All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma, d17b

Daily Dharma – May 8, 2023

Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

The Buddha has this discussion with his aunt, Mahā-Prajāpatī, also called Gautamī, in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. She raised the young Siddhartha after his mother Queen Māyā died when he was only six weeks old. Gautamī was also the first woman to be ordained into the Sangha. Since women then were thought by some to be not as capable as men, the Buddha specifically assures Gautamī, and thus all women, of the certainty of her enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, we return to Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and consider how many merits will be given to a person who rejoices at hearing this sūtra.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! How many merits will be given to a good man or woman who rejoices at hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma?” He sang in a gāthā:
How many merits will be given
To a person who rejoices
At hearing this sūtra
After your extinction?

Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Suppose a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, or some other wise person, whether young or old, rejoices at hearing this sūtra in a congregation after my extinction. After leaving the congregation, he or she goes to some other place, for instance, to a monastery, a retired place, a city, a street, a town, or a village. There he or she expounds this sūtra, as he or she has heard it, to his or her father, mother relative, friend or acquaintance as far as he or she can. Another person who has heard [this sūtra from him or her], rejoices, goes [to some other place] and expounds it to a third person. The third person also rejoices at hearing it and expounds it to a fourth person. In this way this sūtra is heard by a fiftieth person. Ajita! Now I will tell you the merits of the fiftieth good man or woman who rejoices at hearing [this sūtra]. Listen attentively!

“Suppose the Jambudvipa was filled with wonderful treasures such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, coral and amber; elephant-carts and horse-carts; and palaces and stately buildings made of the even treasures. Suppose a man who was seeking merits gave all those pleasing things [filling the Jambudvipa] to the living beings of four hundred billion asaṃkhya worlds according to their wishes. A world consists of the six regions. The living beings [of the six regions] are of one or another of the four kinds of births: oviparous, viviparous, from moisture, or without any medium. Some of them have form while others do not. Some have desire while others do not. Some have no feet while other have two feet or four or more. Having continued giving those alms to them for eighty years, this great almsgiver thought, ‘I gave those pleasing things to them according to their wishes. Now they are old and decrepit. They are more than eighty years old. Their hair is grey; and their face , wrinkled. They will die before long. I will lead them by the Dharma of the Buddha.’

“Then he collected them. He propagated the Dharma to them, led them by the Dharma, showed them the Dharma, taught them, benefited them, and caused them to rejoice. He caused them to attain in a moment the enlightenment of the Srota-āpanna, of the Sakrdāgāmin, of the Anāgāmin or of the Arhat, eliminate all āsravas, practice deep dhyāna-concentration without hindrance, and obtain the eight emancipations. What do you think of this? Do you think that the merits obtained by this great alms giver were many or not?”

Maitreya said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! I think that his merits were many, immeasurable and limitless. His merits were already immeasurable when he gave all those pleasing things to them. Needless to say, so were his merits when he caused them to attain Arhatship.”

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

“Now I will tell you clearly. The merits of the person who gave all those pleasing things to the living beings of the six regions of four hundred billion asaṃkhya worlds, and caused them to attain Arhatship are less than the merit of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. The merits of the former person are less than a hundredth or a thousandth of the merits of the latter person, or less than the merits of the latter person divided by a hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of the merits of the latter person to those of the former person] cannot be explained by any calculation, parable or simile.

The Daily Dharma from April 12, 2022, offers this:

Now I will tell you clearly. The merits of the person who gave all those pleasing things to the living beings of the six regions of four hundred billion asaṃkhya worlds, and caused them to attain Arhatship are less than the merits of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing even a gāthā of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He compares the benefit created by someone who teaches innumerable beings and makes exorbitant offerings through following the pre-Lotus sūtras to the benefits of finding joy in the Buddha’s Highest teaching. This joy is not the same as just getting what we want, or being relieved from what we do not want. It is the joy of seeing the world for what it is, and our place in it as Bodhisattvas who exist for the benefit of all beings.

