All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered all those taught by Mañjuśrī in the palace of Dragon-King Sagara, we consider Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva’s objection to Mañjuśrī’s suggestion that the daughter of the Dragon-King Sagara can become a Buddha.

Mañjuśrī said to Accumulated-Wisdom, “Now you see the living beings whom I taught in the sea.”

Thereupon Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva praised him with gāthās:

Possessor of Great Wisdom and Virtue!
You were brave in saving innumerable living beings.
This great congregation and I understand
That you expounded
The truth of the reality of all things,
Revealed the teaching of the One Vehicle,
And led those innumerable living beings
[Into the Way] to Bodhi quickly.

Mañjuśrī said, “In the sea I expounded only the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Accumulated-Wisdom asked Mañjuśrī:

“The sūtra is exceedingly profound and wonderful. This is the treasure of all the sūtras. It is rare in the world. Do you know anyone who acted according to this sūtra so strenuously that he has already been qualified to become a Buddha quickly?”

Mañjuśrī answered:

“Yes. There is a daughter of Dragon-King Sagara [among those whom I taught]. She is eight years old. She is clever. She knows the karmas of all living beings. She obtained dhārāṇis. She keeps all the treasury of the profound and hidden core expounded by the Buddhas. She entered deep into dhyāna-concentration, and understood all teachings. She aspired for Bodhi in a ksana, and reached the stage of irrevocability. She is eloquent without hindrance. She is compassionate towards all living beings just as a mother is towards her babe. She obtained all merits. Her thoughts and words are wonderful and great. She is compassionate, humble, gentle and graceful. She [has already been qualified to] attain Bodhi[, and to become a Buddha quickly].”

Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva said:

“As far as I know, [when he was a Bodhisattva,] Śākyamuni Buddha sought Bodhi, that is, enlightenment incessantly for innumerable kalpas. He accumulated merits by practicing austerities. Even the smallest part, even the part as large as a poppy-seed of this world-this world being composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds-is not outside the places where the Bodhisattva made efforts to save all living beings at the cost of his life. It was after doing all this that he attained Bodhi, that is, enlightenment. I do not believe that this girl will be able to attain perfect enlightenment[, that is, to become a Buddha] in a moment.”

The Daily Dharma for Aug. 9, 2022, offers this:

There is a daughter of Dragon-King Sāgara [among those whom I taught]. She is eight years old. She is clever. She knows the karmas of all living beings. She obtained dhāraṇīs. She keeps all the treasury of the profound and hidden core expounded by the Buddhas. She entered deep into dhyāna-concentration, and understood all teachings. She aspired for Bodhi in a kṣana, and reached the stage of irrevocability. She is eloquent without hindrance. She is compassionate towards all living beings just as a mother is towards her babe. She obtained all merits. Her thoughts and words are wonderful and great. She is compassionate, humble, gentle and graceful. She [has already been qualified to] attain Bodhi[, and to become a Buddha quickly].

The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī gives this description in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. This is his response to the question of whether any of the beings in the sea whom he taught will become a Buddha quickly. Those hearing his answer did not expect that a woman, much less a girl, much less a nonhuman being such as a dragon could reach the same enlightenment as the Buddha. Mañjuśrī’s response shows that all beings have within us the capability of developing the qualities that allow us to see things as they are and benefit all beings.

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

Blog, Kern, d28b

The Translator’s Touch

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

As I near the end of this chapter by chapter comparison of H. Kern’s English translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra with English translations of Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese Lotus Sutra, I find a pattern has developed. Kern adds a filigree of details while Senchu Murano clarifies and directs readers in his translation of Kumārajīva.

For an example of Kern’s embellishment consider the story of the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara. Kern has this as Chapter 23. Kumārajīva has the story of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva as Chapter 24.

In this story, Many Treasures Buddha is asked to invite Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva to visit. Here’s how Murano tells this:

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha called [loudly] to [Wonderful-Voice] Bodhisattva [from afar], “Good man! Come! Mañjuśrī, the Son of the King of the Dharma, wishes to see you.”

Thereupon Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, accompanied by eighty-four thousand Bodhisattvas, left his world [for the Sahā World]. As they passed through the [one hundred and eight billion nayuta] worlds, the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways; lotus flowers of the seven treasures rained [on those worlds], and hundreds of thousands of heavenly drums sounded [over those worlds] although no one beat them.

Kern embellishes upon this:

And the Lord Prabhūtaratna, the Tathāgata, &c., who was completely extinct, instantly produced a token in order to admonish the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara (and said): Come, young man of good family, to this Sahā-world; Mañjuśrī, the prince royal, will hail thy coming. And the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara, after humbly saluting the feet of the Lord Kamaladalavimalanakṣhatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, the Tathāgata, &c., and after three times circumambulating him from left to right, vanished from the world Vairokanarasmipratimandita, along with eighty-four hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of Bodhisattvas who surrounded and followed him, and arrived at this Sahā-world, among a stir of Buddha fields, a rain of lotuses, a noise of hundred thousands of myriads of koṭis of musical instruments.

Another example of this occurs when the bodhisattva greets Śākyamuni.

Murano has Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva say:

“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? World-Honored One! Did they defeat the Maras, who are their enemies, or not.

Kern has Gadgadasvara say:

The Lord Kamaladalavimalanakṣhatrarājasaṃkusumitābhijña, the Tathāgata, &c., inquires after the Lord’s health, welfare, and sprightliness; whether he feels free from affliction and at ease. That Lord has also charged me to ask: Is there something thou hast to suffer or allow? the humors of the body are not in an unfavorable state? thy creatures are decent in manners, tractable, and easy to be healed? their bodies are clean? They are not too passionate, I hope, not too irascible, not too unwise in their doings? They are not jealous, Lord, not envious, not ungrateful to their father and mother, not impious, not heterodox, not unsubdued in mind, not unrestrained in sexual desires.? Are the creatures able to resist the Evil One?

Let us all inquire after each others’ sprightliness – “the quality of being energetic and in good health, especially when you are old: Due to his sprightliness, everyone thought he was much younger than he actually was,” Cambridge English Dictionary.

As for Murano’s efforts to add clarity and direct readers consider the many transformations of the bodhisattva.

Kern introduces this feature of Gadgadasvara in this way:

Dost thou see, Padmasri, how the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara now looks? Padmasri replied: I do, Lord; I do, Sugata. The Lord said: Now, Padmasri, this Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Gadgadasvara preaches this Dharmaparyāya of the Lotus of the True Law under many shapes he assumes; sometimes under the shape of Brahma, sometimes under that of Indra, sometimes under that of Siva, sometimes under that of Kubera, sometimes under that of a sovereign, sometimes under that of a duke, sometimes under that of a chief merchant, sometimes under that of a citizen, sometimes under that of a villager, sometimes under that of a Brahman.

For his part, Murano puts these transformations in the past.

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places. He became King Brahman, King Sakra, Freedom God, Great-Freedom God, a great general in heaven, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, a wheel-turning-holy-king, the king of a small country, a rich man, a householder, a prime minister, a brahmana, a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, the wife of a rich man, that of a householder, that of a prime minister, that of a brahmana, a boy, a girl, a god, a dragon, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being.

The other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra are closer to Kern than Murano.

The BDK English Tripiṭaka has:

O Padmaśrī! You think that the body of Bodhisattva Gadgadasvara exists only here; however, this bodhisattva manifests himself in various bodies. He has thus taught this sutra in many places for the sake of the sentient beings.

Gene Reeves has:

Flower Virtue, you see merely the one body of Wonderful Voice Bodhisattva which is here. But this Bodhisattva appears in many different bodies, everywhere teaching this sutra for the sake of the living.

None of the other translators of Kumārajīva includes Murano’s suggestion that World-Voice’s transformations happen in the past.

