Tag Archives: LS30

LS32, WONS

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month received Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King’s dhārāni spells, we receive World-Holding Heavenly-King’s dhārāni spells.

Thereupon World-Holding Heavenly-King, accompanied by thousands of billions of nayutas of gandharvas who were surrounding him respectfully, came to the Buddha, joined his hands together, and said to him, “World-Honored One! I also will protect the keeper of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with dhārānis, with divine spells.”

Then he uttered spells,” Akyanei (1), kyanei (2), kuri (3), kendari (4), sendari (5), matōgi (6), jōguri (7), furoshani (8), atchi (9).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! These dhārānis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by four thousand and two hundred million Buddhas. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.”

Nichiren offers this on the Dhārāṇi chapter:

The Dhārāṇi chapter states that two bodhisattvas, two heavenly kings and ten female rākṣasa demons will protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. The two bodhisattvas are the Bodhisattva Medicine King and the Bodhisattva Brave Donor. The two heavenly kings are Vaiśravaṇa and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. The ten female rākṣasa demons are ten great demons, mothers of all demons in the four quarters of the world. Their mother is Hāriti.

They eat men after the custom of demons. A man’s body is composed of thirty-six substances such as excrement, urine, spittle, flesh, blood, skin, bone, five viscera and six entrails, hair, breath, and spirit. Inferior demons feed on excrement and the like. Mediocre demons feed on bones and the like. Superior demons feed on spiritual essence. The ten female rākṣasa demons have supreme qualities and thus feed on man’s spiritual essence. They are the great demons of epidemic.

Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady Nichinyo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4, Faith and Practice,
Page 134

LS32, WONS

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month received Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva’s dhārāni spells, we receive Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King’s dhārāni spells.

Thereupon Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! I also will utter dhārānis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of my compassion towards all living beings.”

Then he uttered spells, “Ari (1), nari (2), tonari (3), anaro (4), nabi (5), kunabi (6).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! I will protect this teacher of the Dharma with these divine spells. I also will protect the person who keeps this sūtra so that he may have no trouble within a hundred yojanas’ distance [from here].”

It is appropriate here to offer Nichiren’s understanding of the promise these spells entailed:

Life is fleeting! No matter how many powerful enemies join forces against you, do not retreat and never be afraid. Even if your head is sawed off, your torso pierced through with a spear, and your feet shackled and drilled with a gimlet, you should continue chanting “Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō” as long as you have life. If you die chanting it, Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe will immediately come flying, lead you by the hand or carry you on their shoulders to Mt. Sacred Eagle as they had promised at the assembly on Mt. Sacred Eagle. At that moment, two sages (Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Brave Donor), two heavenly kings (World Holding and Vaiśravaṇa), and ten female rākṣasa demons will protect you, upholders of the Lotus Sūtra, and various gods and deities will hold up a canopy over your head, wave banners, guard you, and certainly will send you to the Jeweled Land of Tranquil Light. Is not this the utmost happiness?

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 87-88

LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month received Medicine-King Bodhisattva’s dhārāni spells, we receive Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva’s dhārāni spells.

Thereupon Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! I also will utter dhārānis in order to protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If he keeps these dhārānis, this teacher of the Dharma will not have his weak points taken advantage of by any yakṣa, rākṣasa, pūtana, kṛtya, kumbhāṇḍa or hungry spirit.”

Then he uttered spells before the Buddha:

“Zarei (1), makazarei (2), ukki (3), mokki (4), arei (5), arahatei (6), netsureitei (7), netsureitahatei (8), ichini (9), ichini (10), shichini(11), netsureichini (12), netsurichihachi (13).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! These dhārānis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those Buddhas uttered them with joy. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.”

See Mystic Syllables

LS32, d30b, b4today

Mystic Syllables

This chapter declares how with mystic syllables nonhuman beings representing the spiritual world, who are deeply moved by the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, vow to protect the teachings and their preachers.

