All posts by John Hughes

d17b, WONS

The Only Sin that Refuses To Disappear

Even if women committed the sky-full of ten evil acts such as greed, jealousy and anger, and five rebellious sins, if they upheld this Lotus Sūtra without committing the sin of slandering the True Dharma, their sins will all disappear at once just as dew on plants all evaporate when blown by strong winds. They are like the thick ice born in the three months of cold winter that thaw in no time under the sunshine of mid-summer. The only sin that refuses to disappear is the sin of slandering the Lotus Sūtra. It is like Mt. Sumeru that cannot be burnt, even partially, by all the plants in the whole universe as firewood; or the ocean that cannot be dried up even if seven suns should appear at the same time and blaze on it for hundreds and thousands of days.

Zemmui-shō, Treatise on Śubhākarasiṃha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 55-56

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 23, 2020

If you hear his name, and see him,
And think of him constantly,
You will be able to eliminate all sufferings.

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. The power of World-Voice-Perceiver is the power of compassion.World-Voice-Perceiver is also known as the one who brings fearlessness. When we can face up to the suffering in the world, both our own and that of others, we can see it for what it is. Then we are no longer afraid of suffering. What else is there to be afraid of?

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

LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the question posed by the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas in Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, we repeat in gāthās the litany of perils to be faced preaching the Lotus Sutra in the future saha world.

Thereupon the Bodhisattvas sang in gāthās with one voice:

Do not worry!
We will expound this sūtra
In the dreadful, evil world
After your extinction.

Ignorant people will speak ill of us,
Abuse us, and threaten us
With swords or sticks.
But we will endure all this.

Some bhikṣus in the evil world will be cunning.
They will be ready to flatter others.
Thinking that they have obtained what they have not,
Their minds will be filled with arrogance.

Some bhikṣus will live in aranyas or retired places,
And wear patched pieces of cloth.
Thinking that they are practicing the true Way,
They will despise others.

Being attached to worldly profits,
They will expound the Dharma to men in white robes.
They will be respected by the people of the world
As the Arhats who have the six supernatural powers.

They will have evil thoughts.
They will always think of worldly things.
Even when they live in aranyas,
They will take pleasure in saying that we have faults.

They will say of us,
“Those bhikṣus are greedy for worldly profits.
Therefore, they are expounding
The teachings of heretics.
They made that sūtra by themselves
In order to deceive the people of the world.
They are expounding that sūtra
Because they wish to make a name for themselves.”

In order to speak ill of us, in order to slander us
In the midst of the great multitude,
In order to say that we are evil,
They will say to kings, ministers and brahmanas,
And also to householders and other bhikṣus,
“They have wrong views.
They are expounding
The teachings of heretics.”
But we will endure all this
Because we respect you.

They will despise us,
Saying to us [ironically],
“You are Buddhas.”
But we will endure all these despising words.

See Upholding the Sutra

LS32, d17b, d18b, stories

Upholding the Sutra

The Dharma Flower Sutra makes frequent reference to “upholding” the Sutra. What does it mean to “uphold” the Sutra? The Chinese character used here can mean such things as “keep,” “hold,” “uphold,” or “take care of.” Usually, when translating it in the Dharma Flower Sutra, I have used the term “embrace.” It occurs in several combinations that are important in the Sutra, especially (in Japanese pronunciation) as juji, “receive and embrace”; buji, “honor and embrace”; goji, “protect and embrace”; and jisetsu, “embrace and explain”; and there are many others. I like to use “embrace” because, for the Dharma Flower Sutra, what is involved is not a matter either of storage or of defending, but of following or adhering to the teachings of the Sutra by embodying them in one’s life.

But in Chapter 13, what is of most direct concern is propagating the Sutra in the face of great difficulties, spreading its teachings to others despite many obstacles, leading others to embrace it. So here, in the title of Chapter 13, it seems fitting to think of being encouraged to “uphold” the Sutra.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p174-175
Shodaigyo

Kyo-On Rosho

Quote

You need to understand the meaning of Kyo-On Rosho in regard to the chanting of Odaimoku. I will explain. On of Kyo-On is the sound of the chanting of Odaimoku. The voice chanting Odaimoku should be one of respectfulness and reverence. It is a voice of both humility and joy. The sound of Odaimoku should be cheerful. It should not be sorrowful or grim.

When Nichiren Daishonin stood on the rocky ledge of Mt. Kiyosumi at Asahigamori, he faced the rising sun in a dignified manner and chanted the Odaimoku (Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō …) in a cheerful voice from the bottom of his abdomen upward.

