Over several years I have given various lectures on the Lotus Sutra. In some instances the talks were given to a few people, in others the audience was quite large. Some times the same person would hear one or two lectures, but no one has heard them all. For what they are worth I have decided to put much of the best of the lectures here in this book. I first encountered the Lotus Sutra in 1969 when I was fresh out of Marine boot camp. I knew a little about Buddhism before I went to that first activity. I had studied a little of Buddhism in high school and college. I can honestly say now that what I really knew at that time was next to nothing. This is not a linear exposition of the sutra. This is a very circular approach, meandering even, I’ll mention something about a chapter in one part of the book, and then in another part of the book I may mention the same thing again but from a different perspective. I like to think of my approach to unraveling the mysteries of the Lotus Sutra as thematically oriented. This is not to say my approach is better than a linear chapter-by-chapter explanation. It is just a way that makes sense to me. I should point out that non-linear story telling is very popular in the south in America as well as much of Africa. There is reason to suspect the non-linear way may actually resonate with others as well. It is always a great joy when I am able to talk about the Lotus Sutra, and this book project has been no exception. I hope you think of this as a couple of friends sitting on the porch swing talking about something that means something important to both.
Medicine-King Bodhisattva walks the Saha World proclaiming the benefit of the Lotus Sutra and witnesses the suffering of all the people while proclaiming the great healing power of the Lotus Sutra. We can try to model our lives on that of Medicine-King. No, I am not proposing that we burn our body, that isn’t the message here. What I am suggesting is that we try to remind ourselves that we not only practice for our own benefit but for the benefit of others. The trials and tribulations we face we may see as our personal struggle, yet it is more than that. Every obstacle we overcome can serve as an example to others when we tell our story.
Notice that the Lotus Sutra requests us to understand by faith, not believe. This is a key distinction and something that is rare to come across in religion. Nichiren teaches that faith comes from practice and study. A tripod with its three legs can stand on any irregular surface. There is a mathematical explanation for this but it is unique in that ability. How many of us have sat down at a table or on a chair of four legs and had it wobble on us because of an uneven floor? The three legs of Buddhism, the legs which can support us on any of the various uneven surfaces of life, are faith, practice and study. With those three we can overcome any situation enabling the realization of enlightenment regardless of the circumstances.
It says in the sutra, and Nichiren repeats it in his letters, it only takes one candle to instantly eliminate the darkness that has filled a cave for thousands of years. Chanting Odaimoku is like that candle. No matter how small or feeble, that one candle does begin to light up your life. That spark of hope can be the foundation of faith in your life that anything is possible to change if you follow the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
In one of his writings, Nichiren says that no matter how long a cave has been dark, the minute a light enters, the darkness is eliminated. The same is true with our lives. The instant we begin practicing, our life begins to change and the dark clouds of suffering begin to roll back. If a candle is lit in a darkened cave immediately there is light, and so it is with our lives. As our faith and practice grows it is as if we light ever more candles to the point where every corner of the cave of suffering is illuminated.
In all of our efforts of propagation, we should always keep in mind that we do it for the joy and benefit of the person to whom we are teaching. It isn’t about acquiring points for converting others. It is about bringing joy into the lives of others. We should consider how best to benefit the person, even if it is helping them take small baby steps. There is no need, nor is it appropriate, to bludgeon someone or berate someone, or cajole someone into taking faith. We merely need to plant the seeds of their future enlightenment.
We see the actions of Bodhisattva Never Despise as being of respect for others, yet this respect is based upon the absolute conviction or faith that the other person is also a Buddha worthy of respect. The action is not based upon a theoretical doctrine, but on the realization that within self is Buddha and within the other is Buddha.
In the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter 27, the two sons who vow to practice Buddhism and then vow to convert their father do so because they are able to manifest the benefits of their Buddhist practice. The truth of the teaching enables them to change their lives, giving them the joy of life and the capacity to turn around and save their father. Their faith and seeking spirit led them to Buddhism and their benefit enables them to share it.
Questioning the teaching helps to lead to further study and exploration of life, which leads to firmer and stronger faith. In Buddhism faith is actually enhanced by questions and practicing. Faith is one part questioning and another part practicing and applying. I personally believe that we should flee from anyone or any teaching that tries to lie outside the realm of questions. Refusing to answer questions or implying that questioning is wrong or unfaithful should be an automatic warning that something just isn’t quite right.
The elders of the congregation, as represented [in Chapter 4] by those telling the Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son, have come to realize that they had been guilty of thinking that the truth and reality of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi as a possibility in their lives was not something they could actually realize and so they did not seek it. If in your life, at the very core of your life, deep down in the essence of what makes you you, if you are unable to believe you are fundamentally at that deep level a Buddha, then it is likely you will not actually live a life of possibility. If that belief, or even hope, or even faith is lacking then it will be difficult on your own to make the necessary causes to actually manifest it. It will in a sense become as if a negative feedback loop.
This story in the Simile of the Herbs of the rain of the Dharma falling equally on all the various plants and herbs equally benefiting all according to their unique capacity also highlights the equality and inclusivity of the Lotus Sutra teaching. The teaching of Buddhism can benefit all beings and it does so without either diminishing the teaching or devaluing or diminishing those who apply it to their lives. There is no loss of the value of practice and faith regardless of our inner capacity or our physical ability. The Dharma looses no value and neither do we.
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