Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick of the Shingan-ji [True Vow Temple] in the San Francisco Bay Area has an excellent lecture on Transmigration and Karma. Very imformative and a great introduction.
Category Archives: Blog
The Composition of Buddhalands
Recently I read a copy of the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s Vimalakīrti Sūtra. This is at least my third reading of this sūtra and what struck me this time through was the discussion of Buddhalands.
In Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sūtra we’re told:
[This] pure world of mine is indestructible.
But the [perverted] people think:
“It is full of sorrow, fear, and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”
Morning and evening each day in the service prayer we vow, “May we realize this world is the Eternal Buddha’s Pure Land!”
That’s always been hard to understand. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra sheds some light on this.
In the sūtra, Vimalakīrti shows his audience a distant Buddhaland called Myriad Fragrances in which the Buddha Collection of Supreme Fragrances reigns. Everything in this world is composed of fragrance, even the Dharma.
Later in the sūtra Ananda discusses with the Buddha what happened at Vimalakīrti ‘s house:
Ananda said to the Buddha, “This is unprecedented, World Honored One! This fragrant food is able to accomplish the Buddhas’ work!”
The Buddha said, “Indeed, Ananda! Indeed! There are some Buddhalands where the brilliance of the Buddha’s light accomplishes the Buddhas’ work; where the myriad Bodhisattvas accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where people conjured by the Buddha accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where bodhi trees accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where the Buddha’s robes and bedding accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where food accomplishes the Buddhas’ work; where gardens, groves, and pavilions accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where the thirty-two hallmarks and eighty subsidiary characteristics accomplish the Buddhas’ work; where the Buddha’s body accomplishes the Buddhas’ work; or where empty space accomplishes the Buddhas’ work. In response to these conditions, living beings are led to undertake the practice of the precepts.
“There are places where dreams, illusions, shadows, echoes, reflections in a mirror, the moon’s reflection in water, mirages in the heat, and other such analogies accomplish the buddhas’ work; or where sounds, language, and words accomplish the Buddhas’ work. There are pure Buddhalands where tranquil silence, the absence of words, explanations, comments, and opinions, nonaction, and the unconditioned accomplish the Buddhas’ work. In this way, Ananda, there is nothing about the Buddhas’ deportment, nothing in what they do, that does not accomplish the Buddhas’ work.
“Ananda! Living beings are troubled by the four demons and the eighty-four thousand afflictions; through these troubles, the Buddhas carry out their work. This is to enter the Dharma-door of all Buddhas. Bodhisattvas who enter this door do not give rise to joy, craving, or conceit when they see pure and well-adorned Buddhalands, nor do they give rise to worry, aversion, or contempt when they see impure Buddhalands. They have only pure thoughts toward all Buddhas and feel unprecedented joy and reverence.
“The merit of all Buddhas is equal. In order to teach living beings, the Buddhas manifest different Buddhalands.”
I’m reminded of the verse in the Sūtra of Innumerable Meanings in which we learn that the Buddha “emerges according to the good karmic actions of living beings.”
I also want to note that I enjoyed the translation. Compared to the BDK America 2004 translation, this is more readable, but not quite as good as Burton Watson’s 1997 Columbia University Press translation.
An example of the difference can be seen on page 106, where Vimalakīrti has just shown everyone the Buddha Collection of Supreme Fragrances and his Bodhisattvas sitting down for a meal.
Then Vimalakīrti asked the assembled Bodhisattvas, “Humane Ones, who among you can go to that Buddha for food?” But all of them were silenced by Mañjuśrī’s awe-inspiring spiritual power. Vimalakīrti said, “Humane Ones, is none of you ashamed?”
Mañjuśrī said, “Didn’t the Buddha say not to look down on those not yet learned?”
In reading this I stumbled. Mañjuśrī isn’t doing anything. What’s going on? Watson’s translation offers this on page 113:
Then Vimalakirti addressed the bodhisattvas, saying, “Sirs, who among you can bring us some of that Buddha’s food?”