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 46
Lotus Seeds

The Living Reality of Buddhism

Quote

The Focus of Devotion is the means by which we can express and personify Buddhahood, the goal of Buddhist practice. By using images such as the mandala, the mind is given a focus, as well as something to motivate, inspire, and even challenge it. The Focus of Devotion also serves as a reminder that Buddhism is not about abstract principles and theories. Instead, it is a living reality that awakens us from within our own minds and hearts.

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 22, 2020

Anyone who protects this sūtra
Should be considered
To have already made offerings
To Many-Treasures and to me.

The Buddha makes this declaration to all those assembled to hear him teach the Dharma in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Many-Treasures Buddha has just appeared to confirm the truth of the sūtra, and the Buddha has asked who will protect and preserve this sūtra after his extinction. By considering anyone who defends the meaning of the Lotus Sūtra to be one who has been personally present before these Buddhas, the Buddha invites us to consider not just our previous lives, but our current lives. We repay these Buddhas for this wonderful teaching by bringing it to life ourselves. As Nichiren wrote, “even if only a word or phrase, spread it to others.”

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

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the king’s search and the teacher he finds, we consider Devadatta’s role and the prediction of his future buddhahood.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

“The king at that time was a previous life of myself. The seer at that time was a previous life of Devadatta. Devadatta was my teacher. He caused me to complete the six pāramitās. He caused me to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and impartiality. He caused me to have the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have my body purely gilt. He caused me to have the ten powers and the four kinds of fearlessness. He caused me to know the four ways to attract others. He caused me to have the eighteen properties and supernatural powers [of the Buddha]. He caused me to have the power of giving discourses. I attained perfect enlightenment and now save all living beings because Devadatta was my teacher.”

He said to the four kinds of devotees:

“Devadatta will become a Buddha after innumerable kalpas.’ He will be called Heavenly-King, 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 world of that Buddha will be called Heavenly-Way. That Buddha will live for twenty intermediate ka]pas. He will expound the Wonderful Dharma to all living beings. [Hearing the Dharma from him,] as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges will obtain Arhatship; another group of innumerable living beings will aspire for the enlightenment of cause-knowers; and another group of living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges will aspire for unsurpassed enlightenment, obtain the truth of birthlessness, and reach the stage of irrevocability. After the Parinirvana of Heavenly-King Buddha, his right teachings will be preserved in that world for twenty intermediate kalpas. During that time a stupa of the seven treasures sixty yojanas tall and forty yojanas wide and deep will be erected to enshrine the śarīras of his perfect body. Gods and men will bow to the wonderful stupa of the seven treasures and offer various flowers, incense powder, incense to burn, incense applicable to the skin, garments, necklaces, banners, streamers, jeweled canopies, music and songs of praise [to the stupa]. [By doing all this,] innumerable living beings will attain Arhatship; another group of innumerable living beings will attain Pratyekabuddhahood; and another group of inconceivably numerous living beings will aspire for Bodhi and reach the stage of irrevocability.”

He said to the bhikṣus:

“Good men or women in the future who hear this chapter of Devadatta of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with faithful respect caused by their pure minds, and have no doubts [about this chapter], will not fall into hell or the region of hungry spirits or the region of animals. They will be reborn before the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters. They will always hear this sūtra at the places of their rebirth. Even when they are reborn among men or gods, they will be given wonderful pleasures. When they are reborn before the Buddhas, they will appear in lotus-flowers.”

See A Rival Teacher?

LS32, d17b, stories

A Rival Teacher?

Some scholars believe that stories of Devadatta’s evil deeds were invented later to discredit the leader of a group that was a rival to the main Buddhist organization, a Buddhist saint whose rival organization lasted for several centuries and probably only died with the death of Buddhism in India, long after the time of the Buddha. (See Reginald A. Ray’s Buddhist Saints in India, pp 162-78)

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p149
Shodaigyo

Ho-On

Quote

Ho-On (the Sound of the Dharma) means “the sound of itself” if you vocally chant it, as with “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” Because of this we say this is the “focus of the mind” with the voice of ” Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” We position our mind on the sound of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” We should chant with mind, voice, and Gassho posture being in a complete state of oneness. We should also, after all, chant wholeheartedly. It is with our heart and our soul that we chant the Odaimoku. Bishop Yukawa told us “chant in the mouth, chant in the heart, chant in the abdomen, and chant in the head.”

Do not think about being grateful or the meaning of the Odaimoku when you chant. Instead, recite the Odaimoku wholeheartedly, listen to that Odaimoku and be attuned with others. Don’t merely chant: devote yourself to it, and become of one mind, of like mind.

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 47-48