All posts by John Hughes

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 17, 2019

The two sons, Pure-Store and Pure-Eyes, came to their mother, joined their ten fingers and palms together, and said, ‘Mother! Go to Cloud Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha! We also will go to attend on him, approach him, make offerings to him, and bow to him because he is expounding the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to all gods and men.

The Buddha tells the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. The two sons chose to be born at a time when Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha was alive and led their parents to follow that Buddha and learn the Wonderful Dharma from him. They overcame their father’s attachment to wrong views, not by arguing against those views, but by demonstrating the wonders that come from the Buddha’s great teaching. This shows how when we as Bodhisattvas live this difficult teaching we lead others to it.

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

LS32

Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 16 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month witnessed Śākyamuni taking a seat in the stupa and then raising the congregation into the air so they can see better, we repeat the story of Many-Treasures Tathāgata in gāthās:

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

The Saintly Master, the World-Honored One,
Who had passed away a long time ago,
Came riding in the stūpa of treasures
To hear the Dharma [directly from me].
Could anyone who sees him
Not make efforts to hear the Dharma?

It is innumerable kalpas
Since he passed away.
He wished to hear the Dharma at any place
Because the Dharma is difficult to meet.

His original vow was this:
“After I pass away,
I will go to any place
To hear the Dharma.”

The Buddhas of my replicas
As innumerable
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Also came here
From their wonderful worlds,
Parting from their disciples,
And giving up the offerings made to them
By gods, men and dragons,
ln order to hear the Dharma,
See Many-Treasures Tathāgata,
Who passed away [a long time ago],
And have the Dharma preserved forever.

I removed innumerable living beings from many worlds,
And purified those worlds
By my supernatural powers
In order to seat those Buddhas.

Those Buddhas came under the jeweled trees.
The trees are adorned with those Buddhas
Just as a pond of pure water is adorned
With lotus flowers.

There are lion-like seats
Under the jeweled trees.
Those Buddhas sat on the seats.
The worlds are adorned
With the light of those Buddhas as bright
As a great torch in the darkness of night.

Wonderful fragrance is sent forth
From the bodies of those Buddhas
To the worlds of the ten quarters.
The living beings of those worlds
Smell the fragrance joyfully,
Just as the branches of a tree bend before a strong wind.
Those Buddhas employ these expedients
In order to have the Dharma preserved forever.

See Opening of the Buddha Realm in the Act of Chanting the Daimoku

2buddhas, LS32, d15b, d16b, WONS

Opening of the Buddha Realm in the Act of Chanting the Daimoku

Nichiren understood the emergence of the jeweled stūpa as the opening of the buddha realm in the act of chanting the daimoku. One of his followers, a lay monk known as Abutsu-bō, once asked him what the jeweled stūpa signified. Nichiren explained that, in essence, the stūpa’s emergence meant that the śrāvaka disciples, on hearing the Lotus Sūtra, “beheld the jeweled stūpa of their own mind.” The same was true, he said, of his own followers: “In the Final Dharma age, there is no jeweled stūpa apart from the figures of those men and women who uphold the Lotus Sūtra. … The daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō. … You, Abutsu-bō, are yourself the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is none other than you, Abutsu-bō. … So believing, chant Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, and wherever you chant will be the place where the jeweled stūpa dwells.”

Two Buddhas, p145
Saicho

Exclusively Mahāyāna Precepts

Quote

Chinese T’ien-t’ai masters such as Chih-i and Chan-jan were more interested in meditation and doctrinal issues than in the precepts. In the Mo ho Chih kuan, Chih-i discussed the precepts as a preliminary practice for meditation, a position which was consistent with traditional theories of the threefold learning. He also applied the Tendai kaie (reveal and harmonize) mode of exegesis to the Ssu fen lü precepts in order to explain their significance for Mahāyāna practice. Chan-jan argued that the attitude of the practitioner, not the Hinayāna origin of the precepts, was the crucial factor in the interpretation of Ssu fen lü ordinations.

Saichō was deeply dissatisfied with these interpretations. Previous efforts to interpret the Ssu fen lü precepts as a form of Mahāyāna monastic discipline or to supplement them with the bodhisattva precepts were unconvincing to Saichō. What was needed, he argued, was a set of precepts which were exclusively Mahāyāna. He stated his position in the Kenkairon:

Although the ten major precepts (of the Fan wang Ching) have been transmitted before, this was in name only; their (true) meaning was not transmitted. How do I know that their (true) meaning was not transmitted? Because their Perfect meaning has not yet been understood and because they have been followed together with the Hinayāna precepts.

Saichō explained his reasons for stressing that the Fan wang precepts must be practiced without reference to the Ssu fen lü precepts in the following passage:

The monastic leaders (sōtō) state: The Lotus Sūtra teaches that one should not consort with anyone who seeks Hinayāna goals, but in Japan there are no monks who seek Hinayāna goals.

Saichō replies: Although (those who board) the sheep vehicle or elephant vehicle do not seek Hinayāna rewards, still they backslide to the realms of the two (Hinayāna) vehicles and take 80,000 kalpas to recover (and attain Buddhahood). Although no monks in this country seek Hinayāna goals, they do follow the Hinayāna rules of conduct and thus follow Hinayāna practices. How can this not lead to a Hinayāna result (in the end)?

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p191-192
Basics

Impermanent Life Must Not Be Lived Carelessly

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The doctrines of universal impermanence and the absence of a persisting self are based on an objective view of reality but motivate religious practice. These doctrines mean that all things are constantly changing, that nothing is a fixed entity, and that all existence is relative and interdependent. Realization of these truths helps prevent attachments to the transient phenomena of the world and inspires the wish to avoid harming others and to make each passing moment as valuable as possible for everyone. People who understand impermanence and the absence of a persisting self are unlikely to fritter away their short lives in vain pursuits. Aware of the pricelessness of their material and spiritual heritage, which has been created through the labor, talent, and devotion of countless people, they feel obliged to do what they can to preserve it for future generations. Such people know that precisely because it is impermanent life must not be lived carelessly.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

WONS

The True Intent of the Buddha

The Buddha’s prediction foretelling the time of disputes and quarrels is proving to be as certain as the ebb and flow of the ocean!

T’ien-t’ai says in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Lotus Sūtra is so profound that the Middle Doctrine cannot be compared to it.” He also states in the Great Concentration and Insight, “Vasubandhu and Nāgārjuna deep in their hearts knew exactly the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, but outwardly they preached as they saw to fit the time.” Explaining what is meant by T’ien-t’ai in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, Miao-lê declares in his Commentary on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “No one can be compared to the Lotus Sūtra in rectifying the fallacies of the various sūtras and revealing the truths;” and in the Additional Annotations to the Three Major Works of T’ien-t’ai, Ts’ung-i interprets T’ien-t’ai’s words in the Great Concentration and Insight, “Both Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu are not comparable to T’ien-t’ai in perceiving the true intent of the Buddha.”

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 209-210

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 16, 2019

If anyone keeps, reads and recites this sūtra while he walks or stands, I will mount a kingly white elephant with six tusks, go to him together with great Bodhisattvas, show myself to him, make offerings to him, protect him, and comfort him, because I wish to make offerings to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. Out of his gratitude for the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma, Universal Sage promises to encourage anyone who may be struggling in their practice of the Buddha Dharma. This is a reminder of how no matter what obstacles or difficulties we may encounter, great beings are helping us and we are in harmony with things as they truly are.

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

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Day 15 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, we greet the arrival of the stupa of the seven treasures.

Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha. The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep. lt was adorned with various treasures. It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers. It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down. The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world. Many canopies, adorned with streamers, and made of the seven treasures-gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby were hanging in the sky [one upon another from the top of the stupa] up to the [heaven of the] palaces of the four heavenly-kings. The thirty-three gods offered a rain of heavenly mandārava-flowers to the stupa of treasures. Thousands of billions of living beings, including the other gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, also offered flowers, incense, necklaces, streamers, canopies and music to the stupa of treasures, venerated the stupa, honored it, and praised it.

Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:

“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”

See The Appearance of the Jeweled Stupa

2buddhas, LS32, d15b, d16b

The Appearance of the Jeweled Stupa

Throughout East Asia, the imagery of [The Appearance of the Jeweled Stupa] chapter has inspired painting, sculpture, and exegesis. In Tiantai Buddhism, that imagery became part of a narrative of mythic origins: Zhiyi and his teacher Huisi, it was said, had together heard Śākyamuni Buddha’s original preaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the Vulture Peak assembly and were later born together in China, where they became master and disciple. The Japanese Tendai founder Saichō incorporated this tradition into his account of his Tendai dharma lineage. Shortly after Saichō’s death, when a new state-sponsored ordination platform was erected at the monastery that he had established on Mount Hiei, a representation of the jeweled stūpa of Prabhūtaratna, together with an image of Śākyamuni, was enshrined there. In medieval Japan, the Tendai esoteric “Lotus rite” or Hokke hō, conducted to realize buddhahood, eradicate sin, prolong life, quell disasters, and achieve other aims, employed a mandala depicting the two buddhas Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, seated side by side on a lotus, in its central court.

Two Buddhas, p 144
buddhaseed

Creating the Actual Ichinen Sanzen of Ji

Quote

When we read Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata,” we realize that the one great being of the Universe is the Original Buddha Śākyamuni who has warm compassion and personality. Now the philosophical theory of Ichinen Sanzen of Ri has become a warmhearted religion and the understanding of this religion is realized through chanting of the Odaimoku, creating the actual Ichinen Sanzen of Ji.

Buddha Seed: Understanding the Odaimoku