Next: The Odd Praise of Amitābha in Kern’s Lotus Sutra

Petzold Nichiren

The Composition of the Buddha’s Three Bodies

In general Mahāyāna belief, the Buddha has three bodies: the dharmakāya (hosshin), the transformation-body or nirmāṇakāya (ōjin) and the blissbody or saṃbhogakāya (hōshin). In Nichiren’s interpretation the dharmakāya consists of the five elements (earth, water, fire, wind and ether) of the dharmadhātu or universe extending through the ten regions. The saṃbhogakāya is made up of the five skandhas1 of the dharmadhātu extending through the ten regions. The nirmāṇakāya is formed by the six organs of sense (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) of all beings of the ten regions.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 22
1
The five skandhas are: rūpa or all forms of matter, vedanā or perception, samjñā or ideation, saṃskāra or volition, and vijñāna or consciousness. return
Daily Dharma, d22b

Daily Dharma – May 1, 2023

Needless to say, so will be the merits of the person
Who keeps this sūtra, gives alms, observes the precepts,
Practices patience, prefers dhyāna-concentrations,
And does not get angry or speak ill of others.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this chapter, he explains that anyone who understands his ever-present existence, even for a moment, will gain the merit of ridding themselves of innumerable delusions. In his previous teachings on the perfections of a Bodhisattva, he showed that our practices of generosity, discipline, patience, enthusiastic perseverance, concentration and wisdom, all these will help us to see the world as it is. Realizing that the Buddha is always here teaching us helps us to look for him. But this realization does not obscure the necessity of putting his teachings into practice so that we may benefit all beings.

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

LS32

Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 16 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the entreaty from the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha and the opening of the Stupa of Treasures, we witness Many Treasures Buddha offer half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha.

Having seen that the Buddha, who had passed away many thousands of billions of kalpas before, had said this, the four kinds of devotees praised him, saying, “We have never seen [such a Buddha as] you before.” They strewed heaps of jeweled flowers of heaven to Many-Treasures Buddha and also to Śākyamuni Buddha.

Thereupon Many-Treasures Buddha in the stūpa of treasures offered a half of his seat to Śākyamuni Buddha, saying, “Śākyamuni Buddha, sit here!”

Śākyamuni Buddha entered the stūpa and sat on the half-seat with his legs crossed. The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with in a loud voice:

“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”

The Daily Dharma from Feb. 14, 2023, offers this:

The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”

This description comes from Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. Many-Treasures Buddha has arrived where the Buddha was teaching so that he could endorse this Wonderful Dharma. He invited the Buddha to join him in an enormous stūpa tower hanging in the sky. When the Buddha raises up those gathered to hear him teach, he puts them all on the same level as himself and all the other Buddhas. He shows them that they too have the capacity to hear his teachings and put them into practice. Nichiren depicted this “ceremony in the air” in the Omandala Gohonzon and advised us to use this as the focus of our practice. When we put ourselves into this great multitude we listen for the Buddha teaching and realize the benefit we create in this world.

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

Blog, Petzold Nichiren, Tendai Lotus

Viewing Nichiren Through a Tendai Lens

When I first started publishing quotes from The Collected Teachings of the Tendai Lotus School by Gishin back in February, I mentioned that I was unclear on where Nichiren’s teachings diverge. I asked Rev. Ryuei McCormick about the difference between Tendai and Nichiren on the 3,000 realms in a single thought moment, and I published his response yesterday. But I wanted a fuller explanation of the similarities and differences between Tendai and Nichiren.

As I was organizing the quotes from Gishin, I recalled that I had a copy of Bruno Petzold’s book, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren–A Lotus In The Sun. Petzold was a German journalist and educator who lived in Japan in the early 20th century. While in Japan he became fascinated with Buddhism and eventually became a Tendai monk. At the beginning of World War II, Petzold was decorated by the Emperor of Japan for his 25 years of service. Soon afterwards the Tendai Sect conferred upon him the rank of Sōjō, or archbishop. He died in 1949 and his ashes are buried at Hieizan, the home of the Tendai sect on Mount Hiei.

That Tendai background is evident in his treatment of Nichiren and his teachings. When I first picked up his book in 2021, I was unsure how to approach Petzold’s obvious Tendai-centered discussion. His was not a devout view of Nichiren. Now, however, Petzold’s view of Nichiren through the lens of Tendai teachings offers insight into how Nichiren, the one-time Tendai monk, used Tendai teachings as a foundation for his doctrine.

