Category Archives: Books

MizunoSutras, Blog, Books

Serendipity or Divine Intervention?

Can one be a Buddhist who believes in protective deities and still enjoy moments of serendipity? I pick up one book and it leads me to another and that book talks about something I’m currently posting on this website. Coincidence?

When I was reading Daniel Montgomery’s Fire in the Lotus I enjoyed his summary of the life of Kumārajīva and posted it here. Montgomery noted that he picked up the story from Kōgen Mizuno’s “Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission.”

“Buddhist Sutras: Origin, Development, Transmission” was adapted by Mizuno in 1982 from a series of articles originally published in Kōsei, a monthly magazine of Risshō Kōsei-kai. In finding this book, I realized I had found the perfect companion for Keisho Tsukomoto’s “Source Elements of the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Integraton of Religion, Thought, and Culture,” which Rev. Ryuei McCormick recommended. The two Risshō Kōsei-kai books will provide an excellent foundation upon which I can build my understanding of the Lotus Sutra.

Anyway, back to serendipity. I am currently publishing quotes from Paul L. Swanson’s “Foundations of T’ien-T’ai Philosophy: The Flowering of the Two Truths Theory in Chinese Buddhism,” which includes a 96 page English translation of a portion of the first chapter of Chih-i’s Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.

This is very esoteric stuff. I admit that Swanson’s footnotes are essential reading.

Take for instance Does the Buddha experience retribution?, a three paragraph quote from Chih-i that requires eight footnotes from Swanson.

While personally enjoying this esoteric material, I’ve been feeling a tad guilty about whether this might put off others who won’t see the value. Then the other day I came across this quote in Mizuno’s “Buddhist Sutras”:

In his Miao-fa lien-hua-ching wen-chü (Textual Commentary on the Lotus Sutra), Chih-i examined individual words and phrases of the Lotus Sutra from four points of view and further developed his thoughts in thirteen minutely considered facets. For instance, a Chinese ideogram meaning “buddha” is analyzed thoroughly from thirteen different perspectives. Such a study is invaluable from a scholar’s point of view because it encompasses all Chinese views on the Buddha current at that time; however, in terms of practical value, Chih-i’s commentary is so copious in its detail that it simply compounds any confusion that the average person might have been troubled with before consulting it.
In general, the following four interpretations of the word “buddha” offered by Chih-i seem to be most germane for the nonspecialist curious about the theoretical and practical meanings of the word.

  1. The Buddha is one’s focus of devotion in the true sense. He is the savior who delivers human beings from their sufferings and fulfills their desires and is also the figurative parent and lord of humankind. Thus one should offer prayer and reverence to him with an attitude of total dedication and of obedience to his teaching. (This is regarded as the “first-step” view of the Buddha.)
  2. When considering the essence of the Buddha objectively, the discriminating person thinks of his Law (that is, of the universal, logical truth of the universe), of justice and benevolence as the basic ideal virtues of humankind, and of selfless compassion as the means of saving all sentient beings.
  3. Since the second interpretation alone is not sufficient to sustain a living faith, it must be merged with the first. Thus the third interpretation unites the abstract theory of the first with the concrete practice implied by the second.
  4. When one has at last arrived at a state of profound faith, one has attained unity with the Buddha and is always embraced by him even if one’s awareness of the Buddha is not perfect (that is to say, not in complete accord with the union of theory and practice set forth above in the third interpretation). In this fourth interpretation one has already achieved buddhahood and sees the buddhanature in all the objects and beings one encounters and venerates all those objects and beings as buddhas. It is at this point that the buddha-land, or paradise, becomes a reality rather than an ideal or goal.

Although the T’ien-t’ai sect enjoyed a very highly developed intellectual and philosophical appreciation of Buddhism as a religion, unlike the Hua-yen sect [Flower Garland], for example, it also embraced a thoroughly pragmatic, down-to-earth practice of the religion that enabled it to survive while the completely academically oriented schools perished.

A timely message about the need for practice to leaven study.

Serendipity of simple coincidence or the intervention of the protective deities?

Fire, Blog, Books

Fire in the Lotus

Available on Amazon
When I first picked up Fire in the Lotus and saw that it devoted four chapters to Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai, I assumed it was going to be another homage to President Daisaku Ikeda. Instead I found a reasoned exploration of Nichiren Buddhism and its many varieties. If anything, Daniel Montgomery walks a doctrinal line established by Professor Senchu Murano (1908-2001), who translated the Lotus Sutra in 1974 for Nichiren Shu. Montgomery was the editor of the Second Edition revision of Murano’s translation.

Fire in the Lotus was published in 1991. As a result it does not address the excommunication of Soka Gakkai members by Nichiren Shoshu on Nov. 28, 1991. It also discusses groups such as Nichijo Shaka’s Buddhist School of America that have since disappeared. But on a whole, it stands up well today.

That’s not to say that I don’t have any complaints. Montgomery erroneously conflates the Parable of the Priceless Gem of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples, with the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot of Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Another parable in the Sutra treats the matter from a different angle. A young man became drunk after an evening of carousing and passed out. A wealthy friend had to leave him there, but decided first to do him a favour. He took a valuable jewel and placed it in the drunken man’s topknot. Surely, he reasoned, when his friend woke up, he would notice the jewel, use it to pay any expenses, and still have plenty left over for whatever he wanted.

But this did not happen. When the drunken man got up the next day, it never occurred to him that he was now wealthy. First he was thrown out of the inn for not paying his bill. Then things went from bad to worse. He wandered from place to place, doing odd jobs when he could and living from hand to mouth.

Years later, his wealthy friend ran into him and was shocked by his appearance. ‘What happened to you?’ he asked. ‘How did you lose all your money?’

‘What money? I never had any. You know that.’

The money from the jewel I left in your topknot. I left it for you so that you could pay your expenses, invest the rest, and go into business for yourself.’

The poor man dug into his topknot and, sure enough, there was the priceless jewel! It had been there all along. He had been a rich man, carrying a fortune with him wherever he went, but he had never known it.

So it is, says the Buddha, with everyone. The priceless jewel, the Buddha nature, lies within us untapped. The only difference between the Buddha and us is that he knows this, has unraveled his topknot, and exposed the jewel of the Buddhahood. (Page 50)

Then there’s the question of how one writes the Daimoku in English. For most of the book, Montgomery uses Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. But occasionally Soka Gakkai’s spelling with Nam sneaks in. It is understandable when Montgomery is quoting a Nichiren Shoshu or a Soka Gakkai source, but then it pops up unexpectedly:

Even more extraordinary is the story of Nisshin Nabekamuri, the ‘pot-wearer’ (1407-88). A representative of Toki Jonin’s Nakayama School, he arrived in Kyoto at the age of 22, and promptly set to work writing a thesis in imitation of Nichiren’s, which he called, ‘Establish the Right Law and Rule the Country’. When he finished it he presented it to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori, which was a mistake. The Shogun had once been an ordained monk on Mount Hiei, and had inherited a bitter hatred for Nichiren Buddhism. He decided to break Nisshin for his impertinence. The young priest was arrested and tortured. Nisshin was not tortured only once, but daily for two years. The Shogun took a perverse delight in watching the sufferings of the priest; he supervised the daily tortures by fire, rack, sword, and whatever else he could think of. Nothing would make Nisshin stop chanting, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Finally the Shogun ordered that a metal pot be jammed over his head to keep him quiet, but from underneath the pot could still be heard, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

Nisshin’s ordeal might have continued indefinitely had not the cruel Shogun been assassinated one day while watching a theatrical performance. Nisshin was released, and the pot was removed from his head. He rebuilt his temple, which had been destroyed, took up his drum, and went back to the street corners to chant, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Never one to avoid a challenge, he is said to have triumphed in 60 religious debates in the course of his 65-year career. (Page 161-162)

One assumes Montgomery got this version of the tale from Nichiren Shoshu/Soka Gakkai materials, but the inconsistency grates.

