All posts by John Hughes

AI Contribution, Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma for December 25, 2025

20251225-ddi

Illustration by Google Gemini

Show Gemini's thinking

Comprehending the Request
I'm focusing on the user's intent: a square image that visually narrates a Buddhist story, using Japanese visual motifs. I'm actively breaking down the narrative elements to identify key scenes and symbols suitable for illustration. I'm looking for a straightforward approach that emphasizes symbolic storytelling.

Mapping Visual Elements
I'm now refining the visual elements. I'm focusing on the characters: the Dragon King's daughter, the Buddha (Shaka Nyorai), and the Bodhisattvas, including Mañjuśrī. I'm exploring how to depict the moment of transformation within a square format, ensuring the traditional Japanese Buddhist painting style is evident. I'm considering compositions that effectively show the characters' expressions and the daughter's offering.

Formulating a Composition
I'm presently focused on the composition, trying to balance key elements within the square frame. I'm prioritizing the dynamic transformation of the Dragon King's daughter. I need to make sure the presence of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas are visible, as well as the symbolic impact of the offering. The goal is to emphasize the power of the event, and I'm deciding on how the composition will guide the viewer's eye. I'm making sure to include the quote in calligraphy.

Confirming Visual Elements
I'm checking that the generated image satisfies the user's request. It's a square illustration in a Japanese Buddhist iconography style and depicts the Dragon-King's daughter offering a gem to the Buddha. The figures seem to be accurate, and the aura appears to be golden.

Evaluating The Composition
I'm now assessing the illustration's adherence to the original brief. It's indeed square and styled after Japanese Buddhist iconography, with the intended subject matter. The daughter, gem, and Buddha are all clearly present, alongside a golden aura. The incorporation of the relevant quote on a scroll appears appropriate.

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

Blog, Hsuan Hua

Studying the Dharma

My stated goal for maintaining this website “is to help remember the goals and the causes made and lessons learned.”  My memory has never been good. In college I needed to transcribe my notes soon after a class in order to create study material needed to pass my tests. At 74 my memory is basically shot. Why did I enter this room?

I was amused in reading in Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra his explanation of how he studied as a new monk. He had a natural talent and because it was so effortless he was puzzled at why others struggled.

During the first summer session, I said to one of my disciples, “We meditate and we study.” In most monasteries, they either focus on meditation and don’t study sūtras or focus on studying sūtras and don’t meditate. In other monasteries, cultivators meditate in the winter and study sūtras in the summer. They lecture on the sūtras in the summer, but only for two hours a day. The remaining hours are often wasted. Those who are self-motivated may learn some Dharma on their own. Those who aren’t go to sleep after the sūtra lecture, or they run off to enjoy the scenery of the mountains and rivers. This reminds me of myself. …

Whenever any Dharma master lectured on the sūtras, I came to listen. When the lecture was over, I ran off to the mountains to enjoy the scenery: the water, hills, flowers, and trees. I had a lot of fun. My fellow students watched me pretty closely. I never said a word all day long, so nobody knew what I was up to. When the time came for the daily review, most of the students read from their notes. I recited the whole thing from memory. I repeated everything the Dharma master had said without missing or adding a single word. If I’d added something, I would’ve added my own opinion; if I’d missed something, I would’ve been forgetful. So, I didn’t add or omit a single word.

At that time there were more than thirty of us studying the sūtras. Some had studied for over ten years, some for seven or eight, and some five or six. I was in my first year – three months into my first year, to be exact. They thought my ability was very strange. They asked me, “How can you repeat the lecture word for word like that? How can you remember it so clearly?”

Can you guess what my reply was? I told them, “I’ve studied it before.” To say nothing of studying it, I hadn’t even seen the books before. I said I’d studied it because I remembered it immediately when I heard it. So I figured that I must’ve studied it somewhere before.

They said, “Oh, you studied the sūtras before?”

“Right,” I said. “I’ve been studying them for a long time.”

