Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 73Q: Who knows these Ten Suchlikes?
A: “Only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality,” but an ordinary man of the Perfect Teaching can attain a partial knowledge. This is the fundamental principle of the Lotus Sutra, the core of all teachings, the key to interpreting the meaning, the refuge of all sentient beings, the basis of the aspiration for enlightenment, the functional essence of conventional devices, the foundation of delusion and awakening, the reality basis for the resultant virtuous qualities [of Buddhahood], the ultimate purpose of the Buddha’s life, and the consummation of the Five Periods.
Q: Why are these ten meanings clarified?
A: If these ten meanings are understood, this explains all the differences [in the Buddha’s teachings] and, unexpectedly, there is no contradiction.
All posts by John Hughes
Daily Dharma – April 7, 2023
I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.
The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. It is normal for us humans to become worn out, frustrated or annoyed as we try to benefit others. Often, other people do not want our help, or when they take our help, they do not progress as fast as we want them to. Sometimes there are only a few people we want to help, and may actually wish harm on those we blame for our problems. The Buddha gives us a different example. He gets his energy from creating benefit. It does not drain him. He sees that all beings want to improve themselves, no matter how perversely they may go about it. He knows that all beings are worthy of receiving the Buddha Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 26
Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, we consider Chapter 22, Transmission.
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha rose from the seat of the Dharma, and by his great supernatural powers, put his right hand on the heads of the innumerable Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and said:
“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you. Propagate it with all your hearts, and make it known far and wide!”
He put his [right] hand on their heads twice more, and said:
“For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and [finally attained] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Now I will transmit [the Dharma] to you. Keep, read, recite and expound [this sūtra in which the Dharma is given], and cause all living beings to hear it and know it! Why is that? It is because I have great compassion. I do not begrudge anything. I am fearless. I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathāgata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings. I am the great almsgiver to all living beings. Follow me, and study my teachings without begrudging efforts! In the future, when you see good men or women who believe in the wisdom of the Tathāgata, you should expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to them, and cause them to hear and know [this sūtra] so that they may be able to obtain the wisdom of the Buddha. When you see anyone who does not receive [this sūtra] by faith, you should show him some other profound teachings of mine, teach him, benefit him, and cause him to rejoice. When you do all this, you will be able to repay the favors given to you by the Buddhas.”
Having heard these words of the Buddha, the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas were filled with great joy. With more respect than ever, they bent forward, bowed, joined their hands together towards him, and said simultaneously. “We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!”
The Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas said simultaneously twice more, “We will do as you command. Certainly, World-Honored One! Do not worry!”
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha, wishing to send back to their home worlds [Many-Treasures Buddha and] the Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters, said, “May the Buddhas be where they wish to be! May the stupa of Many-Treasures Buddha be where it was!”
Having heard these words of the Buddha, not only the innumerable Buddhas of his replicas, who had come from the worlds of the ten quarters and were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees, Many-Treasures Buddha, and the great multitude of the innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattvas, including Superior-Practice, but also the four kinds of devotees including Śāriputra and other Śrāvakas, and the gods, men and asuras of the world, had great joy.
The Daily Dharma for Jan. 20, 2023, offers this:
Now I will transmit [the Dharma] to you. Keep, read, recite and expound [this sūtra in which the Dharma is given], and cause all living beings to hear it and know it! Why is that? It is because I have great compassion. I do not begrudge anything. I am fearless. I wish to give the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Tathāgata, the wisdom of the Self-Existing One, to all living beings.
The Buddha gives these instructions in Chapter Twenty-Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In this transmission, the Buddha bestows his highest teaching not just on those gathered 2500 years ago. He gives it to all of us who hear and keep his teaching today. When the Buddha revealed his true nature as existing through all time and space, he assured us that he is always teaching us, and that the Lotus Sūtra is the vehicle by which he comes to us. By giving us this teaching, he does not lose it. In the same way, when we benefit other beings, we should not be afraid of losing anything, other than our delusion and attachments.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Great White Bull Cart Analogy
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 72-73Q: Is this [doctrine of] the Ten Suchlikes [the direct teaching of] the Dharma [as it truly is], or is it just [a teaching by] analogy?
A: This is [a direct teaching of] the Dharma, not just an analogy
Q: What if it were taught by analogy?
A: There is the text in the chapter of “Parables” in the Lotus Sutra concerning the Great White Bull Cart.
Q: What if [the Ten Suchlikes as] both [the direct teaching of] the Dharma and as analogy are harmonized?
A: That which is called “suchlike appearance” in the text, which is the direct teaching of the Dharma, is explained as “adorned with a multitude of jewels” in the analogy. The Dharma of “suchlike nature” is analogously explained as “there was a Great White Bull Cart.” The Dharma of “suchlike essence” is analogously explained as “that cart was high and vast.” The Dharma of “suchlike power” is analogously explained as “also, on its top are spread out parasols and canopies.” The Dharma of “suchlike activity” is analogously explained as “swift as the wind.” The Dharma of “suchlike causes” is analogously explained as “mounting the jeweled cart, they played in all four directions.” The Dharma of “suchlike conditions” is analogously explained as “there are also many attendants serving and guarding it.” The Dharma of “suchlike results” is analogously explained as “leading directly to the seat of enlightenment.”
Q: What is utilized to harmonize the [direct] teaching of the Dharma and [the teaching] as an analogy with regard to these Ten Suchlikes?
A: The texts that explain the Dharma [directly] refer to the fruit of Buddhahood as the true aspect of reality. The analogous explanation refers to the “grandly adorned great cart” as that which leads directly to the seat of enlightenment. The section concerning past lives [the first half of the Lotus Sūtra] teaches the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood as the exposition of the tentative and the manifestation of the real. The section on the original basis [of the Buddha] [the second half of the Lotus Sūtra teaches] that the eternally enlightened Buddha corresponds to the subtle Dharma. How can it be referred to as merely a harmonization [of the direct teaching] of the Dharma and [teaching through] analogy? This meaning is common to all from the stories of past lives to [the explanation of original Buddhahood in] the last half of the Lotus Sūtra.
Daily Dharma – April 6, 2023
The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sutra He is like the light of a firefly in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sutra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sutra?
Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). When we encounter someone we consider great because of their fame, their wisdom, or anything else that leads them to be dear to us, our natural inclination is to show our gratitude to them by offering them gifts or services. When we learn about the Buddha, his life and what he taught us, even from a distance of 2500 years, we cannot help but be grateful for everything he has done to benefit us and all beings. But, as Nichiren instructs, when we realize the treasure of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, and how it is the embodiment of the Ever-Present Buddha who continues to teach all beings through all worlds and all time, our gratitude to it is even greater. We make offerings to the Sūtra through our practice, our determination not to allow suffering to dictate what we do, but to cultivate the wisdom and compassion within us, and repay the Ever-Present Buddha with the enlightenment of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 25
Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.
Having last month concluded Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, we begin Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, and consider the vow of the Bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground.
Thereupon the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of dust of one thousand worlds, who had sprung up from underground, joined their hands together towards the Buddha with all their hearts, looked up at his honorable face, and said to him:
“World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will expound this sūtra in the worlds of the Buddhas of your replicas and also in the place from which you will pass away. Why is that? It is because we also wish to obtain this true, pure and great Dharma, to keep, read, recite, expound and copy [this sūtra], and to make offerings to it.”
The Truth in One Thought
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 71Q: Is this [threefold truth of] emptiness, conventional existence, and the Middle [of being simultaneously empty and conventionally existent] included in one thought, or included in [many] different thoughts?
A: It is included in one thought.
Q: What do you mean [when you say] that it is included in one thought?
A: One thought in the mind truly has no substantial mark. This is called emptiness. But there is no dharma that it does not encompass. This is called conventional existence. It is neither one nor differentiated. This is called the Middle. Therefore it is known that each and every [thought] is suchlike. All contain the threefold truth. Each aspect of the threefold truth is present in one thought.
Daily Dharma – April 5, 2023
I am saving all living beings from suffering.
Because they are perverted,
I say that I pass away even though I shall not.
If they always see me,
They will become arrogant and licentious,
And cling to the five desires
So much that they will fall into the evil regions.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Sometimes we wonder why the Buddha’s presence in this world is not more obvious. We think if only we could find a living example of an enlightened being living among us then we would be happy and the world would be a better place to live. We forget that even during the Buddha’s lifetime, not everyone sought him out for his teaching, and some actively opposed him. In this explanation, the Buddha points out that our not seeing him is due to our limitations rather than his, and by not taking our lives and this world for granted, we open ourselves to his presence.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 24
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered in gāthās the twelve hundred merits of the tongue, we consider the eight hundred merits of the body.
“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the body. Their bodies will become as pure as lapis lazuli. All living beings will wish to see them. Some of the living beings in the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds are just born or have just died. All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women]. The Surrounding Iron Mountains, the Great Surrounding Iron Mountains, Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru, and the other great mountains, and the living beings in those mountains also will be reflected on their bodies. [All the six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven and the living beings therein also will be reflected on their bodies. The Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas as well as the Buddhas who are expounding the Dharma, also will show their reflections on their bodies.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to have his body purified like lapis lazuli.
All living beings will wish to see him.Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this]
Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.The gods, men, asuras,
Hellish denizens,
Hungry spirits and animals,
That is, all living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-world
Will be reflected on his body.The palaces of the gods in the heavens
Up to the Highest Heaven,
The Surrounding iron Mountains,
Mt. Meru, Mt. Maha-Meru,
And the great oceans also
Will be reflected on his body.
The Daily Dharma from April 24, 2022, offers this:
Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror,
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this] Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.
The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we encounter other beings in this world of conflict, we tend to filter our experience through our expectation. If it is a friend, we expect them to care about us and treat us well; an enemy, to harm us and treat us badly; a stranger, we compare them to other beings like them and expect them to be the same. When we use the Buddha Dharma to look for the complexity of all beings, and look for how we can bring out their ability to benefit and protect others, then we reflect back to them their true natures, rather than the clouds of their delusions.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
One Thought of 3,000 Realms
Tendai Lotus School Teachings, p 71Q: Does the mind of one thought merely contain the threefold truth and the ten suchnesses?
A: It also contains the trichiliocosm of one hundred realms and a thousand suchnesses.
Q: What is the trichiliocosm of one hundred realms and a thousand suchnesses?
A: One Dharma realm contains Ten Suchlikes, so the ten Dharma realms contain one hundred suchlikes. Also, each Dharma realm contains the other nine Dharma realms, so there are one hundred Dharma realms and one thousand suchlikes. Also, one Dharma realm contains three kinds of worlds, so the one hundred Dharma realms contain three thousand worlds, a trichiliocosm.
Q: Why do you establish a trichiliocosm of one hundred realms and a thousand suchnesses?
A: If we do not organize phenomena in terms of the one hundred realms, it would not be complete, the thousand suchnesses could not be verbalized, and causality would be excluded. Without the trichiliocosm, the world and we who live in it would not be exhaustively [explained].