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A Lotus Without 10 Suchnesses

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.


While the differences between Kumārajīva’s 5th century Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra from Sanskrit and H. Kern’s translation of an 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document are relatively minor in the first chapter, the difference in Chapter 2 is striking.

Here’s Senchu Murano’s translation of the final portion of Hoben Pon, the section of Chapter 2, Expedients, which lays out the ten suchlike characteristics of reality:

No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

Now consider Kern’s translation of the same section:

Enough, Śāriputra, let it suffice to say, that the Tathāgatas, &c., have something extremely wonderful, Śāriputra. None but a Tathāgata, Śāriputra, can impart to a Tathāgata those laws which the Tathāgata knows. And all laws, Śāriputra, are taught by the Tathāgata, and by him alone; no one but he knows all laws, what they are, how they are, like what they are, of what characteristics and of what nature they are.

For Nichiren, and before him T’ien T’ai and Saicho, the Ten Suchnesses are a fundamental component of the teaching of Ichinen Sanzen,  the theoretical expression of the interdependent nature of all reality.  What becomes of the Lotus Sutra without this teaching?

In 2018, Ryusho Jeffus Shonin published a 70-page book on the Ten Suchnesses.  The full title was “Ten Suchnesses: Equality Despite Their Differences. Volume II Ichinen Sanzen.”

The planned three volume discussion of Ichinen Sanzen was never published. Only this volume exists. Ryusho Jeffus died in August 2020.

As with all of Ryusho’s books, he is more interested in how a teaching can be applied to daily life than in the academic details.

As you read this book you will see that it is less a direct exposition on the meaning of each of the Ten Factors and more of a journey through their interconnectedness and interdependence. Unlike the Ten Worlds, which can easily be described independently, the Ten Factors are deeply connected and intertwined in such a way that extracting them out from the group deprives them of the mutual effect they have on each other. In fact one of the Factors is the mutuality of all ten, the equality of each despite their differences.

Ten Suchnesses, p8

This is clearly reflected in Ryusho’s summary of the Ten Suchnesses:

Appearance – Briefly, this is the way you look. This is not fixed as you can smile and appear one way or scowl and appear another. You can wear certain clothes and look different from when you wear other types of clothing. There are some aspects of appearance which are not changeable such as eye color, or skin color (well not so much generally), height once fully grown, hair color (well not permanently for the most part), hair or no hair. I would add gender except in certain circumstances.

Nature – This is how you are, not who you are. This includes such things as pessimistic, optimistic, daring, bold, shy, extrovert, introvert, gregarious, quick learner, visual learner, literal learner, learner by doing rather than instruction, adventurous, laid back, easy going, excitable. These are not always fixed, though for some people they may seem to be such. And further they are not always the same in any of us, we can be one way at one time and another in other instances. We can be both shy and gregarious, introverted and extroverted.

Entity – This is our total complete self, it can include genetics, disposition to certain diseases, blood type, physical strength, emotional strength, internal organs, demeanor as a total picture.

Power – Is not always only about physical or mental strength. It includes our ability to persevere, to challenge ourselves, to introspect, to reflect, (our nature may affect our willingness or tendency to do so even if we may have great power as an ability). Our ability to lead others, for good or ill, our skill with other people can be a power again for good or ill. Our ability to see our strengths and use them skillfully or not is a power even when the actual power may be limited. A person may not have the power to do something yet may be able to accomplish the goal through the power of working with others again for good or for ill.

Activity – What are we doing, what are we accomplishing or trying to accomplish, is the activity physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, is the activity for self or for others are some ways to consider activity.

Primary Cause – There is a cause which precedes every cause to some extent. There is a primary cause in all things, what is that in each of the situations we engage in and how does that impact all the other Ten Aspects. One primary cause is the difference between self and others, between self and environment, between self as a physical entity and self as a spiritual entity and self as a complete undifferentiated complete entity. Where is the primary cause directed inward versus outward, towards oneself or towards others, includes or excludes others, benefits others or only self all are primary causes beneath initial traditional activities. Also a primary cause is human, non-human animal, plant, or even alien.

Environmental Cause – There are factors which take place outside ourselves and often outside our control. Is it raining, if so did you think to bring an umbrella? Failing to consider environmental causes can lead to death such as by heat exhaustion and stroke, or freezing to death, starvation, disease and illness. Sometimes the environment is beyond our control but what is within our control may be able to mitigate the effects of the environment. Sometimes it can not, such as an earthquake, typhoon, airplane crash, fire, terrorist attack. In all cases we don’t ever act independent of our environment even if we may fail to consider it.

