All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan.18, 2024

The Bodhisattva-mahāsattva also should know the following truth. All things are insubstantial. They are as they are. Things are not perverted. They do not move. They do not go. They do not turn. They have nothing substantial just as the sky has not. They are inexplicable. They are not born. They do not appear. They do not rise. They are nameless. They are formless. They have no property. They are immeasurable and limitless. They have no obstacle or hindrance. He should see all this. Things can exist only by dependent origination. Only perverted people say, ‘Things are permanent and pleasant.’ This truth is the second thing he should approach.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. The Buddha does not see the world as we do. This section explains how changing our view changes the world. When we no longer see beings with power to overwhelm us, and see beings in whom delusions have been created, we see our abilities to cut the root of those delusions and benefit them. These passages are what make the Lotus Sutra difficult to believe and understand, since they go against our habits of manipulating the world to become happy. As we learn to work with our minds, then we truly change the world.

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

LS32

Day 6

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 6 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 3, A Parable, we return to the top and consider the carts the children received from their father.

“The children rode in the large carts, and had the greatest joy that they had ever had because they had never expected to get them. Śāriputra! What do you think of this? Do you think that the rich man was guilty of falsehood when he gave his children the large carts of treasures?”
Śāriputra said:

“No, World-Honored One! He saved his children from the fire and caused them to survive. [Even if he had not given them anything,] he should not have been accused of falsehood because the children should be considered to have already been given the toys [they had wished to have] when they survived. He saved them from the burning house with the expedient. World-Honored One! Even if he had not given them the smallest cart, he should not have been accused of falsehood because he thought at first, ‘I will cause them to get out with an expedient.’ Because of this, he should not. Needless to say, he was not guilty of falsehood when he remembered his immeasurable wealth and gave them the large carts in order to benefit them.”

See Many Paths Within the Great Path

Dollarhide Senji-Shō, mappō

Knowing the Time: The Decision Between Truth and Falsehood

In the Senji—shō Nichiren reviewed the history of the spread of Buddhism after the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, and reaffirmed once again his often repeated conviction that the Age of the Last Law was the most significant period since the death of the Buddha for the propagation of the Lotus Sūtra. Since his age (Age of the Last Law) was the fifth of the five five hundred year periods, Nichiren thought a conflict would take place between the True Buddhism and what he called heretical Buddhism. He stated in the Senji—shō that the persecutions he suffered and the national calamities which the nation experienced were indications of the crisis when the decision between the truth and falsehood, between the one who was a messenger for the Buddha (himself) and his opponents must be decided. In other words, Nichiren saw the crisis facing Japan as the period just prior to the establishment of the True Buddhism, which would flourish during the Age of the Last Law.

Nichiren looked back in the Senji-shō at the persecutions he had to suffer over the years, and examined the prediction he made in order to demonstrate that he had been given the sacred mission, as the messenger of the Buddha, to establish Japan as the center from which the true Buddhism would spread throughout the world.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p24
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan.17, 2024

Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions. Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.

The Buddha declares these lines to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Why is it worse to criticize someone who is even beginning to practice the Wonderful Dharma than it is to criticize the Buddha who is fully enlightened? It is like the difference between kicking a full-grown tree and kicking a young sapling. The Buddha knows how to handle criticism. One who has just started with the Buddha Dharma could be discouraged from this practice through criticism. We should encourage anyone who wants to practice with us.

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

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 5 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 3, A Parable, we return to the start and consider Śāriputra’s reaction to the Buddha’s teaching.

Thereupon Śāriputra, who felt like dancing with joy, stood up, joined his hands together, looked up at the honorable face, and said to the Buddha:
“Hearing this truthful voice of yours, I feel like dancing [with joy]. I have never felt like this before. Why is that? We [Śrāvakas and the Bodhisattvas] heard this Dharma before. [At that time] we saw that the Bodhisattvas were assured of their future Buddhahood, but not that we were. We deeply regretted that we were not given the immeasurable insight of the Tathāgata.

“World-Honored One! I sat alone under a tree or walked about mountains and forests, thinking, ‘We [and the Bodhisattvas] entered the same world of the Dharma. Why does the Tathāgata save us only by the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle?’

“Now I understand that the fault was on our side, not on yours, because if we had waited for your expounding of the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, we would have been saved by the Great Vehicle. When we heard your first teaching, we did not know that that teaching was an expedient one expounded according to our capacities. Therefore, we believed and received that teaching at once, thought it over, and attained the enlightenment [to be attained by that teaching].

“World-Honored One! I reproached myself day and night [after I saw that the Bodhisattvas were assured of their future Buddhahood]. Now I have heard from you the Dharma that I had never heard before. I have removed all my doubts. I am now calm and peaceful in body and mind. Today I have realized that I am your son, that I was born from your mouth, that I was born in [the world of] the Dharma, and that I have obtained the Dharma of the Buddha.”

