Monthly Archives: February 2020

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 3, 2020

Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva-mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood, saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’ Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able to hear his answer.

This passage from Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra is the answer one of the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha gives to his attendant. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas have come up through the ground of this world of conflict after the Buddha asked who would continue his teaching after his extinction. Neither the attendant, nor anyone gathered to hear the Buddha teach had seen those Bodhisattvas before and wanted to know where they came from. Our practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not mean merely accepting what we do not understand. We need to raise questions when they occur. These questions show that we are capable of greater understanding. They lead us even closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.

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

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the twelve hundred merits of the ear, we repeat in gāthās and conclude today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he bad said, sang in gāthās:

Their ears given by their parents will be purified, not defiled.
With their natural ears,
They will be able to recognize the sounds of voices
Of the one thousand million sumeru-worlds.

They will be able to recognize
The voices of elephants, horses and cows;
Th sounds of carts, gongs, bells, conch-shell horns,
And of drums, lyres, harps, reed-pipes and flutes.
Although they recognize pure and sweet songs,
They will not be attached to them.
They also will be able to recognize
The countless kinds of voices of men.

They will be able to recognize
The voices of gods,
The wonderful songs [of gods],
And the voices of men, women, boy and girls.

They will be able to recognize
The songs of kalavinkas, of jivakajivakas,
And of the other birds in mountains,
And on rivers and ravines.

The expounder of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize from afar,
While he is staying in the world [of men],
The cryings and shriekings
Of the denizens in hell,
The shoutings of hungry and thirsty spirits
Who are seeking food and drink,
And the voices of asuras
Bellowing to each other
[As they pound] on the seacoasts.
Even when he recognizes all this by hearing,
His organ of hearing will not be destroyed.

The expounder of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in this world],
The voices of birds and animals calling each other
In the worlds of the ten quarters.

The teacher of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in the world of men],
The voices of the gods of the heavens
Above the Heaven of Brahman,
[That is,] of the Light-Sound Heaven,
Of the Universal-Pure Heaven, and of the Highest Heaven.

The teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize,
Without moving about,
The voices of the bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound them to others.

He will be able to recognize
The voices of the Bodhisattvas
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound the meanings
Of quotations from them
To others.

Anyone who keeps this Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to recognize the voices of the Buddhas,
That is, the voices of the Great Honorable Saints
Who teach all living beings,
And who expound the Wonderful Dharma in great congregations.

He will be able to recognize
All the sounds and voices
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds,
[Each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
And yet his organ of hearing will not be destroyed.
He will be able to recognize everything by hearing
Because his ears are sharp.

Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to obtain these merits with his natural ears
Although he has not yet obtained heavenly ears.

See Merits of the Ear

b4today, LS32, d23b

Merits of the Ear

We find the following two important expressions in the verse portion in which the Buddha speaks of the merits of the ear: “He can listen without being under their control” and “He will hear without harm to his organ of hearing.” The former expression means that even if he hears the sounds of beautiful music he is not attached to them. He may be charmed by music for a short time, but he has no permanent attachment to it, nor is lulled into forgetting important matters. This is a good example for us in regard to our attachment to amusements. The latter expression means that his hearing will not be impaired even if he hears all the sounds in the three-thousand-great-thousand-fold world. This indicates that he will not become confused by hearing all the various kinds of sounds in the world. If an ordinary person hears the sounds of worry, of suffering, and of grief on one side and the sounds of disputes and quarrels on the other, he will be thrown into confusion. However, a person who has deepened his faith sufficiently will not be overwhelmed; he will dwell calmly amid the noise and will be able to hear these sounds with serenity.

Buddhism for Today, p300
2buddhas, d3b

Even the Slightest Thought

On the basis of [ten suchnesses], Zhiyi formulated a grand, architectonic concept that came to be called the “single thought-moment entailing three thousand realms” (ichinen sanzen). In a famous passage, he writes: “Now a single thought [literally, “one mind”] comprises ten dharma-realms, and each dharma realm also comprises ten dharma-realms, giving a hundred dharma-realms. A single realm comprises thirty kinds of worlds; hence a hundred dharma-realms comprise three thousand kinds of worlds. These three thousand are contained in a single moment of thought. Where there is no thought, that is the end of the matter, but if there is even the slightest thought, it immediately contains the three thousand [realms].”

Two Buddhas, p68
WONS

Giving the Soul of the Lotus Sūtra to Your Baby

The Sun Goddess Amaterasu, giving a gem to her brother, Susanoo-no-mikoto, gave birth to a beautiful son. She named him Masaya-akatsu, meaning “my son and the Sun God.” Similarly, as I, Nichiren, gave the soul of the Lotus Sūtra to your baby soon to be born, your baby will be just like my own. It is said in the Lotus Sutra: “There is a great gem as valuable as anything in the world;” and “this gem of unsurpassed value (Lotus Sutra) is given to man without asking.” Moreover, Śākyamuni Buddha stated: “Everybody is My child.” I feel the same way. I feel as though I were given a precious child without asking. How fortunate I am! It is a blessing! I will write you again.

