What the Buddha Taught, p74[T]here is a form of ‘meditation’ on ethical, spiritual and intellectual subjects. All our studies, reading, discussions, conversation and deliberations on such subjects are included in this ‘meditation.’ To read this book, and to think deeply about the subjects discussed in it, is a form of meditation. …
So, according to this form of meditation, you may study, think, and deliberate on the Five Hindrances (Nivaraṇa), namely:
- lustful desires (kāmacchanda),
- ill-will, hatred or anger (vyāpāda),
- torpor and languor (thīna-middha),
- restlessness and worry (uddhacca-kukkucca),
- sceptical doubts (vicikicchā).
These five are considered as hindrances to any kind of clear understanding, as a matter of fact, to any kind of progress. When one is overpowered by them and when one does not know how to get rid of them, then one cannot understand right and wrong, or good and bad.
Monthly Archives: June 2024
Daily Dharma – June 7, 2024
Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattva who keeps this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should have great loving-kindness towards laymen and monks, and great compassion towards those who are not Bodhisattvas. He should think: ‘They do not know that the Tathāgata expounded expedient teachings according to the capacities of all living beings. They do not hear, know or notice it, or ask a question about it or believe or understand it. Although they do not ask a question about this sūtra, or believe or understand it, I will lead them and cause them, wherever they may be, to understand the Dharma by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom when I attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Until we reach enlightenment, we may not be able to reach all beings. Rather than blaming them for not having the capacity to learn from us, or blaming ourselves for not being skillful enough to reach them, the Buddha reminds us to be patient and realize there is no hurry to being free from our delusions.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 11
Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City
Having last month considered the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the southeast.
“Bhikṣus! The great Brahman-[heavenly-]kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the southeast, who saw their palaces illumined more brightly than ever, danced with joy. They also wondered why [their palaces were so illumined]. They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called Great-Compassion among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:
Why is it
That we see this light?
Our palaces are illumined
More brightly than ever.Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
We have never seen this [light] before.
Let us do our best to find [the reason].Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [ worlds] went to the northwest, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi tree of the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:
Saintly Master, God of Gods!
Your voice is as sweet as a kalavinka’s.
You have compassion towards all living beings.
We now bow before you.
You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
You appear only once in a very long time.No Buddha has appeared
For the past one hundred and eighty kalpas.
The three evil regions are crowded;
And the living beings in heaven, decreasing.Now you have appeared in this world
And become the eye of all living beings.
As their refuge, you are saving them.
As their father, you are benefiting them
Out of your compassion towards them.
We are now able to see you
Because we accumulated merits
In our previous existence.“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings out of your compassion towards them!’ Then they simultaneously said in gāthās with all their hearts:
Great Saint, turn the wheel of the Dharma
And reveal the reality of all things!
Save the suffering beings
And cause them to have great joy!If they hear the Dharma, some will attain enlightenment;
Others will be reborn in heaven.
The living beings in the evil regions will decrease;
And those who do good patiently will increase.“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.
The Daily Dharma offers this:
Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.
These verses are sung by the Brahma King Great Compassion in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. He invites his fellow Brahma Kings, creators of entire worlds, to leave the luxury of their palaces to find a Buddha who is leading all beings to enlightenment. They value the Buddha’s words more than anything that they have created for themselves, and know how rare it is to encounter an enlightened being. These kings give us an example of how we can learn to treasure the Buddha Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Meditating on Feelings
What the Buddha Taught, p73[T]here is a way of practicing mental development (‘meditation’) with regard to all our sensations or feelings, whether happy, unhappy or neutral. Let us take only one example. You experience an unhappy, sorrowful sensation. In this state your mind is cloudy, hazy, not clear, it is depressed. In some cases, you do not even see clearly why you have that unhappy feeling. First of all, you should learn not to be unhappy about your unhappy feeling, not to be worried about your worries. But try to see clearly why there is a sensation or a feeling of unhappiness, or worry, or sorrow. Try to examine how it arises, its cause, how it disappears, its cessation. Try to examine it as if you are observing it from outside, without any subjective reaction, as a scientist observes some object. Here, too, you should not look at it as ‘my feeling’ or ‘my sensation’ subjectively, but only look at it as ‘a feeling’ or ‘a sensation’ objectively. You should forget again the false idea of ‘I.’ When you see its nature, how it arises and disappears, your mind grows dispassionate towards that sensation, and becomes detached and free. It is the same with regard to all sensations or feelings.
Daily Dharma – June 6, 2024
I am saving all living beings from suffering.
Because they are perverted,
I say that I pass away even though I shall not.
If they always see me,
They will become arrogant and licentious,
And cling to the five desires
So much that they will fall into the evil regions.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Sometimes we wonder why the Buddha’s presence in this world is not more obvious. We think if only we could find a living example of an enlightened being living among us then we would be happy and the world would be a better place to live. We forget that even during the Buddha’s lifetime, not everyone sought him out for his teaching, and some actively opposed him. In this explanation, the Buddha points out that our not seeing him is due to our limitations rather than his, and by not taking our lives and this world for granted, we open ourselves to his presence.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 10
Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.
