All posts by John Hughes

buddhaseed

What Is Attaining Buddhahood?

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What is attaining Buddhahood? It is to awaken to Ichinen Sanzen and to achieve a great life transcending the limits of time and space. Therefore, Nichiren Shōnin said,

“The only way seemingly that leads to Buddhahood is the ‘3,000 in one thought’ doctrine.
(Kaimoku-Shō, WNS2, p. 108)

and also,

“Ichinen-Sanzen is like father and mother of a Buddha.”
(Shōmitsubō-gosho 3)

In other words, all Buddhas were born from Ichinen-Sanzen. He also said,

“This is not an immediate attainment of Buddhahood in this world (referring to women having to change before reaching Buddhahood), which can only be possible through the ‘3,000 in one thought’ doctrine.”
(Kaimoku-Shō, WNS2, p.90)

Buddha Seed: Understanding the Odaimoku

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 19, 2018

Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight states: “The passage cited about the earlier teachings correctly distinguishes between the provisional and the true. This is because it explains the truer the teaching the lower the stage (of those enlightened by it); whereas the more provisional the teaching the higher the state must be (of those enlightened by it).”

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-Shō). The passage from T’ien-t’ai he quotes reminds us that we do not need to rely on our own talents or intelligence to become enlightened. The highest teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is meant for all beings, wise or simple, clever or stupid. The Buddha’s provisional teachings were intended to match the minds of those who heard them. But the Wonderful Dharma is the Buddha’s own mind, harmonizing with the seed of enlightenment within us all.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Profound

The Triple Cause and the Three Tracks

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The … Buddha-nature as the Triple Cause (Conditional Cause, Understanding Cause, and Fundamental Cause) of Buddhahood corresponds with the Three Tracks. The Buddha-nature as the Conditional Cause of Buddhahood (Yüan-yin Fo-hsing) refers to the inherent potential and propensity for Buddhahood within all sentient beings (which allows them to practice and build up the proper causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood), and it corresponds to the Track of the Accomplishment (Tzu-ch’eng Kui), which is to perform the deeds required to realize the wisdom of a Buddha. The Buddha-nature as the Understanding Cause of Buddhahood (Liao-yin Fo-hsing) refers to the inherent potential for wisdom in all sentient beings, and it corresponds to the Track of the Illumination of Wisdom (Kuan-chao-kui), which destroys delusions and reveals the true nature of reality. The Buddha-nature as the Fundamental Cause of Buddhahood (Cheng-yin Fo-hsing) refers to the fact that all beings are inherently endowed with the Ultimate Truth where they all participate in the true nature of reality, and it corresponds to the Track of the Real Nature (Chen-hsin-kui), which is non-illusory and non-differentiated. See Swanson, Foundations of T’ien-t’ai Philosophy, pp. 133-134, and p.306, note 201; Lee Chih-fu, Miao-fa Lienhua-ching Hsüan-i Yen-chiu, vol. 1, pp. 185-186. (Vol. 2, Page 88)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


LS32

Day 10

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Day 10 Full Text

Having last time witnessed the reaction of the Buddha’s 16 sons when their father became enlightened after 10 small kalpas, we hear the princes praise World-­Honored One in gāthās:

“Having come [to that Buddha], the princes worshipped him at his feet with their heads, walked around him, joined their hands together towards him with all their hearts, looked up at the World-­Honored One, and praised him in gāthās:

In order to save all living beings,
You, the World-Honored One,
Who have great powers and virtues,
[Made efforts] for many hundreds of millions of years.
Now you have become a Buddha.
You have finally fulfilled your vows. Congratulations!

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
When you were sitting,
You were quiet and peaceful.
You did not move your body, hands or feet
For ten small kalpas.

Your mind was tranquil, not distracted.
You have finally obtained tranquil extinction.
You now dwell peacefully in the Dharma-without-āsravas.

Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

You are the Most Honorable One.
You have obtained the peaceful
Dharma-without-āsravas.
Not only we but also all gods and men
Will be able to obtain the greatest benefit.
Therefore, we bow and devote ourselves to you,
The Most Honorable One.

The Daily Dharma from May 31, 2018, offers this:

Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!

The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha sing these verses to their father in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They realize that when one being reaches enlightenment, it is a benefit for all beings. In Chapter Ten, the Buddha teaches that many people will hate his Wonderful Dharma with jealousy during his lifetime, and many more will be jealous of it after his extinction. These people see the Buddha as different from themselves, and do not understand how they can become as enlightened as he is. They believe that for one person to gain, another must lose. The Buddha shows that all beings benefit from his teaching. Nothing is taken away from anyone.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Lotus Path

Cultivating a Mind of Joy

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Cultivate a mind of joy in all things, chant the sacred title of the Lotus Sutra with great joy and at all times.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 18, 2018

