“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites Myōhō Renge Kyō [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life. Those who abuse him, saying, ‘You are perverted. You are doing this for nothing,’ will be reborn blind in their successive lives in retribution for their sin. Those who make offerings to him and praise him, will be able to obtain rewards in their present life. Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life.”
All posts by John Hughes
Tao-sheng: Merit for Rejoicing, Explaining and Propagating the Sūtra
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p309The merits of the person who causes even a single man to go and hear the Dharma are so many. It is needless to speak of the merits of the person who hears [this sūtra] with all his heart, reads it, recites it, expounds it to the great multitude, and acts according to its teachings.
This refers to the forthcoming chapter. What has not been substantiated in the preceding, and what has so far been omitted, is how much merit there will be for those who rejoice appropriately, “explaining” by turns and propagating [the sūtra to others].
Five Precepts
This is another example of how Chinese Master Hsuan Hua weaves basic Buddhist teachings within his commentary on the Lotus Sutra. This comes from Chapter 4, Faith and Understanding.
Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v5, p45-47There are five precepts: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no false speech, and no taking intoxicants. Some people might say, “One should refrain from killing and stealing. Sexual misconduct is a little harder, but one should also refrain from it. Lying is no good, one should refrain from it. But what problem is there with drinking alcohol or taking intoxicants? Why include that in the precepts? The Buddha must have made a mistake when he set up the precepts. Drinking alcohol should not be prohibited.”
Do you think this reasoning is correct? It may seem to have some logic, but it is actually completely wrong. Alcohol confuses the mind. Once you drink, you might kill or steal, even though you normally would not have. You might have completely abstained from sexual misconduct; however, when you are drunk, your mind gets confused and your desires are inflamed. You might lie too. Before you are drunk, you are clear that you have taken the five precepts and that you should not lie. But when you are drunk, you may deny breaking the precepts even though you did, thereby lying in the process. So then you have broken the precept against lying as well.
This reminds me of a story about the five precepts. There was a layman who took the five precepts and decided to stop drinking. He did not drink for two or three years, until the urge suddenly hit him one day. He thought, “Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying are definitely to be avoided. But it is not going to make any difference if I drink a little wine.” He bought some wine, took it home, and got ready to drink.
Chinese people drink wine differently from Westerners. Instead of going to a bar and downing glass after glass without eating anything, Chinese people like to have some appetizer to go with their wine. This layman got some wine to drink, but there was no appetizer to go with it. Quite coincidentally, the neighbor’s chicken ran over to his house. When he saw it, he thought, “If I deep-fry the chicken, it will taste quite good with the wine. This is perfect!” Since he had already had some wine and wanted to drink some more, he forgot that killing was against the precepts. He wanted an appetizer to go with the wine, and the little chicken came at the right time. He thought, “This is a gift heaven sent me to go with the wine. Perhaps god has pitied me for not drinking for so long and has sent me this chicken to go with the wine.” Without a second thought, he cut off the chicken’s head and poured boiling water over it to remove the feathers. Then he deep-fried it with oil and salt until it was crispy. He started to eat it with the wine. The more he ate, the better the chicken tasted and the more he enjoyed the wine. Since he had not had chicken for a long time, he was so carried away that he even ate the chicken bones. He was about ninety percent drunk when the neighbor lady knocked on his door. “Did my chicken come this way? Did you see it?” she asked him.
The neighbor came to look for her chicken, which he had already devoured. If he admitted that he had killed and eaten the chicken, his neighbor would certainly not forgive him. Therefore, he lied by saying, “No, I did not see a chicken.”
Because he drank, he had broken the precepts against killing and stealing. Even though the chicken ran over on its own, he still took it and killed it without the owner’s permission. If stealing is defined as taking without permission, this counts as stealing. When the owner came to look for her chicken, he said he did not see it and thus broke the precept against lying too. By this time, he had broken four of the five precepts. Since he was drunk, lust arose in him. When he saw how pretty the neighbor lady was, he locked the door behind her and raped her. Thus, he broke all five precepts. Because he drank wine, he broke the other four precepts. So in Buddhism there is a precept against alcohol and intoxicants, which you must not break.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 3, 2025
[The rākṣasas] said to the Buddha simultaneously:
“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps Myōhō Renge Kyō so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”
Tao-sheng: Recompense
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p308Anyone who[, while he is staying outside the place of the expounding of the Dharma,] says to another person, ‘Let us go and hear the sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which is being expounded [in that place],’ and cause him to hear it even for a moment, in his next life by his merit , will be able to live with the Bodhisattvas who obtain dharanis. He will be clever and wise. He will not be dumb throughout thousands of millions of his future existences.
Why is the recompense [“for having rejoiced at hearing”] the Dharma Blossom administered this way? [The Buddha] merely takes up what men feel like [having]. Hence, [the Buddha] says: “[the body into which he is reborn] shall acquire carriages, as well as palanquins fitted with precious gems.”
His breath will not be foul.
There is nothing that can be disliked.
The Five Desires
Following yesterday’s example of how Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary expands the Lotus Sutra, I offer another example of how he uses the sutra to explain basic Buddhist concepts.
Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v6, p321-324SUTRA
“Bhikṣus, you should know that the Tathagata possesses skillful means and profound understanding of the dispositions of living beings. Knowing that they aspire to lesser Dharmas and are deeply attached to the five desires, he teaches them nirvana. When they hear this teaching, they will immediately believe and accept it.”
COMMENTARY
Bhikṣus, you should know that the Tathagata possesses skillful means and profound understanding of the dispositions of living beings. Knowing that they aspire to lesser Dharmas and are deeply attached to the five desires… Śākyamuni Buddha said to the bhikṣus, “You should know!” Know what? The Dharma that the Tathagata teaches is the provisional Dharma. Why does he teach the provisional Dharma? Because the potentials of living beings vary. If you were to teach them the ultimate Dharma, they probably wouldn’t believe it; if you were to teach them through skillful means, then they probably would believe it.
The expedient Dharma-doors that the Tathagatas use are always in accord with living beings. Why does the Buddha use expedient Dharma-doors to teach living beings? He does so because all living beings have individual conditions that allow them to be taken across through specific skillful means. The Buddha teaches them accordingly. What’s meant by living beings with conditions that allow them to be taken across through specific skillful means? For example, the Buddha, “knowing that they aspire to lesser Dharmas,” can see that their vision of things is small. Since all these living beings know are petty things and minor principles, they wouldn’t understand if you were to speak to them about the entire universe. They know only their small problems, so they wouldn’t understand it if you tried to talk to them about the problems of the world. Their resolve is to just cultivate a tiny path. They continue to be “deeply attached to the five desires.”
The five desires are the desires for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep.
- Wealth. In this world, if you have wealth, you can buy any material goods, so people are attached to their wealth. If they could see through it, then they wouldn’t be attached to it; being unable to see through it, people fight over money. I’ve often told you that the word money in Chinese [錢 qian], is composed of two swords [戈ge] and the radical for gold [金 jin]. This means that “You have a sword, I have a sword, and the two of us fight over the gold.” So those with money will have a lot of trouble; those who don’t have money won’t have this problem. But everyone wants money, and they aren’t afraid of the trouble it brings. If you know how to use money properly, you can create blessings; if you don’t know how to use it well, you’ll commit offenses. With money you can either create merit or else commit a lot of offenses. Therefore, money is really the worst thing there is! Money is filthy! You’ll often see people counting money by spitting on their fingers when they count the bills. Who knows how many germs are on that money? It’s quite unsanitary, yet no one seems to mind. When it comes to money, people seem to like it, and they aren’t concerned about hygiene.
- Sex. This is the desire for nice-looking forms and the attachment to attractive appearances.
- Fame. This is greed for celebrity. When someone praises you, you’re elated. If someone says something bad about you, you may feel even more hurt than if you’d been stabbed in the heart with a knife. Reputation is very important to people, but it’s just one of the five desires.
- Food. This refers to the food we eat every day. If you have one kind of food to eat but not another kind, you may not feel satisfied. If you have that kind of food but not this kind, you may not feel satisfied either. If you eat both kinds of food at the same time, you won’t be able to eat much of either one, so you still won’t feel satisfied. There’s no way that you can ever satisfy your desire for food. If you cultivate the Path, you mustn’t look upon food and drink as being overly important. You should think of them as medicine that you use to keep your body from becoming dehydrated and emaciated. Don’t get too attached to food.
- Sleep. Everyone likes to sleep. You might feel that sleeping for one hour is not enough, nor is sleeping for two, three, four, or five hours. Finding sleep immensely enjoyable, you feel you must sleep at least seven or eight hours a night.
These are the five desires to which living beings are attached and which they find extremely important. They can’t get along without money. Nor can they go without sex. They have to have some fame, and they can’t be lacking food or sleep either. They tend to be deeply attached to one or more of these five desires.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 2, 2025
I beat a drum and sought the Dharma in all directions, saying with a loud voice, ‘Who will expound the Great Vehicle to me? If there is anyone, I will make offerings to him, and run errands for him for the rest of my life.’
“Thereupon a seer came to [me, who was] the king. He said, ‘I have a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called Myōhō Renge Kyō. If you are not disobedient to me, I will expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to you.’
“Having heard this, I danced with joy, and immediately became his servant.
Tao-sheng: complete penetration of the ultimate of nothingness
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p308The living beings [of the six regions] are of one or another of the four kinds of births:
What they seek is [merit], [but their pleasure is] “not like the appropriate joy the fiftieth person would get in hearing the Dharma Blossom.” The merits of the four fruitions, as mentioned earlier, are of limited measure [in comparison with this joy]. [In contrast,] the Dharma Blossom, on behalf of li, represents the complete penetration of the ultimate of nothingness. Men have appropriate joys, which means that they have accomplished the path of Thus Come One. The path has been accomplished because of these men, so their merits cannot be easily kept down [from arising]. Hence, it is said, “[the merit] does not equal one-hundredth part, not one-thousandth part.” How can this be an empty [statement]?