Having last month considered a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence, we consider in gāthās a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
According to my remembrance,
There lived a Buddha, an Honorable Biped,
Called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence,
Countless kalpas ago.Suppose someone smashed
All the earth-particles
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
Into ink-powder.He went, [carrying the ink-powder with him,]
And inked a dot as large as a particle of dust
On the world at a distance of one thousand worlds.
He repeated the inking until the ink-powder was exhausted.Suppose the worlds
Through which he went,
Whether they were inked or not,
Were smashed into dust.It is innumerable kalpas,
More than the number
Of the particles of dust thus produced,
Since that Buddha passed away.I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom;
I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].Bhikṣus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from āsravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.
The Daily Dharma offers this:
I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom; I also remember
The Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. Because the Buddha sees this world for what it is, his conception of time is much different from ours. We believe that our existence is tied up with the existence of our bodies. Here he reminds us that while our lives are certainly precious, this is not the whole story. Our existence is linked with that of countless beings, and there is no good reason to fear our extinction. There is no shortage of time, and no shortage of lives. Our opportunities to benefit others are truly boundless. The only things that restrict us are our own delusion and attachment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Living in the Present Moment
What the Buddha Taught, p72Mindfulness, or awareness, does not mean that you should think and be conscious ‘I am doing this’ or ‘I am doing that.’ No. Just the contrary. The moment you think ‘I am doing this,’ you become self-conscious, and then you do not live in the action, but you live in the idea ‘I am,’ and consequently your work too is spoilt. You should forget yourself completely, and lose yourself in what you do. The moment a speaker becomes self-conscious and thinks ‘I am addressing an audience,’ his speech is disturbed and his trend of thought broken. But when he forgets himself in his speech, in his subject, then he is at his best, he speaks well and explains things clearly. All great work—artistic, poetic, intellectual or spiritual—is produced at those moments when its creators are lost completely in their actions, when they forget themselves altogether, and are free from self-consciousness.
This mindfulness or awareness with regard to our activities, taught by the Buddha, is to live in the present moment, to live in the present action. (This is also the Zen way which is based primarily on this teaching.) Here in this form of meditation, you haven’t got to perform any particular action in order to develop mindfulness, but you have only to be mindful and aware of whatever you may do.
Daily Dharma – June 5, 2024
Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural powers without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita (Invincible) in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up from underground and vow to the Buddha to keep the sūtra after his extinction. Maitreya, knowing the minds of many others who have come to hear the Buddha teach, asks about these Bodhisattvas, whom he has never seen before. This question from Maitreya then leads to the Buddha later giving his most difficult teaching in Chapter Sixteen. The Buddha’s declaration in this passage shows how important questioning is to our faith.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 9
Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.
Having last month considered in gāthās why the Buddha expounded the Dharma with various expedients, we consider in gāthās the large cloud covering everything on earth.
Kāśyapa, know this!
Suppose a large cloud rose in the sky,
And covered everything on the earth.
The cloud was so merciful
That it was about to send a rainfall.
Lightning flashed,
And thunder crashed in the distance,
Causing people to rejoice.The cloud covered the sun,
And cooled the earth.
It hung down
As low as if we could reach it.Now the rain came down
To all the quarters of the earth.
The rainwater was immeasurable.
It soaked all the earth.
There were many plants
In the retired and quiet places
Of the mountains, rivers and ravines.They were herbs, cereal-plants, young rice-plants,
Vegetables, sugar canes, and other grasses;
Fruit-trees including vines,
And other trees, tall and short.
They were sufficiently watered by the rain.
So were all the dry lands.The herbs and trees grew thick by the rain.
All the grasses and trees in thickets and forests
Were watered variously according to their species
By the rain water of the same taste
Coming down from the [same] cloud.All the trees grew differently
According to their species.
They became superior or middle or inferior
Or tall or short trees.The roots, trunks, branches, leaves,
Flowers and fruits of the various trees
Were given a fine and glossy luster
By the same rain.Although watered by the same rain,
Some of them were tall, while others not,
Because they were different
In their entities, appearances and natures.
Between Self and No Self
What the Buddha Taught, p66According to the Buddha’s teaching, it is as wrong to hold the opinion ‘I have no self’ (which is the annihilationist theory) as to hold the opinion ‘I have self’ (which is the eternalist theory), because both are fetters, both arising out of the false idea ‘I AM.’ The correct position with regard to the question of Anatta is not to take hold of any opinions or views, but to try to see things objectively as they are without mental projections, to see that what we call ‘I,’ or ‘being,’ is only a combination of physical and mental aggregates, which are working together interdependently in a flux of momentary change within the law of cause and effect, and that there is nothing permanent, everlasting, unchanging and eternal in the whole of existence.
Here naturally a question arises: If there is no Atman or Self, who gets the results of karma (actions)? No one can answer this question better than the Buddha himself. When this question was raised by a bhikkhu the Buddha said: ‘I have taught you, O bhikkhus, to see conditionality everywhere in all things.’
The Buddha’s teaching on Anatta, No-Soul, or No-Self, should not be considered as negative or annihilistic. Like Nirvāṇa, it is Truth, Reality; and Reality cannot be negative. It is the false belief in a non-existing imaginary self that is negative. The teaching on Anatta dispels the darkness of false beliefs, and produces the light of wisdom. It is not negative: as Asanga very aptly says: ‘There is the fact of No-selfness’ (nairātmyāstitā).