Category Archives: LS45

LS45, LS32, Blog

45 Days of the Lotus Sutra

I have now completed my 101st trip through the Lotus Sutra – my 57th journey through the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage – and I’ve decided to change my daily practice.

Since March 2015, I’ve recited a portion of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku in the morning and then in the afternoon read aloud the same portion of Senchu Murano’s English translation of the Lotus Sutra.

Starting Dec. 16, I will be reading aloud portions of the Threefold Lotus Sutra in English, morning and evening. The cycle will take 45 days starting with the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and concluding with the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage.

I will use the Basic Nichiren Shu Service morning and evening, substituting my daily reading for the traditional quotes from the Lotus Sutra.

Going forward, my shindoku practice will be limited to the month of February. Each day in February I will recite a different chapter in shindoku in the morning. In the evening I will continue my English reading. The purpose of the February shindoku recitation is to allow me to recite an entire chapter at one time, following along with the shindoku recordings. The traditional 32-day division splits several chapters over multiple days.

At the start of this year I proposed dividing the Lotus Sutra into 365 roughly equal portions and providing annotations for each section. To that end I created  my annotated version of the Lotus Sutra, but I decided the small size created by dividing the sutra into 365 portions wasn’t practical.

The 45-day practice of reading aloud in English replaces that project. This brings the benefits of the smaller bites to both the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage. I hope others who want to make the study of the Lotus Sutra a part of their daily practice will consider this method.

For now I will be stopping my daily 32-days of the Lotus Sutra posting.

I’ve added horizontal rules to the Threefold Lotus Sutra for those who want to follow along. Blue rules denote morning service and green rules evening.

Day 1 M Sutra of Innumerable Meanings
E
Day 2 M
E
Day 3 M
E
Day 4 M
E
Day 5 M Chapter 1, Introductory
E
Day 6 M
E
Day 7 M Chapter 2, Expedients
E
Day 8 M
E
Day 9 M
E Chapter 3, A Parable
Day 10 M
E
Day 11 M
E
Day 12 M
E
Day 13 M Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
E
Day 14 M
E
Day 15 M Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs
E
Day 16 M Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood
E
Day 17 M Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City
E
Day 18 M
E
Day 19 M
E
Day 20 M Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples
E
Day 21 M 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
E
Day 22 M Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma
E
Day 23 M Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures
E
Day 24 M
E Chapter 12, Devadatta
Day 25 M
E Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra
Day 26 M Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices
E
Day 27 M
E Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.
Day 28 M
E
Day 29 M Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata
E
Day 30 M Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits
E
Day 31 M
E Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra
Day 32 M
E Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma
Day 33 M
E
Day 34 M Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva
E
Day 35 M Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas
E Chapter 22, Transmission
Day 36 M Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva
E
Day 37 M
E Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva
Day 38 M
E Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver
Day 39 M
E Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs
Day 40 M Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva
E
Day 41 M Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva
E
Day 42 M Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage
E
Day 43 M
E
Day 44 M
E
Day 45 M
E
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Four Asura Kings

There were also the four asura-kings

A- means “no”, sura means “wine.” In their past [life] they belonged to a Brahman clan, and led a clean life, abstaining from drinking; hence, the name.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p168
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Four Kiṃnara-Kings

There were also the four kiṃnara-kings

In Chinese [Kinnara] means “human cum inhuman”; they appear handsome, but their heads have one horn. They are the god-emperors’ spirits in charge of music.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p168
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Eight Dragon Kings

There were also the eight dragon-kings

All these dragon kings are named Joy. They were (once) reincarnated in human form and resided in Rājagṛha. When suffering from drought, the king and ministers went to them to seek help. Immediately the sweet rain fell and the rain soaked the whole country. Seeing the rain fall, the people were very pleased; hence, the name joy.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p168
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Four Great Heavenly-Kings

[T]he four great heavenly-kings

In the east of Sumeru is [the king] called Dhṛtarāṣṭra, in the south Virūḍhaka, in the west Virūpāksha, and in the north Vaiśravaṇa. They are controlled by Śakra-Devānām-Indra.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p168
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Sakra-Devanam-Indra

Sakra-Devanam-Indra was also present.

He is the second god-emperor, in charge of four regional godkings. He commands the dragons (nāgas) and demons (pretas), not letting them offend beings unrestrainedly but making them (beings) always cultivate meritorious virtues. He makes the sun and the moon shine clear and bright. He often acts as a main interlocutor who draws out remarks or sermons [from the Buddha]. Hence, he is mentioned in the beginning [of the paragraph].

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p167
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: The Merits of the Bodhisattvas

They never faltered in [seeking] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence according to the wishes [of all living beings], made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and planted the roots of virtue under those Buddhas, by whom they had always been praised. They had already trained themselves out of their compassion towards others, entered the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha, obtained [penetrated] great wisdom, and reached the Other Shore so that their fame had already extended over innumerable worlds. They had already saved many hundreds of thousands of living beings.

This refers to the conduct that took place in the past [lives].

[The passage] following this phrase illustrates the merits of the bodhisattvas through three kinds of deeds (karman). Having sympathy for, and taking care of, the weak and the deprived is what is meant by “cultivating themselves through compassion.” The word body [of cultivating themselves or, literally, cultivating body] implies both mouth and mind as well.