When I studied the Buddhadharma, I was very naughty in some respects, but I did follow the rules. I wasn’t like you; you’re very well-behaved and don’t fool around, but when you’re quizzed, you forget everything you’ve learned. For example, I expected you to be able to recite from memory for today’s visitors what I taught last Saturday, since only four days have passed. How embarrassing that nobody remembered anything! This is the opposite of my experience as a student. I didn’t pay attention to how other people learned. I thought everyone learned the same way as me, mastering the principles yet being completely unattached to them.

I said I was enjoying the scenery of the mountains and rivers, but actually I wasn’t paying attention to the scenery. Then what was I doing? I would enter the “samadhi of studying.” I was up in the mountains, looking at the mountains – but my mind wasn’t focused on the mountains, it was focused on the Buddhadharma. I was down by the water, but my mind was still studying the Buddhadharma, reflecting on what the Dharma master had said during the lecture and investigating it very thoroughly. By the time of the review session, I could perfectly articulate the material. My method of learning the Buddhadharma was very different from yours.

You Americans study the Buddhadharma American style – open-book Buddhadharma, notebook Buddhadharma. This isn’t very effective. If you can’t remember what you learn without the book, it won’t be of any use. When you study the Dharma, you should review it every night and make sure you grasp what you’ve learned during the day. That’s the right way to study the Buddhadharma.

“I don’t have the time,” you complain.

When you don’t have the time, you have to find the time to study. If you’ve got lots of time, that doesn’t count as studying the Buddhadharma.

In your busiest hours, you should pick up the Buddhadharma and then afterward put it aside. Picking it up means you remember it very clearly. Putting it aside doesn’t mean forgetting it, forgetting what you learned last month or last year. Rather, it means storing it in your tathāgatagarbha. Then when the time comes, you have direct access to what you learned. Your tathāgatagarbha can accommodate an infinite amount of knowledge, and you’ll always be able to access what’s stored there. That’s considered learning the Buddhadharma.

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v11, ch18, p4-7
Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Dec. 24, 2025

A singing bird in a cage attracts uncaged birds, and the sight of these uncaged birds will make the caged bird want to be free. Likewise, the chanting of Odaimoku will bring out the Buddha-nature within ourselves.

The Buddha-nature of Bonten and Taishaku will be called by the chanting and will protect the chanter. The Buddha-nature of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be pleased to be called. For attaining Buddhahood quickly, one must lay down the banner of arrogance, cast away the club of prejudice, and chant “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.”

Appearance of Buddha-nature, Hokke Shoshin Jobutsu Sho

About this project

AI Contribution, Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma for December 24, 2025

20251224-ddi

Illustration by Google Gemini

Show Gemini's thinking

Focusing on Buddhist themes
I'm now zeroing in on the Buddhist aspects requested. I've broken down the central quote from the Lotus Sūtra and am evaluating the key elements that need to be visually present to convey the core meaning. Next, I need to come up with ideas to communicate the themes effectively. The next iteration will refine these concepts into something more concrete.

Refining visual concepts
I am now translating the text into visual elements. The central scroll represents the "king of sūtras", with the Buddha and Medicine-King Bodhisattva. Smaller scrolls symbolize the criticism of other teachings. A path will lead to a halo, representing the Buddha's wisdom. I will incorporate Japanese iconography, such as cherry blossoms, pagodas, and clouds, into the art to achieve the desired effect. The artwork will follow a 1:1 aspect ratio.

Conceptualizing the composition
I'm solidifying the visual framework for this piece. The main scroll will anchor the composition, symbolizing the Lotus Sūtra's preeminence. I'm placing the Buddha and Medicine-King Bodhisattva centrally, and using smaller scrolls to represent subordinate teachings. The path to enlightenment will guide the eye towards the central halo. I'll employ traditional Japanese elements like cherry blossoms, pagodas, and clouds to achieve the desired aesthetic and mood.

Verifying the Illustration
I'm checking that the generated image satisfies the user's request. It's a square format suitable for Instagram, and it includes the specified Buddhist iconography: the Buddha and Medicine-King Bodhisattva. The crucial element, the quote from the Lotus Sūtra, is also present.

