Chih-i illustrates that sūtra that is taken as the foundation for teaching (Chiao-pen) entails two aspects. On the one hand, it means that, based on single truth from the Word of the Buddha, there flow out countless speeches and teachings, such as the Common and Separate Teachings that can cause beings to attain the Path. On the other hand, based on the teaching of the Buddha, the bodhisattvas have made vast commentaries to explain the meanings in sūtras, which can also cause others to attain the Path. Sūtra that is taken as the foundation for practice (Hsin-pen) means that when one practices according to the teaching of the Buddha (whether it is Common or Separate Teaching), through these various Dharma-doors, one is able to attain the Ultimate Truth. Sūtra that is taken as the foundation for doctrine (I-pen) means that one doctrine can be derived from one sentence, and countless doctrines can be derived from countless sentences. It can also be the case that countless doctrines are derived from one sentence, and one doctrine is derived from countless sentences. Chih-i comments that summarizing these three aspects (teaching, practice and doctrine) in terms of the Dharma-door means that they are identical to the three ways to wisdom: hearing, thinking and cultivation (Wen Ssu Hsiu; Skt., śrutactābhāvanā), respectively. (Vol. 2, Page 391)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismMonthly Archives: February 2019
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 Śākyamuni Buddha’s praise for anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we conclude Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva
When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Encouragement of Universal-Sage, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges obtained the dhārāṇis by which they could memorize hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings, and as many Bodhisattvas as the particles of dust of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds [understood how to] practice the Way of Universal-Sage.
When the Buddha expounded this sūtra, the great congregation including the Bodhisattvas headed by Universal-Sage, the Śrāvakas headed by Śāriputra, and the other living beings such as gods, dragons, men and nonhuman beings, had great joy, kept the words of the Buddha, bowed [to him], and retired.
[Here ends] the Eighth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this on The Merits of This Teaching:
[Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva] is the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra. By the merits of this teaching, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges obtained the dharanis of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and as many Bodhisattvas as the particles of dust filling the great universe grasped how to practice the Way of Universal-Sage.
When the Buddha finished expounding this Sutra, all the congregation, including Bodhisattvas, deities, and other living beings, rejoiced greatly, memorized the words of the Buddha, bowed before him, and departed from Mount Sacred Eagle.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraUrabon-e
The formal name of O-Bon is “Urabon-e.” This name comes from the Sanskrit “Ullambana.” It means “Extreme suffering like hanging upside down.” There is a well-known story about one of the Buddha’s disciples, which explains how and why O-Bon originated.
“2500 years ago, when the Buddha was still alive, there was one disciple who had supernatural powers. He was the disciple who was said to be foremost in supernatural powers, and it was said that he could see the future and the past, even all spiritual worlds, including Hell. His name was Mokuren (Sanskrit: Maudgalyayana). Unfortunately his mother had died when he was young. After he obtained his supernatural powers under the Buddha’s training, as he was concerned about his mother, he tried to check where she had been reborn. First he searched the top level, the Enlightened-World, but he could not find her. Then he searched the middle level, and he still could not find her. Finally, he found his mother in a lower level, the Gaki Suffering World, just above Hell. He was so upset, because she was hanging upside-down and suffering. She looked miserable. Her stomach was swollen, her face was dark and the muscles and skin drooped. Her eyes were sunken because of starvation. Seeing the state of suffering she was in, he tried to feed her some food using his supernatural powers. He tried to give her some food, but when she brought the food to her mouth it turned into fire and she got burned. He was terribly upset and tried to give her cold water, but just as before, when she tried putting the water to her mouth it turned to fire, and she was burned more seriously. Mokuren rushed to the Buddha to consult Him about his mother’s situation, and the Buddha asked him, ‘Did you offer food or water to anyone else?’ Mokuren replied, ‘No, just my mother.’ The Buddha said, ‘Your mother dropped into the Gaki Suffering World because she was very stingy and did not share with others. If you want to save your mother, you should feed not only her, but all suffering spirits.’ The Buddha advised Mokuren to invite as many monks as he could to come, prepare as much food and water as he could, and then hold a service for all suffering spirits. Mokuren invited the monks when their summer training was completed on July 15, and they offered food and water, and chanted the Buddha’s teachings for the spirits. Once Mokuren followed the Buddha’s advice, his mother was able to receive water and food, and she also moved up to a better level of the spiritual world.”
Since that episode, July 15 has been an important day to save all suffering spirits, and became known as O-bon. In Buddhism we are able to save all suffering spirits – even spirits who have dropped into Hell.
Summer WritingsDaily Dharma – Feb. 12, 2019
Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keeps this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Māra. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keeps this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Māra. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’
The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Māra is the deity who creates confusion and delusion in the world. His army consists of those who reinforce these delusions and reward those who share them. Such rewards do not benefit those who receive them. They only serve to produce fear and attachment which creates misery in the world. With our practice of this Lotus Sūtra, we learn to recognize delusion for what it is, and reject the superficial benefits that come with it.tar-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Māra is the deity who creates confusion and delusion in the world. His army consists of those who reinforce these delusions and reward those who share them. Such rewards do not benefit those who receive them. They only serve to produce fear and attachment which creates misery in the world. With our practice of this Lotus Sūtra, we learn to recognize delusion for what it is, and reject the superficial benefits that come with it.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Nichiren’s Innovative Teaching
“The doctrine of three thousand realms in one thought-moment (ichinen sanzen) first established by Great Master T’ien-t’ai [Chih-i] is the father and mother of the Buddhas,” Nichiren wrote. Quoting Chan-jan, he praised it as “the ultimate truth of his [Chih’i’s] teachings.” “It is clear that only the T’ien-t’ai [doctrine] of three thousand realms in one thought-moment is the path of attaining Buddhahood.” For Nichiren, the single thought-moment possessing three thousand realms was the heart of the Lotus Sūtra and the core of the Tendai teachings he had inherited. As Kanno Hiroshi has pointed out, it was by means of this doctrine that Nichiren sought to legitimize his own position within the T’ien t’ai/Tendai Buddhist tradition originating with Chih-i, and at the same time, also expressed the innovative aspects of his own teaching. (Page 263)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismSūtra and the Four Siddhāntas
With regard to sūtra that means foundation for the dharma (Han Fa-pen), Chih-i explains that the dharma is inexpressible, but for the sake of teaching sentient beings, the Buddha expounds the dharma by means of the Four Siddhāntas. To be associated with the three perspectives, the Worldly Siddhānta is taken as the foundation for teaching; the Siddhānta for Each Person and the Siddhānta of Counteraction are taken as the foundation for practice; the Siddhānta of Supreme Truth is taken as the foundation for doctrine. (Vol. 2, Page 390)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 31
Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
Having last month heard King Wonderful-Adornment’s explanation of the merits of the Buddha, we conclude Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
The Buddha said to the great multitude:
“What do you think of this? King Wonderful-Adornment was no one but Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva of today. Queen Pure-Virtue was no one but the Light-Adornment-Appearance Bodhisattva who is now before me. She appeared in that world out of her compassion towards King Wonderful-Adornment and his attendants. The two sons were Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva of today. Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva have already obtained those great merits. Because they planted the roots of virtue under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas [in their previous existence], they obtained those inconceivable merits. All gods and men in the world should bow to those who know the names of these two Bodhisattvas.”
When the Buddha expounded this chapter of King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva, eighty-four thousand people released themselves from the dust and dirt of illusions, and had their eyes purified enough to see all teachings.
Ryusho Shonin‘s Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this on Chapter 27.
I like this story of the two boys, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, who end up converting their parents to the Lotus Sutra not so much because of the phenomena the two sons performed but for the example that our actions speak more powerfully than our words. We can convince more people of the truth of the Lotus Sutra through the way we act in society than by merely talking theoretically about Buddhism. Getting through life and the day-to-day concerns we all face may seem ordinary, even hum-drum. However, the manner in which we face and ultimately overcome our problems can look supernatural to others around us who struggle and suffer so much. We don’t need to spout water or fire from our bodies; we merely need to show the joy of our practice in the face of life as human.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Manifold Lotus Sutra
In understanding that “thus have I heard” is referring to Myoho Renge Kyo we realize that Myoho Renge Kyo pre-exists the text of the sutra. In this understanding, Myoho Renge Kyo has always existed before the text explaining it. So, in this way Myoho Renge Kyo is the fundamental truth that exists outside of or independent of the actual text, which follows. The other way around views the text as being the fundamental truth, which is then summarized by the title.
In the text of the Lotus Sutra we are told of several versions of the Lotus Sutra practiced by others in other worlds. One example of this is the Lotus Sutra practiced by Never-Despise Bodhisattva, which was the phrase “I respect you deeply, I do not despise you. Why is that? It is because you will be able to practice the Way of Bodhisattvas and become Buddhas” or simply “I do not despise you because you can become Buddhas.” In the world and the time in which Never-Despise Bodhisattva lived this was the Lotus Sutra that was most appropriate. So the text of the Lotus Sutra may be different depending upon the people, the place, and the time. But regardless of the text of the Lotus Sutra, the Myoho Renge Kyo, or Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra, never changes. This is the manifold Lotus Sutra.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraDaily Dharma – Feb. 11, 2019
Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.
We can read these words of the Buddha from Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra as if we had to wait until another life to see Buddhas. But by making offerings to an image of the Buddha, by practicing respect towards a representation of the Buddha, we start to look for and recognize the Buddha in ourselves and in all of the beings who share the world with us. When we see this world of conflict and suffering as the Buddha’s Pure Land, then we see all beings as our enlightened teachers. We see innumerable Buddhas.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
‘Nichiren Is Not the Founder of Any School’
“Nichiren is not the founder of any school,” he wrote, “nor is he a leaf at the tip [i.e., of the branch of some existing school].” The Lotus Sūtra as he understood it was Buddhism, the ocean in which the teachings and practices of the various schools would be absorbed. In later life, he distanced himself from the esoteric Tendai of his own day and denounced earlier Tendai prelates such as Enchin, Ennin, and Annen for adulterating the Lotus-based Tendai teaching with esoteric teachings. On the one hand, he clearly considered himself heir to the earlier tradition of Chih-i and Saichō: “Nichiren of Awa Province has reverently received the transmission from the three teachers [Śākyamuni, Chih-i, and Saichō] and assists the spread of the Hokke lineage in the Final Dharma age,” he wrote. “Together we are the four teachers in three countries.” Such passages have led some to see Nichiren as attempting to revive a “pure” Tendai independent of esoteric accretions. There is no doubt that Nichiren saw himself as standing within the Tendai tradition. Nevertheless, in claiming possession of a Dharma teaching that (1) was received directly from Śākyamuni; (2) was intended specifically for the Final Dharma age; and (3) was to assume a concrete form—as the daimoku, the object of worship, and the ordination platform—that had never before been revealed and transmitted, it appears that Nichiren was in effect establishing a new religion. This distinctive doctrinal basis, along with Nichiren’s fierce emphasis on devotion to the Lotus alone; the charisma of his image, which survived his death, as prophet, martyr, and messenger of the Buddha to the Final Dharma age; the establishment of ordination rites for his clerical followers independent of those of Mt. Hiei; and the formation among his followers of lay patronage networks independent of older religious institutions enabled the emergence and survival of a new sect. (Page 261-262)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism