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Daily Dharma, d28b

Daily Dharma – Dec. 3, 2023

Thereupon Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha said to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva: “Do not despise that world! Do not consider it to be inferior [to our world]! Good Man! The Sahā-World is not even. It is full of mud, stones, mountains and impurities. The Buddha [of that world] is short in stature. So are the Bodhisattvas [of that world]. You are forty-two thousand yojanas tall. I am six million and eight hundred thousand yojanas tall. You are the most handsome. You have thousands of millions of marks of merits, and your light is wonderful. Do not despise that world when you go there! Do not consider that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of that world are inferior [to us]! Do not consider that that world is inferior [to ours]!”

In Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha sends a light from his forehead to the world in which Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva lives. When that Bodhisattva saw this light from Śākyamuni Buddha, he asked permission from the Buddha he was attending to visit our world of conflict. The instruction he receives from his Buddha reminds us that no matter what advantages we have gained from our practice of the Buddha Dharma, these do not make us any better or worse than those we are determined to benefit.

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

Daily Dharma, d28b

Daily Dharma – Nov. 13, 2023

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.

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

Daily Dharma, d28b

Daily Dharma – June 23, 2023

Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā-World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. Like many of the Bodhisattvas, Wonderful-Voice takes on the form of countless beings to reach those whom he has vowed to lead to enlightenment. For those who can be reached by a teacher, he becomes a teacher. For those who can be reached by a child, he becomes a child. For those who can be reached by a stranger, he becomes a stranger. Understanding the innumerable forms the Bodhisattvas take on to help us, we can ask: Who in this world of conflict and suffering is not a Bodhisattva? From whom can we not learn how to see things for what they are?

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

Kern, d28b, Blog

The Translator’s Touch

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

As I near the end of this chapter by chapter comparison of H. Kern’s English translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra with English translations of Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese Lotus Sutra, I find a pattern has developed. Kern adds a filigree of details while Senchu Murano clarifies and directs readers in his translation of Kumārajīva.

For an example of Kern’s embellishment consider the story of the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara. Kern has this as Chapter 23. Kumārajīva has the story of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva as Chapter 24.

In this story, Many Treasures Buddha is asked to invite Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva to visit. Here’s how Murano tells this:

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha called [loudly] to [Wonderful-Voice] Bodhisattva [from afar], “Good man! Come! Mañjuśrī, the Son of the King of the Dharma, wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, accompanied by eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas, left his world [for the Sahā World]. As they passed through the [one hundred and eight billion nayuta] worlds, the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways; lotus flowers of the seven treasures rained [on those worlds], and hundreds of thousands of heavenly drums sounded [over those worlds] although no one beat them.

Kern embellishes upon this:

And the Lord Prabhūtaratna, the Tathāgata, &c., who was completely extinct, instantly produced a token in order to admonish the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara (and said): Come, young man of good family, to this Sahā-world; Mañjuśrī, the prince royal, will hail thy coming. And the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara, after humbly saluting the feet of the Lord Kamaladalavimalanakṣhatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, the Tathāgata, &c., and after three times circumambulating him from left to right, vanished from the world Vairokanarasmipratimandita, along with eighty-four hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of Bodhisattvas who surrounded and followed him, and arrived at this Sahā-world, among a stir of Buddha fields, a rain of lotuses, a noise of hundred thousands of myriads of koṭis of musical instruments.

Another example of this occurs when the bodhisattva greets Śākyamuni.

Murano has Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva say:

“World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not disrespectful to śramaṇas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not.

Kern has Gadgadasvara say:

The Lord Kamaladalavimalanakṣhatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, the Tathāgata, &c., inquires after the Lord’s health, welfare, and sprightliness; whether he feels free from affliction and at ease. That Lord has also charged me to ask: Is there something thou hast to suffer or allow? the humors of the body are not in an unfavorable state? thy creatures are decent in manners, tractable, and easy to be healed? their bodies are clean? They are not too passionate, I hope, not too irascible, not too unwise in their doings? They are not jealous, Lord, not envious, not ungrateful to their father and mother, not impious, not heterodox, not unsubdued in mind, not unrestrained in sexual desires.? Are the creatures able to resist the Evil One?

Let us all inquire after each others’ sprightliness – “the quality of being energetic and in good health, especially when you are old: Due to his sprightliness, everyone thought he was much younger than he actually was,” Cambridge English Dictionary.

