Examining many sūtras, we thus see they all regard slandering the True Dharma the most serious crime. How sad it is that people [in Japan] all should wander out of the gate of the True Dharma into the prison of evil dharma! Such ignorance is causing everyone [in Japan, high and low,] to be pulled by the rope of evil teachings and caught forever by the net of slandering the True Dharma! In this life such wanderers are lost in the mist of delusions; in the next life they will sink to the bottom of flaming hell. How sad it is! How terrible it is!
You should promptly discard your false faith and take up the true and sole teaching of the Lotus Sūtra 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!
Risshō Ankoku-ron, Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 141-142
I sought the Great Dharma strenuously
Because I wished to save all living beings.
I did not wish to benefit myself
Or to have the pleasures of the five desires.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. He describes his previous life as a great king who abandoned his throne, his wealth, and all the advantages of his position in society for the sake of enlightenment. In that life he realized that having pleasure as a goal was not making him happy, and only through the vow of the Bodhisattva to benefit all beings could he learn to see the world as it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month considered in gāthās the merits of the 50th person who rejoices at hearing this sutra, we conclude Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra.
Anyone who persuades even a single person
To hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower
Of the Wonderful Dharma, saying:
“This sūtra is profound and wonderful.
It is difficult to meet it
Even during ten million kalpas,”
And causes him to go and hear it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:
In his future lives, he will have no disease of the mouth.
His teeth will not be few, yellow or black.
His lips will not be thick, shrunk or broken.
There will be nothing loathsome [on his lips].
His tongue will not be dry, black or short.
His nose will be high, long and straight.
His forehead will be broad and even.
His face will be handsome.
All people will wish to see him.
His breath will not be foul.
The fragrance of the utpala-flowers
Will always be emitted from his mouth.
Anyone who visits a monastery to hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
And rejoices at hearing it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits:
He will be reborn among gods and men.
He will be able to go up to the palace of heaven,
Riding in a wonderful elephant-cart or horse-cart,
Or in a palanquin of wonderful treasures.
Anyone who persuades others to sit and hear this sūtra
In the place where the Dharma is expounded,
Will be able to obtain the seat of Sakra or of Brahman
Or of a wheel-turning-holy-king by his merits.
Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sūtra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.
Anyone who visits a monastery to hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
And rejoices at hearing it even for a moment,
Will be able to obtain the following merits.
The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. The joy we find in the Buddha’s highest teaching is different from what we experience when our desires are satisfied. It is a joy we can learn to find at the heart of everything we think, say and do. The merit that comes from this joy does not make us better than anyone else; it only allows to see the world as the Buddha does. Joy is not something that needs to be added to our lives. It is what we find remaining when we let go of our attachment and delusion.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Yesterday I offered my view of the concluding paragraph of Nichiren’s Shōho Jissō Shō, which I have memorized and recite daily before chanting Daimoku. But that’s not the only translation of that paragraph or even the only interpretation.
Have faith in the Great Mandala Gohonzon, the Most Venerable One in the world.
Endeavor! Endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of all the Buddhas. Pursue the two-fold path of practice and study. Without practicing and studying there is no Buddhism. Follow these yourself and influence others to do the same. Study and practice come from faith. Even if it is only a word or a phrase, please spread it to others.
Ryusho was adamant that this was the better translation. The difference is subtle. If anything, this translation best emphasizes that study and practice are linked to faith. But it is also true that faith is linked to practice and study. That’s something Rev. Ryuei McCormick has explained: “Faith inspires practice and study. Study informs faith and practice. Practice actualizes faith and study.” Faith, practice and study are the three legs of the stool upon which I sit before my altar.
There’s another aspect of this quote from Nichiren that I wish to comment upon. That’s the idea that faith in the Lotus Sutra encourages divine protection.
Have faith in the great Mandala Gohonzon, the most superlative in the world. Endeavor! Endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of all Buddhas.
Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Omandala Gohonzon, the Buddhas will provide more protection for us. Another way to read it is that as our faith develops, so does the power we have to protect others, free them from suffering and help them to awaken their Buddha nature. Either way, Nichiren shows us the practical results of our faith.
I understand that modern Buddhists might wish to downplay divine protection and instead emphasize the Buddhist law of dependent origination and personal responsibility, but I’m happy to accept all the help I can get. Clearly, that’s what Nichiren felt.
