As I have said, the “Instruction of the Seven Buddhas” is a compendium of Buddhist teachings on practical faith. To understand it accurately, it is important to take into consideration the discrepancy between the Chinese translation, which is the version that passed into Japan, and the original Pali version. In Chinese, the stanza is couched in the imperative: Commit no evil; do all that is good; purify your mind; this is the teaching of all the Buddhas. The Pali version (Dhammapada 183), on the other hand, is not in the imperative mode: To do no evil, to do all good, and to purify one’s own mind are the teachings of all the Buddhas. In the Chinese reading, the teaching is no more than ordinary morality. In the Pali, however, it is a lofty teaching of free and autonomously chosen ethical morality. (Page 160-161)
The Beginnings of BuddhismQuotes
Chih-i’s Middle Way
Chih-i’s Middle Way is more concerned with the legacy of the doctrine of the Mean (Chung-yung) related to harmony. Harmony means that all things are integrated and interactively existent. Li Honglei states that the essence of harmony refers to various elements which exist simultaneously and complement each other. Harmony is what the Mean strives to reach: “holding the middle in order to reach harmony” (Chih-chung I-chih-ho). The concept of the Mean in Han Confucianism … is enriched with a new perspective, which concerns the oneness as the centralizing force of government. If we look at the concept of the Middle Way in Chih-i ‘s system, it signifies these two aspects as well. On the one hand, the Middle Way as the method of perceiving truth is to synthesize two extreme views of holding onto either emptiness or the provisional existence. This aspect in fact functions as the force of reconciling differences, whereby everything is acknowledged as valid in its relation to other things, and they can harmoniously exist complimenting each other. From this indication of the Middle Way, we discern that the way of looking at all existing things as a harmonious unity underlines Chinese episteme. On the other hand, the Middle Way as the principle represents the Ultimate Truth of Buddhahood. That is, all entities or dharmas are embraced by this One Truth. This is to advocate the oneness as the supremacy. Although all things are affirmed as valid, the superiority of the oneness cannot be denied, for not only the One Ultimate Truth (I-shih-ti) is the only reality that all things share, but also the ultimate goal of Buddhahood is to gain insight into this reality. (Page 162)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismPractical Faith
Since ordinary people are often incapable of comprehending profound doctrines, it is desirable to establish a minimum of essential theory that anyone can understand and then to help that understanding develop gradually. In his own time, Shakyamuni adjusted his teachings to the personalities of his audiences and employed expedient faith and expedient teachings centered on actual practice. It is important to remember that all of the various Buddhist doctrines are in effect examinations of the same basic issues from different viewpoints and are intimately related to practical faith. (Page 160)
The Beginnings of BuddhismProvisional Teaching
In the Lotus Sutra, … bodhisattvas come from ideal worlds to hear the Dharma and volunteer to teach the Lotus Sutra in this world after the Buddha’s extinction. They represent those who cultivate the Six Perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom over many lifetimes in order to attain buddhahood. These bodhisattvas also assume that Shakyamuni Buddha only attained enlightenment within his current lifetime, and that his current buddhahood was the culmination of many eons of spiritual cultivation. … So in the context of the Lotus Sutra, these bodhisattvas represent a provisional teaching regarding the relationship between Bodhisattva Practice and buddhahood.
The Relation of One with Many
Chih-i ‘s sinification of Buddhism is reflected in the theme of the One Buddha-vehicle. This theme that is adhered by Chih-i throughout his work is about the relation of one with many. Although many are indispensable, the one is to be aimed at. This is to say that various doctrines in the teaching of the Buddha are necessary in terms of suiting various abilities of living beings, but one has to bear in mind that all these doctrines serve to lead beings to eventually attain the One Buddha-vehicle. The concept of oneness as the ultimate goal that unifies multitudes is prominent in Chinese thought. In the Book of Changes, a similar expression of this theme concerning oneness is also delivered:
“In the world there are many different roads but the destination is the same. There are a hundred deliberations but the result is one.”
The philosophy of Wang Pi is also concerned with the oneness, but this oneness is identified with nothingness, and is taken by Wang Pi as the force unifying myriad things in the universe. We are reminded that the Ultimate Truth as the One Buddha-vehicle in Chih-i’s theory functions as the unifying force under which the Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva) are united. (Page 159)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismInspiring Belief
People today hesitate to chant the old formulas or meditate in the Zen fashion without understanding what relations these acts have to human life in general. Lack of religious leaders capable of convincing people of the value of such simple acts of faith aggravates the situation. Nonetheless, the sound theoretical basis of Buddhism can inspire belief in these acts even today when few people approve of trusting without questioning.
The Beginnings of BuddhismHell
What is Hell? There are eight major levels of Hell which people can go to, depending on how unenlightened they were when they were alive. …
- Tokatsu Hell is for prisoners who abused husbands, wives, children and animals.
- Kuronawa Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings, were thieves or committed suicide.
- Shugo Hell is for prisoners who had love affairs or who committed acts of carnal desire.
- Kyokan Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings, told lies, drank alcohol, or made someone drunk and caused them to commit a crime.
- Dai-Kyokan Hell is for prisoners who told lies, and those who drove or lead someone to commit a crime.
- Shonetsu Hell is for prisoners who had evil ideas, tempted someone to commit a crime, and wished to be reborn in Heaven through suicide-death.
- Dai-Shonetsu Hell is for prisoners who killed living things, committed evil sexual acts, drank alcohol, told lies, or wounded a Buddhist.
- Mugen Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings in the order of a grave karma killing their mother, father, a minister and/or wounding the Buddha. This Hell is also for people who ruined a Buddhist temple and the Sangha, and denied the teaching of Buddhism.
Chih-i’s Perfect and Harmonizing Philosophy
By elaborating the relation between the Origin as the Ultimate and the Traces as the Relative—the two divisions that constitute the Lotus Sūtra, the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra is developed coherently according to these two divisions. By stating that the Origin is the cause for the manifestation of the Traces, and the Traces are the effect derived from the Origin, the connections among the Ten Subtleties, the Five Sections, the Four Siddhāntas, and the Four Teachings are revealed. This revelation demonstrates the systematic nature of Chih-i’s theory that is coherent and consistent, embodying once more his perfect and harmonizing philosophy. (Page 150)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismTheoretical Foundations and Faith
The Buddhist sects that developed in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1336)–notably the Jōdo sect, the Zen sects, and the Nichiren sect–are characteristically Japanese. They manifest a lofty purity and a penetration into the true spirit of Buddhism that are difficult to find elsewhere in the history of the religion. In these sects, simple acts like chanting formulas in praise of Amida Buddha or the Lotus Sutra or like seated meditation are considered sufficient for salvation in themselves without philosophizing or theoretical inquiries. But this does not mean that these sects lack theoretical foundations. Quite to the contrary, their founders evolved direct and clear acts of practical faith–chanting and meditation–after profound and extensive scholarly research. The ordinary man is not required to perform such research for himself: he need only follow the directions of his religious leader. Indeed, in these sects, theoretical study and speculation are forbidden as hindrances to practical faith. (Page 159-160)
The Beginnings of BuddhismOur Assurance of Enlightenment
Our world is a difficult world in which to practice the Lotus Sutra and to attain Buddhahood. Yet of all the disciples of the Buddha, we the practitioners in this latter age of the degeneration of the Dharma and at a time so distant from the life of the Buddha, we are the only ones who have been assured of enlightenment in this world.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra