All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 2, 2020

You, the World-Honored One, are our leader.
You give peace to gods and men.
Hearing that you assured us of our future Buddhahood,
We are relieved and satisfied.

These verses are sung by Maha-Prajāpatī Bhikṣuṇī, Yaśodharā Bhikṣuṇī, and their attendants in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In our lives we have many desires, some of which we may not recognize. We believe that when these desires are met, only then can we be happy and peaceful. At the foundation of these desires is the desire for liberation. These women recognize that with this desire we have to become enlightened, just knowing that it will be fulfilled is enough to bring joy.

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

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Maitreya explain the reaction of the gods and the bodhisattvas to these merits, we hear the Buddha tell Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva the benefits of anyone who hears that his life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Anyone who hears that my life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought, will be able to obtain innumerable merits. Suppose good men or women practiced [ the six pāramitās] except the prajñā- pāramitā, that is, the five pāramitās: the dāna-pāramitā, the śīla-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, and the dhyāna-pāramitā, for eighty billion nayuta kalpas in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These merits of the good men or women are far less than one hundredth or one thousandth of the merits of the person [who understand my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought], or less than his merits divided by one hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of his merits to theirs] cannot be explained by any calculation or parable or simile.

It cannot be that the good man who obtained merits [by understanding my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought] falters in walking the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

See Faith and Merits

b4today, LS32, d22b

Faith and Merits

The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, “I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.”

It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.

The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.

Buddhism for Today, p257-258
2buddhas, d3b

Form, Mind and Causality of Suchness

What do “character, nature, substance, potential … and essential unity” actually mean? … Zhanran, Zhiyi’s later disciple, explains that these ten can be grouped in three modalities — form, mind, and causality — that characterize all existents. “Character,” which could also be translated as “mark,” “sign, or “aspect,” is what can be seen externally; in the case of a person, it denotes one’s outer appearance. “Nature” is internal, what belongs to that person intrinsically. “Substance” denotes the union of these two as a particular individual; each existent, in Tendai thought, has both physical and mental aspects. “Potential” is the capacity for action, while “function” is the exertion or display of that potential. These two suchnesses thus pertain to space. “Cause, condition, result, [and] effect” refer to the dimension of causality, and therefore, time. “Causes” are volitional acts, or karma. “Conditions” are the circumstances that condition actions. “Result” is the potential karmic consequence inherent in a volitional act, and “effect” is its eventual manifestation. All ten are “essentially unified,” or ultimately consistent. For example, the character, nature, function, causes, and results of a denizen of hell will reflect and perpetuate misery; those of a bodhisattva will express insight and compassion.

Two Buddhas, p67-68
d19b, d3b, WONS

Difficulty in Meeting the Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra preaches in chapter 2, “Expedients,” of the first fascicle that to have the opportunity to hear teachers of this sūtra is rare even during innumerable kalpa (aeons) of time. The sūtra also states in chapter 14, “peaceful Practices,” of the fifth fascicle that it is difficult to hear even the title of the Lotus Sūtra in the innumerable countries. The above indicates how difficult it is for us to meet the Lotus Sūtra, and problems involved to even hear the title of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, the Suśānta Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures, who appeared in the world before the time of Śākyamuni Buddha did not even mention the title of the Lotus Sūtra. Even Śākyamuni Buddha, who appeared in this world to expound the Lotus Sūtra, did not reveal its title for 42 years, until at the age of 72 He finally chanted the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma and expounded the sūtra for the first time in India. Nothing, however, not even the name of the sūtra was heard in such large countries as China, or Japan. Nothing about this sūtra was heard of for over 1,000 years after the extinction of the Buddha. Finally, after 1,350 years or so, only the title of the Lotus Sūtra was made known.

This is why the opportunity to encounter the Lotus Sūtra is compared to uḍumbara flowers, which are said to blossom only once in 3,000 years. The difficulty is also compared to the story of a one-eyed turtle finding a floating piece of wood in the ocean in order to dry its shell once in innumerable kalpa (aeons). Suppose that one sets up a needle on the earth and throws a poppy seed down from the palace of the King of the Mahā-brahman Heaven high up in the sky in such a way as the tip of the needle pierces through the seed. This is almost impossible, yet it is even more difficult to encounter the Lotus Sūtra after the passing of the Buddha. Suppose one sets up a needle on top of Mt. Sumeru and throws a piece of string on a windy day from another Mt. Sumeru standing too far to see. It is impossible to thread the needle set up on the first Mt. Sumeru. It is, however, even more difficult to experience the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra.

Therefore, you should realize that being able to chant the daimoku of this sūtra is an experience more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time and rarer than a man being captured by a mighty enemy and being released by a special pardon to be reunited with his wife and children.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 38-39

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 1, 2020

Join your hands together and bow
To the person who keeps this sūtra
In the evil world after my extinction,
Just as you do to me!

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. By extension he is giving this instruction to all Bodhisattvas and great beings of the universe, and explaining to them that those who keep the Lotus Sūtra are as precious in this world of conflict at the Buddha himself. If we hear these verses with a mind of ego and attachment, we could conclude that we deserve respect and begin to demand it from others. Those who demand respect only generate fear. The Buddha gained respect by respecting all beings. When we treat others as Buddhas, we are certain to have that treatment reflected back towards us.

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

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month learned of the lifespan of the Buddha and why he implies he enters extinction, we consider the skillfull physician and what happened while he was away.

“I will tell you a parable. There was once an excellent and wise physician. He was good at dispensing medicines and curing diseases. He had many sons, numbering ten, twenty, or a hundred. [One day] he went to a remote country on business. After he left home, the sons took poison. The poison passed into their bodies, and the sons writhed in agony, rolling on the ground. At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not. All the sons saw their father in the distance and had great joy. They begged him on their knees, saying, ‘You came back safely. We were ignorant. We took poison by mistake. Cure us, and give us back our lives!’

“Seeing his sons suffering so much, the father consulted books of prescriptions, and collected good herbs. having a good color, smell and taste. He compounded a medicine by pounding and sieving the herbs, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is a very good medicine. It has good color, smell and taste. Take it! It will remove the pain at once and you will not suffer any more.’

“The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

See Lessons of the Parable of the Physician’s Sons

b4today, LS32, d21b

Lessons of the Parable of the Physician’s Sons

In the Parable of the Physician’s Sons, the physician is the Buddha and the sons represent all living beings. The gist of the parable is that living beings cannot understand how much they owe to the Buddha as long as he abides in this world, but they conceive the desire to seek his teachings earnestly when he becomes extinct. For this reason, he temporarily enters nirvana through his tactful means.

The Buddha teaches us several important lessons in this parable. The first significant point is that the sons drink poisonous medicines while their father is away in a distant country. The poisonous medicines are illusions produced by the five desires. If people come in contact with the Buddha’s teachings daily, they will not suffer from these five desires disturbing their minds. However, when they avoid the Buddha’s teachings, they are apt to become obsessed by the five desires.

The next important point is that all the sons who drank the poison, even those who have lost their senses, to say nothing of the others who are still in their right minds, are delighted on seeing their father return home. The parable thus shows that even a madman can tell his father from other people. In the same way, even those with illusions who have lost their senses, for example, even a thoroughgoing materialist who boasts, “I don’t believe in God or the Buddha,” in the depths of his mind feels an unrest and loneliness that he cannot quite satisfy by material things. He seeks mental calm and satisfaction, though he is unaware of it. Therefore, if he encounters a teaching giving him spiritual peace and enlightenment, he is sure to be delighted with it. This is the same the sons who have lost their senses being glad to see their father approaching in the distance.

Buddhism for Today, p246-247
Blog

Getting Ready to Search Background and Commentary


This post is for those who subscribe to this website and receive emails whenever something is posted and also for my Facebook followers.

All of those “Search Background and Commentary for Day XX” posts are the initial steps I’m taking to organize my posts to make searching more efficient. I’ve already tagged all of the Daily Dharma for last year and when I’m done creating the 32 search pages, I’ll then add all of the quotes related to particular sections of the Lotus Sutra.

To be honest, this is mostly for my benefit. When I do my daily 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra post I need to access background for that day. Right now I’m using quotes from Buddhism for Today, but by the end of February I expect to return to quoting from the Daily Dharma and other appropriate quotes.

I apologize for the annoyance of the 32 search page posts.

2buddhas, d3b

Ten Suchnesses Three Ways

In the opening passage of Chapter Two, Śākyamuni declares that only buddhas can “completely know the real aspects of all dharmas — that is to say, their character, nature, substance, potential, function, cause, condition, result, effect, and essential unity.”…

In the East Asian commentarial tradition, this passage is referred to as the “ten suchnesses” or “such-likes” (J. junyoze) because each of the “real aspects” is preceded in the Chinese text by the words “suchness” or more literally “like such” (nyoze). “Such” or “suchness” (tathatā in Sanskrit) is one of many terms for reality in Buddhism, denoting that a buddha perceives things just as they are, without imposing reifying concepts or descriptions. In their translation, Kubo and Yuyama call these ten the “real aspects” of the dharmas or phenomena, but one could also refer to them collectively in the singular as the “real aspect” shared by all phenomena. By punctuating this passage that enumerates the “ten suchnesses” in three different ways, Zhiyi derived the threefold truth … of emptiness, conventional existence, and the middle. To this day, the passage is often ritually recited three times, representing the threefold truth and its threefold discernment.

Two Buddhas, p66-67