Monthly Archives: August 2019

LS32, WONS

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month repeated in gāthās why the Buddha expediently shows his Nirvāṇa, we conclude Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

I can do all this by my supernatural powers.
I live on Mt. Sacred Eagle
And also in the other abodes
For asaṃkhya kalpas.

The [perverted] people think:
“This world is in a great fire.
The end of the kalpa [of destruction] is coming.”
In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
It is filled with gods and men.
The gardens, forests and stately buildings
Are adorned with various treasures;
The jeweled trees have many flowers and fruits;
The living beings are enjoying themselves;
And the gods are beating heavenly drums,
Making various kinds of music,
And raining mandārava-flowers on the great multitude and me.

[This] pure world of mine is indestructible.
But the [perverted] people think:
“It is full of sorrow, fear, and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”

Because of their evil karmas,
These sinful people will not be able
To hear even the names of the Three Treasures
During asaṃkhya kalpas.

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.”
To those who see me after a long time,
I say, “It is difficult to see a Buddha.”

I can do all this by the power of my wisdom.
The light of my wisdom knows no bound.
The duration of my life is innumerable kalpas.
I obtained this longevity by ages of practices.

All of you, wise men!
Have no doubts about this!
Remove your doubts, have no more!
My words are true, not false.

The physician, who sent a man expediently
To tell his perverted sons
Of the death of their father in order to cure them,
Was not accused of falsehood although he was still alive.

In the same manner, I am the father of the world.
I am saving all living beings from suffering.
Because they are perverted,
I say that I pass away even though I shall not.
If they always see me,
They will become arrogant and licentious,
And cling to the five desires
So much that they will fall into the evil regions.

I know who is practicing the Way and who is not.
Therefore I expound various teachings
To all living beings
According to their capacities.

I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”

Nichiren discusses this Sahā world being the Buddha’s Pure Land in his Treatise on Protecting the Nation:

QUESTION: Which “Pure Land” should practicers of the Lotus Sūtra pray to be reborn in?

ANSWER: It is stated in the sixteenth chapter on “The Life Span of the Buddha,” the essence of the Lotus Sūtra consisting of 28 chapters, “I will always stay in this Sahā World;” “I reside here always;” and “This world of Mine is at peace.” According to these statements, the Eternal True Buddha, the origin of all Buddhas in manifestation, is always in this Sahā World. Then why should we wish to be anywhere other than this Sahā World? You should know that there is no Pure Land other than the very place where the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra resides. Why should we concern ourselves seeking a Pure Land in any other place?

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 67-68

Blog

A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife

Yasodhara_bookcoverLast week, I traveled to Red Wing, Minnesota, to attend the wedding of my brother’s oldest daughter. I took along “Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife,” which has been gathering dust on my to-be-read pile of books. It was only later that I realized this was not a random decision.

The publisher, Speaking Tiger Books, offers this summary:

A long time ago, in a far-off kingdom, a boy and a girl, born on the same day, were destined to be together–and then painfully wrenched apart. The boy was Siddhattha, heir to the Sakya kingdom and the future Buddha; the girl was the beautiful and precocious Yasodhara, his friend who became his loving wife.

In this exquisitely crafted narrative, we encounter Yasodhara as a fiercely independent, passionate and resilient individual. We witness her joys and sorrows, her expectations and frustrations, her fairy-tale wedding, and her overwhelming devastation at the departure of her beloved.

It is through her eyes that we witness Siddhattha’s slow transformation, from a sheltered prince to a deeply sensitive young man. On the way, we see how the gods watch over the future Buddha from the clouds, how the king and his ministers try to keep the suffering of the world from him and how he eventually renounces the throne, his wife and newly-born son to seek enlightenment.

Resurrecting a forgotten woman from the origin stories of the Buddha, Vanessa R. Sasson combines the spirit of fiction and the fabulism of Indian mythology with impeccable scholarship, to tell the evocative and deeply moving story of an extraordinary life.

Vanessa R. Sasson
Vanessa R. Sasson
The author, Vanessa R. Sasson, is a professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal and Creative Arts and Humanities Department at Marianopolis College, Quebec. She is also a Research Fellow for the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State in South Africa, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University, Montreal.

In the author’s introduction, she explains the book in this way:

Yasodhara, the Buddha’s wife, is not the focus of most early Buddhist hagiographies. The literature preserves fragments of her life, but the focus is (unsurprisingly) usually on her husband. In this book, I have tried to bring together some of these early fragments into the shape of a modern novel, to tell her story from her perspective (as I imagine it). As the writing process unfolded, however, I came to appreciate how much information we are missing. The literature is genuinely scant where she is concerned— particularly regarding her youth. She is a key player during a few moments in the Buddha’s life, but otherwise, we know little about her. We know she produced their one and only son, that she was left behind when he made his Great Departure, and that when he returned to the palace seven years later, he took his son back to the forest with him. The Jatakas (past-life stories) refer to her in a number of accounts, suggesting that Yasodhara and the Buddha had been connected for lifetimes, but we do not know much more than that. Indeed, Yasodhara is so marginalized in some cases that she does not even receive a name. She is known simply as Rahulamata—Rahula’s mother. …

The story I have told here is, therefore, a story inspired by later hagiographies. It is not historical fiction, but perhaps what can be more appropriately labelled “hagiographical fiction” (if such a label existed). This book is my attempt at recreating a hagiography, inspired by hagiographies that belong to an earlier time.

The novel stands alone well by itself, “a story inspired by later hagiographies.” But for me the joy was reading each chapter with the notes that detail the sources of her inspiration.

Returning to the topic of my trip, it wasn’t until near the end of the book that I realized why I was drawn to this tale. It was at the point in the story when Siddhattha, now the Buddha, returns to the Sakya palace. Yasodhara, who has felt abandoned by her husband and wears widow’s clothes, must now confront the loss of her 7-year-old son Rahula.

My parents divorced in 1960 when I was 9 years old and my brother 7. My mother threatened to kill herself if my father followed through with his attempt to gain custody. My brother and I lived with my mother and rarely saw our father once he moved away with his new wife. My mother never remarried. Later in life, I blind-sided my first wife with a divorce request because I was, as an acquaintance described it, “feeling my generations” – the male equivalent of the ticking biological clock. I could really relate to the tale of Yasodhara.

This weekend I watched as a lovely young couple married. They lived together for 10 years before exchanging vows. That’s longer than my parents’ marriage and longer than my first marriage. May they have a long and happy life as husband and wife.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 14, 2019

Anyone who wishes to expound this sūtra
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.

The Buddha sings these verses to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. The way we live our lives can either reinforce our delusions or help us gain more clarity about how things really are. In these verses, the Buddha advises against these actions not because he will think less of us when we do them, but because when we find ourselves behaving these ways it is because we are not seeing things for what they are.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 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.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s response to greeting from the leaders of the Bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth, we consider Maitreya Bodhisattva’s puzzlement.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva and the [other] Bodhisattvas [who had already been present in the congregation before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in number, thought:

‘We have never before seen these great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, stood before [Śākyamuni,] the World-Honored One, joined their hands together towards him, and made offerings to him. [Now we see that their leaders] inquire after him.’

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, seeing what the Bodhisattvas numbering eight thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges had in their minds, and also wishing to remove his own doubts, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and asked him in gāthās:

We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?
They have gigantic bodies,
Great supernatural powers, and inconceivable wisdom.
They are resolute in mind.
They have a great power of patience.
All living beings are glad to see them.
Where did they come from?

They are each accompanied
By as many attendants
As there are sands
In the River Ganges.

Nichiren writes about why Maitreya asked the Buddha about these Bodhisattvas.

[W]hen the Buddha preached the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, He displayed omens far superior to the omens presented when the pre-Lotus sūtras and the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra were preached. The severe quakes of the earth when the Stupa of Treasures sprang out of the earth (in the “Beholding the Stupa of Treasures” chapter) and the numerous bodhisattva disciples of the Original Buddha that emerged from the earth simultaneously (“Emergence of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter) created waves as high as mountains that tossed sailing boats around in a stormy ocean as if they were tiny reed leaves.

Therefore, while Bodhisattva Maitreya asked Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to explain the omens shown in the “Introductory” chapter, he asked his question to the Buddha directly regarding the great omens shown in the “Emergence of the Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter. Grand Master Miao-lê explains this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3, “As for the theoretical section, Mañjuśrī could be trusted, but the essential section is too profound for anyone to conjecture. Therefore, Bodhisattva Maitreya had no one but the Buddha to direct his questions.” Thus, Mañjuśrī had a general understanding regarding the teaching of the theoretical section though the Buddha did not preach it. However, even Mañjuśrī could not fathom the doctrine of the essential section. And yet great omens such as these occurred during the lifetime of the Buddha.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 122-123

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 13, 2019

I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.

The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. It is normal for us humans to become worn out, frustrated or annoyed as we try to benefit others. Often, other people do not want our help, or when they take our help, they do not progress as fast as we want them to. Sometimes there are only a few people we want to help, and may actually wish harm on those we blame for our problems. The Buddha gives us a different example. He gets his energy from creating benefit. It does not drain him. He sees that all beings want to improve themselves, no matter how perversely they may go about it. He knows that all beings are worthy of receiving the Buddha Dharma.

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

LS32

Day 19

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

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the soldiers of the king and the rewards for their efforts in battle, we consider how Śākyamuni is like the king.

“Mañjuśrī! I am like the king. I obtained the world of the Dharma by my powers of dhyāna-concentration and of wisdom, and became the king of the triple world. But the kings of the Maras did not assent to my demand for surrender to me. Therefore, my army led by generals, that is, by sages and saints, fought with them. I was glad to see that some distinguished themselves [in war]. In order to cause them to rejoice, I expounded many sūtras to the four kinds of devotees. I gave them the treasures of the Dharma such as dhyāna-concentrations, emancipations, the roots without āsravas, and the powers without āsravas, and also the city of Nirvana, telling them that they had already attained extinction. Although I led them [by giving these things to them) and caused them to rejoice, [ did not expound to them the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

“Mañjuśrī! When he saw a soldier of extraordinary merit, the wheel-turning-holy-king joyfully gave that soldier the unbelievably precious gem, which he had kept in his top-knot for a long time and had not given to anyone. I am like the king. I am the great king of the Dharma in the triple world. I expound the Dharma and teach all living beings. Because I see that my soldiers led by generals, that is, by sages and saints, have already obtained extraordinary merits in their fight with the Mara of the five aggregates, with the Mara of illusions, and with the Mara of death, and that they have already eliminated the three poisons, left the triple world, and destroyed the nets of the Maras, I now expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with great joy. This sūtra leads all living beings to the knowledge of all things. I did not expound it before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated it and few would have believed it.

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 15, 2018, offers this:

I now expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with great joy. This sūtra leads all living beings to the knowledge of all things. I did not expound it before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated it and few would have believed it.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. It can be difficult to imagine anyone hating the Buddha’s teachings. We sometimes notice that the true opposite of affection and devotion is not enmity and distrust. It is indifference. When we hear the Buddha’s teaching and do not make it part of our lives, it is because we are so attached to our peculiar ignorance and misery that we are afraid to live any other way. The Buddha shows us that it is possible to exist in harmony with the world rather than in conflict. It is only when we practice his teachings that we can believe them.

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

Basics

Responsibility for Common Welfare

Quote

The Judeo-Christian God commanded, “Thou shalt not kill,” and Jesus enjoined his followers, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Believers are expected to obey God and emulate Jesus. The question of whether Christian love applies to animals and non-Christians, however, has remained unresolved. In this instance love is a matter of obedience, not reason. A believer whose faith is strong regards God’s commandment as absolute and obeys it. One of less faith may well stray from the path. In short, the basis for Christian love is not a logical principle of universal applicability but a creed accepted on faith.

The fundamental Buddhist viewpoint, based on the law of dependent origination, is that society is an organic macrocosm composed of interrelated individuals, all sharing responsibility for the common welfare.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 12, 2019

May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!

These verses are from Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, where the Brahma Kings from the ten quarters of the universe come to celebrate the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. We too can cultivate this wish that all the good results of our life’s work be for the benefit of all beings.

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

LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month repeated in gāthās the second peaceful practices the Bodhisattva should do before he expounds the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we consider the third set of peaceful practices.

“Again, Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to keep, read and recite this sūtra in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should not nurse jealousy against others, or flatter or deceive them. He should not despise those who study the Way to Buddhahood in any way. He should not speak ill of them or try to point out their faults. Some bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās will seek Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the Way of Bodhisattvas. He should not disturb or perplex them by saying to them, ‘You are far from enlightenment. You cannot obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things because you are licentious and lazy in seeking enlightenment.’ He should not have fruitless disputes or quarrels about the teachings with others. He should have great compassion towards all living beings. He should look upon all the Tathāgatas as his loving fathers, and upon all the Bodhisattvas as his great teachers. He should bow to all the great Bodhisattvas of the worlds of the ten quarters respectfully and from the bottom of his heart. He should expound the Dharma to all living beings without partiality. He should be obedient to the Dharma. He should not add anything to the Dharma or take away anything from the Dharma. He should not expound more teachings to those who love the Dharma more [than others do].

“Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who performs this third set of peaceful practices in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, will be able to expound the Dharma without disturbance. He will be able to have good friends when he reads and recites this sūtra. A great multitude will come to him, hear and receive this sūtra from him, keep it after hearing it, recite it after keeping it, expound it after reciting it, copy it or cause others to copy it after expounding it, make offerings to the copy of this sūtra, honor it, respect it, and praise it.”

The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra offers this explanation of these Peaceful Practices of the Mouth:

Bodhisattvas are to choose words carefully and make no mistakes in expounding the Dharma. There are four points:

  • A Bodhisattva should not point out the faults of other sutras or their adherents.
  • He or she should not despise other preachers of the Dharma.
  • He or she should not speak of either the merits or the demerits of other preachers, and should not mention “hearers” by name when criticizing their teachings or even when praising them.
  • He or she should not feel hostile toward anybody, and should freely answer any questions put to him. When asked difficult questions, the Bodhisattva should not answer by the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, but always refer to the Great Vehicle, and so lead people to the “knowledge of the equality and differences of all things” (p. 216).
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 11, 2019

Have faith in the great Mandala Gohonzon, the most superlative in the world. Endeavor! Endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of all Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Omandala Gohonzon, the Buddhas will provide more protection for us. Another way to read it is that as our faith develops, so does the power we have to protect others, free them from suffering and help them to awaken their Buddha nature. Either way, Nichiren shows us the practical results of our faith.

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