Muddy water has no mind but it still catches the moon’s reflection and naturally becomes lucid. Plants and trees catch the rain in order to blossom, but can we say they do this deliberately? The five characters of Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo are not the text of the sutra nor a mere explanation; rather they are the sole intent of the whole sutra. Beginners may practice this without knowing the heart (of the Lotus Sutra), but their practice will naturally harmonize with its intention.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-Shō). This is another way of saying that we do not need to rely on our own skills or wisdom to practice the Buddha Dharma. Whether we are brilliant or slow, focused or distracted, calm or agitated, when we rely on the Ever-Present Buddha, we are in harmony with the world.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Profound

Six Ascending Levels of Attaining Buddhahood

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The Liu-chi (Six Identities) is a system of realizing the truth set up by Chih-i to indicate six gradual ascending levels of attaining Buddhahood. These levels are all identified with the uniformity of the principal substance. They represent six levels of attainment in the fifty-two stages of the Perfect Teaching.

  1. Li Chi-fo: all sentient beings by principle are Buddhas, for they inherently possess the Buddha-nature, even if they have not heard the Buddha dharma.
  2. Ming-tzu Chi-yo: this is to understand that all dharmas contain the Buddha-dharma, and this understanding is derived from hearing the Buddha’s teaching that all sentient beings by principle are Buddhas. This is the stage when beings have just heard the teaching of the Buddha.
  3. Kuanhsing Chi-fo: this is to contemplate that all dharmas contain the Buddhadharma. This is the stage of the Five Preliminary Grades of Disciples (Wup’in Ti-tzu JVei).
  4. llsiang-ssu Chi-fo: this is the attainment of Śrāvaka enlightenment, which resembles true enlightenment of the Buddha upon severing false views and wrong attitudes within the three realms. This is the stage of the Ten Faith (Shih-hsin Wei),
  5. Fen-cheng Chi-foe. this is the stage in which one realizes the Middle Way more and more, and has less and less ignorance, which is the stage from the Ten Dwellings (Shih-chu Wei) to the Preliminary Enlightenment (Teng-chüeh Wei).
  6. Chiu-ching Chi-yo: this is the ultimate stage of Buddhahood, and the stage of Perfect or Subtle Enlightenment (Miao-chüeh Wei). (Vol. 2, Page 85)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Day 9 Full Text

Having last time begun Chapter 5, we consider the Simile of the Herbs.

“Kāśyapa! Suppose the various trees and grasses of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds including herbs growing in the thickets, forests, mountains, ravines and valleys, on the ground, and by the rivers, all these plants being different in names and forms, were covered with a dark cloud, and then watered by a rainfall at the same time. The small, middle and large roots, stems, branches and leaves of the trees and grasses including herbs growing in the thickets and forests were watered. So were the tall and short trees, whether they were superior or middle or inferior. Those plants were given more or less water by the same rain from the same cloud, and grew differently according to their species. They obtained different flowers and fruits although they grew on the same ground and received water from the same rain.

“Kāśyapa, know this! I, the Tathāgata, am like the cloud. I appeared in this world just as the large cloud rose. I expounded the Dharma to gods, men and asuras of the world with a loud voice just as the large cloud covered all the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this:

These allegorical descriptions [in the Lotus Sutra] can be understood as the development of the concept of the One Vehicle. Chapter Four described how the Buddha leads all beings by faith until they reach the final stage of enlightenment. [In Chapter 5], on the other hand, tells us that living beings are now at various levels of understanding, and the Buddha patiently and compassionately expounds the law to all of them equally, although in different ways.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

History of Japanese Religion

The ‘Sacred Title’

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But all these doctrines and speculations were fused by the white-heat of [Nichiren’s] faith and zeal, and he reduced the whole of his religion to a simple method, that of uttering the “Sacred Title” of the scripture, in the formula Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, which meant “Adoration to the Lotus of Perfect Truth.” It was for him not a mere oral utterance but a real embodiment of the truths revealed in that book, because the “Title” was representative of the whole revelation, which was to be realized in the spirit and embodied in the life of all who adored Buddha and his revelation. To utter the “Sacred Title” was, according to Nichiren, the method of at once elevating oneself to the highest enlightenment of Buddhahood and of identifying self with the cosmic soul. This method he deemed to be the only adequate way available for the degenerate men of the latter days.

History of Japanese Religion

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 17, 2018

They will be able to know all the thoughts, deeds, and words, however meaningless, of the living beings of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds each of which is composed of the six regions. Although they have not yet obtained the wisdom-without-āsravas, they will be able to have their minds purified as previously stated. Whatever they think, measure or say will be all true, and consistent not only with my teachings but also with the teachings that the past Buddhas have already expounded in their sūtras.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Paradoxically, the process of clarifying our minds so that we can see things for what they are is not an intellectual exercise. The practice of the Wonderful Dharma is not based on learning complicated theories or arcane facts. It can be as simple as chanting Odaimoku sincerely, awakening our nature as Bodhisattvas, and working for the benefit of all beings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com