Category Archives: Universal Sage

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: Emerging from the Specialized Focus of Mind

Having last month considered envisioning Śākyamuni Buddha at Mount Vulture Peak, we consider the instructions for the purification of the six sense faculties.

At this time Universal Sage Bodhisattva will also emit a beam of light from between his eyebrows – the sign of a great person – and send it into the practitioner’s mind. After the light has entered his or her mind, the practitioner will remember that he or she accepted, kept faith with, recited, and internalized the Great Vehicle sutras in the presence of countless hundreds of thousands of buddhas in the past. As if possessing the wondrous faculty of remembrance of former states of existence, the practitioner clearly and completely perceives his or her former selves. Experiencing a sudden flash of great awakening, he or she attains a Dharma-grasping empowerment of interaction and exchange and access to a hundred thousand myriad koṭis of other Dharma-grasping empowerments.

Emerging from the specialized focus of mind, the practitioner will perceive, in front of him- or herself, all the emanated buddhas sitting on lion seats beneath numerous jewel trees. He or she will also perceive soil of lapis lazuli, resembling clusters of lotus flowers, springing up from the space below the ground. Between each flower are untold countless numbers of bodhisattvas sitting in the lotus posture. The practitioner will also discern bodhisattvas emanated from Universal Sage giving praise to the Great Vehicle within their own assemblies.

Then, with one voice, the bodhisattvas will instruct the practitioner on the purification of the six sense faculties.

One instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Buddha!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Dharma!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Sangha!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of your attitude toward the behavioral principles!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful to have consideration for others!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful that blissful conditions exist!

Becoming mindful in these six ways constitutes the aspiration for enlightenment and gives birth to bodhisattvas! Now, therefore, face the buddhas, avow your past wrongdoings, and sincerely undertake self-amendment!

See Little Gems of Stories

800years, Universal Sage, Blog

800 Years: Repentant Faith

When I began this project I didn’t know I would include a chapter-by-chapter review of what the Threefold Lotus Sutra teaches about faith. But now, as I finish that review, I can’t imagine having done this any other way. The Lotus Sutra is the great encouragement for today. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“It is not known when and by whom this sutra, the so-called closing sutra of the Lotus Sutra, was first recited. The first man to do so, however, was surely a great person. This is because the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue is so profound that it is considered to be the continuation of the Buddha’s preaching of the Lotus Sutra, and because it teaches us how we should actually apply the Lotus Sutra in our daily lives. This method is repentance. The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue teaches us the true meaning and method of repentance so thoroughly that it is commonly called ‘the Sutra of Repentance.’ ”

Buddhism for Today, p423

In his Introduction to Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano explains that people who study the Lotus Sutra can feel that there is a great divide between the ideal taught and the reality of our daily lives.

“We are greatly encouraged when we read the Lotus Sutra, grasp the true meaning of the sermons that Sakyamuni preached during his lifetime, and realize that we can attain the same state of mind as the Buddha through practicing his teachings. However, the fact is that in our daily lives we are continually troubled with suffering and distress, and we are continually seized by desires of one kind or another. For this reason, we are apt to become disheartened and forget the valuable lessons of the sutra.

“Although we understand theoretically that we can become buddhas, we do not know how to rid ourselves of our illusions; our minds are liable to be covered with a dark cloud of illusion. Repentance means the sweeping away of such dark clouds, and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue teaches the way to do this.

Buddhism for Today, pxxvii

It is important to keep in mind that what Nikkyō Niwano and Universal Sage say about repentance is not the repentance of remorse or contrition or self-condemnation common in other religions. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“[R]epentance is to learn the teaching of the Great-vehicle and to practice it. Repentance means not compromising with oneself, not having a lukewarm or equivocal attitude, but polishing one’s buddha-nature by gradually removing illusions and defilements from one’s mind. The practice of repentance consists in the bodhisattva practice, through which one not only polishes his buddha-nature but also renders service to others. Repentance is an indispensable requisite of religious life. It is to be hoped that all people will repeatedly read and recite this sutra on repentance, realize its essence, and put it into practice in their daily lives.”

Buddhism for Today, p459-460

Repentant faith carries us to the ultimate, supreme enlightenment.

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800years, Universal Sage, Blog

800 Years: The Blossoming of Faith

Much of my discussion of faith and the Lotus Sutra this year has involved little more pulling quotes from books I’ve read and splicing them together with my observations. The goal has been to use the books I’ve studied in order to recall and relearn aspects of faith and practice. As I said at the start, “I have done this to perfume my own mind.”

Here’s an example. In all my times through the Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage I didn’t understand the symbolism until I read Nikkyō Niwano, Buddhism for Today:

“Another description reads: ‘On the trunk of the elephant there is a flower, and its stalk is the color of a red pearl. That golden flower is still a bud and has not yet blossomed.’ This symbolizes the state in which one’s faith is not perfect, like a flower bud, and in which one has not yet attained enlightenment. However, if one is aware of this state, further repents his sins, and pursues wholeheartedly the bodhisattva practice, he will be able to see the flower of faith instantly blossom and shine with a golden color.”

Buddhism for Today, p429

Looking at the text in this light allows real appreciation. The same is true for this quote about how our Buddha nature revealed by the Lotus Sutra is a gem cherished in the Contemplation of Universal Sage:

“Immediately after it is mined, a gemstone is covered with mud and does not display its true brilliance. It does not disclose its nature as an invaluable gem until the mud is washed off. Washing the mud from the gem is like the first stage of repentance. The surface of our buddha-nature is covered with various illusions acquired in the course of our daily lives. Through repentance we remove such illusions from our buddha-nature, just as water washes the mud from a precious stone.

“Repentance toward others is the first stage of repentance. We must pass through this stage, but as our faith deepens, eventually we come to repent all our sins directly toward the Buddha. We examine ourselves as being imperfect and mistaken, study the Buddha’s teachings more deeply, meditate on Buddhist doctrines, and elevate ourselves ever higher. This is the secret principle of repentance; this is true repentance.

“This second stage of repentance is the practice through which we constantly polish the gem of our buddha-nature. A gem does not reveal its brilliance even after the mud has been washed from it. Its surface is coated with mineral deposits, and it cannot display its intrinsic brilliance until polishing removes such impurities from its surface. The same thing can be said of our buddha-nature. The second stage of repentance is the practice by which we polish our buddha-nature.

Buddhism for Today, p423-424

I had lost sight of this image of polishing my buddha-nature and recalling it now during the course of this journey underscores why I took on this yearlong goal.

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800years, Universal Sage, Blog

800 Years: Contemplation of the Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva

As the late Rev. Ryusho Jeffus points out in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra, “Nichiren teaches that faith comes from practice and study.” The three are the legs of the stool we sit upon before the Gohonzon. The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva is a manual for putting our faith in the Lotus Sutra into practice.

At the start of the sutra, Ānanda, Mahākāśyapa and Maitreya address the Buddha:

“ ‘World-honored One! After you have passed away, O Tathāgata, how do living beings produce the bodhisattva mind, practice in accordance with the comprehensive sutras of the Great Vehicle, and, with right mindfulness, bring their thoughts into the realm of one reality? How do they avoid losing sight of the aspiration for ultimate enlightenment? Moreover, without cutting off worldly passions and without abandoning the five desires, how do they achieve purity of the sense faculties and eliminate accumulated impurities? Without giving up the five desires, how can they still become capable of seeing events and things free from encumbrance with the pure natural eyes received from their parents at birth?’

“The Buddha addressed Ānanda:

“ ‘Hear me clearly, and consider this well! In the past, on Mount Vulture Peak and at other places, the Tathāgata has already expounded the one genuine path from many perspectives. And now, at this place, for the benefit of all living beings in the future who wish to follow the Supreme Way that is the Great Vehicle—and who wish to learn and follow the practice of Universal Sage, I will now expound the method for that, which I have kept in mind.’ ”

What does this practice involve?

“[I]nternalize the Great Vehicle sutras, recite the Great Vehicle sutras, reflect on the Great Vehicle’s principle, be mindful of the Great Vehicle’s application, revere and render service to those who keep faith with the Great Vehicle, regard all people in the same manner as buddhas would regard them, and regard each living thing in the same manner as would a mother or father.”

