Monthly Archives: September 2019

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month learned in gāthās how good men or women who live after the Buddha’s extinction should expound this sūtra, we conclude Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

If anyone speaks ill of you, or threatens you
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones
While you are expounding this sūtra,
Think of me, and be patient!

My body is pure and indestructible.
I will appear in any of many thousands of billions of worlds
During many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And expound the Dharma to the living beings.

If a teacher of the Dharma expounds this sūtra
After my extinction,
I will manifest the four kinds of devotees:
Bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, and men and women of pure faith,
And dispatch them to him
So that they may make offerings to him,
And that they may lead many living beings,
Collecting them to hear the Dharma [from him].

If he is hated and threatened
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones,
I will manifest men and dispatch them to him
In order to protect him.

If an expounder of the Dharma
Reads and recites this sūtra
In a retired and quiet place,
Where no human voice is heard,
I will show my pure and radiant body to him.
If he forgets a sentence or a phrase of this sūtra,
I will tell it to him
For his complete understanding.

Anyone who expounds this sūtra to the four kinds of devotees,
Or reads or recites this sūtra in a retired place,
After doing these [three] virtuous things,
Will be able to see me.

If he lives in a retired place,
I will dispatch gods, dragon-kings, yakṣas,
Demigods, and others to him,
And have them hear the Dharma [from him].

He will expound the Dharma with joy.
He will expound it without hindrance.
He will cause a great multitude to rejoice
Because he is protected by all the Buddhas.

Those who come to this teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to complete the Way of Bodhisattvas quickly.
Those who follow him and study will be able to see
As many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

The Daily Dharma from July 28, 2018, offers this:

If anyone speaks ill of you, or threatens you
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones
While you are expounding this sūtra,
Think of me, and be patient!

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. By patience, the Buddha does not mean to toughen ourselves and allow others to harm us. The patience he speaks of allows to increase our capacity to handle the mental suffering that comes when others abuse us. If we keep in mind that nothing anyone does can remove the seed of Buddha nature that is within them, and remember that this seed is within all beings, we can treat even those who mean us harm with respect and compassion, rather than contempt and derision.

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

Saicho

The Buddha-Nature Controversy

Quote

The Buddha-nature was a controversial topic in India, China and Japan. In his classic study of the long history of these disputes, Tokiwa Daijō (1870-1945) argued that the debate between Saichō and Tokuitsu represented the culmination of the disputes over the Buddha nature. The issues were probably more clearly demarcated and discussed by both men than at any other time in East Asian Buddhist history. Many new issues were introduced into the debate and their relation to the subject of the Buddha-nature investigated. Saichō displayed considerable ingenuity and an impressive command of Buddhist literature in drawing upon a variety of sources to formulate and defend his position. At the same time, the debate with Tokuitsu prepared the ground for the controversy over the bodhisattva precepts (bosatsukai) by indicating that the Tendai and Hossō positions were irreconcilable. Saichō’s petitions concerning the bodhisattva precepts … represent his attempt to formulate practices which would reflect the more theoretical statements which he had advanced in his works criticizing Tokuitsu.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p106
WONS

Something Shining Like the Moon Flew Like a Ball

Just at the time when I was thinking this must be the place where I would be beheaded, the soldiers began to get excited, gathering around me. Shijō Kingo began to cry saying, “The last moment has come!” Looking at this, I uttered, “How cowardly you all are! I am glad you are laughing at such a wonderful occasion as this when I am now going to present my malodorous head to the Lotus Sūtra. Why do you break the promise you had made?” Just at this moment, something shining like the moon flew like a ball from Enoshima Island from southeast to northwest. It was before daybreak, the night of the twelfth and was still too dark to see the faces of people. However, the night was brightened by the shining object for us to see our faces as clearly as on a moonlit night. The executioner who was ready to kill Nichiren fell down on the ground blinded. The soldiers became frightened. Some ran away as far as one hundred meters, others dismounted from horses and squatted down on the ground, and still others remained stiff on horseback.

I, Nichiren, shouted, “Why do you stay away from a felon like me? Come back here quickly.” None of them, however, came near me in a hurry. “Daybreak is coming very soon; what can you do if it gets light? If you have to kill me, do it right away. It would be unsightly when it gets lighted.” Thus I shouted to them, but there was no response.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 28-29

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 11, 2019

The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

The Buddha sings these verses to those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He has already said that we must leave behind the expedient teachings tailored to our minds and take on the highest teaching which is the Buddha’s own mind. He knows how difficult this is for us, that we cannot hear it through our understanding alone, so he asks us to use our whole being to hear him.

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

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s prediction for Ānanda, we consider the complaint of the eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

There were eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire [for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi] in this congregation. They thought, ‘As far as we have heard, even great Bodhisattvas have never been assured of their future Buddhahood. Why have these Śrāvakas been so assured?’

Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing what the Bodhisattvas had in their minds, said to them:

“Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings. He also will protect the store of the teachings of future Buddhas, teach Bodhisattvas, and cause them to attain [Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi], according to his original vow. Therefore, now he has been assured of his future Buddhahood.”

The Daily Dharma from Dec. 12, 2018, offers this:

Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time [in our previous existence]. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi[, but he has not yet]. Now he protects my teachings.

The Buddha gives this description to those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, he has just assured his cousin Ānanda that he will become a Buddha. He then explains the difference between hearing what the Buddha teaches and making it a part of our lives. It is when we practice the Buddha Dharma that we truly understand it. But even if we believe we do not have the capacity to practice, it is still important for us to hear and protect what the Buddha left for us. By giving others the opportunity to learn and do what perhaps we cannot, we help to improve their lives, and give them a chance to improve ours.

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

Saicho

Saichō’s Debate With Takuitsu

Quote

[Page 90-91] The turning point in Saichō’s career began with a trip to Tōgoku (Eastern provinces) in 817. … During his travels in Tōgoku, Saichō probably heard about the Hossō Monk Takuitsu. … [Page 96] The dispute between Saichō and Takuitsu covered a wide range of problems, including the proper method of classifying the Buddha’s teachings, the evaluation of Tendai methods of exegesis of the Lotus Sūtra, and the criticism of various Tendai doctrines and meditations. Both men offered detailed and penetrating arguments in support of their positions. …

[Page 105-106] In its later stages, the debate focused on the exegesis of the Lotus Sūtra, the most authoritative scripture for the Tendai School.

Saichō often referred to his own school as the Tendai Hokkeshū, the Tendai School of Lotus Sūtra interpretation. It was not the only school which interpreted the Lotus Sūtra, since both the Hossō and Sanron schools had long traditions of exegesis of the Lotus Sūtra. Thus Saichō’s task was to show that the Tendai interpretation was the most authoritative one.

Tokuitsu followed the orthodox Hossō interpretation, as it was presented in Tz’u-en’s (632-682) commentary, the Fa hua hsüan tsan. According to Tz’u-en’s writings, the Buddha had a hidden purpose in preaching the Lotus Sūtra. He wanted to encourage people of undetermined nature to strive to become bodhisattvas, rather than being content with merely becoming or striving to become arhats or pratyekabuddhas. The One-vehicle doctrine was an expedient teaching (gonkyō) directed toward those of undetermined nature. The claims of the Lotus Sūtra that it was the ultimate teaching (jitsukyō) were an expedient designed to encourage this particular class of practitioner and were not to be considered as teachings which were universally valid. Predictions in sūtras that certain people would attain Buddhahood were said to refer to the individual’s possession of the gyōbusshō and to not have any general significance. Statements that all beings had the Buddha nature, such as that by the bodhisattva Jōbukyō (Never-disparaging), were said to refer only to the inactive ribusshō.

In contrast to the Hossō position presented above, Saichō believed that the Lotus Sūtra was the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, a direct revelation of the Buddha’s enlightenment, which was valid for all men and not just intended for one particular group. Saichō supported his arguments by referring to passages in the Lotus Sūtra that stated that the sūtra was indeed the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, by defending the Tendai classification of Buddhist doctrine, and by attacking the Hossō classification of Buddhist doctrine. The defense and exegesis of the The teachings of the One-vehicle, the universality of salvation, and the speedy realization of salvation were eventually accepted as standard Buddhist teachings throughout Japan. The new schools of the Kamakura reformation developed out of the Tendai School and adopted the positions that Saichō had defended, though not without changes. Even some Hossō monks such as Ryōhen (1194-1252) tried to reconcile the differences between Hossō and Tendai by devising positions which allowed for universal salvation and the quick attainment of salvation.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p90-106
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 10, 2019

Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions. Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.

The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Why is it worse to criticize someone who is even beginning to practice the Wonderful Dharma than it is to criticize the Buddha who is fully enlightened? It is like the difference between kicking a full-grown tree and kicking a young sapling. The Buddha knows how to handle criticism. One who has just started with the Buddha Dharma could be discouraged from this practice through criticism. We should encourage anyone who wants to practice with us.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the prediction for Pūrṇa Bhikṣu, we hear from twelve hundred Arhats.

Thereupon the twelve hundred Arhats, who had already obtained freedom of mind, thought:

“We have never been so joyful before. How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

Seeing what they had in their minds, the Buddha said to Maha-Kāśyapa:

“Now I will assure these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me, of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another. My great disciple Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu, who is among them, will make offerings to six billion and two hundred thousand million Buddhas, and then become a Buddha called Universal-Brightness, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya­Kāśyapa, Nadī-Kāśyapa, Kālodāyin, Udāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svāgata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.”

Nichiren writes of Aniruddha in his Letter to Hōren:

A Hinayāna sage known as Pratyekabuddha is incomparably superior to a śrāvaka. He is so great that he can stand in for the Buddha to appear in the world to save its people. It is said that there was once a hunter who in a time of famine gave a bowl of rice mixed with barnyard millet to a pratyekabuddha called Rita, and as a result he was rewarded with rebirth as a man of wealth in the human or heavenly world for as long as 91 kalpa (aeons). Aniruddha, one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha who is reputed to have mastered the divine-eye of heavenly beings to see through everything, is said to have been [the incarnation of) the hunter. Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this, “Although the bowl of barnyard millet rice has little value, the hunter donated all that he owned to a person of great merit. Therefore, the hunter was rewarded with such good fortune.” It means that although a bowl of millet rice was not much in value, it was presented to a noble person of Pratyekabuddha status, and this is the reason why he was able to be reborn with such good luck.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 46

Blog

The View of Nichiren Shū in 1985

1985_Nichiren_Shu-cover
View this brochure online

I’ve added another brochure to the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church website. This one was published by the Asia Buddhist Friendship Association Nichiren Shū in 1985. The booklet is bilingual, with English on the lefthand pages and Japanese on the right.

This brochure declares that Nichiren was Bodhisattva Viśiṣṭacaritra – Jōgyō in Japanese and Superior Practice in English.

saint-nichirenViśiṣṭacaritra is a Bodhisattva who is predicted to appear in this impure world in what was termed lawlessness (Mappō in Japanese) two thousand years following Buddha’s passing. Here, in compliance with the spirit of the sage, Śākyamuni, this Bodhisattva is to undertake Buddhist austerities armed with the Lotus Sutra. However, in this sutra it also explains that without fail persecution will be encountered while propagating and teaching the Lotus Sutra in this age of degeneration. It is in the face of this oppression that resolution must not waver, even to the extent of martyrdom, so that teaching of the Lotus Sutra can be carried out. In compliance with this prediction of the Lotus Sutra, Saint Nichiren was born at the beginning of the age of lawlessness (Mappō) during the Kamakura-Era (1185-1333). In preaching this text he suffered repented persecution and at one stage almost became a martyr in its cause. Finally, it was in his pursuit of the course expounded in the Lotus Sutra that Saint Nichiren attained the realization that he was in fact Viśiṣṭacaritra Bodhisattva.

Lecture on Lotus Sutra, d20b

Living the Life

When we choose to live our lives with the firm belief that we are the most qualified to become Buddhas, that we don’t need anything else other than our faith in the Lotus Sutra to qualify us, and when we devout ourselves to practice with faith, and when we strive to save others, then we will actually manifest the characteristics of those Bodhisattvas who arose from beneath the ground. We cannot just call ourselves that and end the day. We actually have to do the things required to fulfill our vows as those Bodhisattvas.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra