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

The title of this chapter is Understanding by Faith. The word “faith” does not appear in the chapter outside the title. Nor does the concept of faith. Instead we hear from the Sravakas, self-identified senior leaders among the disciples of the Buddha. They are self-satisfied. They see themselves as having worked hard for their reward.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has asravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvana-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.

The Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son is the Sravakas’ attempt to explain why they didn’t notice that what they were teaching the Bodhisattvas could be applicable to themselves.

Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.

You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.

Convinced they’ve learned something new, the Sravakas missed the point: Understanding by Faith.

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

The last three months – June 2, May 1, March 30 – have focused on the conclusion of Chapter 3, A Parable. It’s time to take care of the opening of Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

I have certain affinity for the men living the life of wisdom – Subhuti, Maha­Katyayana, Maha-Kasyapa, and Maha-Maudgalyayana – and their reaction to their colleague Sariputra’s assurance of future Buddhahood.

We elders of the Sarngha were already old and decrepit [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi]. We did not seek Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi because we thought that we had already attained Nirvana, and also because we thought that we were too old and decrepit to do so You have been expounding the Dharma for a long time. We have been in your congregation all the while. We were already tired [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak­sambodhi]. Therefore, we just cherished the truth that nothing is substantial, the truth that nothing is different from any other thing, and the truth that nothing more is to be sought. We did not wish to perform the Bodhisattva practices, that is, to purify the world of the Buddha and to lead all living beings [to Buddhahood] by displaying supernatural powers because you had already led us out of the triple world and caused us to attain Nirvana. Neither did we wish at all to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, which you were teaching to Bodhisattvas, because we were already too old and decrepit to do so. But now we are very glad to hear that you have assured a Sravaka of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak­sambodhi. We have the greatest joy that we have ever had. We have never expected to hear such a rare teaching all of a sudden. How glad we are! We have obtained great benefits. We have obtained innumerable treasures although we did not seek them.

Old and tired, one doesn’t expect many surprises. Obtaining great benefits that were not sought can make even a surprised old man dance with joy.

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Last month, I focused on why, before he came up with his expedient, the Buddha’s efforts to convince his children to leave the burning house failed.

This time through The Parable of the Burning House expediently:

The Buddha said to Sariputra:

So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. Sariputra! The same can be said of me. [I thought, ‘] I am the father of the world. I eliminated fear, despondency, grief, ignorance and darkness. I obtained immeasurable insight, powers and fearlessness. I have great supernatural powers, the power of wisdom, the paramita of expedients, the paramita of wisdom, great compassion, and great loving-kindness. I am not tired of seeking good things or of benefiting all living beings. I have appeared in the triple world, which can be likened to the rotten and burning house, in order to save all living beings from the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, stupidity, darkness, and the three poisons, to teach all living beings, and to cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. I see that all living beings are burned by the fires of birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation. They undergo various sufferings because they have the five desires and the desire for gain. Because they have attachments and pursuits, they have many sufferings in their present existence, and will suffer in hell or in the world of animals or in the world of hungry spirits in their future lives. Even when they are reborn in heaven or in the world of humans, they will still have many sufferings such as poverty or parting from their beloved ones or meeting with those whom they hate. Notwithstanding all this, however, they are playing joyfully. They are not conscious of the sufferings. They are not frightened at the sufferings or afraid of them. They do not dislike them or try to get rid of them. They are running about this burning house of the triple world, and do not mind even when they undergo great sufferings.[‘]

Sariputra! Seeing all this, I [also] thought, ‘I am the father of all living beings. I will eliminate their sufferings, give them the pleasure of the immeasurable wisdom of the Buddha, and cause them to enjoy it.’

Sariputra! I also thought, ‘If I extol my insight, powers, and fearlessness in the presence of those living beings only by my supernatural powers and by the power of my wisdom, that is to say, without any expedient, they will not be saved because they have not yet been saved from birth, old age, disease, death, grief, sorrow, suffering and lamentation, but are burning up in the burning house of the triple world. How can they understand the wisdom of the Buddha?’

Sariputra! The rich man did not save his children by his muscular power although he was strong enough. He saved them from the burning house with a skilful expedient and later gave them each a large cart of treasures.

I want to underline this need for expedients with something from Rev. Ryusho Jeffus‘ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

In every expedient presented in the Lotus Sutra, the expedient is also useful and a necessary step along the way to the ultimate teaching. Nothing the Sravakas or Pratyekabuddhas were taught was useless or of no value. Everything they were taught is necessary to their practice and to our practice even today. The Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Twelve Link Chain of Causation are all important and necessary teachings to enable us to fully understand and practice the Lotus Sutra.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

We must get out of the burning house before we can ride in the bullock cart.

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Last month, I discussed Śāriputra’s joyful reaction to learning that he, too, was destined to become a Buddha.

