Monthly Archives: April 2021

Easy

Ekō

Offering of Merits

I now show my appreciation to the Three Treasures of the Lotus Sutra: the Buddha, Dharma and Saṃgha, for my being able just now to chant the Odaimoku and recite the Lotus Sutra, and offer the merits of the chanting of the Odaimoku and the reciting of the Lotus Sutra to all those who have granted me favors with gratitude and to those who have passed away.

I have the honor of chanting the Odaimoku and reciting the Lotus Sutra in front of the Maṇḍala Gohonzon which shows its perfect harmony and is unprecedented in history.

I call on “Kuonjitsujō-no-Shakamunibutsu,” the Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni, or the Original Buddha who continues his eternal relief mission. I call on “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō,” the fundamental law of cause and effect which works beneath all existences, including human beings. I call on the “Honge-jōgyō (Superior-practice Bodhisattva) Nichiren Daibosatsu,” the Buddha’s messenger, assigned especially to the period of Mappō, the Latter Age of the Dharma, who revealed the existence of the Original Buddha and the true law of Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō. I pray from the bottom of my heart and offer my profound appreciation to these fundamental Three Treasures, all expounded in the Lotus Sutra.

Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō

Specifically, I pray that the merits of our faith will reach the spirits of our ancestors. At the same time, I pray that all spirits, related and unrelated, will attain Buddhahood.

The concluding parts of the Juryō-hon (Chapter XVI: the Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata) and the Jinriki-hon (Chapter XXI: the Supernatural Powers of the Tathagatas) of the Lotus Sutra, which we have just recited, read as follows: “I have only one wish. That is to know how I can quickly lead you to the right way of faith so that you can attain Buddhahood. For that purpose, chant Odaimoku and lead your life following the teachings of the Odaimoku, even if you cannot see me. If you do so, you will certainly walk along the Way of the Buddha and attain enlightenment in this world.”

Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra

WONS

Dependent and Principal Rewards

Wherever there are dependent rewards such as plants, trees and land, there exist living beings known as principal rewards. Therefore, Grand Master Miao-lê comments in the tenth fascicle of the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Both principal and dependent rewards always preach the Lotus Sūtra.” He also comments in his Diamond Scalpel, “The ultimate reality is the truth throughout all things (of the Universe), and all things consist of ten reality aspects such as appearance, nature, entity, etc. The ten reality aspects are equipped in each of the ten realms, consisting of principal and dependent rewards.” Furthermore, he comments, “Dependent and principal rewards of Avīci Hell all exist in the mind of the Buddha, and both dependent and principal rewards of the Buddha exist in one thought of an ordinary person.” Seeing these annotations, there is no doubt about three thousand conditions existing in one thought. Therefore, the appearance of the Universe is not different from the five letters of myō hō renge and kyō. As for Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures, when functions of the five letters save people, they appear as two Buddhas nodding at each other as they did when “The Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” chapter was expounded.

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 75

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 6, 2021

Expound it
To those who make efforts,
Who have compassion towards others,
And who do not spare their lives!

The Buddha sings these verses to all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. These are instructions for us to know who will benefit from the Wonderful Dharma. It is difficult for those who are absorbed in their own suffering to realize the benefit of helping others. It is difficult for those who are distracted by their preoccupations, or who do not believe they can become enlightened, to maintain their efforts to lead all beings to enlightenment. These insights also help us keep our minds open to the Buddha’s teachings.

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

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Day 9 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the rain of the Dharma, we learn how the Buddha is like the great cloud covering the entire world.

“Kāśyapa, know this! I, the Tathāgata, am like the cloud. I appeared in this world just as the large cloud rose. I expounded the Dharma to gods, men and asuras of the world with a loud voice just as the large cloud covered all the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds. I said to the great multitude, ‘I am the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. I will cause all living beings to cross [the ocean of birth and death] if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to emancipate themselves [from suffering] if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to have peace of mind if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to attain Nirvana if they have not yet done so. I know their present lives as they are, and also their future lives as they will be. I know all. I see all. I know the Way. I have opened the Way. I will expound the Way. Gods, men and asuras! Come and hear the Dharma!’

“Thereupon many thousands of billions of people came to hear the Dharma from me. Having seen them, I knew which were clever, which were dull, which were diligent, and which were lazy. Therefore, I expounded to them an innumerable variety of teachings according to their capacities in order to cause them to rejoice and receive benefits with pleasure. Having heard these teachings, they became peaceful in their present lives. In their future lives, they will have rebirths in good places, enjoy pleasures by practicing the Way, and hear these teachings again. After hearing these teachings again, they will emancipate themselves from all hindrances, practice the teachings according to their capacities, and finally enter the Way, just as the grasses and trees in the thickets and forests, which were watered by the rain from the same large cloud, grew differently according to their species.

The Daily Dharma from July 13, 2020, offers this:

I know the Way. I have opened the Way. I will expound the Way. Gods, men and asuras! Come and hear the Dharma!

The Buddha makes this declaration at the beginning of Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. If anyone besides the Buddha had said this, we would accuse them of arrogance: pretending to know what they do not. The Buddha does not separate himself from us. Because he knows we can become as enlightened as he is, he does not place himself as superior. He also knows that unless we hear him, he cannot help us to become enlightened. To accept this help means taking responsibility for our progress on the path. We cannot continue alone but we must make our own effort.

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

Easy

Hosshin

Resolve

To leave us with no choice but to restore faith day by day, Nichiren Shōnin expounds his teachings as follows:

“Reflecting deeply on my past, I, Nichiren, studied Buddhism from childhood and began to ponder and wish as follows: People’s life spans are never, for a single moment, static and continue to change. If you look closely at the state of one’s dying moment, you will find that the breath once exhaled is never inhaled again. That is exactly like when dew on top of a leaf falls off to the ground. Our life ends regardless of wisdom or foolishness, old age or youth. Therefore, since we have such a transitory life, we must learn about it deeply, keeping in mind day after day that the end of life is just before us, and that our life is limited.

“Thinking about it in this way, you must come to realize that the most important thing upon death is the noble heart as a fundamental part of human beings. There is no other way to realize the existence of that noble heart and cultivate it than to follow the proper faith. Since the proper faith is precisely the faith in the Odaimoku, you should devote yourself to it without delay.

“Since the proper mental activity arises with the proper faith, true peace is achieved only when people who are engaged in such a mental activity collectively form a nation. At that time, those who live there will live at peace both in mind and body.”

Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 5, 2021

World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this declaration to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren interprets “the later five hundred years” as the time in which we live today. Universal sage describes the ways in which we can practice this Sūtra. To seek it is to find it in all aspects of our lives. To keep it is to rely on its teachings and have confidence in its ability to lead us to the Buddha’s wisdom. To read and recite it is to continue to remind ourselves and others of the details of the teachings. To copy it is to make it available to others. The merits we gain through these practices allow us to see the world for what it is and be part of making it better for everyone.

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

Blog

A Zooming Hanamatsuri

2021-04-04-las-vegas-hanamatsuri
Rev. Shoda Kanai put on a wonderful one-man show of celebrating the birth of Śākyamuni

Truly enjoyed today’s Hanamatsuri service over Zoom from the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada. In addition to the standard fare of sutra recitation and chanting daimoku, Rev. Shoda Kanai offered lotus petals (center), clanging cymbals (right) and bathed the baby Śākyamuni in sweet tea.

I’m looking forward to next week’s Hanamatsuri service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

Zoom is nice but IRL is best. 😎

LS32

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.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the Śrāvakas’ unwillingness to gain the treasure-store of the teachings of the Buddhas, we consider why the Śrāvakas did not care for the wisdom of the Buddha.

You told us
To purify the world of the Buddha
And teach all living beings.
We heard this, but did not wish to do so
Because we had already attained the truth:
“All things are void and tranquil.
Nothing appears or disappears.
Nothing is larger or smaller.
Nothing has āsravas.
Nothing is subject to cause and effect.”
Having thought this, we did not wish
To do [the Bodhisattva practices].

In the long night
We did not care
For the wisdom of the Buddha.
We did not wish to have it.
We thought:
“The Dharma we attained is perfect.”

Having studied the truth of the Void in the long night,
We emancipated ourselves
From the sufferings of the triple world,
Attained the Nirvāṇa-with-remainder,
And reached the final stage
Of our physical existence.

You said [to us]:
“When you attain enlightenment infallibly,
You will have already repaid
The favors I gave you.”

Although we expounded to the sons of the Buddha
The teachings for Bodhisattvas in order to cause them
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha,
We did not wish to attain
The same enlightenment for ourselves.
You, our Leader, left us alone because you knew this.
You did not persuade us
To seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.
You did not say
That we should be able to have real benefits.

The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.

In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us the great wisdom.

See The Importance of Telling Others of Our Own Religious Experiences

b4today, LS32, d8b

The Importance of Telling Others of Our Own Religious Experiences

[Another] lesson that we learn from chapter 4 is that an excellent way to progress from faith to discernment is revealed here. The four śrāvakas listened to the Parable of the Burning House and understood it. They not only thought that they had understood it but demonstrated their understanding to the Buddha in another parable. Not only to receive the teaching passively but also to announce actively what we have been able to realize is a very good way both to deepen our discernment and to elevate our faith. Moreover, it also helps to deepen others’ discernment and elevate their faith. We must not overlook the importance of telling others of our own religious experiences, as demonstrated in this chapter.

Buddhism for Today, p71
Easy

Sange

Repentence

For deep reflection on everyday life: The causes of all troubles and sufferings in life all come from your misunderstanding. If you wish to notice your errors, you should correct your mind and see the truth in all matters. You must have proper belief to do so. If you deeply reflect upon your errors, even if they are errors which come from misunderstanding, and if you see the true appearance in things, it will be like when fog and dew disappear in the sunlight. You will eventually realize your error and certainly be forgiven.

Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra