In Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we learn of the merits to be given the beginner in faith and in Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we learn of the merits to be earned by a teacher of the dharma. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today, becoming such a teacher is part of the natural progression of faith:
Buddhism for Today, p295“The practices of a preacher are of five kinds (goshu hosshi): receiving and keeping the sutra (juji), reading it (doku) and reciting it (ju), expounding it (gesetsu), and copying it (shosha). … In each of these five practices, the state of our gradually deepening faith is clearly shown.
“If we believe and discern the teaching after hearing it, and if we raise the mind of joyful acceptance of it, we proceed first to keep it firmly, then, reading and reciting the sutra, to inscribe it on our memory. As a personal discipline, this practice is done to establish the foundation of our faith. When our faith reaches this stage, we cannot help transmitting the teaching to others. As a result, we expound the sutra (the teaching) and copy it. We cannot say we have attained true faith until we go through each process of the five kinds of practices of the preacher.”
The Chapter 19’s specifics of how the teacher’s sense organs will be affected have always caused me pause. I want too much for literal benefits:
“He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.”
But in Peaceful Action, Open Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh offers a more nuanced view of the benefits that flow from our growing faith:
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p125“The merit of this teaching effects a great change in the field of our six sense organs (sadayatana) – our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. When we are able to receive the truth of the Lotus Sutra our sense perceptions undergo a profound transformation. Automatically our eyes are able to see things that before we were not able to see. We attain the eyes of the Dharma that are able to look deeply and see the true nature and suchness of all dharmas, all phenomena in the world of our perceptions. With Dharma eyes we can look into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and see its wonderful, fresh green nature. We can see that one leaf, whether old and yellow or green and fresh, contains all the merits, all the wonderful suchness of the universe. The eyes of someone who has received and who maintains the teaching of this Sutra, the truth of the ultimate, are able to see the limitless life span, the unborn and undying nature of everything. This is the first merit, the transformation of our sight perception into the eyes of the Dharma.”
While using my sense of smell to locate buried treasure seems farfetched, I can imagine looking into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and seeing its wonderful, fresh green nature.
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