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 the wisdom of the Buddha, we consider how all Buddhas employ expedients.

(He said to Śāriputra again:)
I have already attained
The profound and wonderful Dharma,
The Dharma without āsravas, the inconceivable Dharma.
It is known only to me
And to the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.

Śāriputra, know this!
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
Have great power of faith
In the Dharma expounded by the Buddhas!
As a rule, the World-Honored Ones expound the true teaching
Only after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings].

(He said to the Śrāvakas
And to those who were seeking the vehicle of cause-knowers:)
I saved all living beings
From the bonds of suffering,
And caused them to attain Nirvāṇa.
I showed to them
The teaching of the Three Vehicles as an expedient
In order to save them from various attachments.

See The Opening of the Three Vehicles to Reveal the One Vehicle

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 12, 2024

This is indeed inexplicable yet precious. If Devadatta does not become a Buddha, the numerous evil people who were induced by him to enter into his evil comradeship would never be able to escape the torment of the Hell of Incessant Suffering. It is solely due to the great favor of the Lotus Sutra that all of Devadatta’s comrades, too, are allowed to be Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō). Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha who was jealous of the Buddha’s accomplishments. He tried to set those who followed the Buddha against each other, and even tried several times to kill the Buddha. In the Lotus Sūtra, even Devadatta is assured of becoming a Buddha, opening the path of enlightenment even to those as perverse and deluded as him. When we learn to see even those who cause great harm as being capable of becoming enlightened, then it changes not only how we treat them, but how we see the world.

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 that Sun-Moon-Light Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, we consider how Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after the extinction of Sun­-Moon-Light Buddha.

“At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Virtue-Store. Sun­-Moon-Light Buddha assured him of his future Buddhahood. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Pure-Body, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha.’

“Having assured him of his future Buddhahood, the Buddha then entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder at midnight. After his extinction, Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and expounded it to men for eighty small kalpas. The eight sons of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha became his disciples. He taught them and caused them to resolve to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and then attained the enlightenment of the Buddha [one after another]. The son who became a Buddha last was called Burning-Light.

See Shaking Up Conventional Hierarchies

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 11, 2024

Have faith in the great Mandala Gohonzon, the most superlative in the world. Endeavor! Endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of all Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Omandala Gohonzon, the Buddhas will provide more protection for us. Another way to read it is that as our faith develops, so does the power we have to protect others, free them from suffering and help them to awaken their Buddha nature. Either way, Nichiren shows us the practical results of our faith.

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

Blog, LS32

A Century of the Lotus Sutra in a Decade


I began using the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England’s Myoho Renge Kyo Romanized as my morning service in March of 2015. Each morning I would recite that day’s portion of the Lotus Sutra in Shindoku. After 32 days, the cycle starts again.

On Sept. 14, 2015, I added to my evening practice reading aloud in English the same portion of the Lotus Sutra that I had recited in Shindoku in the morning. I would then post a short comment on the day’s reading. That was day-1-1. The next day was day-2-1 and then day-3-1 until reaching day-32-1. When the cycle restarted on Oct. 16, 2015, that was day-1-2.

Today I have reached day-1-100.

This is my 10th year of practicing Nichiren Shu Buddhism in this manner. I believe I have received a great benefit from having read the Lotus Sutra daily, but the familiarity has bred a laziness. I find my mind wandering as I recite the words. I can go minutes and suddenly realize I don’t recall what I just read.

I am planning on changing my practice next year. I’ll have more details on my plans as the New Year approaches.

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the activities of Bodhisattvas observed by Maitreya, we consider more of what Maitreya sees.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering delicious food and drink
And hundreds of kinds of medicines
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer garments and beautiful robes
Worth tens of millions
Or beyond monetary value
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer thousands of billions
Of jeweled houses made of candana
And wonderful bedding
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer pure gardens and forests
Abounding in flowers and fruits,
And furnished with rivers, springs,
and pools for bathing,
To the Buddha and the Saṃgha.

I see those Bodhisattvas
Making offerings of those wonderful things
Joyfully and untiringly
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

Some Bodhisattvas expound
The truth of tranquil extinction,
And with various expedients,
Teach innumerable living beings.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Who attained the following truth:
“The nature of things is not dual.
It is [formless] like the sky.”

