leads all beings, he reminds us of this capacity and inspires us make efforts to bring all beings, including ourselves, to his joy.

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

LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the unchanging aspects of the Buddha, we consider Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva’s offering to the Buddha’s śarīras.

Having seen the extinction of the Buddha, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva was overcome with sorrow. He adored the Buddha all the more. He made a pyre of the candana grown on this shore of the sea, offered it to the body of the Buddha, and burned it. After it burned up, he collected the śarīras. He made eighty-four thousand stupas of treasures[, and put the śarīras therein]. He erected eighty-four thousand stupas[, and enshrined the urns therein]. The stupas were higher than the Third Dhyana-Heaven. They were adorned with yastis. Many streamers and canopies were hanging down [from the stupas]. Many jeweled bells also were fixed [on the stupas].

“Thereupon Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva thought again, ‘I have now made these offerings, yet I do not think that they are enough. I will make another offering to the śarīras.’

“He said to the Bodhisattvas, to the great disciples, and also to all the other living beings in the great multitude including gods, dragons and yakṣas, ‘Look with one mind! Now I will make another offering to the śarīras of Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha.’

“Having said this, he burned his arms adorned with the marks of one hundred merits, and offered the light of the flame to the eighty-four thousand stupas for seventy-two thousand years. [By doing so,] he caused innumerable seekers of Śrāvakahood and many other asaṃkhyas of people to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and obtain the samadhi by which they could transform themselves into the other living beings.

“Having seen him deprived of his arms, the Bodhisattvas, gods, men, asuras and others were overcome with sorrow. They said, ‘This Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva is our teacher. He is leading us. Now he has burned off his arms. He is deformed.’

“Thereupon Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva vowed to the great multitude, saying, ‘I shall be able to obtain the golden body of the Buddha because I gave up my arms. If my words are true and not false, I shall be able to have my arms restored.’

“When he had made this vow, his arms were restored because his merits, virtues and wisdom were abundant. Thereupon the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds quaked in the six ways, and the gods rained down jeweled flowers. All the gods and men had the greatest joy that they had ever had.”

See The Most Important Meaning of Burning Our Bodies

Tendai Lotus, d3b

An Ordinary Man of the Perfect Teaching

Q: Who knows these Ten Suchlikes?

A: “Only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality,” but an ordinary man of the Perfect Teaching can attain a partial knowledge. This is the fundamental principle of the Lotus Sutra, the core of all teachings, the key to interpreting the meaning, the refuge of all sentient beings, the basis of the aspiration for enlightenment, the functional essence of conventional devices, the foundation of delusion and awakening, the reality basis for the resultant virtuous qualities [of Buddhahood], the ultimate purpose of the Buddha’s life, and the consummation of the Five Periods.

Q: Why are these ten meanings clarified?

A: If these ten meanings are understood, this explains all the differences [in the Buddha’s teachings] and, unexpectedly, there is no contradiction.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 73
Daily Dharma, d9b

Daily Dharma – April 7, 2023

I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.

The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. It is normal for us humans to become worn out, frustrated or annoyed as we try to benefit others. Often, other people do not want our help, or when they take our help, they do not progress as fast as we want them to. Sometimes there are only a few people we want to help, and may actually wish harm on those we blame for our problems. The Buddha gives us a different example. He gets his energy from creating benefit. It does not drain him. He sees that all beings want to improve themselves, no matter how perversely they may go about it. He knows that all beings are worthy of receiving the Buddha Dharma.

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

LS32

Day 26

Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 26 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, we consider Chapter 22, Transmission.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha rose from the seat of the Dharma, and by his great supernatural powers, put his right hand on the heads of the innumerable Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and said:

“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you. Propagate it with all your hearts, and make it known far and wide!”

He put his [right] hand on their heads twice more, and said:

“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit [the Dharma] to you. Keep, read, recite and expound [this sūtra in which the Dharma is given], and cause all living beings to hear it and know it! Why is that? It is because I have great compassion. I do not begrudge anything. I am fearless. I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathāgata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings. I am the great almsgiver to all living beings. Follow me, and study my teachings without begrudging efforts! In the future, when you see good men or women who believe in the wisdom of the Tathāgata, you should expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to them, and cause them to hear and know [this sūtra] so that they may be able to obtain the wisdom of the Buddha. When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.”

