Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p275-276Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha.
The purpose of manifesting the stūpa is to verify that the li underlying the Dharma Blossom is certainly clear and proper, first, through the evidence of the stūpa and, second, through the evidence of the voice that issues forth therefrom. Through the two events, beings come to bear faith to a full and deep extent. By extension it also shows that the ultimate fruit is subtly manifested, as it is ever existent.
Man’s emotions [tend to make him] dark about li. [The Buddha] cannot help but cause him to nurture faith by resorting to supernatural wonders. In an attempt to manifest and prove [his preaching] through this method, [the Buddha] shows the jeweled stūpa. Through this event he reveals his meaning, making it manifest and visible. It already was said that the three vehicles are the One. All living beings are [potentially] Buddhas and also are all in nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa and Buddhas are set apart by as little as [the difference] between beginning and end. Also why should there be any difference [between beings and Buddhas]? Only because of the instigators of depravities is [Buddha-nature] concealed, like a stūpa lying hidden, sometimes underground, covered by earth. The endowment of great enlightenment cannot be left covered up. It is bound to be drawn out in due course, like the stūpa issuing forth. It cannot be stopped from coming out. It originally was existent in empty li, like the stūpa resting in midair. The sound of the voice issuing [from inside the stūpa], praising with the words, “How excellent! How excellent!” expresses a final affirmation. The words set about with sundry precious objects implicitly show that the ultimate fruit encompasses all kinds of good. Thus, its li becomes manifest by way of the event [conjured up by the Buddha]. Though it is difficult and unbelievable, it can be obtained.
Monthly Archives: June 2025
The Acts of a Beneficent Dharma-Protecting Spirit
Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p441-442The Buddhist monk Lingkan. Details of his background are unknown. [His master] recognized him to be someone who was very bright and compassionate by nature and had him take up regular recitation of the Lotus Sūtra. However, upon first completing his memorization of the scripture, Lingkan unexpectedly came down with (gan) a severe illness. He informed his master of it, saying, “I have heard that if one [ritually] receives and keeps the Lotus one will realize purification of the six sense faculties. How is it that my recitation produces (gan) illness instead?”
His master replied, “When you recite the sutra how do you go about it?”
Kan said, “Sometimes I do not wash my hands, or bother to clothe myself [with the proper robes]. I may rest the [the sūtra] at my feet, or place it at the head of my bed, as the moment moves me.”
His teacher said, “In that case it is a beneficent dharma-protecting spirit that has come to inflict punishment on you. If you don’t show proper care for the scripture your efforts will bring forth (gan) no merits. It is fitting that you repent.”
Kan thereupon fashioned a plain wooden case, where he kept the sutra and to which he [regularly] paid obeisance by touching it with the crown of his head. In the [Buddha] hall he ritually circumambulated [the sūtra]. Except for eating and relieving himself, he threw himself entirely into this painful penance, chastening himself with such intensity that his head split open and blood flowed.
For three years running he kept up this practice, until one day, just as the light of dawn was beginning to break at the fifth watch, there came a loud pounding at the door of the Buddha hall, and someone called out for it to be opened. At first Kan was reluctant, thinking, “Certainly this must be a criminal. Why else would he want a door to be opened when it is already locked tight?” But the person continued to call without letting up, so Kan finally gave in.
When he opened the door he saw an old man. His beard and temples were hoary white, and in his hands he clutched a wooden staff. When Kan showed his face the man struck him repeatedly, saying, “Will you dare ever again to make light of the Lotus Sūtra?” The instant he hit him, the ulcers that covered Kan’s body were healed and his four vital elements returned to their normal balance.
When the daylight finally broke Kan inspected the front of the Buddha hall, where he discovered the footprints of an elephant [in the dirt]. Thereupon he realized for the first time that the old man was the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who had descended to eliminate his sins. From then on he completely reformed his ways and devoted himself unremittingly to the practice of recitation [of the Lotus]. We do not know where or when he died.
His old master, Ju, also took the Lotus as his main practice. Whenever he recited the scripture he felt as though an ambrosial flavor, unlike anything in the known world, would spread through his mouth. As a result, when he began reciting he never wanted to stop.
The Nature of Suffering
This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.
Hsuan Hua, Medicine Master Sutra commentary, p174-179Life is filled with suffering. There are the Three Sufferings, the Eight Sufferings, and the limitless sufferings. Mentally and physically oppressed by all these sufferings, living beings never find any peace, happiness, or comfort. These oppressive sufferings dominate their lives.
The Three Sufferings:
- The suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions.
- The suffering due to the loss of pleasurable conditions.
- The suffering due to inexorable change.
The “suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions” means that in the midst of suffering, there is still more suffering. One has neither food, clothes, nor shelter. That’s suffering piled on top of suffering, suffering that never comes to an end.
If one does not undergo the “suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions” that comes with poverty, one may undergo the “suffering due to the loss of pleasurable conditions” experienced by rich people when they lose all their wealth in a sudden and unexpected disaster, such as robbery, fire, or flood.
