Important Matters, p 60The Odaimoku we chant contains all the Dharmas of all the Buddhas from all the realms of the universe and manifests all the pure Buddha Worlds of Tranquil Light. They are all manifest in your life through the sound of your voice chanting the Odaimoku.
“…When we contemplate the Original Buddha with every thought and chant the wondrous name with every utterance, the inconceivable power of the wondrous name and the wondrous entity manifest itself. All delusions will be eliminated, and all merits will be achieved. Dedicate this merit so it will spread to the entire Dharma-realm and benefit all sentient beings in the depths of their minds so that they will attain the merit of the Buddha of inherent existence.”
Shutei Hoyo Shiki, Udana-in Nichiki, page 398
All posts by John Hughes
The True Taste of Fruits Remains in the Earth
In the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 23, it is said: “Propagate this sūtra throughout the world in the fifth five-hundred year period after My extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Devils and their followers, various heavenly beings, dragons, yakṣa and kumbhāṇḍa devils should take advantage of it.”
Flowers will return to their roots. The true taste of fruits remains in the earth. To my late Master Dōzen I have now dedicated all the merits I have accumulated in spreading the True Dharma.
Namu Myōhōrengekyō, Namu Myōhōrengekyō.
Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 59.
Daily Dharma – Feb. 8, 2023
You should promptly discard your false faith and take up the true and sole teaching of the Lotus Sutra at once. Then this triple world of the unenlightened will all become Buddha Lands. Will Buddha lands ever decay? All the worlds in the universe will become pure lands. Will Pure Lands ever be destroyed? When our country does not decay and the world is not destroyed, our bodies will be safe and our hearts tranquil. Believe these words and revere them!
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Spreading Peace through Right Practice (Risshō Ankoku-ron). We may believe that we can practice correctly only when the world becomes peaceful. As if so long as we are in this world of conflict, we would need to use force and aggression to create peace. Nichiren turns this idea upside down. He shows that only by our practicing respect towards all beings, and working for their benefit, can we create peace in this world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 2
Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion)
Having last month considered the Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Light, we consider what happened after Sun-Moon-Light Buddha entered Nirvāṇa-without-remainder.
“At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Virtue-Store. Sun-Moon-Light Buddha assured him of his future Buddhahood. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Pure-Body, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha.’
“Having assured him of his future Buddhahood, the Buddha then entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder at midnight. After his extinction, Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and expounded it to men for eighty small kalpas. The eight sons of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha became his disciples. He taught them and caused them to resolve to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and then attained the enlightenment of the Buddha [one after another]. The son who became a Buddha last was called Burning-Light. One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called FameSeeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sūtras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sūtras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.
“Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you. This good omen we see now is not different from what I saw at that time. Therefore, I think that the Tathagata of today also will expound the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’
See The Prelude
Our Joyful Practice
Important Matters, p 69Our practice should be a joyful expression of our fortune to have been introduced to the Lotus Sutra. At first I know it is hard to find that joy, your legs ache, your running out of time, and you can’t seem to get the words correct. Try though to do your best, and let perfection go.
Ji No Ichinen Sanzen
QUESTION: What is the scriptural proof for the “3,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine?
ANSWER: I should say, there are two kinds. First, it is preached in the second chapter, “Expedients”: “Reality of all phenomena consists of their appearances, natures, bodies. … The Buddhas, the World Honored Ones, wish to open the gate to Buddha wisdom.” These are scriptural proofs showing the existence of 3,000 dharma worlds even in the moment of thought of unenlightened beings suffering at the bottom of delusions and evil passions.
Secondly, “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter preaches, “Nevertheless, it has been numerous and limitless aeons since I actually attained Buddhahood. …” It represents the “3,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine attained by Śākyamuni Buddha in the eternal past. Now in the Latter Age of Degeneration I, Nichiren, exert myself to disseminate this “actual 3,000 in one thought” (ji no ichinen sanzen) doctrine shown in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter. I have kept secret in my heart this doctrine of the three great secret dharmas. However, if I do not leave it in writing for the future, I am sure, my disciples would be sorry for my lack of compassion after my death. It is useless to regret then, so I am writing this to be sent to you. After reading it once, please keep it confidential. Do not show it to others or talk about it indiscriminately.
Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 291
Daily Dharma – Feb. 7, 2023
The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, teach only Bodhisattvas. All they do is for one purpose, that is, to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings, to cause them to obtain the insight of the Buddha.
The Buddha speaks these words in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sutra. Here he emphasizes the importance of practice for reaching enlightenment. We may think that just hearing what the Buddha teaches is enough to reach his insight of seeing things for what they are. We also need to be actively engaged with the world, doing our best, making mistakes, and confident that we can continue to learn how to make things better. This is no different from the mistaken belief that one can learn how to cook by merely reading recipes. Only by going in the kitchen and making something can one gain the insight of whoever came up with the recipe.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 1
Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory
Having last month considered the actions of the Bodhisattvas Maitreya sees, we consider the offerings of the Bodhisattvas.
I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering delicious food and drink
And hundreds of kinds of medicines
To the Buddha and the Sangha.Some offer garments and beautiful robes
Worth tens of millions
Or beyond monetary value
To the Buddha and the Sangha.Some offer thousands of billions
Of jeweled houses made of candana
And wonderful bedding
To the Buddha and the Sangha.Some offer pure gardens and forests
Abounding in flowers and fruits,
And furnished with rivers, springs,
and pools for bathing,
To the Buddha and the Saṃgha.I see those Bodhisattvas
Making offerings of those wonderful things
Joyfully and untiringly
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.Some Bodhisattvas expound
The truth of tranquil extinction,
And with various expedients,
Teach innumerable living beings.I also see some Bodhisattvas
Who attained the following truth:
“The nature of things is not dual.
It is [formless] like the sky.”I also see some sons of the Buddha
Having no attachment in their minds.
They seek unsurpassed enlightenment
With this wonderful wisdom.Mañjuśrī!
Some Bodhisattvas make offerings
To the śarīras of a Buddha
After his extinction.
The Plight of an Ordinary Bodhisattva
This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
In the many, many times I’ve read Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, I’ve begun with the understanding that Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva wants to know how “ordinary” bodhisattvas should accomplish their propagation in the evil world described in the previous chapter. This has made the chapter a message to me, such a very ordinary bodhisattva.
Now I learn that this focus on “ordinary” bodhisattvas is an invention of Senchu Murano.
Murano opens the chapter with:
Thereupon Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, the Son of the King of the Dharma, said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! These Bodhisattvas are extraordinarily rare. They made a great vow to protect, keep, read, recite and expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the evil world after your extinction because they are following you respectfully. World-Honored One! How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”
Murano uses square brackets to mark text that doesn’t appear in Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra. In other places these parenthetical insertions add clarity without changing the meaning. Not here. This insertion of “[ordinary]” appears in the first edition of Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, so it’s not something introduced by later editors.
It was only when comparing H. Kern’s English translation of a 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra that I realized what Murano had done.
Kern opens the chapter with:
Mañjuśrī, the prince royal, said to the Lord: It is difficult, Lord, most difficult, what these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas will attempt out of reverence for the Lord. How are these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas to promulgate this Dharmaparyāya at the end of time, at the last period?
When I checked against the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra I discovered they agreed with Kern’s Sanskrit document. We’re talking about the great Bodhisattvas who have vowed to spare nothing in promulgating this sutra in the evil age, not a subset of ordinary bodhisattvas.
The BDK Tripiṭaka translation of the Lotus Sutra begins Chapter 14:
Thereupon the Prince of the Dharma, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha, saying: “O Bhagavat! These bodhisattvas are very rare. In respectful obedience to the Buddha they have made this great vow: ‘In the troubled world to come, we will preserve, recite, and teach this Lotus Sutra!’
“O Bhagavat! How can these bodhisattva mahāsattvas teach this sutra in the troubled world to come?“
Rissho Kosei-Kai’s 1975 translation begins chapter 14:
At that time the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī, the Law-king’s son, spoke to the Buddha, saying: “World-honored One! Rare indeed are such bodhisattvas as these! Reverently according with the Buddha, they have made great vows that in the evil age to come they will protect, keep, read, recite, and preach this Law-Flower Sutra. World-honored One! How are these bodhisattva-mahāsattvas to be able to preach this sutra in the evil age to come?“
Only Leon Hurvitz’s translation, which incorporates both Kumārajīva’s Chinese and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers of hint of why Murano might have felt compelled to insert “[ordinary].”
Hurvitz begins Chapter 14:
At that time, Mañjuśrī the dharma prince, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, addressed the Buddha, saying, “O World-Honored One! Very rarely do there exist such bodhisattvas as these, who out of respectful obedience to the Buddha utter a great vow to keep and hold, to read and recite this Scripture of the Dharma Blossom in the latter evil age! O World-Honored One! How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?“
This is not unlike what I discovered when considering the name of the sutra Śākyamuni taught before the Lotus Sutra. If one assumes Hurvitz’s translation is the gold standard and that there is some ambiguity about which bodhisattvas we’re inquiring about, then one can appreciate why “How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?” could become “How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”
The Ten Worlds of the Odaimoku
Important Matters, p 58-59The Ten Worlds are mutually possessed in the Odaimoku, and each of these Ten Worlds mutually possess all Ten Worlds. All the virtues of each of the 100 Worlds thus derived are infused in the Odaimoku and thus we receive the merit of those virtues. Our chanting helps to restore the imbalances in our lives, smoothing out the rough patches. Perhaps we’ve had a bad day, and we have over exercised our world of Anger. We become out-of-harmony and our world appears as an angry place. Perhaps we have become musclebound by using Anger so much. To restore balance, we need not only to be less angry, but we need to strengthen the virtues of the other worlds.
Perhaps the problem is Hunger. I’m writing this on the sales weekend following the US Thanksgiving holiday. This is a time of heavy promotion to buy stuff. All sorts of emails have been flooding my inbox with solicitations to purchase things with supposedly special sales and discount coupons. It can be tough to keep Hunger in its proper perspective. Each of the Ten Worlds can present a problem if out of balance.
When we chant Odaimoku in front of the Gohonzon, it is these things we are advised to contemplate balance in our living, and calm and clear seas in our mind.