As for Murano’s efforts to add clarity and direct readers consider the many transformations of the bodhisattva.

Kern introduces this feature of Gadgadasvara in this way:

Dost thou see, Padmasri, how the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara now looks? Padmasri replied: I do, Lord; I do, Sugata. The Lord said: Now, Padmasri, this Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara preaches this Dharmaparyāya of the Lotus of the True Law under many shapes he assumes; sometimes under the shape of Brahma, sometimes under that of Indra, sometimes under that of Siva, sometimes under that of Kubera, sometimes under that of a sovereign, sometimes under that of a duke, sometimes under that of a chief merchant, sometimes under that of a citizen, sometimes under that of a villager, sometimes under that of a Brahman.

For his part, Murano puts these transformations in the past.

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places. He became King Brahman, King Sakra, Freedom God, Great-Freedom God, a great general in heaven, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, a wheel-turning-holy-king, the king of a small country, a rich man, a householder, a prime minister, a brahmana, a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, the wife of a rich man, that of a householder, that of a prime minister, that of a brahmana, a boy, a girl, a god, a dragon, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being.

The other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra are closer to Kern than Murano.

The BDK English Tripiṭaka has:

O Padmaśrī! You think that the body of Bodhisattva Gadgadasvara exists only here; however, this bodhisattva manifests himself in various bodies. He has thus taught this sutra in many places for the sake of the sentient beings.

Gene Reeves has:

Flower Virtue, you see merely the one body of Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva which is here. But this Bodhisattva appears in many different bodies, everywhere teaching this sutra for the sake of the living.

None of the other translators of Kumārajīva includes Murano’s suggestion that World-Voice’s transformations happen in the past.

Next: The Odd Praise of Amitābha in Kern’s Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma, d28b

Daily Dharma – April 27, 2023

When the Buddha expounded this Chapter of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, the eighty-four thousand people, who had come accompanying Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, obtained the ability to practice the samādhi by which they could transform themselves into other living beings. Innumerable Bodhisattvas of this Sahā-World also obtained the ability to practice this samādhi.

This description comes at the end of Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva had come to our world of conflict and delusion from his perfect world to hear the Buddha teach the Wonderful Dharma. The Bodhisattvas in this world asked the Buddha about the transformations Wonderful-Voice made to benefit others. This chapter shows how those beings who have vowed to benefit us appear in ways we may not recognize right away. It also shows us the capability we have as Bodhisattvas to transform ourselves for the benefit of others.

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

Daily Dharma, d28b

Daily Dharma – April 1, 2023

World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not disrespectful to śramaṇas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they?

The passage above is how Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva greets Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva asks not only about the Buddha, but about those whom the Buddha benefits with his teaching. The Buddha answers that those he teaches have prepared through innumerable lives to receive his wisdom. The questions of Wonderful-Voice show how we obscure the teaching through our delusion and attachments.

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

800years, d28b, Blog

800 Years: The Importance of this Suffering World

At the opening of Chapter 24, the Buddha Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom admonishes Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva not to put on airs when he visits Śākyamuni’s world:

“ ‘Do not despise that world! Do not consider it to be inferior to our world! Good Man! The Sahā-World is not even. It is full of mud, stones, mountains and impurities. The Buddha of that world is short in stature! So are the Bodhisattvas of that world. You are forty-two thousand yojanas tall. I am six million and eight hundred thousand yojanas tall. You are the most handsome. You have thousands of millions of marks of merits, and your light is wonderful. Do not despise that world when you go there! Do not consider that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of that world are inferior to us! Do not consider that that world is inferior to ours!’ ”

As Gene Reeves explains in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“We can only guess what is behind the concern contained in this statement. Obviously, the writers believed that someone was not taking this world seriously enough. Does it indicate a time and place where people thought some distant land, some faraway paradise, was to be preferred to this world? Does it indicate a reaction to a worldview that rejected the reality and importance of this world in favor of some ideal world? We cannot be sure. But it is very clear that both here and in many other places the Dharma Flower Sutra emphasizes the value and importance of life in this world, the home of Shakyamuni Buddha, in which the path of the bodhisattva can be taken, the land that is our only home and place of practice.”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p261

Looking at this comparison of the world of Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom with Śākyamuni’s world, Nikkyō Niwano emphasizes in Buddhism for Today the difference in accomplishment for those who practice here, in the land of suffering, and those who practice in a pure land:

“The domain where the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation dwells is an ideal world situated in the heavens. For this reason the bodies of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas in that domain are extraordinarily large and of a wonderful brightness.

“On the other hand, what is the actuality? There is nothing impressive about it when compared with the ideal. The actuality appears to be far smaller, lower, and plainer than the ideal. A person who has perfected his character in such an actual world is far more sacred than an ideal form in the heavens, even if his body is small and has no apparent brightness. There is nothing more sacred than the attainment of the mental state of the Buddha in the actual world, where obstructions are often thrown up by evil-minded people. The Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation preached this earnestly to the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound.”

Buddhism for Today, p370

Like the lotus flower, we need the mud of this world to nurture us and to allow us to bloom.

Table of Contents Next Essay
800years, d28b, Blog

800 Years: In the Service of Others

If anything can be said to be a practice of those who take faith in the Lotus Sutra, it is the Bodhisattva practice of helping others. In Chapter 23, we learned that Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva obtained a samādhi by which he could transform himself into any other living being. He even caused others to obtain this samādhi. But he himself did not demonstrate this samādhi. It is in Chapter 24 that we see this samādhi put to practice by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

“This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Sahā World with the many rays of light of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know.”

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra explains that while such transformations may seem miraculous, they can be a product of our daily practice:

“[W]hen we sincerely devote ourselves to the service and welfare of others, we can reach a stage of nonself – real selflessness – and become one with them. In appearance, we may even look like one of them. An adult playing happily with children may look like a child himself. He may feel like a child, too. The children may even consider him to be one of them. Such ‘transformations’ are far from impossible, but they do require a special state of mind. The samādhi by which one can transform himself into other living things is an expression of the Bodhisattva-spirit of devoting one’s self to others.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

By far the more famous Bodhisattva who performs this samādhi in the Lotus Sutra is World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, whom we meet in Chapter 25. As Gene Reeves points out in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, the fact that multiple bodhisattvas posses this power underscores that every bodhisattva can have it:

“We are not talking about magical tricks here. The ability to take on different forms according to what is needed means just that, an ability to adapt to different situations, particularly to the different needs of people. Taking on different forms is no more and no less than the ability to serve others usefully, practically, and effectively. This is a power given not only to the bodhisattvas Kwan-yin and Wonderful Voice, but to each and every one of us.

“Thus, one obvious meaning of this story for us is that we too can become bodhisattvas who take on different forms and roles in order to help others. And there is another side to this, even its opposite – anyone can be a bodhisattva for us. If Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva can take on any form, anyone we meet might be Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva in a form designed to help us!”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p265-266

The task for the faithful is to see how we can help others and allow others to help us.

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d28b, b4today

The True Worth of the Ideal

The teaching of an ideal state of mind is holy indeed, but it does not show its worth so long as it lies idle in one’s mind. The true worth of the ideal teaching is appreciated only when and where people realize it little by little in their daily lives.

This is clearly displayed through the actions of the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva]: this Bodhisattva (or ideal), with a bright golden body of infinite size, went to Śākyamuni Buddha, who had perfected the thirty-two signs and the eighty distinctive bodily marks of a buddha but had assumed the form of an ordinary man, and the bodhisattva made obeisance at the Buddha’s feet and presented a precious necklace to him. The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound, as the symbol of an ideal, praised Śākyamuni Buddha, who appeared in this world as a perfected man, saying, “You are the one indeed who has realized our ideal.” The Bodhisattva Wonder Sound came to the actual world from an ideal realm for the purpose of praising and proving how great and holy a thing it is for people to endeavor to establish the Righteous Law and to build an ideal society in this sahā-world, filled as it is with defilements and evils.

Buddhism for Today, p376
d28b, Blog

Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s 16 Samādhis

In Chapter 24 of the Lotus Sutra we are introduced to a bodhisattva. Rissho Kosei-kai’s 1975 translation calls this bodhisattva Wonder Sound, Leon Hurvitz names him Fine Sound and Senchu Murano calls him Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva. We are told that this bodhisattva has accumulated more samādhis than there are sands in the River Ganges. Of all those samādhis, 16 are listed at the opening of the chapter in the Rissho Kosei-kai and Hurvitz translations, but only 14 are listed in Murano’s translation.

