Buddhism for Today, p434-435After paying homage to the buddhas, the practitioner must kneel formally on one knee, place palms together, and say:
“The buddhas, the World-honored Ones, possess the ten capabilities, dauntlessness, the eighteen unique merits, great mercy, great compassion, and three kinds of constancy of mind. They are always present in the world, and among forms and embodiments theirs is supreme. What impurities do I have that prevent me from seeing them?”
The ten powers mean perfect comprehension in the ten fields of knowledge that belong only to the Buddha. A brief explanation of these powers will be given here because it is very important for believers in the Lotus Sutra to understand them. The ten powers attributed to the Buddha are: (1) the power to know right and wrong states, (2) the power to know the consequences of karma, (3) the power to know all meditations and contemplations, (4) the power to know the various higher and lower capabilities of living beings, (5) the power to know what living beings understand, (6) the power to know the basic nature and actions of living beings, (7) the power to know the causes and effects of living beings in all worlds, (8) the power to know the results of karmas in past lives, (9) the power to know by supernatural insight, and (10) the power of being free from all error, or infallibility in knowledge.
The eighteen unique characteristics are the eighteen merits that belong only to the Buddha. These special characteristics are: (1) faultlessness in body, (2) faultlessness in speech, (3) faultlessness in mind and thought, (4) no unsteadiness of mind, (5) impartiality, (6) perfect resignation, (7) imperishable aspiration to save all living beings, (8) unfailing zeal, (9) unfailing memory of all teachings of all buddhas past, present, and future, (10) unfailing contemplation, (11) unfailing wisdom, (12) unfailing freedom from all hindrances, (13) all bodily deeds being in accord with wisdom, (14) all deeds of speech being in accord with wisdom, (15) all deeds of thought being in accord with wisdom, (16) unhindered knowledge of the past, (17) unhindered knowledge of the future, and (18) unhindered knowledge of the present.
Category Archives: b4today
Buddhism for Today: A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra
Polishing Our Buddha Nature
Buddhism for Today, p433The words “east” and “eastward” have often appeared in preceding chapters of this book. East is the direction where the sun rises, thus implies the beginning of everything. On the other hand, west is the direction where the sun sets, and so implies the end of everything. The latter idea is associated with the belief within Buddhism that anyone who invokes the name of Amita Buddha with a sincere heart can achieve rebirth in the Pure Land in the west. In this chapter, the phrase “see the eastward buddhas” suggests the time when a person has just begun to practice a true faith.
The expression, “Having seen one buddha, he will again see another buddha,” means that though the truth is one, the believer will be able to see many manifestations of the truth in succession if he realizes one truth. If a person can see all the buddhas everywhere in the eastern quarter, he will become able to reflect on himself much more profitably and will thus become able to see all the buddhas in all directions. Attaining this state of mind, his spiritual joy will deepen. The Buddha teaches us in the next sentence, however, that even though the believer can reach such a mental stage, he should not be satisfied with it but should further repent his sins. Through this we understand that the practice of true repentance must not be limited only to the confession of our sins. Repentance is not limited to washing our buddha-nature but includes polishing it.
Ambivalence Defined
When it comes to Nikkyō Niwano and Rissho Kosei-kai, the organization he founded in 1938 with Mrs. Myoko Naganuma and some 30 members, I am ambivalence defined.
I am not a member of Rissho Kosei-kai. I consider myself a member of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church and, by extension, a member of Nichiren Shu. There may be some members of Nichiren Shu who are unhappy with my unorthodox practice and my willingness to explore sources outside those published by the Nichiren Buddhist International Center, but all of the Nichiren Shu priests I’ve met and with whom I have practiced have been encouraging and supportive. That was certainly not my experience when I was a member of Soka Gakkai, and I don’t expect questioning the teachings of Nikkyō Niwano would be welcomed in Rissho Kosei-kai.
Since starting this website in 2015 I’ve immersed myself in books about the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren and Buddhism in general. I have 46 books listed on my Books page here and more on the bookcase in my study waiting to be read.
The wealth of material I’ve read published by Rissho Kosei-kai has proved embarrassing. In 2019, while introducing Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today I felt compelled to rationalize why I was publishing daily quotes taken from A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays On The Lotus Sutra, a Rissho Kosei-kai anthology edited by Gene Reeves, while I was using the Rissho Kosei-kai’s new translation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra in my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice.
This ambivalence has been even more pronounced since attending a 34-week Rissho Kosei-kai in North America (RKINA) advanced course on the Threefold Lotus Sutra.
On several occasions during the course of the class I’ve railed at what I considered Nikkyō Niwano’s questionable interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, only to find myself at other times thankful for his insight.
Take for example this promise in Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva:
“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises [this chapter], saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.”
Back in 2016, during my sixth time through my cycle of 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra, I was exploring “What if…” while reviewing the promises of the Lotus Sutra. Emitting the fragrance of blue lotus flowers and candana of Mt. Ox-Head was a distinct blow to my literalist fantasy.
By the time I first read Buddhism for Today I had read the promise of Chapter 27 more than 45 times and still hadn’t figured out why anyone would want to “emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores.” I completely missed Nikkyō Niwano’s explanation in my first reading of Buddhism for Today. It was only after reading it as part of the RKINA-201 class that I finally noticed the answer:
Buddhism for Today, p364-365These words mean that a person who hears the chapter of the former deeds of Medicine King Bodhisattva and joyfully receives and applauds it will exert a good influence upon those around him. His fragrance not only will remain on his clothes but will be transmitted to those who touch his garments. The phrase “breathe out the fragrance of the blue lotus flower” means that the words spoken by one who joyfully receives and applauds the Lotus Sutra will spontaneously make the minds of those around him beautiful. The phrase “emit the fragrance of ox-head sandalwood from the pores of his body” indicates that those around him will naturally be influenced by his good acts. This is an ideal state of mind, which those practicing the Buddha’s teachings must attain for themselves.
Back in April I wrote about “The Difficulty of Studying the Lotus Sutra” in response to Nikkyō Niwano’s interpretation of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Now I want to celebrate his interpretation of Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Ambivalence, plain and simple.
Seeing Universal Sage in a Dream
Buddhism for Today, p433“To see Universal Virtue in a dream,” a metaphor that appears often in this chapter, has two meanings. First, it means that though when one is awake he can try consciously to keep the Great-vehicle in mind, when asleep he cannot control his mind (the subconscious mind). Even if he wants to have a certain dream or determines not to talk in his sleep, it is impossible for him to control his mind and actions while asleep. However, if a person truly deepens his faith, he can see the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue preach the Law to him even in his dreams. This bodhisattva will appear before him in a dream and will encourage him, saying, “You will be able to attain the mental stage of a bodhisattva,” and will give him careful advice, saying, “You have forgotten this word or have misunderstood this verse.”
Secondly, “to see Universal Virtue in a dream” suggests the following meaning: a person who has truly deepened his faith can frequently realize the truth of the teaching by intuition. This phrase indicates the mental state of having obtained a revelation from the Buddha or of having attained enlightenment by oneself. However, the revelation that a person obtains from the Buddha by intuition is just like a dream; it is not materialized. When he examines his revelation thoroughly and is confident that it is certainly the truth when judged from every angle, it will be beneficial to him and will be a teaching worthy of transmitting to others.
Interpreting The Elephant
Buddhism for Today, p429-430The following expression then occurs: “On the head of the elephant there are three transformed men: one holds a golden wheel, another a jewel, and yet another a diamond-pounder.” The golden wheel typifies the leadership with which one can freely govern people, the jewel indicates the power of wisdom with which one can discern the real state of all things, and the diamond-pounder signifies the power of refuting erroneous views, with which power one can smite the wicked and their sins. Anyone who practices the Buddha’s teachings gradually comes to be endowed with such powers.
“When he raises the pounder and points it at the elephant, the latter walks a few steps immediately.” This expression means that one’s practice of the teaching begins with the repentance of smiting his own evils and sins. “The elephant does not tread on the ground but hovers in the air seven feet above the earth, yet the elephant leaves on the ground its footprints, which are altogether perfect, marking the wheel’s hubs with a thousand spokes.” This figure of speech teaches that while one proceeds toward his ideal (the elephant that hovers in the air), he will actually receive the results of his right practice.
“From each mark of the wheel’s hub there grows a great lotus flower, on which a transformed elephant appears. This elephant also has seven legs and walks after the great elephant. Every time the transformed elephant raises and brings down its legs, seven thousand elephants appear, all following the great elephant as its retinue.” This means that as a person practices the Buddha’s teachings, he influences many other people, causing them to believe the teachings, and these people gradually come to practice the teachings by following the example of those senior to them in the faith.
Destined to Change
Buddhism for Today, p252-253The human body is a material thing and is destined to change. Even in the case of such a great man as Śākyamuni Buddha, his body disappeared from this world when his life of eighty years ended. Our daily necessities, including money and other material things, are also material matters. All of them are impermanent and always changing. No one knows when they may disappear, even though he thinks they exist now. Social status and fame are also impermanent. However, if we purify our minds through religion, we can maintain a peaceful and happy mental state however much the outside world (the world of material things) changes.
The Desires of the Five Sense Organs
Buddhism for Today, p239The desires of the five sense organs are innate and are not wrong in themselves, but they are harmful because illusions arise from being influenced by the pleasures of the senses. They are also dangerous because the urge to seek the Way is disturbed and sullied by them.
This is such an important point that Śākyamuni Buddha taught it on many occasions. It was for this reason that he gave up the practice of asceticism and drank the milk-gruel given to him by a village girl and that he preached the teaching of the Middle Path. The Buddha states clearly that man’s instincts are morally neutral (muki, literally meaning something existing before the decision of right or wrong, that is, something that we cannot call either good or bad). If our natural appetites and instincts were wrong, we should refrain entirely from eating and starve to death. We should become deaf in order to abandon the desires that come through our ears, and we should put our eyes out in order to deny the desires that come through the sense of vision. The Buddha nowhere preaches such extremes but teaches us that though instincts are not wrong in themselves, the fire of illusion that is produced by a burning attachment to them is not good. Our instincts are morally neutral, but it is not good for us to be greedily attached to them. If we misunderstand this point, we fall into the extreme of either asceticism or hedonism and thus violate the teaching of the Middle Path.
Wisdom, Compassion and Practice
Buddhism for Today, p214When we have true wisdom, we understand that all things in the world are related and interdependent (the law that nothing has an ego), and that if we alone are possessed of wisdom or we alone are right, the world as a whole will not become better. Therefore, when we see the many people who lack wisdom and therefore depart from the path of righteousness, we feel the urge to save them from such a situation. The spirit of compassion wells up in our hearts.
If we have the spirit of compassion, we cannot help showing it in our actions. We preach the Law to those who do not know it; we return those who have departed from the path of righteousness to its course; we have the wish to protect and instruct those who are assiduous in practicing the Law. When we can perfectly perform the three practices of wisdom, compassion, and practice, the teaching of the Buddha will be perfected in us and this world will become the Pure Land. The teaching of the Lotus Sutra has such a perfected organization. Here is the reason that we cannot grasp the true meaning of the sutra by reading only bits and pieces, skipping here and there.
Seeking the Way Seriously with Our Own Minds
Buddhism for Today, p247It is most important for us to do things for ourselves. Especially is this necessary in the case of faith. It is all right for us to adopt a faith at others’ suggestion, but we cannot be real believers if we neglect to seek the Way seriously with our own minds. “If a friend repeatedly urges me to go to hear someone preach, I’ll go out of a sense of obligation, though I do not really want to”—such a feeling cannot develop into real faith.
The Five Kinds of Eyes
Buddhism for Today, p224-226The Buddha’s eyes are the eyes of compassion. When the Buddha views a person with his compassionate eyes, desiring to save him, the Buddha perceives all things, including the person’s character, intellect, and mental attitude. The five kinds of eyes (pañca cakṣūṃṣi, go-gen) or ways of viewing things are the following: the eye of a material body (māmṣa-cakṣus, niku-gen), the divine eye of celestial beings (dirya-cakṣus, ten-gen), the eye of wisdom (prajñā-cakṣus, e-gen), the eye of the law (dharma-cakṣus, hō-gen) and the eye of the Buddha (Buddha-cakṣus, butsu-gen).
The eye of a material body means the way of viewing things of an ordinary person, who can perceive only material shapes and forms. Such a person often has a wrong or partial view of things. He mistakes oil for water and a whale for a fish.
The eye of celestial beings means the viewpoint from which we investigate matters theoretically and discern their essential qualities. This is the scientific way of looking at things. When we take this view, we realize that water is formed by the combination of oxygen and hydrogen. From such a point of view, we can foretell when there will be a conjunction between two stars down to the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. At the same time, we can estimate exactly how many millions of tons of petroleum are buried underground. Such a person, who has the ability of seeing things that an ordinary man cannot see, was called a clairvoyant in ancient times.
The eye of wisdom means to discern the entity of things and their real state. This is, in a sense, a philosophical way of looking at things. A person with the eye of wisdom can observe things that are invisible to the average person and can perceive matters that are beyond imagination. He realizes that all things in this world are always changing and there is nothing existing in a fixed form (all things are impermanent); nothing in the universe is an isolated existence, having no relation to other things; everything exists in relationship with everything else like the meshes of a net (nothing has an ego).
The eye of the law is the artistic way of looking at things. To the average man, a mountain is just a mountain and a cloud is merely a cloud. But a poet feels that the mountain speaks to him and the cloud teaches him. He feels that a beautiful flower, a dignified tree, and a little stream talk to him, each in its own special language. Unlike the average person, an outstanding artist can directly touch the lives of such natural phenomena. In the case of man himself and his human life, such an artist can also perceive truths that the ordinary person cannot. This is why in Japan the title of Hōgen, literally meaning “eye of the law,” was given to certain outstanding artists as a special rank, as in the case of the famous artists Kanō Masanobu (1434-1530) and his son Motonobu (1476-1559).
The eye of the Buddha is the highest of all viewpoints. A person with this kind of insight not only can perceive the real state of all things (wisdom) but can observe it with compassion. He penetrates the real state of all things with the desire to make all of them develop to the full extent of their potential, each according to its own original nature. In other words, he is endowed with the divine eye of celestial beings, the eye of wisdom, and the eye of the law while also possessing the mind of great compassion; it is he who takes a religious view of things in the true sense.
If we view all living beings with the eye of the Buddha, we can naturally discern the means most suitable to guide each one. The Buddha can do this perfectly. Granted that we as ordinary people cannot possibly attain such a mental state, we can approach it step by step through our accumulation of practice in the way to buddhahood. As people of religion, we must always try to view everything with a mental attitude based on the compassionate mind of the Buddha.