Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p232-233Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust.
Spiritual penetration is deposited in the six feelings; thus, “through a window he [they] saw.” The body is not the outcome of meritorious virtues: it is “weak and emaciated.” The bonds and the instigators of depravities (kleśa or anuśaya) [caused them to] receive it [i.e., the body]: it is “unclean with dirt and dust.”
The father took off his necklace, his garment of thin and soft cloth, and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing, smeared himself with dust,
[The Buddha] hid the Dharma-body [in himself] in a mysterious way: he “removed (his) ornaments.” This shows that a bodhisattva becoming a Buddha is not merely interested in external pomp: he “puts on a dirty, tar-stained garment.” Also he was reborn from the bonds and passion instigators: he was “smearing dust over his body.
carried a dirt-utensil in his right hand. He looked fearful.
He had not practiced [the path] free from depravities (anāsrava); this is what took a dung shovel means. It is convenient and easy; hence, “the right hand.” It looked as if he had warded off depravities: he was “frightful in appearance.”
He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’
When [the Buddha] turned the Dharma wheel (cakra) at the Deer Park, he preached to that effect.
With this expedient the father came to his son.
The li of the Buddha was cut off from men, [so that] [the Buddha], by condescending to demonstrate, “contrived” to establish contact [with men].
He said to him, ‘Man! Stay here and work! Do not go anywhere else! I will pay you more.
By entering into the path free from depravities, he was destined not to return to birth and death: he “worked here always, and did not go anywhere else.” The pleasure he achieved surpassed that of the seven expedient positions [of the Lesser Vehicle] hence, “increase your wages.”
Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar as much as you need! You can have an old servant if you want to.
Nowhere are the meritorious virtues free from depravities lacking or few: they are [like] “salt, vinegar, or that sort of thing.” The spiritual penetration of the two vehicles originally is limited and weak: they are “other servants, aged and decrepit.”
When you work, you do not deceive [the other workers]. You are not lazy.
He felt at home in the Dharma of the Lesser Vehicle, which is meant in the statement, “I have never seen you guilty of these evils, as are the other workmen.” The other workmen refer to the seven expedient positions [of the Lesser Vehicle]. It follows that the seven expedient positions are with “these evils.”
The rich man gave him a name and called him son.
Those who have obtained [the path] free from depravities have been “called” as if they were the Buddha’s sons, but have not yet been spoken of as his real sons.
Monthly Archives: April 2025
Vajra Sutra: What Are Good Roots?
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p61You can plant good roots or bad roots. If you do not believe in and make offerings to the Triple Jewel, your bad roots increase. When you withdraw from the Triple Jewel, your good roots decrease. When you are near the Triple Jewel your good roots increase. Take heed. Do not do bad deeds. Offer up only good conduct.
The inhabitants of Uttarakuru cannot see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, or see the Sangha, and so their good roots die. In order to plant good roots one should first take refuge with the Triple Jewel. To plant further good roots one can receive the five precepts, the eight precepts, or the ten major and forty-eight minor precepts of a Bodhisattva available for laymen; or the 250 bhikṣu or 348 bhikṣunī precepts available for those who wish to leave the home life.
The good roots one plants by accepting and holding the five precepts and cultivating the ten good acts cannot be seen, smelled, tasted, or touched because they are without a mark. “All with marks is empty and false,” but people do not realize that, and only know how to nurture their bodies, not their good roots.
“What are good roots?”
Good roots are another name for your dharma body and your wisdom. Good roots are the firm foundation which comes from cultivation. A good foundation causes your dharma body to manifest, your wisdom to increase, and your originally existent real mark prajña to function.
It Is essential, however, that you plant good roots before the Triple Jewel in order to reap the fruit of Bodhi. If you plant good roots with non-Buddhist religions, you will not be able to reap any ultimate benefit, no matter how many good roots you plant or how long you nurture them.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 30, 2025
“Medicine-King! How should the good men or women who live after my extinction expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to the four kinds of devotees when they wish to? They should enter the room of the Tathāgata, wear the robe of the Tathāgata, sit on the seat of the Tathāgata, and then expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to the four kinds of devotees. To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion towards all living beings. To wear the robe of the Tathāgata means to be gentle and patient. To sit on the seat of the Tathāgata means to see the voidness of all things. They should do these [three] things and then without indolence expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees.”
Tao-sheng: The Dharma of Men’s Practices
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p232Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless,
Two men symbolizes the Dharma of the two vehicles. [The Buddha] made up his mind to bestow [it upon] them: thus he “dispatched.” But he hid the real, thus the word secretly. li did not illuminate itself completely: its “appearance was miserable.” Also their inner understanding was not manifest: they had “no dignity of bearing.” Such men were not “the [Dharma-]king’s messengers.”
‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay.
To follow his sentiment, but not his original [plan], is what is implied by say gently. He was made to work and practice and was provided with pleasure: they were in a “work place.” What he was given surpasses [what he could enjoy] in the world: he was “given double wages.”
If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’
Dharma consists of men’s practice: it is [what they] “shall work with.”
The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them.
He received what the messengers promised: he “first took his pay.” He did not have any doubts: he “swept the dung with them.”
Vajra Sutra: Four 500 Year Periods
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p60The words Subhūti said to the Buddha were added by the Venerable Ananda when the sutras were compiled.
Subhūti said, “Is it possible that living beings will hear this sutra which the Buddha has spoken and will actually believe it?” What he was really asking Śākyamuni Buddha was, “Is it the case that they will not believe it?”
