Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.17, 2024

Because we are your messengers,
We are fearless before multitudes.
We will expound the Dharma.
Buddha, do not worry!

In Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra, innumerable Bodhisattvas sing these verses before the Buddha from whom they had come to hear the Wonderful Dharma. The Buddha had asked who would continue to spread and practice his highest teaching after his extinction. These Bodhisattvas vowed to uphold this teaching through all obstacles, particularly those created by people who were so attached to their delusions that they would slander and persecute anyone who keeps this Lotus Sūtra. The fearlessness of these Bodhisattvas comes from their certainty that this Sūtra leads all beings to enlightenment, and their compassionate resolve to benefit everyone.

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

LS32

Day 4

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

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the difficulty in hearing the Dharma, we consider why the Buddha teaches only Bodhisattvas.

Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.

[The Buddha said to the great multitude:]

All of you, do not doubt me!
I am the King of the Dharma.
I say to you:
“I will expound the teaching of the One Vehicle
Only to Bodhisattvas.
There is no Śrāvaka among my disciples.”

Śāriputra, other Śrāvakas, and Bodhisattvas!
Know this!
This Wonderful Dharma is
The hidden core of the Buddhas.

The Daily Dharma offers this:

Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.

The Buddha sings these verses to his disciple Śāriputra and all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. It is natural to admire and respect those who make great sacrifices for the sake of improving the world, and who lead us to know what deserves those offerings. It is sometimes difficult to see the joy that comes from those efforts. In these verses the Buddha reminds us that even when our reaction to his Dharma is just a smile, or saying “Wonderful,” our admiration is a reminder of our own capacity for such great efforts.

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

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.16, 2024

He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others. He should have great compassion towards all living beings. He should look upon all the Tathāgatas as his loving fathers, and upon all the Bodhisattvas as his great teachers. He should bow to all the great Bodhisattvas of the worlds of the ten quarters respectfully and from the bottom of his heart. He should expound the Dharma to all living beings without partiality. He should be obedient to the Dharma. He should not add anything to the Dharma or take away anything from the Dharma.

The Buddha declares this passage in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In an earlier teaching, the Buddha proclaimed, “I do not quarrel with the world. The world quarrels with me.” The Buddha does not need to prove anything to anyone. He realized the truth and teaches it out of his compassion for all beings. He understood that when people reacted poorly to his teaching and began to argue with him or chastise him, it was due to the illusions they had not yet eliminated. This chapter of the sūtra instructs us to keep the same mind when we spread the Dharma. We teach from our compassion and respect.

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

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās how all Buddhas employ expedients, we consider the doubts of the great multitude.

The great multitude at that time included Śrāvakas. [They also included] Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, and other Arhats, twelve hundred altogether, who had already eliminated āsravas. [They also included] the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās, [that is, the four kinds of devotees] who had already aspired for Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood. All of them thought:

“Why does the World-Honored One extol so enthusiastically the power of the Buddhas to employ expedients? Why does he say that the Dharma attained by him is profound and difficult to understand, and that the true purpose of his teachings is too difficult for Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas to know? He expounded to us the teaching of emancipation. We obtained this teaching and reached Nirvāṇa. We do not know why he says all this.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, seeing the doubts of the four kinds of devotees, and also because he, himself, did not understand [why the Buddha had said this], said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why do you extol so enthusiastically [what you call] the highest [Truth, and the power of the Buddhas to employ) expedients? [Why do you extol) the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand? I have never heard you say all this before. The four kinds of devotees also have the same doubts. World-Honored One! Explain all this! Why do you extol so enthusiastically the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand?”

See The Meaning of Fixedness and Doubt

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.15, 2024

Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. For us who recognize how the Buddha’s teaching transforms our lives and the world, it can be hard to imagine that anyone would reject it. However, there are beings who are so filled with fear and delusion that they mistake the Buddha’s good medicine for poison. While we are committed to leading all beings to enlightenment, we realize that we are not alone in our efforts. The protective deities and the Buddha himself are always working to benefit all beings. In our current capacities, we may not be able to reach everybody immediately. We should not let this discourage us. The least we can do is hope in our hearts for the happiness of all beings, even if they are not accessible to us.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion)

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after the extinction of Sun­-Moon-Light Buddha, we consider the story of Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva.

