Monthly Archives: September 2021

WONS

Differences in the Merit of the Donation

With gratitude, I have received the six kammon of coins (one kammon of which is the offering donated by Lord Jirō) and a heavily wadded white silk garment (kosode). You have been donating various goods to the Three Treasures throughout the four seasons. Each of your donations has merit.

There are some differences in the merit or depth of the donation, however, according to the occasion. For instance, there is more merit in giving food instead of clothing to hungry people. On the other hand, it is more meritorious to give clothing to people suffering from the freezing cold. It is more meritorious to give a wadded silk garment in the colder seasons of fall and winter instead of in the warm seasons of spring and summer. You may be able to infer everything from these examples.

However, in your case you have been donating various goods such as coins, rice, unlined (summer) clothes, and wadded silk garment daily and monthly regardless of the season and time. You arc like King Bimbisāra, who daily sent 500 cartful of food to Lord Śākyamuni Buddha or Emperor Aśoka, who donated a billion of gold dust to the Kukkuṭārāma Temple. Though incomparable in the size of the donation, you are superior in merit to them.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 100-101

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 13, 2021

Tears keep falling when I think of the current unbearable hardships, but I cannot stop tears of joy when I think of obtaining Buddhahood in the future. Birds and insects chirp without shedding tears. I, Nichiren, do not cry, but tears keep falling. These tears are shed not for worldly matters, but solely for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore they should be called tears of nectar.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). For the sake of the Lotus Sūtra, Nichiren endured two harsh exiles, his house being burnt down, ambushes by soldiers with swords, being placed on the execution mat himself, and the persecution of his followers. Despite all these obstacles, he held true to the Buddha’s teaching in the face of all opposition. Most of us who practice the Lotus Sūtra today have lives of relative comfort. It is wonderful that we have Nichiren’s example. He was a human being just like us, and we too are capable of his faith and determination.

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

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: The Method Employed by All Buddhas

Having last month considered the value of keeping faith with the comprehensive sutras and reflecting on the Great Vehicle’s principle, we consider how reflection on the true principle of the Great Vehicle has allowed all Buddhas to become rid of impurities.

The Buddha addressed Ānanda:

“By means and because of reflection on the true principle of the Great Vehicle, I have become rid of impurities from a cycle of countless numbers of births and deaths spanning hundreds of millions of myriads of kalpas, as have the bodhisattvas of the current era and the buddhas of the ten directions. And each of those now in the ten directions has been able to become an Awakened One by means and because of this wonderful and surpassing method of self-amendment. Anyone who aspires to quickly achieve the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment and aspires to perceive, in present time, the buddhas of the ten directions and Universal Sage Bodhisattva as well, must purify him- or herself with a bath, don pure clean clothing, burn fine incense, and seek out a quiet secluded location; there, he or she must internalize and recite the Great Vehicle sutras and reflect on the Great Vehicle’s principle.”

See Washing Away Muddy Illusions Covering Our Invaluable Gem

Higan, perfections

Generosity: Worldly Giving

The first of [the] two kinds of generosity is “worldly giving.” Worldly giving encompasses a wide range of generous acts, from a grudging, stingy gift given for essentially selfish motives all the way to magnanimous gifts of enormous generosity. In fact, one may give everything away, including one’s life, and still be within the domain of worldly giving. So what constitutes its worldliness? The answer is: the conception that structures the act itself. Worldly generosity occurs when, having given, the bodhisattva thinks: “I give, that one receives, this is the gift.” Even if the bodhisattva also goes so far as to think: “I renounce all that I have without any niggardliness; I act as the Buddha commands. I practice the perfection of giving. I, having made this gift into the common property of all beings, dedicate it to supreme enlightenment, and that without basing myself on anything. By means of this gift and its fruit, may all beings in this very life be at their ease, and may they without any further clinging enter final Nirvana.”

Even that is still worldly giving, due to the character of the understanding out of which it arises. According to the Large Sutra, the problem with this way of being generous is: “The notion of self, the notion of others, the notion of a gift. To give a gift tied by these three ties, that is called worldly giving.” By contrast, the sutra describes the perfection of an act of generosity by way of a “threefold purity”: “Here a Bodhisattva gives a gift, and he does not apprehend a self, a recipient, or a gift; also no reward of his giving. He surrenders that gift to all beings, but does not apprehend those beings, or himself either. And, although he dedicates that gift to supreme enlightenment, he does not apprehend any enlightenment. This is called the supermundane perfection of giving.”

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 22
WONS

Hanging on to the Pine Tree of the Lotus Sūtra

Contemplating the attainment of Buddhahood by Venerable Maudgalyāyana and his mother, you have a grandson, Lord Jibu, who is a Buddhist priest. This priest is neither an upholder of precepts nor especially rich in wisdom. He neither observes even one of the 250 precepts nor maintains even one of the 3,000 solemn rules of conduct. In wisdom he is like a horse or cow while in dignity he is like a monkey. Nevertheless, what he reveres is Śākyamuni Buddha and what he believes in is the Lotus Sūtra. This is like a snake holding a gem or a dragon gratefully holding the relics of the Buddha in Dharma Body.

