All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Having last month witnessed the light emitted by Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east.

“The palaces of the Brahman-heavenly[-kings] of the five hundred billion worlds in the east were illumined twice as brightly as ever. The Brahman-heavenly-kings [of those worlds] each thought, ‘My palace has never been illumined so brightly before. Why is that?’ They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called All-Saving among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Why are our palaces illumined
More brightly than ever?
Let us find [the place]
[From where this light has come].
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds went to the west, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great­Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion­like seat under the Bodhi-tree at the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly­kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the ten-yojana-tall Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
It is difficult to meet you.
You have innumerable merits.
You are saving all living beings.

As the great teacher of gods and men,
You are benefiting all living beings
Of the worlds of the ten quarters
Out of your compassion towards them.

We have come here from five hundred billion worlds.
We gave up the pleasure
Of deep dhyāna-concentration
Because we wished to make offerings to you.
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
Because we accumulated merits in our previous existence.
We offer [these palaces] to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings! Open the Way to Nirvāṇa!’ They simultaneously said in a gāthā with all their hearts:

Hero of the World,
Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Dharma!
Save the suffering beings
By the power of your great compassion!

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.

The Daily Dharma from April 15, 2018, offers this:

Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

The Brahma Heavenly Kings of the East sing these verses as part of a story the Buddha tells in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. Long ago there was another Buddha named Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence. When he became enlightened, the entire universe was illuminated. Beings who had never seen each other could recognize each other clearly. We can see this story as a metaphor for what happens when the Buddha’s wisdom comes into our lives. We leave the darkness of our ego attachment and come into the light of the world as it is.

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

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Dancing with Joy Each Day

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Chapter III opens with one of my favorite descriptions of how I think we should approach our practice and life in general. When we can face life with great joy, when we can feel like dancing, then I think we have completed most of the objective of our practice. Chapter II ends with the Buddha saying that when you have great joy this is when you will be a Buddha. Right away we are told Shariputra has this feeling of joy so much that he felt like dancing.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 15, 2018

The Indian lizard kṛkalāsa eats in the wind; it won’t grow if there is no wind. A fish lives in the water, and a bird makes a nest in the tree. Likewise, Buddhas live in the Lotus Sutra. As the moon’s reflection resides in the water, Buddhas reside in the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, you must remember that where there is no Lotus Sutra, there are no Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). We may take for granted our opportunity to find and practice the Lotus Sūtra in this lifetime. In Nichiren’s writings, and in the Lotus Sūtra itself, we are reminded of the great benefit we have created and the great hardships we have already endured to allow us to find this Wonderful Dharma and have the opportunity to practice it. When we try to rely on the transitory aspects of our lives, we are surely disappointed. It is only when we keep and practice this Sūtra that we find the Buddha leading us to our true birthright, the enlightenment he knows we and all beings can reach.

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

LS32

Day 10

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

Having last month opened Chapter 7, with the story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in gāthās, we hear that the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind immediately.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

“The duration of the life of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha was five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas. [Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Mara. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.

“[Before he sat at the place of enlightenment,] the Trāyastriṃs̒a Gods prepared him a lion-like seat a yojana high under the Bodhi tree so that he might be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi on that seat. When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.

“[When he sat on that seat,] the four heavenly-kings beat heavenly drums, and the other gods made heavenly music and offered it to him. They continued these offerings also for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued these offerings until he passed away.

The Daily Dharma from July 6, 2017, offers this:

When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.

The Buddha describes the life of an ancient Buddha named Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, when that Buddha took the seat from which he would become enlightened, the gods who created his world recognized the immense benefit all beings were about to receive and showed their joy by filling the skies with these beautiful flowers. After that Buddha became enlightened, gods from innumerable other worlds came to his world to make offerings, giving up the pleasures of their own worlds. The enlightenment of any being extends beyond the personal contact we have with any that being. It changes the entire universe.

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

Profound

Perceiving the Mundane World

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The all-embracing nature reflects Chih-i’s positive view towards the empirical world in the sense that the Ultimate Truth is embedded in all entities, underlining its unlimited pervasiveness. In the context that the Ultimate Truth pervades everything in the world, an entirely positive and unique view of perceiving the mundane world is presented. The mundane world as a place of birth and death is identified with the eternal realm of enlightenment. With this view, a negative outlook of the mundane world is transformed into a positive affirmation. Instead of the traditional view of negating the mundane world as something harmful that hinders one’s path to liberation, Chih-i’s all-embracing approach towards the world is rather revolutionary, and is epistemological and soteriological. (Page 39)

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


beginning

Faith and Deliberate Intention.

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The Eye of the Law is an intellectual understanding of the Truth arrived at through an intellectual process. But, by nature, some people are stronger in terms of emotions and willpower than they are intellectually. Such people are said to be able to attain enlightenment by means of emotion and will. In short, there are two ways to become enlightened: intellectually through the truth of the Law—and obviously the attainment of the Eye of the Law—and through faith and deliberate intention.

Enlightenment by means of faith involves complete trust in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order—the Three Treasures—and observation of the holy precepts. Of course, fundamentally, a person cannot be a Buddhist at all without this trust. But it is especially important that such trust be unshakable in persons who strive to attain enlightenment by faith alone. Those who came into direct contact with Shakyamuni were no doubt easily moved to unconditional faith by his greatness. Others, who had been instructed by members of the Order, had probably been moved to trust as a consequence of the greatness of the Buddha and the wonderful nature of the Law.

