All posts by John Hughes

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69,384 Kinds of ‘Wonders’ in the Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra consists of two “wonders,” one is the first 14 chapters called the theoretical section, and the other the last 14 chapters called the essential section. The two “wonders” can be divided into 10 “wonders” each, amounting to twenty. Or, the 30 “wonders” of the theoretical section and the 30 “wonders” of the essential section are put together to be 60. The 40 “wonders” of both theoretical and essential sections and the 40 “wonders” of meditation are joined together to be 120 tiers of “wonders.” Each of the 69,384 Chinese characters of the Lotus Sūtra has its own “wonder,” which means that there are in total 69,384 kinds of “wonders.”

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 42

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 30, 2020

The Buddha said to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva: “Good man! If many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings hear [the name of] World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and call his name with all their hearts when they are under various sufferings, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will immediately perceive their voices, and cause them to emancipate themselves [from the sufferings].”

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kuan-Yin, Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion, a living manifestation of the desire that all beings be happy and free from suffering. By calling the name of this Bodhisattva, we awaken the compassion within ourselves. We become this Bodhisattva and remove our fear of suffering. With this awakening we can be fully present for those in this world of conflict who are suffering and liberate ourselves from the delusion and isolation of our own suffering.

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

LS32

Day 8

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered how the Śrāvakas shunned the Bodhisattva teaching for themselves, we consider the rewards they received.

World-Honored One!
We have attained enlightenment, perfect fruit.
We have secured pure eyes
With which we can see the Dharma-without-āsravas.

We observed the pure precepts of the Buddha
In the long night.
Today we have obtained the effects and rewards
[Of our observance of the precepts].
We performed the brahma practices for long
According to the teachings of the King of the Dharma.
Now we have obtained the great fruit
Of the unsurpassed Dharma-without-āsravas.

We are Śrāvakas in this sense of the word.
We will cause all living beings
To hear the voice telling
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

We are Arhats
In the true sense of the word.
All gods and men,
All Maras and Brahmans
In the worlds
Should make offerings to us.

You, the World-Honored One, are the great benefactor.
By doing this rare thing,
You taught and benefited us
Out of your compassion towards us.

No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he tries to do so
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.
No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he bows to you respectfully,
And offers you his hands, feet or anything else.

No one will be able to repay your favors
Even if he carries you on his head or shoulders
And respects you from the bottom of his heart
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
Or even if he offers you
Delicious food, innumerable garments of treasures,
Many beddings, and various medicines,
Or even if he erects a stupa-mausoleum
Made of the cow-head candana,
And adorns it with treasures,
Or even if he covers the ground
With garments of treasures
And offers them to the Buddha
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.

Nichiren addresses these verses in his letter Treatise on Prayers:

[I]t is stated in the “Understanding by Faith” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra:

“We are greatly indebted to the World Honored One. Making use of various inexplicable powers, out of compassion He enlightened us, bringing benefit to us. In countless millions of kalpa (aeons) who can ever repay His great favors? Even if we offer Him our hands and feet, bow our heads respectfully and present all manner of offerings, none of us can repay His great favors. Or even if we carry Him on our heads, bear Him on both our shoulders, for kalpa as numerous as the sands in the Ganges River respect Him from bottom of our hearts; even if we offer Him delicious food, innumerable jeweled garments, together with articles of bedding, various kinds of medicines, or even if we build with ox-head sandalwood and all kinds of rare gems a stupa mausoleum and cover the ground with jeweled robes. Even if we were to do all this as the offering to the Buddha for as many kalpa as the sands of the Ganges River, still we will be unable to repay His great favor.”

This scriptural passage is the expression of gratitude of four great śrāvaka disciples to the Buddha and the Lotus Sūtra for preaching the “Parable” chapter telling them that they, too, will become Buddhas. Therefore, these śrāvaka disciples must have understood that those who practice the Lotus Sūtra are more precious than one’s own parents, loving children, two eyes, and even their own lives. It is inconceivable that such great śrāvaka disciples as Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana would abandon those who praise any of the holy teachings preached during His lifetime. However, it is possible that they bear some resentment against the pre-Lotus sūtras. The reason being in those pre-Lotus sūtras the Two Vehicles, śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, are strongly denied the status of Buddhahood in such phrases as, “In Buddhism, the Two Vehicles are like the rotten seeds of Buddhahood.”

