Monthly Archives: June 2020

Eyes

Relying on Practice

Ultimately, we must come to know the Dharma through our own practice and realization. This is what the fourth reliance (or third in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra) is about. We must rely on direct knowledge (S. jñāna) of the truth, and not merely our discursive consciousness (S. vijñāna), which is always second hand, after the fact, and dualistic in that it can’t help but bifurcate experience into the two poles of subject and object. From the very beginning, the Buddha taught people to come and see the truth for themselves, and not to rely on external authorities, hearsay, or even personal speculation. As the Buddha taught the Kālāmas:

“It was for this reason, Kālāmas, that we said: Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of scriptures, by logical reasoning, by inferential reasoning, by a reflection on reasons, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, by the seeming competence of a speaker, or because you think: ‘The ascetic is our teacher.’ But when you know for yourselves, ‘These things are wholesome, these things are blameless; these things are praised by the wise; these things, if undertaken and practiced lead to welfare and happiness’, then you should engage in them.” (Nyanaponika & Bodhi, p. 66)

Open Your Eyes, p494
WONS

Like a Seed Becoming a Sapling or a Flower Becoming a Fruit

The merits of Lord Preacher Śākyamuni Buddha have entered the body of Hōren Shōnin and reside there. Also, the body of Hōren Shōnin is the figure of his late father. Therefore, it is like a seed becoming a sapling or a flower becoming a fruit. Although the flower falls, its fruit remains; although the seed is hidden in the fruit, it becomes visible when a sapling appears. That is to say, the merit of Hōren Shōnin for having faith in the Lotus Sūtra will in its entirety become the merit of his late father, ensuring his father of attaining Buddhahood. It is said that when a pine tree grows thick, an oak tree is delighted; when a lawn grass dies, an orchid weeps. Even plants without feelings behave like this, to say nothing of those who have feelings! It is all the more so for those who have a father-son relationship from a previous existence.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 52

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 10, 2020

Provisional teachings today are enemies of the True Dharma. If provisional teachings stand in your way as you try to spread the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra, you should thoroughly refute them. Of the two ways of propagation, this is the aggressive way of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We notice in this passage that his instruction is to refute the provisional teachings and not attack those who are attached to them. Even if those whose teachings we challenge become angry and violent, we can understand that we did not cause this reaction. This is one reason the Lotus Sūtra is so difficult. By keeping a mind of compassion we can maintain our respect for others even when we disagree with them. They too are going to become Buddhas, and we are benefiting them, even if they reject our help.

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LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the Buddha’s vow to help the teacher of the Dharma, we repeat in gāthās the lesson of a man on a plateau digging for water.

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

If you wish to give up all indolence,
Hear this sūtra!
It is difficult to hear this sūtra.
Few receive it by faith.

A man on a plateau, feeling thirsty,
Dug a hole in order to get water.
As long as he saw the dug-out lumps of earth were dry,
He knew that water was still far off.
When he found the earth wet and muddy,
He was convinced that water was near.

In the same manner, Medicine-King, know this!
Those who do not hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Are far from the wisdom of the Buddha.

See Digging for Water

LS32, d15b, stories

Digging for Water

Let’s turn our attention to the brief simile found in this chapter: the extremely thirsty man digging in the soil for water. Unlike some parables, this simile is not fully interpreted for us, but it can nonetheless readily be understood in accord with the previous discussion.

The man, a bodhisattva, digs for water on a “high plain.” We do not know exactly what this “high plain” means, but presumably it means that he is digging in a place where water is quite deep down but where there is at least a reasonable possibility of water being found. If he dug in a rocky place, for example, he might die of thirst before finding any water at all.

Digging, he comes to damp earth, then mud, and knows that he is getting closer to water. Actually, the dampness itself is water. That is, seeing damp earth, while he cannot yet drink, he is seeing a promise of water he’ll be able to drink soon, a promise that he knows is good because the dampness and the water he seeks are the same water.

The text interprets this parable in terms of hearing the Dharma:

Medicine King, you should know
That this is the way p