All posts by John Hughes

WONS

Entering the World of the Lotus Sūtra

The minds of living beings dwelling in the nine realms and the six paths are different. For instance, the faces of people, regardless if they are in a small group of a few people or a large group of a hundred or a thousand in number, are all about the same size — about 30 centimeters — but there is no pair of faces completely identical to each other. As their minds are different, their faces, too, are not the same. If the minds of two or ten people are different, how much more so are the differences between the minds of all living beings in the nine realms and the six paths? As a result the inclinations of people are varied as well. Some love to watch flowers while others love the moon. Some like a sour taste while others a bitter taste. Some love the small-sized while others prefer the large-sized. People’s sense of value also differs. Some prefer the good while others indulge in wickedness. People are thus varied and diverse. However, when they enter the world of the Lotus Sūtra, they all become one body and their minds are one. It is like how the many river waters will have the same salty taste upon entering the ocean, or how the many birds become a single golden color upon nearing Mt. Sumeru.

Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 159-160

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 12, 2021

The “mutual possession of ten realms” doctrine is as difficult to maintain as it is to see fire in a rock or flowers in wood. However it is not totally impossible because rocks spark when struck together and a tree blooms in spring. It is most difficult to believe that the realm of Buddhas is contained in the realm of humans because it is like saying that fire is in water or water in fire.

Nichiren wrote this in his treatise on Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable (Kanjin Honzon-Shō). “Mutual Expression of Ten Realms” is one of the more difficult ideas from the Chinese Master T’ien-t’ai. Nichiren uses it to illustrate what the Buddha teaches in the Lotus Sūtra: that Buddha nature is contained within all beings. Even though this idea is difficult, we can see it in the transformations of everyday objects we encounter: rocks, fire, flowers and trees. With his similes, Nichiren reminds us that with the Lotus Sūtra as our guide, we can see the Buddha Dharma in all aspects of our lives.

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

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the support the Buddha offers those who expound the Dharma, we repeat in gāthās the three things needed to be done before expounding this sutra.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

If you wish to give up all indolence,
Hear this sūtra!
It is difficult to hear this sūtra.
Few receive it by faith.

A man on a plateau, feeling thirsty,
Dug a hole in order to get water.
As long as he saw the dug-out lumps of earth were dry,
He knew that water was still far off.
When he found the earth wet and muddy,
He was convinced that water was near.

In the same manner, Medicine-King, know this!
Those who do not hear
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Are far from the wisdom of the Buddha.

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.
If you wish to expound this sūtra,
Enter the room of the Tathāgata,
Wear the robe of the Tathāgata,
Sit on the seat of the Tathāgata,
[And after doing these three things,]
Expound it to people without fear!

To enter the room of the Tathāgata means to have great compassion.
To wear his robe means to be gentle and patient.
To sit on his seat means to see the voidness of all things.
Expound the Dharma only after you do these [three] things!

See The Buddha’s Room, Robe, and Seat

LS32, d15b, stories

The Buddha’s Room, Robe, and Seat

Toward the end of Chapter 10, we find these words:

If people are to teach this sutra,
Let them enter the Tathagata’s room,
Put on the Tathagata’s robe,
And sit on the Tathagata’s seat.

Facing the multitude without fear,
Let them teach it clearly everywhere,
With great compassion as their room,
Gentleness and patience as their robe,
And the emptiness of all things as their seat.
Doing this, they should teach the Dharma. (LS 232)

In this beautiful poetic expression we have another indication of what it means to follow the bodhisattva way. It means nothing terribly complicated, just the very difficult matter of being compassionate, gentle, and patient and living from an understanding of the emptiness of all things. To enter the room of the Buddha, wear his robe, and sit on his seat is a wonderful metaphor for living the life of a bodhisattva, living the Dharma in a way that goes beyond our sixteen simple practices. This is what it means to be a teacher of the Dharma.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p133-134
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Bathing the Baby Śākyamuni

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After a Zoom Hanamatsuri service, it was a joy to celebrate IRL – In Real Life – at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

Easy

Seigon

Words of oath before reciting the Lotus Sutra

To carry out the Way of the Buddha as a Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha has been expounding His teachings without rest, from the beginning to this day, not only in our world but also in innumerable worlds.

Among His teachings, the Lotus Sutra is the most important. If you devote yourself completely to the faith in the Lotus Sutra, you will surely become a person who truly practices the Way of the Buddha.

All of you, even after my death, should continue having faith in the Lotus Sutra and reciting it. Make this oath before me now.

Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Faith, Practice and Teaching

Quote

Whether or not we manifest the function of being bodhisattvas from beneath the ground depends solely on our practice, and not on a hollow claim. We can’t just say we are and not actually be acting in that capacity. The emerged from the ground bodhisattvas say they wish to obtain the dharma; in this case the dharma is attained through understanding by faith, by carrying out the practices, and by teaching others. The list is a joined list meaning it isn’t complete unless everything in the list is present. We cannot study in isolation, nor can we practice in isolation, nor can we just go around telling others about Buddhism and not do the practice.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

WONS

Spreading Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō in the Latter Age of Degeneration

Śākyamuni Buddha did not feel safe to entrust great bodhisattvas such as Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī to spread the five Chinese characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Buddha, therefore, entrusted the job to the four leaders including Bodhisattva Superior Practice among the numerous bodhisattvas that emerged from the soil. As I contemplate the religious meaning of this, I wonder if Bodhisattva Superior Practice entered your body in order to help me to spread the Lotus Sūtra? Or was it the Buddha’s discretion?

Shijō Kingo-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 142

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 11, 2021

Ajita! Any good man or woman who keeps, reads, or recites this sūtra after my extinction, also will be able to obtain these merits. Know this! He or she should be considered to have already reached the place of enlightenment, approached Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat under the tree of enlightenment. Ajita! Erect a stūpa in the place where he or she sat, stood or walked! All gods and men should make offerings to that stūpa just as they do to the stūpa of a Buddha.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. In this mysterious description, the Buddha seems to say that anyone who practices this Lotus Sūtra as it instructs is his equal, that this person deserves as much respect as the Buddha himself. In this world of conflict it is rare to even find this teaching, and even more rare to practice it. The Buddha encourages Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya and other protective deities to serve and care for those who bring the Buddha’s greatest wisdom to life. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma, it is as if the Buddha himself appears among us.

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

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the need to make offerings to the keeper of the sūtra, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra in the future
Should be considered
To have been dispatched by me
To the world of men in order to do my work.

Whoever for as long as a kalpa,
With evil intent and flushed face,
Speaks ill of me,
Will incur immeasurable retributions.
Whoever for even a moment
Reproaches those who read, recite and keep
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will incur even more retributions.

Whoever for as long as a kalpa
Joins his hands together towards me
And praises me with innumerable gāthās
In order to attain the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Will obtain innumerable merits
Because he praises me.
Whoever praises the keeper of this sūtra
Will obtain even more merits.

For eight thousand million kalpas
Offer to the keeper of this sūtra
The most wonderful things to see,
Hear, smell, taste and touch!

If you make these offerings,
And hear [this sūtra] even for a moment,
You will rejoice and say,
“Now I have obtained great benefits.”

Medicine-King! I will tell you.
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Is the most excellent sūtra
That I have ever expounded.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 25, 2020, offers this:

Medicine-King! I will tell you.
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Is the most excellent sūtra
That I have ever expounded.

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. Our founder Nichiren explained that the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra lay not in its being more powerful than other Sūtras, but that it leads all beings, without exception, to the Buddha’s own enlightenment. Other teachings distinguish between those who can follow the Buddha Dharma and those who cannot. But this teaching assures everyone who hears it that they will become enlightened.

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