Monthly Archives: October 2020

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Finally back indoors

20201011_service-two

It was very nice to be back indoors Sunday, even if we are still masked and socially distant from each other. We have not had indoor services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church since July, when the state and county health officials banned indoor church services to slow the spread of COVID-19.

This has been one long year, without any services from February to June, indoor briefly in June and then outdoor from July to September. How long will limits on indoor services continue? Will indoor services again be prohibited with a second wave of COVID-19? Never before have I wished so much for a year to be over.

20200725_outdoor_setup
For July, August and September we held services under canopies on the grass between the Social Hall and the Temple. It was hot and the folding chair legs sank deep into the grass, but it worked.
d15b, Vasubandhu

The Power of Preserving the Dharma

There are three entrances to the Dharma showing the power of preserving it. These are extensively explained in the chapter “The Disciples,” the chapter “Ease in Practice,” and other chapters.

The power of [preserving] the doctrine should be understood according to the [following passage from the Lotus] Sutra: “With determination he knows that the water is certainly near.” This means that by accepting and preserving this sutra [living beings] will acquire the water of buddha-nature and achieve highest, complete enlightenment.

Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 147-148
WONS

The Gratitude of Four Great Śrāvaka Disciples

[I]t is stated in the “Understanding by Faith” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra:

“We are greatly indebted to the World Honored One. Making use of various inexplicable powers, out of compassion He enlightened us, bringing benefit to us. In countless millions of kalpa (aeons) who can ever repay His great favors? Even if we offer Him our hands and feet, bow our heads respectfully and present all manner of offerings, none of us can repay His great favors. Or even if we carry Him on our heads, bear Him on both our shoulders, for kalpa as numerous as the sands in the Ganges River respect Him from bottom of our hearts; even if we offer Him delicious food, innumerable jeweled garments, together with articles of bedding, various kinds of medicines, or even if we build with ox-head sandalwood and all kinds of rare gems a stupa mausoleum and cover the ground with jeweled robes. Even if we were to do all this as the offering to the Buddha for as many kalpa as the sands of the Ganges River, still we will be unable to repay His great favor.”

This scriptural passage is the expression of gratitude of four great śrāvaka disciples to the Buddha and the Lotus Sūtra for preaching the “Parable” chapter telling them that they, too, will become Buddhas. Therefore, these śrāvaka disciples must have understood that those who practice the Lotus Sūtra are more precious than one’s own parents, loving children, two eyes, and even their own lives. It is inconceivable that such great śrāvaka disciples as Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana would abandon those who praise any of the holy teachings preached during His lifetime. However, it is possible that they bear some resentment against the pre-Lotus sūtras. The reason being in those pre-Lotus sūtras the Two Vehicles, śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, are strongly denied the status of Buddhahood in such phrases as, “In Buddhism, the Two Vehicles are like the rotten seeds of Buddhahood.”

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 58

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 11, 2020

When they hear even a gāthā or a phrase [of this sūtra] with their pure minds, they will be able to understand the innumerable meanings [of this sūtra]. When they understand the meanings [of this sūtra] and expound even a phrase or a gāthā [of this sūtra] for a month, four months, or a year, their teachings will be consistent with the meanings [of this sūtra], and not against the reality of all things.

The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep and practice this Sūtra. The words of the Sūtra are not specific directions for how to live. We need to interpret them and apply them to our lives in the world today. There are many others whose experience and guidance can help us see what the Sūtra means, and who can benefit from our experience.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded Chapter 1, Introductory, we return to the top and Mañjuśrī’s response to Maitreya.

Thereupon Mañjuśrī said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahasattva and the other great men:
“Good men! I think that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, wishes to expound a great teaching, to send the rain of a great teaching, to blow the conch-shell horn of a great teaching, to beat the drum of a great teaching, and to explain the meaning of a great teaching.

“Good men! I met many Buddhas in my previous existence. At that time I saw the same good omen as this. Those Buddhas emitted the same ray of light as this, and then expounded a great teaching. Therefore, know this! I think that this Buddha also is emitting this ray of light, and showing this good omen, wishing to cause all living beings to hear and understand the most difficult teaching in the world to believe.

See Episodes in a Great Story

LS32, d1b, d2b, stories

Episodes in a Great Story

As we have it now, the first twenty-two chapters of the Sutra, except for Chapter 12, constitute a single story, a story about a time when the Buddha was at the place called Holy Eagle Peak and preached the Dharma Flower Sutra. In other words, about 85 percent of the Sutra falls within a single story.

