LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās what Maitreya Bodhisattva sees, we consider the practices of the Bodhisattvas that Maitreya observes.

Mañjuśrī!
I see and hear
Hundreds of thousands of millions of things
Such as these
From this world.
I will tell you briefly some more of them.

I see as many Bodhisattvas of those worlds
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
Who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
[In various ways] according to their environments

Some of them practice almsgiving.
They joyfully give treasures
Such as gold, silver,
Pearls, manis, shells, agates, and diamonds.
They also give menservants and maidservants,
Vehicles and palanquins adorned with treasures.

They proceed to the enlightenment of the Buddha
By the merits obtained thereby,
Wishing to obtain this vehicle,
The most excellent vehicle
In the triple world,
The vehicle praised by the Buddhas.

Some Bodhisattvas give
Jeweled chariots yoked with four horses,
Equipped with railings and flower-canopies,
And adorned on all sides.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering their flesh or their limbs
Or their wives or their children
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Joyfully offering
Their heads or their eyes or their bodies
In order to attain the wisdom of the Buddha.

Mañjuśrī!
I see some kings coming to a Buddha,
And asking him about unsurpassed enlightenment.
They have renounced the world of pleasures,
Left their palaces,
Parted from their ministers and women,
And shaved their beard and hair.
They now wear monastic robes.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Becoming bhikṣus,
Living alone in retired places,
And joyfully reciting sūtras.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Zealously and courageously
Entering remote mountains, and pondering
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some of them having given up desires,
And living in retired places,
Entering deep into dhyāna-concentration,
And obtaining the five supernatural powers.

I also see some Bodhisattvas finding peace in dhyāna,
Joining their hands together [towards the Buddha],
And praising the King of the Dharma
With tens of millions of gāthās.

I also see some Bodhisattvas resolute in mind.
They have obtained profound wisdom
By questioning the Buddha.
And now they remember what they heard from him.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Concentrating their minds, having wisdom,
Expounding the Dharma to the multitude
With innumerable parables and similes,
Expounding the Dharma with joy,
Teaching [other] Bodhisattvas,
Defeating the army of Mara,
And beating the drum of the Dharma.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Being tranquil and peacefully calm,
Not delighting in being respected
By gods or dragons.

I also see some Bodhisattva
Living in forests, and emitting ray of light
In order to have the denizens in hell,
And cause them to enter the Way to Buddhahood.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Walking about forests without sleeping
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some of them
Observing the precepts with due deportment,
And keeping purity like that of gems,
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Enduring abuse
Or blows with sticks
Inflicted by arrogant people
In order to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Giving up wanton pleasures,
Parting from foolish companions,
Approaching men of wisdom,
Controlling their minds from distraction,
And concentrating their minds in hills or forests
For thousands of billions of years
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering delicious food and drink
And hundreds of kinds of medicines
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer garments and beautiful robes
Worth tens of millions
Or beyond monetary value
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer thousands of billions
Of jeweled houses made of candana
And wonderful bedding
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer pure gardens and forests
Abounding in flowers and fruits,
And furnished with rivers, springs,
and pools for bathing,
To the Buddha and the Saṃgha.

I see those Bodhisattvas
Making offerings of those wonderful things
Joyfully and untiringly
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

Some Bodhisattvas expound
The truth of tranquil extinction,
And with various expedients,
Teach innumerable living beings.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Who attained the following truth:
“The nature of things is not dual.
It is [formless] like the sky.”

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Having no attachment in their minds.
They seek unsurpassed enlightenment
With this wonderful wisdom.

See Following the Example of the Buddha

Daily Dharma, d18b

Daily Dharma – Oct. 2, 2023

Ignorant people will speak ill of us,
Abuse us, and threaten us
With swords or sticks.
But we will endure all this.

Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva, along with their attendants, declare these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had asked previously who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death. These Bodhisattvas realize the difficulty of teaching and keeping this sūtra. They know that some who come to hear the Buddha Dharma are strongly attached to their anger. These Bodhisattvas vow to look beyond the violence and suffering of these people and promise to lead even them to enlightenment.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Blog

Sunday Travels

Enkyoji Rochester
Sunday service at Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester

This morning I attended the 10am service at Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester. I was particularly interested in attending after learning that long-time Shami Kanyu Kroll had “retired,” leaving the sangha without a minister.  But members of the sangha have stepped up and Sunday’s shindoku service was excellent. Shami Kroll’s decade of instruction clearly paid benefits in preparing the lay learders.

Sunday service at Kannon
Sunday online service at Kannon Temple in Las Vegas

Then, in the afternoon, I was able to Zoom-in to the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada’s kito blessing service. The three-hour time difference worked in my favor. Since I missed the monthly purification ceremony in Sacramento, it was nice to be able to attend Rev. Shoda Kanai’s service.

Letchworth State Park
Letchworth State Park, New York

Even managed to finish off the day with a trip to Letchworth State Park on the Genesee River. After touring the park and taking in the lush fall colors, I had an excellent dinner at Caroline’s in the Glen Irish Inn and returned to Rochester.

I head back to Sacramento Tuesday.

LS32, Innumerable

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the fourth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the fifth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Fifth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: Whether during or after the lifetime of a buddha, if there are men and women of good intent who accept, keep faith with, internalize, recite, and make records of this profound, peerless, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra, even though such people may be caught up in delusive worldly passions and are not yet able to rise above common daily affairs, they will nevertheless be able to manifest a great dynamic of enlightenment—lengthening one day into one hundred kalpas, and abbreviating one hundred kalpas into one day—thereby inspiring other living beings to become joyful and trusting. O you of good intent! These men and women of good intent will be just like a nāga’s child that, at the age of only seven days, is able to gather up the clouds and produce rain. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fifth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Daily Dharma, d15b

Daily Dharma – Oct. 1, 2023

To enter the room of the Tathāgata 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!

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Our compassion leads us to engage with the world and benefit others. Cultivating our gentle and patient nature lets us live the peace everyone wants and show them how to obtain it. To see the voidness of things does not mean acting as if they don’t exist. We presume that things that do not exist forever do not exist at all. A wisp of smoke. A fleeting smile. The Buddha teaches that there is nothing permanent and self-existing. Only what is interdependent and changing truly exists.Only that which is connected with everything else truly exists.Nothing hinders us. Nothing opposes us. When we see the harmony in our changing existence, then we see the Buddha Dharma.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: The Sense of Repentence

Having last month considered the five kinds of Buddha eyes, we consider in verse the purification of the six sense faculties.

Then, expounding further, the World-honored One spoke in verse:

“When the sense faculty of sight is corrupted
By karmic encumbrances that make it impure,
You must resolutely internalize the Great Vehicle
And ponder its ultimate principle!
This is called doing self-amendment for the eye
To bring unwholesome karmic influences to an end.
The sense faculty of hearing gives ear to disruptive sounds
And spoils your sense of accord.
Because such confusion occurs,
You become just like a foolish monkey.
You must resolutely internalize the Great Vehicle
And contemplate the emptiness and formlessness of all things!
You will lastingly bring an end to unwholesomeness
And hear in all ten directions with a celestial ear!
The sense faculty of smell has attachments to scents
And, so affected, drives you to make contacts.
The nose is thus crazed and seduced,
And, so affected, begets impure perceptions.
When you internalize the Great Vehicle sutras
And contemplate the true reality of all things,
You will lastingly part from harmful karmic actions
And, in lives to come, not produce them again!
The sense faculty of speech promotes the five wrong views29–
An unwholesome karmic cause resulting from the wanton use of words.
When you aspire to effect self-control,
Diligently foster a heart of compassion!
Reflect on how the tranquil true reality of all phenomena
Has no aspects for you to discern!
The sense faculty of the mind, just as a monkey,
Takes not even one moment of rest.
When you aspire to govern it,
You must diligently internalize the Great Vehicle!
Focus on the buddhas – on their fully awakened embodiments,
With the capabilities and dauntlessness they have achieved!
The material body, the agency of actions,
Behaves like dust blown about by the wind:
Six thieves have their way within it–
Without limit and free from control.
When you aspire to end this inferior condition,
To lastingly part from overwhelming desires,
To abide always in the city of nirvana,
And to be serene and have a calm mind,
You must internalize the Great Vehicle sutras
And turn your mind to the mother of bodhisattvas!
Countless surpassing skillful means are gained
By reflecting on the true reality of all things.
These six ways
Are thus named the governing of the six sense faculties.
The ocean of all karmic encumbrances
Is produced by deluded perceptions.
When you aspire to amend yourself of them,
Focus on the true reality of all phenomena while sitting upright and properly!
All impurities, like frost and dew,
Can be dispelled by wisdom’s sun;
Accordingly, with utmost dedication,
Do self-amendment for the six sense faculties!”

