Monthly Archives: December 2020

LS32

Day 24

Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 24 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the twelve hundred merit of the tongue in gāthās, we consider the eight hundred merits of the body.

“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the body. Their bodies will become as pure as lapis lazuli. All living beings will wish to see them. Some of the living beings in the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds are just born or have just died. All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women]. The Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru, and the other great mountains, and the living beings in those mountains also will be reflected on their bodies. [All the six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven and the living beings therein also will be reflected on their bodies. The Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas as well as the Buddhas who are expounding the Dharma, also will show their reflections on their bodies.”

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

Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to have his body purified like lapis lazuli.
All living beings will wish to see him.

Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this]
Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.

The gods, men, asuras,
Hellish denizens,
Hungry spirits and animals,
That is, all living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-world
Will be reflected on his body.

The palaces of the gods in the heavens
Up to the Highest Heaven,
The Surrounding iron Mountains,
Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru,
And the great oceans also
Will be reflected on his body.

The Buddhas, Śrāvakas, Bodhisattvas who are sons of the Buddhas
[That is, the saints] of whom some live a solitary life
While others are expounding the Dharma to the multitude,
Also will be reflected on his body.

Although he has not yet obtained the wonderful body
[Of the Bodhisattva who knows] the nature of the Dharma-without-āsravas,
He will be able to have all these things
Reflected on his pure and natural body.

The Daily Dharma from April 1, 2020, offers this:

All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women].

The Buddha makes this declaration to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Much of what we see in the world is a projection of our own biases and ignorance. We see things for what we want them to be rather than what they are. We classify the people in our lives as friends, enemies or strangers not because of their inherent qualities, but because of how they treat us. When we act for the benefit of others rather than our own gratification, we are showing them their true qualities. We let them see themselves for what they are.

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

Awakening to the Lotus

Changing the World

Quote

We can truly change the world for good. This is the bodhisattva ideal: to save all living beings as we walk our own path to enlightenment. By following the teachings of Nichiren Shonin and the Lotus Sutra, we can walk the Bodhisattva Path and transform this world into the Buddha’s Pure Land.

Awakening to the Lotus

d15b, Peaceful Action

Indestructible Dharma Body

The Buddha says:

For the sake of the Buddha Path,
I, in incalculable lands,
From the beginning until now,
Have broadly preached the scriptures,
But among them,
This scripture is first.
If there is anyone who can hold it,
Then he holds the Buddha body.

The Buddha body is the Dharma body, the dharmakaya, ultimate reality. We cannot confine the true nature of the Buddha into the space of eighty years, into the framework of a country with a population of 500 million, into the small space and small time of the historical dimension. The Buddha is always present throughout the trichiliocosm in an infinite, incalculable number of transformation bodies. And just as the Buddha manifests in various forms in the historical dimension but his true body, the dharmakaya, abides in the ultimate, we too exist in the historical dimension but at the same time we have a Dharma body in the ultimate dimension. Our historical body has a beginning and an end, and we experience the cycle of birth, old age, sickness, and death. But our Dharma body is indestructible. So while in living in our historical body we practice being in touch with our Dharma body, because when we can touch the nature of our Dharma body – the ultimate dimension – we are no longer afraid of birth and death.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p105-106
WONS

‘How Fortunate I Am!’

How fortunate I am! I am spreading the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, confronting many persecutions and difficulties in this Latter Age of Degeneration just as it is foretold in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 13 on “The Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra”: “Those who spread this Lotus Sūtra after the death of the Buddha will be persecuted and chased out of monasteries often.” I should be proud of myself. I am writing this as a response to everyone, so I believe I do not need to explain this in detail.

Toki-dono Go-henji, A Response to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 181

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 5, 2020

As the destroyer of the bonds of existence,
I, the King of the Dharma, have appeared in this world.
Since then I have expounded the Dharma variously
According to the desires of all living beings.

The Buddha proclaims these verses in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another explanation for why he uses expedients to teach those who are not ready for his highest teaching. When we set aside the cravings that lead to suffering, and cultivate our desire for enlightenment, both for ourselves and all beings, then we are ready to receive the Buddha’s highest teaching.

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

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month completed today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we return to Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra and the merits to be given to a good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this Sūtra.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! How many merits will be given to a good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?” He sang in a gāthā:
How many merits will be given
To a person who rejoices
At hearing this sūtra
After your extinction?

Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Suppose a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, or some other wise person, whether young or old, rejoices at hearing this sūtra in a congregation after my extinction. After leaving the congregation, he or she goes to some other place, for instance, to a monastery, a retired place, a city, a street, a town, or a village. There he or she expounds this sūtra, as he or she has heard it, to his or her father, mother relative, friend or acquaintance as far as he or she can. Another person who has heard [this sūtra from him or her], rejoices, goes [to some other place] and expounds it to a third person. The third person also rejoices at hearing it and expounds it to a fourth person. In this way this sūtra is heard by a fiftieth person. Ajita! Now I will tell you the merits of the fiftieth good man or woman who rejoices at hearing [this sūtra]. Listen attentively!

See Practicing for Oneself and Others

d14b, d15b, Peaceful Action

The Buddha and the Dharma

[In Chapter 10] the Lotus Sutra opens the door of the ultimate dimension to us. The Buddha is none other than the Dharma. The true body of the Buddha is the Dharma body (dharmakaya). Through the Dharma, we can touch the Buddha right in the present moment. Whenever we show respect and make offerings to the Dharma, when we hear, practice, and teach it to others, we are at the same time showing respect to the Buddha. The Buddha is always with us, right here in the present moment. We need only receive this wonderful Dharma and put it into practice.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p94-95
WONS

A Mind of Any Person Is Equipped with Seed of Buddhahood

It is said in a non-Buddhist writing that those who can predict things before they actually take place can be called sages. In Buddhism, those who see life in the past, present, and future are called sages. I made three outstanding predictions. …

It was not I, Nichiren, who made these three important predictions. I believe it was solely the spirit of Śākyamuni Buddha, entering my body, who made them. I am overwhelmed with joy. This is the important 3,000 Existences Contained in One Thought doctrine of the Lotus Sūtra. According to it, a mind of any person is equipped with the seed of Buddhahood, which could grow to blossom in his mind when he upholds the right faith. As a result, his mind could function like that of the Buddha. This is what happened to me, Nichiren, when I made these three predictions. Due to my faith in the Lotus Sūtra, I was able to see things before they actually took place. What is the meaning of “appearances of all phenomena as they are” as stated in the Lotus Sūtra? Since “appearance” is mentioned first among the ten factors of existence, it is the most important among them and the Buddha has come into this world in order to expound it. The appearance of a thing represents its reality. So we can grasp its reality when we see through its appearance clearly, and in turn we can predicts what would happen in the future. This is what was meant by Grand Master Miao-lé when he said that wise men know the cause of phenomena and only snakes know about snakes.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 243-244

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 4, 2020

Ajita! The good men or women who hear of my longevity of which I told you, and understand it by firm faith, will be able to see that I am expounding the Dharma on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, surrounded by great Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas. They also will be able to see that the ground of this Sahā-World is made of lapis lazuli, that the ground is even, that the eight roads are marked off by ropes of jāmbūnada gold, that the jeweled trees are standing in lines, and that the magnificent buildings are made of treasures.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita – Invincible, in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We can hear this explanation as a promise of some great otherworldly vision which will be revealed to us if our faith is strong enough. We can also hear it as a promise that we will learn to deny that all the terrible things in the world as as bad as we think. But when we remember the Buddha telling us, “I do not see the world as others do,” then we realize that our faith brings us to the Buddha’s own mind, where we can accept this frightening and dangerous world for what it is, and work to make it better for all beings.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the reaction of the gods to this news of the merits received, we consider Maitreya Bodhisattva’s summary of the merits in gāthās.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and sang in gāthās:

You expounded a rare teaching.
I have never heard it before.
You have great powers.
The duration of your life is immeasurable.

Having heard from you that they were given
The various benefits of the Dharma,
The innumerable sons of yours
Were filled with joy.

Some of them reached the stage of irrevocability.
Some obtained dharanis, or eloquence without hindrance,
Or the all-holding formulas
For memorizing billions of repetitions of teachings.

Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The irrevocable wheel of the Dharma.

Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The wheel of the pure Dharma.

Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of attaining the enlightenment of the Buddha
After eight rebirths.

Bodhisattvas numbering four times or three times or twice
The number of the particles of earth of the four continents
Obtained the faculty of becoming Buddhas
After four, three or two rebirths respectfully.

Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of the four continents obtained
The faculty of attaining the knowledge of all things
immediately after this life.

Having heard of your longevity,
They obtained these effects and rewards,
Pure, immeasurable, and without āsravas.
Having heard from you
Of the duration of your life,
Living beings as many as the particles of earth
Of eight Sumeru-worlds
Aspired for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

See Understanding Eternity