Category Archives: WONS

d7b, d9b, d10b, d14b, d17b, WONS

Could Lotus Sūtra Words Prove To Be Empty?

If those words of the sūtra prove to be empty, Venerable Śāriputra will not be Flower Light Buddha, as stated in the Lotus Sūtra. Likewise, Venerable Kāśyapa will not be Light Buddha, Venerable Maudgalyāyana will not be Tamalapatra-candana Fragrance Buddha, Ānanda will not be Mountain Sea Wisdom Supernatural Power King Buddha, Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī will not be Gladly Seen by All Living Beings Buddha, and Yaśodharā will not be Endowed with Ten Million Glowing Marks Buddha. The teaching of the “3,000 dust-particle kalpa” expounded in the “Parable of Magic City” chapter will be a useless discussion; and that of the “500 (million) dust-particle kalpa” in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter will be a lie. Probably Lord Śākyamuni will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering; the Buddha Many Treasures will be burnt in the fire in the Hell of Incessant Suffering; Buddhas in manifestation in all the worlds in the universe will fall into the eight horrible hells; and all the bodhisattvas will be tortured with 136 kinds of torment. How could such things happen? They will never happen, as I am sure that all the people in Japan will come to chant “Namu Myōhōrengekyō.”

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 58-59.

WONS

Under Protective Wings of Bodhisattvas

Looking at the present world, we see the three sorts of resentful enemies of the Lotus Sūtra in front of our own eyes, but none of the eight hundred thousands, millions, and nayuta of bodhisattvas who made the vow to spread the Lotus Sūtra in front of the Buddha Śākyamuni can be seen. This is a situation in which we feel something amiss like the ebb tide that does not rise or the waned moon which does not wax. When the water becomes clear and tranquil, the moon naturally reflects upon it. When trees are planted, birds come to live. Nichiren, who preaches on the Lotus Sūtra in place of the eight hundred thousands, millions and nayuta of bodhisattvas, is under the protective wings of those bodhisattvas.

Teradomari Gosho, A Letter from Teradomari, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 14

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Four Practicers of Lotus Sūtra

[I]t is stated in a letter signed by Former Governor of Musashi Province, Lord Hōjō Nobutoki, directing the Province of Sado on the seventh of the twelfth month in the tenth year of the Bun’ei Period (1273):

“There is a report that Nichiren, a priest exiled to Sado Province, and his disciples are engaging in corruption. His actions are inexcusable. From this point forward, those who follow Nichiren will be punished severely. Report the names of those who disobey this order. This is by the order of Lord Hōjō Nobutoki. 7th day of the 12th month in the 10th year of Bun’ei…”

The accusation in the letter of “engaging in corruption” is equivalent to the non-Buddhists who slandered the Buddha as a corrupt man. Moreover, the Buddha encountered the nine great difficulties such as the murder of Śākya Clan members by King Virūḍhaka, enduring begging without receiving alms and cold winds without proper clothes. I encountered persecutions in which my disciples were killed. I ate snow to stay alive, and I had no clothes to protect myself from cold winds. Do these difficulties exceed those endured by the Buddha? Perhaps T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō had not endured difficulties such as these. You should know that by adding myself to Śākyamuni Buddha, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyō, there are now four practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, one of whom is in the Latter Age of Degeneration. How happy I am that I correspond with the Buddha’s prediction, “Needless to say, more people will do so (hate the Lotus Sūtra) after my extinction.” However, it is pitiful that people in Japan are falling into the Hell of Incessant Suffering by slandering me. The details are too complicated so I will stop here before this letter becomes too involved. Please consider the issue carefully.

Hokke Gyōja Chinan-ji, Difficulty of the Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 15

LS32, WONS

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the fate of those who scowl at this sūtra, we conclude the listing of punishments for slandering the Lotus Sūtra

After that they will be reborn
In the world of animals.
Some of them will become dogs or small foxes.
They will be bald, thin and black.
They will suffer from mange and leprosy
Men will treat them mercilessly,
And hate and despise them.
They will always suffer from hunger and thirst.
Their bones will project; their flesh sag.
They will always suffer in their present existence.
After their death, they will be put
Under pieces of tile or stones.
Those who destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become
Camels or asses.
They will always be heavily loaded,
And beaten with sticks or whips.
They will think of nothing
But water and hay.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become small foxes.
They will suffer
From mange and leprosy.
They will have only one eye
When they come to a town,
They will be struck by boys.
Some of them
Will be beaten to death.
After they die
They will become boas.
Their bodies will be large,
Five hundred yojanas long.
They will be deaf and stupid.

