All posts by John Hughes

WONS

Only in Heaven Are Babies Born Clothed

Of the six realms, only in heaven are babies born clothed. In this world, people such as Śānavāsa and Nun Senbyaku emerged from their mothers’ womb fully clothed. This is not only because they had given clothing to revered people, but also because they had the karma of offering pure, thick clothing to their parents, masters and the Three Treasures.

Śānavāsa was born fully clothed because he had once given clothing to a naked Pratyekabuddha. Also Gautami had the virtue of giving gold-embroidered clothing to the Buddha, and according to the Lotus Sūtra she became Issai Shujō Kiken Buddha.

Since you have given clothing to the venerated Lotus Sutra, you will not only avoid the eight hells of ice in the next life, but also avoid hardship in this life. Your overflowing virtue will be given to your sons and daughters, and you will experience joy upon joy, and happiness upon happiness.

Otā-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 144-146

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 29, 2020

Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattva have already obtained those great merits. Because they planted the roots of virtue under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas [in their previous existence], they obtained those inconceivable merits. All gods and men in the world should bow to those who know the names of these two Bodhisattvas.

The Buddha gives this explanation to the great multitude gathered to hear him in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. These two Bodhisattvas had been brothers under a great King in their previous life. They used wonders to lead their parents to a Buddha who was teaching the Wonderful Dharma in that world. By knowing the story of these two Bodhisattvas, we also know about the Wonderful Dharma and the Ever-Present Buddha who leads us through all our lives to his enlightenment. When we realize that through our practice we are worthy of respect from all beings, including ourselves, there is no need to demand respect from anyone. We are secure in our assurance of enlightenment.

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

LS32

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard the prediction for Pūrṇa’s future buddhahood gāthās, we consider the prediction for the twelve hundred Arhats.

Thereupon the twelve hundred Arhats, who had already obtained freedom of mind, thought:

“We have never been so joyful before. How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

Seeing what they had in their minds, the Buddha said to Maha-Kāśyapa:

“Now I will assure these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me, of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another. My great disciple Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu, who is among them, will make offerings to six billion and two hundred thousand million Buddhas, and then become a Buddha called Universal-Brightness, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya­Kāśyapa, Nadī-Kāśyapa, Kālodāyin, Udāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svāgata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.”

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

Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu will see
Innumerable Buddhas.
After asaṃkhya kalpas from now,
He will attain perfect enlightenment.

He will emit great rays of light [from his body].
He will have all supernatural powers.
His fame will spread over the worlds of the ten quarters.
Respected by all living beings,
He will expound unsurpassed enlightenment to them.
Therefore, he will be called Universal-Brightness.

His world will be pure.
The Bodhisattvas [of that world] will be brave.
They will go up to the tops of wonderful, tall buildings,
And then go out into the worlds of the ten quarters.
There they will make the best offerings
To the Buddhas of those worlds.

After making offerings, they will have great joy.
They will return to their home world in a moment.
They will be able to do all this
By their supernatural powers.

[Universal-Brightness] Buddha will live for sixty thousand kalpas.
His right teachings will be preserved twice as long as his life;
And the counterfeit of them, also twice as long as his right teachings.
When his teachings are eliminated, gods and men will be sad.

The five hundred bhikṣus
Will become Buddhas one after another.
They also will be called Universal-Brightness.
One who has become a Buddha will say to another:
“You will become a Buddha after my extinction.
[The living beings of] the world
To be saved by that Buddha
Will be like those whom I am teaching today.”

The beauty of the worlds [of those Buddhas],
And the supernatural powers [of those Buddhas],
And the number of the Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas [of those worlds],
And the number of kalpas of the lives [of those Buddhas],
Of their right teachings, and of the counterfeit of them,
Will be the same [as in the case of Kauṇḍinya].

Kāśyapa! Now you have heard of the future
Of the five hundred Arhats
Who have freedom of mind.
All the other Śrāvakas also will [become Buddhas].
Tell this to the Śrāvakas
Who are not present here!

See Incorporating the Shravaka Vehicle into the One Vehicle

LS32, d13b, d5b, stories

Incorporating the Shravaka Vehicle into the One Vehicle

It is, I believe, unfortunate that the Lotus Sutra includes the Mahayana practice of referring to the twenty or so traditional Buddhist sects of that time with the demeaning term “Hinayana,” meaning “inferior,” “lesser,” or “small.” But we should understand that the Sutra teaches that this lesser way is sufficient to save people, as it is the attraction of the lesser vehicles that saves the children from the burning house. Consistent with this, whenever in this Sutra there is a description of a more or less paradise-like, future world, there are plenty of shravakas in it. Rather than reject “Hinayana” teachings and methods, the Dharma Flower Sutra seeks to incorporate them into the One Vehicle.

What’s more, teachings about the shravaka way in this Sutra should not be understood as being merely, or even primarily, about monks living many centuries ago. These teachings are for us as well. It is we ourselves, above all, who should not be arrogant or lazy, or feel too comfortable with what we have achieved or too worn-out to do anything more. It is we who need always to remember that we have entered a way that is very difficult and comes to no final end in life.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p64-65
d26b, d29b, Peaceful Action

Enjoying the Journey

In the opening scene of [Chapter 23], one of the bodhisattvas from another part of the cosmos, Beflowered by the King of Constellations, asks the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how does the bodhisattva Medicine King travel in the saha world?” In the Chinese Vietnamese version of the Sutra, this passage reads “What is his business in the saha world?” But it is not really a matter of doing business; a better understanding of this passage would be, “How is that bodhisattva enjoying his journey in the world?” In the chapter on Avalokiteshvara in the Vietnamese version of the Lotus Sutra we see the phrases “enjoying a trip” and “enjoying a stay.” So the great bodhisattvas are those who know how to be at ease and enjoy their travels in the saha world.

We have to learn how to enjoy ourselves as we journey through this saha world. When we understand this, we will be more at ease and not think of our life as being some kind of task that we must accomplish. We do not have to scheme or hurry. We will be able to offer our service and work because we enjoy it. We can work without attachment to outcome. We can perform all our actions – organizing a retreat, building a Sangha, working with prisoners – in a spirit of freedom, liberation, and joy, rather than being bound up by notions of achieving a certain level of success or attainment.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p153-154
d17b, WONS

Thus Promises Are Kept

Thus promises are kept even with worldly matters, how much more so the way of the Buddha! A female dragon became a Buddha with her present body in a lecture meeting on Mt. Sacred Eagle although females were despised in Hinayāna sūtras for having the five hindrances and the three obediences (parents, husband and children) and abandoned in pre-Lotus sūtras for being unable to endure many aeons of practice. Although the Flower Garland Sūtra preaches, “They can attain enlightenment upon awakening aspiration for Buddhahood,” it asserts in name only, permitting no woman to become a Buddha. Thus, even females in the human and heavenly realms could not hope to become Buddhas, not to speak of a female born in the realm of beasts and birds and merely at the tender age of eight. Nevertheless, taught by Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, she listened to the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the ocean, attaining Buddhahood at the time when the Buddha preached the “Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” chapter between the “Teacher of the Dharma” and “Devadatta” chapters. This is the rarest thing to ever have happened. Without the power of the Lotus Sūtra superior to all the sūtras preached by the Buddha during His lifetime, how could it have transpired?

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 63

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Dec. 28, 2020

There is a daughter of Dragon-King Sāgara [among those whom I taught]. She is eight years old. She is clever. She knows the karmas of all living beings. She obtained dhāraṇīs. She keeps all the treasury of the profound and hidden core expounded by the Buddhas. She entered deep into dhyāna-concentration, and understood all teachings. She aspired for Bodhi in a kṣana, and reached the stage of irrevocability. She is eloquent without hindrance. She is compassionate towards all living beings just as a mother is towards her babe. She obtained all merits. Her thoughts and words are wonderful and great. She is compassionate, humble, gentle and graceful. She [has already been qualified to] attain Bodhi[, and to become a Buddha quickly].

The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī gives this description in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. This is his response to the question of whether any of the beings in the sea whom he taught will become a Buddha quickly. Those hearing his answer did not expect that a woman, much less a girl, much less a nonhuman being such as a dragon could reach the same enlightenment as the Buddha. Mañjuśrī’s response shows that all beings have within us the capability of developing the qualities that allow us to see things as they are and benefit all beings.

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

LS32

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 12 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month begun the story of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in gāthās, we consider the teachings of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha.

The palaces of the Brahmans
Of five hundred billion worlds in the east
Were illumined
More brightly than ever.

Traveling to find [the place from where the light had come],
The Brahmans of those worlds came to that Buddha.
They strewed flowers and offered them to him.
They also offered their palaces.

They praised him with gāthās,
And begged him to turn the wheel of the Dharma.
The Buddha sat in silence although he was begged
Because he knew that the time was not yet ripe for that.

The Brahmans came also from the three other quarters,
From the four intermediate quarters, zenith, and nadir.
They strewed flowers, offered their palaces,
And begged the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma, saying:

“It is difficult to meet you.
Open the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar
Out of your great compassion towards us,
And turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!”

Assenting to their appeal,
The World-Honored One of Immeasurable Wisdom
Expounded the various teachings, that is,
The four truths and the twelve causes, saying:
“All the causes, from ignorance to aging-and-death,
Rise one after another.
You should know
All these illusions.”