But Śāriputra’s desire to dance with joy seems positively tame compared with the reaction of the crowd upon learning of Śāriputra’s future as a Buddha named Flower-Light.

At that time the great multitude included bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas, that is, the four kinds of devotees; and gods, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras and mahoragas. When they saw that Sariputra was assured of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi by the Buddha, they danced with great joy. They took off their garments and offered them to the Buddha. Sakra-Devanam-Indra, the Brahman Heavenly­-King, and innumerable other gods also offered their wonderful heavenly garments and the heavenly flowers of mandaravas and maha-mandaravas to the Buddha. The heavenly garments, which had been released from the hands of the gods, whirled in the sky. The gods simultaneously made many thousands of millions of kinds of music in the sky, and caused many heavenly flowers to rain down.
They said, “The Buddha turned the first wheel of the Dharma at Varanasi a long time ago. Now he turns the wheel of the unsurpassed and greatest Dharma.”

Thereupon the gods, wishing to repeat what they had said, sang in gathas:

The Buddha turned the wheel of the teaching of the Four Truths
At Varanasi a long time ago.
He taught that all things are composed of the five aggregates
And that they are subject to rise and extinction.

Now he turns the wheel of the Dharma,
The most wonderful, unsurpassed, and greatest.
The Dharma is profound.
Few believe it.
So far we have heard
Many teachings of the World-Honored One.
But we have never heard
Such a profound, wonderful, and excellent teaching as this.
We are very glad to hear this
From the World-Honored One.

Sariputra, a man of great wisdom,
Was assured of his future Buddhahood. We also shall be able
To become Buddhas,
And to receive
The highest and unsurpassed honor in the world.

The Buddha expounds his enlightenment, difficult to understand,
With expedients according to the capacities of all living beings.
We obtained merits by the good karmas which we did
In this life of ours and in our previous existence.
We also obtained merits by seeing the Buddha.
May we attain the enlightenment of the Buddha by these merits.

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

In the midst of explaining why expedients were necessary, Sakyamuni lists an amazing array of people who “Have already attained The enlightenment of the Buddha.”

Those who met a past Buddha,
Who heard the Dharma from him,
And who obtained various merits and virtues
By almsgiving or by observing the precepts
Or by patience or by making endeavors
Or by dhyana or by wisdom,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Were good and gentle,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Erected billions of stupas,
And who purely and extensively adorned [those stupas]
With treasures
Such as gold, silver, crystal,
Shell, agate, ruby, and lapis lazuli,
And who offered those adornments to his sariras;
Or those who made the mausoleum [of the Buddha]
With stone, bricks, or clay,
Or with many kinds of wood,
Such as candana, aloes, or agalloch;
Or those who made the mausoleum of the Buddha
With heaps of earth
In the wilderness;
Or the boys who made the stupa of the Buddha
With heaps of sand by playing,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who carved an image of the Buddha
With the [proper] physical marks in his honor
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who made an image of the Buddha
With the seven treasures;
Or those who made it
Of copper, copper-gold alloy, nickel,
Pewter lead, tin, iron, wood, or clay;
Or those who made it in plaster work,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who drew or caused others to draw in color
A picture of the Buddha adorned with his physical marks,
Each mark representing one hundred merits,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.

Those who respectfully offered
Flowers, incense, streamers, and canopies
To the image or picture of the Buddha
Enshrined in a stupa-mausoleum;
Or those who caused men to make music
By beating drums, by blowing horns and conches,
And by playing reed-pipes, flutes, lyres, harps,
Lutes, gongs, and copper cymbals,
And offered the wonderful sounds produced thereby
To the image or picture of the Buddha;
Or those who sang joyfully in praise of him for his virtues;
Or those who just murmured [in praise of him],
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
Those who bowed to the image of the Buddha,
Or just joined their hands together towards it,
Or raised only one hand towards it,
Or bent their head a little towards it
And offered the bending to it,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
They attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
Saved countless living beings,
And entered into the Nirvana-without-remainder
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.

Those who heard the Dharma
In the lifetime of a past Buddha
Or after his extinction
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

In particular, I marvel at the boys:

The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.

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

Each day followers of Nichiren recite this section of the Chapter 2, Expedients:

Śāriputra! 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. Śāriputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, 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].

As Rev. Ryuei McCormick says his book “Lotus Seeds“:

Though the One Vehicle is expressed throughout the first half of the Lotus Sutra, the core passage, according to Nichiren Shohnin, 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.

As Rev. Ryusho Jeffus explains his book “Lecture on the Lotus Sutra“:

When it comes to the Ten Suchnesses, which we recite daily as we conclude our recitation of Chapter II, the most important idea is that there is no disconnect from any aspect of our physical life or our spiritual life and that in all things there is equality. Buddhism and enlightenment are not something that manifests in only one aspect of our life.

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Yesterday detailed generally what the crowd saw when Sakyamuni “emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, down to the Avici Hell of each world, and up to the Akanistha Heaven of each world.”

