All posts by John Hughes

800years, WONS

800 Years: Stronger Faith = Greater Protection

When Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva brought the Lotus Sūtra to China, the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa dispatched countless soldiers to escort him safely over the Pamirs. When Priest Dōshō read the Lotus Sūtra in a waste land, innumerable tigers came together to protect him. You will also be protected in the same way; the thirty-six earthly deities and the twenty-eight heavenly gods will protect you. Moreover, two heavenly gods always accompany each person just as a shadow follows the body. One is called God Dōshō, and another is God Dōmyō. Both protect a person by accompanying him on both his shoulders, so that Heaven will not punish the innocent by mistake, not to speak of a lady with virtue like you. Grand Master Miao-lê has stated: “As long as one has strong faith, he certainly will receive greater protection.” It means that the stronger one’s faith is, the greater the gods’ protection.

Oto Gozen Go-shōsoku, A Letter to Lady Oto, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 120

Daily Dharma, d32b

Daily Dharma – Sept. 5, 2022

If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sūtra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. Out of his gratitude for the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma, Universal Sage promises to encourage anyone who may be struggling in their practice of the Buddha Dharma. This is a reminder of how no matter what obstacles or difficulties we may encounter, great beings are helping us and we are in harmony with things as they truly are.

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 message from Śākyamuni’s replicas, we witness the opening of the stupa and see Many Treasures Tathāgata.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha, having seen that all the Buddhas of his replicas had already arrived and sat on the lion-like seats, and also having heard that they had told their attendants of their wish to see the stūpa of treasures opened, rose from his seat, and went up to the sky. All the four kinds of devotees stood up, joined their hands together towards him, and looked up at him with all their hearts. Now he opened the door of the stūpa of the seven treasures with the fingers of his right hand. The opening of the door made a sound as large as that of the removal of the bolt and lock of the gate of a great city. At that instant all the congregation saw Many Treasures Tathāgata sitting with his perfect and undestroyed body on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of treasures as if he had been sitting in dhyāna-concentration. They also heard him say:

“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have joyfully expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. I have come to hear this sūtra [directly from you].”

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 Sept. 3, 2021, 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

b4today, Universal Sage

Seeing the Buddhas Emanated from Śākyamuni

“After saying these words, the practitioner will perceive Mount Vulture Peak composed of the seven precious metals and gems, monks and śrāvakas with countless others together in a great assembly, rows of jewel trees lining level jewel ground on which a magnificent jeweled lion seat has been arranged, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits from between his eyebrows a beam of light that passes through the innumerable worlds of the ten directions and illuminates worlds everywhere in the universe. From everywhere this light reaches in the ten directions, the buddhas that emanated from Śākyamuni gather together at one time into a great assembly, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each emanated buddha has a body that is purple-gold in color and boundless in size, each sits on a lion seat, and each has a retinue of countless thousands of millions of great bodhisattvas. Each bodhisattva follows the same practice as Universal Sage; it is like this as well in the bodhisattva retinues of all of the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions.”

The above paragraph contains four important descriptions. The first is that the buddhas emanated from Śākyamuni Buddha are seen through a ray of light emitted from his eyebrows. This means that if a person takes refuge in the Buddha’s teachings, his mind will communicate with the minds of all the buddhas; in other words, if he realizes the truth taught by Śākyamuni Buddha, he will come to understand the true meaning of all the teachings. The second is that the buddhas emanated from Śākyamuni Buddha preach the same Law as preached in the Lotus Sutra. This proves that all the teachings are unified in the Lotus Sutra. The third is that the practice of each one of the countless hundreds of koṭis of great bodhisattvas is equal to the practice of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. This means that the holiness of a bodhisattva consists before all else in his practice. The fourth is that when rays of light emitted from the eyebrows of the emanated buddhas stream onto the head of Śākyamuni Buddha, the emanated buddhas emit from all the pores of their bodies rays of light in each of which innumerable transformed buddhas abide. This signifies that the Buddha’s teachings spread limitlessly. The light of the truth reaches everywhere, and everything consonant with the truth shines by its reflected light. But anything that covers the truth with illusions and sins does not shine even if it receives the reflected light of the truth. Therefore, so long as a person does not remove illusions and sins from his mind by the practice of repentance, he remains spiritually base.

Buddhism for Today, p440
800years, Blog

800 Years: Managing Expectations

Here, at this transition between The Variety of Merits chapter and The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing this Sutra chapter, I want to address expectations. Specifically, I want to discuss the expectations we should have when we declare faith in the Lotus Sutra.

When I first chanted the Daimoku in 1989 as a member of Nichiren Shoshu of America and later Soka Gakkai, I had no idea what to expect. I simply accepted that this was a Buddhist practice, and, at the start, that was all I wanted. But it was not long before I became troubled by the singular emphasis placed on material rewards. Looking for a job? Chant. Want a new girlfriend? Chant. Need a new car? Chant. Surely there must be more to Buddhism, I thought.

