All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 6, 2021

Thereupon Medicine-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Now I will give dhāraṇī-spells to the expounder of the Dharma in order to protect him.”

This promise to the Buddha from Medicine-King Bodhisattva comes in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sutra. The dhāraṇīs are given in a language that nobody understands any more. But this does not reduce their effectiveness. In the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha declared that his wisdom cannot be reached by understanding alone. There is another, nonverbal aspect of his teaching that we must comprehend. The dhāraṇīs not only give us reassurance that beings we cannot comprehend are helping us to become enlightened, they also remind us to look for the unspoken teachings that are part of the Buddha Dharma.

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

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the fourth set of peaceful practices, we consider the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot.

“Mañjuśrī! I will tell you a parable. Suppose a powerful wheel-turning-holy-king demanded surrender of the kings of smaller countries by threat of force. They did not obey his demand. He led soldiers, and went and suppressed them. He was very glad to see that some soldiers distinguished themselves in war. According to their merits, he gave them paddy fields, houses, villages, cities, garments or ornaments; or various treasures such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, coral or amber; or elephants, horses, vehicles, menservants, maidservants or subjects. But he did not give a brilliant gem which he was keeping in his top-knot to anyone because the gem on the head of the king was the only one [in the world]. If he had given it to anyone, the followers of the king would have been much surprised.

“Mañjuśrī! I am like the king. I obtained the world of the Dharma by my powers of dhyāna-concentration and of wisdom, and became the king of the triple world. But the kings of the Maras did not assent to my demand for surrender to me. Therefore, my army led by generals, that is, by sages and saints, fought with them. I was glad to see that some distinguished themselves [in war]. In order to cause them to rejoice, I expounded many sūtras to the four kinds of devotees. I gave them the treasures of the Dharma such as dhyāna-concentrations, emancipations, the roots without āsravas, and the powers without āsravas, and also the city of Nirvana, telling them that they had already attained extinction. Although I led them [by giving these things to them] and caused them to rejoice, I did not expound to them the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

“Mañjuśrī! When he saw a soldier of extraordinary merit, the wheel-turning-holy-king joyfully gave that soldier the unbelievably precious gem, which he had kept in his top-knot for a long time and had not given to anyone. I am like the king. I am the great king of the Dharma in the triple world. I expound the Dharma and teach all living beings. Because I see that my soldiers led by generals, that is, by sages and saints, have already obtained extraordinary merits in their fight with the Mara of the five aggregates, with the Mara of illusions, and with the Mara of death, and that they have already eliminated the three poisons, left the triple world, and destroyed the nets of the Maras, I now expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with great joy. This sūtra leads all living beings to the knowledge of all things. I did not expound it before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated it and few would have believed it.

“Mañjuśrī! This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most excellent and profound teaching of all the Tathāgatas. Therefore, I expound it lastly just as the powerful king gave the brilliant gem lastly, the one which he had kept [in his topknot) for a long time.

“Mañjuśrī! This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the treasury of the hidden core of the Buddhas, of the Tathāgatas. It is superior to all the other sūtras. I kept it [in secret] and refrained from expounding it for the long night. Now I expound it to you today for the first time.”

See The Wheel-Rolling King

history

Nikāya Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism

While various scholars agree that the life of Śākyamuni Buddha lasted 80 years, several theories exist regarding the year of his birth and death. If we accept the theory based on the dates of the reign of King Aśoka, namely that the Buddha was born in the 460s BCE and lived to the 380s BCE, we conclude that the saṃgha, the monastic community founded by the Buddha, stayed unified for about 100 years after his death, without division into different schools. This period is referred to as Early Buddhism.

Eventually, this unification broke down due to differences in thought regarding the precepts of Buddhism and how to keep the rules the Buddha established. Two groups arose. The Theravāda, or Sthaviravāda, believed that the rules should be kept unchanging. The Mahāsāṃghika believed that rules should change in accordance with the times. This basic division of Buddhism occurred roughly 100 years after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha. After this division began, further division of both schools continued from BCE to CE, finally producing about 20 different schools. Nikāya Buddhism refers to the schools resulting from this first basic division and their subsequent divisions.

In the same BCE-CE period, Mahāyāna Buddhism arose. There had been a dominant theory that monks maintained Nikāya Buddhism, and lay believers led the Mahāyāna movement. Now there is another theory that Mahāyāna Buddhism arose out of Nikāya Buddhism. We cannot consider the two groups as simple rival religions. Even so, it is evident that Mahāyāna Buddhism and Nikāya Buddhism show clear differences in their beliefs. It can be said that these differences reflect the differences of the followers who practiced the beliefs of the different schools.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 56
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 5, 2021

Furthermore, the good men or women who do not speak ill of this sūtra but rejoice at hearing it after my extinction, should be considered, know this, to have already understood my longevity by firm faith.

The Buddha makes this declaration to his disciple Maitreya in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. After learning the merits of understanding the ever-present nature of the Buddha, Maitreya hears that this understanding is present in anyone who finds joy in this sūtra. From the parables told earlier in the sūtra, we know that this joy is not the same as the joy that comes from ending suffering. It is the joy in our awakening Buddha nature.

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

LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered in gāthās the perils of preaching the Lotus Sutra in the dreadful, evil world after The Buddha’s extinction, we conclude Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

We will wear the armor of endurance
Because we respect and believe you.
We will endure all these difficulties
In order to expound this sūtra.

We will not spare even our lives.
We treasure only unsurpassed enlightenment.
We will protect and keep the Dharma in the future
If you transmit it to us.

World-Honored One, know this!
Evil bhikṣus in the defiled world will not know
The teachings that you expounded with expedients
According to the capacities of all living beings.

They will speak ill of us,
Or frown at us,
Or drive us out of our monasteries
From time to time.
But we will endure all these evils
Because we are thinking of your command.

When we hear of a person who seeks the Dharma
In any village or city,
We will visit him and expound the Dharma [to him]
If you transmit it to us.

Because we are your messengers,
We are fearless before multitudes.
We will expound the Dharma.
Buddha, do not worry.

We vow all this to you
And also to the Buddhas who have come
From the worlds of the ten quarters.
Buddha, know what we have in our minds!

See 11th Day of the 11th Month

history

Approaching an Understanding of the Lotus Sūtra

It is not simple to understand the Lotus Sūtra. Depending on the standpoint from which you approach the Lotus Sūtra, your understanding will take a different direction.

You might start with the original Sanskrit version of the Lotus Sūtra and consider it as one of the early Mahāyāna sūtras. Doubtless this is meaningful work for Buddhist studies.

On the other hand, one cannot ignore the Chinese translation of the Lotus Sūtra. This translation led to a wide range of belief and was a great influence on the development of Buddhist thought. Grand Master Tiāntái Zhizhe, 538-598 CE, Grand Master Dengyō Saichō, 767-822 CE, and Nichiren Shōnin, 1222-1282 CE, immediately come to mind as leaders who made great strides in Buddhist thought through their study of the Chinese version of the Lotus Sūtra. If you use these leaders as guides to your understanding of the Lotus Sūtra, it is not necessary to consider the Sanskrit version; the Chinese translation is all you need.

In this discussion, we keep the Chinese version in mind as we explore the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra. We Japanese have long used the Chinese version of the Lotus Sūtra, or its Japanese translation, rather than the Sanskrit version. Therefore, when quoting the Lotus Sūtra, we will use passages from the Chinese translation as translated by Bishop Senchu Murano.

That being said, we have no intention of preventing your study of Buddhism from understanding the Lotus Sūtra as one of the early Mahāyāna sūtras. Only by combining approaches can one understand the necessity of the cornerstones of the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra. These are, “opening the three vehicles to reveal the One Vehicle,” “attainment of buddhahood by the people of the two vehicles,” “opening the near to reveal the far,” and “attaining awakening in the remotest past.”

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 55
WONS

Planting the Seed of the Lotus Sūtra in Your Heart

The late Shichirō Gorō is different from these people in Japan today. He obeyed his father from childhood and chanted “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” before the age of twenty. I am sure he must have attained Buddhahood because it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra: “All those who listen to the Lotus Sūtra will never fail to become a Buddha.” If you really love your son, you should chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” and pray so that you, your husband, the late Lord Nanjō, and your son, the late Gorō, will be reborn in the same place. One seed will be the same one-seed all the way; a different seed will be a different seed all the way. If you plant the same seed of the Lotus Sūtra in your heart, you will be reborn in the same land of the Lotus Sūtra as your husband and son. When you three meet again face to face, how happy you will be!

Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 180

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Nov. 4, 2021

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stūpa of treasures: “Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

This declaration comes from Many-Treasures Buddha (Tahō, Prabhutaratna) at the beginning of Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Many-Treasures came from a world far away from this world of conflict when he heard the Buddha giving his highest teaching and appeared in a tower (stūpa) of wonderful treasures to confirm the truth of this teaching. By the Teaching of Equality, he means that all beings can become enlightened through this teaching. By the Great Wisdom, he means that the teaching is the same as the Buddha’s own mind. By the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, he means that to receive this teaching we awaken to our natures to benefit all beings. And by the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas, he means that all Buddhas in all worlds encourage and help those who practice this sūtra.

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

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered in gāthās the tale of the time when the Buddha Bodhisattva in a previous existence and sought the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful, we learn the identity of the king’s teacher.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

“The king at that time was a previous life of myself. The seer at that time was a previous life of Devadatta. Devadatta was my teacher. He caused me to complete the six pāramitās. He caused me to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality. He caused me to have the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have my body purely gilt. He caused me to have the ten powers and the four kinds of fearlessness. He caused me to know the four ways to attract others. He caused me to have the eighteen properties and supernatural powers [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have the power of giving discourses. I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.”

The Daily Dharma for Sept. 28, 2021, offers this:

I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.

The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha who became jealous of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Several times he tried to kill the Buddha. He also caused a split in the Buddha’s Sangha, and convinced a young prince to kill his father and usurp the throne. Devadatta was so evil that he fell into Hell alive. Despite all this, the Buddha credits Devadatta with helping him become enlightened, and assures Devadatta personally that he will become enlightened. This shows us that even those beings who create great harm have Buddha nature. They may not deserve our admiration, but they at least deserve our respect.

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

history

Southern Buddhism

The Buddhism transmitted to Southeast Asia is called “Southern Buddhism” or “Theravāda Buddhism.” It was first transmitted to Sri Lanka from India and then subsequently spread throughout Southeast Asia. Its transmission to Sri Lanka was comparatively early. It is said that around the third century BCE when the Sri Lankan King Devanampiya Tissa, 250-210 BCE, sent a special envoy to the Indian King Aśoka, the bhikṣu Mahinda, circa 3rd century BCE, went to convert the former to Buddhism. Thus, pre-Mahāyāna Buddhism was transmitted to the country in its early stage of development.

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 54