Category Archives: d17b

LS32, d17b

Daily Dharma – March 25, 2023

I collected firewood and the fruits of trees and grasses,
And offered these things to him respectfully from time to time.
I never felt tired in body and mind
Because I was thinking of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Buddha teaches these verses in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story of one of his previous lives. He was a king who gave up his throne to search for someone to teach him. When he found a seer who knew the Wonderful Dharma, he became the servant of the seer and served him with enthusiasm. These verses remind us of the enthusiasm that comes from hearing the Buddha’s teachings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Kern, d17b, d18b, Blog

Encouragement

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

Chapter 13 in the Kumārajīva translation and Chapter 12 in H. Kern’s translation follow the story of Devadatta and the Dragon King’s Daughter. If you assume the chapter title foreshadows the content, then there is a distinction difference in focus between Kumarajiva and the 11th century Sanskrit document Kern translated.

Among the English translators of Kumarajiva, we have titles of:

  • “Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra,” Senchu Murano.
  • “Encouragement to Uphold the Sutra,” Gene Reeves.
  • “Encouraging Devotion,” Soka Gakkai, (Burton Watson).
  • “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 1975.
  • “Encouragement to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 2019.

Kern has simply “Exertion” and Leon Hurvitz, who incorporates both Kumārajīva and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers “Fortitude.”

The contents of Kumārajīva’s chapter and the Sanskrit document Kern translated clearly offer the same lesson, but Kumārajīva focuses on encouraging future devotees while Kern simply stresses that it will take work to propagate the Lotus Sutra in a world full of “malign beings, having few roots of goodness, conceited, fond of gain and honor, rooted in unholiness, difficult to tame, deprived of good will, and full of unwillingness.”

There is, however, a notable difference between how Kumārajīva handles the concerns of Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the Buddha’s stepmother.

Murano sets the stage in this way:

There were Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the sister of the mother of the Buddha, and six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together with all their hearts, and looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Gautamī:

“Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

Kern, however, offers:

Then the noble matron Gautamī, the sister of the Lord’s mother, along with six hundred nuns, some of them being under training, some being not, rose from her seat, raised the joined hands towards the Lord and remained gazing up to him. Then the Lord addressed the noble matron Gautamī: Why dost thou stand so dejected, gazing up to the Tathāgata? (She replied): I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment. (He said): But, Gautamī, thou hast received a prediction with the prediction regarding the whole assembly.

Perhaps not a big deal that Kern has Maha-Prajapati voice her concerns – “I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment” – but notable.

Another minor difference is the number of nuns accompanying Maha-Prajapati. Kumarajiva has 6,000 and Kern only 600. Hurvitz sticks with the 6,000.

Personally, the biggest difference between the translations involves the the Bodhisattvas. I’ve always been moved by Murano’s story.

Thereupon the World-Honored One looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis. They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together [towards him] with all their hearts, and thought, “If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sūtra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.”

They also thought, “The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?”

The image of the Buddha inviting the Bodhisattvas but sitting silent is not present in Kern’s translation.

Thereafter the Lord looked towards the eighty hundred thousand Bodhisattvas who were gifted with magical spells and capable of moving forward the wheel that never rolls back. No sooner were those Bodhisattvas regarded by the Lord than they rose from their seats, raised their joined hands towards the Lord and reflected thus: The Lord invites us to make known the Dharmaparyāya. Agitated by that thought they asked one another: What shall we do, young men of good family, in order that this Dharmaparyāya may in future be made known as the Lord invites us to do?

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva note the silence of the Buddha. Even Hurvitz mentions it. Given the chapter’s focus on “Encouragement,” this silence is important. The loss of that dimension from Kern’s translation diminishes the significance of the Bodhisattvas’ vow.

Next: The Plight of an Ordinary Bodhisattva

Kern, d17b, Blog

Lessons of Devadatta and the Dragon King’s Daughter

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

In comparing Senchu Murano’s English translation of the story of Devadatta and the Dragon King’s Daughter with H. Kern’s English translation from the Sanskrit, we need to start with the fact that this chapter wasn’t translated by Kumārajīva. According to the explanation in Murano’s Introduction, Chapter 12 was translated by Fa-i in 490 CE and inserted into Kumārajīva’s version at the beginning of the sixth century. In Kern’s translation, the material doesn’t appear as a separate chapter but is instead spliced onto the end of Chapter 11, Apparition of a Stūpa.

The two translations appear even closer than the chapters translated by Kumārajīva. Take for instance the opening scene.

