The first noble truth of suffering is that we are bound to meet with trouble, pain, and disappointment in Life. This suffering includes all minor and major forms of discomfort and pain, whether physical, mental, or emotional. The Buddha specifically spoke of the suffering resulting from major changes such as birth, old age, sickness, and death, as well as the suffering that comes from loss, frustrated desires, unwanted situations, and the basic, changing nature of life. The truth of suffering teaches us to recognize these facts courageously.
Lotus SeedsAll posts by John Hughes
Daily Dharma – Dec. 12, 2016
All of you, wise men!
Have no doubts about this!
Remove your doubts, have no more!
My words are true, not false.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. If we come to the Buddha, attached to our delusions and fearful of the potential for peace and joy we all have within us, it is easy to doubt what he says. We have been suffering a long time. Like the children playing in the burning house, we are so caught up in the drama and insanity of our world that we cannot imagine any other way to live. When the Buddha warns us of how dangerous it is to continue as we are, we are more certain of our familiar pain than of his enlightenment. When we trust the Buddha Dharma, and cultivate our potential to create unimaginable benefit in this world, then we realize the pettiness of the crises we create for ourselves. We awaken our curiosity and gratitude and learn to see this beautiful world for what it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 7
Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
Having last month covered the teaching for the unsurpassed enlightenment equal to that of the Buddha, we come to those who rejoice at hearing this sutra.
I am the King of the Dharma.
I expound the Dharma without hindrance.
I appeared in this world
In order to give peace to all living beings.Sariputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.
Do not propagate it carelessly
At the place where you are!Anyone who rejoices at hearing this sutra,
And who receives it respectfully,
Know this, has already reached
The stage of avaivartika.Anyone who believes and receives this sutra
Should be considered
To have already seen the past Buddhas,
Respected them, made offerings to them,
And heard the Dharma from them
In his previous existence.Anyone who believes what you expound
Should be considered
To have already seen all of us,
That is, you and me,
And the Sangha of bhiksus,
And the Bodhisattvas.I expound only to people of profound wisdom
This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma Because men of little wisdom would doubt this sutra,
And not understand it even if they heard it.
No Sravaka
Or Pratyekabuddha
Can understand
This sutra.Even you, Sariputra,
Have understood this sutra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Sravakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sutra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.
Only by faith.
Daily Dharma – Dec. 11, 2016
The written words of the Lotus Sutra express in a visible and tangible form the Brahma’s voice of the Buddha, which is invisible and intangible, so that we can see and read them with our eyes. The Buddha’s pure and immaculate voice, which had disappeared, is resuscitated in the form of written characters for the benefit of humankind.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, Wooden Statues or Portraits (Mokue Nizō Kaigen no Koto). Living in this world, 2500 years after the Buddha Śākyamuni walked the Earth, it is difficult to hear his voice leading us to enlightenment and encouraging us to let go of our attachments. In the Lotus S̄ūtra we have an instrument for creating the Buddha’s voice in our own time. This is his highest teaching. It brings all beings to liberation, whether they are clever or dull, stupid or wise, focused or distracted. It reminds us of our true nature as Bodhisattvas who chose this life out of our determination to benefit all beings. It shows us how to transform the poison of suffering into the medicine of compassion, and the poison of ignorance into the medicine of wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 6
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month compared the Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas with the children who cherished the sheep carts, the deer carts and the bullock carts, it’s time to consider why the father gave all of the children the large bullock carts.
Sariputra! Seeing that all his children had come out of the burning house safely and reached a carefree place, the rich man remembered that he had immeasurable wealth. So without partiality, he gave them each a large cart. I am also a father, the father of all living beings. Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvana, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathagata.’
To those who have left the triple world, I will give the dhyanaconcentrations and emancipations of the Buddhas for their pleasure. These things are of the same nature and of the same species. These things are extolled by the saints because these things bring the purest and most wonderful pleasure.
Sariputra! The rich man persuaded his children to come out at first by promising them the gifts of the three kinds of carts. But the carts which he gave them later were the largest and most comfortable carts adorned with treasures. In spite of this, the rich man was not accused of falsehood. Neither am I. I led all living beings at first with the teaching of the Three Vehicles. Now I will save them by the Great Vehicle only. Why is that? It is because, if I had given them the teaching of the Great Vehicle at first directly from my store of the Dharma in which my immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness are housed, they would not have received all of the Dharma. Sariputra! Therefore, know this! The Buddhas divide the One Buddha-Vehicle into three by their power to employ expedients.
Underscore I am also a father, the father of all living beings. Seeing that many hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings have come out of the painful, fearful and rough road of the triple world through the gate of the teachings of the Buddha, and obtained the pleasure of Nirvana, I thought, ‘I have the store of the Dharma in which the immeasurable wisdom, powers and fearlessness of the Buddhas are housed. These living beings are all my children. I will give them the Great Vehicle. I will not cause them to attain extinction by their own ways. I will cause them to attain the extinction of the Tathagata.’
The Heart and Essence of the Lotus Sutra
Myoho is the translation of the Sanskrit term Saddharma. … Sad or sat of Saddharma corresponds to the first syllable Myo of Myoho and indicates truth. Saddharma, therefore, signifies the true or correct Dharma. Sad also denotes completeness, being perfectly endowed and comprehensive. Myo further possesses the meaning of unparalleled, mystical, impossible to perceive (with our six senses), as well as impossible to fathom (by ordinary human beings), marvelous and wonderful. Nichiren Shonin pointed out that while Myoho Renge Kyo is the heart and essence of the Lotus Sutra, the word Myo in itself is extremely rich and profound in meaning.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
Daily Dharma – Dec. 10, 2016
Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This Chapter is the first time he reveals himself as the Ever-Present Buddha who became enlightened in the far distant past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment into the far distant future. The Buddha uses the death of his physical body as an expedient so that those who take him for granted will make efforts to practice his teachings. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, then we learn to see the Buddha in ourselves and all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 5
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month concluded Day 5, I return to the beginning of Chapter 3, A Parable.
Thereupon Sariputra, who felt like dancing with joy, stood up, joined his hands together, looked up at the honorable face, and said to the Buddha:
Hearing this truthful voice of yours, I feel like dancing [with joy].
Whenever I read the opening of Chapter 3 I’m always reminded of Rev. Ryusho Jeffus’ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:
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 Śāriputra has this feeling of joy so much that he felt like dancing.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra
As a postscript I feel a need to confess only now realizing that for 10 months or so I’ve been copying and pasting the first line of Day 5 and repeating the error Day 5 begins Chapter 5, A Parable. I’ve gone back and changed all of the Chapter 5s to Chapter 3.
Daily Dharma – Dec. 9, 2016
True practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We may take this to mean that we should not listen to anything that others tell us and dogmatically adhere to a fixed teaching. Another interpretation involves learning to see the world as the Buddha does. Where people often speak from their own delusion and selfish desires, the Buddha speaks only to lead us to his enlightenment and help us to remove our attachments. When we look for the Buddha in all parts of our lives, we can learn to appreciate anything we hear from anybody as teaching us to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 4
Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month covered the affirmation of the one vehicle it is time to consider the Buddha’s vow.
I do not deceive
Those who believe me and rely on me.
I am not greedy or jealous
Because I have eliminated all evils.
Therefore, in the worlds of the ten quarters,
I am fearless.I am adorned with the physical marks of a Buddha.
I am illumining the world with my light.
To the countless living beings who honor me,
I will expound
The seal of the truth, that is, the reality of all things.Know this, Sariputra!
I once vowed that I would cause
All living beings to become
Exactly as I am.That old vow of mine
Has now been fulfilled.
I lead all living beings
Into the Way to Buddhahood.
The Daily Dharma from Nov. 15, 2016, offers this on the final two stanzas:
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. Earlier in the chapter he explained that all the teachings he used before the Lotus Sūtra were mere expedients, intended to use our desire for happiness to bring us out of our suffering and onto the path of enlightenment. The expedient teachings were tailored to the ignorant and deluded minds of those who heard them, but had not yet revealed the true wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. Now that we have met this Wonderful Dharma, we are assured of our enlightenment and that of all beings. We learn to see innumerable Buddhas in limitless worlds through unimaginable time, and our own true selves at the heart of reality. The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com