The idea held by some sects that Nichiren was the teacher of Shakyamuni in some remote past is nothing Nichiren ever claimed. That suggestion only obscures the Eternal Buddha and the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. It is also an attempt to elevate some Nichiren denominations by their claim that somehow they practice a True Buddhism that stands above the Lotus Sutra. It is only by discouraging their followers from actually studying the Lotus Sutra and by offering convoluted explanations that make no logical sense and fly in the face of Nichiren’s own teaching that these denominations seek to elevate their standing.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraMonthly Archives: November 2020
Saved From Hell Through the Help of the True Dharma
Referring to the Lotus Sūtra, it is stated in the Sūtra on the Great Extinction, “Suppose someone commits the sin of slandering the True Dharma. If this person repents, returns to the True Dharma and embraces it again, the sin of slandering the True Dharma will disappear. However, a return to the True Dharma must be made because no other sūtra except this True Dharma can absolve one from the sin of slandering the True Dharma.” Interpreting this, Grand Master Miao-lê states in his Annotations to the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Nirvana Sūtra calls the Lotus Sūtra the supreme True Dharma,” and “Just as a person who fell on the earth will stand up again with the support of the earth, a person who slandered the True Dharma can be saved from hell through the help of the True Dharma.”
Ōta Nyūdō-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lay Priest Lord Ōta, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 34-35
Daily Dharma – Nov. 12, 2020
Muddy water has no mind but it still catches the moon’s reflection and naturally becomes lucid. Plants and trees catch the rain in order to blossom, but can we say they do this deliberately? The five characters of Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo are not the text of the sutra nor a mere explanation; rather they are the sole intent of the whole sutra. Beginners may practice this without knowing the heart (of the Lotus Sutra), but their practice will naturally harmonize with its intention.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-Shō). This is another way of saying that we do not need to rely on our own skills or wisdom to practice the Buddha Dharma. Whether we are brilliant or slow, focused or distracted, calm or agitated, when we rely on the Ever-Present Buddha, we are in harmony with the world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1
Having last month considered the first of the 10 Beneficial Effects of the Sutra of Innumerable Meaning, we consider the second beneficial effect:
“O you of good intent! Second, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who obtain this sutra—whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—and thus become able to perceive millions upon millions of meanings, even though uncountable numbers of kalpas may pass they will not be able to elucidate the teaching they have acquired and kept. Why is this so? It is because the meanings of this teaching are unlimited. O you of good intent! This sutra can be likened to a single seed from which a thousand million seeds result. And each of these seeds, in turn, also results in a thousand million in number. In this way, the production of seeds is limitless in measure. So it is also with this sutra—it is a single teaching that gives rise to a hundred thousand meanings, and each one of these, in turn, produces a thousand million in number. In this way, meanings are produced to an unlimited and boundless extent. Thus is this sutra named Infinite Meanings. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the second beneficial effect of this sutra.
I am reminded of Nichiren and the progress from his first declaration of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō:
At first only I, Nichiren, started chanting the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, but then two, three, then one hundred people, gradually began chanting it. This will continue in the future. Isn’t this what emerging from the earth means? When an innumerable number of people emerge from the earth and this Wonderful Dharma spreads extensively, there will be no mistake, just as a shooting arrow never misses the earth, Japan will be filled with people chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. You should therefore establish your fame as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and devote your life to it.
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78
A single seed from which a thousand million seeds result.
The Seven Chapters of Clear Exposition
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p45[C]hapter 3 through Chapter 9 are called “the seven chapters of clear exposition,” and they serve to further clarify skillful means. At the very end of Chapter Two, the Buddha says in verse,
All of you, knowing now
That the Buddhas, the Teachers of the Ages,
In accord with what is peculiarly appropriate have recourse to expedient devices,
Need have no more doubts or uncertainties.
Your hearts shall give rise to great joy,
Since you know that you yourselves shall become Buddhas.
Our Heartfelt Wish and Firm Faith
The recitation of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the verbal expression of our heartfelt wish to attain Buddhahood. It is also a statement of our firm faith that Buddhahood is the true nature of our lives, which can be realized anew in every moment. In avowing these ideas, we plant the seed of awakening within our lives and within the lives of others. The more we nourish this seed through our practice, the more our life will manifest the qualities of a buddha.
Lotus SeedsStudying the Matter of the Last Moment of Life
As I contemplate my own life, I, Nichiren, have studied Buddhism ever since I was a child. Our life is uncertain, as exhaling one’s breath one moment does not guarantee drawing it the next; it is as transient as dew before the wind and its end occurs suddenly to everyone, the wise and the ignorant, the aged and the young. I thought I should study the matter of the last moment of life first of all, before studying anything else. In this endeavor I collected commentaries and interpretations of the holy teachings of the Buddha written by commentators and Buddhist masters. Using them as a spotless mirror, I collated all their thoughts upon death and after death, I found no discrepancy.
Myōhō-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady, the Nun Myōhō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 141
Daily Dharma – Nov. 11, 2020
He should always make it a pleasure to sit in dhyāna. He should live in a retired place and concentrate his mind. Mañjuśrī! [A retired place] is the first thing he should approach.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. For those who are awakening their nature as Bodhisattvas to benefit all beings, and setting aside their attachment to their own suffering, this can be a difficult transition. Our habits of engaging with the drama and delusion in the world can be too strong to overcome. This is why the Buddha emphasizes the importance of quietly reflecting on what happens around us, and our reactions to them. Through dhyāna meditation, we learn not to believe everything we think, and that we can change our understanding of the world. We also learn that allowing our minds to change is the only way we can benefit other beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Between Day 32 and Day 1: Purification of the Six Sense Faculties
As promised last month, I’m going to go through each of the senses and their karmic consequences – the sense faculty of sight, the sense faculty of hearing, the sense faculty of smell, the sense faculty of speech and the sense faculty of the body and mind – but before that I need to set the stage for the practitioner:
Emerging from the specialized focus of mind, the practitioner will perceive, in front of him- or herself, all the emanated buddhas sitting on lion seats beneath numerous jewel trees. He or she will also perceive soil of lapis lazuli, resembling clusters of lotus flowers, springing up from the space below the ground. Between each flower are untold countless numbers of bodhisattvas sitting in the lotus posture. The practitioner will also discern bodhisattvas emanated from Universal Sage giving praise to the Great Vehicle within their own assemblies.
Then, with one voice, the bodhisattvas will instruct the practitioner on the purification of the six sense faculties.
One instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Buddha!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Dharma!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of the Sangha!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful of your attitude toward the behavioral principles!
Another says: Be steadfastly mindful to have consideration for others!
Another instruction says: Be steadfastly mindful that blissful conditions exist!Becoming mindful in these six ways constitutes the aspiration for enlightenment and gives birth to bodhisattvas! Now, therefore, face the buddhas, avow your past wrongdoings, and sincerely undertake self-amendment!
Little Gems of Stories
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p26These little gems of stories [in the Lotus Sutra] have within them the power to persuade readers that they have the potential and power not only to make more of their own lives but also to make a contribution to the good of others. And since according to the stories the Buddha – now no longer existing in this world in the way he once was – needs others to do his work in this world, what readers do with their own potential to be buddhas makes a cosmic difference, that is, what we do determines to what degree the work of Shakyamuni Buddha gets done in this world. Using that power can cause the whole universe to shake in six different ways! It can even cause a magnificent Stupa to come flying to where we are.