Category Archives: d12b

800years, d10b, d12b, Blog

800 Years: Faith in the face of obstacles

Before getting into what I consider the meat of Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City, I want first to explore the idea of faith and its role in overcoming obstacles. Consider Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha’s trouble attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi – unexcelled perfect enlightenment.

“The duration of the life of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha was five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas. [Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Mara. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.”

Now, 10 small kalpas is a tiny fraction of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha’s lifespan of five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas, but it still represents a long time to remain “cross-legged without moving his mind.” Why was so much time required?

Consider the tale published in 2007 by Paulo Coelho that he adapted from a story sent to him by Sonaira D’Avila.

“A man spent hours watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. It managed to make a small hole, but its body was too large to get through it. After a long struggle, it appeared to be exhausted and remained absolutely still.

“The man decided to help the butterfly and, with a pair of scissors, he cut open the cocoon, thus releasing the butterfly. However, the butterfly’s body was very small and wrinkled and its wings were all crumpled.

“The man continued to watch, hoping that, at any moment, the butterfly would open its wings and fly away. Nothing happened; in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its brief life dragging around its shrunken body and shriveled wings, incapable of flight.

“What the man – out of kindness and his eagerness to help – had failed to understand was that the tight cocoon and the efforts that the butterfly had to make in order to squeeze out of that tiny hole were Nature’s way of training the butterfly and of strengthening its wings.

“Sometimes, a little extra effort is precisely what prepares us for the next obstacle to be faced. Anyone who refuses to make that effort, or gets the wrong sort of help, is left unprepared to fight the next battle and never manages to fly off to their destiny.”

In the Parable of the Burning House in Chapter 3, the Buddha explains:

“Śāriputra! The rich man did not save his children by his muscular power although he was strong enough. He saved them from the burning house with a skillful expedient and later gave them each a large cart of treasures.

“In the same manner, I save all living beings from the burning house of the triple world, not by my powers or fearlessness, but with a skillful expedient.”

Faith sets us on the path. With our struggles we grow stronger.

Table of Contents Next Essay
elements, d12b

Correspondences for the Parable of the Magic City

According to Tendai’s “Branches of the Lotus Sutra,” the parables are divided into two portions, the exposition and the explanation of correspondences.

Correspondences for the Parable of the Magic City

Just as the guide, wise and astute, knows well the perilous road, where it is open and where closed, the Tathāgata is the bhiksus’ great leader acquainted with all the distresses, evils, perils, and long-continued processes of mortality, which they must be rid of and removed from.

Just as along the way, the company he leads becomes tired, and the people tell the leader they wish to turn back, if living beings only hear of the One Buddha Vehicle they will not desire to see the Buddha nor wish to approach him, but think that the Buddha way is long and far, and only after long suffering of arduous labor can the end be reached.

It is just as when that leader, in order to give rest to the company, magically makes a great city and after they are rested informs them: “The Place of Jewels is at hand; this city is not real, but only my magic production,” the Buddha, knowing that the minds of living beings are feeble and low, by his skillful means, when they are on their way, to give them rest preaches the two stages of nirvana. If those beings dwell in these two stages, then the Tathāgata proceeds to tell them: “You have not yet accomplished your task. The place where you are dwelling is near the Buddha wisdom. Take note and ponder that the nirvana which you have attained is not the real one! It is only that the Tathāgata, through his skillful means, in the One Buddha Vehicle discriminates and speaks of three.”

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 339
elements, d5b, d6b, d7b, d8b, d9b, d12b, d13b, d19b, d21b

Seven Parables in Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra

The Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, Fa-hua lun (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa, T. 1519, variant T. 1520), by Vasubandhu and translated into Chinese twice early in the sixth century, states:

The chapters following teach seven parables for the sake of living beings and the seven kinds of defilements they possess, in order to overcome the seven kinds of overweening pride.

It summarizes the seven parables as follows:

  1. The parable of the burning house has been narrated for those who, seeking after power, perversely vaunt their assertion that they possess the Truth and seek after merits. In this world they burn the greatest from the fire of the various defilements and seek after reward in terms of the state of a heavenly being, which remains defiled with the outflows that obstruct enlightenment. These people are enabled to accumulate roots of goodness and the merits of samādhi in this world, and to be gladdened by expedients, so that later they will be able to enter true nirvana.
  2. The parable of the poor son has been narrated for those who, seeking the liberation of a śrāvaka, possess a singly directed pride in superior knowledge. They reason perversely that their own vehicle is no different from that of the Tathāgata. Through this parable, such people will be enabled to board the Great Vehicle, the one revealed through the three.
  3. The parable of the rain has been narrated for those who, seeking the Great Vehicle, have the arrogance of a singly directed resolve, reasoning perversely that there is no such thing as a śrāvaka or a pratyekabuddha vehicle. The parable allows them to know that there are other vehicles. Though the buddhas and tathāgatas preach the Dharma equally without discrimination, the seeds that sprout within living beings depend on the various roots of goodness.
  4. The parable of the magic city has been narrated for those who arrogantly believe that what is not real has being. They perform the samādhis (concentrations) and samāpattis (final, unperturbed samādhis) that are still defiled by the outflows, and though they know that nirvana is not real, they still pursue it. They are enabled through skillful expedients to enter the magic city, the city of nirvana, which is the city of the dhyānas and the samādhis. They pass through this city and enter the city of true nirvana.
  5. The parable of the priceless jewel has been narrated for those who, though not having false illusions, still do not realize that they have long possessed the roots of goodness of the Great Vehicle. They do not seek the Great Vehicle, but their narrow and inferior minds give rise to deluded understanding so that they think theirs is the first vehicle. Through the parable they are able to recall their past roots of goodness and learn to enter samādhi.
  6. The parable of the king’s jewel has been narrated for those who are arrogant in the accumulation of merits. Though they hear the teaching of the Great Vehicle, they attach themselves to teachings that are not of the Great Vehicle. The parable enables them to hear the teachings of the Great Vehicle, and through them receive the secret predictions of the buddhas-tathāgatas, the same as if they had completed the ten stages.
  7. The parable of the physician has been narrated for those who have pride in not accumulating merits. Remaining in the first vehicle, they have not in the past practiced and accumulated roots of goodness, so that even though they hear of the first vehicle, they cannot in their hearts believe in it. The parable shows them “the proper quantity of nirvana” … by enabling them to bring to fruition those roots that have not yet borne fruit.
Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 327-328
d12b, WONS

Śāriputra’s Failure

The Buddha’s disciple Śāriputra endeavored to become a Buddha for sixty kalpa fervently practicing the ways of the bodhisattva. Nonetheless, unable to withstand its tribulations, he gave it up to pursue that of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha.

As is written in “The Parable of a Magic City” (chapter 7 of the Lotus Sūtra), those who had established a relationship to the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha for a period of three thousand dust-particle kalpa, and those who had received the seed of Buddhahood from the Eternal Buddha for five hundred (million) dust-particle kalpa sank into the disillusionment of life and death. Although they had practiced the way of the Lotus, the King of Devils in the Sixth Heaven infiltrated the sovereign and those around him, so as to trouble and aggravate them, leading them to abandon their practices, and forever remain in the cycle of the six realms of delusion (hell, hungry souls, beast, asura, men, gods).

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 163

d10b, d12b, WONS

Since 3,000 Dust-Particle Kalpa Ago

When we compare Śākyamuni Buddha in the Lotus Sūtra to Buddhas in other sūtras in regard to the period of practicing the Bodhisattva way and saving people, other Buddhas’ length of practice is said to have been three asamkhya kalpa or five kalpa, while Śākyamuni Buddha has been a great Bodhisattva planting the seed of enlightenment in all living beings in the Sahā World since 3,000 dust-particle kalpa ago according to the “Parable of a Magic City” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, none of the living beings in six lower realms in this world have any relationship with any Bodhisattvas in other worlds.

Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 208

d12b, WONS

The Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni’s Three Benefits and Three Virtues

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; when the king became a Buddha, his 16 princes awakened aspiration for Buddhahood and became novices. Meanwhile the 16 novices grew to be 16 bodhisattvas, preaching the Lotus Sūtra as their father Buddha had taught them and planting the seed of Buddhahood in all the people in the Sahā World. These 16 bodhisattvas all attained Buddhahood, the seventh chapter continues, and they became 16 Buddhas, the first of whom was Akṣobha Buddha, the ninth was Amitābha Buddha, and the sixteenth was Śākyamuni Buddha. Akṣobha Buddha has connection with the world to the east, Amitābha (Buddha of Infinite Life) is connected to the world of the west, and only Śākyamuni Buddha has a karmic relationship with this Sahā World. Each of these Buddhas is equipped with the three benefits of guidance (sowing, maturing, and harvesting) and the three virtues (of lord, master and parents), but both Akṣobha and Amitābha Buddhas are provisional Buddhas who appeared in the world to preach expedient teachings. Therefore, they have neither the three benefits nor the three virtues in the true sense of the word. In other words, their benefits and virtues are recognized only in term of their guidance of the people in their respective worlds, whereas the Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni is perfectly equipped with the three benefits and three virtues.

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 248

===

stories, LS32, d12b

The Shravaka Way

[In Chaper 7, after Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha finally attains enlightenment,] the Buddha then presents some of the most essential teachings of Buddhism, beginning with the four noble truths.

In brief, these are: the truth that life involves suffering; the truth that the cause or origin of suffering is desire or ignorance; the truth that suffering can be overcome, usually understood to be the state of nirvana; and the truth that the way to overcome suffering is the eightfold path. Closely associated with this teaching in classical Buddhism is the teaching of the “twelve causes and conditions.”

In the Dharma Flower Sutra these two teachings are closely associated with the shravaka and pratyekabuddha ways respectively, and they are mentioned frequently. But only here in this story are they actually described. And here both are associated with the shravaka way. In the Dharma Flower Sutra generally, while the bodhisattva way is presented as more inclusive or more far-reaching, there is no intention to disparage the shravaka way as illustrated by this story.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p87-88
Peaceful Action, d11b, d12b

Our Ultimate Goal

The feeling of the shravakayana is that you cannot yourself become a Buddha, you cannot be equal to a Buddha, because the Buddha is too great, he is unique. Along with this belief was the feeling that you don’t need to become a Buddha, so there is no need to cultivate bodhichitta, the aspiration to attain Buddhahood, in order to help others. You have a lot of suffering and you want to stop your suffering, so you concern yourself only with your own safety and liberation. You are satisfied with a small path, a small nirvana.

Out of his compassion and love for us, the Buddha gave the small vehicle teaching of nirvana in the beginning. But after a time, our skillful guide tells us it is time to go farther on the path. Even though many of us may be satisfied to stay and enjoy the peace and bliss of individual nirvana, the Buddha reminds us of our ultimate goal: to arrive at the shore of freedom and well-being and then extend a hand to others so that they may cross over to liberation. From the path of the shravakayana we continue onto the bodhisattva path of the Mahayana and continue our journey to the end.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p72
Peaceful Action, d12b

The Peril in Worshiping the Buddha Instead of the Dharma

The Buddha is our skillful guide, our teacher of the way. The Buddha gives us just one path, One Vehicle, to arrive at universal wisdom. But when we have gone only halfway we are already worn out. So the Buddha created a magical city – nirvana – the goal of the Hinayana path. Tasting the fruit of individual nirvana, we like it so much that we decide that it is quite enough for us and we do not want anything more.

Underlying this attitude is a kind of inferiority complex. We do not believe that we ourselves can become a Buddha because only such a great being as the Buddha could attain perfect wisdom. Mere humans are not capable of this. In terms of the historical dimension, the Buddha was a human being, like us. But after the Buddha’s parinirvana, people very much missed his presence, his personality. Even though he repeatedly warned his disciples, “Don’t take refuge in anyone, in any person – take refuge only in the Dharma and in yourselves,” the Buddha had been a refuge for the Sangha. So they began to envelop him in many layers of mysticism and made him into a deity to worship. They began to believe that the Buddha was unique, and he lost his status as a human being. The human dimension of the Buddha is more accessible to us than the deified Buddha that was created after his parinirvana.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p71
d10b, d12b, WONS

Choosing Right Time in Practicing Buddhism

To study Buddhism, first of all we must know the right time.

In the past, the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha appeared in the world, but he did not preach at all for as long as ten small kalpa. It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 7 on “The Parable of a Magic City”: “He sat in meditation for ten small kalpa;” and “Though begged to preach, the Buddha sat in silence because He knew the time was not yet ripe.” Our Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, did not expound the Lotus Sūtra for more than forty years. As said in the Sūtra, chapter 2 on “Expedients,” it was because “the time was not ripe.” Lao-tzu is said to have spent as long as eighty years in his mother’s womb before he was born. Bodhisattva Maitreya, future Lord Buddha of this Sahā World, is expected to stay in the inner chamber of the Tuṣita Heaven (Tōsotsu-ten) for as long as 5,670,000,000 years, waiting for the time to attain perfect enlightenment. As nightingales wait for summer to sing and roosters wait for dawn to crow, even beasts know the time. How much more should we choose the right time in practicing Buddhism?

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 188