Kern offers:

Thereupon the Lord addressed the whole company of Bodhisattvas and the world, including gods and demons, and said: Of yore, monks, in times past I have, unwearied and without repose, sought after the Sūtra of the Lotus of the True Law, during immense, immeasurable Æons; many Æons before I have been a king, during many thousands of Æons. Having once taken the strong resolution to arrive at supreme, perfect enlightenment, my mind did not swerve from its aim. I exerted myself to fulfil the six Perfections (Pāramitās), bestowing immense alms: gold, money, gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch-shells, stones (?), coral, gold and silver, emerald, Musāragalva, red pearls; villages, towns, boroughs, provinces, kingdoms, royal capitals; wives, sons, daughters, slaves, male and female; elephants, horses, cars, up to the sacrifice of life and body, of limbs and members, hands, feet, head.

Murano offers:

Thereupon the Buddha said to the Bodhisattvas, gods, men and the four kinds of devotees:

“When I was a Bodhisattva] in my previous existence, I sought the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for innumerable kalpas without indolence. I became a king [and continued to be so] for many kalpas. [Although I was a king,] I made a vow to attain unsurpassed Bodhi. I never faltered in seeking it. I practiced alms-giving in order to complete the six pāramitās. I never grudged elephants, horses, the seven treasures, countries, cities, wives, children, menservants, maidservants or attendants. I did not spare my head, eyes, marrow, brain, flesh, hands or feet. I did not spare even my life.”

The principal difference is that Murano’s translation inserts material within square brackets that he felt necessary for clarity.

Another telling similarity is the “error” concerning the direction from which the Stūpa of Treasures arrived.

At the beginning of Chapter 11, Murano has the Buddha explain that:

“The perfect body of a Tathāgata is in this stūpa of treasures. A long time ago there was a world called Treasure-Purity at the distance of many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds to the east [of this world]. In that world lived a Buddha called Many-Treasures.”

Kern, however, says:

Thus asked, the Lord spake to Mahāpratibhāna, the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva, as follows: In this great Stūpa of precious substances, Mahāpratibhāna, the proper body of the Tathāgata is contained condensed; his is the Stūpa; it is he who causes this sound to go out. In the point of space below, Mahāpratibhāna, there are innumerable thousands of worlds. Further on is the world called Ratnaviṣuddha, there is the Tathāgata named Prabhūtaratna, the Arhat, &c.

While Many Treasures lived in the east in Chapter 11, both Murano and Kern agree that the stūpa arrived from the nadir in the story of the Dragon King’s Daughter.

Murano has:

At that time Many-Treasures, the World-Honored One, who had come from the nadir,’ was accompanied by a Bodhisattva called Accumulated-Wisdom. The Bodhisattva said to Many-Treasures Buddha, “Shall we go back to our home world?”

Kern has:

At that moment a Bodhisattva of the name of Pragñākūṭa, having come from beneath the Buddha field of the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna, said to the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna: Lord, let us resort to our own Buddha-field.

Next: Encouragement

800years, d17b, Blog

800 Years: Mahāprajāpatī, Yaśodharā And Universal Salvation

In Nichiren’s Toki-ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My Lady the Nun Toki, he writes:

“[W]hen we believe in the certainty of attaining Buddhahood, is there anything to fear? It is pointless to become royalty and enjoy the pleasures of this life. It is useless to be born in heaven and enjoy its pleasures. Instead, follow the example of the dragon girl who attained Buddhahood in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, and align yourself with Mahā-Prajāpatī.

How delightful it will be! How joyful it will be! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 116

Sprouts of faith grow and mature in the soil of the Lotus Sutra, watered with the assurances lavishly offered throughout the 28 chapters. No one is excluded from finally attaining enlightenment. Is there anything to fear?

The predictions given in Chapter 13 to Mahā-Prajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother, and her followers and Yaśodharā, the Buddha’s wife and mother of his only son, are just one of these important assurances.

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano raises an interesting point about the timing of these predictions:

“It may seem strange that the Buddha in his predictions had left [Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā] until last and that before mentioning them he had given his prediction to the dragon king’s daughter, who was, so to speak, an indirect disciple instructed by Mañjuśrī, and only an eight-year-old girl. This priority has the following meanings. First, as already mentioned in the explanation of the Buddha’s prediction to Ānanda and Rāhula, for those closest to the Buddha, like the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī, who had brought up Śākyamuni from babyhood, and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā, who had been his wife and had given birth to his son, such intimacy could have become a hindrance rather than a help to their practice. The Buddha teaches us that someone like the dragon king’s daughter, who is a perfect stranger to the Buddha, can receive the Law with ease, while we may find great difficulty in instructing those closest to us, such as our parents and spouses. The delay of the Buddha’s prediction to the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā does not mean that they were considered inferior to the dragon king’s daughter.

