The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p25-26Creativity is a path to liberation, and imagination is a path to liberation. That is why the Dharma Flower Sutra invites us into a world of enchantment – to enable us to enter the path of liberation, a liberation that is always both for ourselves and for others. Notice, please, that this first chapter of the Lotus Sutra does not come to us as an order; it is an invitation to enter a new world and thereby take up a new life, but it is only an invitation.
But this invitation also carries a warning – enter this world and your life may be changed. It may be changed in ways you never expected. The Dharma Flower Sutra comes with a warning label. Instead of saying “Dangerous to your health,” it says, “Dangerous to your comfort.” The worst sin in the Lotus Sutra is complacency and the arrogance of thinking one has arrived and has no more to do. The Sutra challenges such comfort and comfortable ideas. Danger can be exciting. It can also be frightening. We do not know if we can make it. We do not know whether we even have the power to enter the path, the Buddha Way.
This is why, while the Dharma Flower Sutra begins with enchantment, it does not end there. It goes further to announce that each and every one of us has within us a great and marvelous power, later called “buddha-nature.” The term “buddha-nature” does not appear in the Lotus Sutra, probably because it had not yet been invented, but the idea that would later be called “buddha-nature” runs through these stories not as a mere thread, but as a central pillar – albeit a very flexible one.
Tag Archives: LS01
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month witnessed the heavenly flowers falling over the entire congregation, we witness the Buddha emit a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows.
Thereupon the Buddha emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, down to the Avchi Hell of each world, and up to the Akanistha Heaven of each world. The congregation saw from this world the living beings of the six regions of those worlds. They also saw the present Buddhas of those worlds. They also heard the Dharma expounded by those Buddhas. They also saw the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās of those worlds who had already attained [the various fruits of] enlightenment by their various practices. They also saw the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas [of those worlds] who were practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas [in various ways] according to the variety of their karmas which they had done in their previous existence, and also according to the variety of their ways of understanding [the Dharma] by faith. They also saw the past Buddhas [of those worlds] who had already entered into Parinirvana. They also saw the stupas of the seven treasures which had been erected to enshrine the śarīras of those Buddhas after their Parinirvana.
The World of Enchantment
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p15-16In Chapter 1 of the Sutra, before the vast assembly, having already preached the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, the Buddha entered deeply into meditative concentration. Then, to prepare the assembly to hear the Buddha preach, various omens suddenly appeared – flowers rained down from the heavens on everyone, the earth trembled and shook, and the Buddha emitted a ray of light from between his eyebrows, lighting up eighteen thousand worlds to the east, so that the whole assembly could see these worlds in great detail, including their heavens and purgatories, all their living beings, and even their past and present buddhas. Surely we are being advised here that we are entering a different world, and a different kind of world, a world that is at once rich in fantasy and at the same time anchored in this world.
Thus the Dharma Flower Sutra opens up and reveals this world as a magical world, a world in which flowers rain down from the heavens, drums sound by themselves, and Shakyamuni Buddha lights up all the worlds with beams of light streaming from between his eyebrows. It is a world in which an illusory castle-city provides a resting place for weary travelers, in which a Stupa emerges from the ground so that an extinct buddha from long ago can praise Shakyamuni for teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra, where the Bodhisattva Wonderful Voice, with his nearly perfect, giant, and radiant body, from another world makes flowers appear on Holy Eagle Peak and then comes through countless millions of worlds with eighty-four thousand other bodhisattvas to visit Shakyamuni Buddha and others, and where the Bodhisattva Universal Sage comes flying through the sky on his white elephant with six tusks to visit and help those in this world.
I call this a world of enchantment. And enchantment, here, means a certain kind of fascination with the ordinary world. It means finding the special, even the supernatural, within the ordinary world of our existence. It means seeing this world itself as different, as special – as important and valuable. And this means that our lives – how we live and what we do – are important, not only for ourselves, but also for the Buddha and for the entire cosmos.
