Perhaps it is the reality of our modern advertisement saturated media that has led many to believe that only after buying and using every product known to man, after every single penny is spent that has ever been earned in the entire history of man- and womankind then and only then will somehow perfection and happiness be possible. Somehow by doing something so unlikely to produce indestructible happiness as buying a product is more realistic than the realization that each one of us is already all we need to be. We are as complete as we need to be in order to become indestructibly happy. All we need to do is simply wake up to this reality in our lives, and the Buddha is telling us that the Lotus Sutra is the most efficacious way of doing this.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraAll posts by John Hughes
Daily Dharma – May 12, 2017
Expound it
To those who make efforts,
Who have compassion towards others,
And who do not spare their lives!
The Buddha sings these verses to all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. These are instructions for us to know who will benefit from the Wonderful Dharma. It is difficult for those who are absorbed in their own suffering to realize the benefit of helping others. It is difficult for those who are distracted by their preoccupations, or who do not believe they can become enlightened, to maintain their efforts to lead all beings to enlightenment. These insights also help us keep our minds open to the Buddha’s teachings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 30
Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs
Having last month heard the dharani spells of World-Holding Heavenly-King, we come to the rākṣasas and the Mother of Devils.
There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings. These ten rākṣasas [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously:
“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”
Then they uttered spells before the Buddha:
“Ideibi (1), ideibin (2), ideibi (3), adeibi ( 4), ideibi (5), deibi (6), deibi (7), deibi (8), deibi (9), deibi (10), rokei (11), rokei (12), rokei (13), rokei (14), takei (15), takei (16), takei (17), tokei (18), tokei (19).”
Whenever I get to this stopping point, I like to resurrect the drawing of the 10 rākṣasas from Lotus World.
The Sanctuary of the Sangha
[Within the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha], the Sangha is the Buddhist community, consisting or both clergy and lay people who support and encourage us in establishing a life devoted to following the Buddha and the Dharma. The Sangha provides us with a community that enables us to reach out to the larger community of all beings. Without the Sangha, we are like a plant lacking firm roots that can easily be swept away by a storm. The way of the truly compassionate person is the way of engagement with one’s fellow beings. The Lotus Sutra teaches us that our awakening depends upon the awakening of all other beings around us. The Sangha is the community in which we grow in our own practice by supporting each other.
Lotus SeedsDaily Dharma – May 11, 2017
You, the World-Honored One, are the light of wisdom.
Hearing from you
That we are assured of our future Buddhahood,
We are as joyful as if we were sprinkled with nectar.
These verses are sung by two thousand of the Buddha’s disciples in Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sūtra. When these followers of the Buddha were told that they would become as enlightened as he was, then many others like them realized that they too had this capacity. The superiority of the Lotus Sūtra lies not in having better explanations of what the Buddha taught, or in some supernatural ability it has to change the world. The superiority of the Lotus Sūtra is its completeness. It leads all beings to the joy of enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 29
Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.
Having last month skipped ahead to discuss the light of World-Voice-Perceiver, we return to how World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva goes about this Sahā-World.
Endless-Intent Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! How does World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva go about this Sahā-World? How does he expound the Dharma to the living beings? What expedients does he employ?”
The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva:
“Good man! In a certain world, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha. He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha. He takes the shape of a Śrāvaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Śrāvaka. He takes the shape of King Brahman and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by King Brahman. He takes the shape of King Sakra and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by King Śakra. He takes the shape of Freedom God and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by Freedom God. He takes the shape of Great-Freedom God and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by Great-Freedom God. He takes the shape of a great general in heaven and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a great general in heaven. He takes the shape of Vaiśravaṇa and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by Vaiśravaṇa. He takes the shape of the king of a small country and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by the king of a small country. He takes the shape of a rich man and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a rich man. He takes the shape of a householder and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a householder. He takes the shape of a prime minister and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a prime minister. He takes the shape of a brahmana and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a brahmana. He takes the shape of a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā or an upāsikā and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā or an upāsikā. He takes the shape of a wife and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by the wife of a rich man, of a householder, of a prime minister, or of a brahmana. He takes the shape of a boy or a girl and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a boy or a girl. He takes the shape of a god, a dragon, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by one or another of these living beings. He takes the shape of Vajra-Holding God and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by Vajra-Holding God.
