All posts by John Hughes

Saicho

Three Types of Learning

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What were the practices for the Perfect Teaching which enabled a person to follow the Direct Path to enlightenment? One of the earliest and most common classifications of Buddhist practice was the threefold learning (sangaku) or the practices of precepts, meditation, and wisdom. In Hinayāna Buddhism the threefold learning was usually regarded as a progression of practices which led to the final goal of liberation. The precepts provided the moral basis for meditation; meditation provided the basis for wisdom; and wisdom led to liberation. Although the precepts served as the basis for the entire structure, they were ranked lower than the other two types of learning.

The Chinese Ssu fen lü master Daoxuan (596-667) had used the classification of Buddhism into three types of learning to argue that the precepts were the basis of all Buddhist practice. He criticized the tendency of many Chinese monks to concentrate on meditation or lecturing on the sūtras (wisdom) while they ignored monastic discipline (precepts). Such one-sided practice could not succeed because it overlooked the most basic practice of all, the observance of the precepts.

Daoxuan also criticized monks who ignored the Ssu fen lü precepts because of their Hinayāna origins. These monks argued that they were Mahāyāna monks and should not be bound by Hinayāna precepts. Daoxuan defended the Ssu fen lü precepts by arguing that they were, in fact, partially Mahāyāna (buntsū daijō). T’ien-t’ai monks such as Chan-jan (711-782) noted that the attitude of the practitioner, not the origin of the precepts, determinined whether a person’s practice was Hinayāna or Mahāyāna. Thus T’ien-t’ai monks almost always advocated adherence to the Ssu fen lü precepts.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p190
WONS

One Body and One Thought

The important statement in the fifth fascicle of the Great Concentration and Insight reads, “One moment of thought possesses ten realms of all phenomena. Each of the ten realms also has the ten realms of all phenomena, making a total of one hundred realms of all phenomena. Because each of the hundred realms has thirty factors of existences (the Three Factors of Existences—living beings, environment, and the five constituent elements of living beings—multiplied by ten as each of them has ten aspects), the hundred realms of all phenomena possess the three thousand factors of existences. These three thousand factors of existences are contained in one thought.” Grand Master Miao-lê interpreted this, saying in his Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Know this: in both sentient and insentient beings exist three thousand factors of existences in one thought. Therefore, when they become enlightened, one body and one thought will permeate throughout the realms of all phenomena according to this wonderful principle of ‘3,000 existences contained in one thought.’ ”

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 90

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 15, 2019

The Buddhas expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
There is only the One Buddha-Vehicle.
The two [vehicles] were taught only as resting places.

The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra after telling the parable of the Magic City. The parable is his explanation of why expedient teachings are necessary, and why we must eventually set them aside to attain the enlightenment that is our true nature.

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

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 14 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the complaint of the eight thousand Bodhisattvas who had just resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, we hear Ānanda’s reaction to the prediction.

Having heard from the Buddha that he was assured of his future Buddhahood, and that his world would be adorned, Ānanda was able to fulfill his wish. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. At that moment he recollected the store of the teachings of many thousands of billions of past Buddhas perfectly and without hindrance as if he had heard those teachings just now. He also recollected his original vow.

Thereupon Ānanda sang in gāthās:

You, the World-Honored One, are exceptional.
You reminded me of the teachings
Of innumerable Buddhas in the past
As if I had heard them today.

Having no doubts, I now dwell peacefully
In the enlightenment of the Buddha.
I will expediently become the attendant
Of future Buddhas, and protect their teachings.

See Ānanda and the Lotus Sūtra

2buddhas, LS32, d14b

Ānanda and the Lotus Sūtra

Ānanda receives a particularly marvelous prediction, with a very long lifespan and a very long duration of his teaching. This causes some of the bodhisattvas in the audience to be disgruntled, wondering why this monk who is not even an arhat received a better prophecy than they had. The Buddha explains that he and Ānanda had aroused the aspiration for perfect enlightenment in the presence of the same buddha long ago. Ānanda had wanted to preserve the dharma that Śākyamuni would eventually teach. For this reason, he receives this special prophecy. Upon hearing the prophecy, Ānanda is miraculously able to remember the teachings of innumerable buddhas of the past.

This elevation of Ānanda is yet another weapon used by the Lotus Sūtra to assert its legitimacy. If Ānanda can remember the teachings of innumerable buddhas of the past, he is certainly able to remember the teachings of Śākyamuni, suggesting that it was indeed Ānanda who says, “Thus have I heard” at the beginning of the sūtra. In the story of the first council in which he recited the sūtras, Ananda is taken to task by certain senior monks for having encouraged the Buddha to establish the order of nuns, a move that not all (male) members of the saṃgha had approved of. In the centuries that followed, Ānanda would become a beloved figure in the tradition, especially honored by nuns. That he receives a special prophecy in the Lotus Sūtra suggests that the authors of the text not only wished to bring him aboard the great ship of the Mahāyāna (as they did with Śāriputra), but perhaps also that they had a particular affection for him.

