Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.
This day’s content lends itself well to the idea of limiting myself to single topic. On this first time with the limit I’ll leave the Peaceful Practices for coming months, each one on a separate month. For today, I’ll stick to the “eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahasattvas” present at this time in the congregation.
These great bodhisattvas – they’d “already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dharanis” – were waiting for the Buddha to tell them what to do.
If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sutra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.
They also thought, ‘The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?
In order to follow the wish of the Buddha respectfully, and also to fulfill their original vow, they vowed to the Buddha with a loud voice like the roar of a lion:
World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will go to any place [not only of this Saha-World but also] of the worlds of the ten quarters, as often as required, and cause all living beings to copy, keep, read and recite this sutra, to expound the meanings of it, to act according to the Dharma, and to memorize this sutra correctly. We shall be able to do all this only by your powers. World-Honored One! Protect us from afar even when you are in another world!
And despite their willingness to brave the perils of the “dreadful, evil world after your extinction,” the Buddha has other plans.
Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.
So, again, my one-topic-a-day vow forces me to ignore the Dragon girl who defies all convention concerning female virtues, animal or otherwise, and quickly becomes a Buddha and also the reassurance given to Sakyamuni’s aunt and the mother of Rahula that when Sakyamuni said all sravakas would eventually attain enlightenment he meant all, both men and women. I’ll return to these in the coming months.
Today, what grabbed was the role that the teacher played in the king’s search for bodhi. This king, of course, was Sakyamuni in a previous life and the seer, Devadatta. Hear is what the teacher did:
Devadatta was my teacher. He caused me to complete the six paramitas. He caused me to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality. He caused me to have the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have my body purely gilt. He caused me to have the ten powers and the four kinds of fearlessness. He caused me to know the four ways to attract others. He caused me to have the eighteen properties and supernatural powers [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have the power of giving discourses. I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.
Devadatta was a good friend of Sakyamuni, at least he was in that lifetime.
Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
In the grand scheme of things – as in that giant stupa of treasures – something about Many Treasures and his vow and his role proving the veracity of what Sakyamuni has preached in the Lotus Sutra should be the top issue here. If not that, then the wonderful examples of easy and difficult things to do, e.g. the easy task of grasping a Mt. Sumeru and hurling it to a distance of countless Buddha-worlds vs the difficult task of expounding this sutra in the evil world after the Buddha’s extinction. But today I want to reiterate the Hotoge versus and the reason why they are embellished with the odd rhythmic reading.
First the verses:
It is difficult to keep this sutra.
I shall be glad to see
Anyone keeping it even for a moment.
So will all the other Buddhas.
He will be praised by all the Buddhas.
He will be a man of valor,
A man of endeavor.
He should be considered
To have already observed the precepts,
And practised the dhuta.
He will quickly attain
The unsurpassed enlightenment of the Buddha.
Anyone who reads and recites this sutra in the future
Is a true son of mine.
He shall be considered to live
On the stage of purity and good.
Anyone, after my extinction,
Who understands the meaning of this sutra,
Will be the eye of the worlds
Of gods and men.
Anyone who expounds this sutra
Even for a moment in this dreadful world,
Should be honored with offerings
By all gods and men.
“I am no magistrate,” said the official. “I am not interested in your arguments. I am only interested in getting you onto that ship, out of Kamakura, and on to Izu. Now keep quiet!”
Nichiren put his palms together and bowed. His disciples cried out to him, some in tears. The guards kept back all but one. Nichiro, now a strong young man of 16, would not be cowed. He slipped past the guards and ran down to the boat just as it was being pushed off into the surf.
“Get back!” screamed the official.
But Nichiro would not get back. Crying for his master as he reached out to him, he waded out into the bay after the boat. Nichiren exhorted him to be calm, but his disciple was too overwrought and would not listen. “Take me with you!” He shouted again and again. Exasperated, the official took an oar and struck the young monk with bone shattering force. Clutching at his broken right arm, Nichiro finally backed away, his face white with pain.
Tears fell from Nichiren’s eyes as he saw his faithful disciple so brutalized. “Nichiro! Calm yourself. Is this how a disciple of the Buddha should act? From now on, when you see the sun setting in the west behind Izu, think of me. When I see the sun rising from the sea, I shall think of you.”
Nichiro nodded. “Forgive me, master.” Becoming faint, he went down on his knees in the water, sweat and tears coursing down his face. One of the guards finally reached him and escorted him back to where Nissho and the other monks were gathered.
As the boat moved away Nichiren began to chant the final verses from the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “It is difficult to keep this sutra. I shall be glad to see anyone keeping it even for a moment.” The rocking of the waves caused his voice to fade in and out, giving the recitation an odd rhythm. The passage ended with, “Anyone who expounds this sutra even for a moment in this dreadful world should be honored with offerings by all gods and men.” From that point on Nichlren knew that he and his disciples had truly become practitioners of the Lotus Sutra as its predictions of hardships that would be faced by the teachers of the True Dharma began to be fulfilled in their own lives.
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Since I get to return to the Stupa of Treasures when I complete the first half of the Lotus Sutra tomorrow, I’ll focus today on what is always my favorite message to those who wish to spread the teaching of this sutra:
Medicine-King! How should the good men or women who live after my extinction expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees when they wish to? They should enter the room of the Tathagata, wear the robe of the Tathagata, sit on the seat of the Tathagata, and then expound this sutra to the four kinds of devotees. To enter the room of the Tathagata means to have great compassion towards all living beings. To wear the robe of the Tathagata means to be gentle and patient. To sit on the seat of the Tathagata means to see the voidness of all things. They should do these [three] things and then without indolence expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees.
And in gathas:
If you wish to expound this sutra,
Enter the room of the Tathagata,
Wear the robe of the Tathagata,
Sit on the seat of the Tathagata,
[And after doing these three things,]
Expound it to people without fear!
To enter the room of the Tathagata means
to have great compassion.
To wear his robe means to be gentle and patient.
To sit on his seat means to see the voidness of all things.
Expound the Dharma only after you do these [three] things!
Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Limited to just one topic, I’m going to skip Ananda and Rahula and the Sravakas, some of whom have something more to learn and some of whom have nothing more to learn, and focus on the promise contained at the start of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in the presence of the eighty thousand great men:
Medicine-King! Do you see the innumerable gods, dragon-kings, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kirnnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings, and [the four kinds of devotees:] bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas, and those who are seeking Sravakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the enlightenment of the Buddha in this great multitude? If in my presence any of them rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gatha or a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will assure him of his future Buddhahood, saying to him, ‘You will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-sarnbodhi.’
The Buddha said to Medicine-King:
If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gatha or a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I also will assure him of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. If anyone keeps, reads, recites, expounds and copies even a gatha of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and respects a copy of this sutra just as he respects me, and offers flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments and music to it, or just joins his hands together respectfully towards it, Medicine-King, know this, he should be considered to have appeared in the world of men out of his compassion towards all living beings, although he already made offerings to ten billion Buddhas and fulfilled his great vow under those Buddhas in a previous existence.
And in gathas:
Anyone who keeps
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
Know this, has compassion towards all living beings
Because he is my messenger.
Anyone who keeps
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Should be considered to have given up his pure world and come here
Out of his compassion towards all living beings.
Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.
My self-imposed one-topic limit leaves me choosing between Purna’s expedient role and the Arhats who introduce the Parable of the Priceless Gem. So this first time through under the one-topic limit I’ll go with the obvious.
The Parable of the Priceless Gem, which assures us of a treasure we have had all along, a priceless gem given to us but forgotten.
You, the Buddha, are like his friend. We thought that we had attained extinction when we attained Arhatship because we forgot that we had been taught to aspire for the knowledge of all things by you when you were a Bodhisattva just as the man who had difficulty in earning his livelihood satisfied himself with what little he had earned. You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhiksus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago. [You have forgotten this; therefore,] I expounded the teaching of Nirvana as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvana [which I taught you as an expedient].’
World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.
Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Today’s conclusion of Chapter 7 poses a real dilemma for me since several major points are made, not counting the actual parable for which the chapter is titled. But since this is the first time through with this one-topic limit, I’ll start with the point of the The Parable of the Magic City.
I am like the leader.
I am the leader of all living beings.
I saw that halfway some got tired
With the seeking of enlightenment,
And that they could not pass through the dangerous road
Of birth-and-death and illusions.
Therefore, I expounded to them the teaching of Nirvana
As an expedient to give them a rest, saying:
“You have already eliminated sufferings.
You have done everything you should do.”
Now I see that they have already attained Nirvana
And that they have become Arhats.
Therefore, I now collect the great multitude,
And expound to them the true teaching.
The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [vehicles] were taught only as resting places.
Next month I’ll take on the princes, one of whom is Sakyamuni, and how they convinced the Buddha to expound the Lotus Sutra, and the month after perhaps I’ll point out how we have the same teachers life after life.
Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City
Today’s reading is all about the light that illumines all the worlds of the 10 directions when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. The Brahman-heavenly-kings of each direction gather up their flower trays and their palaces and head off into the light to find out if a god of great virtue or a Buddha has appeared somewhere in the universe.
Great Brahman-heavenly-king Sikhin representing the five hundred billion worlds of the zenith explains it this way:
How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.
The All-Knower, the Most Honorable One of Gods and Men,
Opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar,
And saves all living beings
Out of his compassion towards them.
There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.
The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.
They do not hear the Dharma from a Buddha.
Because they did evils,
Their appearances are getting worse;
And their power and wisdom, decreasing.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.
Now you have appeared for the first time after a long time,
And become the eyes of the world.
You have appeared in this world
Out of your compassion towards all living beings,
And finally attained perfect enlightenment.
We are very glad.
All the others also rejoice at seeing you,
Whom they have never seen before.
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
We offer them to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!
May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!
Also note that everyone arriving at the world of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. We’ll come back to them tomorrow.
Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.
It’s not so much what’s said today about the future Buddhahood of the senior disciples that interests me as the promises of what is to come in the Lotus Sutra.
At the end of Chapter 6, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood, we get a teaser:
Now I will tell you
About my previous existence
And also about yours.
All of you, listen attentively!
And in the opening of Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, we are reminded of why we should pay attention to this story of a long, long, long ago Buddha called Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence:
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.
Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.
Today’s reading covers the Simile of the Herbs and this gathas section resonates the clearest on this reading.
I see all living beings equally.
I have no partiality for them.
There is not ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ to me.
I transcend love and hatred.
I am attached to nothing.
I am hindered by nothing.
I always expound the Dharma
To all living beings equally.
I expound the Dharma to many
In the same way as to one.
I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.
I am not tired of giving
The rain of the Dharma to all living beings.
I have no partiality for them,
Whether they are noble or mean,
Whether they observe or violate the precepts,
Whether they live a monastic life or not,
Whether they have right or wrong views,
Whether they are clever or dull.
Those who hear the Dharma from me
Will reach various stages
[Of enlightenment]
According to their capacities.
We are different; the Dharma is not. Each of us grows to our own capacity; the Buddha loves us all unconditionally.