Thus while there are many stories in the Lotus Sutra, many of them are actually episodes within a larger story that begins with Chapter 1 as a kind of introduction and continues through Chapter 22, which provides a natural end for the Sutra, as well as to the story that begins in the first chapter. Chapter 12 is inserted in order to emphasize the universality of the buddha-nature, and Chapters 23 through 28 are added, for the most part, as illustrations of bodhisattva practice.

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d25b, d28b, d29b, d31b, d32b, Vasubandhu

The Power of Practice

The power of practice is illustrated by five entrances: l) the power from teaching, 2) the power from the practice of undertaking hardships, 3) the power from protecting living beings from difficulties, 4) the power from the excellence of merits, and 5) the power from protecting the Dharma.

  1. The power from teaching has three entrances to the Dharma that are shown in the chapter “Supernatural Powers”: [the buddhas] extend their long, broad tongues in order to cause [those present] to remember; [they] coughed [before] speaking the verses in order to cause [those present to listen, and after having made them listen they caused them not to abandon the true practice; [they] snapped their fingers to enlighten living beings and to cause those who were practicing the path to attain enlightenment.
  2. The power from the practice of undertaking hardships is illustrated in the chapter “Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja” [Medicine King]. The chapter “Bodhisattva Gadgadasvara” [Wonderful Voice] also illustrates the power from the practice of undertaking hardships [in regard to] giving guidance to living beings.
  3. The power from protecting living beings from difficulties is shown in the chapter “Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara” and the chapter “Magical Spells.”
  4. The power from the excellence of merits is shown in the chapter “King Śubhavyūha.” The two boys have such power through the roots of good merit [they had planted] in past lives.
  5. The power from protecting the Dharma is shown in the chapter “Bodhisattva Samantabhadra” and in later chapters.
Vasubandhu's Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p 148
WONS

The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning

The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning states: “The Buddha has been preaching various teachings through expedient means in order to lead all the people to the True Dharma. For forty years or so till today – (three weeks for preaching the Flower Garland Sūtra, 12 years for the Āgama sūtras, 30 years for the Hōdō sūtras and the Wisdom Sūtra, totaling 42 years; the Treatise on the Dharma World, too, states 42 years) – the truth has not been revealed” (in chapter 2, “Preaching”). The sūtra also preaches: “By means of the pre-Lotus sūtras, one will never attain supreme Buddhahood no matter how long one practices his training. Why? Because the great direct way to enlightenment is not preached in those sūtras, hence one encounters many difficulties in walking in steep and dangerous ways” (chapter 3, “Ten Merits”). It further preaches, “There is no suffering in practicing the great direct way” (chapter 3, “Ten Merits”).

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 242

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 10, 2020

Having thought this, he said to his children as he had thought, ‘Come out quickly!’ He warned them with these good words out of his compassion towards them, but they were too much engrossed in playing to hear the words of their father. They were not frightened or afraid. They did not wish to come out. They did not know what a fire was, what a house was, and what they would lose. They ran about happily. They only glanced at their father occasionally.

This passage is part of the Parable of the Burning House, told by the Buddha in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In this story, he compares us living in this world of conflict to children playing in a dangerous house. As the children in the story were too distracted by their games to hear their father’s warnings, we are often too distracted by the attachments of our world to hear the voice of the Buddha.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month witnessed witness the Buddha emit a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, we consider the reaction of Maitreya Bodhisattva.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva thought:

“The World-Honored One is now displaying a wonder [, that is, a good omen]. Why is he displaying this good omen? The Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into a samadhi. Whom shall I ask why he is displaying this inconceivable, rare thing? Who can answer my question?”

He thought again:

“This Mañjuśrī, the son of the King of the Dharma, has already met innumerable Buddhas and made offerings to them in his previous existence. He must have seen this rare thing before. Now I will ask him.”

At that time the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings thought, “Whom shall we ask why the Buddha is emitting this ray of light, that is, why he is displaying this wonder?”

At that time the congregation included the four kinds of devotees: bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās and upāsikās. They also included gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings. Maitreya Bodhisattva, wishing to have his doubts removed, and also understanding the minds of the congregation, asked Mañjuśrī:

“Why is the World-Honored One displaying this good omen, this wonder? Why is he emitting a great ray of light, illumining eighteen thousand worlds to the east, and causing us to see those beautifully-adorned worlds of the Buddhas?”

See An Invitation and a Warning