Monthly Archives: September 2020

d1b, WONS

The Vow of the Gods To Protect the Lotus Sūtra

Thereupon I, Nichiren, loudly declare facing heaven:

As we look at the first chapter on the “Introductory” of the Lotus Sūtra, we see that the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Dragon King, asura, various gods of the realms of desire and of form (nikai hachiban) and heavenly beings from numerous worlds gathered in the assembly. When they heard that the Lotus Sūtra was supreme of all the sūtras preached in the past, being preached at present and will be preached in the future, they felt enthusiastic about protecting this sūtra just as Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains sacrificed his own body for the dharma and Medicine King Bodhisattva burnt his elbow to offer light to the Buddha. Then Lord Śākyamuni Buddha remonstrated them in front of the Buddha of Many Treasures and various Buddhas from the worlds throughout the universe: “You should now swear to protect the Lotus Sūtra.” Encouraged by the Buddha’s advice like sailing in the wind, listeners in the three meetings at two places all swore in unison: “We will protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra according to the words of the Buddha,” did they not? What happened to this vow?

Having heard of this oath at their presence, the Buddha of Many Treasures and numerous Buddhas from the worlds throughout the universe felt assured and returned to their respective worlds. It has been many years since Śākyamuni Buddha passed away. Therefore, it could be that although a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra exists today in the Latter Age of Degeneration in a remote land of Japan, such gods as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon have forgotten their oath before the Buddha and do not protect him. To me, a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration, it is merely a temporary grief. In my numerous lives since the remote past, I have often been a pheasant in front of a hawk, a frog before a snake, a rat before a cat, a monkey before a dog. As this world is as transient as a dream, I can reconcile myself to have been fooled by Buddhas, bodhisattvas and gods.

The saddest thing to me, however, is for such heavenly beings as the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon and the Four Heavenly Kings to use up the good fortune of heaven and fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering for their sin of not having protected a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra who chants “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” and encounters persecution. As flowers are blown away by a storm, as it rains from the sky to the ground, and as it is stated in the sutra: “He will go to the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death,” they will all go to hell. It is indeed a pity.

Even if they, supported by numerous Buddhas in all the worlds throughout the universe in the past, present and future, insist that they have no knowledge of such an oath made before the Buddha, I, Nichiren, will be a strong enemy of them. Unless the Buddha is impartial, I am sure that I will send the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon and the Four Heavenly Kings to the Hell of Incessant Suffering. If they are afraid of my eye and mouth, they had better carry out the oath before the Buddha immediately.

Shinkoku-ō Gosho, Sovereigns of Our Divine Land, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 184-185

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 26, 2020

When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter tells the variety of merits enjoyed by anyone who understands, however briefly, the ever-present nature of the Buddha. This reminder is not just for the great Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya. It is also for all of us who are awakening our Bodhisattva nature through this teaching. It is important for us to treat all people, especially those who share this practice of the Buddha Dharma with us, with the same respect we would give to the Buddha himself.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month learned about the Buddha’s hidden core and supernatural powers, we learn of the Buddha’s expedient efforts over the duration of his life.

“Good men! During this time I gave various names to myself, for instance, the Burning-Light Buddha. I also said, ‘That Buddha entered into Nirvāṇa.’ I did all these things only as expedients.

“Good men! When some people came to me, I saw the strength of the power of their faith and of the other faculties of theirs with the eyes of the Buddha. Then I named myself differently, and told them of the duration of my life differently, according to their capacities. l also said to them, ‘I shall enter into Nirvāṇa.’ I expounded the Wonderful Dharma with these various expedients, and caused the living beings to rejoice.

“Good men! When I saw that some people of little virtue and of much defilement were seeking the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, I told them, ‘I renounced my family when I was young, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago].’ In reality I became the Buddha in the remotest past as I previously stated. I told them this as an expedient to teach them, to lead them into the Way to Buddhahood.

“Good men! All the sūtras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sūtras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sūtras]. I showed my replicas [in some sūtras,] and my transformations [in other sūtras]. I described my deeds [in some sūtras,] and the deeds of others [in other sūtras]. 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 l 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 living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. I have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.

“Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time as previously stated. Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views. If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I will pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore I say [to them] expediently, ‘Bhikṣus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in [this] world.’ Why is that? It is because some men of little virtue cannot see me even during many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas while the others can. Therefore, I say [to them], ‘Bhikṣus! It is difficult to see a Tathāgata.’ Those who hear this and know that it is difficult to see me, will adore me, admire me, and plant the roots of good. Therefore l say [to them], ‘I shall pass away,’ although I shall not.

See Living the Bodhisattva Way

stories, LS32, d21b

Living the Bodhisattva Way

Various reasons are given in the Sutra as to why the Buddha has announced his entry into final nirvana when actually he is still alive in this world. For example: “If the Buddha lives for a long time in this world, people of little virtue will not plant roots of goodness, and those who are poor and of humble origins will become attached to the five desires and be caught in a net of assumptions and false views. If they see that the Tathagata is always alive and never extinct, they will become arrogant and selfish or discouraged and neglectful. Unable to realize how difficult it is to meet him, they will not have a respectful attitude toward him.” (LS 293)

It is useful to understand these terms through the vehicle of the parables. The children in the parable of the burning house are too absorbed in their play to notice what is going on around them, including their father’s attempts to warn them of the dangers. The son in the parable of the rich father and poor son is simply lacking in self-confidence and self-respect. The children in this parable are stricken by poison. All are in need of help and guidance, but what they need guidance for is to accept greater responsibility for the direction and quality of their own lives. In this way, they can, perhaps only very gradually, become bodhisattvas, and take responsibility for doing the Buddha’s work in this world.

And yet, even though stories have been told about the death of the Buddha, even now the Buddha is not really dead. He is still with us, alive in this world, living the bodhisattva way, doing the bodhisattva work of transforming people into bodhisattvas and purifying buddha lands. “From the beginning,” he says, “I have practiced the bodhisattva way, and that life is not yet finished. . . .” (LS 293)

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p206
Shodaigyo

Zuisoku Choshin

Quote

[During the silent meditation portions of the Shodaigyo ceremony] Zuisoku Choshin means to focus on the inhalation and exhalation of breath to center and calm the shin (mind/heart). Breathe gently, deep, and long into the tanden [deep abdomen]. Inhale, hold the breath briefly, and then exhale the breath slowly. Perceive the breath through the eyes of the mind. When you exhale, focus this exhalation as reaching the top of Mount Fuji, with the eyes of your mind following this fleeting breath. When you inhale, perceive this abdominal inhalation filling with air from even beyond the Pacific Ocean. Now, focus on the breath briefly sustained in the abdomen. In this state, the shin (mind/heart) is centered and calmed through the breath. In conclusion, establish correct breathing: deep, long and strong; focus on the inhaling and exhaling of the breath, and attempt to integrate body/breath/shin into one.

If the body is in a state of imbalance or instability, the breath will not become deeper. If breath is not deep, the shin cannot become calm. Or to say, as the shin is not calm, so established breathing will not be correct. Breathing is uncomfortable and body form fails. The three components of body, breath, and shin cannot be separated. It is a relationship of one that carries three (Ichi Soku San), and three that are in one (San Soku Ichi).

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 41-42
WONS

A Time When Heaven and Earth Are Upside Down

Now we are at the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration, when Hinayāna teachings strike down Mahāyāna teachings, provisional teachings destroy true teachings, east is taken for west and west for east, and heaven and earth are upside down. Under these circumstances the four ranks of bodhisattva-teachers who preach the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra remain in hiding. Gods desert the land which they are supposed to protect. Then for the first time those bodhisattvas from underground appear in this world attempting to encourage ignorant people to take the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō, the excellent medicine of the Latter Age. Many ignorant people would fall into hell by slandering the five characters, but they would be saved eventually. This is what is meant by Miao-lê in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “Slanderers of the True Dharma will fall into hell but they will inevitably be saved by virtue of having heard the True Dharma.”

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 162

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 25, 2020

Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva sings these verses in Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story he tells about Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva (Gumyō, Yaśaskāma). This shows that each of the innumerable Bodhisattvas who are helping us to become enlightened use different ways of reaching people. Even those enmeshed in the suffering of self-importance, who use this Wonderful Dharma to make themselves seem superior to others, simply because they are leading others to this teaching, they too are creating boundless merit.

