Tag Archives: LS03

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śāriputra’s plea three times, we consider what happens when the Buddha begins to teach.

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 Opening Buddhahood as a Reality for All Beings

LS32, d3b, d4b, 2buddhas

Opening Buddhahood as a Reality for All Beings

In its original context, the message of the “one buddha vehicle” first articulated in Chapter Two was directed from the marginal Mahāyāna movement toward the Buddhist mainstream, that is, the majority of monks and nuns who counted themselves as śrāvakas and aspired to the arhat’s nirvāṇa. But a thousand years later, in medieval Japan, the Mahāyāna was the mainstream; that is, Japanese Buddhism was entirely Mahāyāna, and there were no śrāvakas, except those mentioned in texts. Largely through the influence of the Lotus-based Tendai Buddhist tradition, the idea that buddhahood is at least in theory open to all had gained wide currency. In Nichiren’s reading, the thrust of the Lotus Sūtra’s one-vehicle argument therefore shifts in significant ways. No longer is it about opening buddhahood to specific categories of persons previously excluded, that is, to people of the two lesser vehicles. Rather, it is about opening buddhahood as a reality for all beings, in contrast to what Nichiren deemed purely abstract or notional assurances of buddhahood in other, provisional Mahāyāna teachings. Recall that, in the Tendai tradition in which Nichiren had been trained, the Lotus Sūtra is “true” and all others are “provisional,” meaning that the Lotus Sūtra is complete and all-encompassing, while other teachings are accommodated to their listeners’ understanding and therefore partial and incomplete. For Nichiren, now in the age of the Final Dharma, only the Lotus Sūtra embodied the principles by which Buddhist practitioners could truly realize enlightenment.

Two Buddhas, p65-66
LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Śāriputra’s request for an explanation, we hear the Buddha’s rejection and Śāriputra’s plea.

Thereupon the Buddha said to him,
“No, no, I will not. If I do, all the gods and men in the world will be frightened and perplexed.”

Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Explain it, explain it! The many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of living beings in this congregation have active functions of mind and clear wisdom because they have seen the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence. If they hear you, they will respect and believe you.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in a gāthā:

King of the Dharma, Most Honorable One!
Explain it! Do not worry!
The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe you.

The Buddha checked him again, saying, “No. If I do, all the gods, men and asuras in the world will be frightened and perplexed, and arrogant bhikṣus will fall into a great pit.”

Thereupon the Buddha repeated this in a gāthā:

No, no, I will not say any more.
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

Thereupon Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Expound the Dharma, expound the Dharma! The hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings in this congregation like me followed the [past] Buddhas and received their teachings in their consecutive previous existences. They will respect and believe you. They will be able to have peace after the long night and obtain many benefits.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Highest Truth!
I am your eldest son.
Expound the Dharma!

The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe the Dharma.
They have been taught by the [past] Buddhas
In their consecutive previous existences.
They are joining their hands together [towards you],
Wishing with all their hearts to hear and receive your words.

Expound the Dharma
To us twelve hundred men,
And also to the other people
Who are seeking Buddhahood!
We shall be very glad to hear the Dharma.
The other people will also.

See Why the Buddha Addressed Śāriputra

LS32, d3b, 2buddhas

Why the Buddha Addressed Śāriputra

[Before] examining the Buddha’s opening remarks more closely, let us consider to whom he spoke them.

One might expect that he would address his remarks to Maitreya or to Mañjuśrī, the two interlocutors in the sūtra up to this point, and both also bodhisattvas. But he speaks instead to the monk Śāriputra. In the mainstream Buddhist tradition, that is, the monastic majority, who were not Mahāyāna followers, Śāriputra was renowned as the wisest of the Buddha’s disciples. Prior to becoming a disciple of the Buddha, he met a Buddhist monk and asked him what his teacher taught. When the monk demurred, saying that he was a beginner and thus unable to explain it in detail, Śāriputra asked for a summary. The monk replied with a single verse, “Of those things produced by causes, the Tathāgata has proclaimed their causes and also their cessation. Thus the great ascetic has spoken.” Merely by hearing those words, Śāriputra achieved the first level of enlightenment, the stage of the stream-enterer. According to tradition, the abhidharma, the part of the canon dealing with technical analysis of doctrine, was first taught by the Buddha to Śāriputra. Śāriputra was also one of the few monks whom the Buddha sanctioned to deliver discourses, so that some sūtras are spoken by Śāriputra rather than the Buddha.

Śāriputra is a śrāvaka and an arhat, having achieved the profound wisdom necessary to destroy all ignorance and to enter final nirvana upon his death. In the mainstream tradition, the Buddha is also called an arhat because he has achieved that same wisdom and will enter parinirväva at death. The primary difference between a buddha and an arhat in the early tradition appears to have been that a buddha discovers the path to nirvana without relying on a teacher, while an arhat must rely on the Buddha’s teachings to do so. A buddha also possesses certain supernormal powers that an arhat may not have, but both were held to partake equally in the liberating insight that is the goal of the Buddhist path. Because Śāriputra was the wisest of the arhats, one often asked to speak for the Buddha, there should not, from the perspective of the Buddhist mainstream, be a substantial difference between the wisdom of the Buddha and the wisdom of Śāriputra; there should not be something of substance that Śāriputra fails to understand, that is, not until these first remarks of Śākyamuni in the Lotus Sūtra. In another case of inversion, Śāriputra, like Maitreya in the preceding chapter, is perplexed.

Two Buddhas, p53-55
LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the puzzlement of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas, we consider Śāriputra’s request for an explanation.

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?”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Sun of Wisdom, Great Honorable Saint!
You expound the Dharma for the first time after a long time.
You say that you obtained
The powers, fearlessness, samādhis,
Dhyana-concentrations, emancipations,
And other inconceivable properties [of a Buddha].

No one asks you about the Dharma you attained
At the place of enlightenment.
[The Dharma] is too difficult for me to measure.
[So it is for others; therefore,] no one asks you.

Although you are not asked, you extol the teachings
[Of the past Buddhas] which you practiced.
Your wisdom is wonderful.
It is the same wisdom that the other Buddhas obtained.

The Arhats-without-āsravas
And those who are seeking Nirvāṇa
Are now in the mesh of doubts, wondering:
“Why does the Buddha say all this?”

Those who are seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers,
And the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, gods, dragons,
Gandharvas, and other supernatural beings,
Are exchanging glances of perplexity.

They are looking up at you, at the Honorable Biped
Thinking:
“What is this for?
Buddha! Explain all this!”

You once said to me:
“You are the most excellent Śrāvaka.”
With all my wisdom, however, I now doubt.
I do not understand
Whether the Truth I attained is final or not,
Whether the teachings I practiced are true or not.

Your sons born from your mouth are looking up at you
With their hands joined together, entreating:
“With your wonderful voice,
Explain all this as it really is!”

As many gods and dragons
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
And the eighty thousand Bodhisattvas
Who are seeking Buddhahood,
And the wheel-turning-holy-kings
Of billions of worlds
Are joining their hands together respectfully,
Wishing to hear the Perfect Way.

The Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1, offers this on expedient teachings:

Previous to teaching the Lotus Sutra the Buddha taught expedients to lead people to the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra. In many ways it was as if he were leading the blind to the train station so they could then find the way to the true complete teachings contained in the Lotus Sutra. But we need to remember that the train station is not the destination, the expedients are not the sum of the Buddha’s teachings.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered that all Buddhas use expedients, we consider the puzzlement of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas.

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.”

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1 offers this on the followers’ puzzlement:

Previous to teaching the Lotus Sutra the Buddha taught expedients to lead people to the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra. In many ways it was as if he were leading the blind to the train station so they could then find the way to the true complete teachings contained in the Lotus Sutra. But we need to remember that the train station is not the destination, the expedients are not the sum of the Buddha’s teachings.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the inexplicable nature of the Dharma, we consider that all Buddhas use expedients.

(He said to Śāriputra again:)
I have already attained
The profound and wonderful Dharma,
The Dharma without āsravas, the inconceivable Dharma.
It is known only to me
And to the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.

Śāriputra, know this!
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
Have great power of faith
In the Dharma expounded by the Buddhas!
As a rule, the World-Honored Ones expound the true teaching
Only after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings].

(He said to the Śrāvakas
And to those who were seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers:)
I saved all living beings
From the bonds of suffering,
And caused them to attain Nirvāṇa.
I showed to them
The teaching of the Three Vehicles as an expedient
In order to save them from various attachments.

Continuing with tales of the Hoke-kyō (Lotus Sūtra) from Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition (Nihon ryōiki), we consider On Immediately Getting a Twisted Mouth by Speaking Ill of a Woman Copying the Hoke-kyō.

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard the World-Honored One repeat in gāthās his immeasuable wisdom, we consider the inexplicable nature of the dharma.

The Dharma cannot be shown.
It is inexplicable by words.
No one can understand it
Except the Buddhas
And the Bodhisattvas
Who are strong in the power of faith.

Even the Buddhas’ disciples who made offerings
To the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence,
[Even the disciples] who eliminated all asravas,
[Even the disciples] who are now at the final stage
Of their physical existence,
Cannot understand [the Dharma].

As many people as can fill the world,
Who are as wise as you, Śāriputra, will not be able
To measure the wisdom of the Buddhas,
Even though they try to do so with their combined efforts.

As many people as can fill the worlds of the ten quarters,
Who are as wise as you, Śāriputra,
Or as many other disciples of mine
As can fill the ksetras of the ten quarters,
Will not be able to know [the wisdom of the Buddhas]
Even though they try to do so with their combined efforts.

As many Pratyekabuddhas as can fill
The worlds of the ten quarters, or as many as bamboo groves,
Who are wise enough to reach
The final stage of their physical existence without āsravas,
Will not be able to know
Even a bit of the true wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they continue trying to do so with all their hearts
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.

As many Bodhisattvas as rice-plants, hemps, bamboos or reeds,
Or as can fill the ksetras of the ten quarters,
Who have just begun to aspire for enlightenment,
Who made offerings to innumerable Buddhas in their previous existence,
Who understand the meanings of the Dharma [in their own ways],
And who are expounding the Dharma [as they understand it],
Will not be able to know the wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they continue trying to do so with all their hearts
And with all their wonderful wisdom
For as many kalpas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

As many never-faltering Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will not be able to know the wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they try to do so with all their hearts

Continuing with the content from Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan, we learn of Priest Shunchō.

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month learned of the insight of the Tathāgatas, we hear the World-Honored One repeat in gāthās his immeasuable wisdom:

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

The [ wisdom of the] World-Heroes is immeasurable.
None of the living beings in the world,
Including gods and men,
Knows the [ wisdom of the] Buddhas.

No one can measure the powers, fearlessness,
Emancipations, samādhis,
And other properties of the [present] Buddhas,
Because they, in their previous existence,
Followed innumerable Buddhas
And practiced the teachings of those Buddhas.

The profound and wonderful Dharma
Is difficult to see and difficult to understand.
I practiced the teachings of the [past] Buddhas
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And became a Buddha at the place of enlightenment.
I have already attained the Dharma.

l know the various effects, rewards and retributions,
Natures and appearances of all things:
The Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters
Also know all this.

Continuing with the content from Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan, we learn of A Woman Disciple of the Kii Clan.

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month witnessed the World-Honored One emerging quietly from his samādhi, we learn of the insight of the Tathāgatas.

“Śāriputra! The insight of the Tathāgatas is wide and deep. [The Tathāgatas] have all the [states of mind towards] innumerable [living beings,] unhindered [eloquence,] powers, fearlessness, dhyāna-concentrations, emancipations, and samādhis. They entered deep into boundlessness, and attained the Dharma which you have never heard before.

“Śāriputra! The Tathāgatas divide [the Dharma] into various teachings, and expound those teachings to all living beings so skillfully and with such gentle voices that living beings are delighted. Śāriputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

The Daily Dharma from May 25, 2018, offers this:

Śāriputra! The Tathāgatas divide [the Dharma] into various teachings, and expound those teachings to all living beings so skillfully and with such gentle voices that living beings are delighted.

The Buddha gives this explanation to his disciple Śāriputra in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. The work towards enlightenment is a shared enterprise. The Buddha cannot make us enlightened, and we cannot become enlightened by ourselves. The Buddha does not bribe, coerce, threaten or manipulate us into reaching the wisdom he knows we can find. Instead he sees deeply into our minds and uses the delusions we already have to lead us away from the suffering we create for ourselves. In our work as Bodhisattvas, we do well to keep the Buddha’s example in mind.

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

Note: Apparently I didn’t post this on March 19 and only noticed the error a month later.