Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p216The title of Chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra, “Dharani” means “holding fast to.” Dharanis are words or phrases that hold great powers of insight and transformation. Just by reciting a dharani mindfully, often repeated three times, we invoke the power of the syllables, the sacred sounds that are produced when our body, speech, and mind are in harmony, unified, in a state of samadhi. With the energy of concentration, the sound of a dharani can in and of itself bring about transformation.
The practice of reciting dharanis aims at reestablishing communication and understanding with the great beings, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, in order to receive their spiritual energy. We do not walk the spiritual path alone; we walk in the footsteps of our teachers, friends, fellow practitioners, and all those who have practiced before us, our spiritual ancestors. So the practice of the dharanis is a Dharma door that opens up and allows us to receive the energy of those who support us in our practice.
Category Archives: d30b
The Life Span in the Realm of Heavenly Beings
It has been 2,200 years or so since the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra. As the life span of human beings is short, there is no one still alive who was able to see the Buddha in person. The length of a day as well as the life span in the realm of heavenly beings, however, are so long that there exist numerous heavenly beings who listened to the Buddha preach the Lotus Sūtra. Fifty years for human beings is equivalent to one day and night for the Four Heavenly Kings. Passing the day and night in this way, with 30 days in a month and 12 months to a year they live altogether 500 years. Accordingly, 2,200 years or so in the human realm is equivalent to 44 days of the Four Heavenly Kings, and it has been only 44 days since the sun and moon and Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamon, one of the Four Heavenly Kings) saw the Buddha enter Nirvana. In other words, it has not been two months yet since the Buddha passed away. To such heavenly beings as Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven it has been a month or so since the Buddha passed into Nirvana. How can they forget all about the vow they made before the Buddha, the great favor of the sūtra in which they attained Buddhahood, and abandon the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra in such a short span? When we think of things in this way, we are sure we can depend on these heavenly beings.
Accordingly, the prayer said by the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra will inevitably be fulfilled just as a sound is echoed, a shadow follows the body, the moon reflects upon the clear water, a water nymph invites the water, a magnet attracts iron, amber eliminates dust, and a clear mirror reflects the color of everything.
Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 62-63
Female Rākṣasas Vengeance
Buddhism for Today, p394[T]he female rākṣasas appear to be vowing vengeance on the enemies of the Lotus Sutra. This is a mistaken interpretation, however. We should consider rather that their vigor and zeal caused them to utter passionate words because they had not accumulated such great virtues as the disciples of the Buddha and because of their demonic nature. Otherwise Sakyamuni Buddha, who preached tolerance for all living beings, could not have unconditionally extolled the female rākṣasas, saying, “Good, good!”
The explanation of the principle of punishment in Buddhism … fully applies here. The verse reads, “May his head be split in seven,” not “May the Buddha split his head in seven.” And again, we read, “Such shall be his retribution,” following the list of the various dooms for offending teachers of the Law. This expression accords with the principle of the Buddhist concept of punishment, which teaches that one will be punished by his own crimes, not by some outside agency or arbitrary force.
After the female rākṣasas had uttered this stanza, they addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-honored One! We ourselves will also protect those who receive and keep, read and recite, and practice this sutra, and give them ease of mind, freedom from corroding care and from all poisons.” The Buddha addressed the rākṣasa women: “Good, good! Even if you are only able to protect those who receive and keep the name of the Law-Flower, your happiness will be beyond calculation; how much more if you protect those who perfectly receive, keep, and pay homage to the sutra with flowers, scents, necklaces, sandal powder, unguents, incense, flags, canopies, and music, burning various kinds of lamps — ghee lamps, oil lamps, lamps of scented oil, lamps of oil of campaka flowers, lamps of oil of vārṣika flowers, and lamps of oil of udumbara flowers, such hundreds of thousands of kinds of offerings as these. Kunti! You and your followers should protect such teachers of the Law as these.”
How Hārītī Came to Defend the Dharma
In chapter twenty-six of the Lotus Sūtra various beings offer protective incantations called dhārāṇi to safeguard the practitioners of the Lotus Sūtra. One set of these is offered by a formerly malevolent spirit named Hārītī (J. Kishimojin) and her ten daughters and other children and attendants. Hārītī, whose name means “stealer of children,” is a female yakṣas, or yaksini, who originally came from the town of Rājagṛha. The yakṣas are one of the eight kinds of supernatural beings who are said to revere and protect the Dharma. Originally the yakṣas appeared as the spirits of the trees and forests and even villages; but they had a fierce side as well, and in their more demonic aspect came to be called rākṣasas. According to legend, Hārītī was obsessed with eating the children of Rājagṛha. Neither King Bimbisāra nor even the devas were able to stop her, so in desperation the townspeople turned to Śākyamuni Buddha. The Buddha visited her home while she was away and used his supernatural powers to hide her youngest son under his alms bowl. When Hārītī returned and could not find her son she was distraught and finally she herself sought out the Buddha. The Buddha then pointed out to her that if she felt so badly about missing even one child out of 500, she should consider how badly the parents of Rājagṛha must feel when she takes away their children when they have so few to begin with. Hearing this, Hārītī felt remorse and compassion for those she had harmed. She repented of her actions; took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; took the five precepts; and vowed to protect the people of Rājagṛha. The Buddha then restored her youngest son to her. In return the Buddha had his monks, from that time on, make a symbolic offer of their food to the hungry ghosts. Hārītī came to be considered a protector of children and women giving birth as well as a protector of the Dharma, and her gentle image as a “giver of children” would sometimes cause her to be confused with Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. As can be seen in chapter twenty-six of the Lotus Sūtra, her fierce nature showed itself once more in her vow to protect the practitioners of the sūtra, for she and her children sang to the Buddha: “Anyone who does not keep our spells but troubles the expounder of the Dharma shall have his head split into seven pieces just as the branches of the arjaka-tree are split.” (Murano 2012, p. 335) This statement is cited as one example of how the Lotus Sūtra also contains the method of subduing.
Open Your Eyes, p562-563Crimes and Demon Punishments
Buddhism for Today, p393“Whoever resists our spell
And troubles a preacher,
May his head be split in seven
Like an arjaka sprout;
May his doom be that of a parricide,
His retribution that of an oil-expresser
Or a deceiver with false measures and weights,
Or of Devadatta who brought schism into the Sarpgha;
He who offends these teachers of the Law,
Such shall be his retribution.”This is a famous verse. It is said that if one touches an arjaka flower its petals will open and fall into seven pieces. The lines “May his head be split in seven / Like an arjaka sprout” mean, “May that man’s doom be that of a parricide.” The words “His retribution that of an oil-expresser” refer to an Indian custom. When one grinds sesame, he puts a weight on the grinder to press down the sesame. If this weight presses only moderately on the sesame, the worms in it are not squeezed. If he puts too heavy a weight on the grinder in order to press the sesame faster, they are squeezed and the sesame will lose its flavor. Therefore, in ancient India, this was regarded as symbolizing the crime by which one takes another’s life for the sake of his own self.
The same thing can be said of the crime of one who deceives with false measures and weights. Although such a crime cannot be compared with that of homicide in today’s legal system, it is a heinous deed from a spiritual point of view. Therefore, such a deed was considered a great crime in ancient India.
Lotus Sūtra and Ten Realms
The second, “Expedients,” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra (fascicle 1) states that the purpose of the Buddhas appearing in the worlds was “to cause all living beings to open the gate to the insight of the Buddha.” This means that of the nine of the ten realms of living beings (excepting the realm of Buddhas), each embraces the realm of Buddhas. In the sixteenth chapter, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” the sūtra also declares: “As I said before, it is immeasurably long since I, Śākyamuni Buddha, obtained Buddhahood. My life spans an innumerably and incalculably long period of time. Nevertheless, I am always here and I shall never pass away. Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by practicing the way of bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It will last twice as long as the length of time as stated above.” This passage also shows that the nine realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.
The following passages in the Lotus Sūtra also show that the ten realms of living beings embrace one another. It is said in the twelfth chapter, “Devadatta,” that after an incalculably long period of time, Devadatta will be a Buddha called “Heavenly King.” This shows the realm of Buddhas included in the realms of hells as it says that even a man as wicked as Devadatta, who had tried to kill the Buddha and had gone to hell, will be able to become a Buddha.
In the twenty-sixth chapter on the “Mystic Phrases,” the Buddha praises the ten female rākṣasa demons such as Lambā saying, “Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Lotus Sūtra.” Since even these rākṣasa demons in the realm of hungry spirits protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, the ten realms, from hells up to the realm of Buddhas, are comprised in the realm of hungry spirits.
The “Devadatta” chapter states also that a daughter of a dragon king attained perfect enlightenment, proving the existence of the ten realms in the realm of beasts.
The tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” says that even a semi-god like Asura King Balin (a king of asura demons mentioned in the first “Introduction” chapter) will obtain Buddhahood if he rejoices for a moment at hearing a verse or a phrase of the Lotus Sūtra. This shows that the ten realms are contained in the realm of asura demons.
It is stated in the second “Expedients” chapter: “Those who carve an image of the Buddha with proper physical characteristics in His honor have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,” showing that the realm of man includes the ten realms in it.
Then in the first “Introduction” and the third “A Parable” chapters, various gods such as the great King of the Brahma Heaven declare, “we also shall be able to become Buddhas,” proving that the ten realms are contained in the realm of gods. In the third chapter, the Buddha assures Śāripūtra, the wisest of His śrāvaka disciples, that he will also attain Buddhahood in future life and will be called “Kekō (Flower Light) Buddha.” This confirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of śrāvaka.
