Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Last month I offered my changing interpretations about why it takes so long for Subhuti, Great Katyayana and Great Maudgalyayana to become Buddhas. And this time around I want to ponder time and memory, starting with that teaser at the close of Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood:

Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!

The time and memory comes into play at the opening of Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City:

The Buddha said to the bhiksus:

A countless, limitless, inconceivable, asamkhya number of kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom­Excellence, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World­Honored One. His world was called Well-Composed; and the kalpa in which he became that Buddha, Great-Form.

Bhiksus! It is a very long time since that Buddha passed away. Suppose someone smashed all the earth-particles of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds into ink-powder. Then he went to the east [,carrying the ink-powder with him]. He inked a dot as large as a particle of dust [with that ink-powder] on the world at a distance of one thousand worlds from his world. Then he went again and repeated the inking of a dot on the world at every distance of one thousand worlds until the ink-powder was exhausted. What do you think of this? Do you think that any mathematician or any disciple of a mathematician could count the number of the worlds [he went through]?”

No, we do not, World-Honored One!

Bhiksus! Now all the worlds he went through, whether they were inked or not, were smashed into dust. The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since that Buddha passed away is many hundreds of thousands of billions of asamkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced. Yet I remember [the extinction of] that Buddha by my power of insight as vividly as if he had passed away today.

And just to underline, asamkhyas is linked to a footnote that says: “This is an adjective, meaning ‘innumerable.’ ” I’ve never been really great at math, but I assume multiplying a period of time by “innumerable” gets you some place just this side of infinity.

And in gathas:

I remember the extinction of that Buddha
As vividly as if he had passed away just now,
By my unhindered wisdom;
I also remember
The Sravakas and Bodhisattvas who lived [with him].

Bhiksus, know this!
My wisdom is pure, wonderful,
Free from asravas and from hindrance.
I know those who lived innumerable kalpas ago.

I’ll be 65 years old next month, and if there is one feature of enlightenment that I would cherish, it would be a memory for details so perfect that it makes time irrelevant. For now, I need to look again for my keys. I drove home, so I know they are somewhere in the house.

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Last month, I covered the differentiation of those who received the rain of the Dharma. Now to summarize:

I now expediently reveal the Dharma with this simile.
I expound one truth with various discourses.
This simile is only one of the expedients
Employed by my wisdom,
Just as a drop of sea water is
Part of the great ocean.

Though I water all living beings of the world
With the same rain of the Dharma,
They practice the teachings
Of the same taste differently
According to their capacities,
Just as the herbs and trees
In thickets and forests
Grew gradually according to their species.

The Buddhas always expound
The teachings of the same taste
In order to cause all living beings of the world
To understand the Dharma.
Those who practice the teachings continuously
Will obtain [ various fruits of] enlightenment.

Underline Those who practice the teachings continuously/ Will obtain [various fruits of] enlightenment.

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Before moving on to the gathas, I want to consider this final piece of the prose section:

You once reproached us Sravakas in the presence of the Bodhisattvas because we wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. [At that time we thought that you had taught us only the Lesser Vehicle,] but now we know that you have been teaching us the Great Vehicle from the outset. Therefore, we say that the great treasures of the King of the Dharma have come to us although we did not seek them, and that we have already obtained all that the sons of the Buddha should obtain.

This concept of obtaining the treasures of the rich man as the son of the rich man works nicely to explain the differences between Buddhism and other religions.

Ven. Kenjo Igarashi of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church explains:

Buddhism is the teaching of the Buddha, just as Christianity is the teaching of Jesus Christ and Islam is the teaching of Mohammad.

Ultimately, Buddhism is everyone’s attempt to become a Buddha.

We are the heirs to the storehouse of treasures. We are the sons of the Buddha.

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

From the vehicle salesman, to “Father knows Best,” to the meaning of freedom.

[I said:]

To those who have little wisdom,
And who are deeply attached to sensual desires,
The Buddhas expound the truth that all is suffering.
Those [who hear this truth]
Will have the greatest joy that they have ever had.
The statement of the Buddhas that all is suffering
Is true, not false.
To those who are ignorant
Of the cause of all sufferings,
And who are too deeply attached
To the cause of suffering
To give it up even for a moment,
The Buddhas expound
The [eight right] ways as expedients.