A wisteria vine can climb up a deep valley by hanging on to a pine tree, and a crane can fly the distance of 10,000 li by relying on its wings. These are accomplished not by their own strength. The same is true with Jibu-bō. He himself is like a wisteria vine, but he will be able to climb up the highest rank of enlightenment by hanging on to the pine tree of the Lotus Sūtra. He will be able to fly through the sky of tranquil light by flapping the wings of the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. He is a Buddhist priest who can make use of this pair of wings to pray for the repose of his parents, grandfathers, grandmothers and all the descendants through seven generations. You are the lady who possesses such a precious treasure, are you not?

Urabon Gosho, On theUllambana Service, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 175-176

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 12, 2021

Anyone who reads this sūtra
Will be free from grief,
Sorrow, disease or pain.
His complexion will be fair.
He will not be poor,
Humble or ugly.
All living beings
Will wish to see him
Just as they wish to see sages and saints.
Celestial pages will serve him.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra. When we cultivate the mind of the Buddha, and bring his teachings to life, we help other beings find true happiness. This is different from our normal pattern of attempting to manipulate what others think about us through bribery, threats, and other forms of coercion. When we help others find their minds, they realize that they share our true mind of joy and peace.

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

LS32

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered how the good men or women who live after the Buddha’s extinction will be able to obtain this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, we consider the promise of protection by Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.

Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! If anyone keeps this sūtra in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], I will protect him so that he may be free from any trouble, that he may be peaceful, and that no one may take advantage [of his weak points]. Mara, his sons, his daughters, his subjects, his attendants, yakṣas, rākṣasas, kumbhāṇḍas, piśācakas, kṛtyas, pūtanas, vetādas or other living beings who trouble men shall not take advantage [of his weak points]. If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sūtra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to rum, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If he sits and thinks over this sūtra, I also will mount a kingly white elephant and appear before him. If he forgets a phrase or a gāthā of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will remind him of it, and read and recite it with him so that he may be able to understand it. Anyone who keeps, reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [after your extinction], will be able to see me with such joy that he will make more efforts. Because he sees me, he will be able to obtain samadhis and a set of dhārāṇis. The set of dhārāṇis will be the dhārāṇis by which he can memorize repetitions of teachings, the dhārāṇis by which he can memorize hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings, and the dhārāṇis by which he can understand the expediency of the voice of the Dharma.

See Doing the Work of the Buddha with the Strength of an Elephant

Higan, perfections

Wisdom: Skill in Means

The ability to question, to see the effect of our language on our minds, is considered part of what Mahayana Buddhists called “skill-in-means” (upāya). Skill in handling the means through which awakening might occur is essential to the practice of the bodhisattva. This skill is closely linked to the perfection of wisdom. One sutra says: “But the skill in means of the bodhisattvas should be known as having come forth from the perfection of wisdom.” Another says: “The bodhisattva should train himself in the skill in means contained in this perfection of wisdom.” Skill comes forth from wisdom and skill is contained in wisdom; developing one is simultaneously cultivating the other. One cannot be skillful without a profound realization of the “emptiness” of all things, and one cannot realize the “emptiness” of all things without the development of “skill-in-means.” The link between them is so tight that the Vimalakirti Sūtra says: “Wisdom not integrated with skillful means is bondage, but wisdom integrated with skillful means is liberation. Skillful means not integrated with wisdom is bondage, but skillful means integrated with wisdom is liberation.”

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 226
WONS

The Lotus Sūtra Is Like an Ocean

QUESTION: Is there any difference between those who chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” (I put my faith in the Lotus Sūtra) and those who chant “Namu Daihōkōbutsu Kegongyō” (I put my faith in the Flower Garland Sūtra) without knowing the spirit of those sūtras? Is there any difference in merit between them?

ANSWER: There is a difference. A small river can take in water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks, but not from large rivers. A large river can take in water from dew and smaller rivers but not from an ocean. The Āgama sūtras are like a small river which can receive water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks. The Hōdō sūtras, the Amitābha Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and the Flower Garland Sūtra are like a large river, which can take in water from smaller rivers. The Lotus Sūtra is like an ocean, which can receive all kinds of water such as dew, drops of water, wells, creeks, small rivers, large rivers, and rain.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 50.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 11, 2021

To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter is where the Buddha reveals for the first time his ever-present nature. He became enlightened in the remotest past, and will continue teaching all beings far into the future. There is a view that to see a Buddha in our time requires a supernatural way of seeing, even a personal vision or a revelation not available to ordinary people. What the Buddha teaches here is that he is always visible to anyone, anywhere. It is when we look for him to teach us and are compassionate and disciplined in our desires that he appears to us.

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