The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p79-80In the missing half of [Chapter 5], there are two additional similes: a simile of light and one of clay and pottery. According to the first, just as the light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world – those living beings who do good and those who do ill, the tall and the short, things that smell good and things that smell foul – so too the light of the Buddha’s wisdom shines equally on all the living according to their capacities. Though it is received by each according to what it deserves, the light itself has no deficiency or excess. It is the same everywhere. According to the second simile, the simile of the clay and pottery, just as a potter makes different kinds of pots from the same clay – pots for sugar, for butter, for milk, and even for some filthy things – they are all made of the same clay, just as there is only one Buddha Vehicle.
It is worth noting in passing that in both of these similes there is an obvious inclusion of bad or unpleasant things. This is one of the ways in which the Dharma Flower Sutra expresses universality, the idea that there are no exceptions, no one is left out of the Dharma. Everything is affected by Buddha Dharma. One Vehicle is for all living beings.
Whereas the parable of the burning house can lead us to believe that the One Vehicle replaces the three vehicles just as the one cart seems to replace the three carts, here we can understand the Sutra’s intention to be inclusive of all beings. The many living beings, whether good, bad, both, or neither, are all nourished by the same rain, by the same Buddha Dharma.
It is also important to recognize that the kind of universalism affirmed in the Dharma Flower Sutra does not in any way diminish the reality and importance of particular things. The fact that the pots are made of one clay does not make the pots any less real. Similarly, that many beings of various kinds are illuminated by one light affirms both the oneness of the light and the many-ness of the living beings. Thus the universalism of the Dharma Flower Sutra is at the same time a pluralism, an affirmation of the reality and importance both of unity and of variety.
Monthly Archives: November 2020
The Taste of Liberation
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p66Living beings cannot see into their own true nature right away, but the Buddha can. The Tathagata looks deeply into different beings, their forms, their essence, and their innate dispositions, and so is able to offer the Dharma in the way that is most beneficial to them. Seeing that one kind of disciple will best be able to follow a particular path of practice, the Buddha opens that Dharma gate. Mahayana sutras often mention “84,000 Dharma doors,” which is a way of saying that there are an infinite number of teachings and methods by which living beings may be liberated.
The Dharma is described as being “of a single flavor.” Just as the rain has one function, one effect – to nourish all the different species of plants and cause them to grow – the different teachings offered by the Tathagata as skillful means have but one taste – the taste of liberation and universal wisdom that delivers all beings to the realm of peace and joy.
The Power of the Lotus Sūtra
The Lotus School … is based on the most truthful words of all teachings of the Buddha. Not only does the Lotus Sūtra consist of true words but also provisional sūtras preached by the Buddha during His lifetime, upon flowing into the great ocean of the Lotus Sūtra, are all converted to the sūtra of the true words by the power of the Lotus Sūtra. Let alone the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra. This is like the power of face powder which makes lacquer as white as snow or Mt. Sumeru, which makes the color of the various birds approaching it all golden. Likewise, those who uphold the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra can change the black (evil) karma, which they committed in this life or during the numerous kalpa (aeons) in the past, into white (good) great karma, not to speak of the meritorious good acts performed in the past since the eternal past, which will all be changed to golden-colored.
Myōhō-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady, the Nun Myōhō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 142
Daily Dharma – Nov. 20, 2020
The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind.
The Buddha gives this teaching in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another reminder that the practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not take us out of the world of conflict we live in. Instead, it helps us to use the senses we have, in ways we did not think were possible, to see the world for what it is. Merits in this sense are not status symbols. They are an indication of clarity, of our faculties not being impeded by anything that blocks their capacity.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 8
Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered consider the rich man in gāthās, we consider the poor son in gāthās.
At that time the poor son
Wandered from village to village,
From country to country,
Seeking food and clothing.
Sometimes he got what he wanted,
At other times he could not.
Getting thinner from hunger,
He had scabs and itches on his skin.
Wandering from one place to another,
He came to the city of his father.
Employed at places from day to day,
He came to the house of his father.At that time the rich man was sitting
On the lion-like seat
Under the great awning of treasures
Inside the gate of the house.
Many attendants were surrounding him.
Many people were on his guard.Some of his attendants were counting
Gold, silver, and other treasures.
Some were keeping accounts;
Others, writing notes and bills.Seeing his father noble and honorable,
The poor son thought:
“Is he a king,
Or someone like a king?”Frightened and scared,
He wondered:
“Why did I come here?”