In Hokke Shoshin Jobutsu Sho, a letter written by Nichiren in 1277, he says:
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 summoned by the chanting and will protect the chanter. The Buddha-nature of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be pleased to be summoned.
For me, this is an example of the interconnectedness of everything – Ichinen Sanzen.
You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago.’
Five hundred of the Buddha’s monks give this explanation in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has just assured them of reaching the same enlightenment he found. These monks had worked diligently for many years to rid themselves of suffering, and taught many other beings to become Bodhisattvas and reach the Buddha’s enlightenment, thinking they were not capable of reaching this wisdom. Not believing we are capable of something obscures the capability we have. When the Buddha proclaims that he leads all beings, he reminds us of this capacity and inspires us make efforts to bring all beings, including ourselves, to his joy.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Having last month considered the merits earned at hearing the duration of the Buddha’s life was so many kalpas, we consider Maitreya Bodhisattva’s response in gāthās.
Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his hands together towards the Buddha, and sang in gāthās:
You expounded a rare teaching.
I have never heard it before.
You have great powers.
The duration of your life is immeasurable.
Having heard from you that they were given
The various benefits of the Dharma,
The innumerable sons of yours
Were filled with joy.
Some of them reached the stage of irrevocability.
Some obtained dharanis, or eloquence without hindrance,
Or the all-holding formulas
For memorizing billions of repetitions of teachings.
Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The irrevocable wheel of the Dharma.
Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of turning
The wheel of the pure Dharma.
Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained
The faculty of attaining the enlightenment of the Buddha
After eight rebirths.
Bodhisattvas numbering four times or three times or twice
The number of the particles of earth of the four continents
Obtained the faculty of becoming Buddhas
After four, three or two rebirths respectfully.
Bodhisattvas as many as the particles of earth
Of the four continents obtained
The faculty of attaining the knowledge of all things
immediately after this life.
Having heard of your longevity,
They obtained these effects and rewards,
Pure, immeasurable, and without āsravas.
Having heard from you
Of the duration of your life,
Living beings as many as the particles of earth
Of eight Sumeru-worlds
Aspired for unsurpassed [enlightenment].
You expounded the teachings
Immeasurable and inconceivable,
And benefited living beings
As limitless as the sky.
[The gods] rained down mandārava-flower ,
And mahā-mandārava-flowers of heaven.
Sakras and Brahmans came from the [other] Buddha-worlds
As many as there are sands in the River Ganges.
[The gods] rained down candana and aloes [powder],
And offered it to the Buddhas.
The powder came down fluttering
Just as birds fly down from the sky.
Heavenly drums automatically sounded
Wonderful in the sky.
Thousands of billions of heavenly garments
Whirled down.
[The gods] burned priceless incense which was put
In wonderful incense-burners of many treasures.
The incense-burners automatically went around,
And the odor was offered to the World-Honored Ones.
The great Bodhisattvas lined up vertically one upon another
To the Heaven of Brahman, holding
Billions of lofty and wonderful canopies and streamers
Made of the seven treasures.
[The great Bodhisattvas] hoisted before the Buddha
Jeweled banner adorned with excellent streamers.
They also praised the Tathāgatas
With tens of millions of gāthās.
I have never seen these things before.
All living beings
Rejoice at hearing
That the duration of your life is immeasurable.
Your fame is extended over the worlds of the ten quarters.
You benefit all living beings.
The root of good which they have planted
Will help them aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].
Having heard from you
Of the duration of your life,
Living beings as many as the particles of earth
Of eight Sumeru-worlds
Aspired for unsurpassed [enlightenment].
The Bodhisattva Maitreya sings these verses in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sutra. He describes the effect on all beings of the Buddha’s revealing his existence as the Ever-Present Śākyamuni. If we believed that the Buddha was just a man who lived 2500 years ago, we might think that we had to wait until another being became enlightened before we could follow them on the path to our own awakening. But with this understanding that the Buddha is always helping us, here and now, then we awaken our capacity to see things as they are and work confidently for the benefit of all beings.
My ideas about faith and what faith entails are best illustrated in the concluding paragraph of Shōho Jissō Shō, Nichiren’s “Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality” [Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4, Page 79-80]. This is the lone writing of Nichiren’s that I have memorized.
