All posts by John Hughes

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: Envisioning Śākyamuni Buddha

Text of the Contemplation of Universal Sage

Through the power of the Great Vehicle, words of praise will resound in the air:

“Well done, you of good intent! Well done! You practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle! Your capacity to perceive buddhas is a beneficial effect of that cause! But even though you have now gained perception of buddhas, the World-honored Ones, you are not yet capable of perceiving Śākyamuni Buddha, the buddhas that emanate from him, or the stupa of the buddha Many-Treasures.”

After hearing the voice in the air, the practitioner will again devotedly internalize and master the Great Vehicle sutras. As a result of internalizing the comprehensive Great Vehicle sutras, the practitioner soon envisions Śākyamuni Buddha in great assemblies at Mount Vulture Peak teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra and discoursing on the meanings of the one reality. After being taught, the practitioner will do self-amendment; then, reverentially wishing to see him, the practitioner will face toward Mount Vulture Peak, formally kneel, place his or her palms together, and say:

“O Tathāgatha, Hero of the Universe, you are always present in the world: Out of compassion for me, reveal yourself to me for my sake!”

After saying these words, the practitioner will perceive Mount Vulture Peak composed of the seven precious metals and gems, monks and śrāvakas with countless others together in a great assembly, rows of jewel trees lining level jewel ground on which a magnificent jeweled lion seat has been arranged, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits from between his eyebrows a beam of light that passes through the innumerable worlds of the ten directions and illuminates worlds everywhere in the universe. From everywhere this light reaches in the ten directions, the buddhas that emanated from Śākyamuni gather together at one time into a great assembly, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each emanated buddha has a body that is purple-gold in color and boundless in size, each sits on a lion seat, and each has a retinue of countless thousands of millions of great bodhisattvas. Each bodhisattva follows the same practice as Universal Sage; it is like this as well in the bodhisattva retinues of all of the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions.

See Aiming Toward the Ultimate Ideal

b4today, LS32, Universal Sage

Aiming Toward the Ultimate Ideal

Especially noteworthy [in The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice Of Universal Sage Bodhisattva] is the following expression: “How, without cutting off their earthly cares and renouncing their five desires, can they also purify their organs and destroy their sins?”

The ideal of our practice is to cut off our earthly cares and renounce our five desires. Though such an ideal should be demanded of Buddhist monks, it is much more difficult for lay devotees to pursue because they must maintain their faith while living and working in secular society. In their circumstances, situations caused by the five desires occur continually, and they are surrounded by people and situations that cause them earthly cares. Ideally speaking, they should become free from all desires, but in actuality, to expect them to reach such a spiritual level immediately is asking too much. Nevertheless, as long as they are believers, they must aim toward their ultimate ideal. But how should they bridge the gap between their ideal and actuality? This sutra teaches the answer to this practical question, which believers face in the age of degeneration.

Buddhism for Today, p426
2buddhas, d22b, d23b, WONS

In Chanting the Daimoku All Have Full Access to Merits of Buddhahood

Nichiren’s assertion that, for Lotus practitioners of the mappō era, the daimoku replaces cultivation of the traditional three disciplines in effect opened the merits of the sūtra to persons without learning or insight. Here he used the analogies of a patient who is cured by medicine without understanding its properties, or of plants that, without awareness, bloom when they receive rainfall. In like manner, he said, beginning practitioners may not understand the meaning of the daimoku, but by chanting it, “they will naturally accord with the sūtra’s intent.” In making such claims, Nichiren was not taking an anti-intellectual stance that would deny the importance of Buddhist study. Nor was he negating the need for continuing effort in practice or the value of the qualities that the six perfections describe: generosity, self-discipline, forbearance, diligence, and so forth, even though he rejected the need to cultivate them formally as prerequisites for enlightenment. It is important to recall that Nichiren often framed his teaching in opposition to Pure Land teachers who insisted that the Lotus Sūtra should be set aside as too profound for ignorant persons of the Final Dharma age. As we have seen, this assertion appalled Nichiren, who saw it as blocking the sole path by which the people of this age could realize liberation. In response, he argued passionately that the Lotus Sūtra’s salvific scope embraces even the most ignorant persons; in chanting the daimoku, all have full access to the merits of buddhahood, without practicing over countless lifetimes or seeking liberation in a separate realm after death.

Two Buddhas, p198
d16b, WONS

Verifying the Prediction of the Lotus Sūtra

It is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, Chapter 11 that it is not so difficult to shoulder a load of hay and stay unburned in the fire of the kalpa of destruction at the end of the world as it is difficult to uphold this sūtra and expound it for even one person after the Buddha’s extinction. What I, Nichiren, have done and consequent persecutions of me fit perfectly in this scriptural statement. It is stated also in the sūtra, Chapter 13, that ignorant people will speak ill of us, abuse us, and threaten us with swords or sticks. The Buddha predicts in the 13th and 23rd chapters of the sūtra that a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra will appear in the fifth 500-year period after the Buddha’s extinction, and he will be spoken ill of, abused, threatened with swords and sticks, exiled or executed by ignorant people. If I were not here, the prediction made by Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and other Buddhas in all the worlds throughout the universe would be groundless.

Shingon Shoshū Imoku, Differences between the Lotus Sect and Other Sects Such as the True Word Sect, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 123

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 17, 2020

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to expound
The meanings of the teachings,
And the names and words [of this sūtra].
Their eloquence will be as boundless
And as unhindered as the wind in the sky.

The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. This teaching transforms us from beings who exist for our own comfort and awakens our true nature as Bodhisattvas: beings who exist for the benefit of all beings. This transition requires that we engage with these other beings and break out of the isolation of our own attachments. The first step is simply to listen, to be present and accept whatever the world has to offer. But at some point we need to speak. It can be difficult to know what to say. But with this Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, we find that because it embodies the Buddha’s highest wisdom, so long as we transmit what it has taught us, we will always have ways to use it to benefit other beings and bring this teaching to life in our world.

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

LS32

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Universal-Sage Bodhisattva’s vow to protect those who practice the Lotus Sūtra, we learn that anyone who practices the Lotus Sūtra performs Universal-Sage practices.

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! It is by my supernatural powers, know this, that a Bodhisattva can hear these dhārāṇis. Anyone who keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [while it is] propagated in the Jambudvipa, should think, ‘I can keep [this sūtra] only by the supernatural powers of Universal-­Sage.’ Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, memorizes it correctly, understands the meanings of it, and acts according to it, know this, does the same practices that I do. He should be considered to have already planted deeply the roots of good under innumerable Buddhas [in his previous existence]. He will be caressed on the head by the hands of the Tathāgatas. Anyone who copies this sūtra will be reborn in the Heaven of the Trāyastriṃs̒a Gods immediately after his present life. On that occasion, eighty-four thousand goddesses will come and receive him, making many kinds of music. A crown of the seven treasures will be put on his head, and he will enjoy himself among the ladies in waiting. Needless to say, [more merits will be given to] the person who [not only copies this sūtra but also] keeps, reads and recites it, memorizes it correctly, understands the meanings of it, and acts according to it. Anyone who keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, and understands the meanings of it, will be given helping hands by one thousand Buddhas immediately after his present life. He will be fearless. He will not fall into any evil region. He will be reborn in the Tusiita Heaven. There he will go to Maitreya Bodhisattva who, adorned with the thirty-two marks, will be surrounded by great Bodhisattvas, and attended on by hundreds of thousands of billions of goddesses. He will be given the benefits of these merits. Therefore, anyone who has wisdom should copy this sūtra with all his heart, cause others to copy it, and also keep, read and recite it, memorize it correctly, and act according to it.

“World-Honored One! I will protect this sūtra with my supernatural powers so that it may be propagated and not be destroyed in the Jambudvipa after your extinction.”

See Four Practices of The Bodhisattva Universal Sage

b4today, LS32, d32b, Universal Sage

Four Practices of The Bodhisattva Universal Sage

As shown in this chapter and in the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal [Sage], the so-called closing sutra of the Lotus Sutra, the Bodhisattva Universal [Sage] is perfect in the following four practices:

  1. He himself practices the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
  2. He protects the teachings from all persecutions.
  3. He bears witness to the merits obtained by one who practices the teachings and to the punishments suffered by one who slanders the teachings or persecutes its followers.
  4. He proves that even those who violate the teachings can be delivered from their sins if they are sincerely penitent.

The Bodhisattva Universal [Sage] encourages those who have finished hearing the Lotus Sutra and are beginning a new life with these words: “I vow to do these four practices as a conclusion of the practices of the Lotus Sutra. Try to be assiduous in your practices, without anxiety.”

His encouragement may be likened to the commencement address that the principal of a school delivers to the graduating students. They are now leaving school, carrying with them the truth that they have studied there. When they go out into the world, they are often puzzled as to how best to use what they have studied at school. Sometimes they have the unfortunate experience of having the truth they have studied denied by others, or even of being persecuted for it. “Whenever you have trouble, you can visit your old school. We will try to prove that the truth is not wrong. Moreover, we will teach you how you should apply the truth to each practical problem. If you fail in anything, we will show you how to overcome your failure.” In this way, the principal’s commencement speech guarantees the graduates the protection of their activities even after leaving school. No farewell speech of encouragement could be more inspiring than this.

Buddhism for Today, p405-406
2buddhas, d22b, WONS

The Merits of the First Stage of Practice

[The] logic of total inclusivity underlies Nichiren’s explanation of the merits of the first stage of practice: rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sūtra. “Since life does not extend beyond the moment,” he wrote, “the Buddha expounded the merits of a single moment of rejoicing [on hearing the Lotus Sūtra]. If two or three moments were required, this could no longer be called the original vow expressing his impartial great wisdom, the single vehicle of the sudden teaching that enables all beings to realize buddhahood.” In Nichiren’s reading, both the “first stage of faith” and the “first stage of practice” enumerated by Zhiyi on the basis of the “Description of Merits” chapter comprise “the treasure chest of the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment” and the gate from which all buddhas throughout time and space emerge.

Two Buddhas, p197-198
Lotus Seeds

The Ten Factors: Power

Quote

Of the Ten Factors, Power is the ability of phenomena to effect and undergo change. Whereas the first appearance, nature and entity analyze phenomena from the perspective of external and internal relations, this factor and activity point out that all things are involved in a constant process of mutual influence and transformation. In other words, things do not merely bring each other into being and support each other’s existence, they are actually mutually transformative.

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 16, 2020

Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sūtra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.

The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. The merits we gain through our study and practice of the Lotus Sūtra do not make us better than any of the other beings with whom we share this world. Merits accumulate when we strip away our delusions and see the world for what it is. We sometimes focus on what we can do to change the world, thinking that merely changing how we look at the world will have little effect. It is only when we see things for what they are that we can act effectively. Otherwise we are merely reinforcing the delusions of ourselves and others.

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