Effect – It’s what happens, seen, unseen, known, unknown, immediately observable or seemingly manifest later (all effects manifest instantly only some may not be observed instantly).

Reward or Negative reward (retribution) – Sometimes what seems to be boon may be an albatross. What is negative now may end up being reward to our future growth and development. These are not absolutes except in how we treat them. Could motivate us into changing poison into medicine.

Equality – there is complete equality and connectedness throughout these aspects which is one of the aspects. A subtle change in one causes a ripple throughout all. This is why it is important to not try to completely separate these as we try to understand them in our lives. No one aspect can be truly removed or analyzed independent of the others. This is their equality despite their differences.

Ten Suchnesses, p9-11

For a more traditional review of the Ten Suchnesses, consider Ryuei McCormick’s Open Your Eyes or the Foundations of T’ien T’ai Philosophy discussion of Three Ways of Reading 10 Suchness.

But such academic abstractions were not Ryusho’s thing.

At the end of this process I personally have to wonder what have we accomplished … that will enable us to end our suffering and enable us to attain enlightenment? Not everyone is like me so there may indeed be some who find this sort of abstraction beneficial. I find it more of a distraction and since I’m writing the book and I really can only from my point of view that’s what I’m going to do.

Ten Suchnesses, p52

Ryusho had a simple goal:

Understanding the map of the Ten Worlds and realizing that the Ten Aspects are how we live or manifest the Ten Worlds gives us the tools or key to ending our suffering.

Ten Suchnesses, p55

This all fits into his overarching view of Buddhism:

Buddhism is about examining our experiences and seeking to understand why they are that way, what can be done to either mitigate or change or eliminate the effects by making new causes. There isn’t some magic that takes place which replaces the necessity of making new causes. Buddhism is not a shortcut to wealth, fame, ease, and luxury. Buddhism is a religion of hard work, honest evaluation of one’s life, sincere effort to make necessary changes, and the dedication to carry out these for the duration of one’s life continually.

Ten Suchnesses, p59

I have a copy of the artwork from the book cover among the decorations next to my altar.
20220817_ryusho_artwork-web
Were I to caption this artwork I would use this quote from the book:

This I believe is one of the great advantages of Buddhism. Through the study and practice of our faith we can delve into our self deeply and see the root of our suffering and with the tools provided to us from our faith we can then begin to work on solving the problems of our lives in constructive and beneficial ways.

Ten Suchnesses, p65

Next: Kern’s Sanskrit and Hurvitz’s Sanskrit

800 Years: Becoming a Teacher of the Dharma

In Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we learn of the merits to be given the beginner in faith and in Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we learn of the merits to be earned by a teacher of the dharma. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today, becoming such a teacher is part of the natural progression of faith:

“The practices of a preacher are of five kinds (goshu hosshi): receiving and keeping the sutra (juji), reading it (doku) and reciting it (ju), expounding it (gesetsu), and copying it (shosha). … In each of these five practices, the state of our gradually deepening faith is clearly shown.

“If we believe and discern the teaching after hearing it, and if we raise the mind of joyful acceptance of it, we proceed first to keep it firmly, then, reading and reciting the sutra, to inscribe it on our memory. As a personal discipline, this practice is done to establish the foundation of our faith. When our faith reaches this stage, we cannot help transmitting the teaching to others. As a result, we expound the sutra (the teaching) and copy it. We cannot say we have attained true faith until we go through each process of the five kinds of practices of the preacher.”

Buddhism for Today, p295

The Chapter 19’s specifics of how the teacher’s sense organs will be affected have always caused me pause. I want too much for literal benefits:

“He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.”

But in Peaceful Action, Open Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a more nuanced view of the benefits that flow from our growing faith:

“The merit of this teaching effects a great change in the field of our six sense organs (sadayatana) – our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. When we are able to receive the truth of the Lotus Sutra our sense perceptions undergo a profound transformation. Automatically our eyes are able to see things that before we were not able to see. We attain the eyes of the Dharma that are able to look deeply and see the true nature and suchness of all dharmas, all phenomena in the world of our perceptions. With Dharma eyes we can look into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and see its wonderful, fresh green nature. We can see that one leaf, whether old and yellow or green and fresh, contains all the merits, all the wonderful suchness of the universe. The eyes of someone who has received and who maintains the teaching of this Sutra, the truth of the ultimate, are able to see the limitless life span, the unborn and undying nature of everything. This is the first merit, the transformation of our sight perception into the eyes of the Dharma.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p125

While using my sense of smell to locate buried treasure seems farfetched, I can imagine looking into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and seeing its wonderful, fresh green nature.


