Today I attended the Sunday Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the Bay Area service, which included a discussion of The Four Great Vows and Four Vows contained in the blue Nichiren-Shu Service Book.

The discussion was sort of my idea and my principal reason for discussing the Four Great Vows was what I find the odd translation of the second vow:

Our defilements are inexhaustible; I vow to quench them all.

I just don’t see the need to add “Our” here. I prefer the Tiantai version and the discussion of the vows contained in “A Guide to the Tiantai Fourfold Teachings” written in the 10th century by the Korean Buddhist Monk Chegwan.

The Four Great Bodhisattva Vows

1. There are those who have not yet transcended [the stream of birth and death]. I must carry them over.

   Beings are numberless;
   I vow to save them all.

   This vow is based on the fact of the noble truth of suffering.

2. There are those who are not yet free [from delusion]. I must liberate them.

   Defilements are inexhaustible;
   I vow to end them all.

   This vow is based on the fact of the noble truth of the accumulation [of the causes of suffering].

3. There are those who are not yet settled [in practicing the thirty-seven conditions leading to enlightenment]. I must assure them.

   The teachings are innumerable;
   I vow to master them all.

   This vow is based on the fact of the noble truth of the path [to enlightenment, the fourth noble truth].

4. There are those who have not yet attained nirvana. I must bring them to nirvana.

   The path to buddhahood is unsurpassed;
   I vow to attain it.

   This vow is based on the fact of the noble truth of cessation [of suffering, the third noble truth].

The second part of the discussion covered the Four Vows, which appear following the Four Great Vows in the blue Nichiren-Shu Service Book. The Four Great Vows are on page 78, the Four Vows on 79.

While the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the Bay Area services include the Four Great Vows, the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple services held by Rev. Shoda Kanai in Las Vegas always use the Four Vows.

Four Vows
I vow to uphold the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
I vow to practice the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
I vow to protect the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
I vow to spread the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

It was very interesting to hear several interpretations of just what we mean by “the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,” and especially what it means to uphold and to practice “the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” This is a place where it would have been nice to have a recording to fall back on.

Had a full Sunday today. After my personal morning service, I attended the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada Shodaigyo service offered via Zoom by Rev. Shoda Kanai.

After a brief break it was back on Zoom for the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area weekly service.

Bay Area Nichiren Buddhist Sangha services currently feature discussion of the Lotus Sutra on the first and third Sundays and general discussions on the second, fourth and, when called for, the fifth Sundays.

Ryugan Mark Herrick, the shami who coordinates the services, and Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick accepted my suggested topic for today’s discussion.

For the meeting I needed to set the stage for the question. Here’s how I did that:

Imagine you have received a phone call from a woman you know. She has been chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo for nearly 50 years. She is calling you because the man who guided her practice for most of those years died last year. She is feeling lost with his passing.

She is calling because her younger sister’s grandson, an 18-year-old straight-A high school senior, was shot and killed by gang-bangers who mistook him for someone else.

This woman is the matriarch of her large family. The day before she called she presided over a memorial vigil at the sight of the shooting. Now she was seeking spiritual help for herself.

My question for discussion today:

What can you say that will ease her distress and empower her to move forward?

This is not the sort of call I get regularly. I was unsure what I could say to help. In passing I mentioned to her that this was certainly a challenge to her faith and she accepted that as something she could focus on. But I didn’t want that to be the only thing she took from the call. I wanted something more positive and constructive.

The merit of chanting came to mind. Here was a woman with nearly a half-century of merit from which to draw.

In Chapter 21, the Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, the Buddha says:

[A]ll the teachings of the Tathāgata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathāgata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathāgata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathāgata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sūtra.

In Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable One (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 146), Nichiren writes:

Śākyamuni Buddha’s merit of practicing the bodhisattva way leading to Buddhahood, as well as that of preaching and saving all living beings since His attainment of Buddhahood are altogether contained in the five words of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō and that consequently, when we uphold the five words, the merits which He accumulated before and after His attainment of Buddhahood are naturally transferred to us.

