From the morning portion of my recitation of The Sutra of Contemplation of The Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva I set aside this section:

At that moment there will be a bodhisattva mounted on a white, six-tusked king of elephants facing each of the ten directions, each bodhisattva equal to and no different than Universal Sage, and the ten directions will correspondingly be filled with innumerable and limitless manifested elephant forms. Through his wondrous capabilities, Universal Sage Bodhisattva enables a practitioner who has kept faith with the sutras to perceive all of this. Seeing the bodhisattvas at that moment, the practitioner’s body and mind will fill with joy, and he or she should then pay homage to them and address them, saying:

“Most merciful and compassionate ones: Out of sympathetic concern for me, expound the teachings for my benefit!”

When the practitioner says these words, the bodhisattvas will then speak in unison – each expounding the pure teachings found in the Great Vehicle sutras and reciting verses in praise of the practitioner. This is said as beginning the first stage of contemplating the bodhisattva Universal Sage.

Having perceived these things, the practitioner should then concentrate on the Great Vehicle unceasingly day and night. In dreams while sleeping, the practitioner will see Universal Sage expounding the teachings for his or her benefit, which will ease and comfort the practitioner’s mind exactly as though he or she were awake. Even so, the bodhisattva will say these words as well:

“In the parts you have taken to heart and kept, you have forgotten this phrase; you have made a mistake in this verse.”

Hearing Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s comments at such times, the practitioner will deeply grasp their meaning and objective and, without forgetting, will always keep them in memory. His or her mind will gradually increase in clarity as day after day passes in this way.

When I read this I smiled at the idea of a great Bodhisattva nicely reminding me, “In the parts you have taken to heart and kept, you have forgotten this phrase; you have made a mistake in this verse.” The reason for the smile was a recent revelation of an error I had made on this blog.

I’ll explain.

Last Sunday I left home early in order to set up the chairs and the altar for the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church service being held outside because of COVID-19 precautions. But when I arrived I was greeted by a puzzled Rev. Igarashi, who asked if I received his voicemail? Everything was already in place.

With no setup to do, Rev. Igarashi and I sat on the chairs and waited for others to arrive. I commented on the Mandala Gohonzon he had hung on the makeshift altar and he mentioned that it was one that he had received after completing his third aragyo training, the 100-day ascetic practice. This is the mandala he uses when he travels to Southern California to serve his members there.

Mention of the aragyo training reminded me of a longstanding question I had about the deities enshrined on the Sacramento church’s main altar.

I said to Rev. Igarashi, “I understand Kishimojin’s place since she appears in the Lotus Sutra. But what is Daikokuten’s role?”

“Daikoku,” he replied, “was established as a protector under Tendai Daishi and was adopted by Nichiren.”

I asked, “I understand you can install Kishimojin after the first 100-day aragyo practice. When can you install Daikokuten?”

“Daikoku,” he replied, “can be installed after the third aragyo.”

It was at this point that I realized that I was being gently corrected. Ever since I first added the Seven Happy Gods to my altar (see this post) I’ve been babbling on about Daikokuten.

“In the parts you have taken to heart and kept, you have forgotten this phrase; you have made a mistake in this verse.”

Yes. Daikokuten describes the God Daikoku, but the name is Daikoku. I searched for all references on my blog to Dailkokuten and replaced them with Daikoku.

And just for trivia purposes I’ll add that art history professor Donatella Failla has written, “Worship of Daikoku is said to have been introduced to Japan in the early ninth century by Saichō 最 澄 (767–822), and Daikoku assumed a role as one of the protective deities of the Tendai center on Mt. Hiei.”