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

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the great qualities of the Bodhisattvas from Underground, we consider how the Buddha prepares Maitreya to listen to the answer to his question.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

“Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.”

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

Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

Now I will relieve you.
Do not doubt me! Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

See The Ongoing Process of the Emergence of Bodhisattvas from the Earth

stories, LS32, d19b, d20b

The Ongoing Process of the Emergence of Bodhisattvas from the Earth

It is important to recognize that the bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth are not merely historical beings of the past. They include ourselves. Shakyamuni Buddha was a historical person. He was born, lived, and died on earth. So too were the leading shravakas who appear in the Dharma Flower Sutra – Shariputra, Ananda, Subhuti, Katyayana, Kashyapa, Maudgalyayana, and others. These are the names of historical people. But the famous, and not so famous, bodhisattvas are not historical, at least not in the same sense. Manjushri, Maitreya, Universal Sage (Pǔxián/Fugen/Samantabhadra), Earth Store (Dìzàng/Jizo/Kshitigharba), and Kwan-yin (Kannon/Avalokiteshvara) are the five most prominent bodhisattvas in East Asian religion and art. Though all, especially Manjushri, Maitreya, and Kwan-yin, are believed to have been embodied in a variety of historical figures, none is an actual historical figure. The same is true of other bodhisattvas who have important roles in the Dharma Flower Sutra, bodhisattvas such as Never Disrespectful, Medicine King, and Wonderful Voice, and the four leading bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth in Chapter 15. Although some are believed to have been embodied in one or more historical figures, none is historical in the sense that Shakyamuni, Shariputra, and you and I are historical. Rather, they are models for us, setting examples of bodhisattva practices that we can follow.

But the enormous horde of bodhisattvas who well up from the earth with the four leaders are perhaps a little different. They appear, not in historical time, but in a powerful story. The text says that the four groups, the monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen, could see these bodhisattvas “by the divine powers of the Buddha.” This is another way of referring to the human imagination, to the power that we all have to transcend everyday life, the power to see the buddha in others. The bodhisattvas are nameless, and, except for greeting and showing respect to all the buddhas, in this story and in subsequent chapters of the Sutra they do nothing. We can understand this to mean that in a sense they are not yet. The emergence of bodhisattvas from the earth is not a one-time event in ordinary time, but an ongoing process – bodhisattvas are emerging from the earth still. And not only, of course, in India, but virtually everywhere there are human beings. If we use our own powers of imagination, we can see bodhisattvas emerging from the earth all around us! We ourselves can be among them.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p194-195
Shodaigyo

The Horse and the Monkey

Quote

[During the Shodaigyo ceremony] our shin (mind/heart) is Ima Shinkyo No Gotoshi (wishing to be like a horse and having shin like a monkey).

Shin is like a wild, untamed horse. Such a wild horse runs freely with no concern; shin is not calm. We call this Ima (wishing to be like a horse), comparing shin to a wild horse.

Shin Kyo (having a mind/heart like a monkey) means that when a monkey is in a cage which has three windows, it looks out one window, in an instant it moves to another window, then another again, not sitting down for even a moment. In like manner, our shin cannot compose itself for even a moment just as a monkey keeps changing windows to look out of. So collectively, we call these Ima (wishing to be like a horse) Shin Kyo (having a mind/heart like a monkey). Shin is like this. However, with practicing Joshingyo … our shin becomes comfortable and calm. It is like the sediment of murky water sinking gradually to the bottom with the water becoming clean. So with our shin naturally becoming purified and tranquil. A state of shin like this is a “state of mind purification which is unlimited.”

Shin and body then align to become harmonious, stable, upright and uplifted. Even the physical body benefits, with improvements to the hormonal and circulatory systems. This is due to the autonomic nervous system becoming naturally balanced. Positive effects are garnered on health and longevity. Especially today, with people becoming overtly nervous and stressed, we should recognize the usefulness of this. …

When our shin becomes clear, we have good eyes to perceive things as they actually are. Doing so, we are able to take correct action. After practicing Joshingyo (usually five minutes to ten minutes or perhaps as long as thirty minutes to one hour, depending on time), shin becomes composed. We are now ready for chanting appreciative Odaimoku (our primary Buddhist practice). Now, we are able to chant good and steadfast Odaimoku.

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 42-44