Two Buddhas, p240-241Unlike Gadgadasvara [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva], who would seem to appear only in the Lotus Sūtra, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara [World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva] features in numerous texts and has been revered throughout Asia, down to and including the present time. Avalokiteśvara has been worshipped in many guises. The Dalai Lama is regarded as an incarnation of Avalokiteśvara. In China, this bodhisattva was often represented in female form. In Japan one finds pilgrimage routes dedicated to the bodhisattva comprising thirty-three sites, one for each of his manifestations listed in this chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. He also figures prominently in the Pure Land tradition as the right-hand attendant of the buddha Amitābha, accompanying him when he descends to welcome his devotees at the moment of death and escort them to his pure land.
It was possibly because of these Pure Land connections that Nichiren makes so little mention of Avalokiteśvara, despite the pervasiveness in medieval Japan of devotion to this bodhisattva. On the mandalas he inscribed for his followers, Nichiren wrote the names of representative bodhisattvas of the trace teaching below the names of the leaders of the bodhisattvas of the earth. Usually he chose Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra as these representatives; no extant mandala in his hand bears the name of Avalokiteśvara.
Monthly Archives: October 2019
Our Active Practice
What we have taking place with the appearance of these Bodhisattvas from beneath the ground is a shift in the Lotus Sutra from theory to action. We, as those Bodhisattvas, manifest that life condition not by sitting around thinking about it or by some theoretical endeavor but by actually living our lives, by doing, by being. This is not a theoretical practice nor is it a practice only for oneself. This is a practice of engagement, of action, and of involvement with society teaching others and showing others by the example of our lives, not just our theories.
Remember we approach the Buddha and ask him how he is doing, not what he can do for us. The famous speech by John Kennedy, a president of my lifetime, keeps coming to mind. I can almost hear it today, and recall watching it on television as a youth. We should be asking what we can do for others and what we can do for Buddhism, not what Buddhism can do for us or what we can get out of Buddhism.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraChih-i’s Contribution to Saichō’s Precepts
Chih-i’s writings contributed two important elements to Saichō’s thought on the precepts. First, Chih-i’s concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices was a forerunner of Saichō’s association of the Fan wang precepts with the Direct Path (jikidō) to enlightenment. Secondly, Chih-i’s use of the term ‘Perfect precepts’ (enkai) suggested that certain precepts were suited for those who followed the Perfect teachings of the Lotus Sūtra and that those precepts might be distinct from the Hinayāna precepts.
Chih-i’s position on the precepts differed from that of Saichō in several ways. First, Chih-i advocated the harmonious combination of the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna precepts. Even when the precepts were realized through Sudden practices, they still encompassed the Hinayāna precepts. Secondly, Chih-i’s concept of the Perfect precepts was abstract. He did not identify the Perfect precepts with a specific set of rules. The Fan wang precepts represented a mixture of Unique and Perfect teachings, not solely Perfect (jun’en) teachings. The purely Perfect precepts could only be observed by the Buddha. Before the doctrinal foundation for Saichō’s proposals would be complete, the Perfect precepts would have to be identified with the Fan wang precepts and freed of the onus of incorporating Hinayāna or Unique teachings.
Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p227-228Daily Dharma – Oct. 29, 2019
Your face is most wonderful.
Your light illumines the worlds of the ten quarters.
I once made offerings to you.
Now I have come to see you again.
Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva sings these verses to Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha in a story told in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. That Bodhisattva was the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva who accepted all of the misfortunes of this world of delusion and ignorance so that he could benefit all beings living here. When we awaken our nature as Bodhisattvas, and resolve to use the Buddha’s teachings to purify this world, then we are assured we will never fail to meet Buddhas and repay the good they do for us.
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The Sole Intent of the Whole Sūtra
QUESTION: Why do you claim that the daimoku contains all the Buddha’s teachings?
ANSWER: Interpreting the preface of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, Chang-an says, “The daimoku at the beginning is the king of the Lotus Sūtra that expresses the profound meaning of the sūtra. The sūtra’s profound meaning is the heart of the text. The heart of the text is unsurpassed by even the theoretical and essential teachings.” Miao-lê says, “By the daimoku, the heart of the text of the Lotus Sūtra, the comparative superiority among all the teachings of the Buddha is discerned.”
Muddy water has no mind but it still catches the moon’s reflection and naturally becomes lucid. Plants and trees catch the rain in order to blossom, but can we say they do this deliberately? The five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō are not the text of the sūtra nor a mere explanation; rather, they are the sole intent of the whole sūtra. Beginners may practice this without knowing the heart (of the Lotus Sūtra), but their practice will naturally harmonize with its intention.
Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 107
Day 28
Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month learned of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s transformations, we consider the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva.
“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Sahā World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know. He also does the same in the innumerable worlds of the ten quarters, that is, in as many worlds as, there are sands in the River Ganges. He takes the shape of a Śrāvaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Śrāvaka. 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 another Bodhisattva and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by that Bodhisattva. He takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes these various shapes according to the capacities of those who are to be saved. He shows his extinction to those who are to be saved by his extinction. Flower-Virtue! Such are the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva.”
Bodhisattvas Who Meet the Needs of Sentient Beings
[Chapter 24] and the preceding, “Bhaiṣajyarāja” [The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva] chapter feature bodhisattvas who manifest themselves in a variety of forms in order to meet the needs of sentient beings. Chapter 24 enumerates thirty-four appearances assumed by the bodhisattva Gadgadasvara [Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva] through his mastery of the samādhi of manifesting all physical forms, the same samādhi attributed to the bodhisattva Sarvarūpasaṃdarśana [Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva] in Chapter 23. Chapter 25 similarly lists thirty-three forms assumed by the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara [World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva]. The phrase “gateway to everywhere” (J. fumon), sometimes translated as “universal gate,” in the title of Chapter 25 refers to precisely this activity by which buddhas and bodhisattvas assume various forms to aid suffering beings. An eleventh-century poem based on this chapter celebrates the universal compassion of Avalokiteśvara:
the world is saved
because no one can shut
the gate to everywhere:
O who will not enter?
The Ten Worlds: Heavenly Beings
The world of the heavenly beings is where the gods make their abode. Unlike the Western concept of heaven, however, Buddhist heavens do not refer to a realm of eternal salvation. Rather, they are temporary realms of bliss where all of one’s desires are satisfied. The heavens are also realms of increasing subtlety and refinement, transcending our worldly concepts of time, space, and matter. The heavens are attained as a reward for good deeds, as well as through the cultivation of meditation of other spiritual disciplines. Eventually, however, those in the heavens will have to leave and “come back down to earth.”
Lotus SeedsChih-i’s Concept of Perfect Precepts
Chih-i’s concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices presaged Saichō’s claim that the Perfect precepts were suitable for the bodhisattva who could take a direct path (jikidō) to enlightenment. However, a crucial difference remained between the views of Chih-i and Saichō. Chih-i never attempted to reject the Hinayāna precepts, nor did he argue that ordinations with bodhisattva precepts should precede full Hinayāna ordinations. In the Fa hua hsüan i, he stated that the Hinayāna precepts should be explained in a way which revealed their Mahāyāna contents. According to Chih-i, the bodhisattva who followed Sudden practices perfected and encompassed both the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna precepts. Consequently, the concept of sudden practices did not imply that the Hinayāna precepts were to be rejected.
Besides the concept of a bodhisattva who performed Sudden practices, Chih-i also introduced another concept utilized by Saichō, the Perfect precepts (enkai). The term ‘Perfect precepts’ referred to Chih-i’s classification of Buddhist doctrine into four categories and designated the precepts appropriate for followers of the Perfect teaching. Chih-i equated the Perfect precepts with the precepts of the Buddha. They were realized through meditation, practice, and the development of a mind which was free from passions and thus able to perceive things as they really are (jissōshin). The Perfect precepts were usually not identified in Chih-i’s writings with any particular set of rules such as the precepts of the Fan wang ching (Sūtra of Brahma’s Net), Hinayāna sets or even with the anrakugyō (Serene and Pleasant Activities) of the Lotus Sūtra. Elsewhere, however, Chih-i stated that adherence to the Lotus Sūtra (jikyō) was equivalent to holding the most profound precepts. Such precepts were called absolute (rikai) and were free of specific content. They were realized in two ways. A monk or nun might gradually practice precepts of increasing subtlety until the Perfect precepts were attained, or he or she might attain them in an instant through Sudden practices.
Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p224-225A Variable Transmission for the One Vehicle
Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra, opens with Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, together with their twenty-thousand attendants who were also Bodhisattvas, vowing to the Buddha that they will keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra in the difficult Sahā world after the Buddha’s extinction.
The Buddha does not reply.
Then after the arhats and śrāvakas and the Buddha’s step-mother and former wife all offer to teach the dharma in other lands outside the Sahā world, the Buddha silently looks “at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis.” These Bodhisattvas are waiting for the Buddha to command them to keep and expound the Lotus Sūtra.
The Buddha remains silent.
This has always puzzled me. These Bodhisattvas, unlike those in Chapter 15, are not identified as having come from other worlds. Are the “eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas” of Chapter 13 a subset of the “Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, more than eight times the number of the sands of the River Ganges, who had come from the other worlds” in Chapter 15?
I’ve found an answer to my puzzlement in Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side, although it is hidden behind misleading shorthand in the book.
In the post Bodhisattvas from Other Worlds, I discuss the book’s suggestion that all of the Bodhisattvas who volunteer at the start of Chapter 13 “have arrived from other worlds.”
I posted on the Nichiren Shu group on Facebook the question, “With the exception of Maitreya, are all of the great bodhisattvas listed in Chapter 1, Introductory, from other worlds?”
In response, Michael McCormick said: “As far as I can tell, yes, the bodhisattva’s whose names I am familiar with in that opening passage are bodhisattvas who are of a more cosmic nature and two of them, Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta are particularly associated as attendants of Amitabha Buddha. I think the idea is that the only bodhisattva officially associated with this particular world is Maitreya Bodhisattva. The Lotus Sutra, being a relatively early Mahayana sutra, is taking the assumed cosmology and personnel of the teachings found in the Agamas and Pali canon and spinning it.”
But I believe the answer is more nuanced, and that nuance is provided by Jacqueline Stone’s explanation of how Nichiren saw the transmission of the Lotus Sūtra.
Two Buddhas, p236Chapters Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, and Twenty-Five describe how specific bodhisattvas display their powers in the world to benefit sentient beings. … From Nichiren’s standpoint, the bodhisattvas appearing in these chapters had received only the general transmission described in the “Entrustment” chapter. Either they had come from other worlds, or they were followers of Śākyamuni in his provisional guise as the Buddha of the trace teaching or shakumon portion of the sūtra. Thus, their work was chiefly confined to the True and Semblance Dharma ages.
It is Nichiren’s explanation that “[the Bodhisattvas] had come from other worlds, or they were followers of Śākyamuni in his provisional guise as the Buddha of the trace teaching” that explains why the Buddha does not answer the Bodhisattvas who volunteer to spread the Lotus Sūtra in Chapter 13.
Stone quotes Nichiren’s letter “Kashaku hōbō metsuazai shō” to explain:
Two Buddhas, p219-220As for the five characters Myōhō-renge-kyō: Śākyamuni Buddha not only kept them secret during his first forty-some years of teaching, but also refrained from speaking of them even in the trace teaching, the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra. Not until the “Lifespan” chapter did he reveal the two characters renge, which [represent the five characters and] indicate the original effect and original cause [of the Buddha’s enlightenment]. The Buddha did not entrust these five characters to Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Bhaiṣajyarāja, or any other such bodhisattvas. Instead he summoned forth from the great earth of Tranquil Light the bodhisattvas Viśiṣṭacāritra, Anantacāritra, Vlśuddhacāritra, and Supratiṣṭhitacāritra along with their followers and transmitted the five characters to them.
To shorthand this by saying — as the book does repeatedly — these Bodhisattvas are all from other worlds, distracts the reader from the distinction between the trace teaching and the origin teaching and the significance of the transmission of Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō to the Bodhisattvas who have been the Buddha’s students since the beginningless past.