Looking into our lives to find those things that prevent us from accomplishing what we wish is fundamental to Buddhist practice. … Another hindrance is to worry more about time spent practicing than the quality of the practice. In a single moment exists the potential to praise and rejoice, thereby assuring enlightenment. The sole factor is mind at that moment. Let go of attachment to quantity of Odaimoku and embrace quality. Learn by listening to your life. Open yourself up and become aware of the joy of chanting Odaimoku without concern for length of time. This isn’t a job with a time clock where you only get paid for time spent.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Monthly Archives: July 2019
Daily Dharma – July 16, 2019
Why was this bhikṣu called Never-Despising? It was because, every time he saw bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇis, upāsakas or upāsikās, he bowed to them and praised them, saying, ‘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.’
The Buddha gives this description of Never-Despising Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. The only practice of this Bodhisattva was to show his respect to all people, whether or not they respected him. This practice was so important, the Buddha used it as an example of what he practiced in a previous life to enable him to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 25
Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.
Having last month witnessed the World-Honored One’s great supernatural powers, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, with the gods in the skies of the worlds of the ten quarters.
At that time the gods in the skies [of the worlds of the ten quarters] said loudly:
“There is a world called Sahā beyond a distance of many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds. In that world lives a Buddha called Śākyamuni. He is now expounding to Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas a sūtra of the Great Vehicle, called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ Rejoice from the bottom of your hearts! Bow and make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha!”
Having heard their voice from the skies, the living beings of those worlds joined their hands together towards the Sahā World, and said, “Namah Sakyamunaye Buddhaya, namah Sakyamunaye Buddhaya.” Then they strewed various flowers, various kinds of incense, various necklaces, streamers, canopies, personal ornaments, treasures, and other wonderful things to the Sahā-World from afar.
The strewn things came from the worlds of the ten quarters like gathering clouds and changed into a jeweled awning over the Sahā-World. The awning extended over the Buddhas staying in this world. At that time the worlds of the ten quarters became passable through each other without hindrance as if they had been a single Buddha-world.
On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 15 of 21.
Day 15 of 21
Continuing with the fourth stage of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we find ourselves in a transition between “living beings” who help Bodhisattvas and beginner Bodhisattvas.
Living beings:
[T]hey will become brave, and, even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will save others. Together with bodhisattvas they will become part of the entourage of the buddha-tathagatas, who will always preach the Dharma to them. Hearing it, they will receive and embrace the Dharma in accord with their capacities and never oppose it. Moreover, they will teach it for people everywhere as occasion demands.
A beginner Bodhisattva who hears this sutra:
[T]hough not yet able to realize ultimate truth, or shake the three-thousand-great-thousand-fold world, or turn the great Dharma wheel with a thunderous buddha-voice, this bodhisattva will be admired by all the four groups and the eight guardians of Buddhism, and great bodhisattvas will be in his entourage. Entering deeply into the secret Dharma of the buddhas, he will explain it without errors or mistakes. He will always be protected by the buddhas and especially showered with affection, because he is a beginner in learning. Good sons, this is called the fourth amazing power of blessing of this sutra.
Between these two perspectives on the fourth blessing, we learn where Bodhisattvas come from:
The Buddha is the king; this sutra is his wife; their coming together results in the birth of their child, a bodhisattva.
Daily Dharma – July 15, 2019
Even if I praise for innumerable kalpas
The keeper of this sūtra,
To whom it is to be transmitted,
I cannot praise him highly enough.
The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. When the Buddha praises us for keeping the Lotus Sūtra, he is praising our Buddha-Nature and encouraging us to develop it. When we praise the Buddha and show our gratitude for the practice he has given us, we are praising the Lotus Sūtra. When we praise and value the Lotus Sūtra, we are encouraging the Buddha-Nature in all beings, just as the Buddha has promised to do. Therefore when we keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra, we are fulfilling the Buddha’s promise of our enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 24
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the twelve hundred merit of the tongue, we repeat in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Their tongues will be purified.
Their tongues will not receive anything bad.
Anything they at will become
As delicious as nectar.When they e pound the Dharma to the great multitude
And lead them
By telling them the stories of previous lives, parables, and similes
With their deep, pure and wonderful voices,
The hearers will rejoice
And make excellent offerings to them.All gods, dragons,
Yakṣas and asuras
Will come together
And hear the Dharma respectfully.Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.The wheel-turning-kings of great and small [countries],
Who have each one thousand children,
Will come with their children and attendants,
And join their hands together respectfully to hear the Dharma.Gods, dragons, yakṣas,
Raksasas and pisacakas
Also will come joyfully,
And make offerings to him.The Brahman-Heavenly-King,
King Mara, Freedom [God],
Great-Freedom [God],
And the other gods also will come to him.The Buddhas and their disciples who hear
The voice of the expounder of the Dharma,
Will think of him, protect him,
And sometimes appear before him.
