Monthly Archives: July 2023

LS32

Day 6

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 6 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered why the Buddha used an expedient to save his children, we consider aspects of the three vehicles.

“Śāriputra! Those who have intelligence, who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World Honored One, and who seek Nirvāṇa with strenuous efforts in order to get out of the triple world, are called Śrāvakas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the sheep-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who seek the self-originating wisdom with strenuous efforts, who wish to have good tranquility in seclusion, and who perfectly understand the causes of all things, are called Pratyekabuddhas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the deer-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self-originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathāgata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are called Mahasattvas because they seek this vehicle. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the bullock-carts.

See Finding the Appropriate Action

Stone: Honmon No Kaidan

The Controversy Around Nichiren’s Three Great Secret Dharmas

Nichiren had taught that Buddhism for the time of mappō consisted in essence of “three great secret Dharmas” (sandai hihō) implicit in the depths of the origin teaching (honmon) of the Lotus Sūtra—the “origin teaching” being the latter half of the sūtra, which presents itself as the teaching of an eternal Buddha who constantly abides in this world. These three secret Dharmas are (1) the daimoku, or invocation of the Lotus Sūtra’s title, “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō,” the central practice of Nichiren’s Buddhism and said by him to encompass all the eternal Buddha’s merits and virtues; (2) the object of worship (honzon), the calligraphic maṇḍala that Nichiren had devised, depicting the assembly of the Lotus Sūtra as the eternal Buddha’s enlightened realm; and (3) the “ordination platform.” The first two Nichiren had himself discussed in detail. But, while some of his later writings make reference to the “ordination platform of the origin teaching” (honmon no kaidan), no authenticated work of his explains precisely what he meant by this. Only this one writing, the Sandai hihō shō, clearly presents it as an officially sponsored ordination platform, to be erected in the future when “the ruler and his ministers” have embraced the Lotus Sūtra.

However, the Sandai hihō shō does not survive in Nichiren’s handwriting, and in the modern period his authorship has been heatedly disputed. In particular, in the years following Japan’s defeat in the Pacific War, in the mood of revulsion against institutional Buddhism’s support for the nation’s ill-judged imperialist venture, some scholars of the Nichiren tradition denounced the work as a forgery and denied that Nichiren would ever have embraced a state-sponsored kaidan as a religious ideal. Nonetheless, from the time of Buddhism’s introduction to Japan in the sixth century, the ordination of monks had at least in principle been regulated by the imperial court, and the four ordination platforms existing in Nichiren’s day were all court sponsored. He and his rather marginal religious community existed outside this official system of ordination, and it seems quite possible—whether he personally wrote the Sandai hihō shō or not—that he envisioned the establishment of an “ordination platform of the origin teaching” mandated by the court and the Bakufu, the two ruling structures of his day, as symbolic of the official acceptance of his Buddhism. Whatever Nichiren’s own views, throughout premodern times, the future establishment of an imperially mandated kaidan was widely accepted within the Nichiren tradition as a task whose achievement Nichiren had entrusted to his later followers. Rival lineages sometimes debated over whose head temple would house the eventual kaidan structure. Yet at the same time, perhaps in part because the likelihood of realizing this goal seemed so remote, a corollary interpretation emerged in which the honmon no kaidan referred simply to that place, wherever it might be, where the follower of Nichiren embraces faith in the Lotus Sūtra and chants Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō—a reading closely linked to Nichiren’s own claim that wherever one chants the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the Buddha land. Under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early modern period (1603-1868), when religious proselytizing was severely restricted, this abstract interpretation of the kaidan became the predominant one. Not until the Meiji period (1868-1912), with a radical restructuring of Japan’s government, would the ideal of an imperially sponsored kaidan be reimagined as something achievable in concrete terms.

By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p196-197
LS32, d29b

Daily Dharma – July 31, 2023

Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.

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

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 5 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās why Śāriputra felt like dancing with joy, we consider the Buddha’s prediction for Śāriputra.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Śāriputra:

“Now I will tell you in the presence of this great multitude including gods, men, śramaṇas, and brāhmanas. Under two billion Buddhas in the past, I always taught you in order to cause you to attain unsurpassed enlightenment. You studied under me in the long night. I led you with expedients. Therefore, you have your present life under me.

“Śāriputra! I caused you to aspire for the enlightenment of the Buddha in your previous existence. You forgot all this, and thought that you had already attained extinction. In order to cause you to remember the Way you practiced under your original vow, I now expound to the Śrāvakas this sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

“Śāriputra! After a countless, inconceivable number of kalpas from now, you will be able to make offerings to many thousands of billions of Buddhas, to keep their right teachings, to practice the Way which Bodhisattvas should practice, and to become a Buddha called Flower-Light, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The world of that Buddha will be called Free-From-Taint. That world will be even, pure, adorned, peaceful, and fertile, where gods and men will prosper. The ground of that world will be made of lapis lazuli; the roads will fan out from the center to the eight directions. Those roads will be marked off by ropes of gold, and the trees of the seven treasures on the roadsides will always bear flowers and fruit. Flower-Light Tathāgata will also lead the living beings [of his world] by the teaching of the Three Vehicles.

“Śāriputra! Although the world in which he appears will not be an evil one, that Buddha will expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles according to his original vow. The kalpa in which he appears will be called Great-Treasure-Adornment. Why will it be called Great-Treasure-Adornment? It is because in that world Bodhisattvas will be regarded as great treasures. The number of the Bodhisattvas [in that world] will be countless, inconceivable, beyond any mathematical calculation, beyond inference by any parable or simile. No one will know the number except the Buddha who has the power of wisdom. When those Bodhisattvas wish to go somewhere, jeweled flowers will receive their feet and carry them. Those Bodhisattvas will not have just begun to aspire for enlightenment. A long time before that they will have already planted the roots of virtue, performed the brahma practices under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, received the praises of the Buddhas, studied the wisdom of the Buddhas, obtained great supernatural powers, and understood all the teachings of the Buddhas. They will be upright, honest, and resolute in mind. The world of that Buddha will be filled with such Bodhisattvas.

“Śāriputra! The duration of the life of Flower-Light Buddha will be twelve small kalpas excluding the period in which he was a prince and had not yet attained Buddhahood. The duration of the life of the people of his world will be eight small kalpas. At the end of his life of twelve small kalpas, Flower-Light Tathāgata will assure Resolution-Fulfillment Bodhisattva of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, saying to the bhikṣus, ‘This Resolution-Fulfillment Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Flower-Foot-Easy-Walking, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world will be like mine.’

“Śāriputra! After the extinction of Flower-Light Buddha, his right teachings will be preserved for thirty-two small kalpas. After that the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved also for thirty-two small kalpas.”

See Strairway to Buddhahood

Stone: Honmon No Kaidan

The Joining of Buppō and Ōbō

The rhetoric of leading Buddhist institutions of Nichiren’s day held that the “Buddha-Dharma” (buppō) and the ruler’s dharma (ōbō) exist in mutual dependence. In practice, this generally meant providing rites of thaumaturgical protection for the emperor or sovereign (tennō), the shogun, or other officials in exchange for a guarantee of privileges and economic support. For Nichiren, however, such reciprocal arrangements were untenable where the ruler opposed or was indifferent to the Lotus Sūtra, or revered it only as one teaching among many. Until those in power embraced the True Dharma, he held, devotees of the Lotus must maintain an oppositional stance, admonishing the ruler, even at the risk of their lives, to take faith in it for the sake of the country and the people’s welfare. In this way, Nichiren’s Lotus exclusivism contained an element critical of authority and established a moral basis for defiance of worldly rule in the Dharma’s name.

However, certain Nichiren writings indicate that, when at some future point the ruler should embrace the Lotus Sūtra, a more cooperative relationship of ōbō and buppō could then be instituted. Envisioning that time, he wrote: “Of my disciples, the monks will be teachers to the sovereign and retired sovereigns, while the laymen will be ranged among the ministers of the left and right.” But the clearest statement attributed to him of a future unity of Buddhism and worldly rule appears in an essay known as the Sandai hihō shō (On the three great secret Dharmas):

When the ruler’s dharma [ōbō] becomes one with Buddha-Dharma [buppō] and the Buddha-Dharma is united with the ruler’s dharma, so that the ruler and his ministers all uphold the three great secret Dharmas of the origin teaching . . . then surely an imperial edict and a shogunal decree will be handed down, to seek out the most superlative site, resembling the Pure Land of Sacred Vulture Peak [where the Lotus Sūtra was expounded], and there to erect the ordination platform. You have only to await the time. … Not only will this be [the site of] the dharma of the precepts [kaihō] by which all people of the three countries [India, China, and Japan] and the entire world (Skt. Jambudvīpa; Jpn. Ichienbudai) will perform repentance and eradicate their offenses, but [the great protector deities] Brahmā and Indra will also descend and mount this ordination platform.