First two bodhisattvas, Medicine King and Courageous Giver, vow to guard and protect the preachers of the Lotus Sutra. Their vows are only to be expected, for these two bodhisattvas are the disciples and messengers of the Buddha. Next two Brahma heavenly kings, the Divine King Vaiśravaṇa and the Divine King Domain Holder, vow to protect the sutra. The vows of these two non-Buddhist divine kings signify that the Buddha’s teachings comprehend all other teachings and infuse religious life into them.

Following this, ten female rākṣasas and the Mother of Demon Sons vow to protect the Lotus Sutra. These female demons with one voice declared before the Buddha that if anyone harassed the preachers of the sutra, they would protect the preachers and rid them of such persecution. Their declaration bears witness to the fact that the Buddha-mind is found even in these demons. Conversely, the teachings of the Lotus Sutra can be said to have the power to enable even these demons to become buddhas.

Buddhism for Today, p389
LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Medicine-King Bodhisattva’s question, we receive his dhārāni spells.

Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha,

“World-Honored One! Now I will give dhārāni spells to the expounder of the Dharma’ in order to protect him.”

Then he uttered spells:

“Ani (1), mani (2), manei (3), mamanei (4), shirei (5), sharitei (6), shamya (7), shabi-tai (8), sentei (9), mokutei (10), mokutabi (11), shabi (12), aishabi (13), sōbi (14), shabi (15), shaei (16), ashaei (17), agini (18), sentei (19), shabi (20), darani (21 ), arokya-basai-ha habi-shani (22), neibitei (23), abentarancibitei (24), atantahareishudai(25), ukurei (26), mukurei (27), ararei (28), hararei (29), shukyashi (30), asammasambi (31), botsudabikirijittei (32), darumaharishitei (33), sōgyanekkushanei (34), bashabashashudai(35), mantara (36), manta ashayata (37), urntaurota (38), kyōsharya(39), ashara (40), ashay taya (41), abaro (42), amanyanataya (43).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! These dhārānis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by six thousand and two hundred million Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha praised Medicine-King Bodhisattva, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Medicine-King! You uttered these dhārānis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of your compassion towards him. You will be able to give many benefits to all living beings.”

See Five Kinds of Untranslatable Words

LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs, we begin again with Medicine-King Bodhisattva’s question:

Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva rose front his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and said to him:
“World-Honored One! How many merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read, recite, understand or copy the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”

The Buddha said to him:

“Suppose some good men or women make offerings to eight hundred billion nayuta Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges. What do you think of this? Are the merits given to them many or not?”

“Very many, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said: “More merits will be given to the good men or women who keep, read or recite· even a single gāthā of four lines of this sūtra, understand the meanings of it or act according to it.”

See The Workings of the Ten Rāksasis

LS32, d30b, WONS, 2buddhas

The Workings of the Ten Rāksasis

Nichiren saw the workings of the ten rāksasis in the events surrounding him, both great and small. He saw their roles as protecting Lotus devotees, occasionally testing their faith, aiding their practice, relieving their sufferings, and chastising those who obstruct their devotion. To a follower, the lay monk Myōmitsu, he wrote: “The ten rāksasis in particular have vowed to protect those who embrace the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore they must think of you and your wife as a mother does her only child … and safeguard you day and night.” To two new parents, the samurai Shijō Kingo and his wife, Nichiren wrote that the ten rāksasis would watch over their infant daughter, so that “wherever she may frolic or play, no harm will come to her; she will ‘travel fearlessly, like a lion king’.” He saw the protection of the ten rāksasis in the kindness of an elderly lay monk on Sado Island who had come to his aid, helping him to survive in exile, and in the devotion of a woman who had made him a robe to shield him from the cold in the recesses of Mount Minobu. Their protection was further evident to him in the fact that he had been able to escape unscathed from an attack on his dwelling in Kamakura and survived other threats as well. To two brothers whose father had threatened to disinherit them on account of their faith in the Lotus Sūtra, he suggested: “Perhaps the ten rāksasis have possessed your parents and are tormenting you in order to test your resolve.” He also asserted that the ten rāksasis, along with other deities, had induced the Mongol ruler to attack Japan to chastise its people for abandoning the Lotus Sūtra.

Two Buddhas, p247
LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month met the ten rākṣasas and the Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants, we conclude Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs.

The Buddha said to the rākṣasas:

“Excellent, excellent! Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Needless to say, so will be your merits when you protect the person who keeps the sūtra itself, and makes to a copy of this sūtra hundreds of thousands of offerings such as flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, streamers, canopies, music, and various lamps like lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of sumanas-flower oil, lamps of campaka flower oil, lamps of vārṣika-flower oil, and lamps of utpala-flower oil. Kunti! You [rākṣasas] and your attendants should protect this teacher of the Dharma.”

When the Buddha expounded this chapter of Dhārānis, sixty-eight thousand people obtained the truth of birthlessness.

See The Protection of the Ten Rāksasis

LS32, d30b, WONS, 2buddhas

The Protection of the Ten Rāksasis

Nichiren’s own writings … give less attention to Kishimojin than to the ten rāksasis, whom he mentions more than fifty times. Unlike such bodhisattvas as Bhaiṣajyarāja, Gadgadasvara, and Avalokiteśvara of the immediately preceding chapters, whom he understood to have been active chiefly in the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma ages, the ten demon women were, in Nichiren’s understanding, presently active on behalf of Lotus devotees and devising plans to facilitate the sūtra’s spread. Toward the end of the present chapter, the Buddha praises them, saying, “Splendid, splendid! You protect those who preserve the name of the Lotus Sūtra! Your merit is immeasurable.” In the sūtra, the Buddha goes on to say that the merit of protecting those who serve the sūtra in various other ways is greater still. For Nichiren, however, the passage just quoted underscored the overriding importance of the daimoku:

QUESTION: What proof is there that one should embrace the name of the Lotus Sūtra, in particular, in the same way that people embrace the name of a buddha?

ANSWER: The sūtra states, “The Buddha said to the rāksasis, ‘Splendid, splendid! You protect those who preserve the name of the Lotus Sūtra! Your merit is immeasurable’ (322). This passage means that, when the ten rāksasis vowed to protect those who embrace the title of the Lotus Sūtra, the world-honored one of great enlightenment praised them, saying, “Splendid! Splendid! The merit you will receive for protecting those who accept and uphold Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō will be incalculable and marvelous!” This passage implies that, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, we living beings should chant Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō.

Elsewhere, Nichiren interprets the same sūtra passage to stress the unfathomable benefits of the chanting the daimoku: “This merit [deriving from the vow of the ten rāksasis] to protect those who embrace the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is beyond even the reach of the buddha wisdom, which perfectly comprehends the past, present, and future. One might think that nothing could exceed the grasp of the buddha wisdom, but the Buddha here declares that the merit accruing from accepting and upholding the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the one thing alone that it cannot fathom.”

Two Buddhas, p245-246
LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered World-Holding Heavenly-King’s offering, we meet the ten rākṣasas and the Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants.

There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings. These ten rākṣasas [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

Then they uttered spells before the Buddha:

“Ideibi (1), ideibin (2), ideibi (3), adeibi ( 4), ideibi (5), deibi (6), deibi (7), deibi (8), deibi (9), deibi (10), rokei (11), rokei (12), rokei (13), rokei (14), takei (15), takei (16), takei (17), tokei (18), tokei (19).”

[They said to the Buddha:]

“Anyone may step on our heads, but shall not trouble this teacher of the Dharma. Neither shall any yakṣa, rākṣasa, hungry spirit, pūtana, kṛtya, vetāda, kumbhāṇḍa, umāraka, apasmāraka, yakṣa-kṛtya or human kṛtya. Neither shall anyone who causes others to suffer from a fever for a day, two days, three days, four days, seven days or forever. Neither shall anyone who takes the shape of a man, a woman, a boy or a girl and appears in his dream.”

Then they sang in gāthās before the Buddha:

Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [ are split].

Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Saṃgha.

Having sung these gāthās, the rākṣasas said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, and acts according to it so that he may be peaceful, that he may have no trouble, and that poison taken by him may be neutralized.”

See Kishimojin and the Ten Rāksasis