All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma, d7b

Daily Dharma – May 14, 2023

Expound it to clever people
Who have profound wisdom,
Who hear much,
Who remember well,
And who seek
The enlightenment of the Buddha!

The Buddha sings these verses to all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Much of this teaching is about how we see things as opposed to how certain we are of what we see. When we believe that those whom we wish to benefit are stupid, lazy and incompetent, then it surely will be difficult to help them. But when we realize the Buddha nature within all beings, then we can see them as wise and compassionate despite the obstacles they face.

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

LS32

Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Day 29 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the question posed by Endless-Intent Bodhisattva, we consider examples of World-Voice-Perceiver’s protection.

“If anyone calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is about to be killed, the sword or stick raised against him will suddenly break asunder, and he will be saved. If as many yakṣas and rākṣasas as to fill one thousand million Sumeru worlds hear a person call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when they come to him with the intention of killing him, those devils will not be able even to see him with their malicious eyes, and needless to say, kill him. If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things [in which he is bound up] will break asunder, and he will be saved. Suppose the chief of a party of merchants is leading his party carrying invaluable treasures along a dangerous road haunted by as many bandits as to fill one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and suppose one of the members of the party says [to others], ‘Good men! Do not be afraid! Call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva with all your hearts! This Bodhisattva gives fearlessness to all living beings. If you call his name, you will be saved from [the attacks of] these bandits.’ If the other members of the party hear this and say simultaneously, ‘Namas to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva,’ all of them will be saved because of their calling of his name. Endless-Intent! The supernatural powers of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva-mahāsattva are as great as previously stated.

“Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Endless-Intent! World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva has these great supernatural powers. He gives many benefits to all living beings. Therefore, they should constantly think of him.

The Daily Dharma from Jan. 2, 2023, offers this:

Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.

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

Petzold Nichiren

A Doctrine Independent of Tendai

In accordance with the division of the Hoke-kyō into Shakumon and hommon, the Nichiren Sect distinguishes two lines of transmission of the teaching, external and internal. The external transmission is the line of teachers in India, China and Japan who expounded the doctrine of the Lotus Sūtra. These are:

  • Śākyamuni Buddha and Yakuō Bosatsu (Medicine King) from India
  • Tendai Daishi from China
  • Dengyō Daishi and Nichiren Dai Bosatsu from Japan

The internal transmission is the line of those who understood the truth of the Original Doctrine or hommon. These are Śākyamuni Buddha, Jogyō Bosatsu, Nichiren Dai-Bosatsu. …

Jōgyō Bosatsu (Viśiṣṭacāritra Bodhisattva), with his innumerable followers issued from the gaps of the earth, appears prominently in Chapter XV and XXI and is ordered by Śākyamuni in preference to all other Bodhisattvas, to propagate after his decease the most perfect teaching. Therefore, Nichiren not only regards Jōgyō Bosatsu as the proper transmitter of the hommon of the Hoke-kyō, but considers himself as a reincarnation of the Bodhisattva. Nichiren found his life in perfect harmony with Śākyamuni’s prophecy that Jōgyō Bosatsu would reappear and propagate the hommon teaching in the Mappō time.

It is clear from this that though the outer form of the doctrine depends on the Tendai School, the internal transmission, considered more correct, is entirely independent of any other doctrine.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 40-41
Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – May 13, 2023

I, Nichiren, sincerely keep the most profound Lotus Sutra among other sutras which have been preached, are being preached, and will be preached. I also chant Odaimoku, the heart of the sutra, by myself and teach others to chant it. Mugwort grass grows straight amidst the hemp field. Trees do not grow straight, but by cutting them straight, they become useful. If you chant the sutra as it instructs, your mind will be straightened. Be aware that is hard for us the chant even the title of the sutra unless the spirit of the Eternal Buddha enters into our bodies.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Letter to Myomitsu Shonin (Myomitsu Shonin Gosho). This instruction ties together the practice of reciting devotion to the title of the Lotus Sūtra, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, and the mind of the ever-present Buddha Shakyamuni. It is through unimaginable deeds of merit that we have met this Sūtra in our lives and have the opportunity to use it to find the Buddha’s wisdom and benefit all beings in this world of conflict and delusion. We are also fortunate to have Nichiren as an example of how to bring this teaching to life. May our gratitude for the merits we have received strengthen our determination to transform the obstacles we face into opportunities we welcome.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva came to visit Śākyamuni Buddha, we consider Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s greeting of Śākyamuni and Many Treasures.

[Before he started,] he stepped on a platform of the seven treasures. The platform went up to the sky seven times as high as the tala[-tree, and moved through the sky, carrying him]. Together with the Bodhisattvas surrounding him respectfully, he came to Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa of this Sahā-World, and descended from the platform of the seven treasures. He came to Śākyamuni Buddha, carrying with him a necklace worth hundreds of thousands. He worshipped the feet of the Buddha with his head, offered the necklace to the Buddha, and said to him:

“World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not di respectful to śramaṇas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not. Is Many-Treasures Tathāgata, who passed away a long time ago and has now come here riding in the stupa of the seven treasures, hearing the Dharma or not? [Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha] also wishes to know whether Many-Treasures Tathāgata is peaceful and healthy, and able to stay long or not World-Honored One! Now I wish to see Many-Treasures Buddha World-Honored One! Show him to me!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Many-Treasure Buddha, “This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha said to Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

Excellent, excellent! You have come here to make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha, hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and see Mañjuśrī and others.”