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Certified

20220910_RKINA_201_Certificate-web

After eight months of weekly 90-minute-plus Zoom classes, I’m now certified to have completed RKINA 201: Threefold Lotus Sutra Online Learning Course. Even received a face mask suitable for visiting a Risshō Kōsei Kai Buddhist Center and a lapel pin marking the occasion.

I have more than 200 posts and pages on this website that reference Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today. That’s not because I’m a fan of the organization he founded in 1938 with Mrs. Myoko Naganuma, but because much of what he writes about the Lotus Sutra and how to make Buddhism a part of our daily life is so relevant today. Not being a Risshō Kōsei Kai member allows me the freedom to discard those points that I find troublesome. See here and here. I would like to believe I can quibble on some points – strongly in some instances – and still reference the teachings of Nikkyō Niwano.

As of today, Sept. 10, 2022, I have 10,460 posts published on this website and another 188 in the queue scheduled to be published. I have 123 pages of additional content.   The 200 or so posts concerning Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today represent a tiny fraction, but they are an important contribution to the overall understanding of the Lotus Sutra that I’m seeking to create.

Face mask and lapel pin

800 Years: The Merits of the Inexperienced Practicer

In the Trace Gate of the Lotus Sutra, the first 14 chapters, and even before that in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, the preface to the Lotus Sutra, we are told that it is very difficult to understand what the Buddhas realize about the reality of the equality and differences of all things. That difficulty has been used as the basis for declaring the sutra too profound to be useful. But in Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we learn of the great merits to be gained by the person who holds even a passing knowledge of this supreme teaching.

Nichiren addresses this in his “Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra”:

“The Pure Land Buddhists today … [say] it is impossible to practice the Lotus Sūtra unless one possesses a high capacity to understand and it bewilders the evil ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Are they not contradicting themselves? Grand Master Miao-lê in his Annotations to the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra asserts, ‘Most people make mistakes, without knowing how great the merits of the inexperienced practicers can be. They imagine that only the experienced practicers can have merits and slander the inexperienced. Therefore, in the ‘Merits of Rejoicing at Hearing This Sūtra’ chapter it is shown that the merits of the inexperienced practicer can be great and how great the merits of the Lotus Sūtra are.’ This passage means that the merit of the 50th person rejoicing at hearing the Lotus Sūtra transmitted one after another was preached to show that the merit of an ignorant person with little capacity in the Latter Age rejoicing even for a moment at hearing the sūtra preached is superior to the merit of sages who practice the pre-Lotus sūtras preached during the 40 or so years before the Lotus Sūtra.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4,
Page 7-8

It is not difficult to have faith in this sutra. Nichiren’s thinking is explained in Donald Lopez and Jacqueline Stone’s Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side:

“ ‘What other sūtra,’ Nichiren asks, ‘teaches that incalculable merit accrues to one who arouses even a single thought of willing acceptance, or to the fiftieth person who rejoices upon hearing it? Other sūtras do not claim such merit for even the first, second, third, or tenth hearer, let alone the fiftieth!’ …

“If ease of practice were to be a criterion, [Nichiren] said, no practice could be easier than spontaneously rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren argued that, far from excluding the ignorant, it is precisely because the Lotus Sūtra is so profound that it can save beings of any capacity whatsoever. In this connection, he often cited Zhanran’s remark: ‘The more true the teaching, the lower the capacity of the persons it can bring to liberation.’ However limited one’s capacity might be, that person is ennobled by their Lotus Sūtra practice.”

Two Buddhas, p199-200

What could be more reassuring to the person who takes faith in Lotus Sutra for the first time?


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The Sutra Taught Before the Lotus Sutra

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.


At the start of the Lotus Sutra after everyone in the audience has been introduced, the Buddha expounds a sutra and then enters into a samādhi. The name of that sutra and that samādhi are different depending on whether you are translating from Kumārajīva’s Chinese or the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit.