See Repentence: An Indispensable Requisite of Religious Life

Blog

Altar Options

My traveling altar in my motel room in Rochester

In my daily practice, I work my way through the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra and then recite the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage. The next day, before I return to the Lotus Sutra, I recite the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings. Thus my practice cycle includes the full Threefold Lotus SutraThreefold Lotus Sutra.

Having finished Chapter 28 yesterday, today was the day to recite the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage. Looking at my motel altar I decided to take advantage of my access to the Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester.  Since I won’t be able to do this Sunday, I decided to read aloud both sutras.

As an added benefit it meant that the fruit flies were exposed to the full Threefold Lotus Sutra.

20230930_rochester-altar
Practice space at the Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester
Daily Dharma, d21b

Daily Dharma – Sept. 30, 2023

The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.

The Buddha makes this proclamation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This was the first time he revealed himself not as the temporal Siddhartha Gautama, the man who left home and became enlightened, but as the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni who has been alive for innumerable eons helping beings to become enlightened and will continue that existence for twice that time into the future. This is the highest teaching of the Buddha, the purpose of all his expedient teachings that came before, and the Wonderful Dharma that is most difficult to believe and understand. When we comprehend the existence of this Ever-Present Buddha for even the blink of an eye, we gain more clarity about the world than through any of the Buddha’s other teachings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 32

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.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Universal Sage’s vow, we conclude Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha praised him, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Universal-Sage! You will protect this sūtra so that many living beings may obtain peace and benefits. You have already obtained inconceivable merits and great compassion. You aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi and vowed [to protect this sūtra] by your supernatural powers in the remotest past, and have been protecting this sūtra since then. By my supernatural powers, I will protect anyone who keeps your name.

“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it, should be considered to see me, and hear this sūtra from my mouth. He should be considered to be making offerings to me. He should be considered to be praised by me with the word ‘Excellent!’ He should be considered to be caressed by me on the head. He should be considered to be covered with my robe. He will not be attached to worldly pleasures. He will not like to read heretical scriptures or any other writings of heretics. He will not be intimate with heretics, slaughterers, boar-breeders, sheep-breeders, fowl-breeders, dog­breeders, hunters, prostitutes, or any other evil people. He will be upright. He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

“Universal-Sage! If you see anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the later five hundred years after my extinction, you should think, ‘Before long be will go to the place of enlightenment, defeat Mara and his followers, attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, turn the wheel of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, send the rain of the Dharma, and sit on the lion-like seat of the Dharma in the midst of the great multitude of gods and men.’

“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life. Those who abuse him, saying, ‘You are perverted. You are doing this for nothing,’ will be reborn blind in their successive lives in retribution for their sin. Those who make offerings to rum and praise him, will be able to obtain rewards in their present life. Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life. Those who laugh at him will have few teeth, ugly lips, flat noses, contorted limbs, squint eyes, and foul and filthy bodies, and suffer from bloody pus of scabs, abdominal dropsy, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases in their successive lives. Therefore, Universal-Sage! When you see the keeper of this sūtra in the distance, you should rise from your seat, go to him, receive him, and respect him just as you respect me.

