Monthly Archives: February 2021

WONS

The Children of Śākyamuni Buddha Since the Eternal Past

Considered from the point of view of the second half of the Lotus Sūtra, hommon or essential teachings, we are the real children of Śākyamuni Buddha since the eternal past, 500 dust-particle kalpa ago. However, we attach ourselves to worldly affairs and lose sight of the Lotus Sūtra, stick to old Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna Buddhism and discard the Lotus Sūtra, adhere to the first half of the Lotus Sūtra (shakumon) and forget about the second half (hommon), expect too much from the sūtras which will be preached and abandon the Lotus Sūtra, or are thinking only of the Pure Lands in other worlds in the universe or the Buddha of Infinite Life’s Pure Land of Bliss. Confused by evil monks of seven or eight schools of Buddhism, we have abandoned the Lotus Sūtra and have been unable to see Śākyamuni Buddha with three virtues for as long as 500 dust-particle kalpa. The 22nd fascicle of the Nirvana Sūtra preaches, “An evil elephant hurts only our body, but an evil teacher or friend destroys both our body and heart.” Grand Master T’ien-t’ai says, “If we keep improper company, we may lose the true purpose, falling into evil realms.”

Gochū Shujō Gosho, People in the World Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 203

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 13, 2021

They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison.

The Buddha explains his parable of the wise physician in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the physician’s children take poison by mistake. Some refuse the antidote provided by their father until he leaves home and sends word back that he has died. The children realized that they had to accept what their father had left for them, rather than continuing to refuse his cure. In the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha stops adapting to our minds and brings us into his mind. It is only when we use our suffering to increase our determination to reach enlightenment, rather than as an indicator of our shortcomings, can we recover our right minds and realize what the Buddha teaches.

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

LS32

Day 25

Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

Day 25 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month met the Buddha Powerful-Voice-King, we meet a bhikṣu called Never-Despising.

“There lived arrogant bhikṣus in the age of the counterfeit of the right teachings of the first Powerful-Voice-King Tathāgata, that is, after the end of the age of his right teachings which had come immediately after his extinction. [Those arrogant bhikṣus] were powerful. At that time there lived a Bodhisattva called Never-Despising. He took the form of a bhikṣu.

“Great-Power-Obtainer! Why was this bhikṣu called Never-Despising? It was because, every time he saw bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās, he bowed to them and praised them, saying, ‘I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why is that? It is because you will be able to practice the Way of Bodhisattvas and become Buddhas.’

“He did not read or recite sūtras. He only bowed to the four kinds of devotees. When he saw them in the distance, he went to them on purpose, bowed to them, and praised them, saying, ‘I do not despise you because you can become Buddhas.’

“Some of the four kinds of devotees had impure minds. They got angry, spoke ill of him and abused him, saying, ‘Where did this ignorant bhikṣu come from? He says that he does not despise us and assures us that we will become Buddhas. We do not need such a false assurance of our future Buddhahood.’ Although he was abused like this for many years, he did not get angry. He always said to them, ‘You will become Buddhas.’

See The Importance of Embodying the Dharma

LS32, d25b, stories

The Importance of Embodying the Dharma

Over and over again in the Dharma Flower Sutra we are encouraged to “receive, embrace, read, recite, copy, teach, and practice” the Dharma Flower Sutra. Thus, the fact that Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva did not read or recite sutras is quite interesting. I think it is an expression of the general idea in the Dharma Flower Sutra that, while various practices are very important, what is even more important is how one lives one’s life in relation to others. The references to bodhisattvas who do not follow normal monastic practices, including reading and recitation of sutras, but still become fully awakened buddhas indicates that putting the Dharma into one’s daily life by respecting others, and in this way embodying the Dharma, is more important than formal practices such as reading and recitation.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p216-217
Foundations

Chih-I’s Interpretation of ‘Subtle’

Chih-i begins his discussion of the title of the Lotus Sūtra by pointing out features that are shared with other Sūtras and which are unique to the Lotus Sūtra in terms of teaching, practice, and reality.