Out of deference to Manjushri’s authority and supernatural powers, however, all of them remained silent.
[Addressing Manjushri,] Vimalakirti said, “Sir, a great assembly such as this this is shameful, is it not?”
Manjushri replied, “As the Buddha has told us, never despise those who have yet to learn.”
I suppose one could argue that Watson has inserted his opinion rather than simply translating the Chinese text, but I find his version to more readable as a result and therefore better for it.
Five Schools of One Buddhism
This year I’m going to be immersed in Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s fourteen volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra. In addition, I’m currently using the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of the Lotus Sutra in my daily practice. The sutra itself is volume 15 of the commentary. In addition, I’m reading a number of other books published by the Buddhist Text Translation Society.
Why? I want to read everything about the Lotus Sutra. In the past I’ve discussed Dogen’s view of the Lotus Sutra and Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra. Hsuan Hau makes a third Chan master with something to say about the Lotus Sutra. So there’s nothing unusual in all of this.
As for my reading outside the Lotus Sutra – I recently re-read the Vimalakīrti Sūtra – that too comes from the Lotus Sutra, specifically Chapter 2.
“Śāriputra! I also expound various teachings to all living beings only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. There is no other vehicle, not a second or a third. Śāriputra! All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters also do the same.
As Nichiren explains, all of the streams of the Buddha’s teaching flow into the ocean of the Lotus Sutra:
All the sūtras entering the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra take up the one flavor of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō because of the wonderful merit of the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra. There is no reason why they have to be referred to by other names such as Nembutsu, Ritsu, Shingon, or Zen.”
Shoshū Mondō-shō, Questions and Answers Regarding Other Schools, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 165 (2022)
Yes, Nichiren was adamant about rejecting the practices of Nembutsu, Ritsu, Shingon and Zen, but I’d argue that that doesn’t preclude Nichiren followers from studying all of these streams.
Since I’m reading Hsuan Hua’s commentary, I want to acknowledge where he is coming from in his view of the Lotus Sutra.
Buddhism: A Brief Introduction includes a useful interview between Hsuan Hua and Karl Ray, which originally appeared in the Shambala Review under the title “Back to the Source.”
Karl Ray: (KR)
The first question I would like to ask is based on an article in which you suggest that Buddhists forget sectarian lines. Can you suggest practical steps that Buddhist organizations can take to bring this about?
Master: (M)
Before the Buddha came into the world there was no Buddhism. After the Buddha appeared, Buddhism came into being, but there was not as yet any division into sects or schools. Sectarianism is a limited view, a view of small scope, and cannot represent Buddhism in its entirety. The complete substance of Buddhism, the totality, admits no such divisions. When you divide the totality of Buddhism into sects and schools, you merely split it into fragments. In order to understand Buddhism in its totality, one must eliminate views of sects and schools and return to original Buddhism. One must return to the root and go back to the source.
KR: That brings me to a question about the different teachings taught here at Gold Mountain Monastery. I understand that you teach five different schools, including the Ch’an School, the Teaching School, the Vinaya School, the Secret School, and the Pure Land School. Can they all be taught like this together? Do they all belong to the original corpus of Buddhist teachings?
M: The Five Schools were created by Buddhist disciples who had nothing to do and wanted to find something with which to occupy their time. The Five Schools all issued from Buddhism. Since they came forth from Buddhism, they can return to Buddhism as well. Although the Five Schools serve different purposes, their ultimate destination is the same. It is said,
There is only one road back to the source, But there are many expedient ways to reach it.
Although there are five different schools, they are still included within one “Buddhism”. If you want to understand the totality of Buddhism, you need not divide it up into schools or sects. Originally there were no such divisions. Why make trouble when there is none? Why be divisive and cause people to have even more false thoughts than they already have?
People think that the Five Schools are something really special and wonderful. In fact, they have never departed from Buddhism itself. It is just like the government of a country. The government is made up of different departments. There is a Department of Health, a Department of Economics, a State Department, a Department of the Interior, and so forth. People may not realize that all these different departments are under a single government. All they recognize is the department, and they don’t recognize the government as a whole. Their outlook is narrow. Now, we wish to move from the branches back to the roots. In the analogy, the roots are the government and the branches are the various departments. People should not abandon the roots and cling to the branches. If you only see the individual departments and fail to recognize the government, you will never be able to understand the problems faced by the country as a whole. You will have no idea what they are all about.
KR: Then one should feel free to pursue any or all of the teachings?
M: Of course. Religion cannot be allowed to tie one up.
KR: And if one chooses to follow only one certain school, can one reach the goal that all of them aim for?
M: All roads lead to Rome. All roads come to San Francisco. All roads will take you to New York. You may ask, ‘Can I get to New York by this road?’ but you would do better to ask yourself, ‘Will I walk that road or not?’
Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p83-84
Another interesting glimpse into the thinking of Hsuan Hua comes from the Forward to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association‘s translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra.
The Venerable Hsuan Hua’s Vision
Buddhism in the modern Western world isn’t even at the kindergarten level. But what Master Hua could see at the grand scale was that three things were necessary for Buddhism to come into the West. Not just Buddhism in the West, either. To ensure the future of humanity, there were three essential things: translation, education, and maintaining the monastic tradition. Basically, Master Hua could see that humanity would have to start all over again, from a seed; it might preserve some of what we have now, but it would more or less have to start over.
The first essential element in starting over is to maintain the monastic tradition as a choice. It has to be available as a choice. People only really have two modes of living: at-home and left-home. If you live at home, you have to engage with the conditional at some level; you have to participate in some kind of strategic construct-working for a living or whatever-that will take up some amount of time. As a monastic, that’s taken care of. In exchange, you take on the responsibility of maintaining the Dharma in one way or another. As a layperson, you can stay away from spouses and pets as much as you like, but you still have to pay for your apartment and so on; you have to get involved with the conditional, and you can throw in a little meditation here and there. As a monastic, you avoid that, but you have to be a Bodhisattva. That’s the trade-off. Master Hua was very clear: when it comes down to it, it’s one or the other. Maintaining the monastic tradition is vital, as a practical issue, not a just a metaphysical one. On the one hand, people need to have this choice available to them; on the other, someone needs to maintain the Dharma.
The other two elements–education and translation–are intertwined. Whatever framework of reality is operating within a culture at a given time, it comes primarily through the educational construct. So having a thriving system, from elementary up through post-graduate studies, is indispensable to a healthy future. Translation acts a kind of liaison in that process; it can influence the educational construct and help to create an alternative to the one we have now. We’ve barely even scratched the surface of translating the Dharma into English. As more texts become available, people will be faced with a lot of different things. The Buddha was very flexible. He taught to all kinds of conditions. As more of the Dharma is brought into English, plenty of opportunities will open up for people to look at things in a new way.
Master Hua wanted to see hundreds of people working together on translation. He wanted to bring people together from all over the world. Like a Borobudur of translation. The problem is our imagination. We think so small. We don’t really consider just how big a project this could be, and how many people could work on it together. Master Hua wanted to bring everyone together. If our translation work could be like this, it could really be what he envisioned as an essential part of ensuring a better future for all of us.
Doug Powers
Vice President for Finance and Administration,
Professor, Dharma Realm Buddhist UniversitySeptember 27, 2020
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra
Beginning today I’m using a new translation of the Lotus Sūtra for my daily practice.
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra was published in 2020 by the Buddhist Text Translation Society. The sūtra itself is volume 15 of a commentary on the Lotus Sūtra given by Hsuan Hua in San Francisco in a series of almost daily lectures between November 1968 and November 1970.
