Monthly Archives: December 2021

d7b, d20b, d32b, WONS

‘Such Persons’

Putting aside secular matters, regarding those who go against the Buddhist dharma, it is preached in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2, “When such persons pass away, they will fall into the Avīci Hell.”

QUESTION: What kind of people are such persons?

ANSWER: The passage cited above from the “Parable” chapter is preceded by a statement saying, “Only I can save living beings. However, there are some who do not believe in what I teach them.” Then in the same chapter, following a clause, “If a person fails to have faith,” it is stated, “Such a person may frown to show displeasure” and “Upon seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sūtra, such a person will despise, hate, envy and harbor a grudge against them.” It is preached in the fifth fascicle (“Appearance of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter), “Those who are skeptical of the Lotus Sūtra and do not hold faith in it will inevitably fall into the evil realms.” It is also stated in the eighth fascicle (“Encouragement of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva” chapter), “There will be such persons who despise and abuse the faithful (practicers of the Lotus Sūtra) saying, ‘You are a lunatics. It is useless to carry out such a practice. It will gain you nothing!’ ” The “such persons” mentioned in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra refer to these people who slander the Lotus Sūtra.

Soya Jirō Nyūdō-dono Gohō, Response to Lay Priest Lord Soya Jiro, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 65

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 27, 2021

I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.

These verses are spoken by Śāriputra, regarded as the wisest of the Buddha’s disciples, at the beginning of Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. His words come not from conceit, but from joy. How does our view of the problems in the world change when we have the assurance that we will become Buddhas? How does our view of others change when we know that they too will become Buddhas? For one thing, we might spend less effort demanding respect and more giving respect.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered Mañjuśrī’s response to Maitreya’s question, we learn about Sun-Moon-Light Buddha.

“Good men! Innumerable, inconceivable, asamkya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light, the Tathagata, 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. He expounded the right teachings. His expounding of the right teachings was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The meanings of those teachings were profound. The words were skillful, pure, unpolluted, perfect, clean, and suitable for the explanation of brahma practices. To those who were seeking Śrāvakahood, he expounded the teaching of the four truths, a teaching suitable for them, saved them from birth, old age, disease, and death, and caused them to attain Nirvāṇa. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, a teaching suitable for them. To Bodhisattvas, he expounded the teaching of the six paramitas, a teaching suitable for them, and caused them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

“After his extinction there appeared a Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. After his extinction there appeared another Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. In the same manner, seventy thousand Buddhas appeared in succession, all of them being called Sun­Moon-Light with the surname Bharadvaja.

“Maitreya, know this! All those Buddhas were called Sun-Moon­-light with the ten epithets. Their expounding of the Dharma was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha was once a king. He had eight sons born to him before he renounced the world. The first son was called Having-Intention; the second, Good-Intention; the third, Infinite-­Intention; the fourth, Treasure-Intention; the fifth, Increasing-­Intention; the sixth, Doubts-Removing-Intention; the seventh, Resounding-Intention; and the eighth, Dharma-Intention. These eight princes had unhindered powers and virtues. Each of them was the ruler of the four continents [of a Sumeru-world]. Having heard that their father had renounced the world and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, they abdicated from their thrones, and followed their father. They renounced the world, aspired for the Great Vehicle, performed brahma practices, and became teachers of the Dharma. They had already planted the roots of good under ten million Buddhas in their previous existence.

See Buddha of All Worlds and the Sutra of All Time

Blog

Cleaning Before the New Year

Brasswork waiting to be polished
“Suppose an angel descends once in three years to caress it with her extremely beautiful and light robe.”

Speaking of a kalpa, suppose there is a huge blue agate, an 80,000 ri cube, which does not erode even if it were filed for aeons. Suppose an angel descends once in three years to caress it with her extremely beautiful and light robe. The length of time required for the angel to wear out the blue agate is referred to as a kalpa.

Matsuno-dono Goshōsoku, Letter to Lord Matsuno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 66

Today the wife and I helped out at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church for the annual year-end cleaning. Rev. Igarashi and his son clean the altar. Other church members mop the church floor. My job is always polishing the brasswork.

I was laughing with the wife today about how her enthusiastic polishing would greatly accelerate the definition of a kalpa. Imagine if every three years that angel buffed the 80,000 ri cube the way she was rubbing that brass vase. Then it occurred to me that this was an example of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings’ fifth unimaginable power for beneficial effect – “abbreviating one hundred kalpas into one day—thereby inspiring other living beings to become joyful and trusting.”

Rev. Igarashi dusts the statue of Nichiren. On the left is the shrine to Kishimojin and on the right the shrine for Daikoku.
history

The Object of Worship to View One’s Heart

On April 25, 1273, Nichiren wrote what he noted in his Covering Letter of the Kanjin Honzon-shō, Kanjin Honzon-shō Soejō, to be his most important work, The Object of Worship to View One’s Heart, or Kanjin Honzon-shō. The main writing’s full name is A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable One for the First Time in the Fifth 500-year Period after the Death of Śākyamuni Buddha, Nyorai metsugo Go-gohyaku-sai shi kanjin Honzon-shō. The title shows it as clearly illustrating the Odaimoku and Focus of Devotion of the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra, and a “Letter that opens and reveals the Dharma.” It first lays out the Odaimoku of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō as possessing the two laws of “the cause of practice and the effect of virtue” of Śākyamuni Buddha, the WorldHonored One, making it the correct Dharma for the Latter Age of the Dharma. Embracing and preserving faith and practice in the Odaimoku leads us to the salvation of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Master of the Teachings of Buddhism. Secondly, it illustrates that this world of Sahā [in which we live] is the Pure Land where the Original Buddha resides and shows the subject and features of the focus of devotion. Finally, it indicates clearly the correct teacher who propagates the Lotus Sūtra during the Latter Age of the Dharma as one of the bodhisattvas of the original teaching, honge no bosatsu, [specifically sent by the Tathāgata to lead all living beings to Buddhahood] who appear from underground in Chapter 15 of the Lotus Sūtra.

On July 8, based on the explanation provided in the Kanjin Honzon-sho, Nichiren Shōnin inscribed and revealed the first Mandala Gohonzon.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 155
WONS

Lucky Omen of Buddhism in Japan Returning to India

India is called the country of the moon, where the Buddha appears shining in the world as brightly as the moon. Japan is called the origin of the sun. How can it be that no sage as bright as the sun appears in Japan? The moon moves from west to east. It is the omen of Buddhism in India spreading to the east. The sun orbits from east to west. This is a lucky omen of Buddhism in Japan returning to India. Moonlight is not as bright as sunlight, therefore the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra for only eight years of His lifetime. Sunlight is brighter than moonlight. This is an auspicious omen of Japanese Buddhism shining through the long darkness of the fifth 500-year period. The Buddha did not save slanderers of the Lotus Sūtra because there existed no slanderers during His lifetime. In the Latter Age of Degeneration, there will be many formidable enemies of the One Vehicle Lotus teaching everywhere. This is the time when we can reap the harvest of Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s aggressive propagation sowing the seed of Buddhahood. Each of my disciples should exert himself to spread the teaching of the Buddha even at the cost of life.

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 279-280

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 26, 2021

Just as the Moon God is brighter than the stars, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma gives us more light than any of the other sūtras numbering thousands of billions. Just as the Sun God dispels all darkness, this sūtra drives away all the darkness of evils.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha uses comparisons from our common experience of the sun, moon and stars to illustrate how this teaching of the Wonderful Dharma is superior to all other teachings. This is not just hyperbole. This teaching illuminates not only the other teachings of the Buddha, but all teachings. It lets us see them for what they are, and use them to do the Buddha’s work of leading all beings to enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered Maitreya’s question in gāthās, we consider the teachings of the Buddhas seen by the light of the Buddha.

I also see the Buddhas,
The Saintly Masters, the Lion-like Ones,
Who are expounding
The most wonderful sūtra
With their pure and gentle voices,
And teaching
Many billions of Bodhisattvas.
The brahma voices of the Buddhas
Are deep and wonderful,
Causing people to wish to hear them.

I also see the Buddha of each of those worlds
Expounding his right teachings to all living beings
In order to cause them to attain enlightenment.

He explains his teachings
With stories of previous lives,
And with innumerable parables and similes.

To those who are confronted with sufferings,
And tired of old age, disease, and death,
The Buddha expounds the teaching of Nirvana,
And causes them to eliminate these sufferings.

To those who have merits,
Who have already made offerings to the past Buddhas,
And who are now seeking a more excellent teaching,
The Buddha expounds [the Way of] cause-knowers.

To the Buddha’s sons
Who are performing various practices,
And who are seeking unsurpassed wisdom,
The Buddha expounds the Pure Way.

See In the Buddha’s Light

history

Necessary Persecution

Within the disciples and believers who had been forced to endure pressure from the government, doubt and agitation began to arise, with such thoughts such as “Why must Our teacher, who propagates the Lotus Sūtra, undergo such persecution and why don’t the heavenly gods lend him protection?” In February, Nichiren Shōnin addressed this doubt when he wrote his treatise Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Kaimoku-shō:

This person called Nichiren was beheaded on the twelfth day of the ninth month of last year, between the hours of the rat and ox (11 p.m. to 3 a.m.). It is his soul that has come to this country of Sado and, in this snowy second month of the following year, is writing this to send to his close disciples. It is horrible [here], but there is nothing to be frightened about. Others reading it will be terrified. This [Lotus Sūtra] is the bright mirror that Śākyamuni, Tahō and all the Buddhas of the Ten Directions left for the future of Japan, and in which the present state of the country is reflected. It may also be regarded as a keepsake from me.

This passage clearly demonstrates that the Lotus Sūtra is the correct Dharma for the Latter Age of Degeneration and that Nichiren Shōnin is the practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra, the guiding master of the Latter Age. It is here that he indicates that the Lotus Sūtra is a writing which opens and reveals buddhahood within all humanity. First, it clearly indicates the doctrine of 3,000 Existences in a Single Thought, ichinen sanzen, the heart of the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra into which all living beings of the Latter Age should place their faith. The Lotus Sūtra is the Dharma which is hard to believe and difficult to understand.

It also explains that the persecutions which befall the person who propagates the Lotus Sūtra become proof that the words of the Buddha are true and that he is a practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren Shōnin also declared he is the leader of the Dharma during the Latter Age when he stated, “I will become the pillar of Japan, I will become the eyes of Japan, and I will become the great vessel of Japan” and expressed his three great vows.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 154-155
Blog

Counting to 70

I’ve decided to mark an interesting conjunction of numbers today. First, today marks the start of my 70th cycle through the Threefold Lotus Sutra. Well, actually yesterday was the start but today my “Day 1” post will be 500yojanas.org/day-1-70. That counter at the end of the URL is automatically added each time I post my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra.

That’s interesting by itself, but this December also happens to be the month I turned 70. It’s that conjunction I’m marking.

I can remember a day back in the 1980s when I decided to figure how old I’d be in 2000. The answer turned out to be 48 until December, when I would turn 49. That sure seemed old at the time. But now that I’m 70, I’m not sure what old should feel like. My health is good. (Picturing me knocking on my wooden head). I certainly don’t have the same ability to lift heavy objects that I once had and I’d rather pay someone to dig up my yard and install sprinklers, but old?

The 70 times through the Lotus Sutra is more interesting. I was inspired to start the practice by Ryusho Jeffus. Ryusho writes in his Physician’s Good Medicine: “Perhaps our challenge today is to hear the stories again from a more modern perspective. This is an invitation to make the sutra your own, to possess it in your life and use it to tell your own story.” When I mentioned to him my intention to make reading the sutra a part of my daily practice, he encouraged me to note what stood out each day.

I started my morning practice of reciting the sutra in shindoku on March 6, 2015. It wasn’t until July that I received my copy of Senchu Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra and started reading in English in the evening what I had recited in shindoku in the morning. For the first couple of times I tried taking notes but that was too distracting. On Sept. 14, 2015, I introduced my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice in a blog post.

When I think of having read the Lotus Sutra 70 times, I always remind myself of the time I told Rev. Igarashi at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church of my new practice. He was quite impressed. He mentioned that he performs his personal practice three times a day. At each time he recites one entire fascicle. Three fascicles a day means he completes the entire eight fascicles every two and two-thirds days. I remember him mentioning that Chapter 3 was way too long. Breaking it up across three days makes it much more manageable. Dividing the entire Threefold Lotus Sutra into 34 days makes reading a breeze.

Having read the sutra 70 times in this manner is really unremarkable just as living 70 years isn’t much of an accomplishment by itself. But I believe my practice has been immensely beneficial to me and, by extension, my family.