Two Buddhas, p86Buddhist sūtras specify two approaches to teaching the dharma: shōju, or leading others gradually without criticizing their present stance, and shakubuku, or actively rebuking attachment to false views. The choice between them, Nichiren said, should depend on the time and place. In his view, in Japan at the beginning of the Final Dharma age — a time and place where the Lotus Sūtra was being rejected in favor of provisional teachings — the confrontational shakubuku method should take precedence over the more accommodating shōju approach.
Monthly Archives: January 2020
Ten Worlds with Ten Worlds and Ten Factors
The mutual possession of the Ten Worlds means that each of the Ten Worlds contains all ten within itself, bringing the total to 100 worlds. These 100 worlds are 100 different perspectives on life. Each possesses the Ten Factors of life, which brings the total up to 1,000. The mutual possession of the Ten Worlds is possible because the Ten Worlds all possess the Ten Factors in common. These Ten Factors are the ways in which one can analyze the common properties of life in all of the one hundred worlds.
Fundamentally, the Ten Factors show that the 100 worlds are all simply manifestations of the process of Dependent Origination, and therefore are empty of any fixed or independent existence.
Lotus SeedsStudy Sūtras Before Choosing Your Sect
Grand Master Dengyō praises his own sect in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “The superiority of the Tendai (T’ien-t’ai) Lotus Sect to other Buddhist schools stems from the superiority of its basic sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra. I am not praising our own and slandering other schools. Wise gentlemen, please study the sūtras before choosing your sect.” He also declares in this writing, “The person who upholds the Lotus Sūtra is foremost among all the people. This is what the Buddha preached. How can it be my own fanciful words of self-praise?”
Ōta-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lord Ōta, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 201-202.
Daily Dharma – Jan. 26, 2020
As I contemplate my own life, I, Nichiren, have studied Buddhism ever since I was a child. Our life is uncertain, as exhaling one’s breath one moment does not guarantee drawing it the next; it is as transient as the dew before the wind and its end occurs suddenly to everyone, the wise and the ignorant, the aged and the young. I thought I should study the matter of the last moment of life first of all, before studying anything else.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Reply to My Lady, the Nun Myōgō (Myōhō-ama Gozen Gohenji). The Buddha taught that everything that comes together falls apart. Everything that is born must die. Then in the Lotus Sūtra he taught that he sees the world differently. For him living beings have neither birth nor death, they do not appear nor disappear. For each of us, the death of our bodies is certain. As Nichiren instructs, it is beneficial to meditate on this fact and not live in denial of our mortality. At the same time, when we see with the Buddha’s mind, we realize that our lives are not the end of the story. Time and life are abundant, but it it still important to waste neither.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 15
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, we return to the top of today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and we consider how the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and understand.
Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva mahāsattvas:
“I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.“Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.
“Medicine-King, know this! Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe. He also will be protected by the present Buddhas of the other worlds. He will have the great power of truth, the power of vows, and the power of roots of good. Know this! He will live with me. I will pat him on the head.
Protected by the Tathāgata with His Robe.
Buddhism for Today, p144Some people may think it strange that this sacred teaching should incur enmity and envy, but it is not really strange, because whenever a better teaching is preached or believed in, those who believe in a lower teaching tend to envy it and are irritated and upset by it. Others scorn the teaching when they know nothing of its content. Still others denounce a good teaching as heresy and persecute it. When Sakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Nichiren began to preach their teachings, all were attacked by enemies and underwent religious persecution.
As mentioned before, the Buddha promises us: “Even if the Lotus Sutra arouses much enmity and envy, endure this and receive, keep, and practice the sutra. Such a person will be protected and invested by the Tathāgata with his robe.”
Then and Now
Two Buddhas, p32In the contemporary world, where the violence and suffering brought about by religious conflict are so starkly evident, Nichiren’s emphasis on the exclusive truth of the Lotus Sūtra and his assertive mode of proselytizing sometimes provoke antipathy, as they fly in the face of ideals of tolerance and religious pluralism. Both traditional temple organizations and long-established lay groups of Nichiren Buddhism tend to be more accommodating and to take a milder approach in spreading their teachings, in keeping with Nichiren’s admonition that the method of propagation should accord with the times. Nichiren, however, lived in a very different world, where his conviction of the Lotus Sūtra’s sole efficacy in the age of the Final Dharma demanded resolute opposition to other Buddhist forms. This stance sharply differentiated him from the Buddhist mainstream of his day. Though it drew hostility, it may well have enabled his fledgling community to survive beyond his lifetime by carving out a unique religious identity.
The Only Way Seemingly Leading to Buddhahood
The only way seemingly that leads to Buddhahood is the “3,000 in one thought” doctrine of T’ien-t’ai. However, we in the Latter Age of Degeneration do not possess the intelligence to understand it; nevertheless, among all the sūtras preached by Śākyamuni during His lifetime, only the Lotus Sūtra embodies the gem of the “3,000 in one thought” doctrine. Doctrines of other sūtras may look like gems, but in actuality they are merely yellow rocks. Just as, no matter how hard you squeeze sand, you will not get oil, or barren women will never have children, even wise men will not be able to attain Buddhahood by means of other sūtras. As for the Lotus Sūtra, even ignorant persons will be able to plant the seed of Buddhahood.
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 108-109
Daily Dharma – Jan. 25, 2020
Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.
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. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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.
Having last month repeated the prediction for Rāhula in gāthās, we hear the prediction for the two thousand Śrāvakas and conclude 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.
Thereupon the World-Honored One saw the two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They were gentle, quiet and pure. They looked up at the Buddha with all their hearts.
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Do you see these two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some have something more to learn while others have nothing more to learn?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Ānanda! These people will make offerings to as many Buddhas, as many Tathāgatas, as the particles of dust of fifty worlds. They will respect those Buddhas, honor them, and protect the store of their teachings. They will finally go to the worlds of the ten quarters and become Buddhas at the same time. They will be equally called Treasure-Form, 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. They will live for a kalpa. They will be the same in regard to the adornments of their worlds, the number of the Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas of their worlds, the duration of the preservation of their right teachings, and the duration of the preservation of the counterfeit of their right teachings.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
I assure the future Buddhahood
Of these two thousand Śrāvakas
Who are now present before me.
They will become Buddhas in their future lives.They will make offerings to as many Buddhas
As the particles of dust as previously stated.
They will protect the store of the teachings of those Buddhas,
And attain perfect enlightenment.They will go to the worlds of the ten quarters.
Their [Buddha-]names will be the same.
They will sit at the place of enlightenment
And obtain unsurpassed wisdom at the same time.Their [Buddha-]names will be Treasure-Form.
[The adornment of] their worlds, [the number of] their disciples,
[The duration of the period of] their right teachings,
[And that of] the counterfeit of them will be the same.By their supernatural powers, they will save
The living beings of the worlds of the ten quarters.
Their fame will extend far and wide.
They will enter into Nirvana in the course of time.Thereupon the two thousand Śrāvakas, of whom some had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn, having heard the Buddha assure them of their future Buddhahood, danced with joy, and sang in a gāthā:
You, the World-Honored One, are the light of wisdom.
Hearing from you
That we are assured of our future Buddhahood,
We are as joyful as if we were sprinkled with nectar.