Tag Archives: LS20

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni urge Maitreya and the others to pay close attention, we hear Śākyamuni tell Maitreya that he is the one who taught these Bodhisattvas.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, having sung these gāthās, said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World. When they were there, they read many sūtras, recited them, understood them, thought them over, evaluated them, and remembered them correctly. Ajita! These good men did not wish to talk much with others [about things other than the Dharma] but to live in a quiet place. They practiced the way strenuously without a rest. They did not live among gods and men. They had no hindrance in seeking profound wisdom. They always sought the teaching of the Buddha. They sought unsurpassed wisdom strenuously with all their hearts.”

See Who Are These Bodhisattvas?

LS32, d19b, d20b, WONS, 2buddhas

Who Are These Bodhisattvas?

Who are these bodhisattvas who emerge from beneath the earth? One interpretative move, current in medieval Japanese Tendai circles in Nichiren’s day, was to associate their four leaders — Viśiṣṭacaritra (J. Jōgyō, “Superior Conduct”), Anantacāritra (Muhengyō, “Boundless Conduct”), Viéuddhacāritra (Jyōgyō, “Pure Conduct”), and Supratisthitacāritra (Anryūgyo, “Firm Conduct”) — with the four universal elements of fire, wind, water, and earth, which were believed to constitute and benefit all beings. In a sense, Nichiren also understood these bodhisattvas as innate, for example, when he writes that they represent the bodhisattva realm within us; they are “the followers of the Śākyamuni Buddha who dwells within ourselves.” However, he also took them to be historical agents, entrusted by the Buddha with the mission of propagating the Lotus Sūtra specifically in the Final Dharma age, that is, his own time. “And what is this dharma that was entrusted to them?” he asked. “From within the Lotus Sūtra, it discards the broad to take up the condensed and discards the condensed to take up the essence, that is, the five characters Myōhō-renge-kyō.”

Two Buddhas, p174-175
LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard from the attendants to the Buddhas who had come from many thousands of billions of worlds outside this world, we hear Śākyamuni urge Maitreya and the others to pay close attention..

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

“Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.”

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

Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

Now I will relieve you.
Do not doubt me! Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

See ‘One Chapter and Two Halves‘

LS32, d20b, d21b, d22b, 2buddhas

‘One Chapter and Two Halves’

In Zhiyi’s parsing of the Lotus Sūtra, Chapter Fifteen begins the “origin teaching” (J. honmon) or second fourteen chapters of the sūtra, so called because in this latter section of the Lotus the Buddha casts off his transient guise as someone who first gained enlightenment in the present lifetime, and he reveals his true identity as the primordial buddha awakened immeasurable eons ago. As he had with the preceding “trace teaching” (shakumon), or first fourteen chapters, Zhiyi divided this section of the sūtra into three parts. The “introduction” corresponds to the first part of Chapter Fifteen, up to the Buddha’s response to Maitreya’s question about the identity of the bodhisattvas who have emerged from the earth (223). The “main exposition” consists of the remainder of Chapter Fifteen, the whole of Chapter Sixteen, and the first part of Chapter Seventeen (up to the end of Maitreya’s verses on 245). The remaining chapters then correspond to the “dissemination” portion. Though quite short – “one chapter and two halves,” as Nichiren termed it – the main exposition section of the origin teaching was revered by many Japanese Tendai teachers as the very heart of the sūtra and inspired great doctrinal innovation, especially in Nichiren’s own teaching.

Two Buddhas, p173
LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered further Maitreya’s puzzlement about the great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, we hear from the attendants to the Buddhas who had come from many thousands of billions of worlds outside this world.

At that time the Buddhas, who had come from many thousands of billions of worlds outside [this world], were sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees in [this world and] the neighboring worlds of the eight quarters. Those Buddhas were the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha. The attendant of each of those Buddhas saw that many Bodhisattvas had sprung up from under the four quarters of the [Sahā-World which was composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds and stayed in the sky. He said to the Buddha whom he was accompanying, “World-Honored One! Where did these innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattvas come from?”

That Buddha said to his attendant:

“Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva
mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni
Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood,
saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’
Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this
matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able
to hear his answer.”

See Rejecting the Bodhisattvas from Other Worlds

LS32, d19b, d25b, 2buddhas

Rejecting the Bodhisattvas from Other Worlds

Zhiyi proposed several reasons why the Buddha ultimately rejected the offer of the bodhisattvas from other worlds to propagate the Lotus Sūtra in the present, Sahā world and instead summoned the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. The bodhisattvas from other worlds, he said, had responsibilities to benefit the beings of their own lands that they could not neglect. Furthermore, their ties to this world were only superficial, and so their efforts at spreading the dharma would have been ineffective. Had the Buddha accepted their offer, he would have had no reason to summon the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. These bodhisattvas were Śākyamuni’s original disciples, taught by him since the inconceivably distant past. Their ties to the Sahā world were profound, and they could also travel to other realms and benefit the beings there. And, without their presence, Śākyamuni could not have revealed his true identity as the Buddha awakened since the inconceivably distant past.

Two Buddhas, p174
LS32, WONS

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Maitreya Bodhisattva’s puzzlement about the great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, we consider further Maitreya’s puzzlement.

Some great Bodhisattvas are each accompanied by attendants
Sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges.
They are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
With all their hearts.

The number of these great teachers is sixty thousand times
The number of the sands of the River Ganges.
They came together and made offerings to you.
Now they protect and keep this sūtra.
The attendants or disciples accompanying
Each [of the other great Bodhisattvas] number
Fifty thousand times or forty thousand times
Or thirty thousand times or twenty thousand times
Or ten thousand times or a thousand times
Or a hundred times as many as the sands of the River Ganges,
Or a half, a third, or a quarter
Of the number of the sands of the River Ganges,
Or as many as the sands of the River Ganges Divided by a billion;
Or ten million nayuta, a billion or fifty million,
Or a million, ten thousand, a thousand or a hundred,
Or fifty, ten, three, two or one.
[The great Bodhisattvas] who are accompanied
By less attendants are even more numerous.
Some [great Bodhisattvas] have no attendants
Because they prefer a solitary life.
They are the most numerous.
They came together to you.

No one will be able to count
All [these great Bodhisattvas] even if he uses
A counting wand for more kalpas
Than the number of the sands of the River Ganges.

These Bodhisattvas have
Great powers, virtues and energy.
Who expounded the Dharma to them? Who taught them?
Who qualified them to attain [perfect enlightenment]?

Under whom did they begin to aspire for enlightenment?
What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?
What sūtra did they keep and practice?
What teaching of the Buddha did they study?

These Bodhisattvas have supernatural powers
And the great power of wisdom.
The ground of this world quaked and cracked.
They sprang up from under the four quarters of this world.

World-Honored One!
I have never seen them before.
I do not know
Any of them.

They appeared suddenly from underground.
Tell me why!
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Bodhisattvas
In this great congregation
Also want to know this.

There must be some reason.
Possessor of Immeasurable Virtues!
World-Honored One!
Remove our doubts!

Nichiren addresses these doubts in his letter Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching:

Grand Master Miao-lê further explained in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Wise men know things in advance as a snake knows that it is a snake.” The meaning of these words in the Lotus Sūtra and annotations by T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê are clear, that is to say, nobody had ever seen or heard of those bodhisattvas from the earth after Śākyamuni’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree till today, either in this world or in any of the worlds in the universe.

So the Buddha answered the question of Bodhisattva Maitreya: “Maitreya! It was I who taught and guided those great bodhisattvas whom you said you had never seen. After I attained perfect enlightenment in this Sahā World, I taught, guided, and controlled them, and encouraged them to aspire for enlightenment.” He continued, “After I sat in meditation under the bodhi tree near the town of Gayā and was able to attain perfect enlightenment, I taught and guided them, while preaching the supreme dharma and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. Now they have all been proceeding to the highest enlightenment without falling back I have taught and guided them since the eternal past.”

Then Bodhisattva Maitreya and other great bodhisattvas began to doubt the Buddha. At the time the Flower Garland Sūtra was preached, numerous great bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom gathered. While wondering who they were, Maitreya and others were told by Śākyamuni Buddha, apparently to their satisfaction, that Dharma Wisdom and other great bodhisattvas were Śākyamuni’s “good friends.” The same thing happened to those great bodhisattvas who gathered together at Daihōbō where the Sūtra of the Great Assembly was preached, and to those who gathered at Lake White Heron upon the preaching of the Wisdom Sūtra. The great bodhisattvas appearing from underground now, however, seemed incomparably superior to them, and it appeared probable that they were teachers of Śākyamuni Buddha. Nevertheless, the Buddha declared that it was He who caused them to aspire for enlightenment, as if the Buddha taught and guided immature people as His disciples. It was only natural, therefore, that Bodhisattva Maitreya and others had serious doubts about Śākyamuni Buddha.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 72

LS32, WONS

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s response to greeting from the leaders of the Bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth, we consider Maitreya Bodhisattva’s puzzlement.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva and the [other] Bodhisattvas [who had already been present in the congregation before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in number, thought:

‘We have never before seen these great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, stood before [Śākyamuni,] the World-Honored One, joined their hands together towards him, and made offerings to him. [Now we see that their leaders] inquire after him.’