The second chapter states that those monks and nuns who sought emancipation through the way of pratyekabuddha (without guidance of teachers by observing the principle of cause and effect) pressed their hands together in respect, wishing to hear the Perfect Way. This affirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of pratyekabuddha.
It is written in the twenty-first chapter, “Divine Powers of the Buddha,” that bodhisattvas as numerous as particles of dust of 1,000 worlds, who had sprung up from underground, beseeched the Buddha for this true, pure, and great dharma, namely the Lotus Sūtra. This verifies the existence of the ten realms in the realm of bodhisattvas.
Finally, in the sixteenth chapter, the Buddha sometimes appears as a Buddha in the realm of Buddhas but at other times appears as some of the others who reside in the other nine realms. This indicates that the ten realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 132-133
His Head Split Into Seven Pieces
Two Buddhas, p247[In Chapter 26, Dhārānis,] Nichiren was struck by the words in the vow made by the ten rāksasis that if anyone troubles those who expound the Lotus Sūtra, “his head will be split into seven pieces just like a branch of the arjaka tree.” Zhanran, in summarizing the powers of the Lotus referred to in the sūtra text, had written, “Those who trouble [Lotus devotees] will have their heads split into seven pieces; those who make offerings to them will enjoy good fortune surpassing [that represented by the Buddha’s] ten titles.” The two parts of this sentence are inscribed as “passages of praise” on either side of a number of Nichiren’s mandalas. We can think of them as illustrating the principle of karmic causality as applied to the Lotus Sūtra.
Mystic Syllables
Buddhism for Today, p389This chapter declares how with mystic syllables nonhuman beings representing the spiritual world, who are deeply moved by the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, vow to protect the teachings and their preachers.
First two bodhisattvas, Medicine King and Courageous Giver, vow to guard and protect the preachers of the Lotus Sutra. Their vows are only to be expected, for these two bodhisattvas are the disciples and messengers of the Buddha. Next two Brahma heavenly kings, the Divine King Vaiśravaṇa and the Divine King Domain Holder, vow to protect the sutra. The vows of these two non-Buddhist divine kings signify that the Buddha’s teachings comprehend all other teachings and infuse religious life into them.
Following this, ten female rākṣasas and the Mother of Demon Sons vow to protect the Lotus Sutra. These female demons with one voice declared before the Buddha that if anyone harassed the preachers of the sutra, they would protect the preachers and rid them of such persecution. Their declaration bears witness to the fact that the Buddha-mind is found even in these demons. Conversely, the teachings of the Lotus Sutra can be said to have the power to enable even these demons to become buddhas.
The Great Merit for Those Who Chant the Daimoku
QUESTION: Is there any scriptural proof that we gain merits through the exclusive chanting of the daimoku?
ANSWER: The Lotus Sūtra says in chapter 26, “Dhārāṇi,” of the 8th fascicle that the merits obtained will be immeasurable when one keeps only the name of the Lotus Sūtra. The Lotus Sūtra of the True Dharma says in the chapter of “Total Upholding” that the merits of a person who hears this sūtra and keeps its name will be innumerable. The Lotus Sūtra with Additions says in the chapter of “Dhārāṇi” that the merits will be innumerably great when one keeps the name of the Lotus Sūtra. These clearly show how great the merits are for those who chant the daimoku.
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 39
Five Kinds of Untranslatable Words
Buddhism for Today, p390Many mystic Sanskrit words appear in this chapter. Why were these words not translated? The reason is due to the prudence of Kumārajīva, who translated the Lotus Sutra from Sanskrit into Chinese. When the Mahāyāna sutras were rendered into Chinese from Sanskrit, the translators, including Kumārajīva, left “untranslatable words” untouched. These translators defined as untranslatable the following five kinds of words:
- Words with meanings alien to Chinese, that is, the names of animals, plants, and demons peculiar to India but foreign to China. For example: the fragrance of tamālapattra and of tagara, mentioned in chapter 19, and such beings as garuḍas and kiṃnaras.
- Words with many meanings, that is, words that cannot be fully translated by a single word. For example: dhārāṇi, sometimes meaning the mystic power that enables a reciter to maintain the teaching he has heard, sometimes meaning the power of checking all evil and of encouraging all good, sometimes meaning the mystic syllables by which the reciter can escape disaster. The mystic syllables in chapter 26 belong to the last category.
- Mystic words. For example: the dhārāṇi spells appearing in chapter 26. These words were left as they were because their profound meaning would be impaired if they were translated.
- Transliterations well established by precedent. For example: Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, which can be translated as “Perfect Enlightenment” or “the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.”
- Words with profound meanings, which would lose their true meaning if translated. For example: buddha and bodhi.
These five kinds of untranslatable words (goshu-fuhon) were invariably left untouched by any translator.