This elegant softcover edition, which was printed in Taiwan, has a gatefold cover. The front gatefold offers:
The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma-puṇḍarīka Sūtra) presents the One Buddha Vehicle as Śākyamuni Buddha’s ultimate teaching and a unifying path that embraces and reconciles the variety of Buddhist doctrines as well as the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles. Provisional and ultimate are shown to be nondual, and their nonduality epitomizes “the essence of things as they really are.” The sūtra also emphasizes that the potential for awakening is ever-present in sentient beings and declares that all of them will one day realize Buddhahood. Famous for its parables, the Lotus Sūtra demonstrates the countless skillful means (upāya) that Buddhas use to lead living beings to liberation.
The Buddhist Text Translation Society, the Dharma Realm Buddhist University and the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association hold the copyright for this translation.
The back cover gatefold offers this on the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association:
The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association (formerly the Sino-American Buddhist Association) was founded in 1959 by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in the hopes of making the Buddha’s genuine teachings available throughout the world. To this end, it is committed to the translation and propagation of the Buddhist canon, the promotion of ethical and moral education, and the benefit of all living beings. For more information, please visit www.drba.org.
The back cover gatefold also offers this brief biography for Hsuan Hua:
Even as a child, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua was a diligent cultivator, bowing to the Buddhas, his parents, and many other beings first thing in the morning and last thing at night. When his mother died, he sat by her grave for three years as an observance of filial respect. After that he left the home life under Venerable Master Changzhi and later received the transmission of the Weiyang Chan lineage from Venerable Master Hsu Yun (Xuyun), becoming its ninth patriarch. He went to Hong Kong in 1949 to propagate the Dharma there, and in 1962 brought the Buddha’s teaching to America, where he established the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, the Buddhist Text Translation Society, the International Translation Institute, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and many branch monasteries, and various educational institutes including Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Developing Virtue Secondary School, and Instilling Goodness Elementary School.
It is worth noting that while Hsuan Hua was a patriarch of the Weiyang Chan lineage, he did not limit himself strictly to chan teachings.
In Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, a book “Based on the Compassionate Teachings of the Venerable Tripitaka master Hsuan Huan,” Chan is described as having four distinguishing characteristics:
- It is not established by words,
- It is a special transmission outside the teachings,
- It directly points to the human mind,
- Through it, one sees one’s own nature and becomes a Buddha.
Chan is transmitted directly from one mind to another mind. Its teaching simply directs the individual to see one’s own inherent, true mind, referred to as “seeing the nature and returning to the source.” That is, the enlightened teacher, profoundly aware of the mind of his student, certifies that the student’s mind is indeed truly “awakened”. This is a direct certification, mind to mind, that can only be done by a Sage.
Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p89-90
However, the Buddhism that Hsuan Hua brought to America was much more. His Buddhism incorporates the Vinaya School of the Theravada tradition, the “Secret School” – esoteric teaching of mantras – and what is described as “The Teaching (Scholastic) School.”
As explained in Buddhism: A Brief Introduction:
The Chan School exclusively investigates Chan (Dhyana or Zen) meditation. The Teaching School emphasizes scholastic inquiry, exegesis, lecturing sūtras and interpreting and expounding Dharma. The Vinaya School focuses on questions of ethics and cultivating moral self-discipline. Vinaya students strive to be “awesome, majestic, and pure in Vinaya, great models for the three realms of existence”. Then there is the Secret School. “Secret” means “no mutual knowing”. And finally, the Pure Land School teaches the exclusive mindfulness and recitation of “Na Mo A Mi To Fo” (‘Homage to Amitabha Buddha’) the “Vast Six Character Name”.
Some people say that Chan School is the highest of the five. Others claim that the Teaching School, or the Vinaya School, is highest. Cultivators of the Secret School say “The Secret School is supreme.” Practitioners of the Pure Land Dharma-door say, “The Pure Land Dharma door is first, it is superior.” Actually, all Dharmas are equal; there is no high or low. “Highest” is everyone’s own personal opinion; whatever school you like, you claim to be the highest.
Buddhism: A Brief Introduction, p117-118
For my purposes as a follower of Nichiren and his view of the primacy of the Lotus Sūtra and the efficacy of chanting the Daimoku, my favorite is, of course, the Teaching School. It is this aspect of Hsuan Hua’s Buddhism that has brought about this new translation of the sūtra and fourteen volumes of commentary of the The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra.
Reciting the Lotus Sutra in Shindoku
Today I began my monthlong recitation of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku. In my morning service, I play the recording for the chapter found here on my phone and follow along in the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized.
For the 10 previous years, I recited a portion of the Lotus Sutra in the morning and then read aloud the same section of the sutra in English in the evening. That was my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice. This year I decided to recite an entire chapter of the sutra in shindoku each day for the 28 days of February.
I will continue my 45-day cycle of reading aloud the Lotus Sutra in English in the evening.
Two Tongues in the Ashes
When I was selecting examples of Miraculous Tales from The Dainihonkoku Hokekyō of Priest Chingen, I deliberately excluded the tales of self-immolation. After reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peaceful Action, Open Heart and his recollection of Thich Quang Duc, the first monk to immolate himself in the 1960s to protest Vietnam’s anti-Buddhist laws, I changed my attitude about such stories. I’ve decided to include one example of pious self-immolation from Daniel B. Stevenson’s “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p434In Jingzhou there lived two bhikṣunīs who were sisters. Their names have been forgotten, but they both recited the Lotus Sūtra, held a deep loathing for the physical body, and together conceived the desire to give up their lives [in offering to the dharma]. [To this end,] they set restrictions on clothing and diet and prescribed for themselves a regimen of painful austerities. They ingested various perfumed oils and gradually reduced their intake of coarse rice, until they gave up grains altogether and took only fragrant honey. [Even then,] their energy and spiritual determination remained as vigorous and fresh as ever. They announced [widely] to the monks and laity [around them] that at an appointed time in the future they would immolate themselves.
On the evening of the eighth day of the second month during the third year of the Zhenguan era [629], they set up two high seats in the middle of one of the large boulevards of Jingzhou. Then they wrapped their bodies from head to foot in waxed cloth, leaving only their faces exposed. The crowds gathered like a mountain; their songs of praise filled the air like clouds. The two women together began to chant the Lotus Sūtra. When they reached the “Medicine King” (Bhaiṣajyarāja) chapter, the older sister first ignited the head of the younger sister, and the younger in turn lit the head of the older sister. Simultaneously the two blazed up, like two torches in the clear night. As the flames crept down over their eyes, the sound of their voices became even more distinct. But, as it gradually arrived at their noses and mouths, they grew quiet [and their voices were heard no more]. [They remained seated upright] until dawn, linked together on their two seats. Then, all at once, the fire gave out. [As the smoke and flame cleared,] there amidst their charred and desiccated bones lay two tongues, both perfectly intact. The crowd gasped in awe. [A short time later] a tall stūpa was constructed for them.
Tales of the Lotus Sutra
In 1995, Princeton University Press published an anthology devoted to Buddhism in Practice as part of the university’s Princeton Readings in Religions. Donald S. Lopez Jr. edited the volume. Included in the anthology is Daniel B. Stevenson’s “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Stevenson’s article offers translations of several stories from the Tang-dynasty tales of devotion to the Lotus Sutra known as Hongzan fahua zhuan, or Accounts in Dissemination and Praise of the Lotus.
Buddhism in Practice, p427-428The Hongzan fahua zhuan belongs to a genre of Chinese Buddhist writing known as the “record of miraculous response,” or “miracle tale,” for short. The Buddhist miracle tale originated during the early medieval period, taking as its model two related narrative forms of indigenous origin that enjoyed widespread popularity at that time: the Chinese “tale of the strange or extraordinary” and the tradition of the exemplary biography inspired by the Chinese dynastic histories. The Buddhist miracle tale probably stands closest in spirit to the exemplary biography. Like the latter, the miracle tale was (and continues to be) circulated primarily for reasons of spiritual edification. Behind the marvels that it recounts there lurks an ever-present injunction to faith and piety. …
Of the miracle tales as a whole, we know that some were gathered locally from oral tradition. We know that they were selected, reworked, and disseminated by literate lay and monastic figures, some of whom were quite eminent. We also know that many of these same tales were told time and again, sometimes at formal ritual gatherings before audiences containing persons of every ilk—mendicants and laypersons, educated and uneducated. On this basis the miracle tale can be understood as “popular” in the sense of anonymous and generic—a body of literature that reflects religious motifs which are universal to Buddhist monastic and lay life rather than the province of one particular sector or stratum.
