perfections, Higan

Higan: Empty Meditation

Today is the sixth day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Today we consider the perfection of meditation.

“Emptiness” is the meditation that yields freedom, whether this meditation is performed in Buddhist or non-Buddhist terms. If you do not understand how the choices you make are conditioned by your background and the context within which you face them, you will have very little freedom in relation to these conditioning factors. If you do not understand that your political views are largely a function of the particular influences that have been exerted on you from early life until now, you will have no way of seeing how other worldviews give justification to other views just as yours does for you, and therefore no way of even beginning to adjudicate between them except by naively assuming the truth of your own.

If you do not realize that what seems obvious to you seems that way because of structures built into your time and place and the particularities of your life, you will have very little room to imagine other ways to look at things that stretch the borders of your context and imagination. You will have no motive to wonder why what seems obvious to you does not seem obvious to others in other cultures or languages, and to wonder whether you might not be better off unconstrained by those particular boundaries of worldview. The extent to which you are limited by your setting is affected by the extent to which you understand such constraints both in general (anyone’s) and in particular (yours). The way you participate in your current given worldview shapes the extent to which you will be able to see alternatives to it and be able to reach out beyond it in freedom.

“Emptiness” and similar non-Buddhist meditations on the powers of interdependence and contextuality are among the most fruitful means of generating sufficient freedom to live a creative life. Reflexively aware, we are more and more able to see and act on alternatives that would never occur to us otherwise. In reflexive meditation, we come to embrace the finitude of all acts of thinking as a way to liberate us from dogmatism and certitude. Understanding the uncertainty that is constitutive of our human mode of being, we develop the flexibility of mind necessary to be honest with ourselves about our own point of view.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 207-208
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 21, 2024

The children who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the children who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

In Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha tells a parable of a wise physician who prepares medicine for his children who have accidentally poisoned themselves. He compares the children to us whose minds are poisoned by the delusions of greed, anger and ignorance. He also compares himself to the wise father and the medicine to the Lotus Sūtra that he has left for us. Until the children took the medicine and tasted it for themselves, they could not be cured of the poison. Until we make this practice of the Wonderful Dharma an active part of our lives, we cannot be cured of our delusions.

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the audience of various kings, we consider the sūtra expounded by the Buddha and the reaction of the audience.

Thereupon the four kinds of devotees, who were surrounding the World-Honored One, made offerings to him, respected him, honored him, and praised him. The World-Honored One expounded a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the “Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.” Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha sat cross-legged [facing the east], and entered into the samadhi for the purport of the innumerable teachings. His body and mind became motionless.

Thereupon the gods rained mandārava-flowers, mahā-mandārava-flowers, mañjūṣaka-flowers, and mahā-mañjūṣaka-flowers upon the Buddha and the great multitude. The world of the Buddha quaked in the six ways. The great multitude of the congregation, which included bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, nonhuman beings, the kings of small countries, and the wheel-turning-holy-kings, were astonished. They rejoiced, joined their hands together [towards the Buddha], and looked up at him with one mind.

See The Sutra Taught Before the Lotus Sutra

Higan, perfections

Higan: Energy of Desire

Today is fifth day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Today we consider the perfection of energy.

Desire is the basis of motivation. It is the source of our energy. Without wanting something enough to motivate our will and energize our action, we are unlikely to pursue or get it. Imagine what it would be to eliminate all desire while still living a human life. Without desires we would be inactive and impotent. Lacking ambition, we would be without purposes and plans. Existing in so dispassionate a way that we desire nothing, we would be indifferent to any outcome; we would not care – about anything. Apathetic, that is, lacking pathos and passion, we would be devoid of feelings of any kind as well as the activities and spiritedness that follow from them. Although it is no doubt true that there have been a few aspirants who have understood the Buddha’s enlightenment to be a state of complete desirelessness, this is not the image of the compassionate and energized bodhisattva that we are likely to imagine and admire. A richer and more complete conception of Buddhist enlightenment encompasses and elevates desire rather than rejecting it.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 156
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 20, 2024