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Having no attachment in their minds.
They seek unsurpassed enlightenment
With this wonderful wisdom.

See Higan: The Art of Giving

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 10, 2024

The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.

The Buddha speaks these verses in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are his assurance to us as those who follow and practice the Lotus Sūtra that we are firmly on the path to enlightenment, no matter what challenges we find in the world.

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 second of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra, we consider the third of the 10 beneficial effects of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Third, 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 awareness of hundreds of millions of myriads of meanings. Then, even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.

A person with great strength can bear and carry all manner of heavy things. So it is also with people who keep faith with this sutra: they can shoulder the great responsibilities of ultimate enlightenment, and they can carry living beings away from the path of recurring births and deaths. They are capable of ferrying others even though they still cannot ferry themselves. Suppose a ship’s captain is rendered immobile by a serious affliction and must therefore remain on shore. But he has a fine, reliable vessel that is always equipped with everything needed to ferry others, which he makes available and on which they embark. So it is also with those who keep faith with this sutra: while enduring the circumstances of living in the five conditions of existence—the whole of their being constantly beset by one hundred and eight serious afflictions, one after another— they remain on this shore of ignorance, aging, and death. But they have this fine, reliable, all-ferrying sutra, equipped with infinite meanings, that is able to rescue living beings: those who practice it22 as expounded will attain deliverance from the cycle of births and deaths. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the third beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: Even though they have delusive worldly passions, it will be as if their delusive passions do not exist. They will not feel that taking birth or experiencing death are things that need to be feared; they will give rise to a mind of compassion for all living beings; and they will come to have a dauntless attitude with regard to all things.

Blog

QuizWithIt

I’ve been exploring the website QuizWithIt, which allows you to create quizzes from various sources. You can even have the resident AI create the questions and answers from the material you supply.

Here is the AI-produced quiz generated after digesting the Lotus Sutra. Please take this four question quiz. My discussion follows below.

Did you get question No. 4 correct? I must admit that I was taken aback by the “correct” answer, but there’s a case to be made that “the primary speaker in the Lotus Sutra” is the Eternal Śākyamuni revealed in Chapter 16. In the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage, we learn:

“Śākyamuni Buddha is Vairocana – the One Who Is Present in All Places. Where this buddha abides is called Perpetual Tranquil Light, where perpetuity is perfectly achieved, where the perfect truth of self is constituted, where perfect purity casts off the aspects of existence, where perfect happiness is no longer a characteristic that occupies body and mind, where phenomena are no longer perceived as having or not having aspects, where likewise there is serene liberation as well as perfect wisdom.

Since there’s no way to quiz the AI about its choices, we’ll never know why it said the primary speaker is Vairocana.

Interestingly, I got two-out-of-four odd answers when I offered the AI the annotated version of the Lotus Sutra to digest. One AI generated question:

Who is the author of the Annotated Lotus Sutra?

Answer: Kumarajiva

Another questionable answer was offered to the AI-generated question:

Which chapter of the Lotus Sutra emphasizes the concept of skillful means?

The AI offered choices of Chapter 1 through 4 and marked Chapters 3 and 4 the correct answers. Answering Chapter 2, Expedients, would be considered wrong.

If you are interested in creating web-based quizzes that can be embedded in websites, check out QuizWithIt.

QuizWithIt describes itself as “a team of scientists, developers, and media specialists who are passionate about bringing knowledge to the world. This website and app is a spin-off of ‘Science without the gobbledygook,’ a widely popular YouTube channel produced by Sabine Hossenfelder, who also oversees this project.”

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 9, 2024

If anyone keeps, reads, recites, expounds and copies even a gāthā of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and respects a copy of this sūtra just as he respects me…or just joins his hands together respectfully towards it, Medicine-King, know this, that person should be considered to have appeared in the world of men out of their compassion towards all living beings.

The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. We might believe that everything happens by chance, or that we were sent into this life by someone who is testing us. This Sūtra awakens us to our existence as Bodhisattvas who asked to be born in this world of suffering out of our vow to benefit all beings.

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