This word (great wisdom) refers to what they have obtained for themselves. Penetration means “[reaching] to the substratum.”

[Having reached the Other Shore] refers to what they have reached at the ultimate end.

Whereas their virtues were established internally their fame spread outward. Their merit and fame having been established, the news spread outward.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p167
LS45, Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS32

Tao-sheng: Bodhisattvas Embrace All Beings

There were also eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas.

The voice hearers basically take the exhaustion of suffering as the aim [of life]; hence, it was said earlier that they had their bondages destroyed. In the path of bodhisattvas, in which a person sets himself to embrace all [beings] he does not stay [in the world] just to get rid of bonds of existence (chieh); he wishes only to acquire such ways to help save beings. [As such] they [i.e., the bodhisattvas] are the only people to be equipped with the magic charms (dhārāṇi) and the four kinds of [unhindered] powers. Hence, their wondrous techniques for wheeling and uplifting ̄̄̄[beings to salvation] are introduced first, being followed at the end by a discussion of the innumerable people to be saved.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p166
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Mahāprajāpatī and Yaśodharā

Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī was present with her six thousand attendants. Yasodhara Bhikṣunī, the mother of Rahula, was also present with her attendants.

Listed next are the group of mendicant nuns (bhiksunis). Mahāprajāpatī means, in Chinese, [the one who] loves the path (tao) greatly.

Rāhula’s mother Yaśodharā [Yaśodharā] means, in Chinese, “keeps hearing from afar.”

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p166
Tao-Sheng Commentary, LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: Hinayāna Identical to Bodhisattva Path

They were great Arhats well known to the multitude.

All these voice hearers (Śrāvakas) had “their virtues firmly established within and their fame reported without.” [People] far and near admired them [wholeheartedly]; who did not know them? This is why their names are listed and their virtues praised.

Great [of great arhats] tells that the Dharma of the Lesser Vehicle (Hinayāna) is identical with the path of the bodhisattvas.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p166
LS45, LS32

Tao-sheng: The Arhats By Name

They included Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, Mahā-Kāśyapa, Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya-Kāśyapa, Nadi- Kāśyapa, Śāriputra, Great Maudgalyāyana, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Aniruddha, Kapphina, Gavampati, Revata, Pilindavatsa, Bakkula, Maha-Kausthila, Nanda, Sundarananda, Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī, Subhūti, Ananda, and Rahula.

Ājñātakauṇḍinya
Ājñā(ta) means, in Chinese, attaining the unlearned knowledge.” Kauṇḍinya is a surname. He was the first one who attained the Tao; hence, the name.
Mahākāśyapa
Mahā means “great.” Kāśyapa is a surname. Because he was an elder and virtuous, he was thus called by this name. Kāśyapa is a Brahman surname.
Uruvilvākāśyapa
It is the name of a papaya grove. As he stayed always in this grove, the place became his name.
Gayākāśyapa
Gayā is the name of a town. He stayed by the town; thus, it became his name.
Nadīkāśyapa
It is the name of a river. He was born at the bank of this river. Because of this, he got the name.
Śāriputra
Śāri refers to his mother’s name. His mother’s eyes were like those of the Śāri bird (stork); hence, this name. Putra means “son.” This Śāriputra’s mother was highly talented and skillful in debates. She was known all over the land. Therefore he came to have the name Śāri, after his mother.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana
His first name was Kolita. The surname came from a Brahman clan.
Mahākātyāyana
It was a surname of a Brahman (clan) of South India. So what originally used to be a surname became his name.
Aniruddha
In Chinese, it means non(a)extinction (nirodha) (i.e., unextinguishable).
Kapphina
It is a first name; it is untranslatable.
Gavampati
Gavam means cow (go); pati means foot (pad). When he was born, his feet were like cow’s feet; hence, his name, “cow feet.”
Revata
It is the name of a constellation. He was born when this constellation appeared in the sky; got the name.
Pilindavatsa
Pilinda is the first name: Vatsa is a surname.
Bakkula
The name [translated into Chinese] is Fei-ch’eng (“fertile and prosperous”).
Maha-Kausthila
The [Chinese] name is Ta-hsi (“great knee”).
Nanda
The [Chinese] name is Huan-hsi (“joy”) (Ānanda). He was the Buddha’s younger brother.
Sundarananda
The [Chinese] name is Jou-ju (“gentle and smooth”). It means “handsome” (suedara) and “joy” (Ānanda).
Pūrṇa Maitrāyanīputra [who was the son of Maitrāyanī]
Pūrṇa is a surname; Maitrāyanīputra is a first name. He is also called [in Chinese] Man-yüan (“fulfilled wish”). Maitrāyanī was his mother’s name. His mother’s talent for debate and great wisdom were known to many people. People honored his mother. Hence, the son’s name was taken from his mother’s surname.
Subhūti
The [Chinese] name is Shan-chi (“good and lucky”). It also means “empty birth” (su-bhū).
Ānanda
He had a handsome appearance. People were delighted to see him. He was born on the day of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Thus, he was called Huan-hsi (“joy”) (Ānanda).
Rāhula
In Chinese, it means “not letting go” (not released). He was in the womb for six years. He thus came to be called not letting go.
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p164-166