Buddhism for Today, p423-424Through the Lotus Sutra, we have become able to understand that all people have the buddha-nature equally. Through this sutra we are awakened to the fact that all of us possess the invaluable gem of the buddha-nature. In fact, the Lotus Sutra can be said to be the teaching of the disclosing of our buddha-nature.
Immediately after it is mined, a gemstone is covered with mud and does not display its true brilliance. It does not disclose its nature as an invaluable gem until the mud is washed off. Washing the mud from the gem is like the first stage of repentance. The surface of our buddha-nature is covered with various illusions acquired in the course of our daily lives. Through repentance we remove such illusions from our buddha-nature, just as water washes the mud from a precious stone.
Repentance toward others is the first stage of repentance. We must pass through this stage, but as our faith deepens, eventually we come to repent all our sins directly toward the Buddha. We examine ourselves as being imperfect and mistaken, study the Buddha’s teachings more deeply, meditate on Buddhist doctrines, and elevate ourselves ever higher. This is the secret principle of repentance; this is true repentance.
This second stage of repentance is the practice through which we constantly polish the gem of our buddha-nature. A gem does not reveal its brilliance even after the mud has been washed from it. Its surface is coated with mineral deposits, and it cannot display its intrinsic brilliance until polishing removes such impurities from its surface. The same thing can be said of our buddha-nature. The second stage of repentance is the practice by which we polish our buddha-nature.
As stated in chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra, “The Bodhisattva Never Despise,” in order to disclose the buddha-nature of others it is important for us to revere it, that is, to pay respect to everyone. We must have a much stricter attitude toward ourselves. We must constantly cleanse and polish our buddha-nature. We feel pain when we pour cold water on our body and scrub vigorously with a wet towel in order to cleanse it. When we dare to cleanse and polish our buddha-nature despite pain, it begins to emit a brilliant light.
The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue teaches concretely and thoroughly the meaning and practice of the second stage of repentance. Let us now proceed to the sutra itself.
Monthly Archives: February 2020
Grieving Deeply Over Slandering
Two Buddhas, p85Like his contemporaries, Nichiren embraced the idea that human beings are an integral part of the cosmos, and their actions affect both society and the natural world. He attributed the disasters confronting Japan during his lifetime — famine, epidemics, earthquakes, and the Mongol threat — to this fundamental error of “disparaging the Lotus Sutra.” Rejection of the sutra, in his eyes, would destroy the country in this life; in the future, it would condemn its people to countless rebirths in the Avici hell. The horrific sufferings described in the verse section of [Chapter 3] were for him not mere rhetorical hyperbole but an actual account, coming from the Buddha’s own mouth, of the fate that awaited the great majority of his contemporaries, something that grieved him deeply.
Those Who Destroy Buddhism
Some people might wonder what is good about accusing those followers of the Pure Land and Zen Buddhism, making enemies of them. In response, I will cite the Nirvana Sūtra: “Suppose there is a virtuous monk who does not accuse anyone of harming Buddhism, does not try to purge or punish him. You should know that such a monk is an enemy of Buddhism. In case the monk accuses such a man, purges, and punishes him, such a monk is a disciple of the Buddha who truly follows Him.”
Grand Master Chang-an explains this in his Annotations on the
Nirvana Sūtra:
“Those who destroy Buddhism are those within Buddhism working against Buddhism. Those heartless people who keep friendly relationships with such evil doers by overlooking their sins are their enemies. Those who are kind enough to try to correct them are the upholders of the True Dharma and true disciples of the Buddha. To prevent a friend from committing evil is really a friendly act. Therefore, one who accuses those of harming Buddhism is the Buddha’s disciple; and one who does not purge evil doers is an enemy of Buddhism.”
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 113
Daily Dharma – Feb. 12, 2020
All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly.
The Buddha makes this revelation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, he has just explained that although beings see him as a man who became enlightened after growing up as a crown prince, in reality he has been enlightened since an unimaginable amount of time in the past, and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment for twice that period of time into the future. As we learn to see the historical Śākyamuni Buddha as the ever-present Śākyamuni Buddha, our vision of the world changes too.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 32
Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month heard the Buddha answer how the good men or women will be able to obtain this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we consider Universal-Sage Bodhisattva’s vow to protect those who practice the Lotus Sūtra.
“World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me. I will expound the Dharma to them, show them the Way, teach them, benefit them, and cause them to rejoice. I also will give them dhārāṇi spells. If they obtain these dhārāṇis, they will not be killed by nonhuman beings or captivated by women. Also I myself will always protect them. World-Honored One! Allow me to utter these dhārāṇis spells!”