Seated before my altar, I look at the top row of the Mandala Gohonzon with Śākyamuni and Many Treasures Buddhas flanking the Daimoku, with the four great bodhisattvas on either side and all within the protection of Bishamon and Jikoku, the guardian kings of the North and East. Focused on the Mandala Gohonzon I say:
“Have faith in the Great Mandala Gohonzon, the most venerable one in the entire world.
I imagine picking up the medicine left behind by the wise physician.
Looking at the row below, which in my mind looks like the strong shoulders of the Mandala Gohonzon, I say:
“Earnestly endeavor to strengthen your faith”
It is the striving that strengthens faith.
Looking now at the stupa statue in front of the Mandala Gohonzon, I say:
“So that you may be blessed with the protective powers of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the Universe.”
I welcome this help.
Looking now at the statue of Nichiren, I say:
“Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning.”
For me, Nichiren epitomizes practice and learning.
Looking now at the small Mandala Gohonzon amulet made for me by Ryusho Jeffus Shonin, I say:
“Without practice and learning, Buddhism will cease to exist.”
I remember Ryusho stressing that actualizing our practice in our daily lives brings Buddhism to life.
Looking at the left side of the altar, first at the Kishimojin amulet and the painting, both created by Ryusho, and then up at the Kishimojin Fuda I received from Shoda Kanai Shonin in Las Vegas, I say:
“Endeavor yourself”
I seek to secure the protection Kishimojin and the 10 rākṣasas daughters promised to the person who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra.
Looking beneath the statue of Nichiren at the Seven Happy Gods I say:
“and cause others to practice these two ways of practice and learning, which stem from faith.”
The more I recite sutras, the more daimoku I chant, the more I feed these protective deities and the more their influence grows.
Finally looking at the three memorial tablets, I say:
“If possible, please spread even a word or a phrase of the sūtra to others.”
Each time I consider Nichiren’s words:
The great virtue of Venerable Maudgalyāyana having faith in the Lotus Sūtra not only made himself a Buddha but also his parents Buddhas. Moreover, all the parents in seven generations above and below, and all the parents in the limitless generations above and below became Buddhas unexpectedly. In addition, sons, husbands and wives, their retainers, devotees, and an incalculable number of people all were emancipated from the three evil realms. [Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4, Page 175]
Seeing that you have peacefully attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha,
We, too, have obtained benefits.
Congratulations! How glad we are!
The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha sing these verses to their father in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They realize that when one being reaches enlightenment, it is a benefit for all beings. In Chapter Ten, the Buddha teaches that many people will hate his Wonderful Dharma with jealousy during his lifetime, and many more will be jealous of it after his extinction. These people see the Buddha as different from themselves, and do not understand how they can become as enlightened as he is. They believe that for one person to gain, another must lose. The Buddha shows that all beings benefit from his teaching. Nothing is taken away from anyone.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Having last month considered in gāthās how the Tathāgata has been expounding the the Dharma for countless kalpas, we consider the reality of this world.
The [perverted] people think:
“This world is in a great fire.
The end of the kalpa [of destruction] is coming.”
In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
It is filled with gods and men.
The gardens, forests and stately buildings
Are adorned with various treasures;
The jeweled trees have many flowers and fruits;
The living beings are enjoying themselves;
And the gods are beating heavenly drums,
Making various kinds of music,
And raining mandārava-flowers on the great multitude and me.
[This] pure world of mine is indestructible.
But the [perverted] people think:
“It is full of sorrow, fear, and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”
Because of their evil karmas,
These sinful people will not be able
To hear even the names of the Three Treasures
During asaṃkhya kalpas.
To those who have accumulated merits,
And who are gentle and upright,
And who see me living here,
Expounding the Dharma,
I say:
“The duration of my life is immeasurable.”
To those who see me after a long time,
I say, “It is difficult to see a Buddha.”
I can do all this by the power of my wisdom.
The light of my wisdom knows no bound.
The duration of my life is innumerable kalpas.
I obtained this longevity by ages of practices.
The faith of religion is based on the awe of religious mystery, and a reverence for the greatness of the founder’s teaching. Everyone can be honest and have a pure mind before the Buddha, just like a child, by opening their minds and allowing the teachings to become a spiritual anchor.