In the book, Petzold explains at one point:

Nichiren incorporates into his own system the whole Tendai philosophy. He adopts the classification of the Five Periods and the Eight Teachings; he acknowledges the doctrines of the Perfectly Amalgamated Three Truths (i.e. the Synthesis of vacuity and phenomenal reality in the Middle) and of the Identity of the One Mind and the Three Thousand (representing the totality of phenomena), and he upholds the practice of the Three Meditations in One Mind. He teaches the Oneness of the World. He proclaims that the whole universe in its essence is nothing but Buddha’s own body, so that even trees and grasses do not only attain Buddhahood, but are direct manifestations of Buddha. Similarly he maintains that the cosmos or the Tathāgata is our own body and soul; that the Buddha, Truth and Paradise are not outside of our own self; that Buddhahood can be attained in our present life and in our present body; that the Buddha, the mind and the living beings form One Unity. There is not one single important Tendai doctrine which is not a part of Nichiren’s system.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 50-51

That’s not to suggest there is no difference. As Petzold explains:

[N]ichiren’s tenet for criticism of the Tendai Hokke Sect lies in its harmonizing tendencies. His objection to their meditation is based on their acceptance of Dharma Daishi’s zen meditation, which contradicts the teaching of Tendai Daishi; and the subsequent disassociation of the proper Tendai Teaching (shikan) from its original source, the Hoke-kyō.

Petzold, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren , p 109

Today, I’m publishing Senchu Murano’s Preface, which he wrote for Petzold’s book. As Murano explains, Petzold’s view of Nichiren was greatly colored by three books published in the early 20th century:

  • Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet by Anesaki Masaharu, 1916
  • Japanese Civilization: Its Significance and Realization, Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles by Satomi Kishio, 1923
  • Nichiren-shū kōyō (Manual of the Nichiren Sect), Shimizu Ryōzan, 1928

During the month of May I will publish select quotes from Petzold, many of which outline where Nichiren doctrine departs from Tendai teachings. I would prefer to read a book written from the Nichiren perspective, but Petzold meets my current needs.

Buddhist Prophet Nichiren–A Lotus In The Sun

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Books, Petzold Nichiren

Buddhist Prophet Nichiren–A Lotus In The Sun

Below is Senchu Murano’s Preface to Bruno Petzold’s book, Buddhist Prophet Nichiren–A Lotus In The Sun. This English translation was published in 1978. It is unclear when Petzold, a German author and Tendai priest, wrote the book. He died in 1949.

Petzold book cover

Nichiren founded a Japanese Buddhist school in which the most important practice was to chant “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō.” This chanting formula literally means, “I devote myself to the Myōhō-renge-kyō.” The Myōhō-renge-kyō is the Japanese pronunciation of the title of the Chinese translation of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtra by Kumārajīva, and is popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra. This formula is called Daimoku, which means “Title.” Nichiren Buddhists honor the Daimoku, and in most cases they prefix an honorific “O” to it, making it “O-daimoku,” and prefer “The Sacred Title” as the English translation of it. In formal rituals they sometimes call it Gendai, which means “The Title Having Profound Meaning.”

Nichiren Buddhism is, however, not so simple as it appears. Instead of “Myōhō-renge-kyō,” Nichiren sometimes used the expression “Myōhō-goji,” which means “The Five Words Beginning with Myōhō.” When he used this expression, he meant that the Myōhōrengekyō is something more than the title of a sūtra. Nichiren never clearly defined this “something.” He sometimes identified it with the Truth itself, and at other times used it as the expression of the Most Honorable One. It is no exaggeration to say that the development of the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism was accelerated by the controversies about the definition of the Myōhō-goji as conceived by Nichiren.

In the earlier period of his ministerial life, Nichiren was an ardent follower of Tendai Daishi and Dengyō Daishi. It may be safely said that he attempted at first to revive the genuine form of Tendai Buddhism. He was basically a Tendai priest in his younger days. It was a natural consequence that Bruno Petzold, a student of Tendai Buddhism, would be interested in Nichiren’s religion in his later years.

