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.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraCategory Archives: Lecture on Lotus Sutra
Sleeping in the House of the Buddha
This Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son teaches us that we should have confidence in not only the truth of the Buddha’s words, but also in the truth that we are already inherently completely endowed with the basic fundamental enlightened life condition equal to that of all Buddhas. … It may be easier for you to think, not this lifetime but perhaps I can do it next lifetime. The end of the tunnel in your life may seem so far off that you feel it will never become light again. This may sound like some empty promise. It may sound like some feeble attempt at encouraging you to have positive thoughts, when it may be just a struggle to have any thought. You may think it has been so hard that nothing could possibly make it better. I know those feelings and thoughts. I can only tell you that in my experience the Lotus Sutra was the one thing that did give me hope. When I thought my world could never get better, that nothing would change, little by little as my life began to change through the practice of the Lotus Sutra, I began to see other options, other ways of being. It wasn’t easy, it didn’t happen overnight. Slowly I began to change my way of being in the world, in a sense I become more comfortable sleeping in the house of the Buddha.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Potential in Yourself
Even if you are not sure of the truth or the reality of Buddhahood inherent in your life, if you chant Odaimoku, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, if you carry out the practice and study of the Lotus Sutra, it is possible to awaken within you that spark which will allow you to see the reality of your own enlightened nature. Just as the arhats thought it not possible and so they chose not to try, and just as this son in the Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son did not in the beginning think he was worthy of staying in the house, eventually through the compassion of the Buddha and the compassion of the father each of those people were able to elevate their life conditions to enable them to see a potential in themselves they had not seen before.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Negative Feedback Loop
The elders of the congregation, as represented here 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-samyaksambodhi 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.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraAll We Need To Be
Perhaps it is the reality of our modern advertisement saturated media that has led many to believe that only after buying and using every product known to man, after every single penny is spent that has ever been earned in the entire history of man- and womankind then and only then will somehow perfection and happiness be possible. Somehow by doing something so unlikely to produce indestructible happiness as buying a product is more realistic than the realization that each one of us is already all we need to be. We are as complete as we need to be in order to become indestructibly happy. All we need to do is simply wake up to this reality in our lives, and the Buddha is telling us that the Lotus Sutra is the most efficacious way of doing this.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Inherent Potential for Buddhahood
I am not sure if you remember a little while back I mentioned how it is hard for people to believe they could become Buddhas. I won’t say for certain that this is the most common hindrance but of all my years of practicing with others and teaching and guiding this does seem to be one area that is difficult for many people to fully embrace. The fact that the Buddha tells us many times that the teaching of the Lotus Sutra is a teaching which enables all living beings to manifest the inherent potential for Buddhahood that lies within each person seems to be very difficult to grasp. Some people I am afraid think there must be some fine print in the text or some part that was left out of the translation that specifically mentioned their name as the single exception to this universal promise of the Buddha. … These people seem to be content with what little scraps they can get from their practice and refuse to enter the house to live, to enter into and realize enlightenment is in fact within their very lives.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraExiting the Burning House
Escaping from the fire is the chief concern of the wealthy father; it is also the concern of the Buddha. The father ponders seriously how he might be able to rescue his children who refuse to exit the burning building. We too, before we began to study Buddhism, were like the children. We did not realize that we could escape the burning fires of pain, greed, anger, and animality. We may not have even realized that we were suffering, especially if we were in a state of tranquility. But just as the gods in heaven will eventually fall to earth, so too tranquility will eventually change and we will be faced with the stark reality of old age, disease, and death. Nothing remains unchanged forever; all things are subject to decay.
We can either be caught up in despair of the cycle of endless suffering or we may be blind to the eventuality of suffering. In either case the Buddha knows there are raging flames all around us and he wants to save us, or rather provide the means whereby we can save ourselves. First though is to exit the burning house.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraExiting the Cycle of Birth and Rebirth
One question that may come up for some as they read [the parable of the burning house] and think of the Buddha as the old man is why was the house in such bad shape, especially since the man in the story was wealthy. If we think of the house as representing the universe and all the things that make up the universe and we realize that nothing avoids the process of decay then even though the house is now rundown and falling to pieces, at one time it was a very nice dwelling. Everything in the universe is subject to the change and eventual decay. The old man could not stop it from occurring; the Buddha cannot stop it from occurring. But through our Buddhist practice, the practice of the single vehicle taught in the Lotus Sutra we can exit the cycle of birth and rebirth and thereby escape the four sufferings.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraStudy Fun
As I think back on my first exposure to the Lotus Sutra, what really fascinated me was not the parables. It was the treasure tower, the bodhisattvas from beneath the ground and all of that part. It wasn’t until much later when I became aware of the many parables in the Lotus Sutra. I guess you could say that I only had a casual relationship with the Lotus Sutra when I began practicing. I could chalk it up to being young, enamored of the drama, lazy, and probably some others that 45 or so years have blurred.
I will say in my defense there wasn’t a lot of easily available English literature. It is partly that which is motivating me to write this. I would like for others to share in the joy I experience in practicing the Lotus Sutra. One way to do that is to try to make the Lotus Sutra more approachable to readers, I believe the Lotus Sutra can be fun to study.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraHaving Joy
As we begin to wander into the Lotus Sutra, I think the most important thing is to understand those things that in this moment enhance your practice, encourage you, and deepen your relationship with the Lotus Sutra. In all things I believe that joy should be at the root. While the Lotus Sutra may at times seem perplexing or impossible to understand I do think that joy is possible to establish. Having joy well up from within your life and manifest in actuality is very important. When you have joy then you will have greater praise, which leads to further joy. The message of joy and gratitude are as much at the heart of the Lotus Sutra, as is any complex doctrinal message.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra