Tag Archives: LS23

LS32, LS Introduction

The Six Perfections

The Six Perfections … are considered to be the fundamental practices of Mahayana Buddhism, the Great Vehicle, and are the Way of Bodhisattva Practice. Their Sanskrit name, Paramita, really means, “reaching the other shore.” In other words, these are six methods for attaining the goal of Buddhahood.

  1. The Perfection of Generosity (dana-paramita, “giving”). It has two meanings: giving material goods and giving spiritual teachings. The Perfection of Generosity is the purest manifestation of devoted service for others. This Perfection is placed at the head of all others for it summarizes the whole spirit of the Great Vehicle.
  2. The Perfection of Morality (sila-paramita, following the ethical precepts). There are five moral precepts in Buddhism, which are considered to be aspirations, not commandments: (1) not to take life, (2) not to steal, (3) not to indulge in unlawful sexuality, (4) not to lie, and (5) not to become intoxicated by drink or drugs.
  3. The Perfection of Patience (ksanti-paramita). When a Bodhisattva practices the Six Perfections, he is sure to encounter obstacles and opposition from other people. The Bodhisattva must remain patient in adversity. It takes courage sometimes to exercise self-control, not become angry, and not strike back with a blow for a blow.
  4. The Perfection of Vigor (virya-paramita, “endeavor”). Putting forth one’s best effort. The final aim of the Perfection of Endeavor is to attain Buddhahood. We must approach every task with vigor and enthusiasm, and so improve our lives and the lives of those around us. No detail is too small not to require our best effort. The one great task of achieving Buddhahood requires the fulfilling of a thousand small tasks every day.
  5. The Perfection of Concentration (dhyana-paramita, meditation). Dhyana is called Zen in Japanese. It is sometimes translated as “Meditation,” but in Buddhism there are various types of meditation, depending on what the one who meditates hopes to achieve. Here it means one-pointed concentration, not only of the mind but also of the heart. Any practice which helps us gain unity of mind and heart is dhyana.
  6. The Perfection of Wisdom (prajna-paramita). The last of the Six Perfections is Prajna. It is the cornerstone of all the Perfections, for without Wisdom none of the others fit together. Without wisdom, none would be “perfections.” Wisdom is not the same as simple knowledge or understanding. When the Buddha recognizes the truth (the Dharma), that is wisdom. In wisdom, the Buddha’s person and the universal law (Dharma) are one. The state in which subjective character and objective truth merge into one is true wisdom.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month summarized The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we consider the eight hundred merits of the eye.

With their pure eyes given by their parents, these good men or women will be able to see all the mountains, forests, rivers and oceans inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, [each of which is composed of six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to see the living beings of those worlds, to know the karmas which those living beings are now doing and the region to which each of those living beings is destined to go by his karmas.”

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

Listen! I will tell you of the merits
Of those who fearlessly expound
To the great multitude
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

They will be able to obtain the excellent eyes
Adorned with eight hundred merits.
Their eyes will be pure
Because of this adornment.

With their eyes given by their parents,
They will be able to see Mt. Meru, Mt. Sumeru,
The Surrounding Iron Mountains,
And the other mountains,
And the forests, oceans and rivers
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.

They will be able to see the living beings
Of those worlds [each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
Although they have not yet obtained heavenly eyes,
They will be able to see all this
With their natural eyes.

See The Same Despite Apparent Differences

LS32, d3b, d4b, LS Introduction

The Same Despite Apparent Differences

Sakyamuni had numerous followers and believers. Because their social and educational backgrounds were so diverse, he expounded the law in various ways according to each individual’s background. Furthermore, as the level of their understanding also differed, the Buddha adjusted his ways of preaching accordingly. This approach is called the expedient method of teaching. It resulted in a variety of sutras. The teachings in these sutras were not necessarily the same. They were presented as expedients for one single purpose: to lead people to aspire to the same enlightenment as that of the Buddha. Because all of these expedients came out of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion, and were results of his desire to communicate the truth of his enlightenment, their fundamental idea must be one and the same despite their apparent differences.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month concluded Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we open Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva:

“The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind. They will be able to adorn and purify their six sense-organs with these merits.

See Purification of the Six Sense-Organs

LS32, d23b, LS Introduction

Purification of the Six Sense-Organs

The six sense-organs mean all the functions of body and mind. Practitioners of the Lotus Sutra will be able to purify their body and mind by this five-fold practice and enter into a state close to enlightenment. It is called the “purification of the six sense-organs.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month considered in gāthās rewards for 50th person to rejoice at hearing the Dharma, we conclude Chapter 18.

Anyone who persuades even a single person
To hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower
Of the Wonderful Dharma, saying:
“This sūtra is profound and wonderful.
It is difficult to meet it
Even during ten million kalpas,”
And causes him to go and hear it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:

In his future lives, he will have no disease of the mouth.
His teeth will not be few, yellow or black.
His lips will not be thick, shrunk or broken.
There will be nothing loathsome [on his lips].
His tongue will not be dry, black or short.
His nose will be high, long and straight.
His forehead will be broad and even.
His face will be handsome.
All people will wish to see him.
His breath will not be foul.
The fragrance of the utpala-flowers
Will always be emitted from his mouth.

Anyone who visits a monastery to hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
And rejoices at hearing it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:

He will be reborn among gods and men.
He will be able to go up to the palace of heaven,
Riding in a wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart,
Or in a palanquin of wonderful treasures.

Anyone who persuades others to sit and hear this sūtra
In the place where the Dharma is expounded,
Will be able to obtain the seat of Sakra or of Brahman
Or of a wheel-turning-holy-king by his merits.
Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sūtra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.

See The Merits of that First Moment of Joy

LS32, d23b, LS Introduction

The Merits of that First Moment of Joy

“Rejoicing” is the joy which one experiences when the significance of the Sutra first sinks in like a ray of light. When this ray of light first illuminates our soul, we have not yet undertaken any profound studies or done any difficult practices. But the merits of that first moment of joy are greater than those of any other practices we may undertake later. It is the hinge upon which everything else turns. This is the essential and most important point of [Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra]. Faith is simple; it is also decisive.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month considered rewards for other acts such as the person who causes even a single man to go and hear the Dharma, we continue in gāthās.

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

Suppose a man rejoices at hearing this sūtra
Or at hearing even a gāthā of it
In a congregation,
And expounds it to a second person.

The second person expounds it to a third person.
In this way it is heard by a fiftieth person.
Now I will tell you of the merits
Of the fiftieth person.

Suppose there was a great almsgiver.
He continued giving alms
To innumerable living beings
For eighty years according to their wishes.

Those living beings became old and decrepit.
Their hair became grey; their faces, wrinkled;
And their teeth, fewer and deformed.
Seeing this, he thought:
“I will teach them because they will die before long.
I will cause them to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.”

Then he expounded the truth of Nirvana to them
As an expedient, saying:
“This world is as unstable
As a spray of water,
Or as a foam, or as a filament of air.
Hate it, and leave it quickly!”

Hearing this teaching, they attained Arhatship,
And obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
And the eight emancipations.

The superiority of the merits of the fiftieth person
Who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā [of this sūtra]
To the merits of this [great almsgiver]
Cannot be explained by any parable or simile.

The merits of the [fiftieth] person
[Who hears this sūtra] are immeasurable.
Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person
Who rejoices at hearing it in the congregation.

See Moments of Joy

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month considered the 50th person’s reward for rejoicing at hearing the Sūtra, we consider rewards for other acts.

“Ajita! The merits of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma are immeasurable, limitless, asaṃkhya. Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person who rejoices at hearing [this sūtra] in the congregation. His merits are immeasurable, limitless, asaṃkhya and incomparable.

“Furthermore, Ajita! Anyone who goes to a monastery in order to hear this sūtra and hears it even for a moment while he is sitting or standing, in his next life will be able to go up to the palace of heaven, riding in a beautiful and wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart or in a palanquin of wonderful treasure by his merits. Anyone who, while sitting in the place of the expounding of the Dharma, persuades another per on to it down or shares his seat with him to hear [the Dharma] when he sees him coming to the place, in his next life by his merits, will be able to obtain the seal of King Sakra, of the Brahman Heavenly-King or of a wheel-turning-holy-king.

“Ajita! Anyone who[, while he is staying outside the place of the expounding of the Dharma,] says to another person, ‘Let us go and hear the sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which is being expounded [in that place],’ and cause him to hear it even for a moment, in his next life by his merit , will be able to live with the Bodhisattvas who obtain dharanis. He will be clever and wise. He will not be dumb throughout thousands of millions of his future existences. His breath will not be foul. He will have no disease of the tongue or the mouth. His teeth will not be defiled, black, yell w, few, fallen out, uneven or crooked. His lips will not be pendulous, shrunk, chapped, cracked, broken, distorted, thick, large, yellow-black or loathsome. His nose will not be flat or awry. His face will not be black, long, distorted or displeasing. His lips, tongue and teeth will be well-shaped; his nose, long, high and straight. His face will be full; his eyebrows, thick and long; and his forehead, broad and even. In a word, he will have all the good features of a man. He will be able to see the Buddhas, hear the Dharma from them, and receive their teachings by faith throughout his future existences.

“Ajita, look! The merits of the person who causes even a single man to go and hear the Dharma are so many. It is needless to speak of the merits of the person who hears [this sūtra] with all his heart, reads it, recites it, expounds it to the great multitude, and acts according to its teachings.

See The One Sutra with the Power to Save Everyone

LS32, d15b, LS Introduction

The One Sutra with the Power to Save Everyone

Many sutras other than this one contain excellent teachings for Bodhisattvas of great ability and “hearers” who abandon the world and join monastic brotherhoods or sisterhoods. However, such sutras are not suitable for ordinary people like us who have no special vocation or ability. The Lotus Sutra is suitable not only for great Bodhisattvas and ascetic Sravakas, as we might expect. This is for ordinary people who have no special abilities. This is the one Sutra with the power to save everyone.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

the Teaching of Equality