Category Archives: d16b

d15b, d16b, Lecture on Lotus Sutra

The True Time Lords

In the arrival of the Stupa of Treasures, we are introduced to a Buddha, Many Treasures, who is old. But he is not just old, he is ancient. He is even older than ancient. You could say that this Buddha is beyond time altogether. He is not just a Buddha from the past, but he represents the primordial Buddha, the Buddha from the metaphysical beginning of things. And here we have our Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha taking a seat along side of this Buddha. In that moment the past, present, and, as we shall see in chapter 16, the future are all contained right there.

In fact in that moment all dimensions of eternity coalesce, this is the synthesis of time and eternity. We are beyond time; we are in every moment of every possible time. We are the true Time Lords made famous in the Dr. Who story. When we sit before such a great object as we do in our daily practice we are fusing our lives with the past, the present, and the future and our lives expand beyond the moment we currently perceive ourselves to be in. When we take this kind of view, then how can the troubles and tribulations of this moment not seem insignificant while at the same time our own lives achieve the greatest possible significance.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d16b, WONS

The Three Proclamations

The meaning of [the three proclamations] in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter is clear. It is as clear as the great sun shining in the sky or a mole on a white face. Nevertheless, those who were born blind, those who have slanted eyes, who are one-eyed, who believe that only their own teachers are wise men, or those who are stuck to false teachings will not be able to see. Despite all the difficulties, however, I will try to write down here for those who aspire for Buddhism.

It is difficult to have the chance of hearing the Lotus Sūtra, harder than to see the once-in-3,000-years peach flowers at Hsi Wang-mu’s orchard or the udumbara flowers, which are said to bloom once in 3,000 years to foretell the coming of the Wheel-turning Noble King. You should also know that even the eight-year war between Han Kao-tsu and Hsiang Yü for the control of China, the seven-year war in Japan between Minamoto no Yoritomo and Taira no Munemori, the struggle for power between the asura demons and Indra, or the battle between the gold-wing bird and the dragon king at Lake Anavatapta, do not exceed in importance and intensity the war between the Lotus and all other sūtras. The truth of the Lotus Sūtra was revealed in Japan twice. You should know that it was due to Grand Master Dengyō and me, Nichiren. Blind persons will not believe this; it can’t be helped. These words in the Lotus regarding the Three Pronouncements are an assessment through the meeting of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and other Buddhas in manifestation from all over the universe of all the Buddhist scriptures that exist in Japan, China, India, the Dragon Palace, heaven and all the worlds in the universe.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 83

LS32, d15b, d16b, WONS, 2buddhas

Opening of the Buddha Realm in the Act of Chanting the Daimoku

Nichiren understood the emergence of the jeweled stūpa as the opening of the buddha realm in the act of chanting the daimoku. One of his followers, a lay monk known as Abutsu-bō, once asked him what the jeweled stūpa signified. Nichiren explained that, in essence, the stūpa’s emergence meant that the śrāvaka disciples, on hearing the Lotus Sūtra, “beheld the jeweled stūpa of their own mind.” The same was true, he said, of his own followers: “In the Final Dharma age, there is no jeweled stūpa apart from the figures of those men and women who uphold the Lotus Sūtra. … The daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō. … You, Abutsu-bō, are yourself the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is none other than you, Abutsu-bō. … So believing, chant Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, and wherever you chant will be the place where the jeweled stūpa dwells.”

Two Buddhas, p145
LS32, d15b, d16b, 2buddhas

The Appearance of the Jeweled Stupa

Throughout East Asia, the imagery of [The Appearance of the Jeweled Stupa] chapter has inspired painting, sculpture, and exegesis. In Tiantai Buddhism, that imagery became part of a narrative of mythic origins: Zhiyi and his teacher Huisi, it was said, had together heard Śākyamuni Buddha’s original preaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the Vulture Peak assembly and were later born together in China, where they became master and disciple. The Japanese Tendai founder Saichō incorporated this tradition into his account of his Tendai dharma lineage. Shortly after Saichō’s death, when a new state-sponsored ordination platform was erected at the monastery that he had established on Mount Hiei, a representation of the jeweled stūpa of Prabhūtaratna, together with an image of Śākyamuni, was enshrined there. In medieval Japan, the Tendai esoteric “Lotus rite” or Hokke hō, conducted to realize buddhahood, eradicate sin, prolong life, quell disasters, and achieve other aims, employed a mandala depicting the two buddhas Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, seated side by side on a lotus, in its central court.

