Monthly Archives: January 2021

d26b, Peaceful Action

An Act of Love, Not Despair

I knew Thich Quang Duc [, the first monk to immolate himself in the 1960s to protest Vietnam’s anti-Buddhist laws,] personally. As a young monk I practiced with him in a Sangha in central Vietnam, and for a time I stayed at his temple near Saigon. In 1963, I was in New York teaching at Columbia University, and I learned of his death from an article and picture in the New York Times. Many people asked me, “Isn’t such an act a violation of the Buddhist precept of not killing?” So I wrote Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. a letter explaining that the monk’s act was not suicide. A suicidal person is someone who is so overwhelmed by despair that they don’t want to live anymore. I knew that Thich Quang Duc loved life and wished only for his friends and all living beings to be able to live in peace.

When Jesus died on the cross he did so for the sake of human beings. His sacrifice was not made out of despair but out of the wish to help, out of his great love for humankind. That is exactly what motivated Thich Quang Duc. He acted not out of despair but from hope and love. He was free enough to offer his body in order to transmit the message to the world that the Vietnamese people were suffering, that we needed help. Because of his great compassion, he was able to sit very still as the flames engulfed him, in perfect samadhi, perfect concentration.

Such an act is a very profound offering. is being offered? The manifestation in action of our bodhicitta, our aspiration to practice wholeheartedly and realize enlightenment in order to help bring all living beings to the shore of liberation. The Sutra tells us that after Bodhisattva Seen with Joy by All Living Beings had attained the “samadhi that displays all manner of physical bodies,” he felt overjoyed and made many kinds of offerings to the Buddha to show his great gratitude and devotion for having received the teachings. But, the Sutra says, “After he had made this offering, he arose from samadhi and thought to himself, ‘Though by resort to supernatural power I made an offering to the Buddha, it is not as if I had made an offering of my own body.’ ”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p159-160

See the end of Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 2, 2021

The Śrāvakas will have already eliminated āsravas,
And reached the final stage of their physical existence.
They will become sons of the King of the Dharma.
Their number also will be beyond calculation.
Even those who have heavenly eyes
Will not be able to count them.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. The Śrāvakas are those who want only to eliminate their delusions and end their suffering. They do not yet realize that the Buddha leads them to become Bodhisattvas and work for the benefit of all beings. They do not believe they can reach the Buddha’s own wisdom. The Buddha assures even these beings that in the course of time, as they realize their true nature, they too will become enlightened.

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

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva’s question about Mañjuśrī’s efforts to teach the dharma, we consider Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva’s objection that a dragon girl can become a Buddha quickly and meet the dragon girl.

Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva said:

“As far as I know, [when he was a Bodhisattva,] Śākyamuni Buddha sought Bodhi, that is, enlightenment incessantly for innumerable kalpas. He accumulated merits by practicing austerities. Even the smallest part, even the part as large as a poppy-seed of this world-this world being composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds-is not outside the places where the Bodhisattva made efforts to save all living beings at the cost of his life. It was after doing all this that he attained Bodhi, that is, enlightenment. I do not believe that this girl will be able to attain perfect enlightenment[, that is, to become a Buddha] in a moment.”

No sooner had he said this than the daughter of the dragon king came to [Śākyamuni] Buddha. She worshipped [his feet] with her head, retired, stood to one side, and praised him with gāthās:

You know the sins and merits
Of all living beings.
You illumine the worlds of the ten quarters.
Your wonderful, pure and sacred body
Is adorned with the thirty-two major marks
And with the eighty minor marks.

Gods and men are looking up at you.
Dragons also respect you.
None of the living beings
Sees you without adoration.

Only you know that I [am qualified to] attain Bodhi
Because I heard [the Dharma].
I will expound the teachings of the Great Vehicle
And save all living beings from suffering.

See Challenging Our Assumptions About Gender and Gender Roles

LS32, d17b, stories

Challenging Our Assumptions About Gender and Gender Roles

Today much, if not all, of the world is gradually undergoing something of a transformation with respect to what people think about gender. Women insist on equality with men, resulting in some quite remarkable changes in social structures and cultural habits in much of the world. The story of the dragon princess can be used to support the ideal of equality between men and women, as that was its obvious purpose, at least with respect to the ability to become fully awakened.

That the story retains what we see as an incorrect assumption that buddhas are always male can be used as an occasion for us to challenge our own assumptions about gender and gender roles. It is easy for us to recognize that the assumption in the Sutra that buddhas must be male is both unnecessary and undesirable, but it is not as easy to see our own unchallenged assumptions about the nature and appropriate roles of men and women. We might even think that the assumption found in this Lotus Sutra story comes to us a gif from the Buddha – is an opportunity for us to become more awakened, especially with respect to gender issues.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p161-162
Blog

Hoping for a Happier New Year

I started attending Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church services in January 2015. Every New Year after that – 2016 through 2020 – I attended the services held to usher out the old year – Joya (End of Year) Service – and bring in the new – Shinnen (New Year) Service. At the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church these are held on either side of midnight. At the stroke of midnight, the church bell is rung 108 times to purge church members’ 108 earthly desires .

That familiar ritual was another of the many things taken away by COVID-19.

Instead, I found myself seated next to my altar in front of my computer making do with the Zoom sessions from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada.

Rev. Shoda Kanai holds his end of year service in the morning since Las Vegas at midnight is party central and not a place you want to be driving around after midnight. I’m not particularly fond of driving home from the Sacramento church after midnight but at least all of the major roads are open.

Yesterday morning I attended Rev. Shoda Kanai’s end of year service, which included the ringing of his temple bell.

20201231-LV-bell-ringing

I was fascinated with the 108 division of the worldly desires offered by Rev. Shoda Kanai.

The six senses each have three subdivisions – pleasant, painful, neutral or like, dislike, indifference – making 18 desires.

Those 18 kinds have two categories – pure, unpure or internal, external – making 36 desires.

The 36 have three other categories – past, present, future – which brings us to the 108 total.

This morning I celebrated the New Year by burning special incense that displays Namu Myoho Renge Kyo Minobu San after it burns.

20210101_special-incense

The incense is available online but the shipping from Singapore is exorbitant. I’m down to my last four sticks of this and looking for resupply.

After my morning service I set my laptop computer up next to my altar and attended Rev. Shoda Kanai’s New Year Purification Ceremony.

20210101-LV-NewYearPurification

Next Sunday I’ll be back in Las Vegas (virtually) for Rev. Shoda Kanai’s monthly purification service which he holds the first Sunday of each month throughout the year.

Zoom is not IRL, but it helps. I’m looking forward to getting my vaccination and the eventual end of this COVID-19 nightmare.

Correction: Yesterday’s post about Rev. Shoda Kanai’s discussion of kanji characters misstated the character for “me” or “I.” I only had half of the character. I’ve fixed my error.

d26b, Peaceful Action

Out of Great Love and Gratitude

When the bodhisattva realized his capacity to appear in all different kinds of emanation bodies, his feeling of love for and gratitude to his teacher grew even stronger. So out of his great love and gratitude, and with the profound insight into his ultimate nature, he was able to relinquish his body very easily. The Sutra tells us that as an offering to the Buddha and to display his insight that the body is not a permanent, unchanging self, he poured fragrant oil on himself and allowed himself to be burned by fire. This is a quite radical demonstration of his freedom and insight, one that was made out of a very deep love.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p158

See the end of Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

The Importance of Chapter 16

Quote

There are six traditionally given reasons for claiming the importance of Chapter 16. These six are: 1. The revelation of the eternity of the Buddha, 2. It shows misguided people the way to Buddhahood, 3. Revelation of the eternal Buddha Land, 4. Eternal salvation of the people, 5. Actual salvation of misguided people, and 6. The vow of the Buddha.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

WONS

The Golden Words of the Buddha

It has already been more than 2,230 years since the Buddha passed away. What is more, India, China, and Japan are separated from one another by mountains, rivers, and oceans. As the people’s minds and lands are different in each country, so are their languages and customs. How then can we, ordinary people, perceive the true heart of Buddhism? There is only one way: by reading the letters of sūtras and comparing them, but there are so many volumes and different kinds of sūtras in all the scriptures of Buddhism. The Lotus Sūtra consists of eight fascicles along with one fascicle each of the Universal Sage Sūtra as transmission and the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning as introduction.

When we open the Lotus Sūtra, we can see its teachings as clearly as looking at our face in a mirror. It is similar to recognizing the color of grasses and trees as the sun rises. It is stated in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “The truth has not been revealed during the first forty years or so.” At the beginning of the “Expedients” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 1, it is said, “The World Honored One will expound the true teaching after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings].” In the chapter of “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” in the fourth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Lotus Sūtra of the Wonderful Dharma … is nothing but the truth.” In the chapter of “Divine Powers of the Buddha” in the seventh fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, it is clearly stated that the tongues of the three Buddhas (Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and numerous Buddhas in manifestation) “reach the Brahma Heaven,” proving the sūtra to be true. Moreover, in the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter, other sūtras preached before or after the Lotus Sūtra are compared to stars, rivers, petty kings or minor mountains whereas the Lotus Sūtra is compared to the moon, the sun, the great ocean, major mountains or a great king. These are not my own words, but the golden words of the Buddha and the words that Buddhas from all the worlds throughout the universe resolved. All bodhisattvas, Two Vehicles, the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, as well as the sun and moon that reside in the sky at present saw and heard the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra. The words of the sun and moon (vowing to spread the Lotus Sūtra) are also recorded in the Lotus Sūtra.

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 145-146

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan. 1, 2021

The Buddhas, the Leaders, expound the teaching of Nirvāṇa
In order to give a rest [to all living beings].
When they see them having already had a rest,
They lead them to the wisdom of the Buddha.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. These are part of his explanation of the parable of the Magic City. In this story, a group of people hire a guide to lead them through a dangerous wilderness to reach a city of treasures. Halfway through the journey, the people lose confidence and ask the guide to take them back to where they started. The guide conjures up a magic city and gives the people a chance to rest. The people believed this illusion was their destination. The guide then made the city disappear and implored his charges to continue their journey. The Buddha compares his teachings of the end of suffering to the fabricated city, and the true city of treasures to his enlightenment. As the travelers had to leave their delusions about suffering and continue on the way of the Bodhisattva towards enlightenment, so must we set aside the Buddha’s expedient teachings and uphold the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra.

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