When I was preparing to write about this I was surprised to discover Senchu Murano translates Kumārajīva’s title of the sutra differently than almost of the other English-language translations that I possess.

Murano states:

Thereupon the four kinds of devotees, who were surrounding the World-Honored One, made offerings to him, respected him, honored him, and praised him. The World-Honored One expounded a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the “Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.” Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha sat cross-legged [facing the east], and entered into the samadhi for the purport of the innumerable teachings. His body and mind became motionless.

The 1975 Rissho Kosei-Kai translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and “the contemplation termed the station of innumerable meanings.”

The 2019 Rissho Kosei-Kai translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and “the Samadhi of the Domain of Innumerable Meanings.”

Gene Reeves’ translation names the sutra “Innumerable Meanings” and the “state of concentration called the place of innumerable meanings.”

Burton Watson’s translation names this sutra “Immeasurable Meanings” and the “samadhi of the place of immeasurable meanings.”

The BDK English Tripiṭaka translation names the sutra “Immeasurable Meanings” and “the samadhi called the abode of immeasurable meanings’.”

Having read the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings more than 30 times as part of my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice, I’m surprised that Murano could have titled the sutra Innumerable Teachings. Clearly the lesson of the sutra is the infinite meanings the listeners of the one teaching create. But then Murano is translating Kumārajīva’s Chinese words, not the actual sutra that the Buddha is said to have taught.

Leon Hurvitz, whose translation is considered the gold standard, agrees with Murano:

At that time, the World-Honored One, surrounded by the fourfold multitude, showered with offerings, deferentially treated and revered, for the bodhisattvas’ sake preached a scripture of the great vehicle named the Immeasurable Doctrine (Ananta-nirdeséa), a dharma to be taught to bodhisattvas, a dharma which the buddha keeps ever in mind. When he had preached this scripture, cross-legged he entered into the samādhi [state of concentration] of the Abode of the Immeasurable Doctrine (Anantanirdeśapratiṣṭhänasamādhi), where his body and mind were motionless.

Getting back to Kern’s translation of the 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra, he offers:

Now at that time it was that the Lord surrounded, attended, honored, revered, venerated, worshipped by the four classes of hearers, after expounding the Dharmaparyāya called ‘the Great Exposition,’ a text of great development, serving to instruct Bodhisattvas and proper to all Buddhas, sat cross-legged on the seat of the law and entered upon the meditation termed ‘the station of the exposition of Infinity;’ his body was motionless and his mind had reached perfect tranquility.

The Translators’ Introduction to  “The Infinite Meanings Sutra” from the BDK English Tripiṭaka offers this explanation of the difference between Kumārajīva’s translation and the extant Sanskrit texts:

The Infinite Meanings Sutra may be regarded as an introduction to the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra). In light of this, it is noteworthy that in English versions of the Lotus Sutra based on Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation (Taishō no. 260), in the beginning of the introductory chapter one can find a passage similar to the following:

[The Buddha] then taught the bodhisattvas the Mahayana sutra called Immeasurable Meanings. After having taught this sutra, the Buddha .… entered the samādhi called the “abode of immeasurable meanings.”

Extant Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra, however, give mahā-nirdeśa, “great exposition,” as the name of the sutra, and ābhujyūnanta-nirdeśa-pratiṣṭhāna, “foundation of infinite exposition,” as the name of the samādhi. Since ananta-nirdeśa, “infinite exposition,” is not found in reference to the name of the sutra that was taught, this gives rise to the speculation that if Kumārajīva translated from manuscripts similar to those that now remain, he must have used the same Chinese translation, wu liang yi, “infinite (immeasurable/innumerable) meanings,” in both instances.

While the Lotus Sutra is never mentioned by name in this text, the Infinite Meanings Sutra, like the Lotus, is a strong proponent of the concept of bodhisattva practice. In his discourse in the sutra, the Buddha emphasizes that leading others to the Way is a prime factor in attaining ultimate enlightenment, and that the teaching of the sutra itself is infinite in its meanings because it relates to the unlimited desires of living beings.

Next: A Lotus Without 10 Suchnesses

800 Years: Managing Expectations

Here, at this transition between The Variety of Merits chapter and The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing this Sutra chapter, I want to address expectations. Specifically, I want to discuss the expectations we should have when we declare faith in the Lotus Sutra.

When I first chanted the Daimoku in 1989 as a member of Nichiren Shoshu of America and later Soka Gakkai, I had no idea what to expect. I simply accepted that this was a Buddhist practice, and, at the start, that was all I wanted. But it was not long before I became troubled by the singular emphasis placed on material rewards. Looking for a job? Chant. Want a new girlfriend? Chant. Need a new car? Chant. Surely there must be more to Buddhism, I thought.

Nikkyō Niwano explains the perils of such a focus in one’s practice in Buddhism for Today:

“Almost all people who enter a religious faith have some form of suffering. It is natural for them to want to free themselves from such sufferings, and they are not to be blamed for this. But when they are concerned only with the desire to recover from illness or to be blessed with money, they are merely attaching themselves to the idea of ‘disease’ or ‘poverty.’ Though they wish to rid themselves of these problems, instead they become their victims because their minds grasp the idea of illness or poverty so tightly that they cannot let go.”

Buddhism for Today, p259

Another way to look at this, is to realize that focusing on material pleasures pins one’s life in the realm of hungry spirits. There can be no lasting satisfaction when one’s focus remains on self-interest without consideration for all others. But that doesn’t mean we are without extraordinary benefits from our practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren often encouraged believers to expect practical, even supernatural, benefits from their practice. As he writes in “Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers”:

“And yet even though a finger might point to the great earth and miss it, a person tie up the sky, the ocean’s tide lack an ebb and flow, or if the sun should rise in the west, there cannot be a time when the prayer of a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra is not answered. If the various bodhisattvas, human and heavenly beings, eight kinds of gods and demi-gods who protect Buddhism, the two sage bodhisattvas (Medicine King and Brave Donor Bodhisattvas), two heavenly kings (Jikoku-ten and Bishamon-ten), and ten female rākṣasa demons, or even one out of 1,000, do not rush to protect practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, they commit the sin of fooling Śākyamuni and the other Buddhas above and in the nine realms below. Thus, they will protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra without fail regardless if the practicers are insincere, unwise, impure, and do not observe the precepts so long as they chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 68


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800 Years: The merits of religious practice

In discussing faith it is important to acknowledge the merits that flow to us from our practice and the impact of those merits on our lives. Thich Nhat Hanh explains it this way in Peaceful Action, Open Heart:

“Chapters 17, 18, and 19 of the Lotus Sutra all have to do with the idea of merit. The word “merit” (Sanskrit: punya), when rendered in Chinese is made up of two characters. The first character means “daily practice or daily work,” and the second means “virtuous conduct.” Merit is a kind of spiritual energy that can be accumulated when we maintain a steady practice. This energy protects us and brings us joy and insight.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p121

What daily practice entails and what qualifies as virtuous conduct are as varied as those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, but Nikkyō Niwano offers this guideline in Buddhism for Today:

“In considering the merits of religious practice, we must place great importance on being upright in character and gentle in mind, as taught in chapter 16. We should focus our gaze on the Buddha alone, not worrying ourselves about divine favors in this world. We should be united with the Buddha and act obediently according to his guidance. If our actual life should consequently change for the better, that is a natural phenomenon produced because our minds and actions have been set in the direction of the truth. We should receive such phenomena gratefully and frankly.”

Buddhism for Today, p260

Whatever the practice, the merit that flows from our faith has a real, observable impact on our emotional and physical lives. This is the true measure of the depth of our faith. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, ‘I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.’

“It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.

“The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.”

Buddhism for Today, p257-258

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The Cause of My Life

Yesterday I finished an eight-month-long study of the Lotus Sutra offered by Rissho Kosei-Kai. I had been drawn by the promise of an “advanced course examining all the chapters in detail of the Threefold Lotus Sutra.” What I failed to fully appreciate was that this would solely be “as interpreted through the writings of Nikkyo Niwano, founder of Rissho Kosei-kai.” It became clear at the first class that the “advanced course” would be nothing more than a review of Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today, with most of each hour-and-a-half session spent reading aloud passages from the book.

But I stuck with it for 34 Wednesday evenings because, frankly, no one else that I’m aware of is offering such discussions. In order to make the class more useful I decided to write an essay on the topic of each day’s class in advance. Thirty-three essays are available here.

Many of the essays I wrote praised what Nikkyo Niwano had written in Buddhism for Today, but several were critical. I was even motivated to write blog posts outside the class:

In keeping with my generally ambivalent attitude toward the teachings of Nikkyō Niwano, I want to conclude with a discussion of Nikkyō Niwano’s teaching that we are caused to live by Śākyamuni.

This comes up in several places in Buddhism for Today. Take for example this quote from the discussion of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata:

Our awareness of being caused to live is our true salvation. Our absolute devotion to the truth that imparts life to us, so that we utter “Namu” in our hearts, must be said to be the highest reach of faith.

Buddhism for Today, p206

In the discussion of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits, we are instructed:

The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, “I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.”

Buddhism for Today, p257

Nikkyō Niwano summarizes this teaching in his discussion of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva:

As has already been explained in chapter 16, salvation lies in our awareness of the existence of the Eternal Buddha, who is omnipresent both within and outside us, and in our earnest and heartfelt realization that we are caused to live by the Buddha.

Buddhism for Today, p377-378

But I chafe under this idea that “all beings are caused to live by the universal truth.” For me, this universal truth is a condition, not a cause. There are just two causes for our provisional existence: ignorance of the Dharma or a Bodhisattva vow to give up personal enlightenment and return to this Sahā World in order to save everyone.

In defense of my opposing view, I want to offer some quotes from The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism’s discussion of prarītyasamutpāda, dependent origination:

In one of the earliest summaries of the Buddha’s teachings (which is said to have been enough to bring Śāriputra to enlightenment), the Buddha is said to have taught: “When this is present, that comes to be. / From the arising of this, that arises. / When this is absent, that does not come to be. / From the cessation of this, that ceases.” This notion of causality is normatively described in a sequence of causation involving twelve interconnected links (nidāna), which are often called the “twelvefold chain” in English sources: (l) ignorance, (2) predispositions, or volitional actions, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form, or mentality and materiality, (5) the six internal sense-bases, (6) sensory contact, (7) sensation, or feeling, (8) thirst, or attachment, (9) grasping, or clinging, (10) existence or a process of becoming, (11) birth or rebirth, and (12) old age and death, this last link accompanied in its full recital by sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.

And:

This chain of dependent origination stands as the middle way between the two “extreme views” eternalism — viz., the view that there is a perduring soul that continues to be reborn unchanged from one lifetime to the next — and annihilationism — the view that the person ceases to exist at death and is not reborn — because it validates the imputed continuity of the personality, without injecting any sense of a permanent substratum of existence into the process. Thus, when the Buddha is asked, “Who is it who senses?,” he rejects the question as wrongly framed and rephrases it as, “With what as condition does sensation occur? By contact … .” Or when asked, “Who is it who is reborn?,” he would rephrase the question as “With what as condition does birth occur? By becoming … .” Accurate understanding of dependent origination thus serves as an antidote to the affliction of delusion and contemplating the links in this chain helps to overcome ignorance.

(For a discussion of Nikkyo Niwano’s understanding of this twelvefold chain see Understanding the 12-Linked Chain of Causation.)

Then again, consider this from the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism:

Another denotation of prarītyasamutpāda [dependent origination] is a more general one, the notion that everything comes into existence in dependence on something else, with such dependence including the dependence of an effect upon its cause, the dependence of a whole upon its parts, and the dependence of an object on the consciousness that designates it. This second meaning is especially associated with the Mādhyamika school of Nāgārjuna, which sees a necessary relation between dependent origination and emptiness (śūnyatā), arguing that because everything is dependently arisen, everything is empty of independence and intrinsic existence (svabhāva). Dependent origination is thus central to Nāgārjuna’s conception of the middle way: because everything is dependent, nothing is independent, thus avoiding the extreme of existence, but because everything is originated, nothing is utterly nonexistent, thus avoiding the extreme of nonexistence.

Is “dependently arisen” the same as “caused to live”?

This is why studying the Lotus Sutra is fun.

Rock and Roll in the Time of Śākyamuni

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.


Having lived through the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of the world quaking in six ways. We first hear of this phenomena  in Chapter 1 after the World-Honored One expounded a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the “Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.”

Senchu Murano’s translation puts the scene this way without explanation:

Thereupon the gods rained mandārava-flowers, mahā-mandārava-flowers, mañjūṣaka-flowers, and mahā-mañjūṣaka-flowers upon the Buddha and the great multitude. The world of the Buddha quaked in the six ways.

None of the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra offers an explanation of what is meant.

H. Kern, in his translation of an 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra, however, offers this:

And as soon as the Lord had entered upon his meditation, there fell a great rain of divine flowers, Mandāravas and great Mandāravas, Mañjūṣakas and great Mañjūṣakas, covering the Lord and the four classes of hearers, while the whole Buddha field shook in six ways: it moved, removed, trembled, trembled from one end to the other, tossed, tossed along.

That’s a fascinating image of what shaking the earth feels like.

At 6am on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 1971, I was awakened by what sounded like a freight train bearing down on my house. The sound grew louder and louder as the windows above my bed shook violently and then the train passed on. Fortunately nothing broke as that wave “moved, removed, trembled, trembled from one end to the other, tossed, tossed along.”

In Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Nichiren offers what’s meant by shaking the world in six ways from T’ien-t’ai’s perspective:

Among the six omens, the trembling of the earth indicates that the earth trembled in six different ways. Interpreting the earth trembling in six ways, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3:

“The east is blue in color, and it controls the liver, which in turn controls the eyes. The west is white in color, and it controls the lungs, which in turn control the nose. Therefore, saying that the east was raised and the west was lowered means the rise of the merit of the eyes and the decrease in the worldly passions of the nose. In contrast, saying that the west was raised and the east was lowered means that the merit of the nose appears while the evil passions of the eyes decrease. Likewise, the rise and fall of the south and north and those of the center and the four directions mean either the appearance of merit or the decrease of evil passions in the ears and the tongue and in the mind and body respectively.”

Grand Master Miao-lê explains the above in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “As the eyes and nose represent the east and west, the ears and tongue logically represent the south and north. The center is the mind and the four directions represent the body. The body is equipped with the four sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, and tongue) and the mind reacts to them all. Therefore, it is said that the body and mind rise and fall alternately.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 121

I’d like to think that during the 1971 earthquake the merit of my eyes rose and the worldly passions of my nose decreased. My body and mind certainly rose and fell. But at the time I knew nothing of Buddhism or the Lotus Sutra.


Next: The name of the sutra taught by the Buddha at the start of the Lotus Sutra

800 Years: The First Moment of Faith

An important lesson from the very start of Chapter 17 is that the benefits of the Lotus Sutra are deeply tied to our first moment of faith, not to our subsequent practice. The Buddha says in gāthās:

“With these merits of concentration of his mind,
He sought unsurpassed enlightenment, saying:
‘I will complete all these dhyāna-concentrations,
And obtain the knowledge of all things.’

“He performed
The meritorious practices
As previously stated
For hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas.

“The good men or women who believe my longevity,
Of which I told you,
Even at a moment’s thought
Will be able to obtain more merits than he.”

That’s not to say study and practice are unimportant. As the Buddha explains:

“Those who have firm faith,
And who are pure and upright,
And who hear much and memorize all teachings,
And who understand my words
According to their meaning,
Will have no doubts [about my longevity].”

But that first moment of faith is vital. As Nichiren writes in “Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice”:

“In the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, Miao-lé writes: ‘The single moment of understanding by faith is foremost of the practices in the essential section.’ The first of the four depths of faith in the time when the sutra was taught is the single moment of understanding by faith and the first of the five stages of practice after the Buddha’s passing away is the stage of rejoicing. Within these two can be found all 100 realms, 1,000 aspects, and 3,000 modes of existences as if in a treasure chest. They are the gate out of which all the Buddhas of all time and space emerge.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page101

This single moment of understanding by faith is essential and is to be cherished. Attempting to do too much too quickly will only prove detrimental. As Nichiren warns:

“Fascicle nine of the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra says, ‘The beginner is afraid that getting drawn into the myriad activities that are supporting conditions will hinder their practice of right action. At this time, they should solely uphold this sutra which is the best kind of offering. By dispensing with other matters in order to uphold the principle they will gain enormous benefit.’

“This commentary says that the supporting conditions are the first five of the six bodhisattva practices. A beginner who tries to practice them as well will hinder his own right action of faith. For instance, if a small boat overloaded with treasure tries to cross the ocean, both the boat and the treasure will sink. The phrase ‘solely uphold this sutra’ does not even refer to the whole sutra but only to upholding the daimoku, not any other passages.”

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 105

We need not rush to perfect our practice. We should instead seek to deepen our faith.


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