All posts by John Hughes

WONS

Virtuous Acts in Past Existences

To begin with, what virtuous acts did you commit in the past existences to cause you to visit me, Nichiren, in this life? Contemplate your past lives, when you accumulated merits to encounter the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra. By all means you should endeavor to get rid of the delusion of life and death in this existence. Cūḍapanthaka, who was unable to memorize even 14 characters in three years, was able to attain Buddhahood. Devadatta, who was able to memorize as many as 60,000 Buddhist teachings, fell into the Hell of Incessant Suffering. This solely represents the world today in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Do not think that it is not a matter of your concern.

San Sanzō Kiu no Koto, Concerning the Prayer Services for Rain by Three Tripiṭaka Masters, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 209.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 17, 2020

Truly, truly good men! I am peaceful. I am in good health. The living beings are ready to be saved. They do not fatigue me because I already taught them in their consecutive previous existences, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good.

The Buddha makes this proclamation to the leaders of the Bodhisattvas from Underground in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. These Bodhisattvas appeared when the Buddha asked who would teach the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha’s death, and asked about the Buddha’s health and whether those he was teaching could keep what he provided for them. The Buddha assures us not only of the certainty of our future enlightenment, but that for us to receive his teaching, there was an earlier time, which we may have forgotten, when we met him. This awareness of our future and our past helps us to see our place in the world and maintain our determination to 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 considered the relationship between the 16 śramaṇeras and the living beings who life after life followed them, we consider the Parable of the Magic City.

“I will tell you a parable. Once upon a time there was a dangerous, bad road five hundred yojanas long. It was so fearful that no men lived in the neighborhood. Now many people wished to pass through this road in order to reach a place of treasures. They were led by a man, clever, wise, and well informed of the conditions of the dangerous road. He took them along this dangerous road, but halfway the people got tired of walking. They said to him, ‘We are tired out. We are also afraid of the danger of this road. We cannot go a step farther. Our destination is still far off. We wish to go back.’

“The leader, who knew many expedients, thought, ‘What a pity!

They wish to go back without getting great treasures.’ Having thought this, he expediently made a city by magic at a distance of three hundred yojanas from the starting-point of this dangerous road. He said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Do not go back! You can stay in that great city, and do anything you like. If you enter that city, you will be peaceful. If you go on afterwards and reach the place of treasures, then you can go home.’

“Thereupon the worn-out people had great joy. They said, ‘We have never had such joy as this before. Now we shall be able to get off this bad road and become peaceful.’

“Then they made their way forward and entered the magic city.

They felt peaceful, thinking that they had already passed [through the bad road]. Seeing that they had already had a rest and relieved their fatigue, the leader caused the city to disappear, and said to them, ‘Now the place of treasures is near. I made this city by magic in order to give you a rest.’

See The Message of the Magic City Story

d12b, stories

The Message of the Magic City Story

In part, the message of [the Magic City] story is the same message as that of previous parables – it’s about the importance of skillful means used appropriately. But here the focus is not as much on skillful means in general, as it is in the parable of the burning house and the three vehicles or the parable of the poor son and rich father. Here the focus is on one particular teaching – that of nirvana, one of the most important concepts of classical Buddhism – and seeing even that teaching as yet another example of skillful means.

Literally, “nirvana” means “extinction.” It was often thought to be the state of awakening achieved by Shakyamuni Buddha, a state in which all illusions and all karma that leads to rebirth are extinguished. While it has been interpreted in various ways by various Buddhist philosophers and schools, nirvana is often said to be the goal of Buddhists or of the Buddhist path. In this story, however, we are to see that nirvana, or at least one understanding of nirvana, is not to be taken as a final goal at all. Quite the opposite – to take the magically created castle-city as the goal would be to remain in a permanent state of delusion, thinking one had arrived at one’s destination when one had not. Yet this does not mean that the teaching of nirvana is unimportant, a “mere” skillful means. To the contrary, here we are to understand that if the guide had not been able to conjure up a castle in which the travelers could rest, they would not have been able to continue toward their goal. The magical castle-city was vitally useful. In other words, it was not merely useful in the sense that it happened to be convenient but not really necessary; it was essential in order for the travelers to be able to move ahead.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p95-96
Shodaigyo

Zenkon Kudoku

Quote

Tsuizen (Memorial Service) Eko (Prayer) “We pray for the spirits of our ancestors, for those who have formed a relationship with Buddha, and for all those who have not: May they all follow the benevolent life of the Tathagata.” The meaning of this is Zenkon (Good Roots) Kudoku (Virtues). Practicing Shodaigyo, we have accumulated much merit that we now send to the spirits of our ancestors and to all of the deceased. We say, “May you all follow the benevolent life of the Tathagata.” In daily life you may say, “I have some extra money at the moment. You are in need. Let me please help you.” In the same context, we send our bountiful merits garnered from our practice to the deceased. This is what is meant by Zenkon Kudoku.

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 63-64
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 16, 2020

If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.

Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana sing these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha knows that our habits of thought and behavior have developed over many lifetimes. We cannot clear them away by ourselves. In the Lotus Sūtra, he assures many of his disciples personally of the certainty of their enlightenment. He shows that this universe has innumerable Buddhas, and tells all of us who hear this teaching that we too should be certain of our enlightenment. When we take the Buddha’s voice to heart, and release the grip we have on our fears, and open ourselves to the joy within ourselves and the world.

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

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Day 11 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, we return to the top and consider what happened when Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi and the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the east.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:
“When Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, five hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’ The palaces of the gods of those worlds, including the palace of Brahmans, also quaked in the six ways. The great rays of light which illumined all those worlds were brighter than the rays of light emitted by those gods.

“The palaces of the Brahman-heavenly[-kings] of the five hundred billion worlds in the east were illumined twice as brightly as ever. The Brahman-heavenly-kings [of those worlds] each thought, ‘My palace has never been illumined so brightly before. Why is that?’ They visited each other and discussed the reason. There was a great Brahman-heavenly-king called All-Saving among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:

Why are our palaces illumined
More brightly than ever?
Let us find [the place]
[From where this light has come].
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha
Appear somewhere in the universe?
This great light illumines
The worlds of the ten quarters.

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds went to the west, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great­Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion­like seat under the Bodhi-tree at the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly­kings worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the ten-yojana-tall Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
It is difficult to meet you.
You have innumerable merits.
You are saving all living beings.

As the great teacher of gods and men,
You are benefiting all living beings
Of the worlds of the ten quarters
Out of your compassion towards them.

We have come here from five hundred billion worlds.
We gave up the pleasure
Of deep dhyāna-concentration
Because we wished to make offerings to you.
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
Because we accumulated merits in our previous existence.
We offer [these palaces] to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!

“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma and save all living beings! Open the Way to Nirvāṇa!’ They simultaneously said in a gāthā with all their hearts:

Hero of the World,
Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Dharma!
Save the suffering beings
By the power of your great compassion!

“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.

See Embracing the Buddha’s Teaching Without Clinging

LS32, stories

Embracing the Buddha’s Teaching Without Clinging

All Buddhist teachings are for the purpose of helping us, but if we cling to them as though they themselves are the goal, they can become more of a hindrance than a help to continuing on the path. We should welcome the Buddha’s teachings with joy and make use of them in our lives, but we should not cling to them as though the teachings themselves are the goal.

The Dharma Flower Sutra provides assurance that everyone has buddha-nature, that everyone is endowed from birth with a potential to be a buddha. It teaches that all will follow the bodhisattva way to some degree, however minimal. But it does not say that this way will be easy, or that it will make our lives easy. It promises a happy life, but not a life of comfort and ease. Especially when compared with remaining in a fantastic castle-city, continuing on the long, steep, and arduous road is difficult, and even fraught with danger.

Both patient endurance of hardship and perseverance are required, two of the six transcendental practices of bodhisattvas. In Buddhism this world is known as the “saha world,” that is, the world in which suffering both has to be and can be endured. Nichiren, the thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhist monk and patriarch of many groups devoted to the Lotus Sutra, understood this all too well. And because the Lotus Sutra taught him to anticipate persecution and suffering, he was able to endure much suffering and cope with the problems that confronted him.

Leaving a resting place or giving up some comfort does not, of course, mean that we should feel miserable all the time. The point is that by resting you gain both strength and joy for pursuing a path that is both arduous and joyful.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p98-99
Shodaigyo

Interpreting the Four Great Vows

Quote

After the Eko (Prayer) [in the Shodaigyo ceremony], the Four Great Vows are recited. Regarding the Four Great Vows, most members of Buddhist communities recite these Four Great Vows as a Buddhist maxim (code of truth and conduct). A simple explanation of The Four Great Vows is the following:

“There are innumerable people in this world, yet, if but only one person is suffering, let me save them from that suffering.” And as I save them from that suffering, so must we relinquish the defilements that are the foundation of that suffering.

“There are inexhaustible defilements, let us relinquish them all.” To relinquish the defilements, so must we understand the teachings of Buddha nature and all things of this world.

“There are immeasurable teachings, let us know them all.” In doing so, all people throughout the world will, also then, recite this same declaration before the Three Treasures.

“The way of the Buddha is preciously unexcelled, let us therefore advance on the way of the Buddha and become a Buddha ourselves. And let us build a world of goodness.”

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 66-67
WONS

Rejected Three Times

[In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto.]

Nichiren Shōnin had long been thinking that in order to repay the favors given by his country he should remonstrate with its rulers three times, and if they would still not heed his advice, he would seclude himself in the woods of a mountain. Following an old saying that it’s best to retreat if one’s remonstrations with a master is rejected three times, Nichiren Shōnin entered Mt. Minobu. Besides, when the rulers of a country will not listen to him, what is the use of preaching to the people below? It does not seem likely that the country will be saved or the people will be helped to attain Buddhahood.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 87