Buddhism for Today, p162

And if you want to quibble and say the dragon girl’s prediction was a later addition to the sutra, then Chapter 13’s predictions for Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā become even more important. The enlightenment of Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā put to rest any doubts of whether women are qualified to attain Buddhahood. Everyone has the potential to become a Buddha.

As a postscript, I should add Gene Reeves’ interesting interpretation of the prediction for these female śrāvakas:

“In contrast with the story of the dragon princess, there is no mention of these nuns having to become male. Clearly, as Dharma teachers and bodhisattvas at least, they are female.”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p172
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800years, d17b, Blog

800 Years: The Enlightenment of a Small Snake

When considering the story of the dragon king’s daughter and how this applies to faith it is appropriate to begin with a warning offered in the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:

“[I]t would be a serious mistake to take the teaching of the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this life’ as meaning we can attain enlightenment without any effort. Even if we believe strongly in a religion, we must still practice it and apply its principles to our life. But by the power of their faith, ordinary people can attain the power of the Buddha without first completing difficult studies and practicing for eons and eons. This is what is meant by the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this very life’ ”

The power of faith is not the only requirement, however. Gene Reeves in his Stories of the Lotus Sutra has an important observation of the requirements for the dragon girl to become a Buddha.

As we learn in the Lotus Sutra, Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva challenged the girl’s assertion that she could become a Buddha quickly. The girl then took a priceless gem and offered it to Śākyamuni. He accepted the gem immediately. As Reeves observes:

“ ‘Just watch,’ she says, ‘use your holy powers to watch me become a buddha even more quickly than it took for Shakyamuni Buddha to take a jewel from my hand.’ In a sense, a little girl becomes a buddha for them, but she can do this only if they used their ‘holy powers,’ their vision, to allow her to be a buddha for them, to open themselves to her being a buddha for them.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p266-267

In the end, as Nichiren explains, this story offers actual proof for the faithful:

“Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living beings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. … The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women. Grand Master Dengyō of Mt. Hiei, who first spread the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, annotated in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “Neither the dragon girl, who became a Buddha to preach the dharma, nor the people who heard her preach the dharma needed a roundabout way to Buddhahood. They immediately attained Buddhahood with their present bodies by the power of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 146-147

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800years, d17b, Blog

800 Years: See the Buddha in Everyone

In continuing my yearlong discussion of faith and the Lotus Sutra, I think it is important to look at Chapter 12 as two halves rather than as the completion of the sutra’s lesson on universal salvation, which it clearly represents. I will consider Devadatta here and follow with a look at the dragon girl’s impact on faith.

In his Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Gene Reeves says:

“Basic to the teachings of this Sutra is a kind of promise, an assurance, that each and every living being has the potential to become a buddha. This tells us something about ourselves, of course, but here the light is shining in the other direction, encouraging us to see the buddha in others—regardless of their moral or other qualities.

“In an important sense, this story [about Devadatta] is not so much about Devadatta as it is about Shakyamuni Buddha. It does not teach us that Devadatta was able to become a buddha because his inner intentions were really good, or because he changed his ways and became a good man, or because of anything else he did or did not do. What this story teaches is that the Buddha is one who can see the buddha in others. And that is what we are encouraged by this story to do – to look for and see the buddha in all those we encounter.”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p151

Of course, we repeat in Chapter 20 and the lessons of Never-Despising Bodhisattva that our practice should see the Buddha in everyone, but here we are being asked to set aside our preconceived ideas about people.

In part this reflects a lesson in non-duality. As Introduction to the Lotus Sutra explains:

“Buddhism believes that good and evil are not two separate things; there is no absolute distinction between the two. An evil deed cannot be considered an absolute. The Devadatta Chapter is known as the teaching that explains the attainment of enlightenment by evil people, and its philosophical background comes from the ‘non-duality of good and evil,’ as understood in Buddhism.”

So, while everyone knew of Devadatta’s past wrongs, only the Buddha knew of his past good works. This is an important lesson on our faith and our practice of Lotus Sutra Buddhism. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“This is a most important declaration. When we receive scorn, abuse, and obstruction from others, we are apt to become angry with them, feel sad, and begin to doubt the Law. We must instead endure such hardships and divert them to a positive force because the teaching of the Lotus Sutra is the supreme Law in this world. Many ancient teachers and leaders, including both Sakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren, have proved by their example that man can thus transform drawbacks into advantages. … Sakyamuni Buddha not only did not feel resentment toward Devadatta, who inflicted so many injuries on him, but even thanked him for his ‘good friendship.’ ”

Buddhism for Today, p156
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800years, d17b, LS Introduction

800 Years: By the Power of Faith

[I]t would be a serious mistake to take the teaching of the “attainment of Buddhahood in this life” as meaning we can attain enlightenment without any effort. Even if we believe strongly in a religion, we must still practice it and apply its principles to our life. But by the power of their faith, ordinary people can attain the power of the Buddha without first completing difficult studies and practicing for eons and eons. This is what is meant by the “attainment of Buddhahood in this very life” [in Chapter 12, Devadatta.]

