If study is not followed with prayer and prayer not followed by action then the study is merely an intellectual indulgence. If the only response to our study is to hold that information inside, keeping solely for one’s own benefit, then the message of the Lotus Sutra has not fully been realized. The Buddha says teach others, cause others to experience joy and benefit them. How is it possible to say one believes in the Lotus Sutra and then not be moved to action?
Physician's Good MedicineQuotes
The Realm
Another group of categories, to explain life in group (dhdtu) is threefold: the stage on which a certain group of beings play their role and manifest their nature; the constituents which supply materials and components to the stage; and the individuals making up the realm.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetThe Bodhisattva Practice
There is not a separate sravaka practice, not a separate Pratyekabuddha practice, and not a separate bodhisattva practice. … [A]ll those who aspire to enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas should embrace the Bodhisattva practice of saving all beings. What this means for those who were practicing already as bodhisattvas is they also should embrace sravaka and Pratyekabuddha practices and not view themselves as different. As we work to help others we are instructed to not neglect our own life condition and circumstances.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraBeyond the Six Worlds
The Buddha also saw beyond the Six Worlds. He realized that it was possible to transcend these states and become free of both the suffering of the four lower worlds and the limited happiness of both the human and heavenly realms. The Buddha wished to share with others the ultimate happiness of the state of Buddhahood itself. However, be knew that most people would have trouble even imagining such a state, and that even fewer would have the confidence in themselves or in the Buddha to try to attain such a state. In order to help us, the Buddha provided many preparatory teachings so we could better understand our lives, free ourselves of suffering and attain the confidence to realize our own Buddhahood.
Lotus SeedsWishing to See the Buddha
In the prose section of the Juryo (16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra we find the phrase “lsshin Yok-ken butsu, Fuji Shaku Shin’myo” which means “sincerely wishing to see the Buddha, one does not hold back his life.” These final passages clearly show that our determination, understanding, devotion and refuge must all rise in a sincere and non-selfish manner, and through earnest faith and practice.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge KyoRealizing Our Innate Buddha Condition
As we learn in the ‘Parable of the Rich Man and his Son’ told in Chapter IV the son did not know the rich man was his father he had left many years before. The son did not know he was heir to great wealth and fortune.
Over many years the father gradually raised up the condition of the son, teaching him and training him in the ways of the household. Eventually as the father nears his death and the son has been successfully managing the entire fortune for the old man, the old man reveals that he is none other than the father of the young man who will now inherit the entire estate.
In this parable the rich man represents the Buddha and the poor son represents us. We are naturally endowed, with Buddhahood; it is our natural condition, yet we do not realize it. The Buddha in his compassion to make us equal to him slowly guides and instructs us thereby elevating our life to the point where we can eventually realize our innate Buddha condition.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1The Bodhisattvas from Underground
The Bodhisattvas who arose in Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, did not go to the Buddha and say, “What will you give us?” They went to the Buddha and asked him how he was, if he was in good health, and if he was well enough to teach. They did not sit and wait for things to come to them. They vowed to spread the Lotus Sutra in this Saha world. They promised the Buddha that they would work tirelessly to teach others no matter the difficulty they faced.
Physician's Good MedicineVacuity
Vacuity, according to Tendai, means nothing but the non-being of a particular existence apart from the universal Dhammata. We speak of this or that thing or substance, quality or condition, and think it to be a reality, in and by itself. Nothing is more erroneous than this, because we know that nothing in this world, visible or tangible, exists without causal nexus. It is a Dhamma, a thing or condition, because it is a manifestation of the Dhamma, the law of causation. Vacuity does not mean the voidness of any existence in itself, but vanity of the view that sees in it a reality apart from the fundamental Dhammata.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetThe Prism Effect
For me relating to the Lotus Sutra from different perspectives gives me different understandings. It is kind of like the way a prism causes a beam of bright white light to scatter into a rainbow of colors. So too, using different prisms to look at the Lotus Sutra I think you get a different perspective and a different way of understanding. At least that is what I hope I can convey to you.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Six Worlds
According to the Buddha, there are Six Worlds, or basic states of existence, that we can experience from moment to moment and even from lifetime to lifetime. These are the worlds or the hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting demons, human beings, and the heavenly beings. Depending upon the positive or negative causes we make, the very nature of our body, mind, and environment can change to resemble one or more of these worlds. When we give in to despair or unreasoning hatred we experience life as hellish. When we are so dominated by selfish craving that we can never get enough of what we desire, then we are in the half-alive state of a hungry ghost. When we live only for immediate gratification and ignore the consequences of our actions, then we have become like animals who live only by instinct. When we puff ourselves up with pride and compete with others for money, power or sex, then we have become like fighting demons. When we are able to act reasouably and are not overwhelmed by pleasure or paain, then we are in the basic state of a human being. On those rare occasion when our desires are temporarily fulfilled and we are in a state of joyful harmony and wellbeing, then we are experiencing the heavenly realms. These different states are ever-changing and flow from one to the next.
Lotus Seeds