Montgomery has something of pattern of picking up material whole. For example, in discussing Shariputra’s dislike for women he quotes from Buddha-Dharma: New English Edition, published by the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation in 1984.

However, there is a delightful Sanskrit story that even Shariputra met his match when he encountered a woman saint in heaven and asked her, ‘Now that you have the ability, why don’t you change yourself into a man?’ Instead of answering him, she turned him into a woman and asked him if he felt any different.

That “delightful Sanskrit story” is actually the Vimalakīrti Sūtra and the “saint in heaven” is actually a goddess who has been living in Vimalakīrti’s room for 12 years. Here’s Burton Watson’s translation of the exchange:

Shariputra said, “Why don’t you change out of this female body?

The goddess replied, “For the past twelve years I have been trying to take on female form, but in the end with no success. What is there to change? If a sorcerer were to conjure up a phantom woman and then someone asked her why she didn’t change out of her female body, would that be any kind of reasonable question?”

“No,” said Shariputra. “Phantoms have no fixed form, so what would there be to change?”

The goddess said, “All things are just the same—they have no fixed form. So why ask why I don’t change out of my female form?”

At that time the goddess employed her supernatural powers to change Shariputra into a goddess like herself, while she took on Shariputra’s form. Then she asked, “Why don’t you change out of this female body?”

Shariputra, now in the form of a goddess, replied, “I don’t know why I have suddenly changed and taken on a female body!”

The goddess said, “Shariputra, if you can change out of this female body, then all women can change likewise. Shariputra, who is not a woman, appears in a woman’s body. And the same is true of all women—though they appear in women’s bodies, they are not women. Therefore the Buddha teaches that all phenomena are neither male nor female.”

Then the goddess withdrew her supernatural powers, and Shariputra returned to his original form. The goddess said to Shariputra, “Where now is the form and shape of your female body?”

Shariputra said, “The form and shape of my female body does not exist, yet does not not exist.”

The goddess said, “All things are just like that—they do not exist, yet do not not exist. And that they do not exist, yet do not not exist, is exactly what the Buddha teaches.”(Page 90-91)

All things considered, Fire in the Lotus is an excellent addition to any library devoted to Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra.

Next: Original Enlightenment and Nichiren as the Original Buddha

Easy, Books

Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra

easy-readings-coverFrom the NBIC Online Store
This prayer book is a handy new edition by Rev. Jodo Kiyose of Nichihonji Temple, published by Rev. Shukai Oikawa of Joenji Temple, designed to serve as an introduction to the liturgy of the Nichiren Order. Although it is impossible to replace a teacher who could explain the liturgy, this book will be helpful for those who may have been chanting the Japanese without a clear notion of its meaning as many of the important quotations of the liturgy have been extracted and broken down into simple components to acquaint the practitioner with its basic meaning.

Contents:

  1. Dojokan – Establishing the Place of Prayer
  2. Sanmon – Adoration of Gohonzon
  3. Seigon – Words of oath before reciting the Lotus Sutra
  4. Hobempon – Chapter 2: Expedients
  5. Juryohon – Chapter 16: The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata
  6. Shodaigyo – The Practice of Odaimoku Chanting
  7. Shikyonanji – Chapter 11: Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures (Hōtōge)
  8. Iyogonshi – Chapter 21: The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas
  9. Eko – Offering of Merits
  10. Hosshin – Resolve
  11. Sange – Repentence
  12. Kie – Prayer to declare faith
  13. Japanese Readings ‐ Shindoku for Hobenpon and Juryohon
  14. Phrases of Nichiren Daishonin ‐ Short snippets from Nichiren’s writings

Published: April 28th, 2014

Editor: Rev. KIYOSE Jōdō
Nichihon-ji Temple, 1820-1, Tako-machi, Katori-gun, Chiba-ken 289-2257

Publisher: Rev. OIKAWA Shokai
Jōen-ji Temple, 7-12-5, Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō 160-0023

174 pages, bound in traditional Japanese expandable accordion style

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Higan, perfections, Books

The Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character


From the Introduction

The question my life presses upon me, whether I face it directly or not, is “How shall I live?” “As what kind of person?” All of us face the task of constructing a life for ourselves, of shaping ourselves into certain kinds of people who will live lives of one kind or another, for better or worse. Some people undertake this task deliberately; they make choices in life in view of an image of the kind of person they would hope to become. From the early beginnings of their tradition, Buddhists have maintained that nothing is more important than developing the freedom implied in their activity of self-cultivation—of deliberately shaping the kind of life you will live. For Buddhists, this is the primary responsibility and opportunity that human beings have. It is, they claim, our singular freedom, a freedom available to no other beings in the universe. And although circumstances beyond anyone’s control will make very different possibilities available for different people, Buddhists have always recognized that the difference between those who assume the task of self-sculpting with imagination, integrity, and courage, and those who do not is enormous, constituting in Buddhism the difference between enlightened ways of being in the world and unenlightened ways. …

One sutra introduces the six perfections by having a disciple ask the Buddha: “How many bases for training are there for those seeking enlightenment?” The Buddha responds: “There are six: generosity, morality, tolerance, energy, meditation, and wisdom.”

This sutra claims that the six perfections are “bases for training.” This means that they constitute a series of practices or “trainings” that guide Buddhist practitioners toward the goal of enlightenment or awakening. These six “trainings” are the means or methods to that all-important end. But the perfections are much more than techniques. They are also the most fundamental dimensions of the goal of enlightenment. Enlightenment is defined in terms of these six qualities of human character; together they constitute the essential qualities of that ideal human state. The perfections, therefore, are the ideal, not just the means to it. Being generous, morally aware, tolerant, energetic, meditative, and wise is what it means for a Buddhist to be enlightened. If perfection in these six dimensions of human character is the goal, then enlightenment, understood in this Buddhist sense, would also be closely correlated to these particular practices. Recognizing this, one sutra says: “Enlightenment just is the path and the path is enlightenment. ” To be moving along the path of self-cultivation by developing the six perfections is the very meaning of “enlightenment.”

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 3-4

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Foundations, Books

Foundations of T’ien-T’ai Philosophy

The Flowering of the Two Truths Theory In Chinese Buddhism

tien-tai-philosophyFrom the Forward by David W. Chappell
This volume represents the first comprehensive study in English of the teaching of the Threefold Truth, perhaps the single most important doctrine in T’ien-t’ai Buddhism. Its author, Paul Swanson, stands as the first of a new generation of Buddhist scholars attempting to provide a comprehensive analysis of T’ien-t’ai for the West and thus to open new vistas for understanding East Asian Buddhism as a whole.

As the first major school of Buddhism in East Asia, T’ien-t’ai marked a watershed in Chinese philosophy. Subsequent developments in Buddhist thought defined themselves in terms of the position they took in its regard, and this is what makes its understanding so critical for the study of Buddhist intellectual history.

To take but one example, it has always been something of a minor mystery why the Three-Teatise (Sanlun) theories of the Chinese Mādhyamika School vanished after having played a decisive role in fifth and sixth century China. The present study provides part of the answer in arguing that Mādhyamika did not in fact die in China but only ceased to exist as a distinct, sociologically discernible entity because it had become absorbed into the foundations for a new breed of indigenous Buddhist schools. First among these new schools, as the author shows, was Tien-t’ai.

The key figure in this first of the major Chinese Buddhist schools was Chih-i (538-597), who is rightly considered the greatest of all Chinese Buddhist philosophers and has been ranked with Thomas Aquinas and al-Ghazali as one of the great systematizers of religious thought and practice in world history. In contrast to Ch’an and Pure Land Buddhism, however, T’ien-t’ai Buddhism is so multidimensional and comprehensive that it is often not easy to understand. This fact, together with its failure to attract a strong following in the West, has led to its neglect by serious scholars.

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Peaceful Action, Blog, Books

Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra

peaceful-action-open-heart-bookcoverFrom Amazon:

Peaceful Action, Open Heart shines 60 years of study and practice upon one of the crowning scriptures of the path of the Buddha, and is destined to be known as one of the most significant writings by Thich Nhat Hanh.

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most revered of Mahayana sacred texts and is sometimes called “the king of sutras.” Despite this fact, there are very few commentaries in English available today. Thich Nhat Hanh explores the Sutra’s main theme – that everyone has the capacity to become a Buddha, and that Buddha-nature is inherent in everything – but he also uniquely emphasizes the sutra’s insight that Buddha-nature is the basis for peaceful action. Since we all will one day become a Buddha, he says, we can use mindfulness practices right now to understand and find solutions to current world challenges. In his interpretation of the sutra, he suggests that if the practices, views, and insights of the Lotus Sutra would find application not only by individuals but also by nations, it would offer concrete solutions to transform individual suffering and the global challenges facing the world today.

Stamped with his signature depth of vision, lucidity, and clarity, Thich Nhat Hanh’s insights based on the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra invoke a wide range of contemporary topics and concerns, such as the Palestinian-Israeli war, the threat of terrorism, and the degradation of our environment. In proposing radical new ways of finding peaceful solutions to universal, contemporary conflicts, he not only challenges the U.N to change from an organization to a real organism working for peace and harmony in the world, but also encourages all branches of all governments to act as Sangha. In so doing, he demonstrates the practical and direct applicability of this sacred text to today’s concerns.

This book has been re-released with a new title. The earlier hardcover edition was entitled Opening the Heart of the Cosmos.

One must assume that the publisher offered the third paragraph for purposes of expanding the potential reach of the book. While the environment is an important aspect of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching, the suggestion that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the United Nations are significant topics is unfounded, at least in the 2008 edition published under the title, Peaceful Action, Open Heart.”

I was introduced to this book in July, 2020, when Ryuei Shonin announced the creation of an Amazon Wish List for his Lotus Sutra Study program. This is the first book by Thich Nhat Hanh that I’ve read. And as with Nikkyō Niwano’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra, I feel a need to distance myself from some of the interpretations of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Here is an example from Thich Nhat Hanh’s discussion of the Buddha’s prediction for Shariputra in Chapter 3, A Parable:

Hearing this the Buddha said, “Shariputra, in past lives you studied and practiced with me, and I taught you the bodhisattva way. But in this lifetime you forgot it and, following the path of the shravaka, believed you had reached the final goal of your practice, nirvana. Now, through teaching this Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, I am able to reestablish you on the bodhisattva path. In the future you will become the Buddha Flower Glow (Padmaprabha) in a Buddha Land called Free of Defilements (Viraja). You will do as I do, and teach the three vehicles to guide living beings, and finally you will also teach the One Vehicle, just as I am teaching now.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p46-47

Thich Nhat Hanh book’s endnotes indicate that he is using Leon Hurvitz’s translation of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma for his English language quotes, but in this instance Thich Nhat Hanh has not only grossly paraphrased but also fabricated new text.

Here’s the relevant portion from Hurvitz:

“Flower Glow, the Thus Come One, shall furthermore by resort to the three vehicles teach and convert the beings. Śāriputra, though the time of that buddha’s emergence shall not be an evil age, by reason of his former vow he shall preach the dharma of the three vehicles.”

Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, p51

Few things in the Lotus Sutra are more puzzling to me than the prediction that Śāriputra will teach the Three Vehicles even though the kalpa in which he becomes that Buddha “will not be an evil age.” If only the Buddha, as Thich Nhat Hanh erroneously inserts, had added, “finally you will also teach the One Vehicle, just as I am teaching now.” But the Buddha doesn’t say Śāriputra will ever teach the One Vehicle or the Lotus Sutra.

