Monthly Archives: June 2020

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The Other Side of This Life

My mother died in 2003 and my father in 2009. At that time I was practicing with Soka Gakkai, which had no teaching regarding the spiritual world, the other side of this world through which we pass after death. As an SGI follower I offered generic prayers for the deceased but nothing more. My wife’s parents died in 2016 and 2018, and by then I was practicing with Nichiren Shu and the Sacramento Nichiren Budddhist Church. The experience as a Nichiren Shu follower was helpful, both for my wife and her loss and for my relationship with my deceased parents.

This topic comes up because a man I know is suffering through the pending death of his mother. He sees his practice for world peace as of little merit in this situation. But his daily practice and his prayers can be very beneficial.

In Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 56-57, Nichiren explains:

“As you read and recite the ‘jiga-ge’ verse, you produce 510 golden characters. Each of these characters transforms itself to be the sun, which in turn changes to Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits the rays of bright light shining through the earth, the three evil realms (hell, realm of hungry spirits and that of beasts), the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and to all the directions in the north, south, east, and west. They shine upward to the ‘Heaven of neither Thought nor Non-Thought’ at the top of the realm of non-form looking everywhere for the souls of the departed.”

I have found the Japanese idea of what happens after death comforting. The soul of the person (we are NOT going to discuss the fact that Ryuei McCormick would tell us we DON’T have souls) travels on a 49 day journey during which seven trials are held before magistrates.

At the start, the deceased must climb a mountain. The height of the mountain is determined by the deceased’s bad karma. This takes seven days. At the end of seven days the deceased must cross the Sanzu River, the river of three crossings. Those with sufficient good karma can cross the river on a bridge. Those with less good karma can cross on a shallow ford. Those with overwhelmingly bad karma must bob across, sinking to the bottom and then rising to the surface, repeating the process. The journey across the Sanzu River takes seven days.

At 14 days, the deceased stands before a magistrate to be judged on how much the person stole during his life. Egregious thieves are sent straight to hell while the others are allowed to pass onto the next trial.

At 21 days, the deceased are judged on their sins of lust, using a cat and a snake. As explained in Meido: The Japanese Underworld, “The cat is used to judge the souls of men; it bites at their penises, and the degree of the injury – from a slight scratch to completely severed – is used as a measure of one’s sexual sin. The snake is used to judge the souls of women; it is inserted into the woman, and the depth to which it can enter is used to determine the depth of her sin.” Again, the egregiously sinful are cast into hell and the remainder are allowed to pass onto the next test.

At 28 days, the deceased are judged on the number of lies they told. The lies are piled on a scale and the number of heavy stones it takes to balance the scale determines the weight of the deceased’s sins.The really heavy sinners are sent directly to hell, and the rest allowed to proceed to the next trial.

The trial on the 35th day is the last one in which memorial prayers can impact the outcome. During this trial, the deceased is shown a mirror on which the individual’s former life is reflected, with all of their sins and transgressions clearly laid out. A recommendation is made at this point on which of the six realms – hell, hungry spirits, animals, asuras, human or heaven – the deceased merits being reborn in.

On the 42nd day, a magistrate takes the weight of the deceased’s sins and the life reflected in the mirror to determine the location for the deceased rebirth.

It is on the 49th day that the fate of the deceased is sealed. The deceased enters a room with six gates. There are no markings on the gates or any indication where they lead.

As told by Ven. Kenjo Igarashi, “This judge in front of the six gates, will not guide this individual to the proper gate, but only instruct them to choose one. The individual will choose the gate based on what they may think is only instinct, yet this decision will also be guided by the actions that the individual took during their time on this earth.

“While it may seem as if we take little part in the deceased individual’s 49-day journey, this is not the case. One way we can assist them, is by chanting ‘Namu myo ho renge kyo,’ which as you know, is the name of the Buddha nature that we all possess. We chant this odaimoku throughout the 49 days to call upon the deceased individual’s Buddha nature. If you recall, the Buddha nature can be imagined as the inside of a seed, while the outer shell represents bad karma resulting primarily from previous actions. Whenever we chant the odaimoku, the Buddha nature slowly grows. While this is a slow process, the more we chant, the more the Buddha nature shows, until it finally appears by sprouting through the outer shell. If the Buddha nature does not appear at the end of the 49 days, the individual will not be able to reach Enlightenment.