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

elements, d1b, d17b

Believing in Dragons

The dragon (nāga) is counted as one of the eight groups who are protectors of Buddhism. Nāgas, types of demons in snake form, were believed to dwell in the sea, call the clouds forth, and bring rain. Their head was called the Nāga King or the Nāga God. They feature widely in Buddhist sutras from the earliest times and are a good measure of the spread of the Buddhist faith. The Nāga cult is thought to have evolved from an indigenous Indian belief, and it spread widely throughout the country in ancient and medieval times. We have seen already how Buddhism absorbed the Nāga cult as it spread into Gandhāra and Kashmir. This is reflected in the Kashmir historical records, the Rājatarahgiṇi (I, 26—28, 178) and the Nirapurāṇa (984-89). The contact between the Nāga cult and Buddhism in northwestern India resulted in the conversion of many Nāga followers of the region to Buddhism, and placing the indigenous belief within the doctrinal structure of Buddhism provided a strong base for their new Buddhist belief.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 423-424
elements, d17b

Worshiping Buddhas of the Past

During the time of the Buddha, the homeland of the Śākyas appears to have possessed a cult of the buddhas of the past, a faith in the existence of a number of successive buddhas who had brought people to salvation and then passed into nirvana, and in a coming buddha who was soon to appear. In later times there were accounted either six or twenty-four buddhas of the past; then, including Śākyamuni, categories of the seven or twenty-five buddhas of the past were devised (the Jainas had similar legends). The seven buddhas were Vipaśyin, Śikhin, Viśvabhuj, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni. The final four are called the four buddhas of the Bhadra-kalpa (the present cosmic period). According to Asoka’s edict at Nigālī Sāgar (Nigliva in Nepal), he enlarged and refurbished the Stupa of the former buddha Kanakamuni and made offerings to it. Also Fa-hsien recorded in the “Kosala” section of the Fo-kuo chi (T. 51:861a, no. 2085) that when he visited the region (in the fifth century) followers of Devadatta were to be found there; they venerated the buddhas Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa – Śākyamuni alone they did not venerate, commented Fa-hsien. We have here an indication of the existence of a religious community that preserved an ancient belief and lifestyle different from that of the orthodox Buddha-Saṃgha.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 265-266
elements, d17b

Buddhahood for Women

Buddhahood for women was dependent upon the idea that a woman would gain a man’s body; that is, a woman by changing sex would escape the restrictions of the five hindrances. Sutras that predict buddhahood for women include the O-shê-shih-wang-nü o-shu-ta p’u-sa ching (T. 337, Aśokadattā-vyākaraṇa, translated by Dharmarakṣa in 317), in which Aśokadatta, the princess of King Ajātaśatru, vowed at the age of twelve to attain perfect enlightenment and received the prediction that she would gain a male body and become a buddha (T. 12:83); the Li-kou-shih-nu ching (T. 338, Vimaladatta-pariprityā, translated by Dharmaraksa in 289), in which Vimaladatta, princess of King Prasenajit, vowed at the age of twelve to gain buddhahood, transformed into an eight-year-old boy, and received the prediction of buddhahood (T. 12:89); the Hsu-ma-t’i p’usa ching (T. 334, Sumati-dārikā-pariprityā, translated by Dharmarakṣa sometime during 266-313), in which Sumati, daughter of a Rājagṛha merchant, received the bodhisattva precepts at the age of eight and immediately transformed into a śramaṇera and received the prediction of future buddhahood (T. 12:78); the aforementioned Hai-lung-wang ching, in which the daughter of the Dragon King, together with wives of all the dragons, offered jewels to the Buddha, expressing their aspiration to supreme enlightenment and asking that they attain buddhahood, gaining the prediction of future buddhahood; and the P’u-sa ts’ung-tou-shut’ien chiang-shén mu-t’ai-shuo-kuang-p’u ching (translated by Chu Fo-nien in 412-13, T. 384), which speaks of the dragon girl’s being reborn in Amitābha’s buddha realm and attaining buddhahood (T. 12:1015).

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 423