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month met the gods and other creatures in the vast congregation, we meet the remainder of the congregation and witness the heavenly flowers falling over the entire congregation.King Ajatasatru, who was the son of Vaidehi, was also present with his hundreds of thousands of attendants. They each worshipped the feet of the Buddha, retired, and sat to one side.
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.
Yesterday, I discussed the crowd of people gathered to hear the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and how it compared with the crowds in the The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva and in the Lotus Sutra.
Yesterday, I said King Ajatasatru was the only non-monastic in the audience. Just as the Sutra of Innumberable Meanings gathers leaders of empires great and small, the Lotus Sutra does include these “kings of small countries, and the wheel-turning-holy-kings.”
It is still a point of interest that the crowd doesn’t include shopkeepers or farmers or townspeople, let alone day-laborers or the poor and destitute in the audience. But the inclusion of the kings of small countries, and the wheel-turning-holy-kings in both the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Lotus Sutra can be used to underscore that the Lotus Sutra begins after the completion of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and thus would be expected to include the same audience.
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month been introduced to the Buddha on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House and the vast audience of great bhikṣus and bodhisattvas, we meet the gods and other creatures in the vast congregation.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.
There were also the eight dragon-kings: Nanda Dragon-King, Upananda Dragon-King, Sagara Dragon-King, Vasuki DragonKing, Taksaka Dragon-King, Anavatapta Dragon-King, Manasvin Dragon-King, and Utpalaka Dragon-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants. There were also the four kiṃnara-kings: Dharma Kiṃnara-King, Wonderful-Dharma Kiṃnara-King, Great-Dharma Kiṃnara-King, and DharmaKeeping Kiṃnara-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.
There were also the four gandharva-kings: Musical GandharvaKing, Musical-Voice Gandharva-King, Beautiful Gandharva-King, and Beautiful-Voice Gandharva-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.
There were also the four asura-kings: Balin Asura-King, Kharaskandha Asura-King, Vemacitrin Asura-King, and Rahu Asura-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.
There were also the four garuda-kings: Great-Power-Virtue Garuda-King, Great-Body Garuda-King, Great-Fulfillment GarudaKing, and Free-At-Will Garuda-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.
A Sutra for All the Living
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p32Monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, gods, dragons, satyrs, centaurs, ashuras, griffins, chimeras, pythons, humans and nonhumans, minor kings, and holy wheel-rolling kings, and others are all addressed by the Buddha in Chapter 1. What we should understand from this is that Buddha Dharma is not only for Buddhists, not only for those people who are good, and not only for human beings. Even gods and other heavenly creatures come to hear the Buddha’s teaching.
There is an important truth here. While the Lotus Sutra, like any book, is very much a human creation, its significance goes beyond the human. The range of concern, in other words, is not limited to the human species, but extends to all the living. In part, this sense of cosmic importance is a reflection of the rich Indian imagination at the time the sutras were being compiled. People simply assumed that the world was populated with a rich variety of what we regard as mythical beings.
This imaginative vision urges us to reach out beyond what our eyes can see and our hands can touch, to understand ourselves as being significantly related to a much larger universe that is located in and transcends ourselves, our families, countries, and even species. It is a vision that urges us to imagine ourselves as part of a vast cosmos in which our own lives are important.
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory, we begin at the beginning with the Buddha on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House and the vast audience of great bhikṣus and bodhisattvas.Thus have I heard. The Buddha once lived on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House. He was accompanied by twelve thousand great bhikṣus. They were Arhats. They had already eliminated āsravas, and had no illusions. They had already benefited themselves, broken off the bonds of existence [in the world of birth and death], and obtained liberty in their minds. They included Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, Mahā-Kāśyapa, Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya-Kāśyapa, Nadi- Kāśyapa, Śāriputra, Great Maudgalyāyana, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Aniruddha, Kapphina, Gavampati, Revata, Pilindavatsa, Bakkula, Maha-Kausthila, Nanda, Sundarananda, Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī, Subhūti, Ananda, and Rahula. They were great Arhats well known to the multitude.