The Hongzan fahua zhuan organizes its contents according to eight categories of cultic activity: drawings and likenesses produced on the basis of the Lotus, translation of the Lotus, exegesis, cultivation of meditative discernment (based on the Lotus), casting away the body (in offering to the Lotus), recitation of the scripture (from memory), cyclic reading of the sūtra, and copying the sūtra by hand. Individual entries are, in turn, arranged in chronological sequence according to dynastic period.
Four of the topical sections of the Hongzan fahua zhuan—exegesis or preaching of the Lotus, recitation from memory, reading, and copying the Lotus—find an immediate counterpart in the famous “five practices” of receiving and keeping, reading, reciting, copying, and explicating the Lotus Sūtra described in the “Preachers of Dharma” chapter of the sūtra and articulated by exegetes such as the Tiantai master Zhiyi. Section 5 of the Hongzan fahua zhuan, on “casting away the body,” contains biographies of devotees who ritually burned themselves alive in imitation of the bodhisattva Medicine King’s self-immolation in offering to the dharma in chapter 23 of the Lotus. Various subsidiary themes of cultic and ritual activity that recur throughout the tales of the Hongzan fahua zhuan can likewise be traced to these chapters. One topic that is conspicuously absent from the Hongzan fahua zhuan is the cult of Guanyin.
The Hongzan fahua zhuan is a precursor of the miraculous stories told in Japan. See Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition and Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan.
Starting tomorrow, I will publish one of these stories on the first Monday of each month as part of my 2025 collection of promises contained in the Lotus Sutra.
FAQ: The Lotus Sutra and the Daimoku
After gathering the promises of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s encouragement so that I could publish a daily promise here, I took that content and submitted it to Google’s NotebookLM, an AI assistant that analyzes texts and answers questions based on the content of those texts.
Here’s the Frequently Asked Questions generated by NotebookLM’s AI assistant based on those promises.
- What is the significance of the daimoku, “Namu-myoho-renge-kyo,” in relation to the Lotus Sutra?
- The daimoku encapsulates the essence of the entire Lotus Sutra. Just as the name “Japan” represents all its provinces, people, and resources, the daimoku embodies the entirety of the sutra’s teachings. It signifies the principle of “3,000 existences in one thought,” meaning that all phenomena, from hell to Buddhahood, are interconnected and inherently possess the potential for enlightenment. Chanting the daimoku allows individuals to tap into this potential and manifest their Buddhahood.
- Why is chanting the daimoku considered more important than contemplating the “3,000 existences in one thought”?
- While contemplating the “3,000 existences” is valuable, Nichiren emphasizes the power of chanting the daimoku as a direct path to Buddhahood. Just as a lotus flower blossoms in response to sunlight, chanting the daimoku provides the necessary life force for spiritual growth and transformation. The daimoku is considered the “actual” doctrine of “3,000 existences in one thought,” making it the most effective practice for the Latter Day of the Law.
- What is the meaning of “Myoho-Renge-Kyo”?
- “Myoho-Renge-Kyo” is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra, meaning “The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”
- Myoho represents the Mystic Law, the underlying principle of the universe that governs life and death, cause and effect. It signifies the interconnectedness of all things and the potential for Buddhahood inherent in all beings.
- Renge refers to the lotus flower, a symbol of purity and enlightenment. The lotus blooms in muddy water, demonstrating that enlightenment can emerge from the challenges of daily life.
- Kyo means sutra, the teachings of the Buddha.
Together, the five characters encapsulate the profound teachings of the Lotus Sutra, which reveal the path to enlightenment for all people.
- What are the benefits of chanting the daimoku?
Chanting the daimoku offers numerous benefits, including:
- Purification of karma: The daimoku is compared to a rhinoceros horn or sandalwood leaf that repels negativity and purifies one’s karma.
- Protection and support: Chanting invokes the protection of the Buddhas and protective forces.
- Spiritual awakening: It cultivates wisdom, compassion, and courage.
- Attainment of Buddhahood: The Lotus Sutra states that anyone who chants “Namu-myoho-renge-kyo” even once will eventually attain Buddhahood.
- Can anyone chant the daimoku and receive benefits?
- Yes, the Lotus Sutra emphasizes that the path to Buddhahood is open to all people, regardless of gender, social status, or past actions. Even those traditionally considered incapable of attaining enlightenment, such as women and those who have committed grave offenses, are embraced by the Lotus Sutra’s teachings and can achieve Buddhahood through chanting the daimoku.
- Is it necessary to chant the entire Lotus Sutra to receive benefits?
- No, the Lotus Sutra states that even chanting one phrase, one sentence, or even one character of the sutra holds immense merit. Chanting the daimoku is considered the most direct way to access the sutra’s power and benefits in the Latter Day of the Law.
- What is the difference between the theoretical and essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra?
- The theoretical teachings, found in the first fourteen chapters, focus on the concept of “3,000 existences in one thought” from a philosophical perspective. The essential teachings, revealed in the latter fourteen chapters, reveal the Buddha’s true identity as the Eternal Buddha and emphasize the practical application of “3,000 existences in one thought” through chanting the daimoku. Nichiren bases his teachings on the essential doctrine, considering it the most relevant and powerful for achieving Buddhahood in the present age.
- How does the Lotus Sutra differ from other Buddhist teachings?
- The Lotus Sutra is considered the culmination of the Buddha’s teachings. While other sutras teach different paths to enlightenment based on individual capacity, the Lotus Sutra reveals the One Buddha Vehicle, asserting that everyone can attain Buddhahood. It surpasses previous teachings by emphasizing the possibility of achieving enlightenment in this lifetime and revealing the inherent Buddha nature within all beings.
An Apology for My Arrogance
Yesterday I wrote about harvesting the promises found in the Lotus Sutra for my yearlong daily Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise project. In that blog post I slighted Kannon Bodhisattva (World-Voice-Perceiver) and suggested some promises contained in the Lotus Sutra were less valuable than others.
I considered just deleting those arrogant portions of the post but decided I needed to confess and to apologize.
The Lotus Sutra has been attacked as a work whose “purpose is wholly to attract stupid lay people.” In particular, the critics pointed to Chapters 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.
In excluding Kannon Bodhisattva and large portions of Chapter 19’s promised merits from my project, I sought to show that even without those parts, the Lotus Sutra is full of wonderful promises that illustrate why Myōhō Renge Kyō is considered the Buddha’s highest teaching.
Not only was I arrogant, but I was the very definition of hypocritical – suggesting one has higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case.
Each month, when my daily reading of the Lotus Sutra gets to Chapter 25, I face my Kannon Bodhisattva statue, light additional incense as an offering to the Bodhisattva, and focus on the benefits of calling the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva as I read aloud.
My altar is crowded with protective amulets and statues of protective deities. My practice is the epitome of “inferior, shallow stuff, best laughed at, for alluring stupid men and women.”
“I’m with stupid,” I want to shout. I am proud to say I prefer “inferior, shallow stuff.”
About Those Empty, Vulgar Promises
Having scheduled a year’s worth of praise and promises from the Lotus Sutra on this website, I need to address the criticism of that same praise and those lofty promises that were detailed in Yoshiro Tamura’s “Introduction to the Lotus Sutra.”
Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p59Evaluations of the Lotus Sutra have traditionally run to the two extremes. In this respect, too, the sutra is indeed a wonder. First of all, one of the most severe criticisms of the sutra is the idea that it has no content. In chapter 25 of Emerging from Meditation, Nakamoto Tominaga comments that “the Lotus Sutra praises the Buddha from beginning to end but does not have any real sutra teaching at all, and therefore should not have been called a sutra teaching from the beginning.”
This is not new. I’ve already addressed this “emptiness” of the Lotus Sutra in the past. One can argue that it is deliberate.
In the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i portrays the Ultimate Truth by equating it with empty space in a house:
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismEmpty space in a house has neither roof beams nor pillars. The substance of a house, empty space, thus represents the Ultimate Truth. On the other hand, the roof beams and pillars are taken to analogize the cause and effect of Buddhahood. This is because if a house has no void, it cannot contain and receive anything. If the cause and effect of Buddhahood are not based on the Ultimate Truth as substance, they cannot sustain themselves. Thus, Chih-i holds that it is necessary to single out the correct substance that consists of only one empty space, upon which everything is able to function. (Vol. 2, Page 407-408)
The Lotus Sutra is, in effect, a blueprint for assembling all of the Buddha’s expedient teachings. Those roof beams and pillars form the house with empty rooms in which to practice. The emptiness essential to the function of the house is a function of the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
More recently I published Taigen Dan Leighton discussion of the supposed shortfalls of the Lotus Sutra. In “Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dōgen and the Lotus Sutra,” Taigen Dan Leighton lists these criticisms and then demolishes them.
The text does refer, in third person, to a designated text that one might keep vainly waiting for, as if for Godot.
However, this perspective misses the manner in which the Lotus sermon certainly does exist. Fundamental messages of the Lotus, such as the One Vehicle and the primacy of the Buddha vehicle, are difficult to miss, even if they might be interpreted in various ways. Furthermore, between the lines the Lotus Sutra functions within itself both as a sacred text or scripture and as a commentary and guidebook to its own use, beyond the literal confines of its own written text. The Lotus Sutra is itself a sacred manifestation of spiritual awakening that proclaims its own sacrality. Right within the text’s proclamation of the wonders of a text with the same name as itself, the text celebrates its own ephemeral quality with the visionary splendors of its assembly of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and spirits, and with the engaging qualities of its parables.
The synthesis of the immanent spirit spoken about in the text and the text’s own intended functioning as an instrument or skillful catalyst to spark awakening has been carried on among its followers.
Dōgen and the Lotus Sutra, p23-24
I should also address whether my entire “promise” project is just another example of how the Lotus Sutra is “merely a vulgar work meant to attract stupid men and women.” That was Tenyu Hattori’s criticism of the entire Lotus Sutra. Tenyu Hattori (1724–69) was a Confucian scholar in Japan who wrote Nakedness, a book that criticized Buddhism.
In Yoshiro Tamura’s “Introduction to the Lotus Sutra,” he discusses Hattori’s criticism:
Yoshiro Tamura, "Introduction to the Lotus Sutra", p61There are many places in the section of the Lotus Sutra that is considered to have come third historically that emphasize the benefits to be obtained in this life, such as the wonderful powers of faith, overcoming suffering, and having good fortune. And generally speaking, in later times devotion to the Lotus Sutra became mainstream as a result of these chapters. This is why such criticisms arose. As we have already seen, the third part of the sutra was added in order to respond to the magical and esoteric Buddhist and folk religions of India. It adds to and supplements the earlier parts of the sutra and, if taken in a positive way, can be its applied part. It is not appropriate to characterize the whole sutra in that way by emphasizing the third part, though historically admiration for the Lotus Sutra in China and Japan generally rested on that part, so, in one sense, we can understand why there were such criticisms.
Perhaps I am stupid. I would even confess to being vulgar in the sense of lacking sophistication. But I enjoyed putting together my eight months of daily promises from the Lotus Sutra and an additional four months of encouragement from Nichiren’s writings. I’m looking forward to reading these promises each morning.