You have a grandson, Lord Jibu, who is a Buddhist priest. This priest is neither an upholder of precepts nor especially rich in wisdom. He neither observes even one of the 250 precepts nor maintains even one of the 3000 solemn rules of conduct. In wisdom he is like a horse or a cow while in dignity he is like a monkey. Nevertheless, what he reveres is Śākyamuni Buddha and what he believes in is the Lotus Sutra. This like a snake holding a gem or a dragon gratefully holding the relics of the Buddha in Dharma Body.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the Ullambana Service (Urabon Gosho) written to the Grandmother of Lord Jibu. While it may seem to us that Nichiren is criticizing Lord Jibu, he is praising the young man in the highest terms. Our ability to use the Wonderful Dharma to benefit others does not depend on our skill, dedication or wisdom. It depends only on our devotion to the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni, and our confidence and faith in the Lotus Sūtra.

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 ninth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the tenth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Tenth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: Whether during or after the lifetime of a buddha, if men and women of good intent who obtain this sutra give rise to great joy, realize its rarity in their minds, accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of it, honor it, and practice it as expounded for their own sake, and are similarly able to widely inspire both laypeople and renunciants to accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of and honor it, expound it, and practice the way of its teaching, then, through the energies gained from having led other people to practice this sutra, they will realize the Way and attain its fruits. Fully by reason of the dynamic transformative power of their compassionate minds, these men and women of good intent—just as they are—will opportunely come to gain access to innumerable Dharma-grasping empowerments. Still in the stages of having delusive worldly passions, they will for the first time be able to spontaneously produce countless and unlimited great vows and magnificent aspirations. They will generate a bottomless capacity to help all living beings, manifest great loving-kindness, skillfully and extensively relieve suffering, and amass acts of goodness for the benefit of all. Transmitting the Dharma-abundance that irrigates all that is parched, nurturing any living being with the Dharma’s many medicines, they will cause all to have ease and joy. Their perception will gradually become transcendent as they advance through the stage of the Dharma cloud (dharmameghā-bhūmi). With bountiful, all-embracing benevolence, and with compassion that blankets all without exception, they will lead all suffering living beings to enter the course of the Way. These people will accordingly realize and achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment before long. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the tenth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Higan, ugra

Higan: What Is Really Mine

Today is the Spring Equinox, the middle of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Below is a quote from Jan Nattier’s translation of The Inquiry of Ugra.

“Moreover, O Eminent Householder, the householder bodhisattva who lives at home, by being free of attachment and aversion, should attain equanimity with respect to the eight worldly things. If he succeeds in obtaining wealth, or a wife, or children, or valuables, or produce, he should not become proud or overjoyed. And if he fails to obtain all these things, he should not be downcast or distressed. Rather, he should reflect as follows: ‘All conditioned things are illusory and are marked by involvement in fabrication. Thus my father and mother, children, wife, male and female slaves, hired hands, wage earners, friends, companions, kinsfolk, and relatives—all are the result of the ripening of actions. Thus they are not “mine,” and I am not “theirs.”

” ‘And why? Because my father, mother, and so on are not my protector, refuge, resort, place of rest, island, self, or what belongs to the self. If even my own perishable skandhas, sense fields, and sense organs and their objects are not “me” or “mine,” how much less are my father, mother, and so on “me” or “mine,” or I “theirs”? And why? Because I am subject to my actions and heir to my actions, I will inherit [the results of] whatever I have done, whether good deeds or bad. I will taste the fruit of every one of them and will experience the ripening of every one. And because these people are also subject to their actions and heir to their actions, they too will inherit [the results of] whatever they have done, whether good deeds or bad. They will experience the ripening of every one of them and will taste the fruit of every one.

” ‘It is not my business to accumulate unvirtuous deeds for their sake. All of them are a source of pleasure now, but they will not be a source of pleasure later on. Instead, I should devote myself to what is really mine: that is, to the virtues of giving, discipline, self-restraint, endurance, good character, exertion, vigilance, and the accumulation and production of the factors of enlightenment. That is what is actually mine. Wherever I may go, these qualities will go with me.’ Thinking in this way, he does not accumulate offenses, even for the sake of his own life or for the sake of his wife and son.”

A Few Good Men, p246-247
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 19, 2024

If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sūtra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. Out of his gratitude for the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma, Universal Sage promises to encourage anyone who may be struggling in their practice of the Buddha Dharma. This is a reminder of how no matter what obstacles or difficulties we may encounter, great beings are helping us and we are in harmony with things as they truly are.

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: Universal Sage Bodhisattva

Having last month considered Ānanda’s guestion, we consider the Buddha’s description of Universal Sage Bodhisattva.

“O Ānanda! Universal Sage Bodhisattva was born in the Pure Wondrous Land in the east. Aspects of that land have already been thoroughly detailed in the Dharma Flower Sutra (Lotus Sutra), and these I will now outline and explain.

“Ānanda! When monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, heavenly beings (devas), nāgas, others of the eight classes of ever-present guardian spirits, or any living beings are internalizing6 the Great Vehicle sutras, practicing in accordance with the Great Vehicle, aspiring to a Great Vehicle consciousness, and would be pleased to see an embodiment of the bodhisattva Universal Sage, take joy in seeing the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha, be happy to see Śākyamuni Buddha as well as buddhas that emanate from him, and be glad to achieve purification of the six sense faculties, they should learn this way of contemplation. Beneficial effects of this contemplation are the elimination of encumbrances and the perception of extraordinary and wondrous things.

“As a result of resolutely internalizing and keeping faith with it, and wholeheartedly pursuing mastery of it, a practitioner will become continuously conscious of the Great Vehicle without immersion into a specialized focus of mind, and he or she will gain perception of Universal Sage within the course of one to three-times-seven days. A practitioner who has great encumbrances will gain perception of him after seven-times-seven days have passed. A practitioner with greater encumbrances will gain perception after one more rebirth, and a practitioner with yet more serious encumbrances will gain perception after two more rebirths. Further, a practitioner with even graver encumbrances will gain perception after three more rebirths. Karmic consequences differ like this—that is why there are variations in my ways of explanation.

“The body of Universal Sage Bodhisattva is boundless in size, his voice is limitless in sound, and his figure is infinite in its forms. He desires to come to this land, and so – drawing upon the unlimited wondrous capabilities at his command – he will make his body become smaller in scale. Because people in this world are weighed down by the three hindrances, through his great insight he will manifest himself riding on a white elephant.”

See Meaning Behind the Symbolism

Higan, perfections

Higan: Tolerance of Emptiness

Today is the third day of Higan week, the three days before the equinox and the three days after. As explained in a Nichiren Shu brochure:

For Buddhists, this period is not just one characterized by days with almost equal portions of light and dark. Rather, it is a period in which we strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds.

Today we consider the perfection of patience.

Modern Western thought has produced something closely related to the realization of “emptiness” – “historical consciousness,” the consciousness or awareness that everything is immersed in history, that everything becomes what it is through the shaping powers of historical conditioning and change whenever constitutive conditions change. The ability and willingness to understand ourselves historically is similar to the ability to see the “empty” character of all things—that is, its relational and always changing character.

In this insight, we realize that everything is a product of history, of dependence and time, including ourselves. Through it, we understand that all human thinking is subject to future doubt and revision, no matter how certain we may be about our knowledge. The upshot of historical awareness is not that we cannot know the truth, but that doubt and openness are essential ingredients to any quest for understanding. Similarly, realizing that all human knowledge is “empty” or “historical” does not in any way amount to saying that knowledge is not valid, or that it is pointless. It is rather a profound look into both the dependent character of everything and the reality of ongoing change that pervades the entire cosmos.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 132

On the Journey to a Place of Treasures