In our decision to dedicate ourselves, we entrust our very life and take refuge within the enlightened world of the Lotus Sutra. Namu, therefore, signifies that as we take shelter in the Buddha, we are embracing every aspect of the Buddha’s compassion, wisdom and enlightened life. On the other hand, it also indicates that in order to achieve this, we choose, then strive, to live our lives in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the Buddha, as his good son, daughter and student.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge KyoAuthor: John Hughes
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Daily Dharma – Nov. 10, 2016
Knowing that people wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle,
And that they are afraid of having the great wisdom,
[My sons, that is,] the Bodhisattvas transform themselves
Into Śrāvakas or cause-knowers,
And teach the people with innumerable expedients.The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eight of the Lotus S̄ūtra. Our fear of the Buddha’s wisdom comes from the attachment we have to our delusions. At some level we know that we are suffering, but we believe that anything different from how we live now will be worse. There are times when someone who seems to share our delusions can help us move away from them. But then as an actor becomes so absorbed in a role that he forgets his real life, those who choose a life in this world of conflict can forget their existence as Bodhisattvas who have vowed to benefit all beings. This Wonderful Dharma reminds us of this vow and helps us appreciate those who are still bound by delusion and what we can learn from them.
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 7
Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
From the vehicle salesman, to “Father knows Best,” to the meaning of freedom.
[I said:]
To those who have little wisdom,
And who are deeply attached to sensual desires,
The Buddhas expound the truth that all is suffering.
Those [who hear this truth]
Will have the greatest joy that they have ever had.
The statement of the Buddhas that all is suffering
Is true, not false.
To those who are ignorant
Of the cause of all sufferings,
And who are too deeply attached
To the cause of suffering
To give it up even for a moment,
The Buddhas expound
The [eight right] ways as expedients.The cause of suffering is greed.
When greed is eliminated,
There is nothing to be attached to.
The extinction of suffering
Is called the third truth.
In order to attain this extinction,
The [eight right] ways must be practiced.
Freedom from the bonds of suffering[,]
[That is, from illusions] is called emancipation.”From what illusions can one be emancipated, however, [By the practice of the eight right ways]?
He can be emancipated only from unreal things
[That is, from the five desires] thereby.
He cannot be emancipated from all illusions.
The Buddhas say
That he has not yet attained
The true extinction
Because he has not yet attained
Unsurpassed enlightenment.
I also do not think that I have led him
To the [true] extinction thereby.Eliminating illusions is not the end. We seek unsurpassed enlightenment equal to that of the Buddha.
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Daily Dharma – Nov. 9, 2016
Anyone, be he a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha or a Bodhisattva, who believes this sūtra expounded by these sixteen Bodhisattvas, keeps it, and does not slander it, will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, the wisdom of the Tathāgata.
The Buddha makes this promise to all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This promise is for all of us who practice the Buddha Dharma. When we live firmly assured that the Buddha’s unsurpassed enlightenment is available to us even within all the suffering in this world of conflict, then we have the clarity to truly benefit ourselves and others.
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 6
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Last month, I covered Sakyamuni’s explanation of why expedients are needed. And the explanation of who used the expedient teachings to get out of the triple world:
Sariputra! Those who have intelligence, who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, and who seek Nirvana with strenuous efforts in order to get out of the triple world, are called Sravakas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the sheep-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who seek the self-originating wisdom with strenuous efforts, who wish to have good tranquility in seclusion, and who perfectly understand the causes of all things, are called Pratyeka-buddhas. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the deer-carts. Those who receive the Dharma by faith after hearing it from the Buddha, from the World-Honored One, who strenuously seek the knowledge of all things, the wisdom of the Buddha, the self-originating wisdom, the wisdom to be obtained without teachers, and the insight and powers and fearlessness of the Tathagata, who give peace to innumerable living beings out of their compassion towards them, and who benefit gods and men, that is to say, who save all living beings, are called men of the Great Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are called Mahasattvas because they seek this vehicle. They may be likened to the children who left the burning house in order to get the bullock-carts.
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A Change in Our Surroundings
When we mistakenly place our happiness on the fulfillment of desires then we will always repeat the cycle of sufferings. If however we can begin to change ourselves in a fundamental way, if we change our outlook, if we change our very core of life, then slowly but surely the environment in which we live begins to change. It is not just our perception but our true self that changes which then influences the change in our surroundings.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1
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Daily Dharma – Nov. 8, 2016
Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to expound
The meanings of the teachings,
And the names and words [of this sūtra].
Their eloquence will be as boundless
And as unhindered as the wind in the sky.The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. This teaching transforms us from beings who exist for our own comfort and awakens our true nature as Bodhisattvas: beings who exist for the benefit of all beings. This transition requires that we engage with these other beings and break out of the isolation of our own attachments. The first step is simply to listen, to be present and accept whatever the world has to offer. But at some point we need to speak. It can be difficult to know what to say. But with this Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, we find that because it embodies the Buddha’s highest wisdom, so long as we transmit what it has taught us, we will always have ways to use it to benefit other beings and bring this teaching to life in our 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 5
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month covered the celebration that followed Sariputra being assured of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, it is time now to ask the question that apparently is on everyone’s mind:
Thereupon Sariputra said to the Buddha:
World-Honored One! Now my doubts are gone. You assured me of my future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. These twelve hundred people now have freedom of mind. When they had something more to learn, [that is to say, when they had not yet completed their study for Arhatship,] you taught them, saying, ‘My teaching is for the purpose of causing you to emancipate yourselves from birth, old age, disease, and death, and to attain Nirvana.’ The [two thousand] people, including those who have something more to learn and those who have nothing more to learn, also think that they attained Nirvana because they emancipated themselves from such a view as ‘I exist,’ or ‘I shall exist forever,’ or ‘I shall cease to exist.’ But [both the twelve hundred people and the two thousand people] are now quite perplexed because they have heard from you [the Dharma] which they had never heard before. World-Honored One! In order to cause the four kinds of devotees to remove their doubts, explain why you said all this to them!
And with that we set the stage for the Buddha to explain A Parable.
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Devotion to All of Life
The Lotus Sutra is more than a theoretical teaching to ponder. It is a teaching that repeatedly both demonstrates action as well as instructs each practitioner to engage in action. The formula that Nichiren gave us is the action of Namu based upon Myoho Renge Kyo. It isn’t simply a devotion to the Lotus Sutra. It is a devotion to all of life from the Lotus Sutra manifest in our individual actions.
Physician’s Good Medicine
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Daily Dharma – Nov. 7, 2016
Accordingly, the prayer said by the practicer of the Lotus Sutra will inevitably be fulfilled just as a sound is echoed, just as a shadow follows the body, the moon reflects upon the clear water, a water nymph invites the water, a magnet attracts iron, amber eliminates dust, and a clear mirror reflects the color of everything.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō). When we are truly practicing this Wonderful Dharma, our desires and prayers are for the benefit of all beings, rather than expressions of our self-absorbed attachment and delusion. When we see things for what they are, then we are in harmony with all beings, and will find them helping us and themselves to reach what we all truly desire.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com