When he expounded these teachings,
Sixty quadrillions of living beings
Eliminated sufferings,
And became Arhats.

At his second expounding of these teachings also,
Tens of millions of living beings, that is,
As many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges,
Became Arhats because they gave up wrong views.

Those who attained the enlightenment [of Arhats] afterwards
Were also innumerable.
No one would be able to count them
Even if he tried to do so for a billion kalpas.

See The Shravaka Way

LS32, d12b, stories

The Shravaka Way

[In Chaper 7, after Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha finally attains enlightenment,] the Buddha then presents some of the most essential teachings of Buddhism, beginning with the four noble truths.

In brief, these are: the truth that life involves suffering; the truth that the cause or origin of suffering is desire or ignorance; the truth that suffering can be overcome, usually understood to be the state of nirvana; and the truth that the way to overcome suffering is the eightfold path. Closely associated with this teaching in classical Buddhism is the teaching of the “twelve causes and conditions.”

In the Dharma Flower Sutra these two teachings are closely associated with the shravaka and pratyekabuddha ways respectively, and they are mentioned frequently. But only here in this story are they actually described. And here both are associated with the shravaka way. In the Dharma Flower Sutra generally, while the bodhisattva way is presented as more inclusive or more far-reaching, there is no intention to disparage the shravaka way as illustrated by this story.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p87-88
Blog, Foundations, LS32, d3b, d4b

The Whiteness of the Buddha’s Wisdom

This was written in advance of Sunday’s meeting of the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area, which has been discussing Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra this month.

Last week I asked, Does the Buddha Only Teach Bodhisattvas? And my short answer was that since the Buddha is seeking to lead everyone to buddhahood, there are no śrāvakas, only bodhisattvas, among his disciples.

Before moving to Chapter 3 and the Buddha’s prediction that Śāriputra will teach the Three Vehicles according to his original vow, I want to discuss the One Vehicle.

From the last part of Chapter 2, Expedients, we are taught:

Any Śrāvaka or Bodhisattva
Who hears even a gāthā
Of this sūtra which I am to expound
Will undoubtedly become a Buddha.

There is only one teaching, that is, the One Vehicle
In the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters.
There is not a second or a third vehicle
Except when the Buddhas teach expediently.

The Buddhas lead all Living beings
By tentative names [of vehicles]
In order to expound their wisdom.
They appear in the worlds
Only for the One Vehicle.

And shortly after that:

Know this, Śāriputra!
I once vowed that I would cause
All living beings to become
Exactly as I am.

That old vow of mine
Has now been fulfilled.
I lead all living beings
Into the Way to Buddhahood.

One Goal. One Vehicle. Inseparable.

The Tathāgatas save all living beings
With innumerable expedients.
They cause all living beings to enter the Way
To the wisdom-without-āsravas of the Buddha.
Anyone who hears the Dharma
Will not fail to become a Buddha.

Every Buddha vows at the outset:
“I will cause all living beings
To attain the same enlightenment
That I attained.”

The future Buddhas will expound many thousands
Of myriads of millions of teachings
For just one purpose,
That is, for the purpose of revealing the One Vehicle.

In considering this, it occurred to me that here again the light of the Buddha’s wisdom is an apt analogy.

The Buddha’s wisdom shines in perfect brightness. A Buddha and another Buddha – Yui Butsu Yo Butsu – perceive this light as uniformly white, but those who have not eliminated all of their defilements filter this light into innumerable colors, failing to see the full spectrum of the Buddha’s wisdom.

In the Profound Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Chih-i writes:

Briefly, there are three differences [in the kind of preaching undertaken by the Buddha] called “in accordance with the feelings” [of the listener] ; “in accordance with the feelings [of the listener] and the wisdom” [of the Buddha] ; and “in accordance with the wisdom” [of the Buddha.]

The preaching in accordance with the feelings [or capacities of sentient beings] refers to [the teaching of the Buddha which takes into account] the fact that the feelings and natures [of sentient beings] are not the same, so the explanation which is taught in accordance with the feelings is different [for each person]. As it is clarified in the Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā Śāstra, there are immeasurable varieties of the dharma supreme in the world [laukikāgra-dharmāh].

It is the same for the real ultimate truth. How much more so for the others. It is like a blind man following his feelings when presented with many different [analogies for the whiteness of] milk.

The blind man, hearing various explanations, argues about the color white. Do they not all refer to [the whiteness of] milk? All the masters have failed to understand this meaning. They each are attached to a certain text, and present their own opinions and argue. They each deny each other’s [opinions], believing one and not believing another. What vigorous bickering! They do not know which side is correct.
Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 237

There is only one teaching, One Vehicle.