Bruno Petzold (1873-1949) was one of the few foreigners who studied Japanese Buddhism early in the twentieth century. He came to Japan in 1910, and soon afterwards he was attracted by Japanese Buddhism. He visited various Buddhist temples and observed Buddhist rituals and festivals. He especially studied the Tendai Sect, which was the springhead of almost all the Buddhist sects of Japan. He contributed many articles on the tenets of the sect to English and German Buddhist periodicals published in Japan, Germany, and other countries.

The major works by Bruno Petzold have not yet been published. They consist of the following manuscripts: Dengyō Daishi; the Quintessence of Tendai Teaching; the Tendai Teaching; Shō Shikan, all written in German, and the Classification of Buddhism in English.

During the life of Bruno Petzold, two important English books of Japanese authorship were published to introduce Nichiren Buddhism: Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet by Anesaki Masaharu, 1916, and Japanese Civilization: Its Significance and Realization, Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles by Satomi Kishio, 1923. Bruno Petzold must have been much influenced by Satomi, judging from the fact that he used the edition of Nichiren’s works compiled by Satomi’s teacher, Tanaka Chigaku, under the title of Ruisan-kōso-ibunroku. As regards the doctrines of Nichiren Buddhism, Bruno Petzold used as his text Shimizu Ryozan’s Nichirenshū-kōyō to the extent that his understanding of Nichiren’s thought was flavored by the philosophy of Shimizu Ryozan. As far as his presentation of the life of Nichiren is concerned, some legendary traditions are given side by side with historically-proven facts. But the influences of Satomi Kishio and Shimizu Ryozan and the interpolation of legends into the life story of Nichiren do not adversely affect his outline of Nichiren Buddhism, which even today involves problems.

Nichiren Buddhism, which began seven centuries ago, and was about to be eliminated in the first few decades after its founding, obtained prosperity second to the Zen Sect in the capital Kyoto about a century after the death of Nichiren. It was suppressed by the government early in the Tokugawa Period, but was soon revived. The vitality of Nichiren Buddhism comes not only from the philosophy of Nichiren but also from his personality. Bruno Petzold was probably the best qualified person for an introduction of Nichiren Buddhism in which the Chinese Tendai Buddhist terms are abundantly employed. But he spent more time on the presentation of the personality of Nichiren, lest the characteristics of Nichiren Buddhism should be overshadowed by merely doctrinal argumentations.

Senchu Murano
Kamakura, Japan 1977

Book Quotes

 
Book List

Daily Dharma, d21b

Daily Dharma – April 30, 2023

In order to save the [perverted] people,
I expediently show my Nirvāṇa to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Dharma.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is part of the explanation that his existence in the physical form of Śākyamuni was only one way that he leads all beings to enlightenment. The Buddha described his ever-present nature as the most difficult of his teachings to believe and understand. Recognizing the presence of the Buddha in the world is the same as recognizing Buddha nature in ourselves and all beings. Knowing that the Buddha is always available to help us in this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma means we do not need to rely on our own limited abilities. The store of the Dharma is always available to us. We just need to find it and use it.

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

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month conclude Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, we witness the arrival of the Stūpa of Treasures.

Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha. The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep. lt was adorned with various treasures. It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers. It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down. The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world. Many canopies, adorned with streamers, and made of the seven treasures-gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby were hanging in the sky [one upon another from the top of the stupa] up to the [heaven of the] palaces of the four heavenly-kings. The thirty-three gods offered a rain of heavenly mandārava-flowers to the stupa of treasures. Thousands of billions of living beings, including the other gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, also offered flowers, incense, necklaces, streamers, canopies and music to the stupa of treasures, venerated the stupa, honored it, and praised it.

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:

“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

The Daily Dharma from May 17, 2022, offers this:

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stūpa of treasures: “Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

This declaration comes from Many-Treasures Buddha (Tahō, Prabhutaratna) at the beginning of Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Many-Treasures came from a world far away from this world of conflict when he heard the Buddha giving his highest teaching and appeared in a tower (stūpa) of wonderful treasures to confirm the truth of this teaching. By the Teaching of Equality, he means that all beings can become enlightened through this teaching. By the Great Wisdom, he means that the teaching is the same as the Buddha’s own mind. By the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, he means that to receive this teaching we awaken to our natures to benefit all beings. And by the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas, he means that all Buddhas in all worlds encourage and help those who practice this sūtra.

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

Blog, Tendai Lotus

Nichiren’s Departure from Tendai and Chih-i

Back in February, I started publishing quotes from “The Collected Teachings of the Tendai Lotus School,” which was written by Gishin in 830 CE. Those quotes offer a very readable explanation of the Japanese Tendai teachings that Nichiren was immersed in as a young monk. But he did not accept those teachings wholly, making modifications and adjustments based on his understanding.

At the time, I told Rev. Ryuei McCormick, “What I would love to find is a detailed discussion of where Nichiren diverged from Chih-i, especially a full explanation of the difference between Chih-i’s 3,000 realms in a single thought moment based on the 10 Suchnesses and Nichiren’s 3,000 realms in a single thought moment based on Chapter 16 and, in particular, the difference in application.”

Here’s his response:

Theoretically there is no discernible difference, though perhaps it could be argued that Miaole and later Nichiren made ichinen sanzen central, whereas in the Great Calming and Contemplation it is “merely” used to describe the contemplation of the truth of the provisional existence of the aggregates-entrances-elements, not even of the truth of emptiness or the truth of the Middle Way. It is, in effect, a contemplation that can lead one in to the deeper understanding of emptiness, the middle, and the threefold truth that embraces all three truths at once.

However, I think the real difference is found in this statement of Nichiren about how his approach differs from that of his Tiantai predecessors:

There are two ways of observing the three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment. One is in terms of principle, the second is in terms of the actual phenomena. At the time of T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō and so on, it was [observed in] principle. Now it is [observed in] actual phenomena. Since [the latter form of] contemplation is superior, the great difficulties [accompanying it] are also superior. The former is the three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment of the provisional teaching [of the Lotus Sūtra], and the latter is the three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment of the original teaching [of the Lotus Sūtra]. They are as different as Heaven and Earth, and at the time of death, you should keep this in mind. (Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji also known as Chibyō-shō, Shōwa Teihon p. 1522. Authenticated copy extant. Also see p. 257, WNS: D2)

What this means is that ichinen sanzen in principle is about contemplating that in principle the realm of buddhahood is always present in every thought-moment and therefore we can discern it in meditation or have faith that eventually we will be able to realize it. This is in line with the Trace Gate of the Lotus Sutra wherein all the voice-hearers and others have their future buddhahood predicted. Buddhahood is part of their lives but they won’t personally realize it until much later, for now they must take it on faith. On the other hand, ichinen sanzen in actuality (or in terms of phenomenal practice) is the active expression here and now of the realm of buddhahood that is present in every thought-moment. It is expressed via the practice of the Odaimoku (as well as contemplation of the Gohonzon). This is in line with the Original Gate wherein because buddhahood has no beginning and no end the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha (and therefore our own buddhahood) is constantly present and active in some manner in every situation. Put another way, if Shakyamuni Buddha’s buddhahood has no beginning or end then our own buddhahood also has no beginning or end, and if Shakyamuni Buddha has been spending all these past eons showing how to attain buddhahood then our own buddhahood is being spent showing how to attain buddhahood. All of this means that in chapter 16’s presentation of buddhahood as without a beginning or end, buddhahood is not just a principle or theoretical possibility but something that is always actual if concealed and obscured. How do we realize this? For Nichiren, faith as expressed in and by the Odaimoku is the gateway.

When I asked for permission to publish his response, Rev. Ryuei said:

Yes, as long as you say that the translation of that gosho passage was done by me. That is from Dharma Flower. You can find the original context here: https://www.nichirenbayarea.org/chapter-11-the-three-great-secret-dharmas

Tomorrow: Bruno Petzold’s Comparison of Tendai and Nichiren Doctrine