When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Encouragement of Universal-Sage, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges obtained the dhārāṇis by which they could memorize hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings, and as many Bodhisattvas as the particles of dust of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds [understood how to] practice the Way of Universal-Sage.

When the Buddha expounded this sūtra, the great congregation including the Bodhisattvas headed by Universal-Sage, the Śrāvakas headed by Śāriputra, and the other living beings such as gods, dragons, men and nonhuman beings, had great joy, kept the words of the Buddha, bowed [to him], and retired.

[Here ends] the Eighth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Daily Dharma from April 15, 2023, offers this:

He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

The Buddha gives this description of the person who keeps and practices the Lotus Sūtra to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Powers of merits are what we have when we see things clearly. The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance. The practice of Universal-Sage is to support and encourage everyone who takes on this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma. This is another Bodhisattva who gives us an example of how we can live in this world of conflict.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32, Blog

Preparing Miraculous Tales

20230928_enkyoji-rochester
Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester

I chanted for the fruit flies that they might be reborn as humans and encounter the Lotus Sutra in their next life, just as Priest Chingen explains in The Dainihonkoku Hokekyō.

The fruit flies were my only companions Thursday, Sept. 28, when I chanted the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku at the Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester.

Each day my practice is to recite a portion of the Lotus Sutra in shindoku in the morning and then read aloud the same portion of the sutra in English. The first time that I chanted the entire Lotus Sutra in shindoku was on July 20, 2019, during my 21-day staycation retreat.

In May 2022 I uploaded recordings of Nichiren Shu priests chanting the Lotus Sutra. Since then, I’ve recited along with the recording when possible. When a chapter spans more than one day – chapters 1 and 2 for example – I follow along with the recording on the first half and then just recite from the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized on the next day.

Until this week I had never played the recordings for entire Lotus Sutra at one time.

I’ve been to Rochester, NY, on several occasions over the years and when visiting I routinely attend services. I had a free day this trip and decided to see if I could access the temple on a weekday. I was given the code to the lock box that holds the key to the temple and told I could visit any day.

I arrived Thursday at the Shoeizan Enkyoji Buddhist Temple on the fourth floor of the Hungerford Building on East Main in downtown Rochester at 8:15am. I set up a table and chair. I brought along a JBL Flip 6 portable speaker to play the shindoku recordings.

It was 8:30am when I started reciting Chapter 1, following along with the recording. I had decided to break up the chanting into eight parts, which is how the sutra was originally organized on scrolls, or fascicles. It was 9:39am when I finished chapters 1 and 2.

The first hour on the metal folding chair convinced me to find some floor pillows. I wasn’t going to make it through another seven  fascicles without padding.

The second fascicle – chapters 3 and 4 – was uneventful but by the third fascicle – chapters 5, 6 and 7 – I found myself getting lost as I read along from the  Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized. Mental focus has never been one of my strong points and as I tired I found myself often losing my place in Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized. When this happened I would search ahead for a place where I could jump back in. This time I became completely lost and decided to just restart the chapter.  As I continued I constantly struggled to keep up and found myself  often briefly lost. I had to repeat chapters in both the seventh and the last fascicle.

It was 6:28pm when I finished Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.

During the nearly 10 hours that I had been chanting, I became very attached to the fruit flies. They would stop for awhile and then fly off and then return again. I think I accidentally injured one when I brushed it off my arm in an instinctive reaction. But throughout the day I as I chanted I pondered what benefit the fruit flies would receive from having heard the Lotus Sutra recited. Would I meet them  again in another life chanting the Lotus Sutra in another Miraculous Tale of the Lotus Sutra?

On the Journey to a Place of Treasures