“While death signifies the end of an individual’s time in this world, it does not mark the ultimate endpoint of their spirit. Please remember that your Buddhist practice can serve an important purpose in providing happiness for not only yourself, but also others, including the deceased.”

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 18, 2020

Of the people who put their faith in the Lotus Sutra today, some have faith like fire while others have it like water. Those who have faith like fire refer to those who become enthusiastic upon listening to the preaching, but their passion cools down as time goes by, and eventually forget the teaching. On the other hand, those whose faith is like water mean those whose faith is like a ceaselessly flowing water, namely those who retain their faith without retreating. You have constantly sent me donations and asked me questions about the way of faith. Your faith is like water, is it not? How precious you are!

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). To those who stayed with Nichiren and this teaching, despite all difficulties, his gratitude was boundless. We too are capable of this gratitude, not just towards the Buddha and Nichiren, but towards all those who practice the Buddha Dharma with us, and, most importantly, towards those still caught up in the mesh of suffering.

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 benefits of encouraging others to hear the sūtra, we repeat in gāthās the merits of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing the Lotus sūtra.

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

Suppose a man rejoices at hearing this sūtra
Or at hearing even a gāthā of it
In a congregation,
And expounds it to a second person.

The second person expounds it to a third person.
In this way it is heard by a fiftieth person.
Now I will tell you of the merits
Of the fiftieth person.

Suppose there was a great almsgiver.
He continued giving alms
To innumerable living beings
For eighty years according to their wishes.

Those living beings became old and decrepit.
Their hair became grey; their faces, wrinkled;
And their teeth, fewer and deformed.
Seeing this, he thought:
“I will teach them because they will die before long.
I will cause them to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.”

Then he expounded the truth of Nirvana to them
As an expedient, saying:
“This world is as unstable
As a spray of water,
Or as a foam, or as a filament of air.
Hate it, and leave it quickly!”

Hearing this teaching, they attained Arhatship,
And obtained the six supernatural powers,
Including the three major supernatural powers,
And the eight emancipations.

The superiority of the merits of the fiftieth person
Who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā [of this sūtra]
To the merits of this [great almsgiver]
Cannot be explained by any parable or simile.

The merits of the [fiftieth] person
[Who hears this sūtra] are immeasurable.
Needless to say, so are the merits of the first person
Who rejoices at hearing it in the congregation.

See Putting the Buddha’s True Spirit to Practical Use

b4today, LS32, d23b

Putting the Buddha’s True Spirit to Practical Use

To attain arhatship, that is, to reach the mental stage of having avoided all defilements, is the pinnacle of the Hinayāna teaching. But if such a person isolates himself in the mountains, the merits attained by him stop at that stage. The Buddha’s teachings are very valuable, but their value cannot be displayed fully unless the person preaches them, elevating his hearers and giving them power and courage, and thus improving the whole world. So long as Buddhist monks are confined to their temples after their own enlightenment and devote themselves to performing funeral and memorial services, they do not put the Buddha’s true spirit to practical use.

Buddhism for Today, p290
Eyes, d18b, d25b

A Humble, Straightforward, and Respectful Practice

The teaching of the three kinds of enemies of the Lotus Sūtra is the sūtra’s way of warning us that if we present the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra we should not be surprised if we meet opposition from ignorant laypeople, corrupted clergy, and even respected teachers who are regarded as saints. We must not let this discourage us. Nor should we look for enemies or return abuse with abuse. From beginning to end we must treat all beings as future buddhas, whether they are presently acting as such or not. Another lesson we can take from this teaching is that we must be careful to not become one of the three kinds of enemies ourselves. We must not uncritically accept the teachings of others without checking things out for ourselves, like the ignorant laypeople.

We should not become arrogant and greedy like the evil monks, especially if we are put in a position of authority. We should not, like the false arhats, become self-righteous and pretend to be awakened when we are still tainted by greed, hatred, and delusion. Nor should we persecute others just because their opinions and views are different than our own, as the three kinds of enemies are said to do. Again, the humble, straightforward, and respectful practice of the Lotus Sūtra as exemplified by Never Despising Bodhisattva can serve as the model that will keep us from becoming one of the three kinds of enemies and enable us to deal in a firm but kind manner with them, should they confront us, so that we can eventually overcome all enmity and sow the seeds of buddhahood in their hearts.

Open Your Eyes, p509-510
d19b, WONS

Children Propagating Their Father’s Dharma

It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 15 on “The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground”:

“There are bodhisattvas as many as the sand of 60,000 Ganges Rivers originally in this Sahā World, and each of them is accompanied by followers also numbering 60,000 times as many as the sands of the Ganges River. They will uphold, read, recite and expound this sūtra.”

When the Buddha had said these words, the earth of the one billion countries of the Sahā World all trembled and split open and out of them emerged simultaneously immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, millions of bodhisattvas. …

These bodhisattvas had four leaders. The first was Superior Practice, the second was Limitless Practice, the third was Pure Practice and the fourth was Steadily Established Practice. These four were the foremost leaders and guiding teachers of all in the group.”

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets this scriptural statement in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “These bodhisattvas are My (the Buddha’s) disciples, who will spread My dharma;” and Grand Master Miao-lê comments on this in the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Śākyamuni Buddha is the father and bodhisattvas who emerged from underground are His children, so the children are going to propagate their father’s dharma;” while Tao-hsien explains this in his Supplement to the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Speaking of entrusting the dharma, this sūtra was entrusted only to the bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth. Why was this? Because it was the dharma attained by the Buddha in the eternal past, it was entrusted to those bodhisattvas guided by the Buddha in the eternal past.”

For these great bodhisattvas to deliver benefits to the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration is as easy as fish swimming in the water and birds flying in the sky. For those who were born in the evil world to meet these great bodhisattvas and have the seed of Buddhahood sown in them is like the spirit of water that faces the moon and pours out water or a peahen that becomes pregnant upon hearing the sounds of thunder. As T’ien-t’ai says of this in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, “As all rivers pour into the sea, bodhisattvas are born drawn by karmic relations.”

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 162.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – June 17, 2020

I now expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with great joy. This sūtra leads all living beings to the knowledge of all things. I did not expound it before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated it and few would have believed it.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. It can be difficult to imagine anyone hating the Buddha’s teachings. We sometimes notice that the true opposite of affection and devotion is not enmity and distrust. It is indifference. When we hear the Buddha’s teaching and do not make it part of our lives, it is because we are so attached to our peculiar ignorance and misery that we are afraid to live any other way. The Buddha shows us that it is possible to exist in harmony with the world rather than in conflict. It is only when we practice his teachings that we can believe them.

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 considered being able to see the Buddha expounding the Dharma on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, we consider the benefits of those keep or copy or cause others to copy the Lotus Sutra after the Buddha’s extinction.

“Ajita! Anyone who, after hearing this sūtra, keeps or copies it or causes others to copy it after my extinction, should be considered to have already built many hundreds of thousands of billions of monasteries, that is to say, innumerable monasteries, each of which was installed with thirty-two beautiful halls made of red candana, eight times as tall as the tala-tree, and spacious enough to accommodate one hundred thousand bhikṣus. He also should be considered to have already furnished [those monasteries] with gardens, forests, pools for bathing, promenades, and caves for the practice of dhyāna, and filled [those monasteries] with clothing, food, drink, bedding, medicine, and things for amusements, and offered [those monasteries] to me and to the Saṃgha of bhikṣus in my presence. Therefore, I say, ‘Anyone who keeps, reads or recites this sūtra, expounds it to others, copies it, causes others to copy it, or makes offerings to a copy of it after my extinction, need not build a stupa or a monastery, or make offering to the Saṃgha.’ Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observe the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

“Anyone who reads, recites or keeps this sūtra, expounds it to others, copies it, or causes others to copy it [in my lifetime,] should be considered to have already built stupas and monasteries, made offerings to the Saṃgha of Śrāvakas, praised them, praised Bodhisattvas for their merits by hundreds of thousands of billions of ways of praising, expounded this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to others with various stories of previous lives according to the meanings of it, observed the precepts without fallacy, lived with gentle persons, practiced patience, refrained from anger, become resolute in mind, preferred sitting in dhyāna, practiced deep concentrations of mind, become strenuous and brave, practiced good teachings, become clever and wise, and answered questions satisfactorily.

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stupa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stupa just as they do to the stupa of a Buddha.”