There were also two thousand [Śrāvakas], some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī was present with her six thousand attendants. Yasodhara Bhikṣunī, the mother of Rahula, was also present with her attendants.
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 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.
The Lotus Sutra’s World of Enchantment
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p11-12A Chinese/Japanese term often used for “introduction” is more literally “entrance gateway.” And while that is not what the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra is called, that is exactly what it is. It is a gateway through which one can enter a new and mysterious world, an enchanting world – a world of the imagination.
The setting, the opening scene, is on Holy Eagle Peak. This Holy Eagle Peak is not off somewhere in another world. It is a real place on a mountain in northeast India. I was there a few years ago. But as well as being an actual, physical, and historical place, the Holy Eagle Peak of the Dharma Flower Sutra is a mythical place.
The place we visited, the geographical place, is like a ledge set on a steep mountainside, perhaps three-fourths of the way up the mountain. Above and below it, the mountain is both steep and rough, not the kind of place where anyone could sit and listen to a sermon or lecture. And the ledge itself would not hold more than three dozen or so people at a time.
In the Sutra this little place is populated by a huge assembly, with thousands of monks and nuns and laypeople, eighty thousand bodhisattvas, and a large number of gods, god-kings (including Indra, King of the Gods), dragon kings, chimera kings, Centaur kings, ashura kings, griffin kings, satyrs, pythons, minor kings, and holy wheel-rolling kings. Already, just from the listing of such a population, and there is more, we know we have entered a realm that is special, even magical.
We do not know much about the Indian origins of the Lotus Sutra, but we can be reasonably confident that it was produced in northern India by monks, and it is very likely that many of its first hearers and readers would have known perfectly well that Holy Eagle Peak was in actuality much too small for the kind of assembly described at the beginning of Chapter 1. We are to understand from the very beginning, in other words, that this is a story, not a precise description of historical events, but a mythical account of historical events. It is meant not just for our knowledge, but for our participation. It invites us to use our own imagination to participate in the Sutra’s world of enchantment.
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month considered the final practices of those Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory.The supernatural powers of the Buddha
And his wisdom are rare.
He is illumining innumerable worlds
By emitting a pure ray of light.
We were astonished
At seeing [those worlds].Mañjuśrī, Son of the Buddha!
Remove our doubts!
The four kinds of devotees
Are looking up with joy at you and me,
Wishing to know why this ray of light is emitted
By the World-Honored One.Son of the Buddha, answer me!
Remove our doubts and cause us to rejoice!
For what purpose is the Buddha
Emitting this ray of light?Does he wish to expound the Wonderful Dharma
Which he attained when he was sitting
At the place of enlightenment?
Does he wish to assure us of our future Buddhahood?He shows us the worlds of the Buddhas
Adorned with many treasures.
We can see the Buddhas of those worlds.
This cannot be for some insignificant reason.Mañjuśrī, know this!
The four kinds of devotees and the dragons
Are looking at you, thinking:
“What is he going to say?”
A Person of Perfect Generosity
Buddhism for Today, p36-37If I were asked to explain with a single phrase the character of Sakyamuni Buddha as a man, I would answer without hesitation, “A person of perfect generosity.” Therefore, I think that there is no action that makes Sakyamuni Buddha more sorrowful than when we become angry about something and reproach others or when we blame others for our own wrongs. Above all else, we should refrain from such actions toward each other. Perseverance is, in short, generosity. As we persevere in the practice of the bodhisattvas, we cease to become angry or reproachful toward others, or toward anything in the universe. We are apt to complain about the weather when it rains and to grumble about the dust when we have a spell of fine weather. However, when through perseverance we attain a calm and untroubled mind, we become thankful for both the rain and the sun. Then our minds become free from changes in our circumstances.
When we advance further, we come not only to have no feeling of anger and hatred toward those who hurt, insult, or betray us but even to wish actively to help them. On the other hand, we should not be swayed by flattery or praise of the good we may do but should quietly reflect on our conduct. We should not feel superior to others but should maintain a modest attitude when everything goes smoothly.