“[T]he good men or women who do not speak ill of Myōhō Renge Kyō but rejoice at hearing Myōhō Renge Kyō after my extinction, should be considered, know this, to have already understood my longevity by firm faith. It is needless to say this of those who [not only rejoice at hearing Myōhō Renge Kyō but also] read, recite and keep Myōhō Renge Kyō. They also should be considered to be carrying me on their heads. Ajita! They need not build a stupa or a monastery in my honor, or make the four kinds of offerings’ to the Saṃgha because those who keep, read and recite Myōhō Renge Kyō should be considered to have already built a stupa or a monastery or made offerings to the Saṃgha.”
All posts by John Hughes
Tao-sheng: The Mad Race
“Hearing of the toys from their father, the children rushed quickly out of the burning house, pushing one another, and striving to be first [shoving one another aside in a
mad race], because they thought that they could get what they each wished to have.”[The Buddha] tells them that because it is what they are fond of they will get it. Perceiving what they will get, they then practice the [required] deeds. That is what is meant by [the phrase] in a mad race leave. Following what [the Buddha] has said they run hard; they have to make every effort to obtain it first: They are “in a mad race to get ahead of the others.” If [the Buddha] tells them about it while offering nothing [as reward] and they do not comprehend it, then they will return to the “fire” [of passion]; how can they be expected to leave [it, saṃsāra]?
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p210
Vajra Sutra: The Not Spoken Dharma
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p102-103Subhūti replied, “Nothing has been spoken by the Tathagata.” What do you say about that?! The Buddha spoke dharma and at the same time asked Subhūti if he had spoken any dharma. How should he be answered? Subhūti told him that he had not spoken dharma. Subhūti probably took one look and understood the principle of emptiness. He was called Empty Born because he was foremost in understanding emptiness, so he understood that with true, real prajña. It is not the case that anything is spoken. So he said, “There is nothing spoken. The Tathagata has not spoken anything.”
Most people are unable to comprehend this passage of text. Clearly the Buddha spoke dharma, and yet he asked if he had spoken dharma. Subhūti, moreover, replied that he had not spoken dharma. What is the meaning of that?
Sakyamuni Buddha and Subhūti were discoursing on true, real prajña. Since true, real prajña does not reside in a framework of language, what can be spoken? The emptiness of the dharma is beyond words and speech. The Buddha spoke dharma for forty-nine years and when the time of his nirvāṇa arrived, he said that he had not spoken one word. He said, “If anyone says the Tathagata has spoken dharma, he slanders the Buddha because he has been unable to understand what I have said.”
“Since the Buddha did not speak dharma, why are there so many sutras spoken by the Buddha?” one may rightly ask. The answer to that lies in the method of using conditioned phenomena for people bound to conditions and speaking unconditioned dharma for people who dwell in the unconditioned.
The Vajra Sūtra says, “Even the dharma should be relinquished, how much the more so what is not dharma.” The Buddha said he had not spoken dharma because he was concerned that people would become attached to the mark of dharma. Being attached to dharma is the same as being attached to self. People’s attachment to emptiness must also be broken. When the dharma door of prajña is spoken, even emptiness must not become an attachment.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 2, 2025
Thereupon World-Holding Heavenly-King, accompanied by thousands of billions of nayutas of gandharvas who were surrounding him respectfully, came to the Buddha, joined his hands together, and said to him, “World-Honored One! I also will protect the keeper of Myōhō Renge Kyō with dhārānis, with divine spells.”
Tao-sheng: Replacing Suffering with Pleasure
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p209-210“Thereupon the rich man thought, ‘This house will be burned down soon by this great fire. If they and I do not get out at once, we shall be burned. I will save them from this danger with an expedient.’
“An idea came to his mind that his children would be attracted by the various toys which they wished to have. He said to them, ‘The toys you wish to have are rare and difficult to obtain. You will be sorry if you do not get them now. There are sheep-carts, deer carts, and bullock-carts outside the gate. You can play with them. Come out of this burning house quickly! I will give you any of them according to your wishes.’ “
This is the fifth segment. The Buddha wants to provide them with the happiness of the three vehicles. As he has told them about the frightening and dreadful happening in order to terrify them, they feel apprehensive, and when they hear the attractions of the three vehicles suddenly their hearts are filled with joy. This is not the real teaching; it is called an expedient device.
What living beings are fond of is replacing suffering with pleasure. Here he speaks of the joys of the three vehicles. These (joys) are what they are fond of; it looks as if they are [true joys], yet [in reality] they are not. What I mean by replacing suffering with pleasure is that in the absence of suffering there is pleasure, and in the absence of pleasure there is suffering. [However], [the statement] that there is no suffering eternally in the three vehicles must not be spoken of in this sense. Traces follow the state of their minds, enabling them to pull themselves out of the stations of suffering, which is a consummate case of an expedient device. Because there are no three vehicles, how can there be pleasure? Yet it is suggested that there is pleasure. [Why?] This also is an expedient device. It has been stated that the joy of the three vehicles consists in bringing suffering to an end (nirodha) but, because suffering has not been destroyed and [the vehicles] have not been clearly revealed, again [it proves that] they are expedient devices. The Buddha’s teaching is [for the sake of] others; those in the Lesser Vehicle follow their masters. These two teachings are compared to the ox and goat, which are the subjects of men. Because the pratyekabuddhas can neither teach [others] nor follow the masters, they are compared to the deer. Transmigration in the three worlds is represented in its walking and trotting the long passage of suffering. li is capable of the unconditioned. One may have joy by replacing walking [the long path of suffering] with it; it is symbolized by the carts. No sooner do they (beings) come out of the burning house through the doorway of the teaching, than they can get it (li). Hence, it is stated that “[they] are outside of the door.”
Vajra Sutra: The Thought of Adorning Buddha Lands
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p83-84A Bodhisattva who adorns Buddhalands does not think that he is adorning Buddhalands. The adornment of Buddhalands is merely a name and nothing more. It has no real substance. Therefore a Bodhisattva Mahāsattva should produce a pure mind. A pure mind is free of attachment. That means you do not broadcast your good deeds to ensure that whatever merit and virtue may have accrued be properly credited. Such a mind is impure. It is dirty. If you have the thought of self and others when you do virtuous acts to adorn Buddhalands, then there are no virtuous acts and there is no adornment. A Bodhisattva’s mind should be pure, without self or others, and without right or wrong. Thoughts which delineate self, others, living beings, and a life are not pure. A mind which is attached to the six dusts is not pure, and is devoid of true and proper merit and virtue.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 1, 2025
Just as the Moon God is brighter than the stars, Myōhō Renge Kyō gives us more light than any of the other sūtras numbering thousands of billions.
Tao-sheng: Stupid Children
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p209“Having thought this, he said to his children as he had thought, ‘Come out quickly!’ He warned them with these good words out of his compassion towards them, but they were too much engrossed in playing to hear the words of their father. 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.”
Though the Sage has introduced them to the teaching [of the One], yet the children are too stupid to realize it, and they fall back again “to love of the playthings” of the five desires, and “they may fall victim to the fire” of the three evil paths. Even though [the Buddha] wants to teach the One, they are not capable of making use of it. Therefore, it (the teaching of the One) is abolished temporarily.
Traveling through the five ways of existence is what is meant by [the word] run. Revolving around and wandering in the six kinds of defilements is referred to as play. Looking at [the Buddha] in his [transformation body (nirmāṇakāya)] sixteen feet tall, not advancing a single foot, that is what [the phrase] merely looking at their father means.
Vajra Sutra: The Thought of Arhatship
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p77Subhūti was asked if an Arhat can have the thought that he has obtained Arhatship, and he replied, “No, because although he has certified to the fruit of Arhatship, it is just a name and nothing more.” Not only upon certification to the fruit of Arhatship is there no realization, but even upon attainment of Buddhahood there is none. There is no tangible dharma which can be called Arhat. It is an empty name. If one thinks it exists, one has an attachment to dharma and has not realized the emptiness of phenomena.
If an Arhat did have the thought that he has obtained Arhatship, he would be attached to self, others, living beings, and a life. He would not have realized the emptiness of self or of phenomena, nor would he have obtained Arhatship. The thought of obtaining Arhatship carries with it the mark of self, which in turn produces its partner, the mark of others. Having the paired phenomena of self and others creates the mark of living beings, which in turn leads to the mark of a life. He would therefore be attached to the four marks.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for March 31, 2025
“Medicine-King! Anyone who reads and recites Myōhō Renge Kyō, know this, will be adorned just as I am. I will shoulder him. Wherever he may be, bow to him! Join your hands together towards him with all your heart, respect him, make offerings to him, honor him, and praise him! Offer him flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments, food and various kinds of music! Make him the best offerings that you can obtain in the world of men! Strew the treasures of heaven to him! Offer him heaps of the treasures of heaven! Why is that? It is because, while he is expounding Myōhō Renge Kyō with joy, if you hear it even for a moment, you will immediately be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”