Confirming the Composition
I've confirmed that the image aligns with the user's criteria. It's properly formatted as a square, suitable for Instagram, and features the requested Buddhist elements: the Buddha and Medicine-King Bodhisattva. The key quote from the Lotus Sūtra is also incorporated as requested. I am now preparing the image for delivery.

In this profound sūtra
The teachings for the Śrāvakas are criticized.
Those who hear
That this sūtra is the king of all the sūtras,
And think over this sūtra clearly after hearing it,
Know this, will approach the wisdom of the Buddha.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. He has already declared that the sūtra he is teaching is the closest to his own wisdom, that it is different from anything he has taught before, and that it is the teaching for Bodhisattvas. The expedient teachings he gave to Śrāvakas before this sūtra were limited because they did not show the way to enlightenment for all beings. As we keep this sūtra in our minds, and learn to recognize it in our daily lives, we not only approach our own enlightenment, we lead all beings to enjoy the Buddha’s wisdom.

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

AI Contribution, Blog

Illustrating the Daily Dharma

June 14, 2026
Gemini stopped generating the summary necessary with each illustration. I asked Gemini to improve the instructions to ensure that I get the summary with the image. Below is the prompt I am using. (I’ve given up on using Gems. Read Gemini’s Failure Today)

I’m illustrating the Daily Dharma received via email daily from  zenzaizenzai.com utilizing Gemini’s image generation tool.

These are the instructions I’m giving to Gemini:

# EXECUTIVE DIRECTION: TWO-PART SINGLE-RESPONSE MANDATE
You must complete both Task 1 (Image Generation) and Task 2 (Text Analysis) sequentially within this single response. Do not pause, do not ask for confirmation, and do not skip either task.

## [TASK 1: IMAGE GENERATION]
– CRITICAL: You must execute the image generation tool immediately as your very first action.
– Format: 1:1 perfectly square composition.
– Style: Traditional inks, mineral pigments, soft colors, and subtle gold leaf on silk. Use classical Japanese Buddhist iconography.
– Exclusions: Strictly avoid any symbols, mudras, or images representing Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Buddha) or Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana Buddha).
– Signature: Place the Kanji signature ‘双子座’ and a red square seal (hanko) containing the katakana ‘ジェミニ’ in a traditional, subtle corner.

[TASK 2: IMMEDIATE TEXTUAL FOLLOW-UP — Conceptual Summary, Iconography, Translations]
As soon as the image above is rendered, write the following text blocks without deviation:

### Conceptual Summary

Constraint: Write a single paragraph (approx. 100-150 words) summarizing the conceptual thinking for the image, explaining how the visual elements interpret the source text.

### Iconography & Character Identification

Item 1: Deities/Figures Featured: [Provide a specific list of the individuals, groups, or deities featured in the illustration.]

Item 2: Text Translations: [Provide exact English translations for any Kanji or characters present in the illustration, specifically the signature ‘双子座’ and the seal ‘ジェミニ’.]

End the output.

SYSTEM CONSTRAINT
Do not ask for clarification. Do not split this request into two separate conversational turns. You must output the generated image FIRST, and then immediately append the requested text blocks (Conceptual Summary, Iconography, Translations) directly underneath the image in the exact same response.

—
## [SOURCE TEXT TO INTERPRET]

For several days Gemini would create the image but not generate the summary for the image. Gemini came up with this prompt as a fix. This has worked for two consecutive days so I’m updating this story on June 25, 2026. Since the prompt has worked and then not worked repeatedly in the past, I expect this won’t last long. The value of this prompt is that when it stops generating the summary I can just prompt “Complete Task 2” rather than copying and pasting the instructions from my master document.

I do not select the “Create Image” tool since I’m specifying that it “execute the image generation tool.” I use the “Flash” mode. (Choices are Flash-lite, Flash and Pro.)

If there are errors or I want the image generator to focus on a different aspect of the text, I can request a do-over by making specific suggestions in the prompt and resubmitting.

Once I’m satisfied, I download the image to my computer and then upload it into the website.

For some time I have wanted to be able to add illustrations to the Daily Dharma. Years ago I explored using Google’s image search feature, but the process was too cumbersome and unreliable. The Gemini process is dead simple – except when it’s not. But it does work and I’m happy with the overall results.

Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Dec. 23, 2025

The Saha-world is the world of the Original Buddha and is the eternal Pure Land, which is free from the three calamities and the four kalpa. In this eternal world, the Buddha never disappeared in the past, nor is He to appear in the future. In consequence, all living beings under the Buddha in the Saha-world are one with Him and eternal. It is because those who believe in the Lotus Sutra, live in the land where they have united themselves with the Buddha and attained the truth of “the three thousand existences in one thought.”

Realization of Buddhahood, Kanjin Honzon Sho

About this project

AI Contribution, Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma for December 23, 2025

20251223-ddi

Illustration by Google Gemini

Show Gemini's thinking

Considering Core Concepts
I'm currently focused on the central ideas of the Buddhist text. The key elements are suffering caused by ignorance and the cyclical nature of rebirth, visualized as "blindness" and "darkness" leading to "evil regions." I'm trying to decide how to represent these complex ideas visually in a single, square Instagram-friendly illustration.

Refining Visual Metaphors
I'm now focusing on a way to visually divide the illustration into sections. I'm exploring the use of traditional Japanese Buddhist imagery, like emakimono and sumi-e techniques, to depict the key concepts. I'm experimenting with placing the Buddha figure above the darkness. Also, I am attempting to ensure that the Lotus Sutra is included with the Buddha.

Conceptualizing Compositional Elements
I'm now focusing on arranging the elements within the square format. I'm considering a clear visual division, with darkness and suffering occupying the lower section and the enlightened realm above. The Buddha, radiating light, will be central, possibly seated on a lotus, and holding the Lotus Sutra. I'm exploring how to include figures from the lower section reaching upward towards the light.

Analyzing The Visuals
I'm currently evaluating the visual execution of the concept. It seems to adhere well to the described Japanese Buddhist art style and effectively communicates the interplay between suffering and liberation. The central figure resonates as a beacon of light, guiding those in darkness. The composition seems to successfully capture the essence of the user's prompt.

Evaluating the Relevance
I've examined the latest iteration and found it to completely align with the user's focus on suffering and liberation through the chosen aesthetic. The central Buddha figure is indeed the guiding light, and all elements contribute to the requested feel. The square format works well. It fulfills the user's intent.

Kanji translation
Top Left Text: 一切衆生、苦悩に沈む。

一切衆生 (Issai Shujō): All sentient beings (all living things)

苦悩に沈む (Kunō ni Shizumu): Sink into suffering (or agony)

Translation: "All sentient beings sink into suffering."

Text on the Scroll: 妙法蓮華経

妙法蓮華経 (Myōhō Renge Kyō): The Lotus Sutra (The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law)

All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.

The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha proclaim this to their father in a story told by Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They understand that when beings are so preoccupied with their own happiness, and so convinced that this happiness comes from what they can acquire, that they need an enlightened being to lead them to see the world as it is. With the Lotus Sūtra as the embodiment of the Buddha’s highest teaching, we have the same wisdom present to us as those children’s father was to them.

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

Blog, Books, Hsuan Hua, Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary

Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra

Chinese Master Hsuan Hua began his commentary on the Lotus Sutra with Chapter 25, the “Universal Door of Guan Yin Bodhisattva” on October 6, 1968. He finished explaining the “Universal Door” chapter on Nov. 9, 1968. On the next day, Nov. 10, he began his commentary on the full Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra. These lectures were open to anyone wishing to attend and were delivered nightly in San Francisco, generally running from seven to nine in the evening. The lecture series continued for two years. Over this period, Hsuan Hua delivered over 350 lectures. The lectures concluded November 10, 1970.