The Daily Dharma from April 1, 2023, offers this:

World-Honored One! I bring you a message from Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha. [He wishes to say this.] Are you in good health? Are you happy and peaceful or not? Are the four elements of your body working in harmony or not? Are the worldly affairs bearable or not? Are the living beings easy to save or not? Do they not have much greed, anger, ignorance, jealousy, stinginess and arrogance, or do they? Are they not undutiful to their parents, or are they? Are they not disrespectful to śramaṇas, or are they? Do they not have wrong views, or do they? Are they not evil, or are they? Do they not fail to control their five desires, or do they?

The passage above is how Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva greets Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva asks not only about the Buddha, but about those whom the Buddha benefits with his teaching. The Buddha answers that those he teaches have prepared through innumerable lives to receive his wisdom. The questions of Wonderful-Voice show how we obscure the teaching through our delusion and attachments.

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

Petzold Nichiren

The Importance in the Recitation of the Title

The style of writing the Sacred Title is also significant. On the Mandala, where it occupies the center, and wherever it is used by the Nichiren people, such as on tombstones, banners or books, always the characters forming the Title show curly and projecting strokes, symbolizing radiant rays emitted by it. Here once more we meet a similarity — although admittedly only a formal similarity — with the Nembutsu cult, where the portrait of Amida is usually shown with rays emitting from his body. Nichiren originated this style of writing the Sacred Title, it seems, to convey to the five characters the same divine holiness which Nembutsu worshippers conveyed to the likeness of Amida.

At the same time, obvious Tantric reminiscences are interwoven in the repetition of the Title. The utterance of the Title, similar to a Tantric incantation or mantra, releases the secret powers involved in word and name, and brings into effect the original connection existing between word and name and the creative energies of the universe. According to the Tantric view, there is a magic power in the formulas spoken by the priest during his performance of religious rites. This view, in fact, is not confined to the Tantric Sects, but in a lesser degree is shared by almost all sects of Mahāyāna, as the dhārāṇi used by them, show. The Hoke-kyō itself contains a whole “Dhārāṇi Chapter.” No wonder, then, that Nichiren attached such importance to the recitation of the Title!

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 37-38
Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – May 12, 2023

Provisional teachings today are enemies of the True Dharma. If provisional teachings stand in your way as you try to spread the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra, you should thoroughly refute them. Of the two ways of propagation, this is the aggressive way of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We notice in this passage that his instruction is to refute the provisional teachings and not attack those who are attached to them. Even if those whose teachings we challenge become angry and violent, we can understand that we did not cause this reaction. This is one reason the Lotus Sūtra is so difficult. By keeping a mind of compassion we can maintain our respect for others even when we disagree with them. They too are going to become Buddhas, and we are benefiting them, even if they reject our help.

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

LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva’s offering to the Buddha’s śarīras, we consider the revelation that Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva is Medicine-King Bodhisattva of today.

The Buddha said to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva:

“What do you think of this? Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva was no one but Medicine-King Bodhisattva of today. He gave up his body in this way, offered it [to the Buddha], and repeated this offering many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of times [in his previous existence]. [He knows that he can practice any austerity in this Sahā-World. Therefore, he does not mind walking about this world.]

“Star-King-Flower! Anyone who aspires for, and wishes to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, should offer a light to the stupa of the Buddha by burning a finger or a toe. Then he will be given more merits than the person who offers not only countries, cities, wives and children, but also the mountains, forests, rivers and ponds of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and various kinds of treasures. But the merits to be given to the person who fills the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds with the seven treasures and offers that amount of the seven treasures to the Buddhas, to the Great Bodhisattvas, to the Pratyekabuddhas, and to the Arhats, are less than the merits to be given to the person who keeps even a single gāthā of four lines of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

See Acts of Devotion

Petzold Nichiren

A Union of the Power of the Buddha with the Power of Devotion

In the proper ritual of the Nichiren Sect, as performed by the believer in his home or in the temple, the invocation of the Title and the contemplation of the Mandala are always combined. The two actions supplement each other. Their homogeneousness has been made perfectly clear by the Nichiren scholar Gyōkei Umada, in the words:

When a man gazes at the and recites the Sacred Title, heart and soul, subjectivity and objectivity become fused into one whole, and the worshipper realizes in himself the excellent qualities of the Supreme Being, and thereby his short life is made eternal and his limited virtue infinite. In short, Śākyamuni, the Scripture of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth, and the worshipper, become united, in perfect accord, and herein lies the consummation of the creed of the Nichiren Sect: the peace of mind of believers and religious life. The result of all this is the realization of the Buddha Land in the present state of existence.

To Nichiren, uttering the Title reverently and earnestly was tantamount to practicing austerities and doing good, in so far as salvation in the Nichiren-fold is reached by Self-Power (ji riki). However, according to Nichiren’s view, the devotee simultaneously “takes shelter under the wings of Śākyamuni’s compassion, which endeavors to redeem all beings in the Age of Decadence, when uniquity would abound and the love of many would wax cold.” This of course implies salvation by the Other Power (ta riki.) Therefore we find in the dogmatics of Nichiren and his School a union of the Power of the Buddha with the Power of Devotion.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 36-37
Daily Dharma, d29b

Daily Dharma – May 11, 2023

Suppose bandits are surrounding you,
And attempting to kill you with swords.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The bandits will become compassionate towards you.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. When we allow this Bodhisattva, the embodiment of compassion, into our minds, we realize the value of the connections we have with all beings, even those who are so deluded that they want to harm us. When we ourselves embody compassion, we should not be surprised when it awakens the compassion that is at the core of our existence.

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