The Buddha had a cousin named Devadatta. He was jealous of the Buddha’s fame, and he desired to take over the Buddha’s community. He tried to assassinate the Buddha many times, but always failed. In the end, he died by falling into a valley. Afterwards, the Buddha thought back on his cousin’s behavior and said, “He always caused me trouble, but if he had not, I would not have attained enlightenment by now. He was my teacher. He will be reborn as a Buddha in the future.” Learning is enlightening. Please keep a modest attitude in order to learn, and to become an Enlightened One.
Spring WritingsAuthor: John Hughes
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Daily Dharma – April 3, 2017
Thereupon Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Why does Medicine-King Bodhisattva walk about this Sahā-World? World-Honored One! This Medicine-King Bodhisattva will have to practice hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of austerities in this world.
This excerpt is from Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sutra. Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva is aware of the difficulties that Medicine-King or any other Bodhisattva will encounter while living in this world of conflict (Sahā) and asks the Buddha why this Bodhisattva would give up the pleasures of the higher realms to which he is entitled. The Buddha then tells the story of Medicine-King’s previous life, in which he gave up many attachments, including the attachment to his own body. These stories of Bodhisattvas are reminders of our own capacities, and that no matter what difficulties we face in our lives, our determination to benefit all beings, our certainty of enlightenment, and the help we receive from other beings will lead us to overcome any problems.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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Day 23
Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month concluded the merits of the 50th person who rejoices at hearing the Lotus Sutra in gathas, we conclude the Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra.
Anyone who persuades even a single person
To hear the Sutra of the Lotus Flower
Of the Wonderful Dharma, saying:
“This sutra is profound and wonderful.
It is difficult to meet it
Even during ten million kalpas,”
And causes him to go and hear it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:In his future lives, he will have no disease of the mouth.
His teeth will not be few, yellow or black.
His lips will not be thick, shrunk or broken.
There will be nothing loathsome [on his lips].
His tongue will not be dry, black or short.
His nose will be high, long and straight.
His forehead will be broad and even.
His face will be handsome.
All people will wish to see him.
His breath will not be foul.
The fragrance of the utpala-flowers
Will always be emitted from his mouth.Anyone who visits a monastery to hear
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
And rejoices at hearing it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:He will be reborn among gods and men.
He will be able to go up to the palace of heaven,
Riding in a wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart,
Or in a palanquin of wonderful treasures.Anyone who persuades others to sit and hear this sutra
In the place where the Dharma is expounded,
Will be able to obtain the seat of Sakra or of Brahman
Or of a wheel-turning-holy-king by his merits.
Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sutra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.Another promise to add to my list of reasons why I rejoice in hearing the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
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Study Fun
As I think back on my first exposure to the Lotus Sutra, what really fascinated me was not the parables. It was the treasure tower, the bodhisattvas from beneath the ground and all of that part. It wasn’t until much later when I became aware of the many parables in the Lotus Sutra. I guess you could say that I only had a casual relationship with the Lotus Sutra when I began practicing. I could chalk it up to being young, enamored of the drama, lazy, and probably some others that 45 or so years have blurred.
I will say in my defense there wasn’t a lot of easily available English literature. It is partly that which is motivating me to write this. I would like for others to share in the joy I experience in practicing the Lotus Sutra. One way to do that is to try to make the Lotus Sutra more approachable to readers, I believe the Lotus Sutra can be fun to study.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra
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Daily Dharma – April 2, 2017
Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror,
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this] Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we encounter other beings in this world of conflict, we tend to filter our experience through our expectation. If it is a friend, we expect them to care about us and treat us well; an enemy, to harm us and treat us badly; a stranger, we compare them to other beings like them and expect them to be the same. When we use the Buddha Dharma to look for the complexity of all beings, and look for how we can bring out their ability to benefit and protect others, then we reflect back to them their true natures, rather than the clouds of their delusions.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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Day 22
Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.
Having last month covered the opening of the chapter, we come to the gathas and the benefits of hearing of the longevity of the Buddha:
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and sang in gathas:
You expounded a rare teaching.
I have never heard it before.
You have great powers.
The duration of your life is immeasurable.Having heard from you that they were given
The various benefits of the Dharma,
The innumerable sons of yours
Were filled with joy.Some of them reached the stage of irrevocability.
Some obtained dharanis, or eloquence without hindrance,
Or the all-holding formulas
For memorizing billions of repetitions of teachings.Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The irrevocable wheel of the Dharma.Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The wheel of the pure Dharma.Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of attaining the enlightenment of the Buddha
After eight rebirths.Bodhisattvas numbering four times or three times or twice
The number of the particles of earth of the four continents
Obtained the faculty of becoming Buddhas
After four, three or two rebirths respectfully.Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of the four continents obtained
The faculty of attaining the knowledge of all things
immediately after this life.Having heard of your longevity,
They obtained these effects and rewards,
Pure, immeasurable, and without asravas.
Having heard from you
Of the duration of your life,
Living beings as many as the particles of earth
Of eight Sumeru-worlds
Aspired for unsurpassed [enlightenment].In reading this chapter it occurred to me that I want someday to write down all of the effects and rewards I have earned with my faith in the Lotus Sutra.
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Freedom and Selflessness
The ideal of the Middle Way is to live a life of harmony and equilibrium, free of self-centeredness and awkward self-consciousness. Following the Middle Way, we avoid fanaticism, fundamentalism, or legalism, and act with genuine insight and compassion in every situation. Ultimately, every aspect of our lives becomes an expression of the freedom and selflessness enjoyed by the Buddha.
Lotus Seeds
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Daily Dharma – April 1, 2017
When he keeps this sūtra, He will be able to reach a rare stage. He will be joyfully loved and respected By all living beings.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He describes those who put this sūtra in their lives, and dedicate their existence to liberating all beings from ignorance and delusion. When the Buddha became enlightened, he realized all beings can become enlightened. When we work for the benefit of all beings, we find the Buddha’s mind and bring harmony into our lives and the world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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Day 21
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month considered the expedients of the Eternal Buddha, we come to his purpose.
“Good men! All the sutras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sutras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sutras]. I showed my replicas [in some sutras,] and my transformations [in other sutras]. I described my deeds [in some sutras,] and the deeds of others [in other sutras]. All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which l do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly. The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. l have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asamkya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.
The Daily Dharma from July 19,2016, offers this:
All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which I do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly.
The Buddha makes this revelation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, he has just explained that although beings see him as a man who became enlightened after growing up as a crown prince, in reality he has been enlightened since an unimaginable amount of time in the past, and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment for twice that period of time into the future. As we learn to see the historical Śākyamuni Buddha as the ever-present Śākyamuni Buddha, our vision of the world changes too.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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Daily Dharma – March 31, 2017
T’ien’tai, therefore, makes clear that all things and phenomena in the ten realms are manifestations of the ultimate reality. Since ultimate reality is another name of the Lotus Sutra, what he states is that all things and phenomena are equal to the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). This was another way of Nichiren expressing his understanding that the Buddha’s highest wisdom is not something that takes us out of this world, but is found within the everyday experiences of our lives. Even the realms of anger, greed, fear, hostility, calm and pleasure are part of the Buddha’s pure land. The practice of the Wonderful Dharma is not to escape from these difficult places, but to use them to benefit all beings. To be caught up in them is to be deluded about their evanescent nature. To see them for what they are is to know the joy of enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com