Category Archives: WONS

Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – April 6, 2023

The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sutra He is like the light of a firefly in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sutra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sutra?

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). When we encounter someone we consider great because of their fame, their wisdom, or anything else that leads them to be dear to us, our natural inclination is to show our gratitude to them by offering them gifts or services. When we learn about the Buddha, his life and what he taught us, even from a distance of 2500 years, we cannot help but be grateful for everything he has done to benefit us and all beings. But, as Nichiren instructs, when we realize the treasure of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, and how it is the embodiment of the Ever-Present Buddha who continues to teach all beings through all worlds and all time, our gratitude to it is even greater. We make offerings to the Sūtra through our practice, our determination not to allow suffering to dictate what we do, but to cultivate the wisdom and compassion within us, and repay the Ever-Present Buddha with the enlightenment of all beings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – March 24, 2023

Accordingly, the prayer said by the practicer of the Lotus Sutra will inevitably be fulfilled just as a sound is echoed, just as a shadow follows the body, the moon reflects upon the clear water, a water nymph invites the water, a magnet attracts iron, amber eliminates dust, and a clear mirror reflects the color of everything.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō). When we are truly practicing this Wonderful Dharma, our desires and prayers are for the benefit of all beings, rather than expressions of our self-absorbed attachment and delusion. When we see things for what they are, then we are in harmony with all beings, and will find them helping us and themselves to reach what we all truly desire.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – Feb. 16, 2023

As we look at each others’ faces, we notice our facial expression changes from time to time. It is full of delight, anger or calm sometimes; but other times it changes to greed, ignorance or flattery. Anger represents hells; greed – hungry spirits; ignorance – beasts; flattery – asura demons; delight – gods; and calm – men. Thus we can see in the countenance of people six realms of illusion, from hells to the realm of gods. We cannot see the four realms of holy ones (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattvas and Buddhas), which are hidden from our eyes. Nevertheless, we must be able to see them too, if we look for them carefully.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). In other writings, he described Hell as not being in the earth and Heaven as not in the sky, but both within the two meter frame of our own bodies. In this work he shows us to look outside ourselves and recognize these realms in the beings with whom we share our world. The higher realms of devotion, perseverance, generosity and wisdom are more difficult to recognize, so difficult that we sometimes wonder whether they exist at all. With the Buddha’s teaching, we know they exist. We find what we look for.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

WONS

The Great Merit in Upholding a Verse of the Lotus Sūtra

It is preached in the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7: “Suppose there is a man who donates the seven treasures overflowing the triple thousand worlds to the Buddhas, great bodhisattvas, Pratyekabuddha and arhats. The merit of this man, though great as it is, cannot match to the great merit of upholding a stanza or a verse of the Lotus Sūtra.” Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets this in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 10: “The reason why upholding a verse of the Lotus Sūtra is more meritorious than donating the seven treasures to the four holy ones is that the Dharma, even in verse form, is the teacher of the holy ones.”

Hōkyō Hōjū Ji, The Dharma Is More Precious Than Treasures, Wooden Statues or Portraits, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 94-95

WONS

Four Stages of Dharma

The Dharma, more than anything else, can give life to beings, raise them and make them grow and prosper. Therefore, in terms of spiritual weight, a person is light while the Dharma is heavy. Grand Master Miao-lê explains this in his Annotation on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 10: “Parents bring up children and protect them through four stages: birth, rearing, growth and prosperity. Likewise, in Buddhism, the aspiration for Buddhahood is awakened by the Dharma (birth). This aspiration grows when one follows the Dharma from birth through the nurturing stage (rearing) until one attains Buddhahood (growth). As a Buddha, one can appear in the Dharma worlds throughout the universe to spread the teaching of the Buddha (prosperity). These four stages differ from one another, but they are all based on the Dharma.”

Hōkyō Hōjū Ji, The Dharma Is More Precious Than Treasures, Wooden Statues or Portraits, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 95

WONS

Choosing the Eighth Day for a Happy Gathering

To begin with, the eighth day is the holy day, the birthday of Śākyamuni Buddha, who is your father. Thirty-two inexplicable phenomena appeared on that day. In the first place, all the plants blossomed and bore fruits. In the second place, various treasures gushed forth from the earth. Thirdly, water sprang out of the fields without rainfall. Fourthly, it became as bright as day during the night. In the fifth place, no voice of sorrow was heard throughout the entire world, and so on. Thus, they were all lucky omens. Since that day until now, for 2,230 years or so, it has been customary for us to choose the eighth day for a happy gathering.

Shijō Kingo-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 154

WONS

Your Donation

Incidentally, your donation is not to me — someone who is imperfect. Your donation is instead to the Lotus Sutra, Śākyamuni Buddha, Buddha of Many Treasures, and various Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe. They will reward you for your benevolence. You may leave it to them.

Kubo-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun of Kubo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 98

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WONS

Vanishing Without a Trace

A millionaire Sudatta was the wealthiest person in India who built the Jeta Grove Monastery for Śākyamuni Buddha. However, the temple vanished without a trace in a fire. Originally, this wealthy man made his fortune through a fish-killing business. Because of this, the temple disappeared completely.

Likewise, meritorious good acts of people these days seem great in all appearances. When we inquire about their source of revenue, however, we learn that it was either from a domain granted for a glorious achievement in war or savings made by torturing people without a cause. They may look like great acts of charity (fuse) in Buddhism, but because their acts are not pure at the root, they are not only unable to attain Buddhahood, but they also cause their descendants to vanish without a trace.

Kubo-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun of Kubo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 97-98

WONS

Superior to All the Sūtras Past, Present and Future

The “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, preaches, “Among the sūtras which had been preached, are now being preached, and will be preached, this Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to embrace and perceive.” The “Peaceful Practices” chapter also states that the Lotus Sūtra is above all other sūtras. The “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter enumerates the ten kinds of simile to confirm the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra among all the scriptures of Buddhism. Beside the Lotus Sūtra such sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Hōdō Sūtras, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, the Great Cloud Sūtra, the Sūtra of Mystic Glorification, and the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor speak of the comparative superiority of sūtras. However, they claim to be supreme against Hinayāna sūtras, call the Principle of the Middle Way superior to the truth of emptiness and that of temporariness, or claim to be supreme for simply being able to explain finger signs (mudrā) and mantras. Though they make various claims to be supreme, their claims of superiority have never been as absolute as that of the Lotus Sūtra, which is said to be superior to all the sūtras preached in the past, present, and future.

Soya Jirō Nyūdō-dono Gohō, Response to Lay Priest Lord Soya Jiro, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 68

WONS

Reverse Relationship to the Lotus Sūtra

I am grateful to have been born a human with this precious body due accumulated causes and conditions in my past existences. According to the sūtra, I must have encountered and given offerings to ten trillion Buddhas in the past. Even though I did not place my faith exclusively in the Lotus Sūtra, thus slandering the True Dharma and being born poor and lowly in this life as a result, my merit of giving offerings to the Buddhas was so great that I was born as a believer of the Lotus Sūtra.

Interpreting this, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai (sic) states, “It is like a person who falls to the ground but does not stay there and rises from the ground instead.” Those who fall to the ground get up from the ground instead. Likewise, the grand master states, slanderers of the Lotus Sūtra fall on the ground of the three evil realms and the realms of human and heavenly beings; however, due to their reverse relationship to the Lotus Sūtra they will be led by the hand of the sūtra into the realm of Buddhas.

Hokke Shōmyō-shō, Treatise on the Testimony of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 185