Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p230“Seeing the exceedingly powerful father, the poor son was frightened. He regretted that he had come there.
The li of the “father” is able to suppress the son’s emotion: it has “great Power.” What he was afraid of, the suppression of emotion, is what fear symbolizes. The subtle triggering-mechanism for embracing the Greater (Vehicle) actively contacted (“struck”) the Sage: he “had seen his father.” But his feelings deluded and blinded his mind, being still unable to receive “the Greater”; he “regrettcd having come to that place.”
He thought, ‘Is he a king or someone like a king? This is not the place where I can get something by labor.
The subtle triggering-mechanism for the “Greater” [Vehicle] was not yet manifest. [Therefore the Buddha] set forth a wide variety of (provisionary) expressions.
I had better go to a village of the poor, where I can work to get food and clothing easily.
The three spheres are “poor villages.” Practicing the five precepts and the good virtues, and seeking the pleasure of men and gods (devas) are “easy to obtain.”
If I stay here any longer, I shall be forced to work.’ Having thought this, the poor son ran away.
By “staying long,” he certainly would be made to practice the path of the Greater. By being caused to practice the path of the Greater, he would certainly have to work for the sake of [other] beings. One who works for the sake of [other] beings does not [ascribe] the merit to himself (“me”). One who does not [ascribe] the merit to himself (“me”) is made to see [the Greater] and is “coerced,” [this is] what “others [are coerced to] work” means, which is [the antithesis] of “I [may be coerced to] work.” He has thus quickly “run off” to the antithesis of worldly pleasure, where the calamities have quickly stopped.
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Vajra Sutra: The Protocols of Begging
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p30-31The Buddha took his bowl and entered the great city of Sravasti to beg for food. Members of the sangha beg for food in order to give living beings an opportunity to plant seeds in the field of blessings. Because living beings did not know about going before the Triple Jewel to plant blessings, the sangha members went to the living beings by entering the cities and begging from door to door, neither bypassing the poor to beg from the rich, nor bypassing the rich to beg from the poor, unlike Subhūti who exclusively begged from the wealthy.
The Buddha reprimanded his two disciples Subhūti and Great Kāśyapa for their manner of begging. First he scolded Subhūti for thinking, “Wealthy people have money because in former lives they fostered merit and virtue. If I don’t beg from them and give them the opportunity to plant further blessings, then next life they will be poor. They will not continue to be wealthy and honored.” So Subhūti only begged from the rich. However, wealthy people eat good food. Although he said it was to help them plant blessings so they could continue to be wealthy in future lives, I believe that in actuality Subhūti liked to eat good food and that is why he begged from the rich. That is what I say, but perhaps Subhūti was not like the rest of us, who constantly think about eating well. It is true that he wanted to help them continue their blessings.
Second, the Buddha scolded Great Kāśyapa because, in his arduous practice of asceticism, he not only ate just one meal a day, but he begged only from the poor. His thought was, “These people are poor because in former lives they did not foster merit and virtue. They did not do good deeds when they had money, and so in this life they are poor. I will help them out of their predicament by enabling them to plant blessings before the Triple Jewel so next life they will be wealthy and honored.” The poorer the house, the more he begged there, even to the point that the poor people took the food out of their own bowls in order to have an offering for him. I believe that because Patriarch Kāśyapa cultivated asceticism he wanted to undergo suffering, and did not want to eat good things. He knew how people with money eat, and did not want to eat well himself. There is a Chinese proverb which says:
To be sparing with clothing increases life.
To be sparing with food increases blessings.Great Kāśyapa was one hundred twenty years old when he took refuge with the Buddha. Life after life he had been frugal, and in this life, because he did not like to eat rich food, he only begged from the poor, just the opposite of Subhūti. Both of those methods are extreme, and not in accord with the Middle Way, and it is for this reason that the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says that the Buddha scolded them and called them Arhats.
The Buddha was equitable in his begging and did not favor rich or poor. His disciple Ananda followed his example and practiced equal compassion. “Ananda already knew that the Tathagata, the World Honored One, had admonished Subhūti and the Great Kāśyapa as Arhats whose minds were not equable.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 26, 2025
The person who keeps Myōhō Renge Kyō is superior to any other living being.
Tao-sheng: The External Mark of the Dharma Laid Bare
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p229At that time the poor son, who had worked at various places as a day worker, happened to come to the house of his father. Standing by the gate of the house, he saw his father in the distance.
He practiced good [deeds] in his past stations of life in order to obtain worldly pleasures; he “hired himself out as a laborer.” But in reality what he received was not good. Therefore he followed his past conditions: he “reached his father’s house.” The discourse of the Greater Vehicle is “the father’s house.” The place where he is made to appear is the “gate.” His original conditions would have made him enter [the gate], but his emotion led him not to do so. Therefore he hesitated at the side of it.
His father was sitting on a lion-like seat, putting his feet on a jeweled footstool.
Their past conditions enabled them to see the intent of what was said of the Greater Vehicle: they “saw in the distance [their] father.” li as the Dharma-body (-kāya) [can] place itself [anywhere] fearlessly (or securely) [abhaya]: [it isl “seated on a lion throne.” He had his feet resting always in the unconditioned (wu-wei); he had his “feet resting on a jeweled footstool.”
Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and householders surrounded him respectfully.
All these gods (devas) hold in themselves pride and arrogance, but they all serve [the Buddha] as their master, because [his] li has subjugated them.
He was adorned with a necklace of pearls worth ten million.
There is not any form [of him] that is not Dharma; hence, his bodies are adorned with the Dharma-treasures.
The secretaries and servants were standing on either side of him, holding insect-sweepers [in their hands] made of white hairs.
Like the “hands” of faith holding the teaching, they held the dusters of wisdom free from depravities, which are meant to “attend on their left and right” and brush off dust and stupidity.
He was exhibiting treasures and engaging in trade.
[The Buddha] had the external mark of the Dharma laid bare, making sure that they obtained it. They obtained it, and so the doctrine became their property: it was “given and received.”
Vajra Sutra: Countering Greed, Anger and Stupidity
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p38-39“How does one conquer greed, anger, and stupidity?” One counters them with morality, concentration and wisdom.
Greed, anger and stupidity are morality, concentration and wisdom, and vice versa. It is a matter of how one uses them. For example, one can use money to buy marijuana and get high, or he can use the money to help someone else. Relieving someone else’s suffering is a far better use of money than selfishly smoking marijuana. It is the same money; only the use differs.
So it is with greed, anger and stupidity; morality, concentration and wisdom. When one understands how to use them, they are morality, concentration and wisdom; when one is so deluded that one cannot make them function, they are greed, anger and stupidity. Ice does not differ from water, and water does not differ from ice. Just as water is ice and ice is water, so too afflictions are Bodhi and Bodhi is afflictions. Bodhi and afflictions are not two. If one cannot use it, Bodhi changes to afflictions; if one can, afflictions become Bodhi. However,
What is spoken is dharma.
What is practiced is the Way;
Even if you speak extremely well,
With no real practice, there is no real Way.One must actually go and do it. One must honestly, truly, rely on the Buddhadharma and cultivate.
Relentlessly cultivating morality, concentration and wisdom, and putting to rest greed, anger and stupidity, are the means to subdue the mind. When one subdues the false mind, the true mind eternally dwells as a matter of course. The “eternally dwelling true mind, clear nature, bright substance” results from putting to rest the false mind, which allows the true mind to manifest.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 25, 2025
I expound only to people of profound wisdom
Myōhō Renge Kyō
Because men of little wisdom would doubt Myōhō Renge Kyō,
And not understand Myōhō Renge Kyō even if they heard Myōhō Renge Kyō.
No Śrāvaka
Or Pratyekabuddha
Can understand
Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Tao-sheng: Bequeathing the Treasure of the Unexcelled Dharma
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p228“The poor son, having wandered from town to town, from country to country, from village to village, came to the city where his father was living.
Past conditions led [him] toward the city where “his father” was staying: li is [what is to be] “reached. ”
The father had been thinking of him for more than fifty years since he had lost him, but never told others [that he had a missing son]. He was alone, pining for his son.
Compassion [arose in the Buddha], thinking they might go astray from li. Yet the “sons,” after receiving the teaching, were lost and immersed in the five forms of existence: this is [the meaning of] “fifty years. ”
[never told others] This means that [the Buddha] never mentioned to others that the two vehicles would achieve Buddhahood. The Buddha’s Great Benevolence was originally aimed at uprooting the suffering [of others], but as they enjoyed birth and death, the true transformative teaching was then turned backward. Here arose the necessity for the exigency of the three. The three [were presented] in accord with the subtle state of their (beings’) minds, and thereafter he would be able to produce the One for them.
[The Buddha] regretted that the earlier transformative teaching was not intensive, with the result that they (beings) returned to delusion and transmigration (saṃsāra). Entirely out of compassion he devised all-round, [provisionary] expressions.
He thought, ‘I am old and decrepit. I have many treasures. My storehouses are filled with gold, silver, and other treasures. But I have no son [other than the missing one]. When I die, my treasures will be scattered and lost. I have no one to transfer my treasures to. Therefore, I am always yearning for my son.’ The father thought again, ‘If I can find my son and give him my treasures, I shall be happy and peaceful, and have nothing more to worry about.’
[The words] old and decrepit refer to [the Buddha’s] last stage of incarnation. [The statement] we have no son means that [the Buddha] has not yet said that the two vehicles will attain to the Buddhahood. [The Buddha] worries that there is nobody to whom to bequeath the treasure of the unexcelled Dharma.
