Category Archives: WONS

Day 66 of 100

As for your wife’s prayers, although she does not doubt the sūtra, I am afraid her faith in the Lotus Sūtra has not been strong enough. I have often come across people who think their faith matches what is preached in the sūtra, though this is not the case in reality. You, too, must be aware of this.

The mind of a woman can be harder to grasp than the wind in the sky. The reason why your wife’s prayers have not been answered can be likened to a strong bow with a weak bowstring or a sharp sword drawn by a coward. It is not due to the lack of power on the part of the Lotus Sūtra.

Ōshajō-ji, Town of Rājagṛha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 128

Having abandoned a practice that turned the Lotus Sūtra into a cheap wish-fulfilling gem, I admit that I struggle when the three hindrances and four devils arise.

As a postscript I’ll add Nichiren’s suggestion of where Shijō Kingo’s wife falls short:

Though your wife believes in the Lotus Sūtra, I am sure she does not feel as strongly about the enemies of the sūtra as much as she would about as a prostitute who seduces her husband.

100 Days of Study

Day 4

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

Having last month learned the power of the Great Vehicle, we learn how Buddhas lead all Living beings with expedient teachings.

There is only one teaching, that is, the One Vehicle
In the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters.
There is not a second or a third vehicle
Except when the Buddhas teach expediently.

The Buddhas lead all Living beings
By tentative names [of vehicles]
In order to expound their wisdom.
They appear in the worlds
Only for the One Vehicle.

Only this is true; the other two are not.
The Buddhas do not save living beings by the Lesser Vehicle.
They dwell in the Great Vehicle.
The Dharma they attained is adorned
With the power of concentration of mind
And with the power of wisdom.
They save all living beings by the Dharma.

I attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
The Great Vehicle, the Truth of Equality.
If I lead even a single man
By the Lesser Vehicle,
I shall be accused of stinginess.
It is not good at all to do this.

I do not deceive
Those who believe me and rely on me.
I am not greedy or jealous
Because I have eliminated all evils.
Therefore, in the worlds of the ten quarters,
I am fearless.

I am adorned with the physical marks of a Buddha.
I am illumining the world with my light.
To the countless living beings who honor me, I will expound
The seal of the truth, that is, the reality of all things.

And considering expedients, I offer this from Nichiren’s writings:

As I contemplate the Buddhist scriptures, it is stated in the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor (translated by Dharma-Kema), “The Sun Deity and Moon Deity regain their vigor upon hearing this sūtra.” The Sūtra of the Golden Splendor (translated by I-ching) states, “It is due to the power of this sūtra that the sun and moon revolve around the four continents.” That is to say, it is the power of the Buddhist Dharma that causes the sun and moon to circle the four continents. Those two versions of the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor are expedients to the Lotus Sūtra. Compared to the Lotus Sūtra they are like milk against “clarified butter” or gold against a “treasure-gem.” If even the taste of such inferior sūtras can make the sun and moon revolve around the four continents, how much more so can the daigo taste of the Lotus Sūtra accomplish? Therefore, the Sun Deity attended the preaching of the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra as Fukō Tenji (Universal Fragrance), and was granted future Buddhahood as the Kaji Nyorai in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter.

Shijō Kingo Shakabutsu Kuyō, Opening the Eyes Service of Shijō Kingo’s Statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 133-134

Day 65 of 100

To begin with, the strange phenomena in the sky and the natural calamities on the earth startle the eyes and ears of the people and rattle their minds. Śākyamuni Buddha has caused the five or six kinds of omens to occur. Among the six omens, the trembling of the earth indicates that the earth trembled in six different ways. Interpreting the earth trembling in six ways, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3:

The east is blue in color, and it controls the liver, which in turn controls the eyes. The west is white in color, and it controls the lungs, which in turn control the nose. Therefore, saying that the east was raised and the west was lowered means the rise of the merit of the eyes and the decrease in the worldly passions of the nose. In contrast, saying that the west was raised and the east was lowered means that the merit of the nose appears while the evil passions of the eyes decrease. Likewise, the rise and fall of the south and north and those of the center and the four directions mean either the appearance of merit or the decrease of evil passions in the ears and the tongue and in the mind and body respectively.

Grand Master Miao-lé explains the above in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “As the eyes and nose represent the east and west, the ears and tongue logically represent the south and north. The center is the mind and the four directions represent the body. The body is equipped with the four sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, and tongue) and the mind reacts to them all. Therefore, it is said that the body and mind rise and fall alternately.”