As for teaching, the Sūtras contain various teachings because people have varying capacities to understand and live in differing conditions. However, the basic intent of the Buddha’s teaching is one. According to the Lotus Sūtra, the ultimate intent and purpose of the Buddha’s teaching is the attainment of Buddhahood by all sentient beings. The teachings also have in common the fact that they were all taught by the same Buddha.

As for practice, there is a great variety of practices taught in the Sūtras, since there are many types of people who have different needs with regard to the method of practice. However, as it says in the Lotus Sūtra, the goal of practice is ultimately one: Buddhahood.

As for reality, there are many ways to describe “reality,” and Chih-i illustrates this with quotes from the [Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. However, the reality which is described in various inadequate verbal terms is one and non-dual. As Chih-i says, “Various terms name one ultimate [reality]. Only one ultimate [reality] is given many names.” What does Chih-i mean by saying that “reality is One”? He does not mean that reality is a nondescript, monochromic entity with indistinguishable features, but that its underlying essence or nature is that of lacking an eternal, unchanging, substantial Being.

Here is where the threefold truth can be applied to illustrate the spontaneous unity and diversity of reality, that it is “one yet many, many yet one.” Reality is one in that all is lacking in substantial Being; its nature is that of emptiness. However, this emptiness is not a complete nothingness but consists of the conventional existence of things which arise and perish interdependently according to causes and conditions. These aspects of emptiness and conventional existence are not contradictory opposites, but are synonymous and integrated. In T’ien t’ai terminology this is called the “Middle Path.” Thus all of reality is empty–it is one. All of reality has conventional existence–it is many. Reality is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent–it is the Middle Path. This threefold truth is implicit in the unity and diversity of the Buddha’s teaching, Buddhist practice, and reality itself.

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 124-125
WONS

The Vows of All the Deities to Protect Practicers

In the past as well as today, kings and their subjects as well as all the people who despised the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration seem to be safe at first, but they will perish in the end without exception. The same can be said regarding me, Nichiren. In the beginning, it appeared that there were no signs of protection for me, but now, after 27 years of propagation, all the deities such as the King of Brahma Heaven, Indra, Sun Deity, Moon Deity, and the Four Heavenly Kings who made the vow to protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, now realize that if they do not keep their vows, they will fall into the Avīci Hell. Therefore, they have begun to protect me.

Shōnin Gonan Ji, Persecution Befalling Nichiren Shōnin, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 119

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 12, 2021

How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.

The Brahma Heavenly-Kings of the Zenith sing these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They gave up their kingdoms, their subjects and their homes to travel across innumerable worlds to hear the Wonderful Dharma. They inspire our devotion by showing how important this teaching is to them. For us who know of the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni, we recognize that the Buddha exists everywhere, even in our triple world of form, formlessness and desire. When let go of the delusions that imprison us, and recognize this Buddha in our midst, we find ourselves in the Buddha’s pure land.

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

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 concluded Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we begin again with the eight hundred merits of the nose.

“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 nose. With their pure noses, they will be able to recognize all the various things above, below, within and without the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.
“Those who keep this sūtra will be able to recognize, without moving about, the scents of the sumanas-flowers, jātika-flowers, mallikā-flowers, campaka-flowers, pāṭala-flowers, red lotus flowers, blue lotus flowers, white lotus flowers, flower-trees and fruit-trees. They also will be able to recognize the scents of candana, aloes, tamālapattra and tagara, and the scents of tens of millions of kinds of mixed incense which are either powdered or made in lumps or made applicable to the skin. They also will be able to recognize the living beings including elephants, horses, cows, sheep, men, women, boys and girls by smell. They also will be able to recognize without fallacy grasses, trees, thickets and forests by smell, be the nearby or at a distance.