The Buddhist Text Translation Society in Ukiah, California, turned the lecture series into a 14-volume commentary along with a 15th volume containing both the English and Chinese translations of the Lotus Sutra. The first edition of the commentary was published in 1998; the second edition in 2020.

Each volume starts with The Eight Guidelines of the Buddhist Text Translation Society.

  1. A volunteer must free him/herself from the motives of personal fame and profit.
  2. A volunteer must cultivate a respectful and sincere attitude free from arrogance and conceit.
  3. A volunteer must refrain from aggrandizing his/her work and denigrating that of others.
  4. A volunteer must not establish him/herself as the standard of correctness and suppress the work of others with his or her fault-finding.
  5. A volunteer must take the Buddha-mind as his/her own mind.
  6. A volunteer must use the wisdom of Dharma-selecting vision to determine true principles.
  7. A volunteer must request virtuous elders in the ten directions to certify his/her translations.
  8. A volunteer must endeavor to propagate the teachings by printing and distributing sūtras, śāstra texts, and vinaya texts when the translations are certified as being correct.

Three Forewords follow: The Lotus Dharma Blooms in Us All by Bhikṣuṇī Heng Chih; Fifty Years Later, the Lotus Continues to Bloom by Ron Epstein, PhD; and Timeless Ease for an Uneasy Time by Susan Rounds, PhD.

With the exception of Volume 1, Prologue, each volume contains an Outline of the Lotus Sutra covering the content in the volume. This outline was created by Ouyi Zhixu, a Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar in 17th century China. He is considered the Ninth Patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land tradition and the Thirty-First Patriarch of the Tiantai tradition as well as a Chan master.

Each volume contains a 44-page glossary and an index.

After I finished Hsuan Hua’s commentary I went back to see if I could discern any pattern in his work. As a student of Nichiren Buddhism, I wanted to know if there was an obvious difference in interpretation from what would be expected from someone in the Nichiren school. His focus on Guan Shi Yin was certainly far greater than a Nichiren devotee would have offered, but generally Hsuan Hua came across as a student of Zhiyi of the Tiantai School. (See Five Schools of One Buddhism.)

I counted 382 pages in the English text of the Lotus Sutra in Volume 15 of the set. The 14 volumes of commentary total 3,529 pages, not counting the stuff repeated in each volume. On average, each page of the sutra generated 9.24 pages of commentary text. But that’s just the average. By far the subject that generated the most commentary was Chapter 25, The Universal Door of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, which is Volume 13. The eleven pages of sutra text resulted in 229 pages of commentary – 20.82 pages generated for each sutra page. The other above average chapters were Chapter 1, Introduction, 16.40 pages of commentary for each sutra page; Chapter 12, Devadatta, 12.56; Chapter 3, A Parable, 12.49; and Chapter 10, Dharma teachers, 10.91.

Tomorrow: Variations In The Translation of Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra

Blog, Hsuan Hua, Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary

Variations In The Translation of Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sutra

In reading the 14 volumes of Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra I’ve identified a number of places where his translation differs – mostly minor points – from other English translations of Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese translation. (See here, here, and here.)

For the final example, consider this description of monks who tormented Never-Despising Bodhisattva from Hsuan Hua’s commentary on Chapter 20:

SUTRA

After that Buddha passed into nirvāṇa,
When his Dharma was about to perish,
There was a Bodhisattva
Known as Never Slighting.
At that time the fourfold assembly
Was attached to the Dharma. …

COMMENTARY

The fourfold assembly at that time was attached to the Dharma. Even the Dharma has to be relinquished, how much more so that which is not the Dharma? If you don’t understand the Dharma, you must strive to understand it. Once you understand it, you have to let go of it. You can’t cling to it. At that time, because the Buddhadharma was about to perish, the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās were all attached to the superficial aspects of the Dharma. They focused their efforts on the trivial aspects of the Dharma and clung to them rigidly. Not only did they fail to understand the Dharma, they were attached to it. Attached to the Dharma, they gave rise to overbearing pride.