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

Petzold Nichiren

Practical Meditation and Practical Devotion

An original statement of Nichiren’s conception of the Sacred Title is contained in his Kanjin-honzonshō. Telling us that the invocation of the title is to be considered as Kanjin, or “Meditation,” he states the difference between Tendai meditation and Nichiren meditation: The Tendai Meditation “possesses completely in one thought the three thousand from the point of view of reason,” while the Nichiren Meditation “possesses completely in one thought the three thousand from the point of view of matter.” The “three thousand,” as we know, means all psychical and physical phenomena or the whole universe understood as a mental as well as a physical entity. “From the point of view of reason” means “in theoretical respect” or “in abstract”; “from the point of view of matter” means “in practical respect” or “in concrete.”

The Tendai meditation if further explained as always a meditation on some objective truth, for instance on the truth of “non-form being the real form” (mu sō jissō), or on the “three truths” (san tat) of “the Empty, the Phenomenal Reality, and the Middle” (kū, ke, chū), which are the objects of the “three meditations” (san gan). On the contrary, the method used by the Nichiren Sect, in which the devotee recites the title and turns his face to the Daimandara is characterized by Nichiren as “practical meditation and practical devotion in which faith takes the place of wisdom” (i-shin dai-e no ji-kan ji-gyō). Consequently what is called kanjin or “meditation-mind” by Nichiren is not to be understood as meditation in any ordinary meaning, but as shinjin or “believing mind.” In the Nichiren School we have therefore to deal not with “meditation,” but with “belief.” Kanjin does not imply here knowledge by introspection as the Tendai meaning does but understanding by belief. In short, the Tendai School meditates on some objective truth and does not use the method of reciting the Title, which in the Nichiren Sect holds such a prominent place.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 33
Daily Dharma, d18b

Daily Dharma – May 7, 2023

Mañjuśrī! What are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattva should perform? He should be patient, mild and meek. He should not be rash, timorous, or attached to anything. He should see things as they are. He should not be attached to his non-attachment to anything. Nor should he be attached to his seeing things as they are. These are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattva should perform.

The Buddha makes this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. When we learn to see things differently, we act differently. Conversely, when we act in ways that are not beneficial, either to ourselves or to others, it is an indication that we are not seeing things as they are. At the same time, not being attached to non-attachment helps us realize that becoming enlightened is a process, and that becoming proud of our achievements is another indication of being stuck and not seeing things as they are.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the merits of those who do not speak ill of this sutra, we consider the merits obtained by those who hear the sutra and keep it after hearing it.

“Ajita! Anyone who, after hearing this sūtra, keeps or copies it or causes others to copy it after my extinction, should be considered to have already built many hundreds of thousands of billions of monasteries, that is to say, innumerable monasteries, each of which was installed with thirty-two beautiful halls made of red candana, eight times as tall as the tala-tree, and spacious enough to accommodate one hundred thousand bhikṣus. He also should be considered to have already furnished [those monasteries] with gardens, forests, pools for bathing, promenades, and caves for the practice of dhyāna, and filled [those monasteries] with clothing, food, drink, bedding, medicine, and things for amusements, and offered [those monasteries] to me and to the Saṃgha of bhikṣus in my presence. Therefore, I say, ‘Anyone who keeps, reads or recites this sūtra, expounds it to others, copies it, causes others to copy it, or makes offerings to a copy of it after my extinction, need not build a stupa or a monastery, or make offering to the Saṃgha.’ Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observe the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits. His merits will be as limitless as the sky is in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate quarters, the zenith, and the nadir. These innumerable merits of his will help him obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

“Anyone who reads, recites or keeps this sūtra, expounds it to others, copies it, or causes others to copy it [in my lifetime,] should be considered to have already built stupas and monasteries, made offerings to the Saṃgha of Śrāvakas, praised them, praised Bodhisattvas for their merits by hundreds of thousands of billions of ways of praising, expounded this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to others with various stories of previous lives according to the meanings of it, observed the precepts without fallacy, lived with gentle persons, practiced patience, refrained from anger, become resolute in mind, preferred sitting in dhyāna, practiced deep concentrations of mind, become strenuous and brave, practiced good teachings, become clever and wise, and answered questions satisfactorily.

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stupa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stupa just as they do to the stupa of a Buddha.”

The Daily Dharma from March 18, 2023, offers this:

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stūpa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stūpa just as they do to the stūpa of a Buddha.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this mysterious description, the Buddha seems to say that anyone who practices this Lotus Sūtra as it instructs is his equal, that this person deserves as much respect as the Buddha himself. In this world of conflict it is rare to even find this teaching, and even more rare to practice it. The Buddha encourages Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya and other protective deities to serve and care for those who bring the Buddha’s greatest wisdom to life. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma, it is as if the Buddha himself appears among us.

