The awakened life of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha is the awakened life of all beings throughout time and space. It is also actively present in our lives, a presence that enables us to live as buddhas when we open ourselves to the Buddha’s merits and virtues through our faith in the Lotus Sutra.
Lotus SeedsQuotes
Death
The suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death are facts of everyone’s lives. No matter how developed science may become or how far medicine may advance, these cannot be avoided. Buddhism teaches, however, that when a person discovers that he or she exists within the life of the Eternal Buddha and can perceive the great stream of life flowing endlessly from the past through the present and into the future, he or she will escape the suffering that these events normally cause.
Awakening to the LotusTo Save the World, Save One Another
The [Buddhist] reformers held that by overemphasizing questions of existence and karma (the results of actions, causality), the Abhidharma Buddhists had taken as their ideal an escapist nirvana without residue (emancipation from existence) divorced from the affairs of the world. This ran counter to the Buddha’s message, reiterated throughout his long ministry, that all beings are interrelated and must therefore strive to save the world by saving one another. The Buddha’s life – as well as his previous lives as a bodhisattva – had been single-mindedly oriented toward the salvation of others. He sought to achieve this goal, which is the bodhisattva ideal, by performing the six practices known as the Perfections (giving, observing the precepts, patience, striving, meditation, and wisdom) no matter what danger or discomfort this entailed.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
Awakening to Ichinen Sanzen
Grand Master T’ien-tai awakened to Ichinen Sanzen by practicing spiritual contemplation and insight. He may have meditated while thinking something like, “I was born from my parents. If my parents did not exist, I wouldn’t have existed. In other words, my parents are living in my life. If I trace back my family, there are immeasurable lives living in myself. Not only that but also I have been taken care by innumerable people since I was born. The meals that I ate today are great merits of many farmers’ hard labor. Because of those people, I am able to live my life today. In other words, the lives of those people also exist in my life. We are living in the world based on the culture that was created by people in the past. It means that people in the past who created the culture also live in my life. Not only human but also because of nature such as grass and trees, water and air, and the sun and land, my life has been maintained. However, people in Mappō do not have the same ability as T’ien-tai to awaken to Ichinen Sanzen. Attaining Buddhahood is limited only with Ichinen Sanzen. Following this logic, we wouldn’t be able to attain Buddhahood. With this point as his ultimate conclusion, Säkyamuni Buddha offered us the Odaimoku with his great compassion.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuThe Ten Worlds and Ten Stages of Enlightenment
The Ten Worlds of Living Beings are as follow:
- The World of Buddhas
- Wise Ones (or Bodhisattvas)
- Those converted by Buddha’s Voice.
- Those who perceive (the Twelve) Causes
- Devas
- Human Beings
- Evil Spirits, or Asuras
- Beasts
- Hungry Devils, or Pretas
- Infernal Beings
These worlds, considered with reference to their degrees of enlightenment, are thus described:
- The State of Mind where Virtue and Wisdom have been fully attained.
- The State of Mind where one can save both himself and others from evil of all kinds.
- The State of Mind where one saves himself only, and without effort.
- The State of Mind where one saves himself only, but at the cost of great effort.
- The State of Mind where one merely enjoys pleasure.
- The State of Mind where one acts well for the sake of acting well.
- The State of Mind where one acts well for the sake of one’s own fame and interest.
- The State of Mind where one is a fool, and is not ashamed of it.
- The State of Mind where one is covetous and sordid.
- The State of Mind where one is lawless and hard-hearted.
Being a Bodhisattva Who Arose From Beneath the Ground
The Bodhisattvas who arose from beneath the ground are none other than ourselves, if we open ourselves up to realizing it. But the realization is not just a mental acceptance of such information. It is deeper. It occurs on a different plane from intellect. In order to be those Bodhisattvas we need to manifest that condition, draw it out of who and what we are in this life. There are not two separate entities, self and Bodhisattva from beneath the earth, however it is up to us to unify them in body and mind, in action and in word.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1The Union of Religious Ideals and National Life
The union of religious ideals and national life thus proclaimed, expounded, and carried out by the prince, became once for all the aim of the greatest Buddhists and the aspiration of the best statesmen in Japan. Through the broad vision and high idealism of his leadership, Buddhism was able to influence the Japanese extensively and profoundly; it was largely due to Buddhist inspiration that the wise prince was able to handle successfully the difficult situations of his government and to lead his people to a high level of culture and spiritual edification.
History of Japanese ReligionA Concrete Aid to Our Own Practice of Buddhism
[Gohonzons] are only expressions of the focus of devotion; the true focus of devotion is the Eternal Buddha transmitting the Wonderful Dharma to us in the depths of our lives. While statues and mandalas can be helpful, they cannot magically grant us enlightenment, nor do they have any other kind of power for us or over us except as a concrete aid to our own practice of Buddhism. We should not become obsessed or dependent upon them, no matter what they represent or what state of life they are expressing. The bottom line is our own practice and realization. The true focus of devotion is in the depths of our lives.
Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the GohonzonHealing Suffering With Suffering
We were born with a seed of Buddha-nature, but we haven’t yet awakened the seed by ourselves. Therefore, when we have troubles, we try to resolve anger with anger. When we are suffering, we try to heal the suffering with more suffering. We are pitiful because of ignorance. We need the teaching of enlightenment. We should awaken the seed of Buddha-nature in our minds, make the seed sprout and cultivate the Buddha-nature, because our spirits can be purified through individual enlightenments.
Spring WritingsThe Buddha’s Awakened Life
During the Ceremony in the Air, Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he did not attain awakening for the first time beneath the Bodhi Tree. He told his startled disciples that his Buddhahood was attained in the infinite past. Ultimately, the Buddha’s awakened life transcends the distinctions between beginning and end, subject and object, or self and other. It defies all categories and cannot be thought of or imagined. It can, however, be experienced when we awaken to these same immeasurable qualities in our own lives by upholding the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
Lotus Seeds