Today Manjusri answers Maitreya and speculates what exactly this means.

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.

And in gathas:

The good omen l see now is like that of old.
This is an expedient employed by the Buddhas.
The pre ent Buddha is also emitting a ray of light
In order to reveal the truth of the reality [of all things].

[Manjusri said to the multitude:]

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 enlightemnent.

The Buddha will remove
Any doubt of those who seek
The teaching of the Three Vehicles.
No question will be left unresolved.

What I truly love about my personal practice of reading a portion of the Lotus Sutra each day is the repetition. This may sound counterintuitive. Wouldn’t repetition be tedious? But it’s not. Each time through a different aspect emerges. This is especially true about the Introductory chapter. If you haven’t been through this cycle several times you can’t really enjoy what is being introduced. We’re seeing things that we will see again and this witnessing helps underline that the miraculous things that we will see and hear in this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma are the universal truth of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Last month I covered the crowd gathered around the Buddha. This month, I see the light:

Thereupon the Buddha emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, down to the Avici Hell of each world, and up to the Akanistha Heaven of each world. The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlightenment by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvan. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the sariras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.

I’ll save for next month Maitreya Bodhisattva’s personal visions. For now, it’s enough to ponder what it might be like to see “from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds” – from hell to heaven – and hear the Dharma expounded by the Buddhas and understand that the “Bodhisattva-mahasattvas [of those worlds] … were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith.”

Just imagine

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month, I covered the opening of the chapter and Sakyamuni’s explanation of the four things one must do to obtain the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

What comes next is Universal-Sage Bodhisattva’s great vow:

Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! If anyone keeps this sutra in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], I will protect him so that he may be free from any trouble, that he may be peaceful, and that no one may take advantage [of his weak points]. Mara, his sons, his daughters, his subjects, his attendant , yaksas, raksasas, kumbhandas, pisacakas, krtyas, putanas, vetadas or other living beings who trouble men shall not take advantage [of his weak points]. If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sutra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If he sits and thinks over this sutra, I also will mount a kingly white elephant and appear before him. If he forgets a phrase or a gatha of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will remind him of it, and read and recite it with him so that he may be able to understand it. Anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [after your extinction], will be able to see me with such joy that he will make more efforts. Because he sees me, he will he able to obtain samadhis and a set of dharanis. The set of dharanis will be the dharanis by which he can memorize repetitions of teachings, the dharanis by which he can memorize hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings, and the dharanis by which he can understand the expediency of the voice of the Dharma.

Someday I’ll illustrate a great bodhisattva riding a kingly white elephant with six tusks. Each day when I recite the Lotus Sutra in Shindoku in the morning and again in the evening when I recite it in English I remember the promise of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva to ride to my rescue when I stumble and help me understand.

Next month: Captivating women.

Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

This is one of my favorite chapters. In the two previous months I covered the most important aspects of this chapter – the role of the children as teachers and the outcome of their effort.

An aspect of this chapter that I haven’t commented on before is the ongoing nature of everything. This is not limited to this chapter. It recurs throughout the Lotus Sutra. What was done before sets the stage for today. And today shapes tomorrow.

At the start we learn:

Innumerable, inconceivable, asamkhya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world was called Light-Adornment; the kalpa in which he lived, Gladly-Seen. Under that Buddha lived a king called Wonderful-Adornment. His wife was called Pure-Virtue. They had two sons, Pure-Store and Pure­Eyes by name. The two sons had great supernatural powers, merits, virtues and wisdom. A long time ago, they had already practiced the Way which Bodhisattva should practice.

In the middle we see:

Thereupon Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha said to King Wonderful-Adornment, ‘So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. The good men or women who plant the roots of good will obtain teachers in their successive lives. The teachers will do the work of the Buddha, show the Way [to them], teach them, benefit them, cause them to rejoice, and cause them to enter into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Great King, know this! A teacher is a great cause [of your enlightenment] because he leads you, and causes you to see a Buddha and aspire for Anuttara­-samyak-sambodhi. Great King! Do you see these two sons of yours, or not? They made offerings to six trillion and five hundred thousand billion Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges, in their previous existence. They attended on those Buddhas respectfully. They kept the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma under those Buddhas, and caused the people of wrong views to have right views out of their compassion towards them.’

And at the end it is revealed:

The Buddha said to the great multitude:

What do you think of this? King Wonderful-Adornment was no one but Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva of today. Queen Pure-Virtue was no one but the Light-Adornment-Appearance Bodhisattva who is now before me. She appeared in that world out of her compassion towards King Wonderful-Adornment and his attendants. The two sons were Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva of today. Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva have already obtained those great merits. Because they planted the roots of virtue under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas [in their previous existence], they obtained those inconceivable merits. All gods and men in the world should bow to those who know the names of these two Bodhisattvas.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow: Neverending.