Category Archives: b4today

Buddhism for Today: A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra

LS32, Innumerable, b4today

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered who was present for the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, we consider the great Bodhisattvas.

Without exception, all such bodhisattvas as these are great beings that embody the Dharma. They have achieved perfection in behavioral principles, perfection in concentration, perfection in discernment, perfection in emancipation, and perfection in the perspective that pertains to emancipation. Their minds are calm and tranquil, constantly in contemplation, at peace and at ease—having no cravings and creating no causes, and immune to contrary thinking and distraction. Their quiet and pure resolve is boundlessly profound. Having steadfastly maintained this condition over hundreds of thousands of koṭis of kalpas, all of the countless approaches to the Dharma7 are before them here and now. Having gained great wisdom, they fathom all phenomena: their full grasp and discernment of the truth of natures and aspects, of existence and nonexistence, and of length and brevity is manifest and clear.

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano offers this about these Bodhisattvas:

This admiration of the bodhisattvas and bhikshus is not mere empty praise. It indicates the pattern of how these people have practiced the teachings of the Buddha. We cannot attain the same state of mind as the Buddha in a single leap. In the first place, we must study the practice of the bodhisattvas and the bhikshus. Some people consider our inability to follow the same kind of practice as due to its being far removed from the realities of everyday life. It is natural that they should think this, but that is no reason not to try to follow the pattern of the bodhisattvas and bhikshus. There is a key or a chance of opening the gate of enlightenment in following even only one of the many virtuous practices of the bodhisattvas that are expressed in the sutras.
Buddhism for Today, p5-6

LS32, Innumerable, b4today

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month concluded the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, we return to opening and consider who was present.

Thus have I heard: On one occasion the Buddha was staying at the city of Rājagṛha, on Mount Vulture Peak, together with an assembly of twelve thousand eminent monks. Eighty thousand great-being (mahāsattva) bodhisattvas were also there, along with heavenly beings (devas), nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, as well as various monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.

Spontaneously gathered around them—each with retinues that were hundreds of thousands of myriads in number—were leaders of empires great and small: rulers of gold-wheel, silver-wheel, and lesser-wheel domains; kings, princes, and officials of state; and citizens who were noblemen, noble-women, or people of great means. They all made their way to where the Buddha was, bowed their heads at his feet in homage, walked around him a hundred thousand times, burned incense and scattered flowers, and paid their respects in various ways. After they had honored the Buddha, they withdrew and sat to one side.

The bodhisattvas known by name were: Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma;2 Wellspring of Great Majestic Virtue,3 Prince of the Dharma; Wellspring of Freedom from Anxiety, Prince of the Dharma; Wellspring of Effective Discourse, Prince of the Dharma; Maitreya Bodhisattva; Facilitating Leader Bodhisattva; Medicine King Bodhisattva (Bhaiṣajyarāja); Incomparable Medicine Bodhisattva (Bhaiṣajyarājasamudgata); Flower Banner Bodhisattva; Flower Radiance Bodhisattva;4 Sovereign Master of Dharma-grasping Empowerments Bodhisattva; World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara); Great Strength Achieved Bodhisattva (Mahāsthāmaprāpta); Constant Endeavor Bodhisattva (Nityodyukta/Satatasamitābhiyukta);5 Hands Showing the Seal of the Dharma Bodhisattva; Store of Treasures Bodhisattva (Ratnākara); Scepter of the Treasures Bodhisattva; Transcender of the Three Realms Bodhisattva (Trailokyavikrāmin); Bearer of the Loom Bodhisattva (Vemabhara);6 Incense Elephant Bodhisattva (Gandhahastin); Great Incense Elephant Bodhisattva; Majestic Roar of the Lion Bodhisattva; Lion Ranging the World Bodhisattva; Heroic Endeavor of the Lion Bodhisattva (Siṃhavikrīḍita); Relentlessness of the Lion Bodhisattva; Power of Courage and Dynamism Bodhisattva; Imposing Intensity of the Lion Bodhisattva; Well Composed Bodhisattva; and Fully Composed Bodhisattva (Mahāvyūha). Such great-being bodhisattvas as these numbered eighty thousand in all.

Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today offers this observation about the crowd present at the opening of this sutra:

There were also gods, dragons, yakshas, spirits, and animals in the assemblage. Gods are beings living in the various heavens, while dragons are serpent-shaped demigods who live at the bottom of the sea. Yakshas are flying demons. Thus the beings at the great assemblage included demons, who are generally regarded as harmful to human beings, as well as animals. This kind of description is a characteristic of Buddhism that cannot be found in other religions. The Buddha did not try to lead only man to enlightenment but had such vast benevolence as to save all creatures of the universe from their sufferings and lead them to the shore of bliss. Therefore, even man-eating demons were permitted to attend the assemblage to hear the Buddha preach.
Buddhism for Today, p3-4

LS32, Innumerable, b4today

Implanting Our Ideal of the Buddha

[In the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings], all the beings, including the Bodhisattva Great Adornment, praised the holy mind of the Buddha who had realized all, had transcended all, and had led all creatures of the universe as he wisted. …

Praise of the Buddha serves to implant our ideal of the Buddha deep in our memory. It sets forth the eternal goal of buddhahood by constructing a picture of the Buddha’s figure and power as the one who receives the greatest honor and is absolutely perfect.

Buddhism for Today, p6
LS32, d27b, b4today

Not Appearance But Substance; Not Empty Theory But Practice

The Buddha [Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha] told the Bodhisattva [Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings] to let his relics be distributed and paid homage to far and wide. But he meant not only to let his relics themselves be paid homage to but also, through this homage, to cause all living beings to raise the mind of cherishing a longing and thirst for the Buddha. The Buddha also told the bodhisattva to let thousands of stupas be erected. By this the buddha meant to cause all living beings to root the teaching in their minds through the erection of such stupas. The stupas were to be erected for the purpose of extolling the Buddha’s virtues. If we erect a Stupa with concern only for its form and appearance and forget the spirit of establishing the teaching in our minds, our minds cannot become attuned to the Buddha’s mind. What he wishes is not appearance but substance, not empty theory but practice.

Buddhism for Today, p356
LS32, d26b, b4today

Repaying the Grace of the Buddhas

The Buddha’s teachings are said to number eighty-four thousand, and among them there is not one that is useless. All his teachings are sacred. The Buddha freely preached the Law according to the occasion and the mental and spiritual capacities of his listeners. It may safely be said that within his teachings there are ways of preaching suitable for all kinds of people.

The Buddha taught the bodhisattvas: “If there are people who do not believe in the Lotus Sutra when you preach directly to them, you may choose any of my teachings, not limiting yourselves to the sutra.” Indeed, the Lotus Sutra is the culmination of all the Buddha’s teachings and therefore supreme among the many Buddhist sutras. But we must not become exclusive and rigid in our adherence to the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren did not hold only to this sutra but, in order to commend it, freely used quotations from many other sutras. We need to do so still more in the present world. If we exert every effort to lead others thus to the Righteous Law, we shall have repaid the grace of the buddhas. This is our greatest return for the buddhas’ grace.

Buddhism for Today, p346-347
LS32, d25b, d26b, b4today

The Complete Union of Understanding and Faith

We should not study the Lotus Sutra for the sake of learning alone. It is not enough to have understood the sutra intellectually. We cannot be saved in the true sense, nor save the whole of society, until we proceed from understanding to faith and reach the mental state of complete union of understanding and faith.

In chapter 21 the Buddha taught that putting all his sermons in the previous twenty chapters together, the truth penetrating all these chapters is one and one alone. From this chapter, we clearly realize that the teaching shown in the Law of Appearance is entirely united with the teaching shown in the Law of Origin; understanding this, we can deepen our devotion to these two Laws.

Reading through this chapter, it may seem that no important teaching is stated in it, only the mysterious and wonderful divine power of the Tathāgata. That is what makes the chapter hard to understand. The absolute power of the Tathāgata is symbolized by his mysterious phenomena, and each such phenomenon includes the meaning of forming a complete union between the Law of Appearance and the Law of Origin.