During the last two cycles through the Lotus Sūtra I’ve been creating a Microsoft Word copy of the sūtra broken out by the 32 days. During this second cycle through this process I’ve been adding the diacritical marks such as the ū in Sūtra. It was while searching and replacing Day 29 that I noticed sūtra doesn’t appear anywhere in this chapter, let alone Lotus Sūtra. “World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha,” but maybe not the Lotus Sūtra. Curious.
Daily Dharma – May 10, 2017
The “mutual possession of ten realms” doctrine is as difficult to maintain as it is to see fire in a rock or flowers in wood. However it is not totally impossible because rocks spark when struck together and a tree blooms in spring. It is most difficult to believe that the realm of Buddhas is contained in the realm of humans because it is like saying that fire is in water or water in fire.
Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). “Mutual Expression of Ten Realms” is one of the more difficult ideas from the Chinese Master T’ien-t’ai. Nichiren uses it to illustrate what the Buddha teaches in the Lotus Sūtra: that Buddha nature is contained within all beings. Even though this idea is difficult, we can see it in the transformations of everyday objects we encounter: rocks, fire, flowers and trees. With his similes, Nichiren reminds us that with the Lotus Sūtra as our guide, we can see the Buddha Dharma in all aspects of our lives.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 28
Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month witnessed Śākyamuni Buddha illumining one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds, we now meet Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World.
At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World. He had already planted roots of virtue a long time ago. He had already made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and attended on them. He had already obtained profound wisdom. He had already obtained hundreds of thousands of billions of great samadhis, that is, as many great samadhis as there are sands in the River Ganges, such as the samadhi as wonderful as the banner of a general, the samadhi for the traveling of the king of the stars, the samadhi for freedom from causality, the samadhi for the seal of wisdom, the samadhi by which one could understand the words of all living beings, the samadhi by which one could collect all merits, the samadhi for purity, the samadhi for exhibiting supernatural powers, the samadhi for the torch of wisdom, the samadhi for the Adornment-King, the samadhi for pure light, the samadhi for pure store, the samadhi for special teachings, and the samadhi for the revolution of the sun.
And I pause here to consider what this bodhisattva had already accomplished.
Greatest Joy of All Joys
Nichiren Shonin stated in the Ongi Kuden (Oral Teachings) that “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the greatest joy of all joys” and further taught us in the lssho Jobutsu Sho ( On Attaining Buddha hood), “Whether you chant the Buddha’s name, recite the Sutra or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous efforts will implant benefit and good fortune into your life. With this conviction, you should put your faith into practice.” Here, the Buddha’s name is that of the Eternal Buddha of the 16th chapter (Juryo) of the Lotus Sutra: Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge KyoDaily Dharma – May 9, 2017
If a person born a commoner states that he is equal to a samurai, he is bound to be punished. If he states that he is equal to or superior to the king, it is not only he himself but also his parents, wife, and children who are bound to be punished. If those who believe that some other sutra is the same as or superior to the Lotus Sutra according to what they believe without knowing the comparative superiority of the sutras, they are happy because their sutras are being praised. However, it will be a crime of slandering the True Dharma, for which priests and their disciples, as well as their lay followers, will all go to hell as speedily as a flying arrow. On the contrary, to say that the Lotus Sutra is superior to all other sutras is no crime at all. Instead it will be an act of great merit because it is so stated in the sutras.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). In other writings, Nichiren explains that the superiority of the Lotus Sutra is not due to some inherent magical power it has to get us what we want. The superiority of the Lotus Sutra comes from its embodiment of the Buddha’s highest teaching, the revelation of his Ever-Present existence, and the ability of the Lotus Sūtra to lead all beings to enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com