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 121

Trembling in the six ways represents riding a teeter-totter on which the paired senses – eyes and nose, ears and tongue, mind and body – either gain merit or decrease evil passions. Another of the foundational lessons I find so intriguing.

100 Days of Study

Day 64 of 100

Among the 32 marks of the Buddha, His “Brahma’s voice” is foremost. The king of a country, be it great or small, and such kings as the “Wheel-turning Noble King” partly possess this “Brahma’s voice.” Therefore, a word of the king can govern the country or ruin it. An imperial decree is also in part like “Brahma’s voice.” Ten thousand words of the whole country cannot equal to one word of the king. The books of the Three Emperors and Five Rulers in ancient China are words of minor rulers. It was due to the strength of this “Brahma’s voice” that lesser kings govern small countries, that the King of the Mahābrahman Heaven is attended to by all living beings of the triple world (the realms of desire, form, and non-form), and that the Buddha is attended to by the King of the Mahābrahman Heaven and Indra.

The teachings uttered by the “Brahma’s voice” are all the scriptures of Buddhism to save all living beings. Among the scriptures the Lotus Sūtra in particular is the design of Śākyamuni Buddha uttered through His “Brahma’s voice,” which was written down in Chinese characters. The true intent of the Buddha, therefore, exists in the characters of the Lotus Sūtra. Just as seeds, seedlings, grasses, and rice plants differ in shape though they remain the same in spirit, Śākyamuni Buddha and the characters of the Lotus Sūtra are not the same in shape but they are one in essence. Thus, when you read the letters of the Lotus Sūtra, you must consider yourself in the presence of the living Śākyamuni Buddha.

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

Something to remember each and every day: when you read the letters of the Lotus Sūtra, you must consider yourself in the presence of the living Śākyamuni Buddha.

100 Days of Study

Day 2

Day 2 completes Chapter 1, Introductory.

Having last month learned about Sun-Moon-Light Buddha and his eight sons in gāthās, we consider the ray of light illumining 18,000 Buddha worlds in the east.

This ray of light illumined
Eighteen thousand Buddha-worlds in the east.
It showed the region
To which each living being was to go by his karmas.

The worlds of the Buddha were
Adorned with many treasures,
And given the colors of lapis lazuli and crystal.
I saw all this by the light of the Buddha.

I also saw the gods, men, dragons, yakṣas,
Gandharvas, and kiṃnaras of those worlds.
Each of them made offerings
To the Buddha by whom he was taught.

I also saw the Tathagatas of those worlds
Who had attained enlightenment by themselves.
The color of their bodies was as beautiful
And as wonderful as that of the golden mountains,
Or as that of a golden image
Put in a shrine of pure lapis lazuli.

Those World-Honored Ones explained to the great multitudes
The meaning of the profound teaching.
There were innumerable Śrāvakas
In the worlds of those Buddhas.
All those great multitudes were seen
By the light of the Buddha.

The bhikṣus were living in mountains and forests.
They made endeavors,
And observed the pure precepts
As carefully as one keeps brilliant gem·.

As many Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Performed almsgiving, patience, and other practices.
I saw all this by the light of the Buddha.

I also saw some Bodhisattvas
Who entered deep into dhyāna-concentrations,
And became tranquil and motionless in body and mind,
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

I also saw some Bodhisattvas,
Who realized the tranquil extinction of all things,
And expounded the Dharma to [the people of] their worlds
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

I offer Nichiren’s discussion of why Mañjuśrī could explain what happened in the past but could not explain what happens when countless Bodhisattvas arrive from under the ground.

[W]hen the Buddha preached the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, He displayed omens far superior to the omens presented when the pre-Lotus sūtras and the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra were preached. The severe quakes of the earth when the Stupa of Treasures sprang out of the earth (in the “Beholding the Stupa of Treasures” chapter) and the numerous bodhisattva disciples of the Original Buddha that emerged from the earth simultaneously (“Emergence of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter) created waves as high as mountains that tossed sailing boats around in a stormy ocean as if they were tiny reed leaves.

Therefore, while Bodhisattva Maitreya asked Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to explain the omens shown in the “Introductory” chapter, he asked his question to the Buddha directly regarding the great omens shown in the “Emergence of the Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter. Grand Master Miao-lê explains this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3, “As for the theoretical section, Mañjuśrī could be trusted, but the essential section is too profound for anyone to conjecture. Therefore, Bodhisattva Maitreya had no one but the Buddha to direct his questions.” Thus Mañjuśrī had a general understanding regarding the teaching of the theoretical section though the Buddha did not preach it. However, even Mañjuśrī could not fathom the doctrine of the essential section. And yet great omens such as these occurred during the lifetime of the Buddha.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 122-123

Day 63 of 100

In my hermitage on Mt. Minobu there are at least 40 persons and as many as 60. No matter how I refuse them, they come in saying that they are the siblings of someone who lives here, making it difficult to turn them down face to face. In my heart, I wish to recite the sutras in a quiet hermitage with only a young priest. This situation is almost unbearable. I am even thinking of running away somewhere in the coming year. There is nothing as annoying as this.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 102

One of the values of Nichiren’s writings is the opportunity imagine what life was like for him. This letter was written in 1278, four years after retiring to Minobu and four years before he died.

100 Days of Study

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Having last month witnessed the Buddha emitting a ray of light illumining all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east, we consider what Maitreya Bodhisattva thought of all this.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva thought:

“The World-Honored One is now displaying a wonder [, that is, a good omen]. Why is he displaying this good omen? The Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into a samadhi. Whom shall I ask why he is displaying this inconceivable, rare thing? Who can answer my question?”

He thought again:

“This Mañjuśrī, the son of the King of the Dharma, has already met innumerable Buddhas and made offerings to them in his previous existence. He must have seen this rare thing before. Now I will ask him.”

At that time the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings thought, “Whom shall we ask why the Buddha is emitting this ray of light, that is, why he is displaying this wonder?”

I offer this quote from the Writings of Nichiren Shōnin:

Among all the Buddhist scriptures preached by the Buddha there is no sutra which does not mention the trembling of the earth in six different ways. However, the shaking of the earth in six ways when the Buddha was about to expound the Lotus Sūtra was so striking that the living beings who gathered to listen to Him were all startled and it moved Bodhisattva Maitreya to ask what was happening, prompting Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to answer. This shows that the omen for the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra was much greater and longer than the omens of other sūtras that the question concerning it was more difficult to respond to. Therefore, Grand Master Miao-lê states in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, fascicle 2, “Which Mahayana sūtra does not have the omens such as a crowd of living beings gathered together like a cloud, emitting of light from the forehead of the Buddha, the rain of flowers from the heaven, and trembling of the earth? However, they have never caused such a great concern as this.” This means that every sūtra has a preface before preaching the main discourse, but no preface is accompanied by such great omens like those that accompanied the preface of the Lotus Sūtra.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 122

Day 62 of 100

Although you two have a difference in status, if you [Munenaga] were greedy and crooked in mind and had not understood the reason behind everything, your elder brother’s disinheritance would never have been lifted. Your elder brother, Munenaka may become a Buddha due to his fervent belief in the Lotus Sūtra. However, your father would certainly go to hell for disinheriting his own son, who is a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. In this case you would lose your older brother and father and become like Devadatta. However, as you are born wise and without greed unlike those born in the Latter Age of Degeneration, three of the Ikegami family attained Buddhahood together, saving everyone on the father’s side as well as the mother’s side.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Answer to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 97

As you and your elder brother were born in the Latter Age of Degeneration in an outlying country and have faith in the Lotus Sūtra, I was sure that demons would possess the nation’s ruler or your parents and persecute you. But as I expected, despite your father disowning you repeatedly, you two brothers held onto your faith. Are you the reincarnation of Princes Pure Store and Pure Eyes, who led their father King Wonderful Adornment? Or is this through the discretion of Bodhisattva Medicine King and Bodhisattva Superior Practice [sic]? Your father’s disinheritance was revoked in the end and you were able to carry through with filial piety as before. Are you not filial sons in the truest sense of the word? I am sure the various heavenly beings are pleased, and the ten female rākṣasa demons, protectors of the Lotus Sūtra, accept your aspiration. Moreover, there is something heartfelt about you. When my doctrine spreads as widely as predicted in the Lotus Sūtra, I hope to share the joy with you.

Kōshi Gosho, A Letter to Filial Sons, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 103-104

The letters in the first half of Volume 6, the first of the Followers collections, were written to one or the other of the two Ikegami brothers, Munenaka and Munenaga, or their wives.