Vajra Sutra: The Meaning of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra, p38Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi is a Sanskrit word which means “unsurpassed, proper and equal, right enlightenment.” The term is not translated because it is an honorific designation for the ultimate fruit, that of Buddhahood. Anuttara means “unsurpassed.” Samyak is translated as “proper and equal,” and saṃbodhi means “right enlightenment.” Right enlightenment is testified to by those of the two vehicles, and it is what differentiates them from common unenlightened people. The proper and equal enlightenment of the Bodhisattvas differs from the right enlightenment of the two vehicles in that those who have it have testified to an enlightenment equal to the Buddha’s. It is, however, still not the unsurpassed enlightenment. Once they have testified to proper and equal enlightenment, Bodhisattvas are called “surpassed lords.” The Buddha is known as the “unsurpassed lord,” because there is nothing above him. The Dharma Masters of great virtue who translated sutras in the past retained the original Sanskrit name of the Buddha’s position, and Dharma Masters who followed them honored the decision in their own translations.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for April 24, 2025
“Mañjuśrī! Myōhō Renge Kyō is the treasury of the hidden core of the Buddhas, of the Tathāgatas. Myōhō Renge Kyō is superior to all the other sūtras. I kept Myōhō Renge Kyō [in secret] and refrained from expounding Myōhō Renge Kyō for the long night. Now I expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to you today for the first time.”
Tao-sheng: The Father and His Son
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p225-228Suppose there lived a man [in a certain country]. When he was a little boy, he ran away from his father.
The first paragraph, which explains what father and son stand for. Formerly when they as bodhisattvas received the transformative teaching, the li of teaching was the One. The One came from the Buddha; it was the “son,” and the Buddha is identical with the “father.” The process of teaching began like that: it was “young in years.”
The process of the transformative teaching began very early, not yet bearing fruit. He returned to the depth of worldly delusion, and delusion rode [over] the right path. All [the achievements of] the transformative teaching also were gone. This is the implication of “forsaking his father and running off.”
[The boy] lived in another country for a long time, say, for ten, twenty or fifty years.
The self-soness (tzu-jan) of the transformation of sphere is “native land.” The perversion of the [cycle of] birth and death (saṃsāra) is “another country.” It was a long period of departure from the transformative teaching and he stayed there as a human [in saṃsāra]”: he “dwelt” [there].
[The word] five [of fifty or five tens] refers to the five forms of existence. [The word] ten means “dwelling long.” It is not definite; hence, or.
As time passed by, he became poorer [reduced to destitution]. He wandered about all [four] directions, seeking food and clothing.
It is a long time since he abandoned the transformative teaching; he “grew old.” He stumbled in [the cycle of] birth and death”; he was “reduced to destitution.”
He wandered through all the five forms of existence; no place was left unvisited: he “ran about in all four directions.” Growing old, he sought after the joy of the Greater [Vehicle] and that of [the] parables; being in the state of destitution, he sought after the joy of the Lesser [Vehicle].
“While wandering here and there, he happened [gradually] to walk towards his home country.
One does not suddenly receive the retribution of delusion: it is “gradual.” He was advancing gradually toward a nonoriginal place: he was [in the state of] “wandering.” Responding to the force of the transformative teaching, he went back toward enlightenment; he “[happened” to head gradually toward his native land.” He was led by unseen conditions to come [back], but it was not what he intended; hence, happened.
At that time his father stayed [midway] in a city [of that country]. He had been vainly looking for his son ever since.
The second paragraph demonstrates that he (the father) was incarnated as the Buddha in order to preach the doctrine of the three vehicles. The Buddha, having transformed himself and accumulated [meritorious] deeds, had always wanted to seek his sons who might have fallen into [the cycle of] birth and death. This ended badly, as [the Buddha was left] “without finding” them. His sons, having yielded to past conditions (pratyaya) [which were] bound to reach them [soon], had become attached to the pleasure of birth and death and had developed emotional inclinations of a direction different from those they had originally had. Their “father,” in responding to them, condescended to become a Buddha. The trace stopped short of reaching the real: it “stopped midway.” The li of the One Vehicle can ward off what is wrong; it is the “city.” [All beings from] the ten directions have converged on the transformative teaching: [in that sense] they are “one.”
He was now very rich. He had innumerable treasures. His storehouses [treasure houses] were filled [to overflowing] with gold, silver, lapis lazuli, coral, amber and crystal.
Even though he is the Buddha in human form, li encompasses all dharmas. This means that it is rich with the treasure of the dharmas, which is inexhaustible.
The seven sacred treasures cannot be spied on [for stealing]: they are “[in] treasure houses.” li surpasses words: it is “filled to overflowing.”
He had many servants, clerks, and secretaries. He also had countless elephants, horses, carts [carriages], cows, and sheep.
The heretics (tīrthikas) are “attendants”‘ the devils (māras) are “servants.” They are destined to return and follow the transformative teaching: this is what attendants and servants imply. The bodhisattvas are “assistants,” helping spread the right transformative teaching. The voice hearers are “officers,” warding off and restricting the false and wrong. The multitudinous beings in the three spheres are “vassals”; the Buddha is the king who controls them. Elephants and horses, oxen and sheep refer to the meritorious virtues of the three vehicles and “five supernatural powers.” As for carriage, it means that li penetrates everywhere.
He invested his money [profits that flowed in and out] in all the other countries, and earned interest. He dealt with many merchants [and traders] and customers.
The transformative teaching is what “out” refers to. Out of the transformative teaching they went: hence, “the profits that flowed.” “The profits,” belonging to the transformed throughout the five forms of existence, “filled other countries.”
The bodhisattvas received the Dharma to transform [all beings in] the ten directions: they are “merchants and traders.”