He thought:
“If I stay here any longer,
I shall be forced to work.”Having thought this, he ran away.
He asked someone
For the way to a village of the poor
In order to get a job.From his lion-like seat,
The rich man saw the poor son in the distance,
And recognized him as his son.
But he did not tell this to the others.He immediately dispatched a messenger
To chase, catch, and bring him back.
The poor son cried out with fright,
And fell to the ground in agony, thinking:
“He caught me. I shall be killed.
What use was it coming here
For food and clothing?”The rich man thought:
“He is ignorant, narrow-minded, and mean.
If I tell him that I am his father,
He will not believe me.”
See Basic Lessons
Basic Lessons
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p72One of the basic lessons of the Lotus Sutra is that one can find in every situation that there is something to be learned. Sometimes an unpleasant situation or task can be understood as being a present given to us by the Buddha, an opportunity for learning and growth, just as the son in this story received from his father the present of shoveling dung. We can learn from just about any situation, even from very unpleasant ones, if we approach it with a right attitude.
The Dharma Is Universal
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p65-66In [Chapter 5] the Buddha uses the example of medicinal herbs. Throughout the worlds there are innumerable valleys, fields, and gardens that contain countless species of plants. Every species has its own name and character, its own life cycle, its specific strengths and properties. None is exactly like another. Living beings are the same. They are of many different types. The sphere of activities of one person is like this; the social circumstance of another person is like that. Living beings are thus like the innumerable kinds of plants that grow in different environments.
One day the clouds came and covered the entire cosmos, and rain fell on all the species of plants. Some plants were very small with slim branches, some were very large with broad leaves, and some were neither small nor large. There were so many species, so many types of plants, yet they all benefited fully from the rain, each according to its own needs and capacity.
The teachings of the Buddha are like this. The rain of the Dharma falls not just on one class or type of human being. Whether they are shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, or bodhisattvas, monastics or laypeople, nobles or peasants, workers or warriors, male or female, child, youth, adult, or elder – all beings benefit from the Tathagata’s teachings. The Dharma is universal and has the capacity to serve all kinds of people, not just one social class, one nation, or one kind of understanding.
The Sūtra Revealing the Whole Truth
I have made a vow to study all the Buddhist sūtras completely at once just as Grand Master T’ien-t’ai had compared the superiority of all the sūtras, by relying on the scriptures of the sūtras alone as his guide.
Thus determined, I read through all the scriptures of Buddhism, finding that the Nirvana Sūtra states: “Depend on the dharma, not on people.” The dharma means all the sūtras preached by the Buddha; and people refers to all except the Buddha, that is, such bodhisattvas as Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī as well as the various masters of the schools mentioned above. It also states: “Depend on the sūtra revealing the whole truth, not on the sūtras which do not reveal the whole truth.” The sūtras revealing the whole truth correspond to the Lotus Sūtra.
Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 4.
Daily Dharma – Nov. 19, 2020
When they come to him
With good intent
In order to hear
About the enlightenment of the Buddha,
He should expound the Dharma to them
Without fear,
But should not wish to receive
Anything from them.
The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. In our zeal to practice this Wonderful Dharma we may come to expect that because this is such a wonderful teaching, we deserve to be rewarded for providing it to others. With this expectation, we then lose our focus on using the Dharma to benefit others and instead use it to benefit ourselves. When we show how to give freely, without expectations, we embody generosity, the same generosity the Buddha himself demonstrated when he provided the teaching to us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 7
Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
Having last month learned that all living beings taught by Buddhas are Bodhisattvas, we consider the Buddha’s warning not to propagate this sutra carelessly.I am the King of the Dharma.
I expound the Dharma without hindrance.
I appeared in this world
In order to give peace to all living beings.Śāriputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.
Do not propagate it carelessly
At the place where you are!Anyone who rejoices at hearing this sūtra,
And who receives it respectfully,
Know this, has already reached
The stage of avaivartika.Anyone who believes and receives this sūtra
Should be considered
To have already seen the past Buddhas,
Respected them, made offerings to them,
And heard the Dharma from them
In his previous existence.Anyone who believes what you expound
Should be considered
To have already seen all of us,
That is, you and me,
And the Saṃgha of bhikṣus,
And the Bodhisattvas.I expound only to people of profound wisdom
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Because men of little wisdom would doubt this sūtra,
And not understand it even if they heard it.
No Śrāvaka
Or Pratyekabuddha
Can understand
This sūtra.Even you, Śāriputra,
Have understood this sūtra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Śrāvakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sūtra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.