Two Buddhas, p123-124
Saicho

Leading Directly to Sudden Enlightenment

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Saichō argued that Hinayāna and Hossō practices all required eons, but that the Japanese could not actually follow them because they were not suited to their faculties. In contrast, the Lotus Sūtra taught a direct path; instead of walking (hogyō) upon the path, the practitioner flew (higyō) directly to his goal. The path requiring eons was descriptive of Mahāyāna doctrines and practices ranging from those of the Sanron and Hossō Schools to those of the Kegon School. In the Hokke shūku, Saichō characterized the differences between Kegon and Tendai One-vehicle teachings in terms of their efficacy in leading to enlightenment. Kegon practice was described as leading to sudden enlightenment only after eons of training (ryakukō shugyō tongo). Kegon doctrines had not yet fully revealed the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, nor had they been purged of provisional teachings. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra, however, led directly to sudden enlightenment (jikishi dōjō tongo). An adherent of the Lotus Sūtra had no need for eons of preparatory practice and provisional teachings.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p189
Lotus Path

No Wasted Effort

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It is difficult to reprogram your mind to respond to different messages from those currently playing. I won’t pretend to oversimplify the process. If however a person is able to change the outlook on failure and view it as an opportunity to explore possibilities I think it leads to greater happiness. I also firmly believe that, especially in Buddhism, there is no wasted effort. Anything we do, no matter how seemingly small and insignificant, and no matter if we completely succeed or not, is not a wasted effort.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS

Ordinary Yellow Rocks

Clouds cover the moon and slanderers hide wise men. When people slander, ordinary yellow rocks appear to be gold and slanderers seem to be wise. Scholars in this age of decay, blinded by slanderous words, do not see the value of the gold in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter. Even among men of the Tendai Sect some are fooled into taking a yellow rock for gold. They should know that if Śākyamuni had not been the Eternal Buddha, there could not have been so many who received guidance from Him.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 75

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 14, 2019

Offer him heaps of the treasures of heaven! Why is that? It is because, while he is expounding the Dharma with joy, if you hear it even for a moment, you will immediately be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

The Buddha gives this instruction to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. In Chapter Twenty-Three, the Buddha tells of all the hardships Medicine-King endured to practice the Wonderful Dharma. This Bodhisattva knows all the difficulties we face because he has experienced them himself. When anyone sees us practicing, living and sharing the Dharma with others, they will see the joy we have and want to experience it for themselves. The treasures of heaven we receive from Medicine-King are not like the pleasures and comforts we find in the world. They are the assurance we have of our enlightenment and that of all beings.

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

LS32

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard from twelve hundred Arhats and the Buddha’s response, we hear the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sing in gāthās:

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

Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu will see
Innumerable Buddhas.
After asaṃkhya kalpas from now,
He will attain perfect enlightenment.

He will emit great rays of light [from his body].
He will have all supernatural powers.
His fame will spread over the worlds of the ten quarters.
Respected by all living beings,
He will expound unsurpassed enlightenment to them.
Therefore, he will be called Universal-Brightness.

His world will be pure.
The Bodhisattvas [of that world] will be brave.
They will go up to the tops of wonderful, tall buildings,
And then go out into the worlds of the ten quarters.
There they will make the best offerings
To the Buddhas of those worlds.

After making offerings, they will have great joy.
They will return to their home world in a moment.
They will be able to do all this
By their supernatural powers.

[Universal-Brightness] Buddha will live for sixty thousand kalpas.
His right teachings will be preserved twice as long as his life;
And the counterfeit of them, also twice as long as his right teachings.
When his teachings are eliminated, gods and men will be sad.

The five hundred bhikṣus
Will become Buddhas one after another.
They also will be called Universal-Brightness.
One who has become a Buddha will say to another:
“You will become a Buddha after my extinction.
[The living beings of] the world
To be saved by that Buddha
Will be like those whom I am teaching today.”

The beauty of the worlds [of those Buddhas],
And the supernatural powers [of those Buddhas],
And the number of the Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas [of those worlds],
And the number of kalpas of the lives [of those Buddhas],
Of their right teachings, and of the counterfeit of them,
Will be the same [as in the case of Kauṇḍinya].

Kāśyapa! Now you have heard of the future
Of the five hundred Arhats
Who have freedom of mind.
All the other Śrāvakas also will [become Buddhas].
Tell this to the Śrāvakas
Who are not present here!

See Buddhahood for All

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