“I’m neither poor nor rich, so these two sufferings don’t apply to me,” you say.
However, you cannot escape the “suffering due to inexorable change.” From youth until the prime of life, and then on into old age and death, your thoughts flow in an unending succession. That’s known as the suffering due to inexorable change. The life process itself entails suffering.
There are also the Eight Sufferings:
- The suffering of birth
- The suffering of old age
- The suffering of sickness
- The suffering of death
- The suffering of being apart from those you love
- The suffering of being together with those you hate
- The suffering of not obtaining what you seek
- The suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas
Birth is a very uncomfortable experience. You feel as if you were being squeezed between two mountains. You feel as much pain as a live turtle whose shell is ripped off. After a painful birth, you gradually get old. Old age is also suffering. One by one, your organs start failing, and even simple tasks become very difficult. The pain of sickness is even harder to bear. You may moan and cry, but no one can suffer in your stead.
Such suffering is very democratic: everyone from the king down to the lowliest beggar must bear it. Even the emperor, who owns the empire and is worshipped by all-even after his death-suffers just like anyone else when he gets sick. Of course, if you don’t get sick, then it’s not a problem. If you do, then sickness treats you the same as anyone else; it’s not polite at all.
Ordinary people have deep emotional attachments. They hope their loved ones will live and their enemies will die. When two people fall in love, they forget about everything else. Like besotted fools, they are always stuck to each other, as if with Crazy Glue, and nothing can pull them apart. …
There is also the suffering of being together with those one hates. “I really detest that person,” you think. “The mere sight of him upsets me.” You wish to get away from him, but strangely enough, he follows you wherever you go and always makes a point of greeting you and working with you. You detest him, but he always hangs around you. You can’t escape him. That’s the suffering of being with those whom one hates.
Then there’s the suffering of not obtaining what you seek. When you fail to obtain what you seek, you may become so afflicted that you can’t sleep at night and you lose your appetite. You feel restless and ill at ease. That’s the suffering of not obtaining what you seek.
The worst suffering Is that of the raging blaze of the five skandhas. The five skandhas are form, feeling, thinking, formations, and consciousness. No one can leave them behind. They are so powerful that they have suffocated us and smothered our Buddha-nature. However, once we understand them, we’ll see that there’s no real substance to them. They are just like clouds drifting by. Once we “illuminate the five skandhas and see that they are all empty,” as the line from the Heart Sūtra says, then we know that “originally there was not a single thing; where can the dust alight?” (a verse from the Sixth Patriarch’s Sūtra)
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for June 2, 2025
Offer flowers and incense of heaven,
Jeweled garments of heaven,
And heaps of wonderful treasures of heaven
To the expounder of Myōhō Renge Kyō!
Tao-sheng: Benefitting Beings Greatly
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p272To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion towards all living beings.
Compassion can fully cover [the whole realm] like a room providing shelter. Room should be read with the sense of “to enter.”
To wear the robe of the Tathāgata means to be gentle and patient.
“The bearing of insult” and the “forbearing” of pleasure are like a cloak protecting the body. Cloak should be read with the sense of “to put on.”
To sit on the seat of the Tathāgata means to see the voidness of all things.
Being “empty,” one is given “security.” Attainment is likened to a “throne.” Throne should be read with the sense of “to sit.” Isn’t [the Buddha] thereby benefitting beings greatly?
Your Ignorant Temper
This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.
Hsuan Hua, Medicine Master Sutra commentary, p100-101Fundamentally, our tempers do not come from the food we eat, nor from heaven or earth, nor from the weather. They come from our own ignorance. Ignorance comes from selfishness, as do afflictions, indirectly. We have so much anger and affliction simply because we are afraid to suffer a loss. Not wanting to take a loss, we get mad and fight. If we did not fight, were not greedy, did not seek anything, were not selfish, and did not want to benefit ourselves, we would have no anger.
Among the Bodhisattvas, Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara, Kannon) has great compassion, and if you recite his name, he will relieve your suffering and pain. He has great affinities with all beings. If you wish to strengthen your ties with Guanyin Bodhisattva, recite his name more often and let your light blend with his.
Earth Store Bodhisattva (Kṣitigarbha, Jizo) has great vows. He cannot bear to see any living being in suffering. If we recite his name, he will help us to quickly attain Buddhahood with his awe-inspiring spiritual power. Did these two Bodhisattvas place advertisements in the sūtras to promote themselves? No. The Buddha, who always speaks the truth, personally praised them and told us about their great compassion and great vows.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for June 1, 2025
The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy Myōhō Renge Kyō, will be able to obtain twelve hundred merits of the tongue. Anything which tastes good, bad, delicious, distasteful, bitter or astringent, will become as delicious as the nectar of heaven and not distasteful when it is put on their tongues. When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude with their tongues, they will be able to raise deep and wonderful voices, to cause their voices to reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful. Hearing their speeches given in good order by their deep and wonderful voices, Śakra, Brahman, and the other gods and goddesses will come and listen to them.