On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 14 of 21.
Day 14 of 21
Continuing with the second and third stages of the Ten Blessings in the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, we consider what accrues “if living beings can hear this sutra even once, even only one verse or phrase…”
[T]hey will master a hundred thousand myriad meanings. Yet in an innumerable number of eons they will not be able to explain the Dharma they received and embraced. Why is this? It is because the meanings of this sutra are innumerable.
Good sons, suppose that from one seed a hundred million seeds grow, and from each of those hundred million seeds another hundred million seeds grow, and this is repeated so that the seeds become innumerable. This sutra is like this. From one teaching a hundred thousand meanings grow, and from each of these hundred thousand meanings a hundred million meanings grow, and this is repeated so that the meanings become unlimited and innumerable. This being the case, this sutra is called Innumerable Meanings. Good sons, this is called the second amazing power of blessing of this sutra.
Not being able to explain the Dharma received seems pointless until you get to the next blessing.
[T]hey will master a hundred thousand myriad meanings. Even though they still have afflictions, it will be as if they do not. Even though they move through birth and death, they will not know fear. They will have compassion and sympathy for all the living. They will be brave in following all the teachings.
Just as a powerful man can easily shoulder and hold heavy things, the same is true of anyone who embraces this sutra. They can bear well the heavy treasure of unexcelled awakening and carry the living out of the way of birth and death on their backs. Even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will be able to save others. Just as the captain of a ferry who has to rest on this shore due to serious illness and inability to control his four limbs can cross over with a good solid ship that has everything needed to cross over to the other shore, one who embraces this sutra, though staying on this shore of ignorance, old age, and death due to the hundred and eight kinds of serious bodily illnesses with which he is afflicted in the five states of existence, can be saved from birth and death through practicing this powerful Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings as it is taught, saving living beings. Good sons, this is called the third amazing power of blessing of this sutra.
Even though they cannot yet save themselves, they will be able to save others. That is a real blessing.
Daily Dharma – July 14, 2019
Their tongues will be purified.
Their tongues will not receive anything bad.
Anything they eat will become
As delicious as nectar.
The Buddha sings these verses to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. With food and drink it is easy to see how different people will find the same food either delicious or disgusting. Our experience and beliefs shape what we are comfortable putting into our bodies, and whether we do so for the sake of our health or the pleasure that comes from experiencing their flavor. But when we find that something with good flavor is bad for our health, or vice versa, we can change our tastes. This is another example of how the Lotus Sūtra teaches us how to live in the world. We learn to embrace situations we once found frightening or intolerable. We increase our capacity with our focus on benefiting others. As a wise teacher once said, we learn to enjoy problems the way we enjoy ice cream.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 23
Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month considered the great alms giver’s merits, we consider the merits of the 50th person who rejoices.
The Buddha said to Maitreya:
“Now I will tell you clearly. The merits of the person who gave all those pleasing things to the living beings of the six regions of four hundred billion asaṃkhya worlds, and caused them to attain Arhatship are less than the merit of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. The merits of the former person are less than a hundredth or a thousandth of the merits of the latter person, or less than the merits of the latter person divided by a hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of the merits of the latter person to those of the former person] cannot be explained by any calculation, parable or simile.
“Ajita! The merits of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma are immeasurable, limitless, asaṃkhya. Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person who rejoices at hearing [this sūtra] in the congregation. His merits are immeasurable, limitless, asaṃkhya and incomparable.
On my 21-day retreat encouraged by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we consider Day 13 of 21.
Day 13 of 21
Yesterday outlined stages associated with the Ten Blessings springing from the Sutra of Innumerable Blessings, beginning with the first blessing, which had no requirements (Reeves, p42):
“Good son, would you rather hear how this sutra has ten amazing powers of blessing or not?”
Magnificently Adorned Bodhisattva said: “We want to hear!”
The Buddha said: “Good sons, first, this sutra leads a not-yet-awakened bodhisattva to aspire to awakening, leads one without human kindness to aspire to kindness, leads one with a murderous heart to aspire to great compassion, leads one who is jealous to aspire to respond with joy, leads one with attachments to aspire to impartiality, leads one who is greedy to aspire to generosity, leads one who is full of arrogance to aspire to be moral, leads one who is angry to aspire to patience, leads one who is lazy to aspire to perseverance, leads one who is distracted to aspire to meditation, leads one who is ignorant to aspire to wisdom, leads one who lacks concern for saving others to aspire to saving others, leads one who commits the ten evils to aspire to do ten good things, leads one who is willful to aspire to let things be, leads one who is prone to backsliding to aspire to never retreat, leads one who commits faulty acts to aspire to being faultless, and leads one who suffers from afflictions to aspire to detachment. Good sons, this is called the first amazing power of blessing of this sutra.”
Before the aspirant hears this sutra even once, even only one verse or phrase, …