See Feeling This Teaching Vividly

b4today, LS32, d22b, d23b

Feeling This Teaching Vividly

The merits preached in the first half of chapter 17 are those of faith. In the latter half of chapter 17 and the former half of chapter 18 the same merits are preached. However, beginning with the latter half of chapter 18, the merits preached are those that appear in our personal affairs or in our daily lives.

Some people may think, “We need not pay attention to such merits. If we thoroughly study the ‘one chapter and two halves’ as the core of the Lotus Sutra, understand them truly, and believe deeply in the eternity of the Buddha’s life, we can do without the rest.” That would be quite an acceptable attitude if indeed they could practice as perfectly as they think. If so, their faith would be perfect. However, is there such a person in ten thousand or even a hundred thousand? In actuality it is very hard to practice perfectly what we think.

For ordinary people, the ideal state of mind seems infinitely far from their present situation and quite alien to their actual lives when they first hear it taught. But when this ideal is expounded in a way that is based on familiar problems in their daily lives, they will feel the teaching vividly. Here lies the first important function of the concluding part of the Lotus Sutra.

Buddhism for Today, p267-268
Eyes, d18b, d25b, WONS

The Lesson of Never Despising Bodhisattva

Nichiren takes the description of the three kinds of enemies as a prophecy that vindicates his mission even as his persecutions fulfill the prophecy, but what should we make of this in our own lives and practice? Some people have interpreted this teaching to mean that one is only practicing the Lotus Sūtra correctly if one is arousing opposition. Consequently, these people believe that they must either identify who their enemies are or else preach the Lotus Sūtra so stridently that they will be sure to make enemies. I am not convinced that this is what the Lotus Sūtra really intends, even if it might appear to be the way Nichiren did things.

If we look at chapter twenty, “Never Despising Bodhisattva,” of the Lotus Sūtra we will find a story that illustrates what the sūtra intends. In that chapter the Buddha tells a story of a past life when he was known as the Never Despising Bodhisattva. That bodhisattva’s whole practice consisted of bowing to all he met and greeting them with the words, “I do not despise you because you can become buddhas.” (Murano 2012, p. 292) This practice of showing respect to all people and assuring them that they could attain buddhahood aroused the opposition of the arrogant monastics and laity who did not believe that ordinary people could attain buddhahood. They mocked him and even attempted to strike him with sticks and to throw stones at him. Never Despising Bodhisattva, however, did not return their abuse but moved to a safe distance and continued to regard them with respect and to assure them of their future buddhahood. This story seems to be a dramatization of the description given in the twenty stanzas of chapter thirteen. This story tells us two important things. The first is that Never Despising Bodhisattva did not seek to make enemies. All he did was respectfully share the message of the Lotus Sūtra, even if it contradicted the preconceived ideas of those who believed they had nothing more to learn about Buddhism. The second is that even when he was abused, he continued to maintain a respectful attitude and did not compromise his mission to preach the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren himself equates his mission to teach Odaimoku with that of Never Despising Bodhisattva in Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha (Kembutsu Mirai-ki):

Nevertheless, if there is a man after the death of the Buddha who breaks the attachment to the false doctrines of the “four tastes and three teachings” of the pre-Lotus sūtras and puts faith in the True Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, all the virtuous gods and numerous bodhisattvas who sprang up from underground will protect such a practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra. Under such protection, this practitioner would be able to spread over the world the focus of devotion (honzon) revealed in the Original Gate and the five-word daimoku of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō,” the essence of the Lotus Sūtra.

He is just like Never Despising Bodhisattva, who, in the
Age of the Semblance Dharma after the death of
Powerful Voice King Buddha, spread in the land of this Buddha the twenty-four character passage in the Lotus Sūtra (chapter twenty) saying: “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why is this? It is because you all will practice the way of bodhisattvas and will be able to attain buddhahood.” With such propagation, the bodhisattva was severely persecuted by all the people in the land, who beat him with sticks and threw stones at him.

Although the twenty-four characters of Never Despising Bodhisattva differ in wording from the five characters which I, Nichiren, spread, they are the same in meaning. We both appeared in the world under the same conditions: he toward the end of the Age of the Semblance Dharma after the death of Powerful Voice King Buddha, and I at the beginning of the Latter Age after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha. (Hori 2002, p. 174 adapted)

Open Your Eyes, p508-509