Our actions are an opportunity to recite the sutra with our lives. We have a choice as to whether our actions are melodic, in harmony with the situation and task at hand, or whether they will be discordant and at odds with our environment. Harmony yields joy; disharmony yields discomfort. When we are in harmony with the Lotus Sutra, it makes it easy for others to enter the wonderful benefits of the Dharma even without being aware of those benefits. This the Buddha responds to, this their Buddha nature responds to and this awakens the seed to their enlightenment. There is nothing we need to do but provide the nutrients to the awakening of their Buddha nature.

The notion of converting people, or convincing them to take faith in the Lotus Sutra, is at odds with the belief that everyone possesses a Buddha nature within their lives. Seriously, what is there I can convince someone of, or convert them to, if they are already a Buddha? Rather it is incumbent on me to provide the fertile field for their Buddha nature to sprout and grow from within their lives. Conversion is a mind game and one of dominance. It is operating from a mindset of superiority and subjugation, which is contrary to everything in the Lotus Sutra.

When we recite the sutra, we should do so with a voice, strong and confident, clear and melodic. In my writing this is how I hope to be. Whether you write, draw, make music, add up numbers on a spreadsheet, direct planes in an airport, guard resources, answer telephones, field consumer complaints on a hotline, report the news, care for children, make babies, arrange flowers, collect the refuse of humanity, test water quality, drive a bus, guard the cross walk for children, represent voters as a politician, litigate matters before a judge, carry a weapon in combat, train for combat, and on and on the list could go — you have an opportunity to sing the phrases of the Lotus Sutra with the very actions of your task. This is how we can recite the sutra with our lives.

The Shute Hoyo Shiki says:

“Our own bowing and the Buddhas who are bowed to are all originally within one mind in which there is no bowing and no one to receive it. Although there is no bowing and no one to receive it there is certainly the response of the Buddhas and the receptivity of the ordinary people.”

Shute Hoyo Shiki – Udana-in Nichiki, page 391

For me, bowing when there is no bowing means that all my life is both an expression of gratitude and an attempt to repay the favors I have received. Bowing when there is no one to bow to means that, when I succeed in living according to the principle that all beings possess Buddha nature, then even if people do not seem to respond their lives are forever impacted and the Buddha within them bows. Their receptivity is not dependent upon their knowledge or awareness; the Buddha is always receptive. The one mind of self always abiding in the Lotus Sutra is far reaching and encompassing. The one mind abiding in the Lotus Sutra speaks to the one mind of every being in the universe and so the universe abides in us and bows to us.

Practicing the Lotus Sutra allows us to first see and experience and then open to the vast treasures of the universe. The Buddha, a common mortal, a prince from a small tribe in ancient India, did just that very thing. As a result, here we are today, some 2,500 years or so removed from him, and yet we can benefit from the insight and enlightenment he gained. The path is revealed to us in this very teaching. Rather than keep it to himself, rather than dilute it, rather than change it, he gave it to us in the form of the Lotus Sutra.

When you engage in your daily practice, however it manifests, do you approach your devotion with the awareness of the greatness of the teaching and your incredible fortune to have been exposed to this profound teaching? Nothing that has come along in my life has come close to the greatness of the Lotus Sutra. It is unimaginable that I should have been exposed to it in this lifetime. A seemingly chance encounter in a military barracks only a few nights before Christmas has led me on a path that has given me fortune beyond what I could have imagined at the time. Even now, having lived it, I still find it hard to believe.

Many of the Shomyo, or Buddhist hymns, that priests sing, contain the phrase “I shin kyo rai” (Jpn), which means “with our whole heart we bow.” With our whole heart we bow to the Three Treasures, not the One Treasure, not the Two Treasures, but to all Three Treasures.

“Our own bowing and the Buddhas who are bowed to are all originally within one mind in which there is no bowing and no one to receive it. Although there is no bowing and no one to receive it there is certainly the response of the Buddhas and the receptivity of the ordinary people.”

Shute Hoyo Shiki – Udana-in Nichiki, page 391

For all that gunk that hangs around in our hearts and minds there is something else there. This something else is not to be taken lightly and should never be forgotten. Our minds, while being perceived by the Buddhas, also contain the perception of the Buddhas. Our minds are also the minds of Buddhas. No matter how bad you may think you are, you are indeed a Buddha and possess the mind of the Buddha within your mind. The trick, as always, is to tap into it while working on lessening those other qualities that work against the Buddha in our lives.

“The innumerable great virtues of the Dharma-realm is where the Three Treasures and all human and heavenly beings abide and what the Dragon King looks up to in reverence. These Three Treasures are not only of great benefit and win over all sentient beings but are also of the same nature and entity as us.”

Shute Hoyo Shiki – Udana-in Nichiki, Page 391

In our own Sahā world, it is we – the common mortals, full of defilements, discursive thoughts, fleeting attention spans – who are tasked with spreading the Dharma. Gods or deities aren’t spreading it. It is you and I, with all our imperfections, who are the most qualified to teach the Dharma to others, showing with our lives that there is a way to end suffering and attain enlightenment, as promised in the Lotus Sutra.

Not sure about your mind, but if it is anything like mine, it is at times full of all kinds of stuff. There’s good stuff and bad stuff and stuff I don’t know quite what to do with, though I’m hoping I figure it out soon. When I’ve taught folks in detox to meditate almost to a person the common plea is: “I can’t get my mind to stop thinking. How can I make it stop?” For all those thoughts, there is one truth underlying it all: Our minds contain the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. In any single thought moment your mind encompasses all Dharma qualities and pervades all realms.

That’s a powerful statement worthy of deep reflection. What kind of Dharma qualities are in our thoughts? Yes, that’s the rub. What kind of Dharma qualities are we manifesting in our thinking? The good, the bad, and the ugly all reflect our Dharma quality. The ten worlds are always present, and the ten worlds always have each of the ten worlds present in some form. So even your bad stuff is Dharma, and so is your good stuff. The key to our practice is not to suppress or hide from those less-than-admirable thoughts but to see where they come from, examine them, and then manifest our actions from the mind of the Buddha, from the heart of the Buddha.

If the place where you practice is not the Buddha land then the Buddha is not present practicing.

The Shutei Hoyo Shiki says:

“You should know this place of practice is the inconceivable sphere [of activity] of all Buddhas. “

Shutei Hoyo Shiki – Udana-in Nichiki, page 390