Having heard these words of the Buddha, the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas were filled with great joy. With more respect than ever, they bent forward, bowed, joined their hands together towards him, and said simultaneously. “We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!”

The Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas said simultaneously twice more, “We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha, wishing to send back to their home worlds [Many-Treasures Buddha and] the Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters, said, “May the Buddhas be where they wish to be! May the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha be where it was!”

Having heard these words of the Buddha, not only the innumerable Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters and were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees, Many-Treasures Buddha, and the great multitude of the innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattvas, including Superior-Practice, but also the four kinds of devotees including Śāriputra and other Śrāvakas, and the gods, men and asuras of the world, had great joy.

The Daily Dharma for Jan. 20, 2023, offers this:

Now I will transmit [the Dharma] to you. Keep, read, recite and expound [this sūtra in which the Dharma is given], and cause all living beings to hear it and know it! Why is that? It is because I have great compassion. I do not begrudge anything. I am fearless. I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathāgata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings.

The Buddha gives these instructions in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In this transmission, the Buddha bestows his highest teaching not just on those gathered 2500 years ago. He gives it to all of us who hear and keep his teaching today. When the Buddha revealed his true nature as existing through all time and space, he assured us that he is always teaching us, and that the Lotus Sūtra is the vehicle by which he comes to us. By giving us this teaching, he does not lose it. In the same way, when we benefit other beings, we should not be afraid of losing anything, other than our delusion and attachments.

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

Tendai Lotus, d5b, d6b

The Great White Bull Cart Analogy

Q: Is this [doctrine of] the Ten Suchlikes [the direct teaching of] the Dharma [as it truly is], or is it just [a teaching by] analogy?

A: This is [a direct teaching of] the Dharma, not just an analogy

Q: What if it were taught by analogy?

A: There is the text in the chapter of “Parables” in the Lotus Sutra concerning the Great White Bull Cart.

Q: What if [the Ten Suchlikes as] both [the direct teaching of] the Dharma and as analogy are harmonized?

A: That which is called “suchlike appearance” in the text, which is the direct teaching of the Dharma, is explained as “adorned with a multitude of jewels” in the analogy. The Dharma of “suchlike nature” is analogously explained as “there was a Great White Bull Cart.” The Dharma of “suchlike essence” is analogously explained as “that cart was high and vast.” The Dharma of “suchlike power” is analogously explained as “also, on its top are spread out parasols and canopies.” The Dharma of “suchlike activity” is analogously explained as “swift as the wind.” The Dharma of “suchlike causes” is analogously explained as “mounting the jeweled cart, they played in all four directions.” The Dharma of “suchlike conditions” is analogously explained as “there are also many attendants serving and guarding it.” The Dharma of “suchlike results” is analogously explained as “leading directly to the seat of enlightenment.”

Q: What is utilized to harmonize the [direct] teaching of the Dharma and [the teaching] as an analogy with regard to these Ten Suchlikes?

A: The texts that explain the Dharma [directly] refer to the fruit of Buddhahood as the true aspect of reality. The analogous explanation refers to the “grandly adorned great cart” as that which leads directly to the seat of enlightenment. The section concerning past lives [the first half of the Lotus Sūtra] teaches the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood as the exposition of the tentative and the manifestation of the real. The section on the original basis [of the Buddha] [the second half of the Lotus Sūtra teaches] that the eternally enlightened Buddha corresponds to the subtle Dharma. How can it be referred to as merely a harmonization [of the direct teaching] of the Dharma and [teaching through] analogy? This meaning is common to all from the stories of past lives to [the explanation of original Buddhahood in] the last half of the Lotus Sūtra.

Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 72-73
Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – April 6, 2023

The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sutra He is like the light of a firefly in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sutra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sutra?

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). When we encounter someone we consider great because of their fame, their wisdom, or anything else that leads them to be dear to us, our natural inclination is to show our gratitude to them by offering them gifts or services. When we learn about the Buddha, his life and what he taught us, even from a distance of 2500 years, we cannot help but be grateful for everything he has done to benefit us and all beings. But, as Nichiren instructs, when we realize the treasure of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, and how it is the embodiment of the Ever-Present Buddha who continues to teach all beings through all worlds and all time, our gratitude to it is even greater. We make offerings to the Sūtra through our practice, our determination not to allow suffering to dictate what we do, but to cultivate the wisdom and compassion within us, and repay the Ever-Present Buddha with the enlightenment of all beings.

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