Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p41-42The Buddha taught these three vehicles to respond to the different levels and capacities of beings, the different causes and conditions, and the different times and situations in which the teachings were given. The three-vehicles teaching is a skillful means in the historical dimension. In terms of the ultimate dimension, however, the Buddha always aims to reveal the deepest meaning, the absolute truth. The reason for all Tathagatas appearing in the world is to guide living beings to the ultimate truth of the One Vehicle, which is also called the Buddha vehicle – opening up, pointing out, awakening to, and entering the insight of the Buddha. So the philosophy of the One Vehicle revealed in the Lotus Sutra has been called “opening up the three to the one” or “gathering the three and returning them to the one.” The teaching of the three vehicles is but a skillful means; in fact, there is only One Vehicle. The Buddha says in a verse:
Within the Buddha Lands of the ten directions
There is the Dharma of only One Vehicle.
There are not two, nor are there yet three,
Save where the Buddha,
Preaching by resort to expedients,
And by merely borrowing provisional names and words,
Draws the beings to him.This passage is considered the essence of the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra. With this insight, the Sutra achieves something that all previous Mahayana sutras had not yet been able to do. It reconciles and unifies the teachings of the three vehicles into the One Vehicle, the great vehicle that has the capacity to carry all beings to the shore of liberation. This is the heart of the wonderful Dharma, and it is for this reason that the Lotus Sutra is regarded as the king of sutras, not because it expresses more profound or mystical theories, but because it reunites all the disciples and paths of practice into the one great family of the Buddha.
Monthly Archives: November 2020
Thanks to the Lotus Sūtra
All the bodhisattvas tried in vain to attain Buddhahood during the first 40 years or so of the Buddha’s preaching, beginning with the Flower Garland Sūtra, Therefore when the “concise replacement of the Three Vehicles with the One Vehicle” doctrine was preached in the “Expedients” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “80,000 bodhisattvas who wished to become Buddhas as well as the Wheel-turning Noble Kings gathered from tens of thousands and millions of lands pressed their palms together in the form of gasshō to show respect to the Buddha, wishing to hear the perfect way.” Thereupon the Buddha expounded the “expanded replacement of the Three Vehicles with the One Vehicle” doctrine. “Listening to this doctrine, those bodhisattvas’ doubts all melted away,” says the sūtra.
Thereafter bodhisattvas from this and other lands as numerous as stars in the sky came together like clouds to listen to the Buddha expound the Lotus Sūtra. When the “Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” chapter was preached, Buddhas of the worlds throughout the universe each leading limitless number of bodhisattvas gathered together; at the time of the “Devadatta” chapter, Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī emerged from the sea leading numerous bodhisattvas; and at the time of the “Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra” chapter, there were 800 thousands million nayuta bodhisattvas. Moreover, there were bodhisattvas more numerous than the sands of eight times the Ganges River and also bodhisattvas as many as the number of dust-particles of 1,000 worlds emerged from the great earth (“Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground” chapter); bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of 6,800,000 million nayuta times the Ganges River; bodhisattvas 1,000 times it in number; bodhisattvas as many as the number of the dust-particles of a world; of the “triple-thousand great one-thousand worlds,” of two middle-size lands; of 1,000 minor lands; of four times the “fourcontinents;” of three times the “four continents;” of two times the “four continents;” and of the “four continents;” and living beings as numerous as the number of dust-particles of eight worlds (in the “Variety of Merits” chapter). Besides, the 84,000 bodhisattvas mentioned in the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter, the 84,000 bodhisattvas and 42,000 sons of gods in the “Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva” chapter, the 84,000 persons in the “Avalokiteśvara” chapter, the 68,000 persons in the “Dhārāṇi” chapter, the 84,000 persons in the “King Wonderful Adornment” chapter, and the bodhisattvas as many as the number of sands in the Ganges River and those as many as the dust-particles of the “triple-thousand great one-thousand world” mentioned in the “Encouragement of Universal Sage Bodhisattva” chapter were present. When we add up all these bodhisattvas, they are as numerous as the dust-particles of all the worlds in the universe. They are as numerous as the number of all the plants, all the stars and drops of all the rains in the worlds throughout the universe. These incalculable bodhisattvas all became Buddhas, thanks to the Lotus Sūtra, and reside above in the “triple-thousand great one-thousand world,” or under the earth or in the sky.
Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 61-62
Daily Dharma – Nov. 10, 2020
Ajita! Anyone who[, while he is staying outside the place of the expounding of the Dharma,] says to another person, ‘Let us go and hear the sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which is being expounded [in that place],’ and causes him to hear it even for a moment, in his next life by his merits, will be able to live with the Bodhisattvas who obtain dhāraṇīs.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. The dhāraṇīs are promises made by Bodhisattvas to protect those who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra. They are included in the sūtra so that we can use them to remind these Bodhisattvas, and ourselves, of the protection we enjoy from our practice. This protection is not just meant for us. It is for all beings. When we share the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma with others, we help them become aware of their potential to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 32
Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered Śākyamuni’s reaction to Universal Sage’s vow, we conclude Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.
“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life. Those who abuse him, saying, ‘You are perverted. You are doing this for nothing,’ will be reborn blind in their successive lives in retribution for their sin. Those who make offerings to rum and praise him, will be able to obtain rewards in their present life. Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life. Those who laugh at him will have few teeth, ugly lips, flat noses, contorted limbs, squint eyes, and foul and filthy bodies, and suffer from bloody pus of scabs, abdominal dropsy, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases in their successive lives. Therefore, Universal-Sage! When you see the keeper of this sūtra in the distance, you should rise from your seat, go to him, receive him, and respect him just as you respect me.
When the Buddha expounded this chapter of the Encouragement of Universal-Sage, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges obtained the dhārāṇis by which they could memorize hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings, and as many Bodhisattvas as the particles of dust of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds [understood how to] practice the Way of Universal-Sage.
When the Buddha expounded this sūtra, the great congregation including the Bodhisattvas headed by Universal-Sage, the Śrāvakas headed by Śāriputra, and the other living beings such as gods, dragons, men and nonhuman beings, had great joy, kept the words of the Buddha, bowed [to him], and retired.
[Here ends] the Eighth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Completing the Dharma
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p309That this Chapter comes last and therefore can be seen as a kind of conclusion to the Sutra means that the Dharma is not complete without being put into practice – that is, without being put into action in everyday, concrete life. It is not enough to study and gain wisdom, not enough to feel compassion. One must also embrace the Sutra by embodying it in one’s life. Faith is not faith if it is only believed, or only felt; it must be lived. One must strive to become a buddha by being a bodhisattva for others, which means nothing more and nothing less than embodying Buddha Dharma by helping others in whatever ways are appropriate and in whatever ways one can. Among those ways is giving encouragement and strength to others, being Universal Sage Bodhisattva for them.
Crossing the River of Suffering to the Shore of Freedom
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p40-41Some people want only to find relief from their own suffering. They feel it is all they can do to try to liberate themselves, and so they take up the practice and attend a retreat or two at Plum Village and receive the benefit of that. This is the shravaka path. Then there are some practitioners who are able to get a direct insight into the nature of dependent co-arising and attain freedom for themselves, but they do not wish to teach or guide others. This is the path of the pratyekabuddha. Others have a wider aspiration. They hope that by practicing the Dharma they will be able to organize Dharma communities and share the benefits of the practice with many people. Rather than just enjoying their own attainment, they want to share the fruits of their practice with others. This is the bodhisattva path. So when the time is ripe the Buddha reveals the path of the One Vehicle (ekayana), the Great Vehicle of the Mahayana, which embraces all three of these paths – the shravakayana, pratyekabuddhayana, and bodhisattvayana. The One Vehicle teaching says you can do more – you can arrive at the fruit of the highest awakening, become a Buddha, and help many other beings across the river of suffering to the shore of freedom.
The Heart of the Eleventh Chapter of the Lotus Sūtra
I now realize, though dimly, the heart of the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures.” It is stated in this chapter: “Even a man as powerless as I can throw Mt. Sumeru over to countless numbers of Buddha lands. … Even more so, it is not easy to uphold the Lotus Sūtra in the evil world after the death of the Buddha.” Grand Master Dengyō interprets this in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra (Hokke shūku): “The Buddha has determined that it is easy to spread the sūtras which are shallow in meaning, and difficult to spread those which are profound in meaning. A man should leave the shallow and take the deep. Therefore, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, putting faith in Śākyamuni Buddha, spread the Lotus Sūtra in China; and all the kinsfolk of Mt. Hiei, receiving the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra from T’ien-t’ai, spread it in Japan.”
Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 178
Daily Dharma – Nov. 9, 2020
No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sūtra because there are Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Sahā-World. They are each accompanied by attendants also numbering sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges. They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra after my extinction.
The Buddha makes this declaration to the uncountable number of Bodhisattvas who came from other worlds to hear him teach in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas had responded to the Buddha’s question of who would keep and expound the Buddha’s highest teaching after his death. They promised that they would remain in this world of conflict and fulfill the Buddha’s request. After the Buddha spoke these words, an unimaginable number of Bodhisattvas came up from underground and paid their respects to the Buddha. We can understand this story, and this image, as showing that our capacity for enlightenment, and our ability to benefit all beings, is already within us. We do not need an outside agent to give these to us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 31
Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
Having last month concluded Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva, we begin again with the story of a Buddha called Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom.Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude:
“Innumerable, inconceivable, asaṃkhya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world was called Light-Adornment; the kalpa in which he lived, Gladly-Seen. Under that Buddha lived a king called Wonderful-Adornment. His wife was called Pure-Virtue. They had two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes by name. The two sons had great supernatural powers, merits, virtues and wisdom. A long time ago, they had already practiced the Way which Bodhisattva should practice. They had already practiced the dana-pāramitā, the sita-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, the dhyāna-pāramitā, the prajña-pāramitā, and the pāramitā of expediency. They also had already obtained the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-kindness, joy and impartiality. They also had already practiced the thirty-seven ways to enlightenment. They had done all this perfectly and clearly. They also had already obtained the samādhis of Bodhisattvas: that is, the samādhi for purity, the samādhi for the sun and the stars, the samādhi for pure light, the samādhi for pure form, the samādhi for pure brightness, the samādhi for permanent adornment, and the samādhi for the great treasury of powers and virtues. They had already practiced all these samādhis.
Our Relationship With the Buddha
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p293-294One of the truly liberating teachings of the Dharma Flower Sutra and Mahayana Buddhism generally is that one does not have to become a monk or nun in order to follow the bodhisattva way of being, just like the Buddha himself, a Dharma teacher. As we see most explicitly in Chapter 10 of the Dharma Flower Sutra, anyone can be a Dharma teacher for others. Such Dharma teachers are all children of the Buddha. But here being a child of the Buddha is not so much an alternative, as it is when one leaves home to follow a buddha, as it is an addition, a kind of fulfillment of being a child of one’s biological parents. This is what is symbolized in this story by the fact that the whole family – father, mother, children, and servants – gives up domestic life in order to follow a buddha together.
Thus, the meaning of this story for us is that we can be children of our parents and parents of our children, or have no children at all, and still be children, true followers, of the Buddha. potential to be a true child of the Buddha, according to the Dharma Flower Sutra, is not initially something we have to earn or learn, it is given to us, just as both our parents and our children are given to us. Relationships created by birth can be grossly distorted or even forgotten, but cannot be completely destroyed or abolished. So, from the moment of our birth, our relationship with the Buddha, a relationship that has close affinities to the relationship of a parent with a child, is always being given to us and can never be completely rejected or abolished.