One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame­-Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sūtras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sūtras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.[1]

“Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you. This good omen we see now is not different from what I saw at that time. Therefore, I think that the Tathagata of today also will expound the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

See Doing Good

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.14, 2024

World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this declaration to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren interprets “the later five hundred years” as the time in which we live today. Universal sage describes the ways in which we can practice this Sūtra. To seek it is to find it in all aspects of our lives. To keep it is to rely on its teachings and have confidence in its ability to lead us to the Buddha’s wisdom. To read and recite it is to continue to remind ourselves and others of the details of the teachings. To copy it is to make it available to others. The merits we gain through these practices allow us to see the world for what it is and be part of making it better for everyone.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered more of what Maitreya sees, we consider the Bodhisattvas seen making offerings to the śarīras of a Buddha.

Mañjuśrī!
Some Bodhisattvas make offerings
To the śarīras of a Buddha
After his extinction.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Adorning the world of the Buddha
With as many stupa-mausoleums
As there are sands in the River Ganges.

Those stupas of treasures are
Lofty and wonderful.
They are five thousand yojanas high,
And two thousand yojanas wide and deep.

Each of the stupa-mausoleums has
One thousand pairs of banners and streamers.
It also has curtains adorned with gems.
It also has jeweled bells ringing.

Gods, dragons, men, and nonhuman beings
Constantly offer incense, flowers, and music
[To the stupa-mausoleums].

Mañjuśrī!
Those sons of the Buddha
Adorn the stupa-mausoleums
And offer the adornments
To the śarīras [of the Buddha].

See Stupa Worship

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.13, 2024

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.

Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana, all disciples of the Buddha, speak these lines in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra as they explain their story of the wayward son. They compare the father’s treasure house in the story to the Buddha’s enlightenment. Until they had been led by the Buddha’s expedient teachings, they could not even imagine themselves as enlightened, any more than the wayward son in the story could imagine the contents of his father’s treasure house.

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

LS32, Innumerable

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the fourth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Fourth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra— whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—they will gain a dauntless attitude, they will become capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves, and they will gain the company of bodhisattvas. The buddha tathāgatas will always attend to such people and will expound the teachings to them. After hearing them, these people will be fully able to accept them, uphold them, and follow them without opposition; they will also, in turn, expound them appropriately to others far and wide. O you of good intent! Such people can be likened to the newborn prince of a king and queen. One day becomes two days, and then seven; one month becomes two months, and then seven; he becomes one year old, and then two, and then seven. Even though he cannot yet govern or administer the affairs of state, he is revered and respected by the people and enjoys the companionship of all great princes. The king and queen constantly give him earnest counsel and shower their affection upon him. Why is this so? It is because he is of tender age and has not yet matured.

O you of good intent! So it is also with one who keeps faith with this sutra. The convergence of the buddhas and this sutra—the union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’—gives birth to this bodhisattva-child. If this bodhisattva can hear this sutra—whether a phrase of it or whether a verse, whether one, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or, like myriad multiples of all the sands of the Ganges River, an infinite number of times—even though he or she will not yet be able to embody its principles and truths to the fullest extent, or be able to make lands in the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds tremble and shake from the rolling thunder of a Brahma voice that turns a great wheel of the Dharma, he or she will have gained the respect and admiration of all of the four kinds of followers and eight kinds of ever-present guardian spirits, will gain the company of great bodhisattvas, and will see deeply into doctrines preserved by the buddhas and be able to speak on them without fault or lack. Because this bodhisattva is just beginning to learn, he or she will always be kept in mind by the buddhas and will be wrapped in their affection. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fourth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: The union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child – capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves.

On the Journey to a Place of Treasures