Buddhism for Today, p324
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Three Requisites of Real Buddhist Practice

When we recite the title of the Lotus Sutra, it seems well enough in theory to recite it only once if we do so with complete sincerity. But in reality, if we do not repeat the title from three to ten times, the idea of taking refuge in the Buddha does not penetrate completely. Nevertheless, although repetition is very important, if we recite it a thousand or ten thousand times, unless we are superhuman we will become bored or our minds will wander, and we will find ourselves merely mouthing the title without understanding it. This results in the defect of formalism, the lazy belief that merely by reciting the title we can be saved.

We must realize that real Buddhist practice has three requisites: (1) a good practice, (2) wholehearted conduct, and (3) constant repetition.

Buddhism for Today, p91
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Vows

The word “vow” is casually used in our time, but the word in its true sense is not one to be used lightly. “Vow” means setting up one’s own ideal and devoting oneself to its realization. Needless to say, from the standpoint of Buddhism, our ideal is to benefit others. The desire to attain buddhahood does not become a vow unless we entertain it for the purpose of saving others from their sufferings. A vow for the particular aim of benefiting others is called the “original vow” of Buddhists. …

A special vow, as opposed to the general vow, is a vow made according to one’s individual character, ability, and vocation. For example: because I am a talented painter, I will make this world as beautiful as I can by painting beautiful pictures; because I am musically talented, I will use music to give people peace of mind; because I am a farmer, I will render service to society by raising the best crops possible; because I am a merchant, I will be of use to my customers by supplying them with goods as inexpensive and fine as possible. These are good instances of special vows. …

Of course, merely making vows is of no use; we must work to fulfill them. Our vows must never be made with a lukewarm attitude. Once we have pronounced our vows in our minds, we must be zealous and persistent enough to fulfill them at all costs. If we maintain such a mental attitude, we can surely achieve our vows.

Some people think that things never actually turn out as we wish. But this is mistaken. If our minds are concentrated on our vows over a long period of time, our vows will invariably be achieved eventually. If they are not realized in this world, they will be in the world to come. An earnest desire generates great energy. When we continuously endeavor to concentrate our minds even on something that is thought to be almost impossible, such endeavor produces a result that makes the seemingly impossible possible. One’s vow will definitely be achieved if one has an unshakable belief and makes constant efforts to realize it.

Buddhism for Today, p133-134
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‘Karma-Result’

The idea of karma teaches us clearly that one will reap the fruits of what he has sown. Suppose that we are unhappy at present; we are apt to lose our temper and express discontent if we attribute our unhappiness to others. But if we consider our present unhappiness to be the effect of our own deeds in the past, we can accept it and take responsibility for it.

Besides such acceptance, hope for the future wells up strongly in our hearts: “The more good karma I accumulate, the happier I will become and the better recompense I will receive. All right, I will accumulate much more good karma in the future.” We should not limit this idea only to the problems of human life in this world. We can also feel hope concerning the traces of our lives after death. For those who do not know the teachings of the Buddha, nothing is so terrible as death. Everyone fears it. But if we truly realize the meaning of karma-result, we can keep our composure in the face of death because we can have hope for our next life.

When we do not think only of ourselves but realize that the karma produced by our own deeds exerts an influence upon our descendants, we will naturally come to feel responsible for our deeds. We will also realize that we, as parents, must maintain a good attitude in our daily lives in order to have a favorable influence (recompense) upon our children. We will feel strongly that we must always speak to our children correctly and bring them up properly and with affection.

The word “karma-result” has often been interpreted as something negative, but this is due to a mistaken way of teaching this idea. We should consider the idea of karma-result in a positive and forward-looking way.

Buddhism for Today, p105-106
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The All-Permeating One Great Life-Energy

We can attain harmony with others spontaneously when we remember the truth that all things and all men are permeated by one great life-energy and that all things are invisibly interconnected, and when we make the best use of this interconnection by abandoning the idea of ego, that is, by enhancing this interconnection to benefit both ourselves and others. When in harmony with others, we can give up excess and deficiency, struggle and friction, and can maintain peaceful minds. This is the state expressed in the law “Nirvana is quiescence.” It is an ideal state that can be only attained by realizing the other two laws, “All things are impermanent” and “Nothing has an ego.”

The doctrines of the Eightfold Path and the Six Perfections teach us how to live in order to reach the state of “Nirvana is quiescence” and how we should practice the Buddha’s teachings in order to do so.

Buddhism for Today, p33