Munenaka, also called by Nichiren Emon no Tayūsakan, was a warrior who lived in the Ikegami District of Musashi Province (Tokyo today). His warrior father, Yasumitsu (Saemonnotayū), was a devoted follower of Ryōkan-bō Ninshō, whom Nichiren criticized harshly. Yasumitsu twice disowned Munenaka in an effort to persuade the brothers to abandon Nichiren. Munenaga stood to gain his brother’s inheritance if he renounced the Lotus Sūtra. But the brothers remained steadfast. Eventually, Yasumitsu was convinced to change his own faith and became a follower of Nichiren Shōnin.

This would make a wonderful plot outline for a movie or at least a novel.

100 Days of Study

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month heard Universal-Sage’s dhārāṇis spells, we hear Śākyamuni’s response.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha praised him, saying:

“Excellent, excellent, Universal-Sage! You will protect this sūtra so that many living beings may obtain peace and benefits. You have already obtained inconceivable merits and great compassion. You aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi and vowed [to protect this sūtra] by your supernatural powers in the remotest pa t, and have been protecting this sūtra since then. By my supernatural powers, I will protect anyone who keeps your name.

“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, memorizes it correctly, studies it, practices it, and copies it, should be considered to see me, and hear this sūtra from my mouth. He should be considered to be making offerings to me. He should be considered to be praised by me with the word ‘Excellent!’ He should be considered to be caressed by me on the head. He should be considered to be covered with my robe. He will not be attached to worldly pleasures. He will not like to read heretical scriptures or any other writings of heretics. He will not be intimate with heretics, slaughterers, boar-breeders, sheep-breeders, fowl-breeders, dog­breeders, hunters, prostitutes, or any other evil people. He will be upright. He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.

“Universal-Sage! If you see anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the later five hundred years after my extinction, you should think, ‘Before long be will go to the place of enlightenment, defeat Mara and his followers, attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, turn the wheel of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, send the rain of the Dharma, and sit on the lion-like seat of the Dharma in the midst of the great multitude of gods and men.’

Having nothing relevant to this section in the remaining quotes from The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra, I offer this quote from Nichiren’s letter to Lady Nichinyo.

Universal Sage

The chapter “Encouragement of Universal Sage Bodhisattva” says that among many disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha, Kāśyapa and Ānanda waited on Him. They were like ministers attending both sides of a king. But this was the Buddha preaching sūtras of the Lesser Vehicle. Among many bodhisattvas, the Bodhiattva Universal Sage and the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī attended Śākyamuni Buddha, the Lord Teacher, like two ministers attending both sides of a king. During the last eight years of the life of Śākyamuni Buddha, in which He expounded the Lotus Sūtra, so many Buddhas and bodhisattvas, more than dust particles on the earth, gathered from ten quarters in the universe. But strangely, Bodhisattva Universal Sage, one of the attendants of Śākyamuni Buddha, was not found there.

However, when Śākyamuni Buddha was about to finish His preaching by expounding the chapter “Wonderful Adornment King,” Bodhisattva Universal Sage came late from the land of the Jeweled Dignity and Virtue Purity King Buddha, performing hundreds of thousands pieces of music and accompanied by a countless number of eight kinds of gods and demi-gods. Concerned about the reaction of the Buddha toward his late arrival, the bodhisattva turned pale and obligingly vowed to protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Śākyamuni Buddha was pleased and told that it was his obligation to spread the Lotus Sūtra in the whole world. Śākyamuni Buddha thus praised Bodhisattva Universal Sage more cordially than his superiors.

Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady Nichinyo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4, Faith and Practice,
Pages 137-138

Day 61 of 100

The change of natural phenomenon such as the ebb and flow of the tide, the rise and setting of the moon, and the boundaries between summer and autumn or winter and spring is accompanied by something different. The same can be said when an ordinary person becomes a Buddha. Inevitably this change will be accompanied by the “three hindrances and four devils.” Although the wise will welcome them, those who are foolish fear them and retreat.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Answer to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 93

The glossary offers this explanation of the “three hindrances and four devils”:

Three hindrances and four devils (sanshō shima)
The hindrances and devils that block the way to Buddhahood. The three hindrances refer to evil passions, evil karmas, and painful retributions such as going to hell; the four devils refer to evil passions, physical pain, death, and king of devils. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 5, that as practicing and understanding of the “tranquility and contemplation” proceed, “three hindrances and four devils” compete to interfere with the practicers, proving the doctrine to be true. Following T’ien-t’ai’s concept of “three hindrances and four devils,” Nichiren maintains that those who spread the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration are bound to be persecuted by the “three hindrances and four devils” and that only those who endured such difficulty proved to be the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.
100 Days of Study