All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās how all Buddhas employ expedients, we consider the doubts of the great multitude.

The great multitude at that time included Śrāvakas. [They also included] Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, and other Arhats, twelve hundred altogether, who had already eliminated āsravas. [They also included] the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās, [that is, the four kinds of devotees] who had already aspired for Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood. All of them thought:

“Why does the World-Honored One extol so enthusiastically the power of the Buddhas to employ expedients? Why does he say that the Dharma attained by him is profound and difficult to understand, and that the true purpose of his teachings is too difficult for Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas to know? He expounded to us the teaching of emancipation. We obtained this teaching and reached Nirvāṇa. We do not know why he says all this.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, seeing the doubts of the four kinds of devotees, and also because he, himself, did not understand [why the Buddha had said this], said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why do you extol so enthusiastically [what you call] the highest [Truth, and the power of the Buddhas to employ) expedients? [Why do you extol) the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand? I have never heard you say all this before. The four kinds of devotees also have the same doubts. World-Honored One! Explain all this! Why do you extol so enthusiastically the Dharma which [you say] is profound, wonderful, and difficult to understand?”

See The Meaning of Fixedness and Doubt

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.15, 2024

Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. For us who recognize how the Buddha’s teaching transforms our lives and the world, it can be hard to imagine that anyone would reject it. However, there are beings who are so filled with fear and delusion that they mistake the Buddha’s good medicine for poison. While we are committed to leading all beings to enlightenment, we realize that we are not alone in our efforts. The protective deities and the Buddha himself are always working to benefit all beings. In our current capacities, we may not be able to reach everybody immediately. We should not let this discourage us. The least we can do is hope in our hearts for the happiness of all beings, even if they are not accessible to us.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion)

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after the extinction of Sun­-Moon-Light Buddha, we consider the story of Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva.

One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame­-Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sūtras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sūtras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.[1]

“Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you. This good omen we see now is not different from what I saw at that time. Therefore, I think that the Tathagata of today also will expound the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

See Doing Good

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.14, 2024

World-Honored One! The bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās or upāsikās who seek, keep, read, recite and copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], if they wish to study and practice this sūtra, should concentrate their minds [on study and practice] strenuously for three weeks. When they complete [the study and practice of] three weeks, I will mount a white elephant with six tusks, and appear before them with my body which all living beings wish to see, together with innumerable Bodhisattvas surrounding me.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this declaration to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren interprets “the later five hundred years” as the time in which we live today. Universal sage describes the ways in which we can practice this Sūtra. To seek it is to find it in all aspects of our lives. To keep it is to rely on its teachings and have confidence in its ability to lead us to the Buddha’s wisdom. To read and recite it is to continue to remind ourselves and others of the details of the teachings. To copy it is to make it available to others. The merits we gain through these practices allow us to see the world for what it is and be part of making it better for everyone.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered more of what Maitreya sees, we consider the Bodhisattvas seen making offerings to the śarīras of a Buddha.

Mañjuśrī!
Some Bodhisattvas make offerings
To the śarīras of a Buddha
After his extinction.

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Adorning the world of the Buddha
With as many stupa-mausoleums
As there are sands in the River Ganges.

Those stupas of treasures are
Lofty and wonderful.
They are five thousand yojanas high,
And two thousand yojanas wide and deep.

Each of the stupa-mausoleums has
One thousand pairs of banners and streamers.
It also has curtains adorned with gems.
It also has jeweled bells ringing.

Gods, dragons, men, and nonhuman beings
Constantly offer incense, flowers, and music
[To the stupa-mausoleums].

Mañjuśrī!
Those sons of the Buddha
Adorn the stupa-mausoleums
And offer the adornments
To the śarīras [of the Buddha].

See Stupa Worship

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.13, 2024

Today we are not what we were then.
We have obtained
What we did not expect
To obtain
Just as the poor son obtained
The innumerable treasures.

Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana, all disciples of the Buddha, speak these lines in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra as they explain their story of the wayward son. They compare the father’s treasure house in the story to the Buddha’s enlightenment. Until they had been led by the Buddha’s expedient teachings, they could not even imagine themselves as enlightened, any more than the wayward son in the story could imagine the contents of his father’s treasure house.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings considered the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the fourth of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Fourth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra— whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase—they will gain a dauntless attitude, they will become capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves, and they will gain the company of bodhisattvas. The buddha tathāgatas will always attend to such people and will expound the teachings to them. After hearing them, these people will be fully able to accept them, uphold them, and follow them without opposition; they will also, in turn, expound them appropriately to others far and wide. O you of good intent! Such people can be likened to the newborn prince of a king and queen. One day becomes two days, and then seven; one month becomes two months, and then seven; he becomes one year old, and then two, and then seven. Even though he cannot yet govern or administer the affairs of state, he is revered and respected by the people and enjoys the companionship of all great princes. The king and queen constantly give him earnest counsel and shower their affection upon him. Why is this so? It is because he is of tender age and has not yet matured.

O you of good intent! So it is also with one who keeps faith with this sutra. The convergence of the buddhas and this sutra—the union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’—gives birth to this bodhisattva-child. If this bodhisattva can hear this sutra—whether a phrase of it or whether a verse, whether one, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or, like myriad multiples of all the sands of the Ganges River, an infinite number of times—even though he or she will not yet be able to embody its principles and truths to the fullest extent, or be able to make lands in the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds tremble and shake from the rolling thunder of a Brahma voice that turns a great wheel of the Dharma, he or she will have gained the respect and admiration of all of the four kinds of followers and eight kinds of ever-present guardian spirits, will gain the company of great bodhisattvas, and will see deeply into doctrines preserved by the buddhas and be able to speak on them without fault or lack. Because this bodhisattva is just beginning to learn, he or she will always be kept in mind by the buddhas and will be wrapped in their affection. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fourth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: The union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child – capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.12, 2024

When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.

The Buddha gives these instructions in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. They remind us to be patient with those whom we work to benefit. Even though they may not be ready to hear the Wonderful Dharma, we can use the Expedient Teachings to prepare them for the Buddha’s highest teaching. When we are assured that countless beings are helping us all to become enlightened, we are less likely to be disappointed in the progress that we see.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day1: An Ambassador of the Buddhas

Having last month considered beholding Buddhas in each of the 10 directions, we consider

Having attained purification of the six sense faculties, the practitioner’s body and mind become joyful and free of unwholesome elements. Giving full devotion to this method, he or she will be in full accord with the Dharma. The practitioner will also gain a further hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of Dharma-grasping empowerments of interaction and exchange, and he or she will once again perceive a hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of innumerable buddhas far and wide. Each of these World-honored Ones will extend their right hand, gently stroke the practitioner’s head, and say:

“Well done! Well done, Great Vehicle practitioner – you who aspires to the fully composed mind, you who are mindful of the Great Vehicle! When our aspiration for enlightenment was awakened in the past, we all supremely endeavored to never lose sight of it, in the very same manner as you. Because we practiced in accordance with the Great Vehicle throughout previous existences, we have now become the embodiments of purity and full enlightenment. You should also practice diligently now, and do not be remiss!

“These Great Vehicle sutras are the buddhas’ treasury, the essence of past, present, and future buddhas in all of the ten directions, and the seed from which the tathāgatas of the past, present, and future come forth. One who keeps faith with these sutras is an embodiment of a buddha and is one who does a buddha’s work. You should know that such a person is an ambassador of the buddhas, is clothed in the garments of the buddhas, the World-honored Ones, and is a true and genuine Dharma successor of the buddha tathāgatas. Practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle, and do not sever yourself from the seed of Dharma! Now, focus your contemplation on the buddhas of the east!”

When these words are spoken, the practitioner will immediately perceive all of the innumerable worlds in the eastern direction. The lands are as level as the palm of a hand, with neither hills, nor mounds, nor brambles; and the ground is [composed of] lapis lazuli, with boundaries made of gold. Worlds in all directions will be successively perceived as being similar to this.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov.11, 2024

They will expound the Dharma
Already taught by the past Buddhas.
Therefore, they will be fearless
Before the multitude.

The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. By understanding fear, and demonstrating our fearlessness in this world of conflict, we can inspire and bring courage to other beings. One form of fear arises when we believe that we are in a situation that we cannot handle. This is simply a form of arrogance: believing that something is true when in reality we do not know that it is true. When the Buddha assures us who practice this Wonderful Dharma of the certainty of our future enlightenment, we then know how things will turn out. No matter what difficulties we find ourselves in, there are always more choices available to us. Often outcomes that seem horrible at the time can bring us more wisdom and compassion.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com