Spring WritingsNichiren Shonin attained enlightenment with the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and controlled his mind with Odaimoku. Odaimoku has the power to lead us safely through life. Nichiren Shonin’s whole life shows us this. As you know, although Nichiren Shonin faced many persecutions and terrorism, he was able to survive and live through his 60 years of life because of his faith in the Lotus Sutra. We are always protected by Odaimoku. We should always keep a sincere mind for enlightenment, and chant Odaimoku.
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800 Years: Sincere Faith and Small Good Deeds
Introduction to the Lotus SutraToward the end of [Chapter 2], the Buddha expounds a well-known teaching called, “A small good deed leads a person to become a Buddha.” This teaching states that whenever someone shows sincere faith in the Buddha by performing a good deed, no matter how tiny it may be, this act sets him on the path to Buddhahood, and he or she is sure to become a Buddha eventually. Even though such a person is not yet a Buddha, he or she is on the way, and deserves respect as a future Buddha.
For example, even a person who has never performed any special practice can become a Buddha simply by making an offering, such as incense, flowers, or the wonderful sounds of music, in front of a Stupa (a round dome-shaped shrine) or an image of the Buddha. The sutra repeatedly maintains that such people “have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.” Furthermore, just entering a shrine only once and reciting, “Namo Buddhaya” (Homage to the Buddha!), or offering a single flower, is enough to enable anyone to become a Buddha. What is more, even a child at play, who pretends to build a Stupa by heaping up a pile of sand or dirt, “has already become a Buddha.” In the same way, if a child draws a picture of the Buddha on a wall with a stick or the back of his fingernail, and makes a gesture of praying to it, he or she has already become a Buddha (or, as the sutra says again, “has already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha”), (The Buddha is pure good: any act of good on our part, no matter how small or insignificant it may appear to be, puts us in his embrace from which nothing can ever separate us.)
The sutra presents various instances, one by one in order, to show that any small act of good will on our part enables us to become a Buddha. From these concrete examples, we can see that the One Vehicle is the teaching of the Buddha himself—boundless in bounty, pouring forth perfect life in limitless supply, lending a hand to everyone, and leading all of us to his own enlightenment. Finally, the sutra adds, “Anyone who even hears the Dharma (law/truth) will not fail to become a Buddha!”
800 Years: The Ordinary Day-to-Day Practice
Lecture on the Lotus SutraIt is the ordinary day-to-day practice that each of us performs that is actually the great secret practice of Rahula. It isn’t fame or acquiring a big name that is required to attain enlightenment. It isn’t being famous that will lead others to practice the Lotus Sutra. It is our practice of the Lotus Sutra in our everyday lives that will enable countless others just like us to ultimately take faith in the Lotus Sutra. We should not be discouraged, instead we can look at Rahula who will become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven-Treasures Buddha and we too can walk on the flowers of the seven treasures of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.
800 Years: Opening Ourselves to the Buddha’s Merits and Virtues
Lotus SeedsThe awakened life of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha is the awakened life of all beings throughout time and space. It is also actively present in our lives, a presence that enables us to live as buddhas when we open ourselves to the Buddha’s merits and virtues through our faith in the Lotus Sutra.
800 Years: The Merit of the Reverse Relationship
Those who had neither a chance to hear the Lotus teaching in the past nor the intention of putting faith in the Lotus Sūtra in this life will fall into evil realms anyway. Therefore, they should be forced to hear the Lotus Sūtra, causing them to slander the sūtra, which eventually enables them to attain Buddhahood in the future through the merit of reverse relationship.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 22
800 Years: Parents and Children
The Parable of the Burning House in Chapter 3 offers an interesting vision of a life of ignorance:
“They were not frightened or afraid. They did not wish to come out. They did not know what a fire was, what a house was, and what they would lose. They ran about happily. They only glanced at their father occasionally.”
This begs the question: If they are not afraid and they are running about happily, why bother them? But any parent will recognize the answer.
“This triple world
Is my property.
All living beings therein
Are my children.
There are many sufferings
In this world.
Only I can save
[All living beings].“I told this to all living beings.
But they did not believe me
Because they were too much attached
To desires and defilements.“Therefore, I expediently expounded to them
The teaching of the Three Vehicles,
And caused them to know
The sufferings of the triple world.
I opened, showed, and expounded
The Way out of the world.”
Underscore “caused them to know the sufferings of the triple world,” and “opened, showed, and expounded the way out of the world.”
