Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 135Rather than define what “mind” means, Chih-i utilizes this section to provide a doctrinal basis for his teachings on contemplating the mind, or one’s thoughts. He quotes the Avataṃsaka Sūtra [Flower Garland] that “the mind, the Buddha, and sentient beings are not distinct” (T. 9, 47Sc29), and emphasizes the unity of the three. Chih-i does not use this verse to support a mind-only idealism. He proposes instead that the mind, or one’s thoughts, is the most accessible of the three dharmas, and thus should be the focus of one’s contemplation and meditation. Since the Buddha, objects, other sentient beings, and so forth, are all part of one reality, they are all included when one concentrates on one simple thought. This is illustrated with another quote from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra: “If one disports one’s mind in the dharmadhātu as if in space, then one will know the objective realm of all Buddhas” (T. 9, 409cl). Chih-i interprets this passage in terms of the threefold truth:
The dharmadhātu is the middle. Space is emptiness. The mind and Buddhas are conventional existence. The three together are the objective realm of all Buddhas. This means that if one contemplates [the thoughts of] one’s mind, one can become endowed with all Buddha-dharmas. [T. 33, 696a20-22]
Contemplation of the thoughts in one’s mind is the most readily available method of practice and can lead to the attainment of Buddhahood and enlightenment concerning the true nature of reality, which is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent.
All posts by John Hughes
Creating a Pure Land of Peace and Tranquility
By faithfully following this teaching and practice, Nichiren Buddhists make the cause that enables them to manifest the perfect wisdom and great compassion of the Buddha in all circumstances. This allows them to transform not only their own lives but also the lives of others so this world can cease to be the world of suffering and become a pure land of peace and tranquility.
Lotus SeedsThe Blessing To Be Able to Believe in this Lotus Sūtra
According to these sūtras, it is due to the great merit of his virtuous acts in past lives that anyone listens to the Lotus Sūtra without slandering it, though unable to understand it. The chances of our being born in the three evil realms are more numerous than particles of dust on earth, while chances of our being born in the human realm are as scarce as the specks of dirt on a fingernail. (…) The chances of our encountering expedient sūtras preached in the forty-odd years before the Lotus Sūtra are more numerous than the particles of dust on earth, while encountering the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras is as scarce as specks of dirt on a fingernail. It is just as the passage … from the Nirvana Sūtra, fascicle 33 stated. To be able to believe in this Lotus Sūtra, even one character or one phrase, is due to the profound association with it from previous lives, which is a great blessing.
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 66
Daily Dharma – Feb. 19, 2021
Great-Power-Obtainer, know this! This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma benefits Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and causes them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, they should keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra after my extinction.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. In several places in the sūtra, the Buddha asked who would continue to teach this Wonderful Dharma after his extinction and lead all beings to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi: perfect unsurpassed enlightenment. When he revealed his Ever-Present Existence in Chapter Sixteen, he assured all those receiving his words that his life is not limited to that of the physical body he inhabited. In truth he is leading all beings throughout all time and space to his wisdom, and this Lotus Sūtra he has given us is the embodiment of that wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 31
Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered what the two sons did to inspire their father to understand the Dharma by faith, we consider the family’s decision to go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha.
“Thereupon the two sons descended from the sky, came to their mother, joined their hands together, and said to her, ‘Our father, the king, has now understood the Dharma by faith. He is now able to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. We did the work of the Buddha for the sake of our father. Mother! Allow us to renounce the world and practice the Way under that Buddha!’
“Thereupon the two sons, wishing to repeat what they had said, said to their mother in gāthās:
Mother! Allow us to renounce the world
And become śramaṇas!
It is difficult to see a Buddha.
We will follow that Buddha and study.
To see a Buddha is as difficult
As to see an udumbara[-flower ]
To avert a misfortune is also difficult.
Allow us to renounce the world!“The mother said, ‘I allow you to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha.’
“Thereupon the [father came to them. The] two sons said to their parents, ‘Excellent, Father and Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, see him, and make offerings to him because to see a Buddha is as difficult as to see an udumbara flower or as for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a floating piece of wood! We accumulated so many merits in our previous existence that we are now able to meet the teachings of the Buddha in this life of ours. Allow us to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha, and also because it is difficult to have such a good opportunity as this to see him.’
“Thereupon the eighty-four thousand people in the harem of King Wonderful-Adornment became able to keep the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
The Daily Dharma from Sept. 1, 2020, offers this:
To see a Buddha is as difficult
As to see an udumbara[-flower].
To avert a misfortune is also difficult.
These verses are sung by two sons of a king in a story told by the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the boys have heard the Dharma from a previous Buddha and are asking permission from their parents to leave home and follow that Buddha. The legend of the udumbara flower is that it only blooms every 3000 years. Meeting a Buddha is not to be taken for granted. However, it is still important to remember the ties of our families. Rather than leaving in secret from their home, the sons’ asking permission from their parents creates more benefits. The King and Queen accompany their sons and learn the Wonderful Dharma. As Bodhisattvas it is important to use our relationships wisely as we lead all beings to enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The ‘Subtle’ Dharma of the Buddha
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 134-135[In discussing the Buddha], Chih-i … emphasizes the unity or integration of the Buddha-realm with all other aspects of reality. As Chih-i rhetorically asks:
How can there be any dharma distinct from the Buddha? [There cannot.] All of the hundred realms and thousand suchnesses are the objective realm of the Buddha. [T 33, 696a4-5]
In other words, the Buddha is not a separate and detached realm from that of our world of passionate illusions, but an integrated and involved part of it. The difference is that only a Buddha truly understands and perceives reality as it truly is. Understanding this vast reality requires a vast and penetrating wisdom. Both objective reality and the wisdom of the Buddha are thus “inconceivable”, beyond conceptual understanding. In short, the dharma of the Buddha is “subtle.”
True Relationship Between Parents and Child
It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, “Those who heard the Dharma from those śramaṇera (teachers) are now living under those Buddhas.” T’ien-t’ai stated (in the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra), “The Buddha in the Western Pure Land is different from the Buddha in this Sahā World; therefore, no relationship between parents and children exists between the Buddha of Infinite Life and us, ordinary beings in the Sahā World.” Miao-lê explains this (in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra) that the Buddha of Infinite Life and Śākyamuni are different Buddhas. (…) Their relationships to us from past lives are different, so are their ways of teaching. Sowing the seeds of Buddhahood in living beings by the Buddha is similar to giving birth to a child by parents and guiding the people by the Buddha is similar to raising a child by parents. If the parents who give birth to a child and parents who raise him are different, the true relationship between parents and child does not exist.
In these days, people in Japan believe that the Buddha of Infinite Life will come to save them. This is as nonsensical as feeding a baby cow on horse milk or trying to have the moon reflected on a roof tile.
Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 208
Daily Dharma – Feb. 18, 2021
Suppose you are sentenced to death,
And the sword is drawn to behead you.
If you think of the power of World-Voice-Perceiver,
The sword will suddenly break asunder.
The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion. When we think of this Bodhisattva, and the power that she holds in this world, we realize what we can accomplish through compassion. When we can be present for the suffering that exists in other beings, and see them without judgement for the flawed creatures that they are, then we allow them to make that same connection with us. The power of compassion is that it inspires others to face what lies at the core of their being: the wish that all beings be peaceful and free from suffering. To break the sword of violence in this world, we must first break it within ourselves.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 30
Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs
Having last month considered the dhārāni spells offered by World-Holding Heavenly-King, we meet the 10 rākṣasas.There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings. These ten rākṣasas [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously:
“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”
Then they uttered spells before the Buddha:
“Ideibi (1), ideibin (2), ideibi (3), adeibi ( 4), ideibi (5), deibi (6), deibi (7), deibi (8), deibi (9), deibi (10), rokei (11), rokei (12), rokei (13), rokei (14), takei (15), takei (16), takei (17), tokei (18), tokei (19).”
Buddha-Nature as the Complete Cause of Buddhahood
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 133-134Buddha-nature as the conditional causes of Buddhahood refers to the inherent potential and propensity for Buddhahood within all sentient beings which allows them to practice and build up the proper causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to one’s inherent disposition , if not obstructed by sundry passions and delusions, to perform the deeds required to realize the wisdom of a Buddha.
Buddha-nature as the complete cause of Buddhahood refers to the inherent potential for wisdom in all sentient beings. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to the illumination of wisdom, which destroys delusions and reveals the true nature of reality. Buddha-nature as the direct cause of Buddhahood refers to the fact that all beings are inherently endowed with “the reality of true thusness” in that they all participate in the true nature of reality. In terms of the “three tracts” this corresponds to the true nature of reality which is non-illusory and un-differentiated.
These three aspects, again, are not detached from each other but different aspects of one Buddha-nature and one reality. The Buddha-nature, the potential in each sentient being to attain Buddhahood, consists of the ability to practice, the prior presence of wisdom which only needs to be uncovered, and participation in true reality, which is simultaneously empty and conventionally existent.
The rest of the characteristics of the Buddha consist of various virtuous qualities such as the four Universal Vows, the perfection of the six pāramitā, and so forth. The Buddha’s “retribution” is actually the “reward” of perfect enlightenment and so forth for completing all practices and attaining Buddhahood.