The Buddha immediately admonished Subhūti for even suggesting such a possibility, and said that even in the last five hundred years beings would believe the sutra.
- The first period of five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Liberation.” It constitutes the time when the Buddha is in the world, and many people certify to the Way and attain liberation.
- The second five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Dhyana Samadhi.” That period follows the Buddha’s extinction and is a time when many people gain certification through the cultivation of dhyana samadhi.
- The third five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Learning.” During that time many people investigate sutras.
- The fourth five hundred years is “The Period Strong in Fighting.” That is the period referred to in the text, the present Dharma Ending Age.
Śākyamuni Buddha said, “There will be people in the last five hundred years who believe and maintain the precepts and who cultivate blessings. They will believe the Vajra Sutra and accept its principles as true, actual, and not false. Such people will have planted good roots for limitless kalpas by making offerings to, showing respect for, and believing in the Triple Jewel Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 29, 2025
Thereupon the World-Honored One looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis. They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together [towards him] with all their hearts, and thought, “If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound Myōhō Renge Kyō, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.”
They also thought, “The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?”
In order to follow the wish of the Buddha respectfully, and also to fulfill their original vow, they vowed to the Buddha with a loud voice like the roar of a lion:
“World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will go to any place [not only of this Sahā-World but also] of the worlds of the ten quarters, as often as required, and cause all living beings to copy, keep, read and recite Myōhō Renge Kyō, to expound the meanings of it, to act according to the Dharma, and to memorize this sūtra correctly. We shall be able to do all this only by your powers. World-Honored One! Protect us from afar even when you are in another world!”
Tao-sheng: The Buddha’s Skillful Delay of the Transformative Teaching
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p231“The messenger pulled him by force.
The Greater Vehicle “grasped” him, making his feelings meritorious; li could not be discarded; it [used] “force” [to hold him].
The poor son thought, ‘I am caught though I am not guilty. I shall be killed.’ More and more frightened, the poor son fainted and fell to the ground.
He felt extremely unhappy. He had faults but was innocent, and he came to grasp the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. His mind was very much disturbed; he was “helpless with agony, and fell to earth.”
Seeing all this in the distance, the father said to the messenger, ‘I do not want him any more. Do not bring him forcibly! Pour cold water on his face and bring him to himself! Do not talk with him any more!’
[Now, the Buddha provisionally] suspended and did not entertain the idea of [presenting] the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. These are words [with] provisionary [value] (or metaphorical words) that he said merely to the messenger.
[The messenger poured water on the son. The son was brought to himself.] The messenger said to him, ‘Now you are released. You can go anywhere you like.’
If [the Buddha] praises the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle], the son would be “helpless with agony, falling [to earth].” So he simply suspended the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. The son was then “brought to.” [The phrase] sprinkling him [with cool] water expresses this. The statement that “the messenger said to the son, ‘I am now letting you go”‘ also is a provisionary (or metaphorical) statement.
Vajra Sutra: Four Kinds of Nirvana
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p51-52
- Nirvana of the pure, clear self-nature. The self-nature is inherent in everyone. It is not subject to birth and death and is not larger in sages or smaller in ordinary people.
- Nirvana with residue. By using the flame of wisdom on the fuel of afflictions, the secondary bonds of delusion are severed; but the basic bond of the body remains. The body which remains is subject to share-section birth and death; that is said to be nirvana “with residue.”
- Nirvana without residue. When afflictions and the residue of share-section birth and death are extinguished, the multitude of sufferings is eternally stilled. There is no further residue.
- Nirvana of no dwelling. Here wisdom and compassion are mutually interactive. Those who have attained the nirvana of no dwelling continue to cross living beings over but are themselves not subject to birth and death.
The nirvana without residue mentioned in the text includes the latter two of the four kinds of nirvana.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 28, 2025
Since I attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
I have expounded many sūtras
In innumerable worlds.This sūtra is
The most excellent.
To keep Myōhō Renge Kyō
Is to keep me.
Tao-sheng: The Reactions of the Rich Man and Poor Son
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p230-231The rich man, who was sitting on the lion-like seat, recognized him at first sight as his son. He was delighted. He thought, ‘Now I have found the person to whom I can transfer my treasures and storehouses. I have been thinking of my son all this time, but I have had no way to find him. Now he has come by himself all of a sudden.
Past conditions became reactivated in a subtle way: it is like [the father] “seeing his son.” Although he (the son) again felt like turning away, he was bound to realize afterwards the Greater [Vehicle]. For this reason, [the father was] “greatly pleased.” The profoundly subtle triggering-mechanism arrived in a subtle way, although he did not realize this; thus, “quite suddenly, he came of his own accord.”
“He immediately dispatched a man standing beside him to quickly bring back the poor son.
The sixteen feet tall was not “that by which the Buddha was” he was, as it were, “an attendant.” The “attendant” wanted to set forth the teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]: he thus “dispatched” a messenger. “Going” to the Greater [Vehicle] was the first thing to do: it was [something) “to follow.”
The messenger ran up to the poor son and caught him.
The wondrous Dharma of the Greater Vehicle is li, which grasps them firmly. li does not allow any lapse; it is something that requires “running.”
The poor son was frightened. He cried, ‘You Devil! I have done nothing wrong. Why do you catch me?’
[The Buddha’s] appearance was not what the son originally had anticipated: he was “alarmed.” It greatly offended his feelings, and he “cried out resentfully,” [because] it was like “committing no offense” and yet ending up seized.