Where does faith come into this discussion? It is what the children are asked to provide. It is the initial willingness to believe.
“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. … 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. … 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.”
And this willingness to believe – this faith – makes it possible for the Buddha to reveal the One Vehicle that can carry all of his children.
“I expound only to people of profound wisdom
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Because men of little wisdom would doubt this sūtra,
And not understand it even if they heard it.
No Śrāvaka
Or Pratyekabuddha
Can understand
This sūtra.“Even you, Śāriputra,
Have understood this sūtra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Śrāvakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sūtra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.”
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800 Years: Doubts
In Chapter 3 we get an example of how arrogance can poison faith and weaken it when Śāriputra sings in gāthās:
“I walked about mountains and valleys,
Or sat under a tree in a forest, thinking this over.
I reproached myself with a deep sigh:
‘Why was I deceived?
We also are sons of the Buddha
[Just as the Bodhisattvas are].
We entered the same [world]
[Of the] Dharma-without-āsravas.
But we shall not be able to expound
Unsurpassed enlightenment in the future.
We are in the same [world of the] Dharma.
But we shall not be given
The golden body with the thirty-two marks,
The ten powers, and the emancipations [of the Buddha].
We are deprived of the hope
To have the eighty wonderful marks,
The eighteen unique properties
And the other merits [of the Buddha].’“[Sitting] in the midst of the great multitude,
You benefited all living beings.
Your fame extended over the worlds of the ten quarters.
When I was walking alone,
I saw all this, and thought:
‘I am not given this benefit. I have been deceived.’
I thought this over day and night,
And wished to ask you,
‘Am I disqualified
[From having this benefit] or not?’”
When we find ourselves in this position we shouldn’t just sit and wonder. We need to ask why. That’s part of our practice. We need faith to ask and then listen.
“I hear your gentle voice.
Your voice is deep and wonderful.
You expound the Pure Dharma.
My heart is filled with great joy.
All my doubts are gone.
I have obtained true wisdom.“I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.”
Persevering in faith we proceed along the path.
In Burton Watson’s introduction to his 1993 translation of the Lotus Sutra, he writes:
“Very early in the sutra the Buddha warns us that the wisdom of the Buddhas is extremely profound and difficult to comprehend, and this warning is repeated frequently in later chapters. …
“But of course in the view of religion there are other approaches to truth than merely through words and intellectual discourse. The sutra therefore exhorts the individual to approach the wisdom of the Buddhas through the avenue of faith and religious practice. The profound influence which the Lotus Sutra has exerted upon the cultural and religious life of the countries of eastern Asia is due as much to its function as a guide to devotional practice as to the actual ideas that it expounds. It calls upon us to act out the sutra with our bodies and minds rather than merely reading it, and in that way to enter into its meaning.” (page xx-xxi)
Through practice and study, we set aside our doubts and strengthen our faith. Moment to moment, we walk along the path leading to enlightenment.
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800 Years: Faith by Example
Spring WritingsTransmitting Buddhist faith is just like telling your children the experiences you’ve had throughout your life, along with your idea of faith. It is a natural thing, just as one usually teaches one’s children at home. On the other hand your faith will be tested, because any discipline you give your children does not carry good fruits without action. Teaching faith without action does not communicate any emotion, and others will not adopt a new faith. In order to transmit your faith to your children or others, you must show a good example for them through your actions if they are to have faith.
800 Years: By the Power of Faith
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra[I]t would be a serious mistake to take the teaching of the “attainment of Buddhahood in this life” as meaning we can attain enlightenment without any effort. Even if we believe strongly in a religion, we must still practice it and apply its principles to our life. But by the power of their faith, ordinary people can attain the power of the Buddha without first completing difficult studies and practicing for eons and eons. This is what is meant by the “attainment of Buddhahood in this very life” [in Chapter 12, Devadatta.]
800 Years: Receiving This Teaching with Faith and Rejoicing
Lotus SeedsOnce the Eternal Buddha reveals his unborn and deathless true nature, Buddhahood is no longer just a theory, or the achievement of a special person who lived in the distant past, or a remote future possibility. Buddhahood is the essential truth of the present moment that the other teachings point toward. This is why the One Vehicle teaching of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha is considered to be the reflection of the Eternal Buddha in this world of impermanence, while the Eternal Buddha is the ever-present actuality that is the source of all such reflections. It is important that we receive this teaching with faith and rejoicing, and spread it to others.