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 why the Buddha expounded expedient teachings, we consider how previous Buddhas expounded expedient teachings.

The great multitude present here
Shall remove their doubts.
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
There is only one vehicle, not a second.

The number of the Buddhas who passed away
During the past innumerable kalpas was
Hundreds of thousands of billions,
Uncountable.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The truth of the reality of all things
With various stories of previous lives, parables and similes,
That is to say, with innumerable expedients.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The teaching of the One Vehicle,
And led innumerable living beings [with expedients]
Into the Way to Buddhahood.

All those Great Saintly Masters
Who knew the deep desires
Of the gods, men, and other living beings
Of all the worlds,
Revealed the Highest Truth
With various expedients.

See The Path of the Buddha

mappō, Dollarhide Senji-Shō

Knowing the Time: Living The Lotus Sutra

At Sado, Nichiren began to make distinctions between the traditional Tendai manner of reading the Lotus Sūtra and his interpretation of the scripture. The traditional Tendai teaching divided the scripture into two parts: the first fourteen chapters were called shakumon (realm of trace) and were thought to reveal the unity of the teaching (one vehicle doctrine), and the second fourteen chapters were called homon, the true teaching.

Nichiren divided the Lotus Sūtra into three sections, which overlapped the traditional Tendai two-part division of the text. According to Nichiren, in Chapters Ten to Twenty-two, the third section, the practice of the bodhisattva was stressed. Nichiren considered Chapter Sixteen, “Revelation of the (Eternal) Life of the Tathāgata” the most important chapter of the text, since the eternity of the Buddha was shown to be clarified and understood through the continual, eternal practice of the bodhisattva, and this eternal life of the Tathāgata could be perceived through the practice of the bodhisattva. In this third section the bodhisattva was seen often as a martyr who must suffer for the sake of the truth. For instance, in Chapter Thirteen, “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” and Chapter Twenty, “The Bodhisattva Never-Despise,” it is stated that bodhisattvas will suffer and die in order to propagate the Lotus Sūtra.

Nichiren argued that Chih-i and Saichō understood the Lotus Sūtra only theoretically and hence only as a provisional teaching, but that he, Nichiren, understood the scripture factually in that he was living the text through his suffering and hardships as predicted in the text itself.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p17-18
Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – Jan.15, 2024

For example, in building a huge tower, a scaffold is assembled from many small pieces of wood set up ten or twenty feet high. Then, using this scaffold, the huge tower is built with lumber. Once the tower is completed, the scaffold is dismantled. The scaffold here represents all Buddhist scriptures other than the Lotus Sutra, and the Great Tower is the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by “discarding the expedient.” A pagoda is built by using a scaffold, but no one worships a scaffold without a pagoda.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). In this simile, Nichiren compares the Buddha’s expedient teachings to the Wonderful Dharma he provides 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

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the Buddha’s hesitation to expound the highest truth, we consider what happened when the Buddha agreed to expound the highest truth.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to him:

“You asked me three times with enthusiasm. How can I leave the Dharma unexpounded? Listen to me attentively, and think over my words! Now I will expound [the Dharma] to you.”

When he had said this, five thousand people among the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās of this congregation rose from their seats, bowed to the Buddha, and retired because they were so sinful and arrogant that they thought that they had already obtained what they had not yet, and that they had already understood what they had not yet. Because of these faults, they did not stay. The World-Honored One kept silence and did not check them.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Śāriputra:

“Now this congregation has been cleared of twigs and leaves, only sincere people being left. Śāriputra! Those arrogant people may go. Now listen to me attentively! I will expound [the Dharma] to you.”

Śāriputra said, “Certainly, World-Honored One! I wish to hear you.”

See At Root, All People Are The Same

mappō, Dollarhide Senji-Shō

Knowing the Time: The Worst of Times; The Best of Times

The late twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Japan were periods of almost constant natural disaster. From about 1225 until 1261 Japan was hit with a series of earthquakes, followed by floods and storms, shortages of food, and plagues. During this period not only were there natural calamities taking place, but the new government of the Kamakura Bakufu, which deprived the old regime in Kyoto of real political power, began toward the end of the twelfth century to rule the nation.

Nichiren, conscious that he was living in the Age of the Last Law, came to the conclusion that the Lotus Sutra should be the foundation for secular as well as religious life. Because he saw religion as the foundation of secular life, he felt the people of Japan had been deceived by the other schools of Buddhism as well as by a corrupt and illegal government. The other schools of Buddhism had abandoned the Buddha, and the government had destroyed the Emperor. Thus, in 1260 he wrote the Risshō Ankoku Ron and presented it to Hōjō Tokiyori, the regent in Kamakura. In this essay Nichiren described the sad state of affairs in Japan. …

Nichiren opposed the other schools because he thought they were dividing Buddhism and were destroying the teachings of the Buddha. He believed this would lead to the destruction of both Japan and of Buddhism. In the Risshō Ankoku Ron, Nichiren suggested that the way to stop the calamities and to attain the Pure Land on this earth was for the people to “refrain from making donations to fallen priests and confine their gifts to the good.” And the peace and security of the country would come about only when “the mind of man changes with time and the nature of things according to circumstances. If you wish for the security of the country and desire peace in the present and future, think deeply and stamp out erroneous doctrines.” According to Nichiren, Japan had entered the Age of the Last Law because the gods had abandoned the nation which no longer had faith in the Lotus Sūtra.

Nichiren said that the people had forgotten the Lotus Sūtra or had slandered the Lotus Sutra, so in order for the gods to return to the country and to protect it, the people must turn to the Lotus Sūtra with absolute trust and faith.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p13-14

He regarded the Age of the Last Law not as the worst and darkest of the three periods but as the best of the three periods since it was the time when the Lotus Sūtra would spread among the people of the world. Nichiren believed that whenever mankind returned to the faith and followed the Buddha’s teaching according to the Lotus Sūtra, the Age of the Last Law would come to an end.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p16
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan.14, 2024

I am now joyful and fearless.
I have laid aside all expedient teachings.
I will expound only unsurpassed enlightenment
To Bodhisattvas.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. When the Buddha says he only teaches Bodhisattvas, he does not mean that he holds his highest teaching back from anybody. For us to be able to hear what the Buddha teaches, we must awaken our image of ourselves as Bodhisattvas who chose to come into this world of conflict and delusion. If we try to use the Buddha’s teaching to gratify our own delusions, we will only create more suffering. It is only when we set aside our habits of fear and doubt that we can gain wisdom through practicing the Wonderful Dharma.

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 in gāthās the ray of light from Sun-Moon-Light Buddha, we consider Sun-Moon-Light Buddha’s preaching of the Lotus Sutra

He who was honored by gods and men
Emerged from his samādhi,
And praised Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva, saying:
“You are the eyes of the world.

You are believed and relied on
By all living beings.
You are keeping the store of the Dharma.
Only you will understand the Dharma which I shall expound.”

Having praised Wonderful-Light
And caused him to rejoice,
That World-Honored One expounded
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
He never rose from his seat for sixty small kalpas.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma,
Kept the Wonderful Dharma
Expounded by that World-Honored One.

Having expounded the Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
And caused the multitude to rejoice,
The Buddha told the gods and men
At that moment on that day,
“I have already expounded to you
The truth of the reality of all things.
I shall enter into Nirvāṇa at midnight tonight.
Make efforts with all your hearts!
Leave the life of license!
It is difficult to see a Buddha, who can be seen
Only once in hundreds of millions of kalpas.”

Having heard that the Buddha would enter into Nirvāṇa,
Those sons of the World-Honored One
Were filled with sorrow.
They said, “How quickly the Buddha is gone!”