1975 Rissho Kosei-kai 2012 Murano Third Edition 2009 Hurvitz Revised Edition
the contemplation of the wonderful banner sign, the samadhi as wonderful as the banner of a general, the samādhi of the Fine Standard (dhvajāgrakeyūrasamādhilabdhaḥ),
the contemplation of the Law-Flower, the samādhi of the Dharma Blossom (saddharmapuṇḍarīka),
the contemplation of pure virtue, the samādhi of Pure Excellence (vimaladatta),
the contemplation of the Constellation King’s sport, the samadhi for the traveling of the king of the stars, the samādhi of the Sport of the King of Constellations (Nakṣhatrarājavikrīḍita),
the contemplation of causelessness, the samadhi for freedom from causality, the samādhi of No Objects (anilambha),
the contemplation of the knowledge seal, the samadhi for the seal of wisdom, the samādhi of the Seal of Knowledge (jñānamudrā),
the contemplation of interpreting the utterances of all beings, the samadhi by which one could understand the words of all living beings, the samādhi that Enables One to Understand the Speech of All Living Beings (sarvarutakaśalya),
the contemplation of collection of all merits, the samadhi by which one could collect all merits, the samādhi that Collects All Merits (sarvapuṇyasamuccaya),
the contemplation of purity, the samadhi for purity, the Pure samādhi (prasādavatī),
the contemplation of supernatural sport, the samadhi for exhibiting supernatural powers, the samādhi of the Play of Magical Powers (ṛddhivikrīḍita),
the contemplation of wisdom torch, the samadhi for the torch of wisdom, the samādhi of the Lamp of Knowledge (jñānolkā),
the contemplation of the king of adornment, the samadhi for the Adornment-King, the samādhi of the King of Adornments (vyūharāja),
the contemplation of pure luster, the samadhi for pure light, the samādhi of Pure Glow (vimalaprabhāsa),
the contemplation of the pure treasury, the samadhi for pure store, the samādhi of the Pure Womb (vimalagarbha),
the contemplation of the unique, the samadhi for special teachings, the Unshared samādhi (apkṛtsna),
the contemplation of sun revolution; the samadhi for the revolution of the sun. the samādhi that Turns to the Sun (sūryāvarta)

I discovered this discrepancy when I was reviewing Nikkyō Niwano’s discussion of Chapter 24 for the Rissho Kosei-kai in North America (RKINA) advanced course on the Threefold Lotus Sutra that I’ve been attending this year. You can see what prompted this in my essay on Lesson 28.

Since each of these translations is based on Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation, they should all agree. And when I checked my other English translations of Kumārajīva’s translation I found they all agreed. Only Murano’s Third Edition lacked the second and third samādhis. Even H. Kern’s 1884 translation from the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document lists 16 samādhis.

At the time, I did not possess a copy of the first or second editions of Murano’s translation, but I did know the email address for Rev. Shinkyo Warner, the editor of the Third Edition. I contacted Rev. Shinkyo Warner and he responded that apparently the two samādhis, which are present in the second edition, were inadvertently dropped during the editing for the third edition.

A few days later I was at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church meeting with workmen who were estimating the cost of repairs needed to Rev. Igarashi’s home, and I asked Rev. Igarashi if he had a copy of the second edition of Murano’s translation. Later, after the workmen had departed, Rev. Igarashi presented me with copies of both the second and the first editions of Murano’s translation. The second edition was autographed by Senchu Murano. Apparently, when the second edition came out in 1991, Murano signed a bunch of the books and shipped them to Rev. Igarashi, who at the time had been the head priest of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church for just two years. He still has several of these autographed books.

First and Second Editions of Murano's Translation
Senchu Murano's autograph

Missing from the third edition are the samādhi for the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma and the samādhi for pure virtue. I’ve restored those to my online edition. Rev. Shinkyo Warner says the third edition is no longer pre-printed and therefore the text can be easily updated. I passed on to him a number of other small typos I’ve noticed during my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice. I have no idea when the “print-on-demand” text will be updated to restore the missing samādhis. On July 1, 2023, Rev. Shinkyo Warner emailed me to announced he had released an update to the printed version of the third edition of Bishop Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra. “This includes the corrections you found along with several others,” he said. “I’m still working on the ePub version.”