Monthly Archives: June 2025

Blog, Hsuan Hua, Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, LS32, LS45

Master Hsuan Hua’s interpretation of the Parable of the Rich Man and His Poor Son

Back in March, I reviewed the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, which I had used as part of my daily practice of reading aloud a portion of the sutra during morning and evening services.

In my review I cited a number of typos I’d noticed, but I paid particular attention to one word I felt was used in error.

A more significant error appears in Chapter 4, Faith and Understanding, when the rich man wants to get close to his son, who has been convinced to come work for him. On page 107 it reads:

“Later, on another day, the elder looked through a window and saw his son at a distance. His son was feeble, emaciated, haggard, and soiled with dung, dirt, and filth. The elder removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. Smearing himself with dirt and holding a dung shovel in his right hand, he looked frightened.”

The word should be frightful or frightening, not frightened. In Senchu Murano’s translation we’re told:

He looked fearful. He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

The BTK English Tripiṭaka translation (PDF), the Rissho Kosei-kai modern translation and Leon Hurvitz’s translation (PDF) all agree that the rich man, dressed in work clothes, looked frightful or commanding.

It is important to keep in mind that the sutra text is volume 15 of Master Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra. At the time I wrote my review I had not read Hsuan Hua’s commentary. Needless to say, I was surprised by what I found when I finally read Hsuan Hua’s explanation of this portion of the Parable of the Rich Man and his Poor Son.

SUTRA

“The elder removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. Smearing himself with dirt and holding a dung shovel in his right hand, he looked frightened.”

COMMENTARY

The elder removed his jeweled necklace. “Jeweled necklace” refers to the Buddha’s various Dharmas, including precepts, samādhi, wisdom, and dhārāṇi. “Removed his jeweled necklace” means to hide the awe-inspiring, virtuous, and majestic appearance of the Tathagata’s ten-thousand-foot-tall Nişyanda Buddha body.

His soft, fine upper garments is a metaphor for the Buddha’s great, adorned body and his oceanic subsidiary characteristics. The Buddha’s physical attributes are as limitless as the sea. The Buddha also has countless bodies, and each of his bodies is replete with the thirty-two hallmarks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics and with awe-inspiring virtue and adornments. Now he has hidden these bodies. Why? Those of the Two Vehicles do not recognize these honored, exquisite bodies; in other words, those of the Two Vehicles do not recognize their father, the Buddha. The Buddha is actually their father, but they do not dare to believe it because the Buddha is so wealthy and they are so terribly poor. If the Buddha tried to take them across with his reward and transformation bodies, they would become frightened. Why? Those of the Lesser Vehicle have never seen such honorable and noble bodies with oceanic hallmarks.

That is why the Buddha removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. What is meant by “coarse”? The Buddha hid his ten-thousand-foot-tall Nişyanda Buddha body and manifested the six-foot-tall body of an old bhikṣu, which looked more or less the same as that of an ordinary person. “Torn” refers to the Lesser Vehicle’s patience toward living beings and patience toward all phenomena. “Grease-stained robe” represents conditional phenomena and outflows that are filthy and impure.

Having afflictions is analogous to smearing himself with dirt. The afflictions are like dirt that smears the body. And holding a dung shovel in his right hand. Why did he hold the dung shovel in his right hand? “Right hand” represents the use of expedient Dharma-doors to teach those of the Two Vehicles. What does “dung shovel” represent? “Dung shovel” refers to the Dharma-door that dispels delusions arising from incorrect views and delusions arising from incorrect thoughts. The Buddha used this Dharma to cut off delusions arising from incorrect views, delusions arising from incorrect thoughts, and delusions of ignorance, thereby becoming a Buddha. He uses this kind of Dharma to teach those of the Two Vehicles, enabling them to follow this method to cut off their own delusions and realize Buddhahood. Because he realized Buddhahood by means of this method, he also teaches this method to living beings. This is called “holding a dung shovel.”

He looked frightened. He appears in the guise of a practitioner of the Two Vehicles, seeming to fear birth and death. The Bodhisattvas are in the cycle of birth and death yet are not subject to birth and death. They are afraid neither of suffering nor of birth and death. Those of the Two Vehicles are afraid of birth and death as well as impermanence and suffering. Thus, the Buddha manifests as if he were afraid of birth and death, impermanence, and suffering. Therefore, the sūtra line says “he looked frightened.”

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v5, p79-82

Next: The Law of Cause and Effect’s Strict Retribution

Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for June 7, 2025

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites Myōhō Renge Kyō after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stupa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stupa just as they do to the stupa of a Buddha.”

Lotus Sutra, Chapter 17

About this project

LS32, LS45, Tao-Sheng Commentary

Tao-sheng: Endowed with the Capacity for Great Enlightenment

Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers

Why did he touch them? Wanting to express [the idea] that living beings are endowed with the capacity for great enlightenment and that all [are geared to] achieve Buddhahood, [the Buddha] showed this scene.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p278
Blog, Earth Store

Forty-Nine Days to Decide

Earth Store Bodhisattva – Jizo in Japan; Kṣitigarbha in Sanskrit – is famous for his vow to save everyone in hell before he himself becomes a Buddha. But he is not the only one with that responsibility.

As we learn in the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva,  the living have 49 days in which to intervene on behalf of those who have died.

Early in the sutra we learn of a Brahmin woman who was consigned to the hells due to offenses committed during her lifetime. In an act of filial responsibility, her daughter embarked on a journey to the hells to rescue her mother from its horrors.

“The Brahman woman asked the ghost king, ‘What is this place?’

“Poisonless replied, ‘We are on the western side of the Great Iron Ring Mountain and this is the first of the seas that encircle it.’

“The worthy woman asked, ‘I have heard that the hells are within the Iron Ring. Is that actually so?’

“Poisonless answered, ‘Yes, the hells are here.’

“The worthy woman asked, ‘How have I now come to the hells?’

“Poisonless answered, ‘If it wasn’t awesome spiritual strength that brought you here, then it was the power of karma. Those are the only two ways that anyone can come here.’

“The worthy woman asked, ‘Why is this water seething and bubbling, and why are there so many offenders and dreadful beasts?’

“Poisonless replied, ‘These are beings of Jambudvipa who did evil deeds. They have just died and passed through forty-nine days without any surviving relatives doing any meritorious deeds on their behalf to rescue them from their distress. Moreover, during their lives they themselves didn’t plant any good causes. Hence their own karma calls forth these hells. They must, of course, cross this sea first. Ten thousand yojanas east of this sea is another sea in which they will undergo twice as much suffering. East of that sea is yet another sea where the sufferings are doubled yet again. What the combined evil causes of the three karmas evoke are all called the sea of karma. This is that place.”

The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, page 10-11

Later in the sutra the offering of merit to the deceased is discussed.

[Earth Store Bodhisattva said] “World Honored One, I see that beings of Jambudvipa will themselves receive the benefit of any good deeds they are able to do within the Buddha’s teachings. That holds true even when the deeds are as small as a strand of hair, a drop of water, a grain of sand, or a mote of dust.”

After that had been said, an elder named Great Eloquence rose in the assembly. He had realized non-production long ago and was only appearing in the body of an elder to teach and transform those in the ten directions. Placing his palms together respectfully, he asked Earth Store Bodhisattva, “Great Lord, after people in Jambudvipa die and their young and old relatives cultivate merit by making vegetarian meal offerings and doing other such good deeds, will the deceased obtain merit and virtue significant enough to bring about their liberation?”

Earth Store replied, “Elder, based on the awesome power of the Buddhas, I will now expound this principle for the sake of beings of the present and future. Elder, if beings of the present and future, when on the verge of dying hear the name of one Buddha, one Bodhisattva, or one Pratyekabuddha, they will attain liberation whether they have committed offenses or not.