Two Buddhas, p 144
d16b, Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Purifying Our Practice Space

When we begin our daily practice we are advised to clean our practice space. We should approach that just as the Buddha did when the congregation asked to see Many Treasures Buddha. We have approached our altar, our chance to sit before the great honzon presented to us in the Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren identified. We should prepare our space of worship the way the Buddha purified all the worlds. As we go about preparing our space we should call back our distracted thoughts, those emanations of ourselves. Put aside the need to check the cell phone, put aside the worry of email, and schedules, plans and schemes. Focus your mind completely on the one great event of being in the presence of the two Buddhas seated side by side, in the presence of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d15b, d16b, WONS

Preparation for Revealing the Eternal Buddha

Now in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, a step was taken in preparation for revealing the Eternal Buddha in the sixteenth chapter on “The Life Span of the Buddha.” It is stated in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter that Śākyamuni Buddha, who had attained enlightenment for the first time only forty years or so before under the bodhi tree at Buddhagayā, India, called the crowd of Buddhas, who had obtained Buddhahood as far before as a kalpa or ten, “My manifestations.” This was against the principle of equality among Buddhas and greatly surprised everyone. If Śākyamuni Buddha had attained enlightenment only forty years or so before, large crowds of people all over the universe would not be waiting for His guidance. Even if He was capable of appearing in manifestation to guide them in various worlds, it would have been of no use. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 9, “Since there are so many of His manifestations, we should know that He has been the Buddha for a long time.” It represents the consternation of the great assembly, men and gods who were surprised at the great number of Buddhas in manifestation (funjin).

To add to their surprise, the numerous great bodhisattvas, who had been guided by the Original Buddha in the past, sprang out of the earth of the whole world, according to the “Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground,” the fifteenth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. They looked incomparably superior to Bodhisattvas Fugen (Universal Sage) and Monju, (Mañjuśrī), who had been regarded as ranking disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha. Compared to these bodhisattvas coming from underground, those great bodhisattvas, who had gathered upon the preaching of the Flower Garland Sūtra, Hōdō sūtras, and Wisdom Sūtra and of the “Appearance of the Stupa Of Treasures” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, or the sixteen bodhisattvas such as Bodhisattva Vajrasattva in the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra and other sūtras, looked like monkeys waiting on Indra or woodcutters associating with court nobles. Even Bodhisattva Maitreya, successor to Śākyamuni Buddha, did not know who they were, not to speak of gods and men below him.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 69-70

d16b, WONS

The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures

Having listened to Lord Śākyamuni preach the Lotus Sūtra, various great bodhisattvas, the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, Sun God, Moon God, Four Heavenly Kings, and others have truly become His disciples. Since the Buddha considered them His own disciples, He sternly advised and commanded them as stated in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra: “The Buddha told the great crowd, ‘Anyone who would strive to uphold, read, and recite the sūtra after My death should make sworn statements in front of Me.'” And so those great bodhisattvas and others followed the Buddha just as a gale blows twigs of small trees, as “good fortune” grass is swayed by a gale, or rivers flow into an ocean.

However, since it had not been long since the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra had begun on Mt. Sacred Eagle, it seemed to them dream-like and unreal. Then appeared a Stupa of Treasures, which not only attested to the first half of the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra to be true but also prepared the way for the preaching of the latter half. Referring to all the Buddhas who appeared from all the worlds in the universe, the Buddha declared that they were all His own manifestations (funjin). Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures took seats side by side in the Stupa that hung in the sky, appearing like the sun and the moon rising together up in the blue sky. A large crowd of men and gods appeared in the sky like constellations, while funjin Buddhas took lion-shaped thrones under jeweled trees.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 68-69

d15b, d16b, d19b, d20b, Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Making the Stories of the Lotus Sutra Real

One question I get frequently in regard to the Stupa of Treasures and the great bodhisattvas rising out of the ground is, did this really occur or is this some imaginary story? For me as I understand the Lotus Sutra, this is an imaginary or made-up story that we are encouraged to make real. By our own faith and practice we can make this grand drama a reality in our own lives. It isn’t something that someone else can do for any of us. Did this really happen? Not if by that you mean did it happen like we sent a man to the moon, or the Trade Center Towers in New York were demolished by planes flying into them. And yet, for the individual or group of individuals who created these chapters of the Lotus Sutra, I do not think their intent was to communicate actual factual events that could be witnessed with our simple physical eyes and ears and so forth.

I believe the events recounted in this grand drama were real in describing the wonder, the awe, the experiences of enlightenment through realizing the truth contained in the Lotus Sutra – the truth that we are all Buddhas, that we contain infinity, time without measure, that our lives are small examples of the immense cosmos, and that life is beyond measure.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d16b, WONS

An Unbending Aspiration to Buddhahood

I, Nichiren, am the only one who knows this in Japan. If I speak out even one word of this, royal persecutions will never fail to befall my parents, brothers, and teachers. If I do not speak out, however, it would seem that I did not have compassion. Wondering whether or not I should speak out in the light of the Lotus, Nirvana and other sūtras, I came to realize that if I did not speak out, I would fall without fail into the Hell of Incessant Suffering in future lives even if nothing happened to me in this life. If I spoke out, I realized, the Three Hindrances and Four Devils would overtake me.

Vacillating between the two, that I should speak out and that I should not if I were to back down in the face of royal persecutions, I hit upon the “six difficulties and nine easier actions” mentioned in the eleventh chapter, “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” in the Lotus Sūtra. It says that even a man as powerless as I can throw Mt. Sumeru, even a man with as little superhuman power as I can carry a stack of hay on his back and survive the disastrous conflagration at the end of the world, and even a man as ignorant as I can memorize various sūtras as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River. Even more so, it is not easy to uphold even a word or a phrase of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration. This must be it! I have made a vow that this time I will have an unbending aspiration to Buddhahood and never fall back!

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 53

d15b, d16b, d25b, d26b, WONS

The Arrival of the Stupa of Seven Treasures

Everyone, you and I and heaven and earth, know that the Buddha is a man of truth. It is not one or two persons but hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of people who know this. Gods, dragons, and asura demons in the triple world of illusion (realm of desire, realm of form and formless realm) know it. All the people, gods, men of the Two Vehicles and great bodhisattvas who have gathered together from all over India, four continents of the world, six heavens in the realm of desire, realm of form, formless realm and from all the worlds in the universe know this. They all heard the Buddha condemn the men of the Two Vehicles. Upon returning to their own lands, they told everyone what they had heard from Śākyamuni Buddha in the Sahā World. Therefore, everyone in the entire universe without exception knew that such men of the Two Vehicles as Kāśyapa and Śāripūtra would never achieve Buddhahood and that they therefore should not give offerings to them.

Nevertheless, the Buddha suddenly retracted His words and stated in the Lotus Sūtra, preached in the last eight years, that the men of the Two Vehicles could obtain Buddhahood. How could a large assembly of men and gods believe in this? Not only did they find it hard to believe, they began finding contradictions between the Lotus and earlier sūtras. As a result His preachings over fifty years were about to be judged false. While they were wondering whether or not it was that the Buddha had not revealed the truth during the first forty years or so of His preaching and that it was a demon in heaven appearing to be the Buddha who preached the Lotus Sūtra in the last eight years, the Buddha seriously proceeded to define the times, places and names of those men of the Two Vehicles as future Buddhas. That is to say, the Buddha declared in which lands and when they would attain Buddhahood and what disciples they would have then.

Lord Śākyamuni Buddha in effect seemed to have contradicted Himself. It was not without reason that non-Buddhist heretics (gedō) laughed at Him as a big liar. Accused of contradiction in His own words by the dumbfounded crowd of men and gods, Lord Śākyamuni Buddha tried in vain to dispel their doubts by explaining them away one way or another. Just when the Buddha was having a difficult time to quiet them, the Buddha of Many Treasures of the Hōjō (Treasure Purity) World to the east emerged from the earth in front of Him aboard the great Stupa of seven treasures, 500 yojana high and 250 yojana wide, and ascended up high in the sky. It was as though the full moon appeared over the mountain range in the midst of a pitch-dark night. From this great Stupa of seven treasures hanging in the sky without touching the earth or sky sounded the crisp voice of the Buddha of Many Treasures attesting that Śākyamuni Buddha spoke truly. It is declared in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 11 on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures”:

Just then resounded the loud voice of the Buddha of Many Treasures in the stupa of treasures praising Śākyamuni Buddha, “Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have preached to this large crowd the Sūtra of the Lotus Flowers of the Wonderful Dharma, representing the great wisdom of the Buddha, who perceived the absolute truth in every phenomenon and who makes no distinction among all living beings. It teaches the way of bodhisattvas, and is recognized and upheld by various Buddhas. You are right; You are correct. What You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have preached is all true.”

Then Lord Śākyamuni and His funjin Buddhas manifested in various worlds all over the universe too attested to the truth of the Lotus Sūtra as it is stated in its twenty-first chapter of “The Divine Powers of the Buddha”:

At this point, Śākyamuni Buddha displayed a great superhuman power in the presence of a large crowd, including not only the countless bodhisattvas, such as Mañjuśrī, who had long lived in this Sahā World, but also other men and non-human beings. He stretched out His broad, long tongue upward until its tip reached the Brahma Heaven and emitted the rays of light from all of His pores to shine on the entire universe. All Buddhas sitting on the lion-shaped thrones under the jeweled trees in their respective worlds in the whole universe also stretched out their broad, long tongues and emitted countless rays of light.

“Then Śākyamuni Buddha,” says the twenty-second chapter on the “Transmission” of the Lotus Sūtra, “sent back those funjin Buddhas who had come from all over the universe to their homelands, and said to the Buddha of Many Treasures, ‘May this Stupa of the Buddha of Many Treasures be where it was.’ ”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 41-43