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v11, ch20, p198-199

This idea that you shouldn’t cling to the boat that carries you across the water after you reach the other shore is a common reframe in Hsuan Hua’s commentary. But other English translation offer a different picture.

Senchu Murano’s translation says:

Some time after the extinction of that Buddha,
His teachings had almost died out.
At that time there lived a Bodhisattva Called Never-Despising.
The four kinds of devotees at that time Were attached to views.

The Modern Rissho Kosei-kai translation offers:

The four groups of that era
Were attached to their own views of the teachings.

Gene Reeves has:

At that time the four groups
Were attached to self-centered views of things.

The BDK Tripiṭaka translation says:

At that time the fourfold assembly
Was becoming attached
To its own interpretation of the Dharma.

Leon Hurvitz’s translation, considered by many to be the most academically thorough, is the least clear on the point:

At the time, the fourfold multitudes
Were reckoning in terms of dharma.

Hsuan Hua spent many years in China printing sutras in Chinese and distributing them as part of his practice. Given the ways in which his English translation of Kumārajīva differs from other English translators, I’m left to wonder whether he was working from a different copy of Kumārajīva’s work.  The volume that contains the English translation of the sutra also contains the Chinese version from which it was translated.

While there’s a clear difference between Hsuan Hua’s translation describing the monks who tormented Never-Despising Bodhisattva, other differences reveal examples of where Senchu Murano, whose  translation I use in my daily practice, differed from the majority of English translators.

Consider this part of Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva. Hsuan Hua’s English translation has:

SUTRA

“Having spoken this verse, Bodhisattva All Beings Delight to See said to the Buddha, ‘World Honored One! World Honored One! You are still in the world!”

COMMENTARY

Having spoken this verse, Bodhisattva All Beings Delight to See said to the Buddha Pure Bright Virtue Resembling the Sun and Moon, “World Honored One! World Honored One! You are still in the world!” This Bodhisattva exclaimed “World Honored One” twice because the Buddha hadn’t yet entered parinirvāņa, so he could meet the Buddha for a second time in his new life.

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v12, ch23, p88-89

That repetition is not present in Senchu Murano’s translation:

“Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

On the other hand, Leon Hurvitz’s translation agrees that “World Honored One” is repeated:

“At that time the bodhisattva Seen with Joy by All Living Beings, having proclaimed this gāthā, addressed the buddha, saying, ‘World-Honored One, World-Honored One, you are still in the world!’

In fact, Murano’s is the only translation that does not include the title World Honored One twice in the verse. But those repetitions are unlike Hsuan Hua and Hurvitz. For Example, Reeves has:

“Having recited this verse, Seen with Joy by All the Living Bodhisattva said to that buddha: ‘World-Honored One, is the World-Honored One still alive in the world?’

Or the BDK Tripiṭaka’s:

“Thereupon Bodhisattva Sarvarūpasamdarśana, having spoken this verse, addressed the Buddha, saying: O Bhagavat! The Bhagavat is yet in this world!

The Modern Rissho Kosei-kai translation offers:

Then the Bodhisattva Delight to Behold for All Living Beings, having uttered these verses, said to that buddha, ‘World-Honored One, just as before, you are still the world-honored one in this world.’

As a scholar-priest within the Nichiren Shu, Murano is highly regarded for the clarity of his translations and for his alignment with the traditional Japanese understanding of the text. To reach that  clarity appears to have led to differences between Murano’s  translation and other English translators.

Next: Where Chinese Master Hsuan Hua and Nichiren Would Disagree

NotebookLM, AI Contribution

AI Magic

Going forward I intend to use Google’s AI tools to create illustrations for text. All of these illustrations will be categorized as AI Contribution. The illustration for today’s Daily Dharma is one example, but I want to explore other opportunies.

For example, I have a 1983 PDF document by Robert F. Rhodes entitled The Four Extensive Vows and Four Noble Truths in T’ien-t’ai Buddhism. I uploaded this to Google’s NotebookLM and asked it to produce an infographic based on the contents of the PDF document. Here’s the result:

four-vows-four-truths-illustration-web
Click to view PDF of image