Shijō Kingo Nyōbō Gosho, A Letter to the Wife of Shijō Kingo, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 60-62

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 2, 2020

You, the World-Honored One, are our leader.
You give peace to gods and men.
Hearing that you assured us of our future Buddhahood,
We are relieved and satisfied.

These verses are sung by Maha-Prajāpatī Bhikṣuṇī, Yaśodharā Bhikṣuṇī, and their attendants in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In our lives we have many desires, some of which we may not recognize. We believe that when these desires are met, only then can we be happy and peaceful. At the foundation of these desires is the desire for liberation. These women recognize that with this desire we have to become enlightened, just knowing that it will be fulfilled is enough to bring joy.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Maitreya explain the reaction of the gods and the bodhisattvas to these merits, we hear the Buddha tell Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva the benefits of anyone who hears that his life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Anyone who hears that my life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought, will be able to obtain innumerable merits. Suppose good men or women practiced [ the six pāramitās] except the prajñā- pāramitā, that is, the five pāramitās: the dāna-pāramitā, the śīla-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, and the dhyāna-pāramitā, for eighty billion nayuta kalpas in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These merits of the good men or women are far less than one hundredth or one thousandth of the merits of the person [who understand my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought], or less than his merits divided by one hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of his merits to theirs] cannot be explained by any calculation or parable or simile.

It cannot be that the good man who obtained merits [by understanding my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought] falters in walking the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

See Faith and Merits

b4today, LS32, d22b

Faith and Merits

The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, “I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.”

It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.

The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.

Buddhism for Today, p257-258
2buddhas, d3b

Form, Mind and Causality of Suchness

What do “character, nature, substance, potential … and essential unity” actually mean? … Zhanran, Zhiyi’s later disciple, explains that these ten can be grouped in three modalities — form, mind, and causality — that characterize all existents. “Character,” which could also be translated as “mark,” “sign, or “aspect,” is what can be seen externally; in the case of a person, it denotes one’s outer appearance. “Nature” is internal, what belongs to that person intrinsically. “Substance” denotes the union of these two as a particular individual; each existent, in Tendai thought, has both physical and mental aspects. “Potential” is the capacity for action, while “function” is the exertion or display of that potential. These two suchnesses thus pertain to space. “Cause, condition, result, [and] effect” refer to the dimension of causality, and therefore, time. “Causes” are volitional acts, or karma. “Conditions” are the circumstances that condition actions. “Result” is the potential karmic consequence inherent in a volitional act, and “effect” is its eventual manifestation. All ten are “essentially unified,” or ultimately consistent. For example, the character, nature, function, causes, and results of a denizen of hell will reflect and perpetuate misery; those of a bodhisattva will express insight and compassion.

Two Buddhas, p67-68
d19b, d3b, WONS

Difficulty in Meeting the Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra preaches in chapter 2, “Expedients,” of the first fascicle that to have the opportunity to hear teachers of this sūtra is rare even during innumerable kalpa (aeons) of time. The sūtra also states in chapter 14, “peaceful Practices,” of the fifth fascicle that it is difficult to hear even the title of the Lotus Sūtra in the innumerable countries. The above indicates how difficult it is for us to meet the Lotus Sūtra, and problems involved to even hear the title of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, the Suśānta Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures, who appeared in the world before the time of Śākyamuni Buddha did not even mention the title of the Lotus Sūtra. Even Śākyamuni Buddha, who appeared in this world to expound the Lotus Sūtra, did not reveal its title for 42 years, until at the age of 72 He finally chanted the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma and expounded the sūtra for the first time in India. Nothing, however, not even the name of the sūtra was heard in such large countries as China, or Japan. Nothing about this sūtra was heard of for over 1,000 years after the extinction of the Buddha. Finally, after 1,350 years or so, only the title of the Lotus Sūtra was made known.

This is why the opportunity to encounter the Lotus Sūtra is compared to uḍumbara flowers, which are said to blossom only once in 3,000 years. The difficulty is also compared to the story of a one-eyed turtle finding a floating piece of wood in the ocean in order to dry its shell once in innumerable kalpa (aeons). Suppose that one sets up a needle on the earth and throws a poppy seed down from the palace of the King of the Mahā-brahman Heaven high up in the sky in such a way as the tip of the needle pierces through the seed. This is almost impossible, yet it is even more difficult to encounter the Lotus Sūtra after the passing of the Buddha. Suppose one sets up a needle on top of Mt. Sumeru and throws a piece of string on a windy day from another Mt. Sumeru standing too far to see. It is impossible to thread the needle set up on the first Mt. Sumeru. It is, however, even more difficult to experience the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra.

Therefore, you should realize that being able to chant the daimoku of this sūtra is an experience more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time and rarer than a man being captured by a mighty enemy and being released by a special pardon to be reunited with his wife and children.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 38-39