I suggested to the woman that this vast pool of merit she had obtained from years of chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō could be put to use to help her sister’s grandson in his journey after death.

Rev. Kenjo Igarashi of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church wrote an essay back in May 2016 on the 49-day journey after death in which we said:

While it may seem as if we take little part in the deceased individual’s 49-day journey, this is not the case. One way we can assist them, is by chanting ”Namu myo ho renge kyo,” which as you know, is the name of the Buddha nature that we all possess. We chant this odaimoku throughout the 49 days to call upon the deceased individual’s Buddha nature. If you recall, the Buddha nature can be imagined as the inside of a seed, while the outer shell represents bad karma resulting primarily from previous actions. Whenever we chant the odaimoku, the Buddha nature slowly grows. While this is a slow process, the more we chant, the more the Buddha nature shows, until it finally appears by sprouting through the outer shell.

I suggested that she hold a memorial service every seven days for seven weeks. The Memorial Prayer is available in the daily service book. This was something she could do, a concrete expression of her faith and her hope for her sister’s grandson.

I’m aware that some people fear that focusing on funerary services will somehow weaken Buddhism in America. And I will admit that those funerary services – Ohigan in the spring and fall, Obon in the summer, individual memorial services throughout the year – play a prominent role at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church, which was founded by five Japanese immigrant families in 1931. But  funerary services do not require a diminishment of Buddhist studies or practice. We can have both, and I would argue that Buddhism is stronger for it.

Back in mid-December I accused Gene Reeves of a rare error and quickly apologized for my rash judgement the next day.

The subject of my debate was the status of the Buddha Sun and Moon Light before he became a Buddha in Chapter 1, Introduction. Reeves, in his book, The Stories of the Lotus Sutra said:

The fact that before becoming a fully awakened buddha Sun and Moon Light was a prince living in a palace with eight sons reveals a recurrent theme of the Sutra: the idea that what is happening now is both new and unprecedented, and has happened many times before.

Since Senchu Murano’s translation said the last Sun and Moon Light Buddha was a king, I jumped to the conclusion that Reeves was in error, only to discover that the other English-language translation don’t specify what his royal status was before becoming a Buddha, leaving the status undetermined.

Even Reeves’ translation of the Lotus Sutra doesn’t specify the status of the last Sun and Moon Light Buddha:

“Before the last of these buddhas had left his home, he had eight royal sons.

This royal status issue plays out again in Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City. Was Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha a prince or a king when he had 16 princes? This time Murano is silent on the issue:

Bhikṣus! At the end of the period of ten small kalpas, the Dharma of the Buddhas came into the mind of Great-Universal­-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. Now he attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Before he left home, he had sixteen sons.

Reeves translation:

Monks, only after ten small eons had gone by did the Dharma of the buddhas appear before Excellent in Great Penetrating Wisdom Buddha and he could attain supreme awakening. That Buddha, before he had left home, had sixteen sons, the first of whom was named Accumulated Wisdom.

The conclusion that this time the Buddha had been a prince is suggested by the next paragraph of Chapter 7, which specifies that the grandfather of the 16 princes – the father of the Buddha – was the wheel-turning-holy-king. (Of course this presupposes that the grandfather here is the paternal grandfather and not the father of the children’s mother, who is also mentioned in the same paragraph.)

This all comes up today after I published a portion of Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 248, in which Nichiren specifies that “The seventh chapter on ‘The Parable of a Magic City’ of the Lotus Sūtra states that the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha had been the king of a country with 16 princes before entering the priesthood.”

One thing I think everyone can agree on: This whole debate doesn’t really matter.

The photos used in the header for this website come from a booklet Pictorial life of Nichiren Shonin. You can view this booklet online here. Another copy of this booklet, which includes an explanation of the artwork technique, is available online here including a downloadable PDF copy of the booklet.

It occurred to be recently that my basic Nichiren Shu service guide that I created in August 2019 was missing several components and when I went to update it today I discovered that it was missing half of the prayer. (face palm emoji)

I have fixed the prayer and I’ve also added the Memorial Prayer that is included in the back of the Liturgy of Nichiren Shu booklet.

What I originally remembered missing was the readings from the Lotus Sutra. These short excerpts follow the recitation of Chapter 2 and Chapter 16, Hoben Pon and Ji Ga Ge. When I do this service, this is where I read that day’s portion of the Lotus Sutra. I completely forgot about the excerpts in the booklet. Those have now been added.

I have also included additional excerpts from Nichiren Shōnin’s writings. I should point out that the version of Shōho Jissō Shō I have been using is not the one in the booklet, but the version that’s in the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized, which I use in the morning. All but one of the excerpts also appear in the A Phrase A Day booklet, where they include commentary by the priest who translated the excerpt.

I think this picture of my home office desk today offers a suitable commentary on the day’s events.

While listening to the Impeachment debate in the U.S. House of Representatives I was browsing my newsfeed and came across an article in the online magazine Buddhistdoor entitled, Dalai Lama-Greta Thunberg Dialogue a Call to Action for a Planet in Peril. With the debate muted on one monitor, I called up the video from the January 9 online conference entitled, The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: A Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops.

The crisis of a lawless president egging on his followers to storm the Capitol and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power is real. It is important, both here in the United States and around the world if unchecked. But what have we saved if we preserve democracy and fail to act to save the planet?

During last Sunday’s service broadcast from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada, Rev. Shoda Kanai devoted his sermon to the topic of reaction to the invasion of the Capitol and the requirement that Buddhists, especially followers of the Lotus Sutra, never lose sight of the fact that everyone – Trumpers included – has the potential to become a Buddha. We should all be Never Despising Bodhisattva.

Impeaching and removing the president won’t save democracy if the causes and conditions that brought 74,222,593 men and women to support him are not addressed.

No, I don’t have an answer, but I do chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō as I try to be Never Despising Bodhisattva.

Today I attended the English language service at the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada. Prior to the start of the service Rev. Shoda Kanai explained that he doesn’t chant the sutra in English and instead reads the sutra, which he feels makes it more understandable.

I heartily endorse the idea of reading aloud the Lotus Sutra, which I have been doing daily since 2015.

When I explain my daily practice I point to the years when my son was an infant and I would read to him every night as he fell asleep. This is how I read the sutra aloud, imagining myself reading to my son.

English simply does not lend itself to the shindoku style of recitation. And besides, you have some great opportunities to embellish when reading to your child.

This month the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the Bay Area is discussing Chapter 3, which includes the Parable of the Burning House. This is my favorite chapter to embellish.

Consider the father’s warning to this children in the gāthās:

Or the children’s pestering of their father to get the promised toys:

And then there is my personal favorite, the Used Car Salesman and The Buddha Vehicle:

At 10:30am Sunday I joined the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada Kito Blessing Zoom service. Why a Kito blessing two days after the New Year Kito blessing? Rev. Shoda Kanai explained that the New Year’s blessing removes the lingering debris from the previous year and today’s service prepares for the month ahead.

In explaining the purpose of his blessing he offered an analogy of clogged shower drain.   While showering, you find yourself standing in water and realize that the drain is clogged with hair. (Have to imagine this since my hair and the Rev. Shoda Kanai’s hair are cut too short to actually do this.)

Here’s my elaboration: Imagine the shower is your daily practice of sutra recitation and chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, washing away the defilements of daily living. The clogged drain hampers your efforts, leaving you standing in dirty water. Clearing the drain restores the effectiveness of your daily practice.

Or as Rev. Igarashi has explained: In much the way you have to empty a tea cup in order to receive more tea, the Kaji Kito ceremony scoops away some of the bad karma in order to make room for good.

The Kito Blessing service is different in other ways.

Instead of reciting portions of Chapter 2, Hoben Pon, and Chapter 16, Ji Ga Ge, we instead recite the gāthās from Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata.

Here’s the same portion in Murano’s translation:

The Buddhas, the World-Saviors, have
Great supernatural powers.
They display their immeasurable, supernatural powers
In order to cause all living beings to rejoice.
The tips of their tongues reach the Heaven of Brahman.
Innumerable rays of light are emitted from their bodies.
For those who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
The Buddhas do these things rarely to be seen.

The sound of coughing of the Buddhas
And the sound of their finger-snapping
Reverberate over the worlds of the ten quarters,
And the ground [of those worlds] quakes in the six ways.

The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.

Even if I praise for innumerable kalpas
The keeper of this sūtra,
To whom it is to be transmitted,
I cannot praise him highly enough.

His merits are as limitless,
As infinite, as boundless
As the skies of the worlds
Of the ten quarters.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to see me. He also will be able to see
Many-Treasures Buddha,
[The Buddhas of] my replicas,
And the Bodhisattvas whom I have taught today.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able to cause me to rejoice.
He also will be able to bring joy
To [the Buddhas of] my replicas
And also to Many-Treasures Buddha who once passed away.

He also will be able to see
The present, past and future Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarters,
Make offerings to them, and cause them to rejoice.

The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to expound
The meanings of the teachings,
And the names and words [of this sūtra].
Their eloquence will be as boundless
And as unhindered as the wind in the sky.

Anyone who understands why the Buddhas expound [many] sūtras,
Who knows the position [of this sūtra in the series of sūtras],
And who expounds it after my extinction
According to its true meaning,
Will be able to eliminate the darkness
Of the living beings of the world where he walks about,
Just as the light of the sun and the moon
Eliminates all darkness.
He will be able to cause innumerable Bodhisattvas
To dwell finally in the One Vehicle.

Therefore, the man of wisdom
Who hears the benefits of these merits
And who keeps this sūtra after my extinction,
Will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
Definitely and doubtlessly.

This is followed by a Prayer of Repentance and the Dharani Jinshu.

All of this does an effective job of setting the stage for the actual purification blessing.

At 12:30pm I joined the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area for their weekly service.

Here’s a recording of the Shami Ryugan Herrick’s lecture on Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra and subsequent discussion.

I started attending Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church services in January 2015. Every New Year after that – 2016 through 2020 – I attended the services held to usher out the old year – Joya (End of Year) Service – and bring in the new – Shinnen (New Year) Service. At the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church these are held on either side of midnight. At the stroke of midnight, the church bell is rung 108 times to purge church members’ 108 earthly desires .

That familiar ritual was another of the many things taken away by COVID-19.

Instead, I found myself seated next to my altar in front of my computer making do with the Zoom sessions from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada.

Rev. Shoda Kanai holds his end of year service in the morning since Las Vegas at midnight is party central and not a place you want to be driving around after midnight. I’m not particularly fond of driving home from the Sacramento church after midnight but at least all of the major roads are open.

Yesterday morning I attended Rev. Shoda Kanai’s end of year service, which included the ringing of his temple bell.

I was fascinated with the 108 division of the worldly desires offered by Rev. Shoda Kanai.

The six senses each have three subdivisions – pleasant, painful, neutral or like, dislike, indifference – making 18 desires.

Those 18 kinds have two categories – pure, unpure or internal, external – making 36 desires.

The 36 have three other categories – past, present, future – which brings us to the 108 total.

This morning I celebrated the New Year by burning special incense that displays Namu Myoho Renge Kyo Minobu San after it burns.

The incense is available online but the shipping from Singapore is exorbitant. I’m down to my last four sticks of this and looking for resupply.

After my morning service I set my laptop computer up next to my altar and attended Rev. Shoda Kanai’s New Year Purification Ceremony.

Next Sunday I’ll be back in Las Vegas (virtually) for Rev. Shoda Kanai’s monthly purification service which he holds the first Sunday of each month throughout the year.

Zoom is not IRL, but it helps. I’m looking forward to getting my vaccination and the eventual end of this COVID-19 nightmare.

Correction: Yesterday’s post about Rev. Shoda Kanai’s discussion of kanji characters misstated the character for “me” or “I.” I only had half of the character. I’ve fixed my error.