We are told in the Sutra of the Contemplation of Universal Sage that this is the same practice that all Buddhas have performed:

“When our aspiration for enlightenment was awakened in the past, we all supremely endeavored to never lose sight of it, in the very same manner as you. These Great Vehicle sutras are the buddhas’ treasury, the essence of past, present, and future buddhas in all of the ten directions, and the seed from which the tathāgatas of the past, present, and future come forth.”

And through our study and practice and especially our faith we are rewarded:

“One who keeps faith with these sutras is an embodiment of a buddha and is one who does a buddha’s work. You should know that such a person is an ambassador of the buddhas, is clothed in the garments of the buddhas, the World-honored Ones, and is a true and genuine Dharma successor of the buddha tathāgatas.”

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LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: Envisioning Śākyamuni Buddha at Mount Vulture Peak

Having last month considered r the words of praise from the innumerable buddhas, we consider envisioning Śākyamuni Buddha at Mount Vulture Peak.

Through the power of the Great Vehicle, words of praise will resound in the air:

“Well done, you of good intent! Well done! You practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle! Your capacity to perceive buddhas is a beneficial effect of that cause! But even though you have now gained perception of buddhas, the World-honored Ones, you are not yet capable of perceiving Śākyamuni Buddha, the buddhas that emanate from him, or the stupa of the buddha Many-Treasures.”

After hearing the voice in the air, the practitioner will again devotedly internalize and master the Great Vehicle sutras. As a result of internalizing the comprehensive Great Vehicle sutras, the practitioner soon envisions Śākyamuni Buddha in great assemblies at Mount Vulture Peak teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra and discoursing on the meanings of the one reality. After being taught, the practitioner will do self-amendment; then, reverentially wishing to see him, the practitioner will face toward Mount Vulture Peak, formally kneel, place his or her palms together, and say:

“O Tathāgatha, Hero of the Universe, you are always present in the world: Out of compassion for me, reveal yourself to me for my sake!”

After saying these words, the practitioner will perceive Mount Vulture Peak composed of the seven precious metals and gems, monks and śrāvakas with countless others together in a great assembly, rows of jewel trees lining level jewel ground on which a magnificent jeweled lion seat has been arranged, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits from between his eyebrows a beam of light that passes through the innumerable worlds of the ten directions and illuminates worlds everywhere in the universe. From everywhere this light reaches in the ten directions, the buddhas that emanated from Śākyamuni gather together at one time into a great assembly, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each emanated buddha has a body that is purple-gold in color and boundless in size, each sits on a lion seat, and each has a retinue of countless thousands of millions of great bodhisattvas. Each bodhisattva follows the same practice as Universal Sage; it is like this as well in the bodhisattva retinues of all of the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions.

After gathering together, the great assembly sees Śākyamuni Buddha send forth golden-colored rays of light from the pores of his entire body. Thousands of millions of manifested buddha forms are present in each of these rays of light. The emanated buddhas will emit a beam of light from the white curl between their eyebrows – the sign of a great person; these beams will stream into the top of Śākyamuni Buddha’s head. When they see this condition, the emanated buddhas will then send forth golden-colored rays of light from all the pores of their bodies. Countless manifested buddha forms, as many as all the grains of sand in the Ganges River, will also be present in each of these rays of light.

See Seeing the Buddhas Emanated from Śākyamuni

LS32, Universal Sage

Between 32 and Day 1: Praise from Innumerable Buddhas

Having last month considered how Universal Sage Bodhisattva will help the practitioner and the specialized focus of mind the practitioner will attain, we consider the words of praise from the innumerable buddhas.

Having attained purification of the six sense faculties, the practitioner’s body and mind become joyful and free of unwholesome elements. Giving full devotion to this method, he or she will be in full accord with the Dharma. The practitioner will also gain a further hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of Dharma-grasping empowerments of interaction and exchange, and he or she will once again perceive a hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of innumerable buddhas far and wide. Each of these World-honored Ones will extend their right hand, gently stroke the practitioner’s head, and say:

“Well done! Well done, Great Vehicle practitioner – you who aspires to the fully composed mind, you who are mindful of the Great Vehicle! When our aspiration for enlightenment was awakened in the past, we all supremely endeavored to never lose sight of it, in the very same manner as you. Because we practiced in accordance with the Great Vehicle throughout previous existences, we have now become the embodiments of purity and full enlightenment. You should also practice diligently now, and do not be remiss!