A person who has openly expressed his reverence for the Buddha, the Law, and the Order is bound to abide by the five precepts: not to take life, not to take what is not given, not to indulge in wrong sexual activity, not to tell lies, and not to drink intoxicants. When faith has been firmly established, observance of these precepts becomes absolute. Such faith is said to be as fixed and indestructible as adamant and to represent initial enlightenment on the way to the highest enlightenment by means of the path of faith. It is a state of nonretrogression comparable to that of the person who has attained the Eye of the Law.

The Beginnings of Buddhism

Lotus Seeds

Verses of Eternity

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The core of the Essential Section is the sixteenth chapter, “The Lifespan of the Tathagata.” In this chapter, the Buddha finally reveals the birthless and deathless nature of Buddhahood. The verse portion of the sixteenth chapter is especially revered because it is a simple and powerful summary of this teaching. These verses are known as the “Verses of Eternity.” When these verse are recited we are reminded of the compassionate presence of the Buddha, whose only concern is to enable us to attain Buddhahood just as he did.

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Aug. 14, 2018

You should remember that the secret doctrine to save the evil, the stupid, women, and those without Buddha-nature is not revealed in sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra. This is the very reason the Lotus Sūtra is superior to all other Buddhist scriptures.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). With so many proclaiming that their teaching is superior, it can be difficult to hear what Nichiren is telling us in this passage. Other teachings maintain that only some people can be saved. As a result, people who hear those teachings live in fear and uncertainty about their fate. The Lotus Sūtra proclaims that all who hear it will become enlightened, and that all who teach the Lotus Sūtra will create the conditions for others to be enlightened. Nichiren’s relentless determination to spread the Wonderful Dharma was not based on arrogance: merely wanting people to do as he said. It was based on compassion: the certainty that the Lotus Sūtra embodies the enlightenment of the Buddha and saves all beings.

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

Profound

Perfect and Harmonizing

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How can Chih-i’s philosophy assume “perfect and harmonizing” (Yüan-jung)? Based on our study of the work Hsüan-i (Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra), we would like to propose that it is due to several characteristics of the Ultimate Truth demonstrated by Chih-i that corresponds to his own philosophy that his philosophy as perfect harmonization is established.

First, Chih-i associates the Ultimate Truth with the One Buddha-vehicle (that is advocated in the Lotus Sūtra). This is because the One Buddha vehicle stands out to be supreme in position with which one can attain Buddhahood. Its superiority legitimatizes itself to be the unifying force that embraces all different doctrines in Buddhism and converges all the other Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva). Apparently, speaking in terms of the Buddha-vehicle, the Ultimate Truth bears all-embracing nature, and functions to reconcile differences.

Second, the Ultimate Truth is linked to the state of subtlety, seeing that it consists of three aspects (substance, position, and function), and the relationship between one and three is inconceivable. Chih-i defines this subtle state of inconceivability as neither the same nor different, with which the nature of flexibility of the Ultimate Truth is emphasized: “The one aspect that is discussed contains the three aspects; the three aspects that are discussed are actually one aspect. These aspects are not different from each other, neither are they besides one another nor are they the same. Therefore, they are called ‘subtle’.”

Third, considering that the Ultimate Truth is represented by the Buddha-vehicle, Chih-i regards the realization of the Ultimate Truth as the state of Buddhahood. This ultimate state is vehemently emphasized by Chih-i to be quiescent and illuminating. For instance, in his definition of the Subtlety of the Original Empathy and Response, Chih-i states that the Buddha abides at the state of quiescence and is able to illuminate sentient beings by responding to them in order to activate their inherent wisdom. Chih-i’s focus on the aspect of illumination unravels dynamic and functional nature of the Ultimate Truth.

Fourth, the Ultimate Truth is spoken of by Chih-i in terms of the Buddha-nature that is originally possessed by all sentient beings. The Buddha-nature as the Ultimate Truth indicates that Buddhahood can be universally attained by all beings, and that Buddhahood is the ultimate goal for religious salvation, whereas it does not exclude any being. On the other hand, the concept of Buddha-nature draws a complete scheme of religious path to liberation, for it includes the cause and effect of Buddhahood. The Buddha-nature that is embedded in all beings denotes the potentiality of beings as the cause for attaining Buddhahood. The manifestation of the Buddha-nature indicates the attainment of Buddhahood as the effect. Thus, by revealing universal liberation of all beings, the Buddha-nature as the Ultimate Truth is designated the feature of non-exclusiveness (i.e., comprehensiveness). The Buddha-nature as the Ultimate Truth that includes the cause for Buddhahood in the beginning and the effect of Buddhahood at the end of religious path formulates a feature of completeness and perfection. (Page 36-37)

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


beginning

The Eye of the Law

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In the Buddhist scriptures, discussion of the Eye of the Law is invariably accompanied by mention of the doctrine that whatever is subject to the condition of origination is subject also to the condition of cessation. This is a simplified expression of the Law of Causation to the effect that suffering, for example, which must have a cause, can be eliminated by the removal of that cause. The Eye of the Law is the pure and spotless eye that perceives the veracity of the Law of Causation.

The Beginnings of Buddhism