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, seeing what the Bodhisattvas numbering eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges had in their minds, and also wishing to remove his own doubts, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and asked him in gāthās:

We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?
They have gigantic bodies,
Great supernatural powers, and inconceivable wisdom.
They are resolute in mind.
They have a great power of patience.
All living beings are glad to see them.
Where did they come from?

They are each accompanied
By as many attendants
As there are sands
In the River Ganges.

Nichiren writes about why Maitreya asked the Buddha about these Bodhisattvas.

[W]hen the Buddha preached the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, He displayed omens far superior to the omens presented when the pre-Lotus sūtras and the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra were preached. The severe quakes of the earth when the Stupa of Treasures sprang out of the earth (in the “Beholding the Stupa of Treasures” chapter) and the numerous bodhisattva disciples of the Original Buddha that emerged from the earth simultaneously (“Emergence of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter) created waves as high as mountains that tossed sailing boats around in a stormy ocean as if they were tiny reed leaves.

Therefore, while Bodhisattva Maitreya asked Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to explain the omens shown in the “Introductory” chapter, he asked his question to the Buddha directly regarding the great omens shown in the “Emergence of the Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter. Grand Master Miao-lê explains this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3, “As for the theoretical section, Mañjuśrī could be trusted, but the essential section is too profound for anyone to conjecture. Therefore, Bodhisattva Maitreya had no one but the Buddha to direct his questions.” Thus, Mañjuśrī had a general understanding regarding the teaching of the theoretical section though the Buddha did not preach it. However, even Mañjuśrī could not fathom the doctrine of the essential section. And yet great omens such as these occurred during the lifetime of the Buddha.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 122-123

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, we return to the top of today’s portion and the response of Śākyamuni to greeting from the leaders of the Bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to them in the presence of the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:
“Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathāgata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sūtra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.”

Thereupon the [four] great Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās:

Excellent, excellent, Great Hero!
World-Honored One!
The living beings are ready to be saved
Because in their previous existence
They already asked the [past] Buddhas
About their profound wisdom,
And having heard about it, understood it by faith.
We rejoice at seeing you.

Thereupon the World-Honored One praised the leading great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Excellent, excellent, good men! [l am glad that] you rejoice at seeing me.”

On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 10 of 21.

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the idea of a man, 25, saying old men, 100 years old, are his sons, we hear Maitreya Bodhisattva repeat gāthās his question about the Bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth and conclude Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

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

It is not long
Since you renounced the family of the Śākyas
And sat under the Bodhi-tree
Near Gaya.

These sons of yours are innumerable.
They have practiced
The way to Buddhahood for a long time.
They have supernatural powers and the power of wisdom.

They have studied the Way of Bodhisattvas well.
They are not defiled by worldliness
Just as the lotus-flower
Is not defiled by water.

They sprang up from underground,
And are now standing before you respectfully.
This is difficult to understand.
How can we believe this?

You attained enlightenment quite recently.
But you have done so many things.
Remove our doubts!
Explain all this as it is!

Suppose a man twenty-five years old
Points to grey-haired and wrinkle-faced men
A hundred years old,
And says, “They are my sons.”
Suppose old men point to a young man
And say, “He is our father.”
No one in the world will believe
That a father is younger than his sons.

You are like the father.
You attained enlightenment quite recently.
These Bodhisattvas are resolute in mind.
They are not timid.
They have practiced the Way of Bodhisattva
For the past innumerable kalpas.

They are good at answering difficult questions.
They are fearless and patient.
They are handsome, powerful and virtuous.
They are praised by the Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarter .
They expound [the Dharma] clearly.

They did not wish to live among men.
They preferred dwelling in dhyana-concentration.
They lived in the sky below
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

We do not doubt your words
Because we heard them direct from you.
Explain all this so that the living beings in the future
May be able to understand your words, Buddha!

Those who doubt this sūtra
And do not believe it
Will fall into the evil regions.
Explain all this to us now!

How did you teach these innumerable Bodhisattvas
In such a short time,
And cause them to aspire for enlightenment
And not falter in seeking enlightenment?

[Here ends] the Fifth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Continuing with the content from Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan, we learn of Priest Myōtatsu of Ryūgeji Temple of Dewa Province.