All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 24

Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 24 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the eight hundred merits of the nose in gāthās, we consider the twelve hundred merit of the tongue.

“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain twelve hundred merit of the tongue. Anything which tastes good, bad, delicious, distasteful, bitter or astringent, will become as delicious as the nectar of heaven and not distasteful when it is put on their tongues. When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude with their tongues, they will be able to raise deep and wonderful voices, to cause their voices to reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful. Hearing their speeches given in good order by their deep and wonderful voices, Śakra, Brahman, and the other gods and goddesses will come and listen to them. In order to hear the Dharma, dragons, dragons’ daughters, gandharvas, gandharvas’ daughters, asuras, asuras’ daughters, garuḍas, garuḍas’ daughters, kiṃnaras, kiṃnaras’ daughters, mahoragas, and mahoragas’ daughters also will come to them, respect them, and make offerings to them. Bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās; and kings, princes, ministers, and their attendants [also will come and hear the Dharma]. The wheel-turning[holy-]kings of small [countries], and the wheel-turning-[holy-]kings of great [countries, each of whom has the] seven treasures and one thousand children, also will come with their [treasures, children and] internal and external retinues, riding in their [movable] palaces, and hear the Dharma. These [good men or women, that is,] Bodhisattvas will expound the Dharma so well that the brahmanas, householders, and people of their country will, throughout their lives, attend on them, and make offering to them. The Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas also will wish to them. [These good men or women] will expound the Dharma in the places which the Buddhas will face. They will keep all the teaching of the Buddhas and raise deep and wonderful voices of the Dharma.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Their tongues will be purified.
Their tongues will not receive anything bad.
Anything they at will become
As delicious as nectar.

When they e pound the Dharma to the great multitude
And lead them
By telling them the stories of previous lives, parables, and similes
With their deep, pure and wonderful voices,
The hearers will rejoice
And make excellent offerings to them.

All gods, dragons,
Yakṣas and asuras
Will come together
And hear the Dharma respectfully.

Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.

The wheel-turning-kings of great and small [countries],
Who have each one thousand children,
Will come with their children and attendants,
And join their hands together respectfully to hear the Dharma.

Gods, dragons, yakṣas,
Raksasas and pisacakas
Also will come joyfully,
And make offerings to him.

The Brahman-Heavenly-King,
King Mara, Freedom [God],
Great-Freedom [God],
And the other gods also will come to him.

The Buddhas and their disciples who hear
The voice of the expounder of the Dharma,
Will think of him, protect him,
And sometimes appear before him.

See Enough Instruction To Lead To Perfect Enlightenment

b4today, LS32, d24b

Enough Instruction To Lead To Perfect Enlightenment

It is not supposed that all the disciples who listened to the Buddha’s preaching in chapter 19 completely understood the true meaning of his encouragement and the admonition included therein. Some of them may have become discouraged, thinking, “We cannot possibly practice all the teachings of the Lotus Sutra perfectly.” Others may have been complacent, thinking, “We can obtain merit somehow or other if we just do the five kinds of practices of preachers according to form.” Still others may have momentarily felt conceited, flattering themselves: “Unlike the disciples of the two vehicles, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, we bodhisattvas are possessed of this kind of supernatural power. We are quite different from them.”

On all occasions, the Buddha’s sermons were perfect and left nothing to be desired. Whenever he perceived the slightest doubt in the minds of his disciples, he gave them enough instruction to lead them to Perfect Enlightenment. It can easily be imagined that probably he did the same in his preaching of chapter 19.

Buddhism for Today, p305
Basics

Storehouse Consciousness

Quote

In a more general sense, the storehouse consciousness is the accumulation of past experiences, which serves as a foundation for present spiritual and psychological activity and exerts great influence on superficial operations. In addition, it is the power that, by persisting, enables transmission of the karmic effects of present good and bad acts into future life. Buddha-nature deals with the essential nature of things, and the storehouse consciousness with their manifestations. The Mahayana idea of the buddha-nature evolved from Mahasanghika thought, while the concept of the storehouse consciousness derived from Abhidharma writings of the Theravada school.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

2buddhas

The Inconceivable Realm

Quote

[T]he “three thousand realms” denotes “all dharmas” or “all phenomena.” In that sense, the number “three thousand” might be considered somewhat arbitrary. Nonetheless, it refers to a constant set of patterns that for Zhiyi constituted the “real aspect of the dharmas.” Because each one [of the ten dharma-realms, from hell to buddhahood,] contains all ten within itself, there are a hundred realms, each endowed with the ten suchnesses. The resulting thousand realms each entail another “three realms” or three aspects of living beings: (1) the “five aggregates (skandhas),” or momentary mental and physical constituents that unite temporarily to form living beings; (2) living beings considered as individuals belonging to one or another of the ten realms, such as hell dwellers, hungry ghosts, humans, and others; and (3) the insentient container worlds, or environments, that living beings inhabit.

In translating, we often say “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment” because that is natural English, but, strictly speaking, it is not correct. As Zhiyi goes on to explain: “Were the mind to give rise to all phenomena, that would be a vertical [relationship]. Were all phenomena to be simultaneously contained within the mind, that would be a horizontal [relationship]. Neither horizontal nor vertical will do. It is simply that the mind is all phenomena and all phenomena are the mind. [This relationship] is subtle and profound in the extreme; it can neither be grasped conceptually nor expressed in words. Therefore, it is called the realm of the inconceivable.”

In essence, the most minute phenomenon (a single thought-moment) and the entire cosmos (three thousand realms) are mutually encompassing: the one and the many, good and evil, delusion and awakening, subject and object, self and other, and all sentient beings from hell dwellers, hungry ghosts, and animals up through buddhas and bodhisattvas as well as their corresponding insentient environments — indeed, all things in the entire cosmos — are inseparable from the mind at each moment. However, only in the state of buddhahood is this fully realized. Zhanran comments, “You should know that person and land both encompass three thousand realms in one thought-moment. Thus, when we attain the way, in accordance with this principle, our body and mind at each instant pervade the dharma-realm.”

Two Buddhas, p68-69
d18b, d19b, d25b, WONS

Persuasive and Aggressive Propagation

Now, two ways of propagation, the persuasive and aggressive, are incompatible with each other just as water and fire are. The fire dislikes the water, and the water hates the fire. Those who prefer the persuasive tend to laugh at those who practice the aggressive and vice versa. So, when the land is full of evil and ignorant people, the persuasive means should take precedence as preached in the “Peaceful Practices” (14th) chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. However, when there are many cunning slanderers of the True Dharma, the aggressive means should take precedence as preached in the “Never-Despising Bodhisattva” (20th) chapter.

It is the same as using cold water when it is hot and fire when it is cold. Plants and trees are followers of the sun, so they dislike the cold moon. Bodies of water are followers of the moon, so they lose their true nature when it is hot. As there are lands of evil men as well as those of slanderers of the True Dharma in this Latter Age of Degeneration, there should be both aggressive and persuasive means of spreading the True Dharma. Therefore, we have to know whether Japan today is a land of evil men or that of slanderers in order to decide which of the two ways we should use.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 111

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 3, 2020

Good Man! Wait for a while! There is a Bodhisattva-mahāsattva called Maitreya [in this congregation]. Śākyamuni Buddha assured him of his future attainment of Buddhahood, saying, ‘You will become a Buddha immediately after me.’ Maitreya has already asked [Śākyamuni Buddha] about this matter. [Śākyamuni] Buddha will answer him. You will be able to hear his answer.

This passage from Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra is the answer one of the Buddhas of the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha gives to his attendant. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas have come up through the ground of this world of conflict after the Buddha asked who would continue his teaching after his extinction. Neither the attendant, nor anyone gathered to hear the Buddha teach had seen those Bodhisattvas before and wanted to know where they came from. Our practice of the Wonderful Dharma does not mean merely accepting what we do not understand. We need to raise questions when they occur. These questions show that we are capable of greater understanding. They lead us even closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.

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

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the twelve hundred merits of the ear, we repeat in gāthās and conclude today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he bad said, sang in gāthās:

Their ears given by their parents will be purified, not defiled.
With their natural ears,
They will be able to recognize the sounds of voices
Of the one thousand million sumeru-worlds.