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

Petzold Nichiren

The Whole Life-Process Within the Ten States of Existence

[T]he Title or Daimoku is the five or seven characters which make up the full name of the Hoke-kyō. The title of the Sūtra, says Nichiren doctrine, is the essence of the whole sūtra, the holy teaching of the Buddha’s life, the principle of all things, and the truth of eternity; the fullest implications of the title are inexplicable and inconceivable, understood not even by subordinate Buddhas. The title of the original doctrine is to be believed in, not understood.

Tendai Daishi had already considered that the title of the Hoke-kyō included the essence of the whole sutra, but this was in accordance with the general view that the titles of the holy texts proclaimed by Buddha contained, in a condensed and abbreviated way, the full text. It was Tendai Daishi who used the “five profound meanings” (gojū gengo to explain the sūtras, a system which we remember as containing:

l. myō—the name
2. tai—the substance
3. shū—the principle
4. yū—the action
5. kyō—the teaching

The first concerns the title of the sūtra; the second its philosophical essence, the third its practical import; the fourth its efficiency or the effect gained by it; the fifth the respective rank which the particular sūtra, on account of its doctrine holds among all sūtras.

Tendai Daishi found a justification for his method in Chapter XXI of the Hoke-kyō, which says:

In fact, all the truths possessed by the Tathāgata, all the sovereign, divine powers of the Tathāgata, all the stocks of mysteries of the Tathāgata, all the profound things of the Tathāgata are proclaimed, displayed, revealed, and expounded in this Sūtra.

Basing himself on this passage, he interpreted the truths possessed by the Tathāgata as the title of the Hoke-kyō and that all the sovereign, divine powers of the Tathāgata corresponded to its “essence”; that all the stocks of mysteries of the Tathāgata were to be understood as its “principle”; that all the profound things of the Tathāgata signified its “action”; and that the revelation and promulgation coincided with its “teaching.”

Nichiren merely adopted Tendai Daishi’s method in dealing with the Hoke-kyō. His identification of the term myō (wonderful) with death, of hō (dharma) with birth, and the equalization of these two with renge (lotus) conforms to Tendai Daishi’s view in which the title involves the whole life-process within the ten states of existence.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 31-33
Daily Dharma, d7b

Daily Dharma – May 6, 2023

Anyone who rejoices at hearing this sūtra,
And who receives it respectfully,
Know this, has already reached
The stage of not-returning.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Three of the Lotus Sūtra. The state of non-returning means having the certainty of reaching enlightenment. As Bodhisattvas, when we go into any realm, whether higher or lower, it is to benefit the beings there. It is easy to become discouraged by the difficulties we face in this world of conflict, and to forget that we are not alone in our efforts to help others. When we return to the joy of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha reminds us of who we are, what we are doing, and where we are going, no matter what obstacles we may find.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the expedient nature of the Buddha’s teachings, we consider the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children.

“Good men! All the Buddhas, all the Tathāgatas, do the same as I do. [They expound their teachings] for the purpose of saving all living beings. Therefore, [their teachings] are true, not false.

“I will tell you a parable. There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred. [One day] he went to a remote country on business. After he left home, the sons took poison. The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not. All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy. They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us, and give us back our lives!’

“Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’

“The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

“The father thought, ‘These sons are pitiful. They are so poisoned that they are perverted. Although they rejoice at seeing me and ask me to cure them, they do not consent to take this good medicine. Now I will have them take it with an expedient.’

“He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. lam leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!’ Having thus advised them, he went to a [remote] country again. Then he sent home a messenger to tell them, ‘Your father has just died.’

“Having heard that their father had passed away from this world, leaving them behind, they felt extremely sorry. They thought, ‘If our father were alive, he would love and protect us. Now he has
deserted us and died in a remote country.’

“They felt lonely and helpless because they thought that they were parentless and shelterless. Their constant sadness finally caused them to recover their right minds. They realized that the medicine had a good color, smell and taste. They took it and were completely cured of the poison. On hearing that they had recovered their health, the father returned home, and showed himself to them.

“Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

The Buddha said:

“I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.”

The Daily Dharma from April 9, 2023, offers this:

I am like the father. It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of asaṃkhyas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. In order to save the [perverted] people, I say expediently, ‘I shall pass away.’ No one will accuse me of falsehood by the [common] law.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story of the Physician and his children, the father leaves and sends word that he has died when his children refuse to take the antidote he has prepared for them. He gave his children no choice but to accept what they already had and make the effort to improve themselves and set aside their deluded minds. In the same way, when we take the Buddha for granted, and close our eyes to the Wonderful Dharma he has given us, he disappears. It is only when we open our eyes and see clearly this world and ourselves in it that we can recognize the Buddha and how he is always leading us.

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

Petzold Nichiren

The Secret Name of Mahāvairocana

[In his Nichiren-shū kōyō (Manual of the Nichiren Sect), Nichiren scholar Shimizu Ryōzan] characterizes Myō hō ren ge kyō as not the name of the sutra, but the secret name of Mahāvairocana1, the Omnipresent Buddha; not the substance of the reason of all dharmas, but the secret substance of Mahāvairocana; not the principle of the cause and effect of the One Vehicle, but the secret principle of Mahāvairocana; not the action that creates belief by destroying all doubt, but the secret action of Mahāvairocana; not the teaching of the twenty-eight chapters, but the secret teaching of Mahāvairocana. Further, Shimizu states that though Honzon is one of the three objects of Kanjin (i.e., where Kanjin is the wisdom of the believer, Honzon is the object of belief; where Kanjin is the practice, Honzon is the enlightenment), such a method of distinguishing between the two does not express the final concept of the Nichiren School. In ultimate meaning the School considers Kanjin identical with Honzon, Honzon identical with Kanjin. Thus, he claims, there is really no difference between practice and enlightenment, since all cause and effect, the self and others are the secret Oneness of Mahāvairocana.

Perhaps a final comment will clarify what Shimizu is saying. The full title of the Hoke-kyō used in recitation is, as we know, Namu Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō. Namu, broadly a term of adoration, is written in two characters, and Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō, the proper title of the sutra, is written in five characters. When we consider the two characters of Namu in their reference to the five characters of Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō the reciprocal relation between Kanjin and Honzon becomes clear. The two characters are the wisdom of the believer, the five characters the object of belief. The two characters are the practice, the five characters are the enlightenment. Thus we have the Honzon of Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō existing in the Tathāgata; and the Kanjin of Namu belonging to the practices. However, as we are repeatedly assured, there is no difference between object and subject, practice and enlightenment, self and others, since all are identical with Mahāvairocana. Consequently there is no real distinction between the Tathāgata and the practices, the two being unified in Namu Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō. The Namu of the practitioner is identical with the Namu of the Tathāgata, the Tathāgata’s practice, and with his enlightenment without beginning. The two characters of Namu mean the absolute Oneness of object and subject, of self and others, of the practitioner and the Tathāgata. Thus the five characters are identical with the seven characters of Namu Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō; these seven characters are identical with the two characters of Namu; these two characters are identical with the “one momentary mind” of the believer; and this “one momentary mind” is identical with the whole substance of Mahāvairocana.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 30-31
1
Mahāvairocana is the Eternal Śākyamuni. The Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Sage, the concluding sutra in the threefold Lotus Sutra, contains this:

The ethereal voice will then immediately reply, saying: “Śākyamuni Buddha is Vairocana – the One Who Is Present in All Places.

 return

Daily Dharma, WONS

Daily Dharma – May 5, 2023

Suppose one sets up a needle on top of Mt. Sumeru and throws a piece of string on a windy day from another Mt. Sumeru standing too far to see. It is impossible to thread the needle set up on the first Mt. Sumeru. It is, however, even more difficult to experience the great title of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore you should realize that being able to chant the great title of this sutra is more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). Those with great talents, or who have worked hard and made great accomplishments, tend to think that what they have done is normal. They can lose any appreciation for what they have and focus only on what they lack. This passage reminds us of the treasure we enjoy in the five syllables of Myo Ho Ren Ge and Kyo. Just hearing this Great Title is the result of great efforts we have made in the past, whether we appreciate and remember those efforts or not.

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