The cause of suffering is greed.
When greed is eliminated,
There is nothing to be attached to.
The extinction of suffering
Is called the third truth.
In order to attain this extinction,
The [eight right] ways must be practiced.
Freedom from the bonds of suffering[,]
[That is, from illusions] is called emancipation.”

From what illusions can one be emancipated, however, [By the practice of the eight right ways]?
He can be emancipated only from unreal things
[That is, from the five desires] thereby.
He cannot be emancipated from all illusions.
The Buddhas say
That he has not yet attained
The true extinction
Because he has not yet attained
Unsurpassed enlightenment.
I also do not think that I have led him
To the [true] extinction thereby.

Eliminating illusions is not the end. We seek unsurpassed enlightenment equal to that of the Buddha.

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Last month, I covered Sakyamuni’s explanation of why expedients are needed. And the explanation of who used the expedient teachings to get out of the triple world:

Sariputra! Those who have intelligence, who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-­Honored One, and who seek Nirvana with strenuous efforts in order to get out of the triple world, are called Sravakas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the sheep-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who seek the self-originating wisdom with strenuous efforts, who wish to have good tranquility in seclusion, and who perfectly understand the causes of all things, are called Pratyeka-buddhas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the deer-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self-originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathagata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are called Mahasattvas because they seek this vehicle. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the bullock-carts.

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month covered the celebration that followed Sariputra being assured of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, it is time now to ask the question that apparently is on everyone’s mind:

Thereupon Sariputra said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! Now my doubts are gone. You assured me of my future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. These twelve hundred people now have freedom of mind. When they had something more to learn, [that is to say, when they had not yet completed their study for Arhatship,] you taught them, saying, ‘My teaching is for the purpose of causing you to emancipate yourselves from birth, old age, disease, and death, and to attain Nirvana.’ The [two thousand] people, including those who have something more to learn and those who have nothing more to learn, also think that they attained Nirvana because they emancipated themselves from such a view as ‘I exist,’ or ‘I shall exist forever,’ or ‘I shall cease to exist.’ But [both the twelve hundred people and the two thousand people] are now quite perplexed because they have heard from you [the Dharma] which they had never heard before. World-Honored One! In order to cause the four kinds of devotees to remove their doubts, explain why you said all this to them!

And with that we set the stage for the Buddha to explain A Parable.

Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month covered how the various sutras were a basis for the Great Vehicle. Now to affirm that there is just one vehicle.

Some sons of mine are pure in heart, gentle and wise.
They have practiced the profound and wonderful teachings
Under innumerable Buddhas
[In their previous existence].
I will expound this sutra of the Great Vehicle to them,
And assure them of their future Buddhahood, saying:
“You will attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
In your future lives.”

Deep in their minds they are thinking of me,
And observing the pure precepts.
Therefore, they will be filled with joy
When they hear they will become Buddhas.
I know their minds.
Therefore, I will expound the Great Vehicle to them.

Any Sravaka or Bodhisattva
Who hears even a gatha
Of this sutra which I am to expound
Will undoubtedly become a Buddha.

There is only one teaching, that is, the One Vehicle
In the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters.
There is not a second or a third vehicle
Except when the Buddhas teach expediently.

The Buddhas lead all Living beings
By tentative names [of vehicles]
In order to expound their wisdom.
They appear in the worlds
Only for the One Vehicle.

Only this is true; the other two are not.
The Buddhas do not save living beings by the Lesser Vehicle.
They dwell in the Great Vehicle.
The Dharma they attained is adorned
With the power of concentration of mind
And with the power of wisdom.
They save all living beings by the Dharma.

I attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
The Great Vehicle, the Truth of Equality.
If I lead even a single man
By the Lesser Vehicle,
I shall be accused of stinginess.
It is not good at all to do this.

Leading everyone to the same unsurpassed enlightenment as the Buddha: Nothing stingy about that.

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Last month I opened the Buddha’s explanation of the need for expedients. This month I continue with the Buddha’s description of the insight of the Buddhas.

