The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p243-244Chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra tells a story about previous lives of Medicine King Bodhisattva, when he was a bodhisattva called Seen with Joy by All the Living, a bodhisattva who burned his whole body as a sacrifice to a buddha and later burned just his arms as a sacrifice to a buddha. It then praises the Dharma Flower Sutra and those who follow it.
Like the Sutra as a whole, this chapter has had enormous impact on East Asian Buddhism. Many will remember the sight of Vietnamese monks burning themselves to death in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, beginning with the monk Thich Quang Duc in 1963. It has been said that these monks and nuns used their bodies as torches to illuminate the suffering of the Vietnamese people so that the world might see what was happening in Vietnam. Theirs was an extremely powerful message. And it is a fact that the story and pictures of Thich Quang Duc burning himself were soon seen all over the world. And within a few months the regime of President Diem was overthrown and his anti-Buddhist policies ended.
A great many Chinese monks right down to the middle of the twentieth century followed the practice of burning off one or more of their fingers as a sign of dedication and devotion. Until very recently, virtually all Chinese monks and nuns, and I believe those in Vietnam as well, when receiving final ordination, used moxa, a kind of herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, to burn small places on their scalps, where the scars usually remained for life. This ritual burning was taken to be a sign of complete devotion to the three treasures – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
While deeply sympathetic with those who show such great devotion by sacrificing their bodies by fire, it is not a practice I can recommend to anyone. It is much better, I believe, to sacrifice our bodies through dedicated work, in a sense burning our bodies much more slowly. Since Chapter 23 is naturally read as advocating self-immolation, it has been my least favorite chapter in the Lotus Sutra, one that I some times wish had not been included. And yet the last part of the chapter contains some of the most beautiful aphoristic poetry in the Dharma Flower Sutra.
Monthly Archives: June 2020
Practice and the Expiation of Karma
Another aspect of the expiation of karma is that the very strength of one’s practice is what brings about resistance both within ourselves and from the people around us, and allows hidden flaws within ourselves to arise where they can be seen, recognized, and resolved. Nichiren cites Zhiyi who wrote, in regard to the practice of calming and contemplation meditation, ”The merit of trivial acts of practicing Buddhism without calming the mind and contemplation of the truth is not strong enough to bring out our past sins hidden in ourselves. Only when we practice calming the mind and contemplation of the truth under any circumstances can we bring our past sins out to the surface.” (Hori 2002, pp. 106-107 adapted) Zhiyi also warned that, “We will then be confronted at once by the three obstacles and four devils.”
Open Your Eyes, p517-518Clothing a Happy Mind
Clothing defends our bodies against the cold and protects our bodies against the heat. It also hugs or adorns our bodies. It is preached in the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7, “It is as if a naked person was given clothing.” This means that it is tantamount to a person who receives clothes after shivering in the cold without them. It refers to a happy mind.
Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 17
Daily Dharma – June 20, 2020
They will not think
Of any other food [than the two kinds of food:]
The delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyāna.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra, speaking of the future lives of those who practice the Wonderful Dharma. In the existence we occupy now, it is difficult to imagine any other ways we could live. When the Buddha shows us the world as it is, he is not just opening our eyes to what is in front of us now. He shows us innumerable possibilities far better than anything we could dream up ourselves. To reach these other worlds, we only need to shed our attachment to our delusions and have faith in the path the Buddha opens to his enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 25
Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.
Having last month met Never-Despising Bodhisattva, we consider what happened on Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s deathbed.
When he was about to pass away, he heard [from a voice] in the sky the twenty thousand billion gāthās of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, which had been expounded by the Powerful-Voice-King Buddha. Having kept all these gāthās, he was able to have his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind purified as previously stated. Having his six sense-organs purified, he was able to prolong his life for two hundred billion nayuta more years. He expounded this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to many people [in his prolonged life]. The arrogant bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās, that is, the four kinds of devotees who had abused him and caused him to be called Never-Despising, saw that he had obtained great supernatural powers, the power of eloquence, and the great power of good tranquility. Having seen all this, and having heard the Dharma from him, they took faith in him, and followed him.
“This Bodhisattva also taught thousands of billions of living beings, and led them into the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. After the end of his prolonged life, he was able to meet two hundred thousand million Buddhas, all of them being called Sun-Moon-Light. He also expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma under them. After that, he was able to meet two hundred thousand million Buddhas, all of them being called Cloud-Freedom-Light-King. He also kept, read and recited this sūtra, and expounded it to the four kinds of devotees under those Buddhas so that he was able to have his natural eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind purified and to become fearless in expounding the Dharma to the four kinds of devotees.
“Great-Power-Obtainer! This Never-Despising Bodhisattva-mahāsattva made offerings to those Buddhas, respected them, honored them, praised them, and planted the roots of good. After that, he was able to meet thousands of billions of Buddhas. He also expounded this sūtra under those Buddhas. By the merits he had accumulated in this way, he was able to become a Buddha.
The Challenge of Never Despising
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p211-212In the Dharma Flower Sutra, bodhisattvas, especially those appearing in the last eight chapters, including [Never-Despising] bodhisattva, are intended to be models for us, at least to some degree. I do not mean that we are supposed to behave exactly like any of these bodhisattvas, especially not like Medicine King Bodhisattva in Chapter 23, who burns himself. But these bodhisattva stories are clearly intended as examples having to do with the conduct of our own lives.
So what is being taught in this story? Most people, I believe, never, or at least nearly never, despise other people. We might occasionally meet someone we do not like, but we do not usually go arounddespising others. But all of us, all too often I believe, do in fact speak and act in ways that are disrespectful of others. Usually, I suppose, this is not deliberate or intentional; but arises from being careless or busy or self-absorbed or just ignorant of what may create feelings of being belittled in others. So never being disrespectful is a serious challenge for each of us. And that, I believe, is what this chapter intends to teach us – that we should always and everywhere respect other people, all other people. This means finding the good in others, even if, as in the case of Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, they are throwing sticks and stones (or worse!) at us.
The Stronger Our Faith The Greater the Divine Protection
In the Differences Between the Lotus School and Other Schools Such as the Mantra School (Shingon Shoshū Imoku) Nichiren wrote a clear and concise statement about his belief that he had both expiated his past misdeeds and received divine protection:
The sun and moon are clear mirrors shining on all the worlds in the universe, but do they know about Nichiren? I am sure that they know me. So, we should not doubt or worry about the protection of various heavenly beings. Nevertheless, I, Nichiren, have been persecuted because the sins that I committed in my past lives have not been completely eradicated. As I have been exiled because of my faith in the Lotus Sūtra, some of my sins may have been atoned so the Buddha may protect me under his robe. It was the protection of the Buddha that saved me from near death at Tatsunokuchi at midnight on the twelfth of the ninth month last year.
Grand Master Miaole said in his Supplemental Amplifications on the Great Calming and Contemplation that the stronger our faith is, the greater the divine protection will be. Do not doubt this. You should firmly believe in and do not doubt that there always is divine protection. (Murano 2000, p. 125 adapted)
Open Your Eyes, p517Daily Dharma – June 19, 2020
Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha sing these verses to their father in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They realize that when one being reaches enlightenment, it is a benefit for all beings. In Chapter Ten, the Buddha teaches that many people will hate his Wonderful Dharma with jealousy during his lifetime, and many more will be jealous of it after his extinction. These people see the Buddha as different from themselves, and do not understand how they can become as enlightened as he is. They believe that for one person to gain, another must lose. The Buddha shows that all beings benefit from his teaching. Nothing is taken away from anyone.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 24
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we return to the top and the eight hundred merits of the nose.“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the nose. With their pure noses, they will be able to recognize all the various things above, below, within and without the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.
“Those who keep this sūtra will be able to recognize, without moving about, the scents of the sumanas-flowers, jātika-flowers, mallikā-flowers, campaka-flowers, pāṭala-flowers, red lotus flowers, blue lotus flowers, white lotus flowers, flower-trees and fruit-trees. They also will be able to recognize the scents of candana, aloes, tamālapattra and tagara, and the scents of tens of millions of kinds of mixed incense which are either powdered or made in lumps or made applicable to the skin. They also will be able to recognize the living beings including elephants, horses, cows, sheep, men, women, boys and girls by smell. They also will be able to recognize without fallacy grasses, trees, thickets and forests by smell, be the nearby or at a distance.“Those who keep this sūtra also will be able to recognize the gods [and things] in heaven by smell while they are staying [in the world of men]. They will be able to recognize the scents of the pārijātaka-trees, kovidāra-trees, mandārava-flowers, mahā-mandārava-flowers, mañjūṣaka-flowers, mahā-mañjūṣaka-flowers [in heaven]; the powdered incense of candana and aloes, the scents of other flowers, and the mixture of these scents in heaven without fail. They will be able to recognize the gods by smell. They will be able to recognize from afar the scent that Śakra-Devānām-Indra gives forth when he satisfies his five desires and enjoys himself in his excellent palace, or when he expounds the Dharma to the Trāyastriṃs̒a Gods at the wonderful hall of the Dharma, or when he plays in the gardens. They also will be able to recognize by smell from afar the gods and goddesses of the other heavens, including the Heaven of Brahman and the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to recognize the incense burned by the gods in those heavens. They also will be able to locate the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas by smelling their bodies from afar. Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.”
The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this discussion:
In the Lotus Sutra, we often see the sentence, “You should keep, read, recite, expound, and copy this Sutra.” These activities are called the Five Kinds of Practice for a Teacher of the Dharma. To keep the Sutra is to steadily accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra in one’s mind. To read the sutra means to peruse the Sutra and read it. To recite the Sutra means to recite it or portions of it by heart. To expound the Sutra means to interpret it and teach it to others. To copy the Sutra means to copy it by hand. Practitioners of the Lotus Sutra should undertake these five practices. They have two aspects: practice for one’s self and practice for others. [Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma] says that persons who endeavor to practice the Five Kinds of Practice will be rewarded with splendid merits of their six sense-organs of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Sakyamuni explains this to a great Bodhisattva by the name of Constant-Endeavor.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra
Sins and Rewards
What, then, of the promises of protection and ease in the Lotus Sūtra? Does the fact that no one, no matter how virtuous, can escape hardship mean that these statements are false? Nichiren finds the answer in the teaching of Tiantai Zhiyi (538-597): “Our troubles and sufferings in this world are all due to our sins in our past lives, and rewards for our meritorious acts in this life will be received in our future lives.” (Hori 2002, p. 104) He finds it in the teaching of the Contemplation of the Mind Ground Sūtra (J. Shinjikan-gyō): “If you want to know the cause in the past, see the effect in the present. If you want to know the effect in the future, see the cause in the present.” (Murano 2000, p. 112) He also finds it in the Lotus Sūtra’s statement, “Thus he expiated his sin.” (Murano 1991, p. 289)
These teachings indicate that the abuse undergone by Never Despising Bodhisattva was a result of past misdeeds. Nichiren understands all this to mean that the hardships faced in this life are not because of, or in spite of, the good deeds one is currently doing. Rather, it is because past misdeeds are coming into fruition. In addition, one must have confidence that the good one is doing now will come to fruition in the future. Conversely, those who commit evil deeds will inevitably face the fruition of their actions in a future life. Severe misdeeds in particular will take time to come to fruition. In the meantime, according to the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, those who slander the Dharma will have nightmares that may cause them to reflect upon their conduct. The idea is that calamity does not come immediately, and that people will be given a chance to repent of their misdeeds. The promises of the Lotus Sūtra apply to those who have no past offenses to expiate and is a guarantee that upholding the Lotus Sūtra will sow the seeds of great benefit both for the present life and for the future, though they may not come to fruition immediately.