The Daily Dharma offers this:

Hearing this truthful voice of yours, I feel like dancing [with joy]. I have never felt like this before. Why is that? We [Śrāvakas and the Bodhisattvas] heard this Dharma before. [At that time] we saw that the Bodhisattvas were assured of their future Buddhahood, but not that we were. We deeply regretted that we were not given the immeasurable insight of the Tathāgata.

The Buddha’s disciple Śāriputra makes this proclamation to the Buddha in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha had just explained that everything he taught before the Lotus Sūtra was not his true enlightenment; it was preparation for receiving his highest teaching. Śāriputra, the wisest of the Buddha’s disciples, understood immediately that he would be able to do far more than end his own suffering. He would eventually become a Buddha himself. Those gathered were also overjoyed, knowing that Śākyamuni was not the only Buddha they would meet. This ties together the Buddha’s insight that when we are assured of our enlightenment, we are able to meet innumerable enlightened beings.

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

Dollarhide Senji-Shō, mappō

Knowing the Time: The Pure Land

The Pure Land for Nichiren was not a world situated at some far place, but a spiritual realm which would be realized on this earth whenever the Lotus Sutra was preached to the people of the Age of the Last Law. Whenever humanity returned to the faith and followed the Buddha’s teaching as found in the Lotus Sūtra, then, Nichiren believed, would come the end of the Age of the Last Law.

Nichiren began his public teaching by calling for the restoration of Tendai Buddhism as the basis for national salvation in the Age of the Last Law. Three times he approached the government and twice he was rebuked and exiled. He saw his mission as staying in the world during the Age of the Last Law in order to transform the world into the true Buddha Land.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p19
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Jan.16, 2024

Have faith in the Great Mandala Gohonzon, the Most Venerable One in the entire world. Earnestly endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of many treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the Universe. Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning. Without practice and learning Buddhism will cease to exist. Endeavor yourself and cause others to take up these two ways of practice and learning, which stem from faith. If possible, please spread even a word or phrase of the sutra to others.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō about the nature of reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Great Mandala 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

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered why the Buddha expounded expedient teachings, we consider how previous Buddhas expounded expedient teachings.

The great multitude present here
Shall remove their doubts.
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
There is only one vehicle, not a second.

The number of the Buddhas who passed away
During the past innumerable kalpas was
Hundreds of thousands of billions,
Uncountable.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The truth of the reality of all things
With various stories of previous lives, parables and similes,
That is to say, with innumerable expedients.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The teaching of the One Vehicle,
And led innumerable living beings [with expedients]
Into the Way to Buddhahood.

All those Great Saintly Masters
Who knew the deep desires
Of the gods, men, and other living beings
Of all the worlds,
Revealed the Highest Truth
With various expedients.

See The Path of the Buddha

Dollarhide Senji-Shō, mappō

Knowing the Time: Living The Lotus Sutra

At Sado, Nichiren began to make distinctions between the traditional Tendai manner of reading the Lotus Sūtra and his interpretation of the scripture. The traditional Tendai teaching divided the scripture into two parts: the first fourteen chapters were called shakumon (realm of trace) and were thought to reveal the unity of the teaching (one vehicle doctrine), and the second fourteen chapters were called homon, the true teaching.

Nichiren divided the Lotus Sūtra into three sections, which overlapped the traditional Tendai two-part division of the text. According to Nichiren, in Chapters Ten to Twenty-two, the third section, the practice of the bodhisattva was stressed. Nichiren considered Chapter Sixteen, “Revelation of the (Eternal) Life of the Tathāgata” the most important chapter of the text, since the eternity of the Buddha was shown to be clarified and understood through the continual, eternal practice of the bodhisattva, and this eternal life of the Tathāgata could be perceived through the practice of the bodhisattva. In this third section the bodhisattva was seen often as a martyr who must suffer for the sake of the truth. For instance, in Chapter Thirteen, “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” and Chapter Twenty, “The Bodhisattva Never-Despise,” it is stated that bodhisattvas will suffer and die in order to propagate the Lotus Sūtra.

Nichiren argued that Chih-i and Saichō understood the Lotus Sūtra only theoretically and hence only as a provisional teaching, but that he, Nichiren, understood the scripture factually in that he was living the text through his suffering and hardships as predicted in the text itself.

Nichiren's Senji-Shō, p17-18
Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – Jan.15, 2024

For example, in building a huge tower, a scaffold is assembled from many small pieces of wood set up ten or twenty feet high. Then, using this scaffold, the huge tower is built with lumber. Once the tower is completed, the scaffold is dismantled. The scaffold here represents all Buddhist scriptures other than the Lotus Sutra, and the Great Tower is the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by “discarding the expedient.” A pagoda is built by using a scaffold, but no one worships a scaffold without a pagoda.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). In this simile, Nichiren compares the Buddha’s expedient teachings to the Wonderful Dharma he provides in the Lotus Sūtra.

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