Kitō Shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 58

Eyes, WONS

Twenty Important Doctrines and Two Important Teachings

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Why is the Lotus Sūtra considered the highest teaching of Śākyamuni Buddha? Kyōtsū Hori’s translation of Kaimoku-shō has Nichiren state, “Twenty important doctrines are in this Lotus Sūtra.” (Hori 2002, p. 34) Senchū Murano’s version states, “The Buddha expounds two important teachings in this sūtra.” (Murano 2000, p. 13). …

The twenty important doctrines can be found in the commentary Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra by Zhiyi. In that work Zhiyi states that there are ten “wonders” or “subtleties” (he uses the Chinese word miao, which is myō in Japanese) that can be found in the Trace Gate (J. Shakumon) comprised of the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra, and there are another ten wonders that can be found in the Original Gate (J. Honmon) comprised of the last fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra. The two important teachings are the One Vehicle teaching expounded in the Trace Gate and the Buddha’s revelation of the true extent of his lifespan expounded in the Original Gate.

Open Your Eyes, p141
WONS

The Difference Between Expedient and True Teachings

[T]he Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 1, states: “Those who listen without revering the perfect and sudden true teaching are influenced by the recent academic tradition of ‘mixing up’ expedient and true teachings among those who study Mahāyāna Buddhism.” Those who do not know the difference between the expedient and true teachings of the Mahāyāna are referred to as “mixed up.” As a result those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra, the true Mahāyāna teaching, are as rare as the soil on a fingernail while those who do not believe in the sūtra and are diverted to expedient teachings are as immeasurable as the dust in the worlds throughout the universe.

Regretting this, Grand Master Miao-lê laments in his Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 1: “In the Age of the Semblance Dharma and the Latter Age of Degeneration, people are so heartless and impious that they don’t even try to contemplate the perfect and sudden true teaching, scriptures of which are overflowing the libraries and chests, to the very end. They are born and die in vain. How pathetic their lives are!” This remark in the Annotations by Grand Master Miao-lê, an avatar of a bodhisattva, I believe, is his long-range prediction on the state of Japan today, in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 55

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 29, 2020

As the destroyer of the bonds of existence,
I, the King of the Dharma, have appeared in this world.
Since then I have expounded the Dharma variously
According to the desires of all living beings.

The Buddha proclaims these verses in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. This is another explanation for why he uses expedients to teach those who are not ready for his highest teaching. When we set aside the cravings that lead to suffering, and cultivate our desire for enlightenment, both for ourselves and all beings, then we are ready to receive the Buddha’s highest teaching.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Day 7 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded Chapter 3, A Parable, we begin Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, with the men of wisdom explaining why they had not sought Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Thereupon the men living the life of wisdom: Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana felt strange because they heard the Dharma from the Buddha that they had never heard before, and because they heard that the World-Honored One had assured Śāriputra of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They felt like dancing with joy, rose from their seats, adjusted their robes, bared their right shoulders, put their right knees on the ground, joined their hands together with all their hearts, bent themselves respectfully, looked up at the honorable face, and said to the Buddha:

“We elders of the Saṃgha were already old and decrepit [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. We did not seek Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because we thought that we had already attained Nirvāṇa, and also because we thought that we were too old and decrepit to do so.’ You have been expounding the Dharma for a long time. We have been in your congregation all the while. We were already tired [when we heard of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Therefore, we just cherished the truth that nothing is substantial, the truth that nothing is different from any other thing, and the truth that nothing more is to be sought. We did not wish to perform the Bodhisattva practices, that is, to purify the world of the Buddha and to lead all living beings [to Buddhahood] by displaying supernatural powers because you had already led us out of the triple world and caused us to attain Nirvāṇa. Neither did we wish at all to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, which you were teaching to Bodhisattvas, because we were already too old and decrepit to do so. But now we are very glad to hear that you have assured a Śrāvakas of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. We have the greatest joy that we have ever had. We have never expected to hear such a rare teaching all of a sudden. How glad we are! We have obtained great benefits. We have obtained innumerable treasures although we did not seek them.