“These Great Vehicle sutras are the buddhas’ treasury, the essence of past, present, and future buddhas in all of the ten directions, and the seed from which the tathāgatas of the past, present, and future come forth. One who keeps faith with these sutras is an embodiment of a buddha and is one who does a buddha’s work. You should know that such a person is an ambassador of the buddhas, is clothed in the garments of the buddhas, the World-honored Ones, and is a true and genuine Dharma successor of the buddha tathāgatas. Practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle, and do not sever yourself from the seed of Dharma! Now, focus your contemplation on the buddhas of the east!”

When these words are spoken, the practitioner will immediately perceive all of the innumerable worlds in the eastern direction. The lands are as level as the palm of a hand, with neither hills, nor mounds, nor brambles; and the ground is [composed of] lapis lazuli, with boundaries made of gold. Worlds in all directions will be successively perceived as being similar to this.

Immediately after having seen these lands, the practitioner will behold a jewel tree that wondrously stands five thousand yojanas tall. The tree is composed of the seven precious metals and gems, and it continually produces white silver and gold. At the base of the tree, a jeweled lion seat spontaneously appears: it is twenty yojanas in height, and the brilliant lights of one hundred jewels are radiating from above it. There are other trees with other jeweled seats similar to this. Five hundred white elephants spontaneously appear by each of the jeweled seats, and the bodhisattva Universal Sage is atop each one. The practitioner will then pay homage to the numerous Universal Sage Bodhisattvas and say:

“What impurities do I have that I perceive jewel lands, jeweled seats, and also jewel trees without perceiving buddhas?”

When the practitioner finishes saying these words, a World-honored One – majestic beyond expression – will be present at each jeweled seat and will sit down upon it. After seeing the buddhas, the practitioner’s heart will fill with great joy, and he or she will again further internalize and master the Great Vehicle sutras.

See Polishing Our Buddha Nature

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: The Specialized Focus of Mind

Having last month considered keeping the buddhas of the ten directions in mind, we consider how Universal Sage Bodhisattva will help the practitioner and the specialized focus of mind the practitioner will attain.

When purification from self-amendment has been gained, Universal Sage Bodhisattva will reveal himself again and constantly remain at the practitioner’s side, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. He will continually expound the teachings for the practitioner’s benefit, even in the practitioner’s dreams; when the practitioner awakes, she or he will realize the joy and comfort of the Dharma. After such a process has continued night and day for three-times-seven days, the practitioner will then attain a Dharma-grasping empowerment (dhāraṇī) of interaction and exchange. With the attainment of this Dharma-grasping empowerment, he or she will remember, retain, and never forget all the explanations of the marvelous Dharma given by the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The practitioner will also regularly see in dreams the seven past buddhas of this world, and although Śākyamuni Buddha alone among them expounds the Dharma for the practitioner, every one of these World-honored Ones gives praise to the Great Vehicle sutras.

At this time the practitioner should once again undertake self-amendment and pay homage to the buddhas of the ten directions. After homage has been offered to the buddhas of the ten directions, Universal Sage Bodhisattva, abiding before the practitioner, will teach and instruct the practitioner regarding all karmic causes and conditions from his or her past lives and to avow all of his or her very grave faults and impure acts. The practitioner must then avow them in his or her own words while facing the World-honored Ones. When the practitioner’s avowal is completed, he or she will then immediately attain the specialized focus of mind in which buddhas reveal themselves.

While engaged in this specialized focus of mind, the practitioner will fully and clearly behold, in the eastern direction, the buddha Akṣobhya and the Land of Wonderful Joy. In this same manner he or she will clearly and completely behold buddhas and magnificent wonderful lands in each of the ten directions. After having seen buddhas in all of the ten directions, the practitioner will envision a person with a diamond cudgel on top of an elephant’s head who, with the cudgel, signifies each of the six sense faculties. After the six sense faculties have been so indicated, for the practitioner’s benefit Universal Sage Bodhisattva will expound the method of self-amendment to purify them. Over the course of one to seven days,16 the practitioner will do self-amendment as he or she is taught. Through the power of the engaged specialized focus of mind in which buddhas reveal themselves, and through Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s well-composed explanation of the method, the practitioner’s ears will gradually hear sounds without encumbrance, the practitioner’s eyes will gradually see things without encumbrance, and the practitioner’s nose will gradually smell scents without encumbrance, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra.

See The Diamond Pounder

Universal Sage, b4today

The Sixfold Laws and Eightfold Laws

After saying this, the practitioner must again humbly pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas, and reflect on the comprehensive principle over the course of one to three-times-seven days. Whether renunciant or layperson, the practitioner will not need a mentor, will not need stewards, and will not need to take vows in a ceremony because of the power of accepting, keeping faith with, reciting, and internalizing the Great Vehicle sutras, and because of Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s encouragement to engage in this practice. This is the core of the true Way of the buddhas in the ten directions. By means and reason of this Way, the practitioner will naturally attain the five attributes of an enlightened one: perfection in behavioral principles, perfection in concentration, perfection in wisdom, perfection in emancipation, and perfection in the perspective that pertains to emancipation. Buddha tathāgatas become so by following this Way; the promise of their buddhahood is obtained in the Great Vehicle sutras.

The sixfold laws are the following six Buddhist precepts: not to take life, not to steal, to refrain from wrong sexual activity, not to lie, not to drink intoxicants, and not to speak of other people’s faults. The eightfold laws are the preceding six precepts plus two others: not to conceal one’s faults and not to emphasize other people’s shortcomings rather than their good points. Jñapti-karman is a compound word having two meanings; Jñapti signifies announcement or declaration, while karman means the proceedings at a meeting of a Buddhist assembly. This is part of the Buddhist ordination ceremony, in which the candidate confesses his past sins and vows to follow the Buddha’s teachings.

Buddhism for Today, p457
Universal Sage, b4today

The Five Kinds of Buddha Eyes

The Buddha said to Ānanda:

“When followers of Buddha undertake to amend themselves of unwholesome and harmful karmic acts after the Buddha has passed away, they must resolutely internalize and recite the Great Vehicle sutras. This comprehensive teaching is the buddha eye of the buddhas, it is the means by which buddhas perfect the five kinds of vision, and, from it, the Buddha’s three manifestations arise.

The five kinds of eyes are (1) the eye of those who have a material body; (2) the divine eye of celestial beings in the realm of form; (3) the eye of wisdom, by which the followers of the two vehicles perceive the nonsubstantiality of things; (4) the eye of the Law, by which the bodhisattvas perceive all teachings in order to lead human beings to enlightenment; and (5) the Buddha’s eye, the four kinds of eyes enumerated above existing in the Buddha’s body.

Buddhism for Today, p451
Universal Sage, b4today

Amending Both Body and Mind

An ethereal voice will again fill the air, intoning thus:

“You must now amend both body and mind! The body, by killing, stealing, and behaving licentiously, and the mind, by conceiving various unwholesome things, produce the ten harmful karmic actions as well as the five grievous acts. Moreover, their monkey-like and glue-like attachments to things everywhere thoroughly permeate all of the six sense faculties. All of the karmic actions of these six faculties – their branches, twigs, flowers, and leaves – extend fully throughout the three realms, the twenty-five states of existence, and all places where beings take birth, and they function to facilitate ignorance, aging, death, and others of the twelve factors that cause suffering. You cannot but be immersed in the eight improper practices and the eight conditions in which it is difficult to see a buddha. You must now amend yourself of unwholesome and harmful karmic acts such as these!”

The five deadly sins are killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, injuring the body of a buddha, and causing disunity in the community of monks. Those who commit these five sins will fall into the Avici hell. The twenty-five abodes of living beings are the four evil worlds (the hells, animals, hungry spirits, and asuras), the four continents of the world of men, the six heavens of the world of desire, the seven heavens of the world of form, and the four heavens of the formless world. The eight circumstances indicate the eight conditions in which one is unable to see the Buddha or hear the Law. These are hell, animals, hungry spirits, the heaven of long life, remote places, the state of being blind or deaf, secular prejudice, and the period of the Buddha’s absence.

Buddhism for Today, p449