Two Buddhas, p227-228[T]he Lotus Sūtra seems to urge giving one’s life in its service. Bodhisattvas in the “Perseverance” chapter vow that they “will not be attached to our bodies or lives,” and the “Lifespan” chapter says that the primordial Śākyamuni Buddha will appear before those beings who “are willing to give unsparingly of their bodies and their lives.” How should such passages be understood?
Nichiren addresses this issue in a letter to a disciple, the lay nun Myōichi-ama, expressing sympathy on the death of her husband, who had held fast to his faith despite great difficulties: “Your late husband gave his life for the Lotus Sūtra. His small landholding that barely sustained him was confiscated on account of [his faith in] the Lotus Sūtra. Surely that equaled ‘giving his life.’ The youth of the Snow Mountains [described in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra] offered his body in exchange for half a verse [of a Buddhist teaching], and the bodhisattva Medicine King [Bhaiṣajyarāja] burned his arms [in offering to the Buddha]. They were saints, [and for them, such acts were] like water poured on fire. But your husband was an ordinary man, [and so for him, this sacrifice was] like paper placed in fire. When we take this into consideration, his merit must surely be the same as theirs.”
Category Archives: d18b
Drawing Phrases and Passages from ‘Ease in Practice’
Two Buddhas, p168-169Nichiren knew the Lotus Sūtra thoroughly, and, as he did with other chapters, drew occasionally on phrases and passages from the “Ease in Practice” chapter to support his teaching. For example, he cited the statement following the parable of the jewel in the topknot) — “This Lotus Sūtra is the secret treasure house of all the buddha tathāgatas, and the foremost among all the sūtras” — to argue against claims that the secret or esoteric teachings surpassed the Lotus Sūtra. He quoted the passage, “Even the title of this sūtra cannot be heard in incalculable lands,” to stress the immense good fortune of being born in a country where, although far from Buddhism’s birthplace in India, one could encounter the Lotus Sūtra and chant its daimoku. He also cited the “Ease in Practice” chapter’s reference to “the troubled world to come,” which his predecessor Saichō had identified specifically with the age of the Final Dharma, and frequently invoked the statement that the Lotus is “treated with hostility by the entire world and is difficult to believe in.”
Jikyōsha vs. Gyōja
Two Buddhas, p164-165In Nichiren’s time, those who devoted themselves to reciting or copying the Lotus Sūtra as their primary practice were known as jikyōsha, “one who holds the sūtra.” Nichiren instead used the term gyōja (literally, “one who practices”; translated in this volume as “practitioner” or “votary”). Gyōja was often used to mean an adept or ascetic, denoting those who performed harsh austerities, such as going without sleep, fasting, and practicing in isolation in the mountains, with the aim of acquiring spiritual powers. Though Nichiren did not endorse ascetic practice for its own sake, his use of the word gyōja, like that of “bodily reading,” suggests both that he was “living” the Lotus Sūtra, personally encountering the hardships it predicts, and also that he had committed his life to its propagation. The term reflects his self-understanding as one entrusted with the task of spreading the Lotus in the Final Dharma age. He wrote, “None of the jikyōsha of Japan have encountered the trials predicted in these passages. I alone have read them. This is what is meant by the statement [in the “Perseverance” chapter], ‘We will not be attached to our bodies or lives. We only desire the highest path.’ This being the case, I am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan.”
Fulfilling the Prediction of Persecution
[I]f only I, Nichiren, had not been born in this country, the twenty-line verse of the thirteenth chapter, “The Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra,” in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra would be empty words and the Buddha would almost be a great liar. Those uncountable number of bodhisattvas, who made the vow to uphold the Lotus Sūtra, would be accused of committing the same sin of lying as Devadatta did. The verse says, “Ignorant people will speak ill of us, abuse us, and threaten us with swords or sticks.”
In the world today, is there any Buddhist priest other than me, Nichiren, who is spoken ill of, abused, and threatened with swords or sticks on account of the Lotus Sūtra? If I, Nichiren, were not here, this verse would be a false prediction.
It also says: “Monks in this evil world will be cunning and ready to flatter others. They will preach the dharma to laymen for worldly gain and be respected by the people just as the arhat who has the Six Superhuman Powers is.” If there were no Pure Land Buddhists or priests of Zen or Ritsu School of Buddhism in this world, this prediction would also make the Buddha a great liar.
It says, “In order to slander us in the midst of a great crowd of people they will speak ill of us to kings, ministers, Brahmans, and men of influence.” These would be empty words unless Buddhist priests in this world slandered me and had me exiled.
It is further stated, “We will be banished many times.” If I, Nichiren, had not been exiled repeatedly on account of the Lotus Sūtra, what could we do with these two words of “many times?” Even T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō did not read these two words from experience, not to speak of other people. I, Nichiren, alone read them from experience. For I perfectly fit the Buddha’s description of the person spreading the Lotus Sūtra “in the dreadful and evil world” at the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration.
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 56-57
Peaceful vs. Hostile Practices
By doing the peaceful practices we will create the kind of peaceful lives that further reflects and enhances our practice. It is sort of like an endless feedback loop that keeps replenishing and enhancing.
I imagine that some will say, yes, but Nichiren was pretty harsh with some of the people of his time, and shouldn’t we too carry out that same strict rhetoric as we engage with people who don’t believe in the Lotus Sutra? To this I say these are two different situations. For one thing, there are few of us today whose lives are threatened and for whom death is a constant possibility because of our practice. We live in a time when there are few actual obstacles to practicing our faith either privately or in society. It isn’t that this can’t happen, it is that it isn’t currently happening. In such a situation, even Nichiren stated that we should only use a much more strident approach when absolutely necessary.
When there is no obstacle to practice it is entirely possible to create a false obstacle by our behavior of obstinacy and belligerence. The kinds of obstacles created in those situations are false. I can be a jerk and have people around me treat me poorly, but I can’t claim it is because of my practice when I am not actually following the peaceful practices in a peaceful environment. In an environment that is not hostile we should practice in a non-hostile way. If the reverse becomes true then other measure might be called for.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraWhen We Have the Lotus Sutra Truly at the Core of our Lives
When we can be at ease with many others regardless of their belief and practice, when we can respect others even if they do not choose to follow the Lotus Sutra, we create the kind of life that others want to be around. By their association with us they will in turn be praising the Buddha within us that is a result of our practice of the sutra. Because of this praise they offer the Lotus Sutra, even if indirectly, they create a great cause of eventually practicing the Lotus Sutra themselves in some future lifetime. When we have the Lotus Sutra truly at the core of our lives we live the kind of life that others wish to know about and be around. Our positive influence on those lives causes other great benefit.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraCompassion Without Criticism
For the third peaceful practice the Buddha cautions us to not harbor ill thoughts nor point out the faults of others just because they practice some other way; we should embrace them with compassion. In this practice the key is what is in our minds really is reflected in our environment, and our speech reflects and mirrors this as well. While it may be possible to use flattery, to do so is not necessarily Buddhist practice. To enter into the realm of comparisons and finding fault is a quick entry into the realm of animals, if our heart is not pure and doesn’t remain so. It is easy to criticize but it is difficult to do so and be a noble guide to the truth. You only need to think of the boss or parent who is never satisfied as if they are the only ones capable of doing some thing correctly.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThings We Say
The second peaceful practice concerns the things we say. The list is a reminder of how we should speak, avoiding such things as being overly critical of others and other sutras. It is a fine line between pointing out differences in belief and practice and drifting to arrogance and disdain. We might be tempted to adopt the harsh language of Nichiren without fully manifesting the heart of Nichiren. The words are cheap and easy to use, the compassion and caring is difficult to manifest. There is also a time and place for things and this age we live in calls for great wisdom in discerning which approach is the most beneficial to the listener first and foremost and not to our own egotistical needs at proving superiority. As the Buddha says, the teacher should not have hostile feelings, nor dislike them but should have peace of mind. We should always have the wish to attain enlightenment for ourselves and cause others to do the same.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThree Categories Of People Who Slander Lotus Sūtra
Of the three categories of people [who slander the Lotus Sūtra], the first group of lay people who slander is easier to bear than the abusive words of the second group of crafty monks. The second group of monks is easier to bear than the third group of pretentious high priests living in great monasteries. These three categories consist of monks who are attached to provisional sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra in the world today, monks attached solely to the Zen meditation believing in the false concept that Buddhahood preached in sūtras and commentaries cannot be expressed by words or letters, and lay people who support such monks. They do not understand the difference between the provisional sūtras preached by the Buddha during the pre-Lotus period of 40 years or so and the True Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, they do not realize the difference in meaning between such phrases in the pre-Lotus provisional Sūtras as “no difference among the mind, a Buddha, and the people;” “mind as a Buddha;” and “will be reborn in the Pure Land to the West,” and similar-sounding phrases in the Lotus Sūtra like “all phenomena as ultimate reality;” and “will be reborn in the World of Happiness of the Buddha of Infinite Life.” Or, upon seeing such passages in various sūtras as “The truth lies beyond language,” and “It is found where the mind is extinguished,” they will embrace an evil thought that the holy scriptures of the Buddha do not reveal His true Enlightenment. As a result, devils get hold of these three categories of people, mislead the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration, and even destroy the country. Therefore, it is stated in the “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “In the evil world in the muddy kalpa, there will be many things to fear. Evil demons will take possession of people and cause them to slander and insult the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra. (…) Evil monks in the defiled world will not know the expedient dharmas preached by the Buddha as a means of guiding the people.” These scriptural passages mean that monks in this world of corruption and defilement do not know the teaching they embrace is the teaching the Buddha preached as an expedient means to guide the people, and thus they do not know the difference between the expedient and true teachings. When a person appears who knows the difference, they will abuse and persecute him. According to these passages, this is solely because they do not realize that evil demons have taken possession of them. Thus, what the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration should be afraid of are not swords and sticks, tigers and wolves, or the ten evil acts and the five rebellious sins but these monks who wear Buddhist robes and pretend to be high priests without knowing the teaching and those people who regard monks of provisional teachings as venerable and hate the practicers of the True Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 10-11
Rejoicing At Being Struck
On Sept. 12, 1271, the military government at Kamakura arrested Nichiren arbitrarily and took him to the place of execution, called Tatsu-no-kuchi (“the dragon’s mouth”). When one of his assailants found scrolls of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren’s pocket, he hit Nichiren on the face with one of them. Nichiren realized that this scroll was the one containing [Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.] At first he felt humiliated at being struck in the face, but when he realized which scroll it was, he rejoiced instead. By coincidence, he was being beaten by the same scroll which predicted such a fate for one who propagates the Sutra.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra