Monthly Archives: September 2019

Saicho

The Tendai School Optimistic view of human potential

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The Tendai School had a more optimistic view of human potential than did the Hossō School. Tendai monks followed the Lotus Sūtra in arguing that all sentient beings could eventually attain Buddhahood. No beings were permanently denied Buddhahood. They also argued that the three vehicles did not lead to three separate ultimate goals. Rather, all sentient beings had only one ultimate spiritual goal, Buddhahood. Teachings leading the practitioner to arhathood or pratyekabuddhahood were only provisional teachings designed to encourage those with lesser faculties and lead them onward towards the single ultimate goal for all sentient beings, Buddhahood.

On the basis of these Tendai teachings, Saichō argued that only sūtras which presented provisional teachings contained claims that some people could attain Hinayāna goals but could never attain Buddhahood. The five types of human nature which the Hossō School had presented did not refer to seeds from the beginningless past, but to stages which a practitioner might attain and then transcend as he moved onward to higher goals. The five types of human nature were not determined by seeds which sentient beings possessed from the beginningless past, but by the obstacles which men had to overcome on their way to Buddhahood.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p101
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 9, 2019

When we worship gods or Buddhas, we begin with the phrase of “namu.” Namu is an Indian word that has come to mean “offering of life to Buddhas and gods” in China and Japan. Our social standing is determined in part by possessing a spouse and children, retainers, fiefs, and gold and silver, though some people do not have those. Regardless of whether we possess these or not, no one possesses treasure more precious than life. Accordingly, sages and wise men in the past have donated their lives to the Buddhas in order to attain Buddhahood.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Phenomenal and Noumenal Offering (Jiri Kuyō Gosho). We tend to judge ourselves and others by the outward aspects of our lives: where we live, what we wear, our position in society, and the company we keep. It is easy to lose sight of what will happen when we leave this life and give up all those things, even our precious bodies. Nichiren reminds us that our lives are all we have, and when we live them in gratitude for what the Buddha teaches us, and dedicate ourselves to benefitting others, then we exist as enlightened beings.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 12 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what became of the 16 princes, we consider those who were taught by the śramaṇeras.

“Bhikṣus! When we were śramaṇeras, we each taught many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings who followed me, heard the Dharma from me in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Some of them are still in Śrāvakahood. I now teach them the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They will be able to enter the Way to Buddhahood by my teaching, but not immediately because the wisdom of the Tathāgata is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [ when I was a śramaṇera], included you bhikṣus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Śrāvakahood after my extinction. My disciples who do not hear this sūtra or know the practices of Bodhisattvas, after my extinction will make a conception of extinction by the merits they will have accumulated by themselves, and enter into Nirvāṇa as they conceive it. At that time I shall be a Buddha of another name in another world. Those who will enter into Nirvāṇa as they conceive it will be able [to be reborn] in the world I shall live in, seek the wisdom of the Buddha, and hear this sūtra. They will be able to attain [true] extinction only by the Vehicle of the Buddha in that world because there is no other vehicle except when the Tathāgatas expound the Dharma with expedients.

Nichiren discusses this unique relationship between śramaṇera and his disciples in his letter Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra:

When we compare Śākyamuni Buddha in the Lotus Sūtra to Buddhas in other sūtras in regard to the period of practicing the Bodhisattva way and saving people, other Buddhas’ length of practice is said to have been three asamkhya kalpa or five kalpa, while Śākyamuni Buddha has been a great Bodhisattva planting the seed of enlightenment in all living beings in the Sahā World since 3,000 dust-particle kalpa ago according to the “Parable of a Magic City” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, none of the living beings in six lower realms in this world have any relationship with any Bodhisattvas in other worlds.

Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 208

Blog

Pictorial History of Practicing in Oakland

Sacramento Station
Waiting in Sacramento for the 8:59am train headed to San Jose
Oakland A's fans
Most of the people waiting for the train were headed to the Oakland A’s vs. Detroit Tigers game.
20190908-walk-map
Arriving at Oakland Jack London station with an hour and a half before the service I decided to walk to Mark Herrick’s house in Piedmont. The distance is just a 10th of a mile longer than I normally walk each day.
Lake Merritt
The walk was pleasant, although it did get warm by the time I arrived.
20190908_mccormick-Herrick
Michael McCormick and Mark Herrick discuss a book before the service.
20190908_152446
And finally the ride home. Plenty of room to stretch out.
Lotus Seeds

The Ten Worlds: Hell-Dwellers

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The world of the hell-dwellers is the lowest of the Ten Worlds. Buddhist cosmology teaches that there are more than 100 hells, including the eight major hot hells and eight major cold hells, which are reserved for those who are so consumed with hatred, bitterness, and despair that their only wish is to destroy themselves and others out of spite and the desire for non-existence.

Lotus Seeds

Saicho

Hossō School’s Two Categories of Buddha Nature

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The Hossō School’s position was that two categories of Buddha nature could be identified: the ribusshō, which all men possessed, and the gyōbusshō, which only a few possessed. The first was the Buddha-nature as absolute. Since the absolute was the basis of all phenomena, and since all sentient beings were ultimately dependent on the absolute, all were said to possess the ribusshō. However, Hossō scholars argued that the absolute was static; it did not actively participate in the phenomenal realm. Consequently, the ribusshō did not enable a practitioner to attain Buddhahood. When a sūtra stated that all sentient beings possessed the Buddha-nature, it indicated only that all had the ribusshō, not that all could attain Buddhahood.

The potential of some sentient beings to attain Buddhahood was explained by postulating a second type of Buddha-nature, the gyōbusshō or Buddha-nature of practice. The gyōbusshō consisted of untainted seeds (muro shuji) which were stored in the eight or basic consciousness (arayashiki, Skt. ālaya-vijn͂ana). These seeds were said to have existed from the beginningless past. If a person possessed them, he could attain Buddhahood. However, if he lacked untainted seeds, he could not create them no matter how diligently he practiced or studied. A person without the gyōbusshō could therefore never attain Buddhahood. Hossō School monks interpreted statements in the sūtras that only certain people could attain Buddhahood as referring to the possession of gyōbusshō by those people. Since not everyone had the gyōbusshō, some sūtras contained statements that not everyone could attain Buddhahood.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p97-98
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 8, 2019

The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva: “Good man! In a certain world, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha. He takes the shape of a Śrāvaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Śrāvaka.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. Like all Bodhisattvas, World-Voice-Perceiver can adapt his appearance to whatever we need to remove our delusions. In one way, this is a guide for us, reminding us that as Bodhisattvas ourselves, we can learn to adapt our approaches to others so that we can benefit them. In another way, it helps us to realize that more beings than we realize are helping us with our practice.

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

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Day 11 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the southeast.

“Bhikṣus! The great Brahman-[heavenly-]kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the southeast, who saw their palaces illumined more brightly than ever, danced with joy. They also wondered why [their palaces were so illumined]. They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called Great-Compassion among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Why is it
That we see this light?
Our palaces are illumined
More brightly than ever.

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
We have never seen this [light] before.
Let us do our best to find [the reason].

Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [worlds] went to the northwest, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi tree of the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:

Saintly Master, God of Gods!
Your voice is as sweet as a kalavinka’s.
You have compassion towards all living beings.
We now bow before you.
You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
You appear only once in a very long time.

No Buddha has appeared
For the past one hundred and eighty kalpas.
The three evil regions are crowded;
And the living beings in heaven, decreasing.

Now you have appeared in this world
And become the eye of all living beings.
As their refuge, you are saving them.
As their father, you are benefiting them
Out of your compassion towards them.
We are now able to see you
Because we accumulated merits
In our previous existence.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings out of your compassion towards them!’ Then they simultaneously said in gāthās with all their hearts:

Great Saint, turn the wheel of the Dharma
And reveal the reality of all things!
Save the suffering beings
And cause them to have great joy!

If they hear the Dharma, some will attain enlightenment;
Others will be reborn in heaven.
The living beings in the evil regions will decrease;
And those who do good patiently will increase.

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.

This section shows us the East, Southeast, South and Zenith. The story is almost the same but not exactly. One difference that always strikes me is the different length of time since a Buddha last appeared. This is not mentioned in the East or the South, but in the Southeast and Zenith that period is vastly different.

In the Southeast:

No Buddha has appeared
For the past one hundred and eighty kalpas.

In the Zenith:

There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.

All agree on what happens when there is no Buddha. As the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the Zenith say:

Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.

The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.

Saicho

Saichō’s Teacher Hsing-man

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The small amount of reliable information that survives about Saichō’s teacher Hsing-man is found in Saichō’s Kechimyakufu. Hsing-man, a native of Su-chou (in modern Kiangsu), was initiated when he was twenty and ordained as a monk when he was twenty-five. He studied the Ssu fen lü precepts for five years. In 768 he met Chan-jan and attended a number of his lectures on Chih-i’s major works (Tendai sandaibu). At the time of Saichō’s arrival in China, he was the head of the Fo-lung temple on Mount T’ien-t’ai. Hsing-man encouraged Saichō in his studies, giving him eighty-two fascicles of T’ien-t’ai works. He also told Saichō that Chih-i had predicted that a foreign monk would come to China in order to propagate T’ien-t’ai teachings in a country to the east of China. Predictions such as this one probably helped foreign monks such as Saichō and Kūkai gain ready acceptance by Chinese monks. Hsing-man assiduously practiced religious austerities and authored a number of works. He died around the year 823 when he was over eighty years old.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p46
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 7, 2019

They will be able to recognize all the sounds and voices inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, although they have not yet obtained heavenly ears. Even when they recognize all these various sounds and voices, their organ of hearing will not be destroyed.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. As we shed our delusions and see the world more for what it is, we begin to see and understand things not visible or comprehensible to those still mired in their suffering and attachment. Knowing the suffering we have left behind, we may be lured into abandoning this world and those in it. In this chapter, the Buddha shows that all of the sense organs we have in this life, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and thought, all of these can be used either to increase our delusion or bring us towards awakening. The Buddha reached enlightenment in this world, and so do we.

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