Chih-i’s Middle Way is more concerned with the legacy of the doctrine of the Mean (Chung-yung) related to harmony. Harmony means that all things are integrated and interactively existent. Li Honglei states that the essence of harmony refers to various elements which exist simultaneously and complement each other. Harmony is what the Mean strives to reach: “holding the middle in order to reach harmony” (Chih-chung I-chih-ho). The concept of the Mean in Han Confucianism … is enriched with a new perspective, which concerns the oneness as the centralizing force of government. If we look at the concept of the Middle Way in Chih-i ‘s system, it signifies these two aspects as well. On the one hand, the Middle Way as the method of perceiving truth is to synthesize two extreme views of holding onto either emptiness or the provisional existence. This aspect in fact functions as the force of reconciling differences, whereby everything is acknowledged as valid in its relation to other things, and they can harmoniously exist complimenting each other. From this indication of the Middle Way, we discern that the way of looking at all existing things as a harmonious unity underlines Chinese episteme. On the other hand, the Middle Way as the principle represents the Ultimate Truth of Buddhahood. That is, all entities or dharmas are embraced by this One Truth. This is to advocate the oneness as the supremacy. Although all things are affirmed as valid, the superiority of the oneness cannot be denied, for not only the One Ultimate Truth (I-shih-ti) is the only reality that all things share, but also the ultimate goal of Buddhahood is to gain insight into this reality. (Page 162)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismMonthly Archives: September 2018
Practical Faith
Since ordinary people are often incapable of comprehending profound doctrines, it is desirable to establish a minimum of essential theory that anyone can understand and then to help that understanding develop gradually. In his own time, Shakyamuni adjusted his teachings to the personalities of his audiences and employed expedient faith and expedient teachings centered on actual practice. It is important to remember that all of the various Buddhist doctrines are in effect examinations of the same basic issues from different viewpoints and are intimately related to practical faith. (Page 160)
The Beginnings of BuddhismDay 21
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month concluded Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata, we begin again at the top with Śākyamuni’s call to “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith.”
Thereupon the Buddha aid to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
He said to the great multitude again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
He said to them once again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
Thereupon the great multitude of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, joined their hands together and said to the Buddha, “World-Honor done, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”
They said this three times. Then they said once again, “Tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”
The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this:
Sakyamuni begins [Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata,] by appealing three times for his listeners to “understand my sincere and infallible words by faith.” To this appeal, all the Bodhisattvas headed by Maitreya responded each time, “World-Honored One, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.” Then Sakyamuni replied, “Listen to me attentively! I will reveal to you my hidden core and supernatural powers” (p. 241).
Here “hidden core” means his deepest innermost self, and “supernatural powers” are actions outflowing from that hidden core.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraProvisional Teaching
In the Lotus Sutra, … bodhisattvas come from ideal worlds to hear the Dharma and volunteer to teach the Lotus Sutra in this world after the Buddha’s extinction. They represent those who cultivate the Six Perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom over many lifetimes in order to attain buddhahood. These bodhisattvas also assume that Shakyamuni Buddha only attained enlightenment within his current lifetime, and that his current buddhahood was the culmination of many eons of spiritual cultivation. … So in the context of the Lotus Sutra, these bodhisattvas represent a provisional teaching regarding the relationship between Bodhisattva Practice and buddhahood.
Daily Dharma – Sept. 26, 2018
However, we now live in the Latter Age of Degeneration, when disputes and quarrels are rampant while the True Dharma is lost. There is nothing but evil lands where evil rulers, evil subjects and evil people reject the True Dharma, showing respect only to evil dharmas and evil teachers. Evil spirits take advantage of this, filling the lands with the so-called three calamities and seven disasters.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). It can be hard for us to imagine how what we believe can change our society. We think we have to create a new political system, or put the right people in power, or acquire wealth before we can have peace. What would happen in a world where people believed their happiness was intertwined with that of others? What happens in a world where people believe their happiness has to come at the expense of others? Our beliefs are far more powerful than we realize. When we put our belief in the Buddha’s description of the world as it is, and see our place in it as Bodhisattvas who have chosen to be here to benefit others, the world changes before our eyes.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Relation of One with Many
Chih-i ‘s sinification of Buddhism is reflected in the theme of the One Buddha-vehicle. This theme that is adhered by Chih-i throughout his work is about the relation of one with many. Although many are indispensable, the one is to be aimed at. This is to say that various doctrines in the teaching of the Buddha are necessary in terms of suiting various abilities of living beings, but one has to bear in mind that all these doctrines serve to lead beings to eventually attain the One Buddha-vehicle. The concept of oneness as the ultimate goal that unifies multitudes is prominent in Chinese thought. In the Book of Changes, a similar expression of this theme concerning oneness is also delivered:
“In the world there are many different roads but the destination is the same. There are a hundred deliberations but the result is one.”
The philosophy of Wang Pi is also concerned with the oneness, but this oneness is identified with nothingness, and is taken by Wang Pi as the force unifying myriad things in the universe. We are reminded that the Ultimate Truth as the One Buddha-vehicle in Chih-i’s theory functions as the unifying force under which the Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva) are united. (Page 159)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismInspiring Belief
People today hesitate to chant the old formulas or meditate in the Zen fashion without understanding what relations these acts have to human life in general. Lack of religious leaders capable of convincing people of the value of such simple acts of faith aggravates the situation. Nonetheless, the sound theoretical basis of Buddhism can inspire belief in these acts even today when few people approve of trusting without questioning.
The Beginnings of BuddhismDay 20
Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month concluded Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, we begin again with Śākyamuni’s response to the greetings from the leaders of the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground.
Thereupon the World-Honored One said to them in the presence of the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:
“Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathāgata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sūtra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.”
Thereupon the [four] great Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās:
Excellent, excellent, Great Hero!
World-Honored One!
The living beings are ready to be saved
Because in their previous existence
They already asked the [past] Buddhas
About their profound wisdom,
And having heard about it, understood it by faith.
We rejoice at seeing you.Thereupon the World-Honored One praised the leading great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Excellent, excellent, good men! [l am glad that] you rejoice at seeing me.”
The Daily Dharma from May 8, 2017, offers this:
Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good.
The Buddha makes this proclamation to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas appeared when the Buddha asked who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death, and asked about the Buddha’s health and whether those he was teaching could keep what he provided for them. The Buddha assures us not only of the certainty of our future enlightenment, but that for us to receive his teaching, there was an earlier time, which we may have forgotten, when we met him. This awareness of our future and our past helps us to see our place in the world and maintain our determination to benefit all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Hell
What is Hell? There are eight major levels of Hell which people can go to, depending on how unenlightened they were when they were alive. …
- Tokatsu Hell is for prisoners who abused husbands, wives, children and animals.
- Kuronawa Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings, were thieves or committed suicide.
- Shugo Hell is for prisoners who had love affairs or who committed acts of carnal desire.
- Kyokan Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings, told lies, drank alcohol, or made someone drunk and caused them to commit a crime.
- Dai-Kyokan Hell is for prisoners who told lies, and those who drove or lead someone to commit a crime.
- Shonetsu Hell is for prisoners who had evil ideas, tempted someone to commit a crime, and wished to be reborn in Heaven through suicide-death.
- Dai-Shonetsu Hell is for prisoners who killed living things, committed evil sexual acts, drank alcohol, told lies, or wounded a Buddhist.
- Mugen Hell is for prisoners who killed living beings in the order of a grave karma killing their mother, father, a minister and/or wounding the Buddha. This Hell is also for people who ruined a Buddhist temple and the Sangha, and denied the teaching of Buddhism.
Encouraging Practice and Study
I’m prompted to write this after publishing yesterday’s quote from from The Beginnings of Buddhism, which said in part regarding Nichiren and the other Kamakura period sects:
The ordinary man is not required to perform such research for himself: he need only follow the directions of his religious leader. Indeed, in these sects, theoretical study and speculation are forbidden as hindrances to practical faith. (Page 159-160)
To say “theoretical study and speculation are forbidden” overstates the guidelines of faith set down by Nichiren Shōnin.
Each day, during both my morning and evening services, I recite these words from Nichiren’s Shohō Jissō Shō (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4 p.79):
“Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning. Without practice and learning, Buddhism will cease to exist.”
And in Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3 , Page 2, Nichiren writes:
What is the best way for Buddhists to express their gratitude for the unfathomable kindness that they have received? Mastering Buddhism completely and to be sagacious is the way. How can anyone guide blind persons across a bridge, if he himself is blind? How can a captain, who does not know the direction of the wind, sail his ship to transport many merchants to a mountain of treasure?
But it is true that theoretical study and speculation can be hindrances to practical faith.
In Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119, Nichiren writes:
Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors, or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.
We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.
It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.
Focusing on the odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, as the essence of the Lotus Sūtra does not require that followers remain ignorant of the basic tenets of Buddhism any more than using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s rays in order to start a fire requires that we know nothing of the sun and the nature of its light.