Thereupon he uttered spells before the Buddha:
“Atandai (1), tandahatai (2), tandahatei (3), tandakusharei (4), tandashudarei (5), shudarei (6), shudarahachi (7), botsudahasennei (8), sarubadarani-abatani (9), sarubabasha-abataru (10), huabatani (11), sōgyahabishani (12), sōgyaneku-kyadani (13), asogi (14), sōgyahagyadai. (15), teirei-ada-sōgyatorya-aratei-haratei (16), sarubasogya-sammaji-kyarandai (17), sarubadarumashuharisettei (18), saru-basatta-rodakyōsharya-atogyadai (19), shin-abikiridaitei (20).”
Wisdom and Practice
Buddhism for Today, p405The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī represents the Buddha’s wisdom, while the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue typifies the Buddha’s practice. These two bodhisattvas are regarded as a pair: the wisdom represented by Mañjuśrī symbolizes one’s realization of the truth and the practice typified by Universal Virtue one’s practice of the truth.
We have already studied the realization of the truth in the Law of Appearance. In the assembly of the Buddha’s preaching of this Law, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī was the representative of the Buddha’s disciples. We learned the entity of the truth in the “one chapter and two halves” — the latter half of chapter 15, all of chapter 16, and the first half of chapter 17. In this assembly, the Bodhisattva Maitreya represented the disciples. We were taught the practice of the truth through the example of the practices of various bodhisattvas in the latter half of chapter 17 and the following chapters, which are defined as the concluding part of the Law of Origin. Finally, the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue appears in the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra. There is a deep significance to his appearance at this particular point.
Understanding Dharma Slander
Two Buddhas, p85Nichiren’s understanding of dharma slander included not only verbal disparagement, as the term suggests, but the mental act of rejection or disbelief. As he declared, “To be born in a country where the Lotus Sūtra has spread and neither to have faith in it nor practice it, is disparaging the dharma.” In other words, one could be guilty of “disparaging the dharma” without malign intent, even without knowledge that one was doing so, simply by following a teacher who had set the Lotus aside in favor of lesser, provisional teachings. Nichiren initially leveled, this charge against Hōnen’s followers but later expanded it to include both Shingon and Tendai adepts who subordinated the Lotus Sūtra to the esoteric teachings; practitioners of Zen, who emphasized its “wordless transmission” over the Buddhist scriptures in general; as well as movements to revitalize precept observance, which based themselves on precepts grounded in provisional teachings.
Repenting After Committing a Serious Crime
You also asked in your letter to be told where Yashirō, who killed men, would be reborn in his next life. As sure as a needle sinks in the water and rain falls from the sky, a man who kills an ant falls to hell and a man who cuts off a dead body cannot avoid falling into the three evil regions of hell, hungry spirits, and beasts. Much more so, a man who kills a human. However, even a large boulder can float with the power of a boat, and a great fire can be extinguished with the power of water. Likewise, if a man does not repent for even a small transgression, he necessarily falls into an evil path, but if a man repents after committing a serious crime, his transgression will be expiated. There are many examples to support this.
Kōnichi-bō Gosho, A Letter to Nun Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 51
Daily Dharma – Feb. 11, 2020
I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.
These verses are spoken by Śāriputra, regarded as the wisest of the Buddha’s disciples, at the beginning of Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. His words come not from conceit, but from joy. How does our view of the problems in the world change when we have the assurance that we will become Buddhas? How does our view of others change when we know that they too will become Buddhas? For one thing, we might spend less effort demanding respect and more giving respect.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 31
Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
Having last month concluded Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva, we begin again and meet Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha and King Wonderful-Adornment and his wife and two sons.
Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude:
“Innumerable, inconceivable, asaṃkhya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world was called Light-Adornment; the kalpa in which he lived, Gladly-Seen. Under that Buddha lived a king called Wonderful-Adornment. His wife was called Pure-Virtue. They had two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes by name. The two sons had great supernatural powers, merits, virtues and wisdom. A long time ago, they had already practiced the Way which Bodhisattva should practice. They had already practiced the dana-pāramitā, the sita-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, the dhyāna-pāramitā, the prajña-pāramitā, and the pāramitā of expediency. They also had already obtained the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-kindness, joy and impartiality. They also had already practiced the thirty-seven ways to enlightenment. They had done all this perfectly and clearly. They also had already obtained the samādhis of Bodhisattvas: that is, the samādhi for purity, the samādhi for the sun and the stars, the samādhi for pure light, the samādhi for pure form, the samādhi for pure brightness, the samādhi for permanent adornment, and the samādhi for the great treasury of powers and virtues. They had already practiced all these samādhis.
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