“Those who keep this sūtra also will be able to recognize the gods [and things] in heaven by smell while they are staying [in the world of men]. They will be able to recognize the scents of the pārijātaka-trees, kovidāra-trees, mandārava-flowers, mahā-mandārava-flowers, mañjūṣaka-flowers, mahā-mañjūṣaka-flowers [in heaven]; the powdered incense of candana and aloes, the scents of other flowers, and the mixture of these scents in heaven without fail. They will be able to recognize the gods by smell. They will be able to recognize from afar the scent that Śakra-Devānām-Indra gives forth when he satisfies his five desires and enjoys himself in his excellent palace, or when he expounds the Dharma to the Trāyastriṃs̒a Gods at the wonderful hall of the Dharma, or when he plays in the gardens. They also will be able to recognize by smell from afar the gods and goddesses of the other heavens, including the Heaven of Brahman and the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to recognize the incense burned by the gods in those heavens. They also will be able to locate the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas by smelling their bodies from afar. Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.”

The Daily Dharma from Jan. 20, 2021, offers this:

They also will be able to locate the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas by smelling their bodies from afar. Even when they recognize all this by smell, their organ of smell will not be destroyed or put out of order. If they wish, they will be able to tell others of the differences [of those scents] because they remember them without fallacy.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Our sense of smell is often unconscious. We associate smells with places, experiences or even people that we like or dislike. These smells can even cause an emotional reaction by causing us to relive a situation associated with that smell. In the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha teaches that our everyday experiences are no different from enlightenment, that his great wisdom is not about how to escape from this world. It is about how to use the senses and abilities with which we are blessed in ways we cannot imagine.

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

Foundations

The Contemplation of Entering Conventional Existence

In the final analysis Chih-i presents threefold cessation and threefold contemplation as something which occurs, or is present in, one single instant or one single thought. He summarizes this section on cessation and contemplation as follows:

In general, [the content of] all of the previous meanings [of cessation and contemplation] are present in one thought. What are their characteristics? To realize the true essence of reality as identical to ignorance and warped views is called “cessation as realizing the essence of true reality.” To realize that this reality is universal, and to put one’s mind at rest by contemplating this objective reality as the object of contemplation is called “cessation as [insight into] expedient conventional existence which arises through conditions.” To put an end to the distraction of saṃsāra and quiescence of nirvāṇa is called “cessation as putting an end to the two extremes.” To realize that all conventionally existent things are empty, that the essence of reality is identical to emptiness, is called “the contemplation of entering emptiness.”

When one understands this emptiness, one’s insight [contemplation] penetrates the Middle Path, knows the dharma marks of the arising and perishing of the worldly realm, and perceives it as it truly is. This is called “the contemplation of entering conventional existence.” In this way [it is realized that] the wisdom of emptiness is identical to the Middle Path, non-dual and not distinct. This is called “the contemplation of the Middle Path.” [T. 46, 25b25-c3]

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 122
d16b, WONS

Keeping Their Promises at the Cost of Their Lives

[W]hen Śākyamuni Buddha who is a compassionate father, the Buddha of Many Treasures who is a compassionate mother, as well as Buddhas from all the worlds throughout the universe who assist the compassionate parental Buddhas to bear witness to the truth of the Lotus Sūtra came together in one place shining brightly as if the suns and moons were put together, the Buddha addressed the great crowd: “Who will uphold and recite and spread this Lotus Sūtra after My passing? State your vow now before Me.” The Buddha repeated this three times (“Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” chapter). Then numerous great bodhisattvas filling the worlds in eight directions numbering 400 tens of thousand millions nayuta all vowed, lowered their heads deeply, held hands in the form of gasshō, and said in unison: “We will do exactly as the World Honored One commanded us.” They swore this three times loudly without sparing their voices (“Transmission” chapter). How can they not bear the suffering of the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra?

Fan Yü-ch’i of ancient China gave his head to Ching K’o, and a man called Chi Cha presented his treasured sword upon the gravestone of the Lord of Hsü in order to fulfill their promises. They were foreigners in China, uncivilized as Ainus. Nevertheless, they kept their promises at the cost of their lives, how much more so the great bodhisattvas who from the first have been deeply compassionate and vowed to bear the suffering of other people! Even without the commandment of the Buddha, how can they abandon the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? Moreover, the Lotus Sūtra is the one that enabled them to attain Buddhahood, and receiving the solemn words of the Buddha, they made a vow respectfully before the Buddha. There is no question whatsoever that they will help the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra.

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 65-66