Before I start posting quotes here from the book I’ll be posting several articles concerning problems of one sort or another that I have with Thich Nhat Hanh interpretation.

Having said that, I should underline my overall satisfaction and favorable opinion of “Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons from the Lotus Sutra.”

I fully endorse this from the Introduction:

This book shows how the teachings of the Sutra can help us realize the practices of mindfulness, compassion, and love for the well-being of our family, our community, our society, and the world.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p8

And this beautiful poem by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Reciting the Lotus Sutra

At night as I recite the Lotus Sutra
The sound moves the galaxies
The Earth below wakes up
In her lap suddenly flowers appear

At night as I recite the Lotus Sutra
A jeweled Stupa appears resplendent.
All over the sky bodhisattvas are seen
And Buddha’s hand is in mine.

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Book Quotes

Book List

Shodaigyo, Blog, Books

Perfecting Shodaigyo Practice

shodaigyo_bookcover
Available for purchase at NBIC

Yesterday I completed the third week of the Enkyoji Buddhist Network’s online classes. This week dealt with Shodaigyo, the Nichiren Shu alternative to the traditional sutra chanting service. Shodaigyo eschews shindoku and instead combines seated meditation and chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. The simplicity of this format makes it an excellent vehicle for introducing the Daimoku to people unfamiliar with Buddhism.

The practice was established by Japanese Nichiren Shu Bishop Nichijun Yukawa in 1947. The fundamentals of Shodaigyo practice are detailed in Journey of the Path to Righteousness, an English translation by Rev. Shogen Kumakura, head priest of New York Daiseion-ji, of the most critical section of Rev. Tairyu Gondo’s manual on the liturgy of the Shodai-gyo, Chapter One: The Heart of Shodaigyo – The Manners and Practice.

Download Enkyoji Shodaigyo practice guide
This book offers minutely detailed instructions on the proper way to practice shodaigyo. As the book explains: “In following the above procedures, the effects of Shodaigyo Ceremony practice are improved.”

The reason for the development of this form of practice is detailed in the brief Introduction:

It is not easy for the practitioner to maintain a seriousness of heart for the most assiduous practice of chanting the Odaimoku. This being so, a variety of earlier methodologies for the practitioner have been taken into consideration for quite some time. The current form of Shodaigyo was developed from a foundation of those earlier methodologies. Today, this evolved form of Shodaigyo is practiced in Nichiren temples throughout the country of Japan and now around the world. Archbishop Nichijun Yukawa, my Sensei (mentor) and the founder of Gudo Dougan-Kai (The Association of the Same Wish for Those Seeking the Way), was the developer of this modern form of Shodaigyo. He propagated this current Shodaigyo form throughout Japan until he was until he was 93 years old.

“Shodaigyo is to chant the Odaimoku intently, staring deeply into the heart of the Self, in identification of the purified mind.”

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 2-3

I was previously introduced to the practice of Shodaiqyo at the four-day Enkyoji Buddhist Network 2017 Summer Retreat at the Seattle Choeizan Enkyoji Nichiren Buddhist Temple.

The pamphlet developed by the Enkyoji Network is available here.

Shodaigyo is sometimes combined with Reidan Daimoku Hand Gestures. You can read about those here.

For the next 25 days I’m going to postpone my quotes from Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, and instead post quotes from Journey of the Path to Righteousness.

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Japanese Culture, Blog, Books

The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture bookcoverContinuing with my Office Lens houscleaning, I will be offering  quotes from The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture for the next 10 days. Published by the University of Hawaii Press in 1989, this selection of  essays was edited by George J. Tanabe Jr. and Willa Jane Tanabe. The Tanabes are famous – perhaps infamous – for the editors’ Introduction, in which they describe the Lotus Sutra as a text “about a discourse that is never delivered, a lengthy preface without a book.”

Having been introduced to the book as a footnote for that quote I was not surprised to find this infamous Introduction stumbles in summarizing the sutra.

In the opening scene of the Lotus Sutra, great sages, deities, and kings gather by the tens of thousands to hear the Buddha speak. After the multitude showers him with reverent offerings, the Buddha offers some preliminary words and then enters a state of deep concentration. The heavens rain flowers and the earth trembles while the crowd waits for the sermon. Then the Buddha emits a glowing light from the tuft of white hair between his brows and illuminates the thousands of worlds in all directions of the universe. The bodhisattva Maitreya, wanting to know the meaning of this sign, asks Mañjuśrī, who searches back into his memory and recalls a similar display of light:

You good men, once before, in the presence of past Buddhas, I saw this portent: when the Buddhas had emitted this light, straightway they preached the great Dharma. Thus it should be understood that the present Buddha’s display of light is also of this sort. It is because he wishes all the living beings to be able to hear and know the Dharma, difficult of belief for all the worlds, that he displays this portent.

Everything that is happening now, recalls Maitreya, happened in that distant past when the Buddha preached the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and entered samādhi as the universe trembled and rained flowers.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}

Okay. It’s just a typo. It’s not like I haven’t made any typos here. I’m sure the editors know that it is Mañjuśrī who recalls his past life experience.

As for that infamous quote, here’s the context:

The status of the sutra is raised to that of an object of worship, for it is to be revered in and of itself because of the merits it asserts for itself. As praises for the Lotus Sutra mount with increasing elaboration, it is easy to fall in with the sutra’s protagonists and, like them, fail to notice that the preaching of the Lotus sermon promised in the first chapter never takes place. The text, so full of merit, is about a discourse which is never delivered; it is a lengthy preface without a book.

The Lotus Sutra is thus unique among texts. It is not merely subject to various interpretations, as all texts are, but is open or empty at its very center. It is a surrounding text, pure context, which invites not only interpretation of what is said but filling in of what is not said. It therefore lends itself more easily than do other scriptures to being shaped by users of the text.

The fact that the preaching remains an unfulfilled promise is never mentioned, mostly because that fact is hardly noticed, or because the paean about the sermon sounds like the sermon itself. The text is taken at face value: praise about the Lotus Sutra becomes the Lotus Sutra, and since the unpreached sermon leaves the text undefined in terms of a fixed doctrinal value (save, of course, the value of the paean) it can be exchanged at any number of rates. Exchange involves transformation, the turning of one thing into another, and the Lotus Sutra can thus be minted into other expressions of worth. That transformation process, beginning with the original text itself, did in fact take place, and the different ways in which the Lotus Sutra was transformed into aspects of Japanese culture are the subject of this collection of essays.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}

I will offer quotes from two of the 10 essays. Some of the essays are not quotable and some I find objectionable. Here’s an example of the latter from the essay “The Meaning of the Formation and Structure of the Lotus Sutra” by Shioiri Ryōdō:

In the mid-Heian period the Pure Land belief centered on Amida became quite popular, and in Nihon ōjō gokuraku ki (An Account of Japanese Reborn in Paradise) by Yoshishige no Yasutane (934-997) there are many legends patterned after examples of the Chinese Buddhists considered to have been reborn in the Pure Land paradise. Eshin Sōzu (Genshin, 942-1017), a priest of Mt. Hiei, is famous for writing Ōjōyōshū (Essentials for Rebirth), in which he describes paradise and hell in detail and speaks of loathing the defilements of this world and desiring rebirth in paradise. In a certain sense it could be said that he perfected the Pure Land teaching on Mt. Hiei. Those who gathered around these two men heard lectures on the Lotus Sutra, wrote poems based on phrases from the sutra, and made the recitation of the nembutsu their central practice. Recitations of the Lotus Sutra and the name of Amida coexisted without the slightest contradiction. When I was asked by Professor Inoue Mitsusada to annotate the Ōjōden (Biographies of Rebirth) and the Hokke genki (Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra) for the Iwanami series on Japanese thought, I spent nearly a year at this task and was keenly aware of the compatibility of the two practices as I became intimate with the biographies of those reborn. The Ōjōden is a collection of biographies of forty-five Buddhists, beginning with Shōtoku Taishi; of the thirty-five who are said to have gained rebirth in paradise, seven are explicitly described as believers in the Lotus Sutra. The number can be extended to ten if we include those who I think were believers or practitioners of the Lotus Sutra even though there is no explicit reference to this. In a text where only three people are said to have practiced esoteric Buddhism apart from their Pure Land belief and only two were adherents of other sutras, we can see the extent to which the Lotus Sutra was preferred.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}

Yes, in the Heian period the “recitations of the Lotus Sutra and the name of Amida coexisted without the slightest contradiction.” That’s exactly why Nichiren Shōnin was so adamant that things had gotten out of hand.

While I did not quote from Geroge Tanabe’s “Tanaka Chigaku: The Lotus Sutra and the Body Politic,” I recommend it as an introduction to Tanaka and his fervent nationalist Nichirenism.

Book Quotes

Book List

dhammapada, Books

The Dhammapada


From the publisher’s introduction

Dhammapada means “the path of dharma,” the path of harmony and righteousness that anyone can follow to reach the highest good. The Dhammapada is a collection of verses, gathered probably from direct disciples who wanted to preserve what they had heard from the Buddha himself. Easwaran’s best-selling translation of this classic Buddhist text is based on the original Pali.

Easwaran’s comprehensive introduction to the Dhammapada gives an overview of the Buddha’s teachings that is penetrating, and clear – accessible for readers new to Buddhism, but also with fresh insights and practical applications for readers familiar with this text. Chapter introductions, notes and a Sanskrit glossary place individual verses into the context of the broader Buddhist canon.

Easwaran is a master storyteller, and the introduction includes many stories that make moving, memorable reading, bringing young Siddhartha and his heroic spiritual quest vividly to life. This faithful interpretation brings us closer to the compassionate heart of the Buddha.

Book Quotes

 
Book List

stories, Books

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra

Stories of the Lotus Sutra book cover
Available for purchase on Amazon

From the Introduction to Gene Reeves’ 2010 book published by Rissho Kosei-kai:

Be forwarned! This book might transform you into the kind of Buddhist who loves the Lotus Sutra and therefore deeply cares about this world. It is a commentary on the stories of the Lotus Sutra, a sutra that more than any other has been both loved and reviled. Though intended to be a companion volume to my translation of the Lotus Sutra, this does not mean that it cannot be read without the translation at hand. I think everything in this book can be understood on its own. Still, one’s understanding of the Dharma Flower Sutra will be greatly enhanced by reading the translation – or better yet by reading a Chinese version! …

During most of my adult life I have been both a teacher and a preacher, roles which I understand to be different, though, of course, teaching can be included within preaching and sometimes a little preaching may show up in a teacher. And that is what this book does, at least that is what I hope it does. I hope it will inspire at least some readers not only to understand the Lotus Sutra better but also to embrace it, at least some part of its core teaching. I hope some will be moved by it to improve their lives in some significant way. But where it has seemed relevant to do so, I have included factual information both about the text and about the subjects of the stories in the text.

I hope it will shed some light on and even open up the profound meaning of that text – which is normally known in East Asia as the Dharma Flower Sutra. (In this book I will use “Lotus Sutra” and “Dharma Flower Sutra” interchangeably.) Though any text, including the Dharma Flower Sutra, can be interpreted and understood in various ways, I believe that this text is first of all a religious text, intended primarily not to settle some dispute among monks in ancient India, or to expound philosophical doctrines, but rather to influence the lives of its hearers or readers in highly significant ways. In an important way, we might say that the text wants to teach and transform you! For that purpose to be fulfilled or even appreciated widely, it is important that the meaning and thrust of the Sutra be readily available to ordinary English-language readers. This attempt to interpret the Lotus Sutra in plain words is an attempt to have its rich meanings and significance available to a wider and widening audience.
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p1-3

See this blog post: The Trouble with Interfaith Truth

Book Quotes

 
Book List