Hsuan Hua’s Take On The Parable of the Conjured City
Below is another example of how Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary expands the Lotus Sutra. In this case he is commenting on the Parable of the Conjured City. (This has been edited to remove duplication.)
Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v6, p327-333For example, suppose there is a treacherous, difficult road, five hundred yojanas in length, that runs through a desolate wasteland filled with terrors. Śākyamuni Buddha set up an analogy for the assembly. Why did he teach expedient Dharmas and the principles of the Two Vehicles? One yojana is 80 li [about 25 miles]. Ten yojanas would then be 800 li [about 250 miles], and 100 yojanas would be 8,000 li [about 2,500 miles]. Therefore, a road of 500 yojanas would be 40,000 li [about 12,500 miles] long. This road was extremely dangerous and difficult to travel. Let’s assume there were bandits as well as jackals, wolves, tigers, and panthers. There was no human presence at all along the 500 yojanas. It was very scary to walk down this road.
Suppose a large group of people wish to travel this road to reach a land of treasures. Suppose a large number of people wanted to reach a place where precious treasures were stored, but to get there they had to take a perilous road that was 500 yojanas in length. The 500 yojanas are an analogy for the hardships we need to pass through while cultivating the Buddhadharma and walking the Buddha’s Path. The land of treasures represents the highest realization-Buddhahood. At the midpoint of their journey waits a city, the conjured city of the Two Vehicles.
Among them is a guide of intelligence and penetrating clarity who knows well the passable and impassable parts of the dangerous road. The guide, who is intelligent and wise and knows the way, is a metaphor for the Buddha. He knows how great the dangers are and how to avoid them. He knows which ways are clear and which are blocked.
He will lead the group through this hardship. The guide wants to lead all the people along the difficult path.
Halfway through their journey, the group he is leading grows weary and wishes to turn back. If you do something but quit halfway, that is to “grow weary” and “turn back.” If you cultivate and cultivate but then stop, you have become weary and are retreating halfway. They say to the guide, “We are exhausted and afraid, so we cannot go any farther. Our destination is still far from here. We want to turn back now. We are now extremely tired. We really don’t want to go any farther along this dangerous road. Since there’s still a long way to go, we’d rather turn back. We don’t want to go on.”
Their guide, who possesses many expedients, thinks, “How pitiful they are! How can they renounce the great treasures and turn back?” This guide, who has many expedient Dharma-doors at his disposal, thinks that these living beings are pathetic. How can they abandon their quest for the great treasures of Buddhahood and go back? So thinking, he conjures up a city through skillful means at a point three hundred yojanas along the dangerous road. The five hundred yojanas are a metaphor for the five destinies of rebirth: gods, humans, hungry ghosts, animals, and hell beings. Asuras are not mentioned because they can be found in each one of the five realms. While transmigrating through the five realms, you may be a cow or a horse. If you aren’t a human being, you may be a ghost. You may fall into the hells or ascend to the heavens. Life in the five destinies is extremely dangerous. These people had traveled three hundred yojanas along the road, which was more than half their journey. This represents the fact that they had reached a halfway point in their process of transcending the five realms. At that point in their journey, the Buddha conjured up a city.
And then the guide says to them, “Do not be afraid. Do not turn back! Do not think of retreat. You can stay in this great city and do as you please. You can live here and do what-ever you like.” The conjured city, representing the fruition of the Two Vehicles, was not real. However, the Buddha told them that if they reached the city – that is, if they attained Arhatship – they could do as they pleased, because “having completed their task and cultivated pure conduct to perfection, they would no longer be subject to the cycle of birth and death.”
Then the exhausted group rejoiced greatly over this un-precedented opportunity, saying, “We have now escaped this terrible road and will soon find peace and tranquility.” At that time they were extremely tired and couldn’t walk another step. They represent people who have cultivated for a long time and feel tired from working so hard. Hearing there was a city where they could stop and rest, they were filled with joy. They thought that now they had the chance to live in a fine city, one where they had never been before. The city, a metaphor for the spiritual attainment of Śrāvakas, is called a conjured city. They thought to themselves that they’d escaped that terrible road, a road that included the destinies of gods and humans as well as the lower realms of animals, hell beings, and hungry ghosts; they thought they would soon attain peace and tranquility.
The group then proceeded into the conjured city and believed that they had gained liberation and attained peace and tranquility. At that time all of them entered the conjured city and thought they’d been taken across and had reached the level of the highest tranquility.
At that time the guide, knowing that they had rested and that their fatigue was gone, dissolved the conjured city. When they had rested and restored their energy and had settled down, the Buddha made the conjured city vanish and said, “All of you, come along, let us go! The land of treasures is near. The great city was merely something I conjured up as a place for you to take a rest.” The guide told them that they were not far from the land of treasures. This means that if the Śrāvakas, having attained the fourth stage of Arhatship, were to turn toward the Great Vehicle, they would be close to Buddhahood. The conjured city that they lived in was created by the Buddha so they could take a rest in it. It wasn’t real, so they shouldn’t have mistaken the false for the true.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 1, 2025
Just as King Sakra is the king of the thirty-three gods, Myōhō Renge Kyō is the king of all the sūtras.