Sariputra! The insight of the Tathagatas is wide and deep. [The Tathagatas] have all the [states of mind towards] innumerable [living beings,] unhindered [eloquence,] powers, fearlessness, dhyana-concentrations, emancipations, and samadhis. They entered deep into boundlessness, and attained the Dharma which you have never heard before.

Sariputra! The Tathagatas divide [the Dharma] into various teachings, and expound those teachings to all living beings so skillfully and with such gentle voices that living beings are delighted. Sariputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Sariputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

This true nature of reality is discussed in Lotus Seeds:

Though the One Vehicle is expressed throughout the first half of the Lotus Sutra, the core passage, according to Nichiren Shonin, is in the very first prose passage of the second chapter, “Tactfulness.” In that passage, the Buddha first reveals to his wisest disciple, Śāriputra, that the teaching of the Buddha is beyond the ability of even his most advanced disciples to understand. He tells Śāriputra that the true nature of reality can only be understood by the buddhas, and that this true nature of reality consists of Ten Factors (or “suchnesses”). … These Ten Factors are integral parts of the law of cause and effect, and they are found in the lives of all beings. They are present in the lives of ordinary beings, and they are present in the lives of Buddhas. It is due to the common ground of the Ten Factors that ordinary people are capable of becoming buddhas, and buddhas are capable of appearing as ordinary people.
Lotus Seeds

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Having last month discussed the story of Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva and one of his followers, it’s time to start again with Manjusri’s answer to Maitreya.

Thereupon Manjusri said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahasattva and the other great men:

Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.

Good men! I met many Buddhas in my previous existence. At that time I saw the same good omen as this. Those Buddhas emitted the same ray of light as this, and then expounded a great teaching.

Therefore, know this! I think that this Buddha also is emitting this ray of light, and showing this good omen, wishing to cause all living beings to hear and understand the most difficult teaching in the world to believe.

One of the meanings of “introductory,” the title of this first chapter, is “intended to persuade someone to purchase something for the first time,” as in an introductory offer. I am struck by the idea of this introductory offer of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

All of you, know this, join your hands together,
And wait with one mind!
The Buddha will send the rain of the Dharma
And satisfy those who seek enlightenment.

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Having last month discussed the Arhats, Sravakas and Bodhisattvas present in the audience at the start of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower, I need to discuss the others present.

Sakra-Devanam-Indra was also present. Twenty thousand gods were attending on him. There were also Beautiful-Moon God, Universal-Fragrance God, Treasure-Light God, and the four great heavenly-kings. Ten thousand gods were attending on them. Freedom God and Great-Freedom God were also present. Thirty thousand gods were attending on them. Brahman Heavenly-King who was the lord of the Saha-World, Great Brahman Sikhin, and Great Brahman Light were also present. Twelve thousand gods were attending on them.

There were also the eight dragon-kings: Nanda Dragon-King, Upananda Dragon-King, Sagara Dragon-King, Vasuki Dragon­.Kng, Taksaka Dragon-King, Anavatapta Dragon-King, Manasvin Dragon-King, and Utpalaka Dragon-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants. There were also the four kimnara-kings: Dharma Kimnara-King, Wonderful-Dharma Kimnara-King, Great-Dharma Kimnara-King, and Dharma­Keeping Kimnara-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four gandharva-kings: Musical Gandharva­King, Musical-Voice Gandharva-King, Beautiful Gandharva-King, and Beautiful-Voice Gandharva-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four asura-kings: Balin Asura-King, Kharaskandha Asura-King, Vemacitrin Asura-King, and Rahu Asura-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four garuda-kings: Great-Power-Virtue Garuda-King, Great-Body Garuda-King, Great-Fulfillment Garuda­King, and Free-At-Will Garuda-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

In my brief time as a Nichiren Shu practitioner I’ve discovered that the perceived importance of the protective deities varies widely. The Ven. Kenjo Igarashi strongly believes of their existence and their protection powers. Others I’ve talked with seem to want the subject to be one of those matters of historical interpretation and not relevant to modern practice.

To me, Buddhism without the deities is like a photograph without color. Yes, you can understand a picture of shades of gray, but how much more wonderful and beautify is the world in color.

These deities were important to Nichiren. That’s why they are included in the Mandala Gohonzon. I highly recommend “Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon,” by Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick