Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p333Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Many heretics (tīrthikas) hold the view that all the grasses and plants bear life. The demons all believe this view. Therefore, they are afraid of committing a sin by pressing oil.
Monthly Archives: July 2025
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 26, 2025
Knowing the wishes of the [princes who were] young boys
And the practices they performed in their previous existence,
The Buddha taught them the six paramitas
And many supernatural things
With innumerable stories of previous lives
And with various parables and similes.The gāthās of Myōhō Renge Kyō
Were sung [by the Buddha] to expound the true teaching,
That is, [to expound] the Way which Bodhisattvas should practice.
The gāthās were as many as there are sands in the River Ganges.
Tao-sheng: Splitting Into Seven Pieces
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p333Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [ are split].When “a branch of the arjaka tree” falls to the ground it makes seven pieces without fail. Hence, the analogy taken from this, [to express “Then may his head split into seven parts.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 25, 2025
Those who do not believe Myōhō Renge Kyō
But slander Myōhō Renge Kyō,
Will destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Of all living beings of the world.
Tao-sheng: Demons Penetrating the Sick
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p333Anyone may step on our heads, but shall not trouble this teacher of the Dharma. Neither shall any yakṣa, rākṣasa, hungry spirit, pūtana, kṛtya, vetāda, kumbhāṇḍa, umāraka, apasmāraka, yakṣa-kṛtya or human kṛtya.
An apasmāraka demon enters into a man’s body, making the muscles of the hands and feet twisted, and making him expectorate from the mouth. It is a fever demon. If the demons assume these various forms, [it means that] they have penetrated the sick.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 24, 2025
A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to keep, read and recite Myōhō Renge Kyō in the latter days after [my extinction] when the teachings are about to be destroyed, should not nurse jealousy against others, or flatter or deceive them. He should not despise those who study the Way to Buddhahood in any way. He should not speak ill of them or try to point out their faults.
Tao-sheng: Robbed of Vital Vapors
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p333There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings {Robber of the Vital Vapors of All Living Beings}.
Daughters of rākṣasas and others, ten female demons, possess great powers in the world. They are the mothers of various demons. They respect and obey the Buddha’s orders, as they also pronounce this charm. Even though the demons are wicked, they do not disobey their mothers. As their mothers obey the Buddha, so their sons follow them.
In the heart of a man there are seven [measures of] mucus sweet water for nourishing human life. If a rākṣasa enters into a man’s body, and drinks one mucus, then he (the man) suffers a head illness. If [the demon] drinks two, three, or four [measures of] mucus, then the man loses consciousness. This is curable, but if he is left there he is bound to die. Thus, he is “robbed of vital vapors.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 23, 2025
The teacher of Myōhō Renge Kyō will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in the world of men],
The voices of the gods of the heavens
Above the Heaven of Brahman,
[That is,] of the Light-Sound Heaven,
Of the Universal-Pure Heaven, and of the Highest Heaven.
Tao-sheng: Mahārājas of the Four Directions
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p332Thereupon Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, said to the Buddha … and Thereupon World-Holding Heavenly-King, accompanied by thousands of billions of nayutas of gandharvas who were surrounding him respectfully, came to the Buddha…
Vaiśravaṇa is the heavenly king (mahārāja) of the North, primarily commanding the two demons, yakṣa and rākṣasa. The mahārāja controlling the East (Dhritarāshtra) has two demons under him: gandharva and piśācāh. The mahārāja of the South rules over two demons: kumbhāṇḍa and hungry ghost. The mahārāja of the West controls all [the remaining] dragons (nāgas) and kinnaras. Each of the four mahārājas thus is in charge of his own territory.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 22, 2025
In any world where anyone keeps, reads, recites, expounds or copies Myōhō Renge Kyō, or acts according to Myōhō Renge Kyō‘s teachings, or in any place where a copy of Myōhō Renge Kyō is put, be it in a garden, in a forest, under a tree, in a monastery, in the house of a person in white robes, in a hall, in a mountain, in a valley, or in the wilderness, there should a stupa be erected and offerings be made to Myōhō Renge Kyō because, know this, the place [where the stupa is erected] is the place of enlightenment. Here the Buddhas attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Here the Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dharma. Here the Buddhas entered into Parinirvana.”