The Age of Degeneration lies in the future after Sakyamunis earthly lifetime. It does not denote a specific era. Whenever we ordinary people reflect seriously on the quality of our lives, we realize that we live far from the spirit of the Buddha. Our minds are soiled with evil and illusions. This actual state of human beings is what is called the Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sutra warns us that it will be our normal state once the Buddha has departed from among us.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraAll posts by John Hughes
Awakening to the Lotus
An Introduction to Nichiren Shu
From NBIC website:
One of the most important and widely practiced forms of Japanese Buddhism, Nichiren Shu is also one of the least known outside of Japan. The few books available in the West are either college-level texts or direct translations of works that assume some prior knowledge of this uniquely Japanese school of Buddhism.
Awakening to the Lotus finally explains Nichiren Shu in terms that everyone from the most basic beginner to those with previous experience of Nichiren Buddhist schools can understand. Examining the foundation, the teaching, the practice, and the beliefs of Nichiren Shu, this book can serve both as a handbook for those just beginning to practice Buddhism and as an information resource for those who simply want to learn more about this fascinating school.
Beginning with the basics of general Buddhism, Awakening to the Lotus quickly focuses in on the specific doctrines and teachings of Nichiren Shu. Ceremonies, special events, personal practice, the Lotus Sutra, and the teachings of the founder of the school, Nichiren Shonin, are all covered fully in easy to understand language.
Book Quotes
On the Death of a Young Girl
Montgomery (February 6, 1986)
In the Teaching Valid for the Latter Day, which is a letter to Nanjo Tokimitsu dated April 1, 1278, Nichiren says, “Now in the latter day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor any other sutras lead to enlightment. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo alone can do so.” Is this an accurate translation? What does that mean?
Murano (February 24, 1986)
The Ueno-dono-gohenji, dated April 1, 1278, was a reply to Nanjo Tokimitsu, who had reported to Nichiren on the death of the daughter of Ishikawa. According to the report, she had been ill in bed for a long üme, and chanted the Daimoku on her deathbed. The passage means, “Now is the Age of Degeneration. The chanting of the whole of the Lotus Sutra is no longer of any use in this age. Only the chanting of the Daimoku is helpful to you.
Daily Dharma – Nov. 6, 2017
Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 16
Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month heard the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters announcing their plans to visit the Sahā World, we witness Śākyamuni preparing for the arrival of his replicas.
At that time each of the Buddhas was accompanied by an attendant who was a great Bodhisattva. Some of the Buddhas came under the jeweled trees in the Sahā-World. The jeweled trees were five hundred yojanas tall, and adorned with branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. Under the jeweled trees were lion-like seats five yojanas tall, adorned with great treasures. The Buddhas sat cross-legged on the seats [under the jeweled trees]. The seats [under the jeweled trees] in the [Sahā-World composed of] one thousand million Sumeru-worlds were, however, too few to receive all the Buddhas of Śākyamuni Buddha’s replicas who were to come from the worlds even of one of the ten quarters. [Seeing this,] Śākyamuni Buddha purified two hundred billion nayuta worlds of each of the eight quarters [neighboring the Sahā-World] to receive all the Buddhas of his replicas. The hells, the regions of hungry spirit , the regions of animals, and the regions of asuras [of those worlds] were eliminated; and the gods and men [of those worlds] were removed to other worlds. The ground of those purified world became lapis lazuli. The worlds were adorned with jeweled trees five hundred yojanas tall. The trees were adorned with branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. Under the trees were lion-like seats of treasures five yojanas tall, adorned with various treasures. The great oceans, rivers, the Mucilinda Mountains, the Maha-Mucilinda Mountains, the Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Sumeru Mountains, and all the other great mountains [of those worlds] were eliminated, and all those worlds were amalgamated into one Buddha-world [that is, into the world of Śākyamuni Buddha). The jeweled ground of this [expanded] world was even. Jeweled curtains and canopies adorned with streamers were hung over this [expanded] world; the incense of great treasures, burned; and jeweled flowers of heaven, strewn over the ground.
Śākyamuni Buddha again purified two hundred billion nayuta more worlds of each of the eight quarters [neighboring the expanded world] to seat all the Buddhas of his replicas. The hells, the regions of hungry spirits, the regions of animals, and the regions of asuras [of those worlds] were eliminated; and the gods and men [of those worlds] were removed to other worlds. The ground of those purified worlds became lapis lazuli. The worlds were adorned with jeweled trees five hundred yojanas tall. The trees were adorned with branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. Under the trees were lion-like seats of treasures five yojanas tall, adorned with great treasures. The great oceans, rivers, the Mucilinda Mountains, the Maha-Mucilinda Mountains, the Surrounding lron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Sumeru Mountains, and all the other great mountains [of those worlds] were eliminated, and all those worlds were amalgamated into one Buddha-world [that is, into the world of Śākyamuni Buddha]. The jeweled ground of this [expanded] world was even. Jeweled curtains and canopies adorned with streamers were hung over this [expanded] world; the incense of great treasures, burned; and jeweled flowers of heaven, strewn over the ground.
Triple Purification of the Worlds
Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva wants to see Many-Treasures for himself, and he makes his desire known to Sakyamuni. The Buddha replies:
Many-Treasures Buddha made another great vow: “If any Buddha wishes to show me to the people when my Stupa of treasures appears before him so that I may be able to hear the Lotus Sutra, all his duplicate Buddhas in the worlds of the ten directions must be recalled. Then I will show myself before the people.”
Then Sakyamuni emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows. The ray of light illumined the east, where the people saw innumerable Buddhas of innumerable worlds. Illuminated by the ray of light, those Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions came pouring into the World of Endurance (our world) to make offerings to Sakyamuni Buddha and Many-Treasures Tathagata. At that moment, the World of Endurance was purified. The ground of the world became lapis lazuli; the roads were marked off by golden ropes; all cities, rushing torrents, and mountains (barriers which divide people from each other) were eliminated. Each of the arriving Buddhas was accompanied by an attending Bodhisattva. They all came to the purified World of Endurance, and sat under jeweled trees on lion-like thrones. All the thrones in the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds (inhabited worlds) were too few to accommodate so many Buddhas, so Sakyamuni purified two hundred billion nayuta [one nayuta is one hundred thousand million] other worlds to receive them. Still there was not enough room for them all, so Sakyamuni purified two hundred billion nayuta more worlds in eight directions of space to receive them (p. 183-4).
This is called the “triple purification of the worlds.”
A Window and a Map
The Lotus Sutra provides us with a window to see other possibilities for our lives and it also provides us with a map that we can use to get to those other ways of being.
The Magic City: Studying the Lotus SutraSoul
Pieters (December 15, 1995)
The Buddha denies the existence of a soul. There is no self, ego, Anatman. I encounter the expression “the soul of Nichiren”. Did Nichiren have a soul?
Murano (February 1, 1996)
I think that this expression is a translation of “Nichiren-ga-tamashii”. A soul is thought to be left over after one’s death. According to Buddhism, a soul transmigrates from one to another of the six regions, rambling around the world of birth-and-death. We never say “the soul of the Buddha.” The same should be said of Nichiren. Tamashii is usually translated as “soul,” but “soul” is in more cases a translation of reikon. Yamato-damasii means “the Japanese spirit.” We never say “Yamato-reikon.”
“Mitsugo-notamashii-hyaku-made-mo” means, “The tamashii of a three-year-old child will not change even when it grows one hundred years old.” If you say “mitsugo-no-reikon”, you will make us to think that the child died when he was three years old. A soul is in popular usage not for a living person except a timid soul. “Nichiren ga tamashii” does not mean the soul of Nichiren. It means, “What I, Nichiren, have in mind,” or “My true intention.”
Rei or reikon, meaning soul, is more abusively used in Japanese than in English. When you want to dedicate a new book to the person who is already dead, you write in front page, “To the Memory of.” We write “To the Soul of.” On the monument to the war dead, we write “This monument is dedicated for the purpose of consoling the souls of the war dead,” while you write only “To an Unknown Soldier” at Arlington Cemetery. The name of Reiyukai is beautifully translated as “Spiritual Friends Society,” but the society was primarily organized in the notion of “The Society of Friends of Souls”. There is no word corresponding to the soul in the Lotus Sutra.
Questions and Answers on Nichiren BuddhismDaily Dharma – Nov. 5, 2017
Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā-World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. Like many of the Bodhisattvas, Wonderful-Voice takes on the form of countless beings to reach those whom he has vowed to lead to enlightenment. For those who can be reached by a teacher, he becomes a teacher. For those who can be reached by a child, he becomes a child. For those who can be reached by a stranger, he becomes a stranger. Understanding the innumerable forms the Bodhisattvas take on to help us, we can ask: Who in this world of conflict and suffering is not a Bodhisattva? From whom can we not learn how to see things for what they are?
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 15
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month beheld the Stupa of Treasures, we hear a loud voice from within the Stupa.
Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:
“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”
Thereupon the four kinds of devotees [in the congregation], having seen the great stupa of treasures hanging in the sky, and having heard the voice from within the stupa, had delight in the Dharma, but wondered why these unprecedented things had happened. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together [towards the stupa] respectfully, retired, and stood to one side.
Thereupon a Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas called Great-Eloquence, having noticed that the gods, men and asuras of the world had doubts, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Why did this stupa of treasures spring up from underground? Why was that voice heard from within [the stupa]?”