By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p195-196
Daily Dharma, d9b

Daily Dharma – July 30, 2023

The Śrāvakas will have already eliminated āsravas,
And reached the final stage of their physical existence.
They will become sons of the King of the Dharma.
Their number also will be beyond calculation.
Even those who have heavenly eyes
Will not be able to count them.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. The Śrāvakas are those who want only to eliminate their delusions and end their suffering. They do not yet realize that the Buddha leads them to become Bodhisattvas and work for the benefit of all beings. They do not believe they can reach the Buddha’s own wisdom. The Buddha assures even these beings that in the course of time, as they realize their true nature, they too will become enlightened.

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

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the Buddha’s decision to teach using expedients, we conclude Chapter 2, Expedients.

All the Buddhas in the past, present, and future
Expounded, are expounding, and will expound
In the same manner the Dharma beyond comprehension.
I also will expound it in the same manner.

The Buddhas seldom appear in the worlds.
It is difficult to meet them.
Even when they do appear in the worlds,
They seldom expound the Dharma.

It is difficult to hear the Dharma
Even during innumerable kalpas.
It is also difficult to meet a person
Who listens to the Dharma attentively.
It is as difficult as seeing an udumbara-flower.
This flower, loved by all living beings,
And treasured by gods and men,
Blooms only once in a long time.

Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.

[The Buddha said to the great multitude:]

All of you, do not doubt me!
I am the King of the Dharma.
I say to you:
“I will expound the teaching of the One Vehicle
Only to Bodhisattvas.
There is no Śrāvaka among my disciples.”

Śāriputra, other Śrāvakas, and Bodhisattvas!
Know this!
This Wonderful Dharma is
The hidden core of the Buddhas.

The living beings
In the evil world of the five defilements
Are attached to many desires.
They do not seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Evil people in the future will doubt the One Vehicle
When they hear it from a Buddha.
They will not believe or receive it.
They will violate the Dharma, and fall into the evil regions.

Extol the teaching of the One Vehicle
In the presence of those who are modest,
Who are pure in heart,
And who are seeking enlightenment of the Buddha!

Śāriputra [and others], know this!
As a rule, the Buddhas expound the Dharma
With billions of expedients as stated above,
According to the capacities of all living beings.

Those who do not study the Dharma
Cannot understand it.
You have already realized
The fact that the Buddhas, the World-Teachers, employ expedients,
According to the capacities of all living beings.
Know that, when you remove your doubts,
And when you have great joy,
You will become Buddhas!

[Here ends] the First Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Daily Dharma from March 27, 2023, offers this:

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

Stone: Honmon No Kaidan

The Primacy of the Lotus Over the Ruler for Nichiren

The place of “the ruler” in Nichiren’s thought is a complex one. Nichiren himself often directed his efforts in shakubuku toward those in positions of power because of their influence over the people at large. But at the same time, he strictly subordinated the authority of worldly rule to that of the true Dharma of the Lotus. A ruler’s obligation, in his view, was to protect the Lotus Sūtra and the monks who upheld it while denying support to those who “disparage the Dharma”; this would ensure general peace and prosperity. If, on the contrary, the ruler gave support to misleading teachings, disaster would plague his realm. This claim was articulated in Nichiren’s famous admonitory treatise Risshō Ankoku Ron (Treatise on establishing the true [Dharma] and bringing peace to the land), submitted to the Bakufu in 1260.

By Imperial Edict and Shogunal Decree, p195
Daily Dharma, d31b

Daily Dharma – July 29, 2023

The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and strewed the necklaces to the Buddha. The necklaces flew up to the sky [seven times as high as the tāla-tree], and changed into a jeweled platform equipped with four pillars. On the platform was a couch of great treasures, and thousands of millions of heavenly garments were spread [on the couch]. The Buddha [went up,] sat cross-legged [on the couch], and emitted great rays of light. King Wonderful-Adornment thought, ‘The Buddha is exceptional. He is exceedingly handsome. He has the most wonderful form.’

The Buddha uses this description as part of the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This King was led by the supernatural powers of his children to meet Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star- King Flower-Wisdom Buddha who was teaching the Wonderful Dharma in that world. The King and his wife the Queen were both so inspired by that Buddha that they allowed the symbols of their wealth and power to be transformed into a sacred platform from which the Buddha could lead all beings to enlightenment. When they found that Buddha, the beauty of his wisdom far outshone the beauty of their jewels.

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

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what happened when the World-Honored One emerged quietly from his samādhi, we consider the ten suchnesses.

Śāriputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

See Ten Suchnesses Three Ways