The Saintly Master, the King of the Dharma,
Consoled the countless living beings, saying:
“Although I shall pass away,
You must not worry.
This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva has already understood
The truth of the reality [of all things]
[To be attained by the wisdom] without asravas.
He will become a Buddha immediately after me.
He will be called Pure-Body.
He will save innumerable living beings.”

The Buddha passed away that night
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.
His śarīras were distributed.
Countless stupas were erected to enshrine them.

See The Prelude

mappō, Dollarhide Senji-Shō, Books

Knowing the Time: The Age of the Last law

dollarhide-nichiren-senji-sho-bookcoverAmong the Kamakura Buddhist leaders Nichiren stands alone in his interpretation and understanding of the Age of the Last Law.14 The Age of the Last Law was in part the basis upon which he established his school. Honen and Shinran also based their schools upon the idea of the Age of the Last Law, but both held that it could not be overcome or conquered. By contrast, Nichiren thought that the Age of the Last Law could be overcome and conquered. Nichiren regarded the Age of the Last Law as the period best suited for the teaching of the Lotus Sutra , and as the best possible period in which to attain salvation. His practice consisted in repeating the words “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” or “Homage to the Lotus of the Wonderful Law.” This practice, for Nichiren, was the sole means to achieve salvation in the Age of the Last Law.17

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p12
14
I have translated the three ages of the Buddha’s teaching as follows: 1 . Shōbō (Skt. saddharma), Age Of the Perfect Law; 2. zōbō (Skt. saddharma pratirūpaka), Age of the Counterfeit Law; and 3. mappō (Skt. saddharma vipralopa) Age of the Last Law.return
17
He states in the Kyōgyōshō Gosho (Essay on the Teaching, Practice and Proof), “This age is evil and corrupt and many people slander [the Lotus Sūtra]: I am making an effort to sow the seeds of Buddhahood [in their minds] by causing them [to chant] “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” which is the essence of the Lotus Sutra.return
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan.13, 2024

All this while Śākyamuni Buddha sat in silence. The four kinds of devotees also kept silence for the fifty small kalpas. By his supernatural powers, however, the Buddha caused the great multitude to think that they kept silence for only half a day.

We find this description of the Buddha and his congregation in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Innumerable Bodhisattvas have sprung up from underground and come to pay their respects to the Buddha. This passage shows that in our suffering and attachment, we have a different concept of time than the Buddha. The kalpas the Lotus Sūtra uses to measure time are unimaginably long periods. When a stone a mile on each side is worn down to a pebble by a celestial being flying past it every thousand years and brushing it with her veil, a kalpa expires. When we see the world on this scale of time, rather than the limited years we have in our lives, it opens us up to the Buddha’s wisdom.

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 consider the meaning of “Thus have I heard,” we consider the gods present to hear the Lotus Sutra

There were also eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. They never faltered in [seeking] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence [1] 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 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. They included Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva, Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva, Never-Resting Bodhisattva, Treasure-Palm Bodhisattva, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Treasure-Moon Bodhisattva, Moon-Light Bodhisattva, Full-Moon Bodhisattva, Great-Power Bodhisattva, Immeasurable-Power Bodhisattva, Transcending-Triple-World Bodhisattva, Bhadrapala Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Accumulated-Treasure Bodhisattva, and Leading-Teacher Bodhisattva. Eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas such as these were present.

Sakra-Devanam-Indra was also present. Twenty thousand gods were attending on him. There were also Beautiful-Moon God, Universal-Fragrance God, Treasure-Light God, and the four great heavenly-kings. Ten thousand gods were attending on them. Freedom God and Great-Freedom God were also present. Thirty thousand gods were attending on them. Brahman Heavenly-King who was the lord of the Saha-World, Great Brahman Sikhin, and Great Brahman Light were also present. Twelve thousand gods were attending on them.

See The Vow of the Gods To Protect the Lotus Sūtra

On the Journey to a Place of Treasures