Nichiren discusses Mahā-Kāśyapa’s lineage in his letter Reply to Lord Tokimitsu:

Venerable Mahā-Kāśyapa was the most honorable among the Buddha’s disciples. Concerning his lineage, he was the son of Nyagrodha, a millionaire in Magadha, India. The house of his millionaire father was as huge as 1,000 tatami mats, with each mat being seven feet thick and costing at least 1,000 ryō (gold coins). His house had as many as 999 ploughs, each costing 1,000 ryō. It is also said that his house included 60 warehouses each containing 340 koku (about 1200 metric tons) of gold. Nyagrodha was a very wealthy person.

The wife of Mahā-Kāśyapa had a golden body so brilliant that it illuminated an area 16 ri (about 80 km) around herself. She was more beautiful than Princess Sotoori of Japan or Lady Li of Han China. Having aspirations for enlightenment, Kāśyapa and his wife became disciples of the Buddha and were guaranteed by the Buddha to become the future Light Buddha in the Lotus Sūtra.

Looking into their Buddhist practices in their prior existences, the husband was reborn as Venerable Mahā-Kāśyapa due to his offering of a bowl of barley rice to a pratyekabuddha. His wife, a poor woman, paid one gold coin to a Buddhist sculptor for gilding a statue of Vipaśyin Buddha and thereby was reborn as a beautiful golden woman to be the wife of Mahā-Kāśyapa.

Tokimitsu-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Tokimitsu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 25

Eyes, WONS

The Great Vehicle of Salvation

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Nichiren states that any of the teachings of the Buddha’s fifty years of teaching are a great vehicle of salvation compared to the non-Buddhist teachings. This is because the other teachings either do not teach about karma and rebirth in the six worlds or they do not show how to thoroughly extinguish the greed, hatred, delusion and other defilements that perpetuate the cycle of rebirth. At the same time, there are differences in degrees of profundity even among the Buddha’s teachings between Mahāyāna and Hinayāna, exoteric and esoteric, accommodating and confrontational rhetoric, and between provisional and final statements of truth. Nichiren asserts that the highest truth can only be found in the Lotus Sūtra, and he cites the testimony of Śākyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, and the buddhas of the ten direction in the Lotus Sūtra itself as confirmation of this.

Open Your Eyes, p139
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Preaching the True Intent of the Buddha

QUESTION: When we look at our own faces reflected in the mirror or faces of other people, we can see that our six sense-organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind exist. However, we cannot see the existence of the ten realms in our own mind and others. How can we believe in it?

ANSWER: Certainly, it is not easy to believe in this existence. It is said in the tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” of the Lotus Sūtra that the sūtra is most difficult to put faith in and most difficult to comprehend. The eleventh chapter, “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” preaches the “six difficult and nine easy acts,” maintaining that keeping faith in the Lotus Sūtra after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha is harder than trying to grasp Mt. Sumeru and hurling it over countless Buddha lands.

According to Grand Master T’ien-tai, the Lotus Sūtra is hard to have faith in and hard to understand because what is preached in both the essential and theoretical sections of the sūtra are altogether different from what is preached in those sūtras expounded before the Lotus Sūtra. Grand Master Chang-an states: “The doctrine of ‘mutual possession of ten realms’ (jikkai gogu) is the very reason why the Buddha appeared in the world. How can we ordinary people be expected to put faith in the Lotus Sūtra and comprehend it easily?” Grand Master Dengyō maintains: “This Lotus Sūtra is most difficult to believe in and comprehend, because the sūtra preaches the true intent of the Buddha.”

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 133-134

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – April 28, 2020

Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.

These verses are sung by the Brahma King Great Compassion in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. He invites his fellow Brahma Kings, creators of entire worlds, to leave the luxury of their palaces to find a Buddha who is leading all beings to enlightenment. They value the Buddha’s words more than anything that they have created for themselves, and know how rare it is to encounter an enlightened being. These kings give us an example of how we can learn to treasure the Buddha Dharma.

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