The practice and fulfillment of Nichiren Buddhism begins with the primary practice of chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. The primary practice is supported by the auxiliary practice of reciting passages from the Lotus Sutra, as well as several other dedications, vows, and prayers. Finally, those who practice the Lotus Sutra in this way will find themselves empowered to fulfill the Six Perfections in order to benefit themselves and others. Through these practices, the true spirit of the Buddha’s teaching – which is Namu Myoho Renge Kyo – will manifest itself in every aspect of our lives.
Lotus SeedsAll posts by John Hughes
Not Even One Will Fail to Attain Buddhahood
Devadatta, who committed the Three Rebellious Sins, as well as Rāhula, who observed the 250 precepts, similarly attained Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra. King Wonderful Adornment, who was attached to Brahmanism, as well as Śāriputra, a man who held the right view, were guaranteed future Buddhahood. This is what is meant by “If there are those who hear the Dharma, not even one will fail to attain Buddhahood.”
Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 160
Daily Dharma – April 30, 2021
May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!
These verses are from Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, where the Brahma Kings from the ten quarters of the universe come to celebrate the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. We too can cultivate this wish that all the good results of our life’s work be for the benefit of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Between Day 32 and Day 1: Lies, Flattery, Deprecating Words, Duplicity, Defamation and Slander
Going through each of the senses and their karmic consequences – the sense faculty of sight, the sense faculty of hearing, the sense faculty of smell, the sense faculty of speech and the sense faculty of the body and mind – we continue with sense faculty of speech.
When the self-amendment process is completed, the practitioner must again internalize and recite the Great Vehicle sutras without laziness of body or mind. Through the power of the Great Vehicle, an ethereal voice will declare to the Dharma successor:
“You must now face the buddhas of the ten directions and praise and give voice to the Great Vehicle! Before the buddhas, relate your faults yourself! The buddha tathāgatas are your compassionate fathers. You must yourself declare the unwholesome and harmful karmic acts produced by your sense faculty of speech: ‘This sense faculty of speech musters characteristics of undesirable karma: lies, flattery, deprecating words, duplicity, defamation and slander, praise of wrong views, and use of useless words. In the manner of such many and multiple varieties and kinds of harmful karmic acts, it instigates conflicts and confusion and asserts that Dharma is not Dharma. I now amend myself of all impurities such as these!’ ”
After saying these words before the Heroes of the World, the practitioner must cast him- or herself upon the ground and universally pay homage to the buddhas of the ten directions. The practitioner must then kneel erectly on both knees, place palms together, and say:
“The troubles and faults of this tongue are innumerable and limitless! The thorns of harmful karmic causes grow from the sense faculty of speech. Estrangement from correct discourse on the Dharma begins with this tongue, and thus does this unwholesome tongue destroy seeds of beneficial effects. It forcefully discourses on many matters that have no meaning. Its praise of wrong views is like stoking their fires, thereby intensifying the flames that harm living beings. It is like something that poisons and brings death with no outward signs. The detrimental, adverse, dire consequence of all of this is to fall into bitter conditions for a hundred or a thousand kalpas. I sink into a great hell because of deceitful speech. I now take refuge in the buddhas of the southern direction and avow my very grave faults!”
When the practitioner effects this mindfulness, a voice will fill the air:
“There is a buddha in the southern direction whose name is Sandalwood Virtue. This buddha also has innumerable buddhas emanated from him, all of whom expound the Great Vehicle that destroys and eliminates impurities and faults. As for your impurities: you should now face the innumerable buddhas of the ten directions, the greatly compassionate World-honored Ones! Avow your very grave faults and sincerely amend yourself!”
After these words have been spoken, the practitioner must cast him- or herself onto the ground and pay homage to the buddhas again. At this time the buddhas will send forth rays of bright light that illuminate the practitioner’s body, causing the practitioner to become spontaneously joyful in body and mind and to bring forth great mercy and compassion pervasively in thoughts of all things. The buddhas will then extensively expound ways of great compassion and benevolence for the practitioner’s benefit. Furthermore, they will teach the practitioner to use kind words and to follow the six ways of harmony and respect. Hearing these teachings and commands, the practitioner’s heart will overflow with joy, and he or she will then fully internalize and master them without laziness or pause.
The Daily Dharma from Oct. 29, 2020, offers this reminder of the power of speech promised in Chapter 19 of the Lotus Sutra:
When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude with their tongues, they will be able to raise deep and wonderful voices, to cause their voices to reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful. Hearing their speeches given in good order by their deep and wonderful voices, Śakra, Brahman, and the other gods and goddesses will come and listen to them.
The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we share the Buddha Dharma with others, it is as if the Buddha’s mind is finding voice in our words. It should then come as no surprise to us that beings of all dispositions will want to hear more of what the Buddha has taught us. When we “practice the sūtra with our bodies,” as Nichiren described, when we make this teaching a part of our lives, then we find the words we need to reach all beings and lead them to the Buddha’s enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Immeasurable Meanings From One Dharma
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 233The Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings clarifies that immeasurable [meanings] emerge from the one [Dharma].511 This means that the [real meaning of the first] three types of [understanding] the four truths is exposed and emerges from the [understanding of the four truths as] spontaneous.
The Lotus Sūtra clarifies that the immeasurable enters the one.512 This means that the [first] three types of [understanding] the four truths meet and ultimately merge with the one type of [understanding] the four truths [as spontaneous].
- 511
- The Wu liang i ching, says, “Good sons! There is one doctrine [”dharma-gate”] which leads bodhisattvas to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi quickly. … This one is called ‘immeasurable.’ … As natural desires are immeasurable, the preaching of the dharma is immeasurable. The preaching of the dharma is immeasurable so its meanings are immeasurable. Immeasurable meanings emerge from the one dharma ” See also Katō, The Threefold Lotus Sutra, 12. return
- 512
- This is not a quote from the Lotus Sūtra but speaks of the general teaching of the Lotus Sūtra that all are included in the one Buddha-vehicle. return
The Discretion of the Ten Female Rākṣasa Demons
A human life is as fleeting as a dream and nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. No matter what kind of a beggar you may be, you must not inflict harm on the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, though there is not much choice, you should not show the appearance of sorrow but behave without any signs of flattery as stated in this letter of explanation. Currying favor is all the more worse. Even if you are deprived of your fief and chased out of the retinue of your lord’s retainers, you should consider it as the discretion of the ten female rākṣasa demons and strengthen your faith in the Lotus Sūtra.
Shijō Kingo-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 143
Daily Dharma – April 29, 2021
He endured all insults and disturbances
Inflicted upon him by arrogant people who thought
That they had already obtained the Dharma.
The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Two of the sūtra, five thousand people left the assembly after the Buddha declared that everything he had taught until then had been an expedient. The Buddha did not stop these people. He said they were arrogant, meaning they believed they already had reached enlightenment and could learn nothing from the Buddha. In this description of the Bodhisattva perfection of Endurance, the Buddha prepares us for the reactions of those who are too attached to their misery to hear the Buddha’s teaching. When we can anticipate this kind of reaction, rather than being shocked by it, we can more easily stay determined to benefit even these abusive beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 32
Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life. Those who abuse him, saying, ‘You are perverted. You are doing this for nothing,’ will be reborn blind in their successive lives in retribution for their sin. Those who make offerings to rum and praise him, will be able to obtain rewards in their present life. Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life. Those who laugh at him will have few teeth, ugly lips, flat noses, contorted limbs, squint eyes, and foul and filthy bodies, and suffer from bloody pus of scabs, abdominal dropsy, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases in their successive lives. Therefore, Universal-Sage! When you see the keeper of this sūtra in the distance, you should rise from your seat, go to him, receive him, and respect him just as you respect me.
Respecting Those Who Embrace the Lotus Sutra
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p307-308It is written that terrible things – leprosy, missing or bad teeth, ugly lips, a flat nose, squinty eyes, deformed hands and feet, body odor, severe illness, and so on, often for many generations – will come to those who expose the faults of followers of the Sutra. (LS 397—98) This passage is often used by the Sutra’s detractors to show that the Lotus Sutra is extremely intolerant. But we should be careful about this. At least a couple of things need to be said.
One is that the context makes it clear that what is being talked about primarily is not evil-doers but followers of the Lotus Sutra. The passage concludes with, “Therefore, Universal Sage, if anyone sees someone who receives and embraces this sutra, they should get up and greet them from afar, as if they were paying reverence to the Buddha.” The purpose of the passage is not, in other words, an attempt to describe consequences of evil actions; rather, it is to urge that special respect be given to those who embrace the Sutra.
Second, the passage does not point to supernatural intervention or action to punish evil-doers. It is not about literal punishment at all. At most, it should be taken to mean, again, that actions have consequences. Thus, just as planting good seeds is likely to produce good results, planting rotten seeds by doing bad things is likely to have bad results.
Having said this, perhaps we should also take a quick look at an earlier passage, one in which it is said that those who follow the Dharma Flower Sutra not only will no longer be attached to worldly pleasures, they will have no liking for scriptures of non-Buddhists or other jottings, nor ever again take pleasure in associating with such people or with other evil people, be they butchers or those who raise pigs, sheep, chickens, and dogs, or hunters, or pimps. The common thread here, of course, has to do with profiting from the sale of flesh, animal or human. It shows that some Buddhists have taken very seriously the prohibition against killing or profiting from killing and, in this case, prostitution.
One Ignorant Thought Is Identical to Enlightenment
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 225-226[C]ontemplating the mind means contemplating that one ignorant thought is identical to enlightenment. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “Insight [concerning] ignorance is identical to ultimate emptiness.”465 Wisdom concerning emptiness illumines ignorance; [it clarifies the truth] that ignorance is identical to purity [because they are both empty of substantial Being].
To use an analogy, suppose there is a man who is discovered to be a thief; he is then unable to steal.466 If originally there is no place which is defiled by ignorance, then this “way of passionate delusions” is pure. If passionate delusions are pure, there are then no karmic deeds. If there are no karmic deeds, then there are no bonds. If there are no bonds, then one is a free self. If one’s self is free, one is not bound by karma. Who then experiences name-and-form, contact, and experience? Since there is no experience, there is no suffering. If there is no suffering within the aggregates, who then is transient and perishes? This is the virtue of eternity.
Thus one thought in the mind already includes the twelvefold links of conditioned co-arising. By contemplating [these aspects of] conditioned co-arising and constantly practicing the contemplation of eternity, bliss, selfhood, and purity, the mind will thought by thought come to dwell within the secret storehouse [of Buddhahood]. The constant practice of this contemplation is called “being entrusted to the noble womb.”467 If one practices this contemplation diligently and single-mindedly, one will bring to perfection the content of the womb [and advance toward Buddhahood]. If one destroys ignorance, this is called transcending the noble womb [to advance to Buddhahood].
- 465
- This is a paraphrase. The entire section reads: “Concerning insight, there are three kinds of insight. Bodhisattva insight, the insight of all Buddhas, and insight (concerning) ignorance. The insight of the bodhisattva is identical to Prajn͂āpāramitā. The insight of all Buddhas is identical to the Buddha-eye. The insight [concerning] ignorance is identical to ultimate emptiness.” This passage is not saying that ignorance and insight is the same; it is saying that realizing the truth of emptiness is to have insight into the true nature of ignorance. return
- 466
- The relevance of this analogy escapes my comprehension. return
- 467
- A simile for the bodhisattva stages, which are the “womb” from which a Buddha is born. The bodhisattva stages are called a “noble womb” in the Jên wang ching. The subject is discussed in more detail in Chih-i’s commentary to the Jên wang ching. return