All things and phenomena, being identical in essence with the Buddha or Reality, are eternal and unchangeable au fond, and, in their true nature, one and the same as each other. The vulgar see variety where Buddhas perceive identity. This inability to see anything beneath the external variety in things arises from confusion in the minds of those who look at them. Things in themselves are not mutually different.
Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)All posts by John Hughes
Our Ignorance
Until we remove our ignorance of the cause of suffering and attachments to these causes we won’t be able to manifest enlightenment in our lives. We need the corrective lens of the teachings and practice of Buddhism in order to see clearly the causes of our suffering and hindrances to our enlightenment. Chanting the sacred title, Odaimoku, gives us the courage and strength to follow the Eightfold Path and remove the delusions.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Daily Dharma – Dec. 13, 2017
As we look at each others’ faces, we notice our facial expression changes from time to time. It is full of delight, anger or calm sometimes; but other times it changes to greed, ignorance or flattery. Anger represents hells; greed – hungry spirits; ignorance – beasts; flattery – asura demons; delight – gods; and calm – men. Thus we can see in the countenance of people six realms of illusion, from hells to the realm of gods. We cannot see the four realms of holy ones (śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattvas and Buddhas), which are hidden from our eyes. Nevertheless, we must be able to see them too, if we look for them carefully.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). In other writings, he described Hell as not being in the earth and Heaven as not in the sky, but both within the two meter frame of our own bodies. In this work he shows us to look outside ourselves and recognize these realms in the beings with whom we share our world. The higher realms of devotion, perseverance, generosity and wisdom are more difficult to recognize, so difficult that we sometimes wonder whether they exist at all. With the Buddha’s teaching, we know they exist. We find what we look for.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 21
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month heard Śākyamuni explain this world is the pure land, we conclude the chapter.
I can do all this by the power of my wisdom.
The light of my wisdom knows no bound.
The duration of my life is innumerable kalpas.
I obtained this longevity by ages of practices.All of you, wise men!
Have no doubts about this!
Remove your doubts, have no more!
My words are true, not false.The physician, who sent a man expediently
To tell his perverted sons
Of the death of their father in order to cure them,
Was not accused of falsehood although he was still alive.In the same manner, I am the father of the world.
I am saving all living beings from suffering.
Because they are perverted,
I say that I pass away even though I shall not.
If they always see me,
They will become arrogant and licentious,
And cling to the five desires
So much that they will fall into the evil regions.I know who is practicing the Way and who is not.
Therefore I expound various teachings
To all living beings
According to their capacities.I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”
The Deepest Desire of the Buddha
I am always thinking:
How can I cause all living beings
To enter the supreme way
And quickly become Buddhas?
These are the final words of the verses of eternity. The verses themselves are a summary of the entire chapter. These final words represent the deepest desire of the Buddha: his innermost heart of compassion. Ordinary people see the world as a defiled land, but the Buddha leads such people and saves them from the agonies of defilement, transforming their concept of reality as a lotus rises above the muddy water. And just as the Buddha’s lifespan is eternal, so also is his yearning to save all beings from sufferings. “I am always thinking” is his eternal wish. “The supreme way” is perfect enlightenment, and that means the same enlightenment which he himself enjoys—the enlightenment of a Buddha, which is to say, omniscience and its accompanying omnipotence. He concludes by desiring that all of us “quickly become Buddhas,” and attain this highest state for ourselves.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraMaking Change
Attempting to implement change in someone else’s life is going to yield the least amount of improvement in your life. The place where you have the most leverage and effectiveness for making change lies within yourself.
Physician's Good MedicineDaily Dharma – Dec. 12, 2017
I see the [perverted] people sinking
In an ocean of suffering.
Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
And cause them to admire me.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. With the story of the wise physician in this chapter, the Buddha explains how he disappears from our view even though he is always present to us. The children in the story would not accept the remedy their father prepared for them to counteract the poison they had taken. Some of them hoped for another remedy, some believed the remedy would be worse than the poison. It was not until the father left and told them he would not return that the children realized the value of what they already had. When we take the Buddha for granted, as the children in the story took their father for granted, and ignore the path he has laid out for us, we lose sight of the Buddha. It is only when we realize we are lost that we look for a guide. When we bring the Buddha’s teachings to life, we find him everywhere.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 20
Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month concluded the chapter, we start at the top of Day 20’s portion of Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.
Thereupon the World-Honored One said to them in the presence of the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:
“Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. l am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good. As soon as they saw me and heard my teachings, they received my teachings by faith and entered into the wisdom of the Tathāgata, except those who had previously studied and practiced the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. Now I am causing [the followers of the Lesser Vehicle] to hear this sūtra and to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha.”
Thereupon the [four] great Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās:
Excellent, excellent, Great Hero!
World-Honored One!
The living beings are ready to be saved
Because in their previous existence
They already asked the [past] Buddhas
About their profound wisdom,
And having heard about it, understood it by faith.
We rejoice at seeing you.Thereupon the World-Honored One praised the leading great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Excellent, excellent, good men! [l am glad that] you rejoice at seeing me.”
Qualifications Necessary
It is important to note that the Bodhisattvas who sprang up from beneath the earth, who first appear in this chapter, are not recognized by anyone in the congregation, not even by Maitreya, who is destined to be our next Buddha. These great Bodhisattvas appear only in this sutra and not in any other. Only these Bodhisattvas, who sprang up from beneath the earth, have the qualifications necessary to spread the Lotus Sutra in the evil and degenerate World of Endurance. Later on, in Chapter Twenty-one, “Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata,” Sakyamuni will transmit the Lotus Sutra directly to them.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraDaily Dharma – Dec. 11, 2017
Great-Power-Obtainer! What do you think of this? The Never-Despising Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself. If I had not kept, read or recited this sūtra or expounded it to others in my previous existence, I should not have been able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi so quickly. Because I kept, read and recited this sūtra, and expounded it to others under those past Buddhas, I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi quickly.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. The practice of Never-Despising Bodhisattva was to approach all beings and tell them, “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why? Because you will be able to practice as a Bodhisattva and become a Buddha.” When the Buddha explains that Never-Despising Bodhisattva was one of his previous lives, he equates this respect for all beings with the practice of the Wonderful Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com