All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month met the 10 rākṣasas daughters, we consider the 10 rākṣasas daughters’ vow.

[They said to the Buddha:]

“Anyone may step on our heads, but shall not trouble this teacher of the Dharma. Neither shall any yakṣa, rākṣasa, hungry spirit, pūtana, kṛtya, vetāda, kumbhāṇḍa, umāraka, apasmāraka, yakṣa-kṛtya or human kṛtya. Neither shall anyone who causes others to suffer from a fever for a day, two days, three days, four days, seven days or forever. Neither shall anyone who takes the shape of a man, a woman, a boy or a girl and appears in his dream.”

Then they sang in gāthās before the Buddha:

Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [ are split].

Anyone who attacks this teacher of the Dharma
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Saṃgha.

Having sung these gāthās, the rākṣasas said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, and acts according to it so that he may be peaceful, that he may have no trouble, and that poison taken by him may be neutralized.”

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 3, 2020, offers this:

Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of the Dharma
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].

The ten rakṣasī demons and Mother-of-Devils sing these verses in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra. They are among the many gods and other supernatural beings who vow to protect all those who keep and practice the Buddha Dharma. These verses help us to understand the nature of those who create harm in the world and to develop a heart of compassion towards them. The nature of delusion is that it sets up a world separate from the world we all share. It puts a barrier between us and the world out of fear that this world will harm us. The Buddha’s teachings show us how to develop the courage to live in harmony with this world, rather than splitting ourselves from it, and splitting ourselves in it.

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

Higan, perfections

Wisdom: Ever Changing

[T]he Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom says: “But if it occurs to the bodhisattva, the great being, that ‘I course [train] in perfect wisdom, I develop perfect wisdom’ – if he perceives thus, then he moves away from perfect wisdom. … If the bodhisattva even perceives the perfection of wisdom, then he has fallen away from it.”

So, if you seek a kind of wisdom that is unchanging, an eternal wisdom that exists in and of itself, something that just is what it is without reference to context, relations, and time, then you seek it unwisely. The sutras recommend instead that you engage in the quest for wisdom without objectifying any of the elements in it—the seeker, what is sought, and the search are all “empty.”

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 222
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Mar. 23, 2021

Seeing [these wonders displayed by] the supernatural powers of his sons, the father had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He joined his hands together towards his sons [staying in the sky], and said, ‘Who is your teacher? Whose disciples are you?’

King Wonderful-Adornment makes this declaration to his sons in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. His sons had been asked by their mother to display their supernatural powers to their father and awaken the desire in him to hear the Buddha Dharma. We all have abilities of which we are not aware, and can cultivate those abilities so that they may seem miraculous to those who do not understand them. But it is important for us not to fall in the trap of using these abilities to strengthen our ego delusion. Instead we should dedicate our talents towards awakening the joy of the Wonderful Dharma in all beings.

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

LS32

Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Day 29 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the question of how World-Voice-Perceiver got his name, we consider some of the benefits of calling the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

“If anyone calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is about to be killed, the sword or stick raised against him will suddenly break asunder, and he will be saved. If as many yakṣas and rākṣasas as to fill one thousand million Sumeru worlds hear a person call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when they come to him with the intention of killing him, those devils will not be able even to see him with their malicious eyes, and needless to say, kill him. If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things [in which he is bound up] will break asunder, and he will be saved. Suppose the chief of a party of merchants is leading his party carrying invaluable treasures along a dangerous road haunted by as many bandits as to fill one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and suppose one of the members of the party says [to others], ‘Good men! Do not be afraid! Call the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva with all your hearts! This Bodhisattva gives fearlessness to all living beings. If you call his name, you will be saved from [the attacks of] these bandits.’ If the other members of the party hear this and say simultaneously, ‘Namas to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva,’ all of them will be saved because of their calling of his name. Endless-Intent! The supernatural powers of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva-mahāsattva are as great as previously stated.

“Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Endless-Intent! World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva has these great supernatural powers. He gives many benefits to all living beings. Therefore, they should constantly think of him.

The Daily Dharma from Aug. 3, 2020, offers this:

Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.

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

Higan, perfections

Meditation: The Goal

Early Buddhist texts are insistent on the necessity of meditation in the quest for Buddhist enlightenment. Without this kind of intense and deliberate discipline, various forms of human diminishment were considered very likely to prevail. Early sutras name the “three poisons” – greed, aversion, and delusion – that were thought to dominate human minds. The kinds of calm, focused mentality formed in meditation were considered the most effective remedies for the “three poisons” of human life. When human greed prevails, we pull the world toward ourselves. When aversion dominates, we push the world away, and when delusion obtains, we are oblivious of our true circumstances, or hide in denial. The goal of meditative practice, therefore, is to eliminate the oppressive force of these obstructions so that the truth that is otherwise hidden from us is open to our minds. Particular meditations aimed at each of these poisonous obstructions were designed so that cures would be as appropriate as possible to the particular ailments they were meant to alleviate.

Six Perfections: Buddhism & the Cultivation of Character, p 175-176
Lecture on Lotus Sutra

The Future of Buddhism

Quote

It isn’t enough that the Buddha merely spew out some teaching called the Lotus Sutra, because that is what it would be if it weren’t for the concept of ensuring it will be taught to countless beings in our world. Even for ourselves, Buddhism is not just about taking faith in the Lotus Sutra. It is not just about practicing for our own enlightenment. It is not just about teaching others. It also includes ensuring that other are continually encouraged and supported in their practice, and the cycle continues on into the future.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

d27b, WONS

Those Who Keep This Sūtra

In his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, Grand Master Dengyō cites the passage of the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 23, which claims: “This sūtra likewise is superior to any of the other sūtras. Those who keep this sūtra are also superior to all living beings.” Noting that the above is a scriptural statement, Grand Master Dengyō then quotes from the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra of Grand Master T’ien-t’ai. Noting that this is a citation from the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, he interprets its meaning: “You should know that the canons of other schools are not perfect, and those who uphold them are also not perfect. The basic canon of the Tendai-Hokke School, the Lotus Sūtra, is superior. Therefore, those who uphold it are superior to all people. This is what the Buddha stated. How could it be self-admiration?”

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 28.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Mar. 22, 2021

They also had already obtained [the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-kindness, joy and impartiality.

The Buddha gives this description in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sutra of two boys who had been the previous lives of Medicine-King and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattvas. These four states of mind are those which allow to see the world for what it is and bring true benefit for all beings. Any living being is capable of them. Their opposites: cruelty, indifference, misery and prejudice, are never what we aspire to, even though we find ourselves in them far too often. But even these states can be used as an indication that we are not seeing things for what they are, and lead us back to a true curiosity and appreciation for what we have.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month witnessed the arrival of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we learn about Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva’s past life.

Thereupon Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva said to Śākyamuni Buddha:

“World-Honored One! What root of good did this Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva plant and what kind of meritorious deeds did he do in order to obtain this supernatural power?”

Śākyamuni Buddha said to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva:

“There was once a Buddha called Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world was called Appearance-Of-All-Worlds; and the kalpa in which he lived, Gladly-Seen. [There lived] a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice [under that Buddha. The Bodhisattva] offered hundreds of thousands of kinds of music and eighty-four thousand patras of the seven treasures to Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King Buddha for twelve thousand years. Because of this, he was able to appear in the world of Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom Buddha, and obtain supernatural power such as this.

“Flower-Virtue! What do you think of this? Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva who had offered the music and the jeweled bowls to Cloud-Thunder-Sound-King Buddha [at that time] was no one but this Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva [whom you see here now].

“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva already made offerings to innumerable Buddhas, attended on them, and planted the roots of virtue a long time ago. He also already saw hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

See The Missing Voice

Blog, d9b

Medicinal Herbs

The Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area is reviewing the Lotus Sutra a month at a time. The first Sunday of the month is a formal discussion about the subject of the chapter and the third Sunday, today, is devoted to a discussion of each attendee’s  favorite verse of the chapter and how that verse impacts daily life. This month’s topic was Chapter 5.

The version of the Lotus Sutra that I have here, which was translated by Senchu Murano, calls the chapter “The Simile of Herbs.” But the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area’s preferred translation of the Lotus Sutra is Rissho Kosei-kai’s The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers. This 2019 translation by Michio Shinozaki, Brook Ziporyn and David Earhart calls Chapter 5 “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs.”

There are no Medicinal Herbs in either translation. Both are English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Sanskrit in 406 CE.

During the discussion on the first Sunday I raised the question of why “Medicinal” was added to  the title. It distracts from the meaning of the simile, which discusses how the Buddha’s wisdom is rained upon everyone equally and it is received individually based on the individual’s nature and characteristics. Some of us are herbs, some are rice plants, some are trees – all receive the same nourishment from the Buddha. Adding “Medicinal” was a puzzle.

This week, when I was preparing for participating in the service, I decided I would quote from the two “missing” parables from Chapter 5.  These – the Simile of the Clay Pots and Parable of a Blind Man – are from a surviving Sanskrit version that was translated by Leon Hurvitz in his 1983 “Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma.”

It was here, in the portion of the sutra Hurvitz added to Chapter 5, that I understood why Hurvitz called Chapter 5  Medicinal Herbs. It all has to do with  how blindness was cured by a physician.  Here’s the context:

“Now there is a certain physician, who knows all ailments. He sees that man born blind. The following occurs to him: ‘This man has fallen victim to an ailment thanks to a former evil deed. Whatever ailments arise, they are all of four kinds: rheumatic, bilious, phlegmatic, or due to a derangement of the humors.’ Then the physician thinks again and again of a means to put an end to that ailment. The following occurs to him: ‘Whatever drugs are current, with them this ailment cannot be treated. But on the Snowy King of Mountains there are four herbs. Which four? The first is named The One Possessed of All Colors, Flavors, and States of Being; the second is named The One That Brings Release from All Ailments; the third is named One That Destroys All Poisons; the fourth is named The One That Confers Happiness on Those Standing in the Right Place: these four herbs.’ Then the physician, showing compassion for that man born blind, thinks of a device by means of which he is able to go to the Snowy King of Mountains and, having gone, ascend it, then descend it, and also search through it thoroughly. Searching in this way, he finds the four herbs. And, having found them, he gives the blind man one chewed with his teeth, one he gives him pounded, one he gives him cooked in a mixture with other things, one he gives him mixed with other things raw, one he gives him after piercing his body with a lancet, one he gives him after burning it in fire, one he gives him mixed with a variety of things, including even such things as food, drink, and the like.

“Then that man born blind, through the application of those devices, regains his sight. …”

Still unresolved is why anyone else would add “Medicinal” to the title.

Gene Reeves’ 2008 translation has “The Parable of the Plants” for Chapter 5. Reeves offers a footnote explanation for the difference:

“In Kumārajīva’s version, though the title is literally ‘Medicinal Herbs Parable,’ in the chapter itself there is no parable having to do with medicinal herbs.”

Reeves notes Hurvitz’s inclusion of a medicinal herb parable but,  since it wasn’t included in Kumārajīva’s translation, Reeves chose to change the title to more accurately reflect the content.

Interestingly, the 1975 version of Rissho Kosei-kai’s “The Threefold Lotus Sutra” has Chapter 5 as “The Parable of the Herbs.”