Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”
Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. These monks believed that by extinguishing their desires and ending their suffering, they would reach the wisdom of the Buddha. They had not yet heard the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra in which the Buddha reveals his wisdom and the path to attain it. This is the path of the Bodhisattva: beings who resolve to work for the enlightenment of all beings and not just end their own suffering. We may start on the path towards enlightenment by wanting to be happy. Then as we progress, we find our happiness entwined with that of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Buddha will remove
Any doubt of those who seek
The teaching of the Three Vehicles.
No question will be left unresolved.
Mañjuśrī declares these verses at the end of Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. They remind us how important questions are to what the Buddha teaches. Questions come up throughout the book, and they lead to many important aspects of this Wonderful Dharma. It is important for us to ask questions respectfully whenever we hear a teaching, knowing that we will find an answer.
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Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings.
The Buddha gives this description to those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, he has just assured his cousin Ānanda that he will become a Buddha. He then explains the difference between hearing what the Buddha teaches and making it a part of our lives. It is when we practice the Buddha Dharma that we truly understand it. But even if we believe we do not have the capacity to practice, it is still important for us to hear and protect what the Buddha left for us. By giving others the opportunity to learn and do what perhaps we cannot, we help to improve their lives, and give them a chance to improve ours.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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.
The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares himself to a rain shower that waters all plants equally. He uses this example to show us how we should approach all living beings. Our respect for them and wish that they become enlightened cannot depend on whatever personal feelings we have towards them.
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The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind.
The Buddha gives this teaching in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another reminder that the practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not take us out of the world of conflict we live in. Instead, it helps us to use the senses we have, in ways we did not think were possible, to see the world for what it is. Merits in this sense are not status symbols. They are an indication of clarity, of our faculties not being impeded by anything that blocks their capacity.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Please remember that the service to your lord itself is practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Interpreting the scriptural statement in the Lotus Sutra, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, therefore, states in his Great Concentration and Insight: “All the activities and daily work of the people in the secular world do not contradict the truth preached by the Buddha.” Please contemplate the spirit of this scriptural statement again and again.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to a Follower (Dannotsu Bō Gohenji). In our frustration with this world of conflict, we may think it best to remove ourselves from those who are increasing the delusions of others. In this letter, Nichiren reminds us that the relationships we have in our lives are important. Service to others does not necessarily mean giving them what they ask for. It means wishing that they lose their delusions and nourishing the Buddha nature within them.
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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.
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Bhikṣus! I will collect Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas and expound this sūtra to them when I realize that the time of my Nirvāṇa is drawing near, that the living beings have become pure in heart, that they can understand the truth of the Void by firm faith, and that they have already entered deep into dhyāna-concentration.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. When we encounter even the smallest part of the Lotus Sūtra, it is because of all the wonderful things we have accomplished both in this life and in previous lives. Because we hear and practice this Sūtra, we are the Bodhisattvas who have vowed to benefit all beings and the Śrāvakas who have heard and practiced the teaching for their own benefit and are now awakening to the Bodhisattva path. The Buddha sees into the purity of our hearts, even though we may believe we are clouded by delusion and ignorance. He knows we can understand his teaching no matter how inadequate or unworthy we may think we are. No one besides us can bring the Buddha’s teachings to life and purify this world of suffering. This Wonderful Dharma helps us keep sight of who we are and what we are here to do.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva: “Good man! If many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings hear [the name of] World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and call his name with all their hearts when they are under various sufferings, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will immediately perceive their voices, and cause them to emancipate themselves [from the sufferings].”
The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kuan-Yin, Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion, a living manifestation of the desire that all beings be happy and free from suffering. By calling the name of this Bodhisattva, we awaken the compassion within ourselves. We become this Bodhisattva and remove our fear of suffering. With this awakening we can be fully present for those in this world of conflict who are suffering and liberate ourselves from the delusion and isolation of our own suffering.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good.
The Buddha makes this proclamation to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas appeared when the Buddha asked who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death, and asked about the Buddha’s health and whether those he was teaching could keep what he provided for them. The Buddha assures us not only of the certainty of our future enlightenment, but that for us to receive his teaching, there was an earlier time, which we may have forgotten, when we met him. This awareness of our future and our past helps us to see our place in the world and maintain our determination to benefit all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