Nikkyō Niwano explains the perils of such a focus in one’s practice in Buddhism for Today:

“Almost all people who enter a religious faith have some form of suffering. It is natural for them to want to free themselves from such sufferings, and they are not to be blamed for this. But when they are concerned only with the desire to recover from illness or to be blessed with money, they are merely attaching themselves to the idea of ‘disease’ or ‘poverty.’ Though they wish to rid themselves of these problems, instead they become their victims because their minds grasp the idea of illness or poverty so tightly that they cannot let go.”

Buddhism for Today, p259

Another way to look at this, is to realize that focusing on material pleasures pins one’s life in the realm of hungry spirits. There can be no lasting satisfaction when one’s focus remains on self-interest without consideration for all others. But that doesn’t mean we are without extraordinary benefits from our practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren often encouraged believers to expect practical, even supernatural, benefits from their practice. As he writes in “Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers”:

“And yet even though a finger might point to the great earth and miss it, a person tie up the sky, the ocean’s tide lack an ebb and flow, or if the sun should rise in the west, there cannot be a time when the prayer of a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra is not answered. If the various bodhisattvas, human and heavenly beings, eight kinds of gods and demi-gods who protect Buddhism, the two sage bodhisattvas (Medicine King and Brave Donor Bodhisattvas), two heavenly kings (Jikoku-ten and Bishamon-ten), and ten female rākṣasa demons, or even one out of 1,000, do not rush to protect practicers of the Lotus Sūtra, they commit the sin of fooling Śākyamuni and the other Buddhas above and in the nine realms below. Thus, they will protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra without fail regardless if the practicers are insincere, unwise, impure, and do not observe the precepts so long as they chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 68

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Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 4, 2022

Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.

These verses are sung by the sixteen children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. When the children learned of their father becoming enlightened, they gave up their toys and preoccupations and begged that Buddha to teach them. With this declaration they showed their father that they were ready to receive his wisdom and set off on the path to their own enlightenment.

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

b4today, Universal Sage

The Diamond Pounder

The diamond-pounder was originally a kind of weapon used in ancient India. In Buddhism it is regarded as a symbol of the bodhi-mind because it can destroy all defilement and false views. Therefore the phrase “pointing his diamond-pounder at the six organs” indicates the believer’s power to destroy the defilement of his six organs. It bears witness to the fact that his mind is moving toward repentance. The expression “the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue will preach to the follower the law of repentance to obtain the purity of the six organs” means that through his practice of repentance the believer can gain the awareness of being purified in body and mind.

Another noteworthy expression is: “When these words are spoken, the follower sees all the innumerable worlds in the eastern quarter. …”

This indicates that if everyone deeply understands the holiness of the Buddha’s teachings and the preaching of them (jewel trees and jewel thrones), and if the Buddha’s teachings spread universally, all people, society, and the whole world will become beautiful.

Buddhism for Today, p438
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 concluded today’s portion of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, we return to the top of today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and consider the position of the Lotus Sūtra.

Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva mahāsattvas:
“I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.

“Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

“Medicine-King, know this! Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe. He also will be protected by the present Buddhas of the other worlds. He will have the great power of truth, the power of vows, and the power of roots of good. Know this! He will live with me. I will pat him on the head.

See Covered by the Robe of the Buddha

800years, Blog, d22b, d23b, d24b

800 Years: The merits of religious practice

In discussing faith it is important to acknowledge the merits that flow to us from our practice and the impact of those merits on our lives. Thich Nhat Hanh explains it this way in Peaceful Action, Open Heart:

“Chapters 17, 18, and 19 of the Lotus Sutra all have to do with the idea of merit. The word “merit” (Sanskrit: punya), when rendered in Chinese is made up of two characters. The first character means “daily practice or daily work,” and the second means “virtuous conduct.” Merit is a kind of spiritual energy that can be accumulated when we maintain a steady practice. This energy protects us and brings us joy and insight.”

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p121

What daily practice entails and what qualifies as virtuous conduct are as varied as those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, but Nikkyō Niwano offers this guideline in Buddhism for Today:

“In considering the merits of religious practice, we must place great importance on being upright in character and gentle in mind, as taught in chapter 16. We should focus our gaze on the Buddha alone, not worrying ourselves about divine favors in this world. We should be united with the Buddha and act obediently according to his guidance. If our actual life should consequently change for the better, that is a natural phenomenon produced because our minds and actions have been set in the direction of the truth. We should receive such phenomena gratefully and frankly.”

Buddhism for Today, p260

Whatever the practice, the merit that flows from our faith has a real, observable impact on our emotional and physical lives. This is the true measure of the depth of our faith. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, ‘I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.’

“It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.

“The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.”

Buddhism for Today, p257-258
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Daily Dharma, d26b

Daily Dharma – Sept. 3, 2022

The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the leader of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground in Chapter Fifteen when the Buddha asked who would continue to keep and practice this sūtra after his physical extinction in this world. Nichiren saw himself as the embodiment of Superior-Practice, and all of us who are determined to lead all beings to enlightenment through this Wonderful Dharma as embodiments of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground. The powers of the Buddhas only seem supernatural to those who are mired in delusion and ignorance. They are nothing more than turning the poison of anger into the medicine of energy; the poison of isolation into the medicine of compassion; the poison of attachment into the medicine of wisdom.

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