They will wriggle along without legs.
They will be bitten
By many small vermin.
They will suffer day and night.
They will have no time to take a rest.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become men again.
They will be foolish, short, ugly,
Crooked, crippled, blind, deaf,
And hunchbacked.
No one will believe their words.
They will always have fetid breath.
They will be possessed by demons.
Poverty-stricken and mean,
They will be employed by others.
Worn-out, thin,
And subject to many diseases,
They will have no one to rely on.
Anyone who employs them
Will not take care of them.
They will lose before long
What little they may have earned.
When they study medicine,
And treat a patient with a proper remedy,
The patient will have another disease
Or die.
When they are ill in health,
No one will cure them.
Even when they take a good medicine,
They will suffer all the more.
They will be attacked by others,
Or robbed or stolen from.
Their sins will incur these misfortunes.
These sinful people will never be able to see
The Buddha, the King of the Saints,
Who expounds the Dharma
And teaches all living beings.
They will always be reborn
In the places of difficulty
[In seeing the Buddha].
They will be mad, deaf or distracted.
They will never be able to hear the Dharma.
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
They will be deaf and dumb.
They will not have all the sense organs.
Accustomed to living in hell,
They will take it for their playground.
Accustomed to living in other evil regions,
They will take them for their homes. They will live
Among camels, asses, wild boars, and dogs.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

When they are reborn in the world of men,
Deafness, blindness, dumbness,
Poverty, and many other defects
Will be their ornaments;
Dropsy, diabetes, mange,
Leprosy, carbuncles, and many other diseases
Will be their garments.
They will always smell bad.
They will be filthy and defiled.
Deeply attached to the view
That the self exists,
They will aggravate their anger.
Their lust will not discriminate
Between [humans,] birds or beasts.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Nichiren links this section of Chapter 3, A Parable, to śrāvaka disciples such as Śāriputra, Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and Rāhula in a letter to the Ikegami Brothers:

The śrāvaka disciples such as Śāriputra, Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and Rāhula, who were guaranteed to be future Buddhas in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra through the three cycles of the Buddha’s preaching (dharma, parable, and past relationships) had learned the Lotus Sūtra far in the past, 3,000 dust-particle kalpa (aeons) ago, from a bodhisattva who was the 16th prince of the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, namely Śākyamuni Buddha today. Nevertheless, due to evil karma they abandoned the Lotus Sūtra, embracing such Mahāyāna sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Wisdom Sūtra, Sūtra of Great Assembly, Nirvana Sūtra, Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, and Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life or Hinayana Āgama sūtras. While doing so, they gradually declined in status to the realms of heavenly and human beings and finally to the three evil realms. As a result for as long as 3,000 dust-particle kalpa they spent much of their time in the Hell of Incessant Suffering, some of their time in the seven major hells, once in a long while in the other one hundred or so hells, and on rare occasions in the realms of hungry souls, beasts, and asura. It was after the 3,000 dust-particle kalpa (aeons) that they were able to be born in the realm of human or heavenly beings.

Therefore, it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2 (chapter 3), “They will always stay in hell, strolling in it as though it were a garden, and remain in other evil realms as if they were at home.” Those who committed the ten evil acts will fall into such hells as the hell of regeneration and that of black ropes, where they spend 500 or 1,000 years. Those who committed the five rebellious sins, are destined to the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as one medium kalpa before being reborn. Those who abandoned the Lotus Sūtra, however, will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering and remain there for innumerable number of kalpa, though their sin does not seem to be as terrible as the sin of murdering parents.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 73

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Slandering the Lotus Sūtra With Provisional Doctrine

[S]cholars today, while praising the Lotus Sūtra as superior to all other scriptures, maintain it is unsuitable for the inferior capacity of the people in the Latter Age, a contention that people accept. Are they not the slanderers of the True Dharma? You should wholeheartedly reject these scholars. After all, the text of the Lotus Sūtra can be broken up or cut up, but its spirit cannot be destroyed. Even if someone criticizes the Lotus Sūtra by comparing conducts of evil in the world with the practice of the Lotus Sūtra, people will not believe him. Only when someone slanders the Lotus Sūtra with the provisional doctrine similar to that of the Lotus Sūtra, will people be deceived.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 14

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Buddha-nature of Ordinary People

[T]he two teachings – the Tripiṭaka teaching and the Common teaching – do not espouse the idea that ordinary people in the Six Realms originally have the Buddha-nature. They preach instead that one can be a śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, or Buddha only by practicing the way leading to each of them.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 74

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Experiencing What Lotus Sūtra Preaches

The thirteenth chapter, the “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra,” of the Lotus Sūtra declares, “Ignorant people will speak ill of us (practicers of the True Dharma) and abuse us.” I, Nichiren, have been as utterly despised as mentioned in the sūtra. Are not those who slander me the “ignorant people” referred to in the sūtra? The same chapter continues, “They (ignorant people) threaten us (practicers of the True Dharma) with swords and sticks.” I, Nichiren, have experienced what the sūtra preaches with my own body. Why don’t you, slanderers and persecutors, understand what the sūtra preaches?

It is also said in the same chapter: “They always try to slander us in the midst of the great multitude…, they speak ill of us to kings, ministers, Brahmans, and house-holders, or “they speak ill of us, frown at us, or drive us often out of our monasteries.” “Often” here means not a few times. I, Nichiren, was driven out of my dwelling several times and exiled twice.

Teradomari Gosho, A Letter from Teradomari, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 13

LS32, WONS

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the thinking behind Śākyamuni’s decision to turn the Wheel of the Dharma, we consider why Śākyamuni laid aside all expedient teachings.

I said to them:
“For the past innumerable kalpas
I have been extolling the teaching of Nirvana
In order to eliminate the sufferings of birth and death.”

Śāriputra, know this!
Then I saw many sons of mine,
Thousands of billions in number,
Seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha.
They came to me respectfully.
They had already heard
Expedient teachings
From the past Buddhas.

I thought:
“I appeared in this world
In order to expound my wisdom.
Now is the time to do this.”

Śāriputra, know this!
Men of dull capacity and of little wisdom cannot believe the Dharma.
Those who are attached to the appearances of things are arrogant.
They cannot believe it, either.

I am now joyful and fearless.
I have laid aside all expedient teachings.
I will expound only unsurpassed enlightenment
To Bodhisattvas.

Nichiren addresses this point on setting aside all expedient teachings in his letter, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods:

The Lotus Sūtra, chapter 2, “Expedients,” states: “In preaching the dharma the World Honored One expounds the expedient teachings first and reveals the true teaching last;” “honestly casting away (‘cast away’ means ‘abandon’) the expedient teachings (the pre-Lotus sūtras, i.e. first three of the four doctrinal teachings or the four doctrinal teachings except the pure perfect teaching, first four of the five tastes: all sūtras except the Lotus Sūtra, or the tripiṭaka, common and distinct teachings taken into the perfect teaching), the Buddha solely preaches the One Vehicle true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra.” Moreover, “The Buddha preaches various teachings (the four periods and seven teachings refer to the pre-Lotus sūtras, and five periods and eight teachings refer to the entire teaching of the Buddha) for the purpose of leading the people into the One Buddha Vehicle.”

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 242-243

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The Sūtra Believed By Honest People

Essentially men and women have different characters just as fire is warm while water is cold. A woman diver is good at fishing and a male hunter is good at trapping deer. It is said in some sūtras that women are promiscuous, but I have never seen them say a woman was adept in the Buddha Dharma. All scriptures preached before the Lotus Sūtra contrast a woman’s mind with the wind because even if we can secure the wind, we cannot grasp a woman’s mind. The scriptures also compare a woman’s mind to letters written on water because the letters will quickly vanish. Women are also compared to people of unsound mind because sometimes they are honest but other times they are not. Finally, women are also compared to a river because all rivers bend. (Thus pre-Lotus scriptures demean women).

But in the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha states that He honestly discards expedient means, and the Buddha of Many Treasures affirms that Śākyamuni preaches only the truth. The sixteenth chapter of the sūtra, “Life Span of the Buddha,” preaches “straight and gentle minds” and a “gentle and straight person.” This is the sūtra believed by honest people, whose minds are as straight as a bowstring or a carpenter’s inked string. If you call dung sandalwood, it won’t smell like sandalwood. If you call a lie a truth, it won’t become true. It is said that all Buddhist scriptures are true because the Buddha expounded them. However, compared to the Lotus Sūtra, they are false, lies, distorted or double-tongued. The Lotus Sūtra is the supreme truth.

Nichimyō Shōnin Gosho, A Letter to Nichimyō Shōnin, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 140

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32 Marks Of A Buddha

The Buddha is equipped with 32 marks of physical excellence, each of which is adorned with many blessings. A bump on top of the head and a white curl on the forehead that glows are like the fruit of a flower, namely, the merit of practicing the bodhisattva way as a bodhisattva resulted in the 32 marks of physical excellence of the Buddha. One of the 32 marks is that the top of His head is invisible. Śākyamuni Buddha is 16 feet tall, but non-Buddhists with bamboo sticks could not measure His height, nor could they see the top of His head. Neither Bodhisattva Ying-ch’ih (Ōji Bosatsu) nor the King of the Mahābrahman Heaven could see His top. Why couldn’t they? It is because the Buddha won this “invisibility of His top” mark as the reward for respecting His parents, teachers, and lord by bowing with His head touching the ground.

Shijō Kingo-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 118-119