Monthly Archives: September 2018

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 25, 2018

To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is where the Buddha reveals for the first time his ever-present nature. He became enlightened in the remotest past, and will continue teaching all beings far into the future. There is a view that to see a Buddha in our time requires a supernatural way of seeing, even a personal vision or a revelation not available to ordinary people. What the Buddha teaches here is that he is always visible to anyone, anywhere. It is when we look for him to teach us and are compassionate and disciplined in our desires that he appears to us.

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Profound

Chih-i’s Perfect and Harmonizing Philosophy

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By elaborating the relation between the Origin as the Ultimate and the Traces as the Relative—the two divisions that constitute the Lotus Sūtra, the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra is developed coherently according to these two divisions. By stating that the Origin is the cause for the manifestation of the Traces, and the Traces are the effect derived from the Origin, the connections among the Ten Subtleties, the Five Sections, the Four Siddhāntas, and the Four Teachings are revealed. This revelation demonstrates the systematic nature of Chih-i’s theory that is coherent and consistent, embodying once more his perfect and harmonizing philosophy. (Page 150)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


beginning

Theoretical Foundations and Faith

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The Buddhist sects that developed in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1336)–notably the Jōdo sect, the Zen sects, and the Nichiren sect–are characteristically Japanese. They manifest a lofty purity and a penetration into the true spirit of Buddhism that are difficult to find elsewhere in the history of the religion. In these sects, simple acts like chanting formulas in praise of Amida Buddha or the Lotus Sutra or like seated meditation are considered sufficient for salvation in themselves without philosophizing or theoretical inquiries. But this does not mean that these sects lack theoretical foundations. Quite to the contrary, their founders evolved direct and clear acts of practical faith–chanting and meditation–after profound and extensive scholarly research. 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)

The Beginnings of Buddhism

See this blog post.

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Having last month considered in gāthās guidelines for expounding this Sūtra, we hear the Parable of the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot.

I will tell you a parable.
A wheel-turning-holy-king was powerful.
Some of his soldiers
Distinguished themselves in war.
He was glad to honor them.
He gave them elephants or horses,
Vehicles or ornaments,
Paddy fields or houses,
Villages or cities,
Garments or various treasures,
Menservants or maidservants,
Or other valuables.

He took a brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it to the bravest man
Who had done the most difficult feats.

I am like the king.
I am the King of the Dharma.
I have the great power of patience
And the treasury of wisdom.
I save all living beings in the world by the Dharma
Out of my great compassion towards them.

The people were under the pressure
Of various sufferings.
They were fighting with the Maras
In order to emancipate themselves
From suffering.
Because I saw all this,
I expounded various teachings to them.
I expounded many sūtras with skillful expedients.

Now I know that they can understand the Sutra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Therefore, I expound it to them lastly
Just as the king took the brilliant gem
Out of his top-knot
And gave it [to the bravest man lastly].

For me, the importance here is the idea that “people were under the pressure of various sufferings” and “I expounded many sūtras with skillful expedients.” Finally, “Now I know that they can understand the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Therefore, I expound it to them lastly.” This is the same message we get in Chapter 3, A Parable. Having convinced his children to come out of the burning house, the Buddha relates: “Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvāṇa, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathāgata.’ ”

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Our Assurance of Enlightenment

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Our world is a difficult world in which to practice the Lotus Sutra and to attain Buddhahood. Yet of all the disciples of the Buddha, we the practitioners in this latter age of the degeneration of the Dharma and at a time so distant from the life of the Buddha, we are the only ones who have been assured of enlightenment in this world.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra