Chapter XVI is the most important part of the Lotus Sutra for in this chapter is revealed the idea that Buddha is not a person of historical significance. The Buddha is not tied to a physical body who lived and died some twenty-five hundred years ago. The Buddha is not limited to this realm. The Buddha is not the possession of one person only. What is revealed is the eternal nature, the eternally existing, the eternally residing aspect of the Buddha, or as we abbreviate it, the Eternal Buddha. This is not understood in any rational way. It is actually quite unbelievable and, truth be told, logically impossible. Our ever-so-clever minds actually limit our ability to transcend all of this and approach understanding by faith. I believe that understanding the Eternal Buddha is experiential, and that words only talk around the idea. The words in Chapter XVI can lead us to that idea and can help to open the door to understanding by faith because they challenge us to set aside all the rational stuff we are attached to. The words challenge us to, even if for a moment, open ourselves up to connecting with life in a way no book, no computer, no TV show, no sexual experience, or what have you is able to.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraAuthor: John Hughes
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Daily Dharma – June 20, 2016
World-Honored One, know this!
Evil bhikṣus in the defiled world will not know
The teachings that you expounded with expedients
According to the capacities of all living beings.In Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra, innumerable Bodhisattvas sing these verses before the Buddha from whom they had come to hear the Wonderful Dharma. They realized that due to their attachment and delusions, beings in this world would see us who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra as the source of their unhappiness. When we uphold the Buddha’s teaching, and know the true purpose of that teaching, we can see even those beings who cause great harm as opportunities for all of us to become enlightened rather than enemies that we must destroy.
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 24
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Of all the merits – eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind – the good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sutra will be able to obtain, it’s the merits of the nose that I’d love to have.
Seriously. Just imagine:
He will be able to know by smell
Whether an unborn child is a boy or a girl,
Or a child of ambiguous sex,
Or the embryo of a nonhuman being.He will be able to know by smell
Whether a woman is an expectant mother,
Or whether she will give an easy birth
To a happy child or not.He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.He will be able to know by smell
The values of various necklaces,
And the deposits of their materials,
And also to locate the necklaces [ when they are lost].Back to the serious merits next month.
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Father’s Day, 2016
Hand-carved rubber stamp and Father’s Day card created by my son, Richard
The back of the stamped card
Stamp is glued to surplus USB charger
Some time last night or early this morning I awoke long enough to recognize that my son was walking out of my bedroom. Not expected but not surprising. I went back to sleep and awoke when my alarm went off at 5:30am.This is a Sunday in which my local temple, the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church, is not holding services. As an alternative, I planned to participate in the online service hosted by Rev. Ryusho Jeffus from Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, Charlotte, NC.
On these alternative Sundays, I rise early enough to do my recitation of the Lotus Sutra (32 Days of the Lotus Sutra) and then set up my computer in front of my altar and “attend” the Charlotte service, which is scheduled to begin at 7 am my time.
It was after the Charlotte service was over at 8:30 am that my wife came out and asked me what “that thing” was on my bedside table.
And that’s how I received the hand-carved rubber stamp mounted on a surplus USB charger and a personalized Father’s Day card.
This is not the first Buddhist-themed Father’s Day artwork. In 2010, my son offered this Human Revolution-themed framed drawing.
Having an artistic son, I have quite a collection of framed Father’s Day artwork. One of my favorites is this 2007 drawing, which I have on my home-office wall.
Father’s Day, 2007 It is now after 10:30 am and my son is still sleeping. I’m promised a Father’s Day breakfast. When I do get to eat, I’ll ask my son where he got the idea to use the Nichiren Shu logo for the stamp. I was really surprised by both the gift and the thoughtfulness it represents.
I have the stamp and the card on my altar for now.
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Studying the Lotus Sutra
![From Ryusho Shonin's blog post: "In both of my art pieces for [Chapter 4] I used translucent layers in a variety of ways. The idea was to show how even though our appearance or behavior at times seems to not be that of the Buddha or of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, underneath however because of our practice we are changing. Underlying the outward appearance is the emerging manifestation of Enlightenment.](https://www.500yojanas.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ryusho-LS-illustration.jpg)
From Ryusho Shonin’s blog post: “In both of my art pieces for [Chapter 4] I used translucent layers in a variety of ways. The idea was to show how even though our appearance or behavior at times seems to not be that of the Buddha or of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, underneath however because of our practice we are changing. Underlying the outward appearance is the emerging manifestation of Enlightenment.“ This blog post was originally published Feb. 15, 2016. Since I need a place in which to track Ryusho Shonin‘s Lotus Sutra project, I’m going to periodically update this blog post and re-date it so that it appears in the Blog queue in its most recent position.
Last updated, June 19, 2016:
I’m excited about Ryusho Shonin‘s new project in which he will examine one chapter of the Lotus Sutra each month.
In my daily reading of 1/32nd of the Lotus Sutra – eight scrolls, each divided into four parts – I’m writing down a summary of what I read and what on each day’s reading stands out or seems new or remarkable.
One aspect of Ryusho Shonin’s writing that I have loved in all of his books is his focus on bringing the Lotus Sutra to life. As he explains in this new project:
“[T]his is not a retelling of the Lotus Sutra as it appears on paper in books. We are not replacing someone else’s words with your own in this study; it isn’t paraphrasing. I hope doing this will reveal to you the Lotus Sutra as it has manifested in your life, your life activities, your life experiences. This is not an exercise of expressing your agreement with the ideas or concepts in the Lotus Sutra. I invite you on a journey into what the Lotus Sutra would look like if you told it from your life.”
My daily retelling of what I read lacks this, and I’ve felt that dissatisfaction on occasion. I can see in “The Story of the Lotus Sutra of Your Life” great potential for me and for my understanding and, most important, for my appreciation of the Lotus Sutra in my daily life.
Illustration from Ryusho Shonin’s The Lotus Sutra of Your Life - The Story of the Lotus Sutra of Your Life
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 1: Leading Up to the Opening of Your Lotus Sutra
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 2: Who Was In Your Assembly?
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 3: The Event
- Introductory Chapter 1 Part 4: Conclusion
- Chapter 2 Part 1: Inexplicable by Words
- Chapter 2 Part 2: Even Children in Their Play
- Chapter 3, Part 1, The Greatest Joy
- Chapter 3, Part 2, Peaceful as the Sea
- Chapter 3, Part 3, Rejoice
- Chapter 4, Part 1, Never Had Before
- Chapter 4, Part 2, Treasury of the Buddha Law
- Chapter 5, Part 1, If They Have Not Yet Done So
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Daily Dharma – June 19, 2016
The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound and copy even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and offer flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments and music to a copy of this sūtra, or just join their hands together respectfully towards it, should be respected by all the people of the world.
The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. The notion of respect appears in many parts of this Sūtra. These lines tell us that we should be respected by people of the world, even though sometimes we are not. It is more important for us to respect each other, and everyone who practices the Wonderful Dharma in any way. It is also important that we respect ourselves, knowing that we are working for the benefit of all beings.
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.
Last month, I focused on, as Maitreya asks, “How many merits will be given to a good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?”
This month I’m going to skip the lesson of the 50th person who rejoices and jump to the opening of the next chapter, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Constant-Endeavor BodhisattvaMahasattva:
“The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind. They will be able to adorn and purify their six sense-organs with these merits.
The Daily Dharma for June 4, 2016, offered this on these verses:
The Buddha gives this teaching in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another reminder that the practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not take us out of the world of conflict we live in. Instead, it helps us to use the senses we have, in ways we did not think were possible, to see the world for what it is. Merits in this sense are not status symbols. They are an indication of clarity, of our faculties not being impeded by anything that blocks their capacity.
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 – June 18, 2016
World-Honored One! I have never seen anyone like you before. Your teachings have these inconceivable, wonderful merits. The practices performed according to your teachings and precepts are peaceful and pleasant. From today on, I will not act according to my own mind. I will not have wrong views, arrogance, anger or any other evil thought.
King Wonderful-Adornment makes this declaration to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The king had been led to this Buddha by his sons, who showed him the wonders they learned from their practice of the Buddha Dharma. With his mind purified by hearing the Buddha’s teachings, he makes this aspiration to behave differently. Whether or not he can keep this aspiration, he shows his realization that hearing the teachings is not enough. Practicing them means changing our minds and how we live.
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.
This chapter ends with this summary of the variety of merits enjoyed by anyone who understands, however briefly, the ever-present nature of the Buddha:
Anyone who not only understands
This sutra by faith
But also keeps, reads and recites
And copies it, or causes others to copy it,
And strews flowers, incense,
And incense powder to a copy of it,
And lights lamps of the perfumed oil
Of sumanas, campaka, and atimuktaka
Around the copy of this sutra
And offers the light thus produced to it,
Will be able lo obtain inumerable merits.
His merits will be as limitless as the sky.Needless to say, so will be the merits of the person
Who keeps this sutra, gives alms, observes the precepts,
Practices patience, prefers dhyana-concentrations,
And does not get angry or speak ill of others.Anyone who respects the stupa-mausoleum,
Who is modest before bhiksus,
Who gives up self-conceit,
Who always thinks of wisdom,
Who does not get angry when asked questions,
And who expounds the Dharma
According to the capacities of the questioners,
Will be able to obtain innumerable merits.When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.You should think
“He will go to the place of enlightenment before long.
He will be free from asravas and free from causality.
He will benefit all gods and men.”Erect a stupa in the place
Where he expounded even a gatha of this sutra
While he was standing,
Walking, sitting or reclining!
Adorn the stupa beautifully,
And make various offerings to it!He is my son.
I will accept his place as mine.
I will be there.
l will walk, sit or recline there.Note the Buddha’s attitude toward teachers of the Dharma. As noted in the Daily Dharma from May 9, 2015:
It is important for us to treat all people, especially those who share this practice of the Buddha Dharma with us, with the same respect we would give to the Buddha himself.
