All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma, d27b

Daily Dharma – May 12, 2022

Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keeps this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Māra. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Māra is the deity who creates confusion and delusion in the world. His army consists of those who reinforce these delusions and reward those who share them. Such rewards do not benefit those who receive them. They only serve to produce fear and attachment which creates misery in the world. With our practice of this Lotus Sūtra, we learn to recognize delusion for what it is, and reject the superficial benefits that come with it.

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

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what happened after Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha entered the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder, we consider in gāthās Mañjuśrī’s recollection of what occurred innumerable, countless kalpas ago.

Thereupon Mañjuśrī, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās in the midst of the great multitude:

According to my memory,
innumerable, countless kalpas ago,
There lived a Buddha, a Man of the Highest Honor,
Called Sun-Moon-Light.

That World-Honored One expounded the Dharma,
And caused innumerable living beings
And many hundreds of millions of Bodhisattvas
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.

Seeing the Great Saint
Who had renounced the world,
The eight sons born to him when he was a king
Followed him, and performed brahma practices.

The Buddha expounded
To the great multitude
A sūtra of the Great Vehicle
Called the ‘Innumerable Teachings.’

Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha sat cross-legged
On the seat of the Dharma [facing the east],
And entered into the samādhi
For the purport of the innumerable teachings.

The gods rained mandarava-flowers.
Heavenly drums sounded by themselves.
The gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings
Made offerings to the Man of the Highest Honor.

The worlds of the Buddhas quaked much.
The Buddha emitted a ray of light
From between his eyebrows,
And showed things rarely to be seen.

See Prince Sun and Moon Light

800years, Lotus Seeds

800 Years: Planting the See of Buddhahood

Just as a fertile field has the capacity to produce a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables if the right seeds are planted, we have the capacity to manifest the wisdom and compassion of a Buddha if the seed of Buddhahood is planted in our lives. Our Buddha-nature is like the fertile field which awaits the seed; Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is that seed. All the awakened qualities and merits spring from that seed, which we receive through our faith in the Lotus Sutra. That is why chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, “I devote myself to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma” is the primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism.

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 11, 2022

The Bodhisattva-mahāsattva also should know the following truth. All things are insubstantial. They are as they are. Things are not perverted. They do not move. They do not go. They do not turn. They have nothing substantial just as the sky has not. They are inexplicable. They are not born. They do not appear. They do not rise. They are nameless. They are formless. They have no property. They are immeasurable and limitless. They have no obstacle or hindrance. He should see all this. Things can exist only by dependent origination. Only perverted people say, ‘Things are permanent and pleasant.’ This truth is the second thing he should approach.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. The Buddha does not see the world as we do. This section explains how changing our view changes the world. When we no longer see beings with power to overwhelm us, and see beings in whom delusions have been created, we see our abilities to cut the root of those delusions and benefit them. These passages are what make the Lotus Sutra difficult to believe and understand, since they go against our habits of manipulating the world to become happy. As we learn to work with our minds, then we truly change the world.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory, we return to the top and consider the Arhats, Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas in the congregation.

Thus have I heard. The Buddha once lived on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House. He was accompanied by twelve thousand great bhikṣus. They were Arhats. They had already eliminated āsravas, and had no illusions. They had already benefited themselves, broken off the bonds of existence [in the world of birth and death], and obtained liberty in their minds. They included Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, Mahā-Kāśyapa, Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya-Kāśyapa, Nadi- Kāśyapa, Śāriputra, Great Maudgalyāyana, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Aniruddha, Kapphina, Gavampati, Revata, Pilindavatsa, Bakkula, Maha-Kausthila, Nanda, Sundarananda, Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī, Subhūti, Ananda, and Rahula. They were great Arhats well known to the multitude.

There were also two thousand [Śrāvakas], some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī was present with her six thousand attendants. Yasodhara Bhikṣunī, the mother of Rahula, was also present with her attendants.

There were also eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. They never faltered in [seeking] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence according to the wishes [of all living beings], made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and planted the roots of virtue under those Buddhas, by whom they had always been praised. They had already trained themselves out of their compassion towards others, entered the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha, obtained great wisdom, and reached the Other Shore so that their fame had already extended over innumerable worlds. They had already saved many hundreds of thousands of living beings. They included Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva, Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva, Never-Resting Bodhisattva, Treasure-Palm Bodhisattva, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Treasure-Moon Bodhisattva, Moon-Light Bodhisattva, Full-Moon Bodhisattva, Great-Power Bodhisattva, Immeasurable-Power Bodhisattva, Transcending-Triple-World Bodhisattva, Bhadrapala Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Accumulated-Treasure Bodhisattva, and Leading-Teacher Bodhisattva. Eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas such as these were present.

See 800 Years: Thus Have I Heard

800years, Lecture on Lotus Sutra

800 Years: The Power of Faith and a Seeking Spirit

In the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter 27, the two sons who vow to practice Buddhism and then vow to convert their father do so because they are able to manifest the benefits of their Buddhist practice. The truth of the teaching enables them to change their lives, giving them the joy of life and the capacity to turn around and save their father. Their faith and seeking spirit led them to Buddhism and their benefit enables them to share it.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 10, 2022

She said, “Look at me with your supernatural powers! I will become a Buddha more quickly.”

These are the words of the young daughter of Dragon-King Sāgara in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva knew that she was capable of becoming a Buddha, but none of the other Bodhisattvas or anyone else gathered to hear the Buddha teach believed that she could attain enlightenment. Before making this statement, she offered a priceless gem to the Buddha. In less time than it took for the Buddha to accept her offering, she herself became a Buddha before the eyes of all who doubted her. This story shows that all beings can become enlightened, male and female, young and old, human and non-human. When we lose our doubts about others’ enlightenment, we also lose our doubts about our own.

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

Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the Buddha’s manifestation in this saha world, we consider the attributes of the Buddha and conclude the first chapter of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings.

Your Brahma voice—that rolls like thunder, that has eight virtues,
That is pure, deeply resonant, sublime, and far-reaching—
Conveys the Four Noble Truths, the perfection of the six spiritual
attitudes, and the twelve-linked chain of dependent origination
To living beings according to their mindsets and their karmic actions.
The minds and hearts of those who hear you will invariably open;
They will not fail to sever themselves from the cycle of countless births and deaths (samsara).
Those who hear you will variously attain the fruit of entering
the stream (srota-āpanna),
The fruit of one remaining return (sakṛdāgāmin), the fruit of
non-returning (anāgāmin), the fruit of arhatship;
Or freedom from delusion and desire, and transcendence of cause and condition, in the status of a pratyekabuddha;
Or the bodhisattva stage in which phenomena are grasped as being without origination or cessation.
Or they will obtain countless Dharma-grasping empowerments;
Or the ability to expound pleasingly with unrestrained great eloquence—
To orate in verses profound and sublime
While bathing and reveling in the pure pond of Dharma.
Or they will manifest wondrous abilities to reach any place, to leap and to soar,
And to move at will into and out of water and fire. Such are the signs of a wheel of the Dharma;
Thus is it pure and limitless, and hard to give form to in thought
or in word.
Together, all of us will bow again
And take refuge in a Dharma wheel whenever it is turned.
We will bow again and take refuge in the sound of your Brahma voice.
We will bow again and take refuge in the Four Noble Truths, the perfection of the spiritual attitudes, and dependent origination.
World-honored One! Ever since innumerable kalpas ago,
You have cultivated and practiced all beneficial works devotedly
For our sake—human beings, heavenly beings, nāga kings— Extending universally to all manner of living beings.
You were able to give up everything that is difficult to forgo—
Your wife, your child, all of your wealth, and your palaces and lands. As selfless with regard to inner matters as you are with material things,
You give your mind, your perceptions, and the essence of your being completely for the sake of all people.
You will reverently uphold the principles of pure behavior of all buddhas
With unbroken resolve until the end of your life.
Should someone bearing sword or staff come to do you harm,
Or to disparage or denounce you, you will be without anger
to the end.
Through kalpa after kalpa of all-out endeavor, your intensity
has never waned.
Night and day you govern your mind, keeping it constantly focused. You have completely mastered all ways to grasp the Dharma,
And your insight penetrates deeply into the core of living beings: Thus, you have come to achieve unhindered capabilities.
In total command of the Dharma, you are as its king. Together we all bow to and take refuge in the one
So steadfast in purpose toward all that is difficult to overcome.

See Implanting Our Ideal of the Buddha

800years, WONS

800 Years: The Prayer of a Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

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 rises 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.”

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 68

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – May 9, 2022

Although he was abused like this for many years, he did not get angry, He always said to them, ‘You will become Buddhas.’

The Buddha tells this story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. This Bodhisattva did not read or recite sutras. His practice was simply to tell all those whom he encountered, “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you.” Despite his pure intentions, the deluded minds of those who heard him caused them to be angry with him, beat him, and chase him away. While he did not stand fast and endure their abuse, he did not lose his respect for them. This is an example for us who aspire to practice the Wonderful Dharma to show us how we can learn to treat all beings.

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