“When men or women laden with offenses who failed to plant good causes die, even they can receive one-seventh of any merit dedicated to them by young and old relatives who do good deeds on their behalf. The other six sevenths of the merit will accrue to the living relatives who did the good deeds. It follows that men and women of the present and future who cultivate while they are strong and healthy will receive all portions of the benefit derived.

“The arrival of the great ghost of Impermanence is so unexpected that the deceased ones’ consciousnesses first drift in darkness, unaware of offenses and blessings. For forty-nine days the deceased are as if deluded or deaf, or as if in various courts where their karmic retributions are being decided. Once judgment is fixed, they are reborn according to their karma. In the time before rebirths are determined, the deceased suffer from thousands upon thousands of anxieties. How much more is that the case for those who are to fall into the bad destinies?

“Throughout forty-nine days, those whose lives have ended and who have not yet been reborn will be hoping every moment that their immediate relatives will earn blessings powerful enough to rescue them. At the end of that time, the deceased will undergo retribution according to their karma. If someone is an offender, he may pass through hundreds of thousands of years with no prospect of liberation. If someone’s offenses deserve fivefold relentless retribution, he will fall into the great hells and undergo incessant suffering throughout hundreds of millions of eons.

“Moreover, Elder, when beings who have committed karmic offenses die, their relatives may prepare vegetarian offerings to aid them on their karmic paths. In the process of preparing the vegetarian meal and before it has been eaten, rice-washing water and vegetable leaves should not be thrown on the ground. Before the food is offered to the Buddhas and the Sangha, no one should eat it. If there is laxness or transgression in this matter, then the deceased will receive no strength from it. If purity is rigorously maintained in making the offering to the Buddhas and the Sangha, the deceased will receive one seventh of the merit. Therefore, Elder, by performing vegetarian offerings on behalf of deceased fathers, mothers, and other relatives while making earnest supplication on their behalf, beings of Jambudvipa benefit both the living and the dead.”

After that was said, thousands of billions of nayutas of ghosts and spirits of Jambudvipa who were in the palace of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, made the unlimited resolve to attain Bodhi. The elder Great Eloquence made obeisance and withdrew.

The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, page 63-66

I’ve written a lot about the 49-day journey after death. You can find much of that content here.

Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for June 6, 2025

Know this, Śāriputra!
I once vowed that I would cause
All living beings to become
Exactly as I am.

That old vow of mine
Has now been fulfilled.
I lead all living beings
Into the Way to Buddhahood.

Lotus Sutra, Chapter 2

About this project

LS32, LS45, Tao-Sheng Commentary

Tao-sheng: The Purpose of Dividing the Seat

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stūpa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha, saying, “Śākyamuni Buddha, sit here!”

The purpose of presenting the dividing of the seat, in order to share [it with the Buddha], is to suggest that extinction [from the world] does not necessarily mean extinction and existence does not necessarily mean existence. The difference between existence and extinction originates in the various grades [of the capacities of beings]. How can the Sage be subject to them? Also by showing that [the Buddha will enter) nirvana not long hence, [the Buddha] makes them anxious to prepare for [receiving) the Dharma.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p277
Blog, Earth Store

Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva

Back on May 19 I explained the addition of the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua to my “decorations” that line a corner shelf adjacent to my altar.

Working my way through the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua reminded me that I also have a copy of the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, who is represented among my “decorations” by a wooden Jizo Bosatsu figure. I decided to add that sutra behind Jizo. My wife thinks I’m going overboard, but I enjoy the symmetry.

earth-store-sutra-bookcover
Available from the Buddhist Text Translation Society.

On page 5 of the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, Śākyamuni says:

“Manjushri, the awesome spiritual vows of this Bodhisattva are inconceivable. If good men or women in the future hear this Bodhisattva’s name, praise him, behold or bow to him, call his name, make offerings to him, or if they draw, carve, cast, sculpt, or paint images of him, such people will be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three one hundred times and will never fall into the evil paths.”

And on pages 50-51:

The Buddha told the Bodhisattva Universally Expansive, “If, in the future, good men or good women, upon hearing Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahāsattva’s name, place their palms together, praise him, bow to him, or gaze at him in worship, they will overcome thirty eons’ worth of offenses.

Universally Expansive, if good men or women gaze upon and bow but once to painted or drawn images of the Bodhisattva or ones made of clay, or stone, or lacquer, or gold, or silver, or bronze, or iron, they will be reborn one hundred times in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and will eternally avoid falling into the evil destinies. If their blessings in the heavens come to an end and they are born in the human realm, they will become national leaders who suffer no loss of benefits.

I personally like the thought of such benefits, but that’s not my focus here. Instead, I look at the Bodhisattvas as exemplars to be emulated.

In Taigen Dan Leighton’s Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression, he writes:

In fully employing the bodhisattva figures as archetypes, we must also realize the tentative, artificial nature of archetypes. The archetypal aspects of the bodhisattva figures are helpful as patterns. We can feel a sense of what it might mean to behave and function as a bodhisattva ourselves by examining the fearless insight and eloquence of Mañjuśrī, the luminous helpful activity of Samantabhadra, the unmediated, unconditional generosity of Avalokiteśvara, the faithful witness of Jizō, the patience and loving concern of Maitreya, the clever, illuminating displays of Vimalakirti, and the selfless decision and determination of Siddhārtha Gautama. However, all of their kindness and efforts are only manifest and real when we see the bodhisattva figures not as theoretical or mythological, but as actualities expressed in our world.

Beyond all the archetypal patterns, the life of the bodhisattva is in ordinary, everyday activity. In simple acts of kindness and gestures of cheerfulness, bodhisattvas are functioning everywhere, not as special, saintly beings, but in helpful ways we may barely recognize. The bodhisattvas are not glorified, exotic, unnatural beings, but simply our own best qualities in full flower.

20250424_decorations-web

Jizo Bosatsu is next to the “Jeweled Vehicle” on the right end of my corner shelf of “decorations.”

Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for June 5, 2025

Anyone who keeps Myōhō Renge Kyō
Will be able to recognize the voices of the Buddhas,
That is, the voices of the Great Honorable Saints
Who teach all living beings,
And who expound Myōhō Renge Kyō in great congregations.

He will be able to recognize
All the sounds and voices
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds,
[Each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
And yet his organ of hearing will not be destroyed.
He will be able to recognize everything by hearing
Because his ears are sharp.

Anyone who keeps
Myōhō Renge Kyō
Will be able to obtain these merits with his natural ears
Although he has not yet obtained heavenly ears.

Lotus Sutra, Chapter 19

About this project

LS32, LS45, Tao-Sheng Commentary

Tao-sheng: Evil Certainly Can Be Destroyed and Good Cultivated.

At that instant the Sahā-World was purified. The ground of the world became lapis lazuli. The world was adorned with jeweled trees. The eight roads were marked off by ropes of gold. The towns, villages, cities, oceans, rivers, mountains, forests and thickets were eliminated. The incense of great treasures was burned; mandārava flowers, strewn over the ground; and jeweled nets and curtains with jeweled bells, hung over the world. The gods and men were removed to other worlds except those who were in the congregation.

The purpose of showing all the dirt and evils removed, gods and men cast away, leading to the point when flowers and incense are offered, is to suggest indirectly that evil certainly can be destroyed and good cultivated.

Śākyamuni Buddha again purified two hundred billion nayuta more worlds of each of the eight quarters [neighboring the expanded world] to seat all the Buddhas of his replicas.

If he wanted to accommodate all the Buddhas, who were emanations of [that Buddha’s] body, he would appropriately prepare and purify the realms [immediately], making it suffice for beings to accept [the Buddha’s original thesis]. [But] why did he conjure them up gradually? The reason for doing this is as follows: [The Buddha] wants to give expression to the thesis that li cannot be reached at once; the coarse should be ground until it is fine; it must be decreased further and further, until it comes to the point of no decrease.

[The Sahā-World and] the four hundred billion nayuta worlds of each of the eight quarters[, which were amalgamated into one Buddha world,]

This is designed to express [the idea] that although there are causes, different in myriad ways, they result in one single effect.

Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p277
Hsuan Hua, Medicine Master

‘Not Being Afraid To Renounce One’s Life For Half A Verse’

This story is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

All things are impermanent,
Coming into being and ceasing to be.
When coming into being and ceasing to be both stop,
There is blissful quiescence.

In the past, Śākyamuni Buddha offered up his life for half of this four-line verse. How did it happen? When he was cultivating in a past life, he met a being from the Heaven of Pure Dwelling who manifested as a rākṣasa ghost to test the his sincerity. The rākṣasa ghost walked by the old cultivator chanting to himself, “All things are impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be.”

The cultivator thought, “What’s he singing? Oh, it’s a verse” Then he asked the ghost, “Hey, what did you just say?”

“I said, ‘All things are impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be.”” Replied the ghost.

“Aren’t there two more lines to your verse?”

“Yes,” said the ghost.

“Please tell me what they are.”

“I’m starving, I don’t have any energy,” said the ghost. “If you give me something to eat, I’ll tell you.”

“Okay,” said the cultivator. “I’ll offer you whatever you want, and then you can tell me those two lines.”

The rākṣasa ghost said, “I need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a living human being. Can you give up your own flesh and blood?”

The cultivator thought, “Well, if I get to hear the Dharma, then my death will be worth it. But if I don’t get to hear those two lines of verse, I’ll never be able to put everything down.” And so the cultivator replied, “Fine, tell me the rest of the verse, and then I’ll let you eat me.”

“Okay,” said the ghost. “The last two lines are: ‘When coming into being and ceasing to be both stop, there is blissful quiescence.’ Everything in the world is impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be. The attainment of what neither comes into being nor ceases to be is true and eternal happiness. Okay, now I’m going to eat you.”

“Hold on!” said the cultivator. “Don’t eat me yet.”

“What? Are you going back on your promise?”

“No, no. I’m not going back on my promise. I just want to carve this verse on a tree, so it will remain in the world. When people see it, they will bring forth the Bodhi mind and eventually attain the Path.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the rākṣasa ghost said. “Go ahead and carve it.”

The cultivator scraped off the outer bark of a tree with a knife and carved the verse onto the tree. Meanwhile, the rākṣasa began wailing, “Please hurry! I’m famished!”

After the cultivator quickly finished carving, the rākṣasa said, “I’m not going to be polite anymore. I must eat your flesh and drink your blood.”

“Hold on,” said the cultivator. “Please wait a bit longer.”

“What? You’ve taken so long already. What else do you want to do?” complained the ghost.

The cultivator said, “The words on the tree will eventually be worn away by the elements. I want to chisel this verse in stone so that it will last forever. Please be patient for a little while longer as I do this.”

“Oh, all right,” said the rākṣasa.

When the cultivator finished chiseling, the rākṣasa said, “Now I can eat you!”

“Fine,” said the cultivator, as he closed his eyes and waited to be eaten.

Suddenly a voice in space said, “Bravo! You are a true cultivator who is able to sacrifice himself for the Dharma. You will certainly become a Buddha.” When the cultivator opened his eyes, the rākṣasa ghost was gone and a god from the Heaven of Pure Dwelling appeared before him.

That is known as “not being afraid to renounce one’s life for half a verse.” Could we be that sincere in our study of Buddhism? Could we renounce our lives for half a verse or for a sūtra?

Hsuan Hua, Medicine Master Sutra commentary, p181-183