They will be able to recognize
The voices of elephants, horses and cows;
Th sounds of carts, gongs, bells, conch-shell horns,
And of drums, lyres, harps, reed-pipes and flutes.
Although they recognize pure and sweet songs,
They will not be attached to them.
They also will be able to recognize
The countless kinds of voices of men.

They will be able to recognize
The voices of gods,
The wonderful songs [of gods],
And the voices of men, women, boy and girls.

They will be able to recognize
The songs of kalavinkas, of jivakajivakas,
And of the other birds in mountains,
And on rivers and ravines.

The expounder of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize from afar,
While he is staying in the world [of men],
The cryings and shriekings
Of the denizens in hell,
The shoutings of hungry and thirsty spirits
Who are seeking food and drink,
And the voices of asuras
Bellowing to each other
[As they pound] on the seacoasts.
Even when he recognizes all this by hearing,
His organ of hearing will not be destroyed.

The expounder of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in this world],
The voices of birds and animals calling each other
In the worlds of the ten quarters.

The teacher of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in the world of men],
The voices of the gods of the heavens
Above the Heaven of Brahman,
[That is,] of the Light-Sound Heaven,
Of the Universal-Pure Heaven, and of the Highest Heaven.

The teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize,
Without moving about,
The voices of the bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound them to others.

He will be able to recognize
The voices of the Bodhisattvas
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound the meanings
Of quotations from them
To others.

Anyone who keeps this Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to recognize the voices of the Buddhas,
That is, the voices of the Great Honorable Saints
Who teach all living beings,
And who expound the Wonderful Dharma in great congregations.

He will be able to recognize
All the sounds and voices
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds,
[Each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
And yet his organ of hearing will not be destroyed.
He will be able to recognize everything by hearing
Because his ears are sharp.

Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to obtain these merits with his natural ears
Although he has not yet obtained heavenly ears.

See Merits of the Ear

b4today, LS32, d23b

Merits of the Ear

We find the following two important expressions in the verse portion in which the Buddha speaks of the merits of the ear: “He can listen without being under their control” and “He will hear without harm to his organ of hearing.” The former expression means that even if he hears the sounds of beautiful music he is not attached to them. He may be charmed by music for a short time, but he has no permanent attachment to it, nor is lulled into forgetting important matters. This is a good example for us in regard to our attachment to amusements. The latter expression means that his hearing will not be impaired even if he hears all the sounds in the three-thousand-great-thousand-fold world. This indicates that he will not become confused by hearing all the various kinds of sounds in the world. If an ordinary person hears the sounds of worry, of suffering, and of grief on one side and the sounds of disputes and quarrels on the other, he will be thrown into confusion. However, a person who has deepened his faith sufficiently will not be overwhelmed; he will dwell calmly amid the noise and will be able to hear these sounds with serenity.

Buddhism for Today, p300
2buddhas, d3b

Even the Slightest Thought

On the basis of [ten suchnesses], Zhiyi formulated a grand, architectonic concept that came to be called the “single thought-moment entailing three thousand realms” (ichinen sanzen). In a famous passage, he writes: “Now a single thought [literally, “one mind”] comprises ten dharma-realms, and each dharma realm also comprises ten dharma-realms, giving a hundred dharma-realms. A single realm comprises thirty kinds of worlds; hence a hundred dharma-realms comprise three thousand kinds of worlds. These three thousand are contained in a single moment of thought. Where there is no thought, that is the end of the matter, but if there is even the slightest thought, it immediately contains the three thousand [realms].”

Two Buddhas, p68
WONS

Giving the Soul of the Lotus Sūtra to Your Baby

The Sun Goddess Amaterasu, giving a gem to her brother, Susanoo-no-mikoto, gave birth to a beautiful son. She named him Masaya-akatsu, meaning “my son and the Sun God.” Similarly, as I, Nichiren, gave the soul of the Lotus Sūtra to your baby soon to be born, your baby will be just like my own. It is said in the Lotus Sutra: “There is a great gem as valuable as anything in the world;” and “this gem of unsurpassed value (Lotus Sutra) is given to man without asking.” Moreover, Śākyamuni Buddha stated: “Everybody is My child.” I feel the same way. I feel as though I were given a precious child without asking. How fortunate I am! It is a blessing! I will write you again.

Shijō Kingo Nyōbō Gosho, A Letter to the Wife of Shijō Kingo, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 60-62