All posts by John Hughes

d27b, WONS

The Light of One Character of the Lotus Sūtra

The Lotus Sūtra is like the moon. The rays of light emitted by stars reach the distance of half a mile, 1, 10, or 20 miles at the most whereas the rays of the moon light reach as far as 1,000 miles or so. Even if all stars in the four continents and all the worlds throughout the universe, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 1,000,000 in number, are put together, they are not comparable to the moon in brightness. It goes without saying that one star can never be compared to the moon in brightness. Likewise, all the sūtras such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Āgama sūtras, the Hōdō sūtras, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Nirvana Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life put together, do not amount to one character of the Lotus Sūtra.

Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 30-31

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 28, 2019

We know the defects of the Lesser Vehicle.
But we do not know how to obtain
The unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha.

The Buddha’s disciples Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana sing these verses in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. They have heard the Buddha teach that the expedient teachings about Suffering are incomplete. However they still have not yet embraced the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra which leads all beings to enlightenment. Nichiren explained, in his Treatise on Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, how teachings that came before the Lotus Sūtra were based on the mind of the hearer, where the Wonderful Dharma is itself the mind of the Buddha. When we read, recite, copy and expound the Lotus Sūtra, we are becoming of one mind with the Buddha.

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

LS32

Day 31

Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

Day 31 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the preparations to see Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, we witness King Wonderful-Adornment, Queen Pure-Virtue, and their two sons travel to the Buddha and hear Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha.

“Thereupon King Wonderful-Adornment, Queen Pure-Virtue, and their two sons came to that Buddha. The king was accompanied by his ministers and attendants; the queen, by her ladies and attendants; and their two sons, by forty-two thousand men. They worshiped the feet of that Buddha with their heads, walked around the Buddha three times, retired, and stood to one side.

“Thereupon the Buddha expounded the Dharma to the king, showed him the Way, taught him, benefited him, and caused him to rejoice. The king had great joy. The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and strewed the necklaces to the Buddha. The necklaces flew up to the sky [seven times as high as the tala-tree], and changed into a jeweled platform equipped with four pillars. On the platform was a couch of great treasures, and thousands of millions of heavenly garment were spread [on the couch]. The Buddha [went up,] sat cross-legged [on the couch], and emitted great rays of light. King Wonderful-Adornment thought, ‘The Buddha is exceptional. He is exceedingly handsome. He has the most wonderful form.’

The Daily Dharma from April 24, 2019, offers this:

The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and strewed the necklaces to the Buddha. The necklaces flew up to the sky [seven times as high as the tāla-tree], and changed into a jeweled platform equipped with four pillars. On the platform was a couch of great treasures, and thousands of millions of heavenly garments were spread [on the couch]. The Buddha [went up,] sat cross-legged [on the couch], and emitted great rays of light. King Wonderful-Adornment thought, ‘The Buddha is exceptional. He is exceedingly handsome. He has the most wonderful form.’

The Buddha uses this description as part of the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This King was led by the supernatural powers of his children to meet Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King Flower-Wisdom Buddha who was teaching the Wonderful Dharma in that world. The King and his wife the Queen were both so inspired by that Buddha that they allowed the symbols of their wealth and power to be transformed into a sacred platform from which the Buddha could lead all beings to enlightenment. When they found that Buddha, the beauty of his wisdom far outshone the beauty of their jewels.

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

Saicho

Saichō and the Decline of the Buddha’s Teaching

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Saichō believed that many of the descriptions of the decline of the Buddha’s teaching accurately depicted the corruption among Buddhist monks in Nara. The monks of Nara vied for fame and profit, rather than exerting themselves to attain enlightenment. They jealously criticized and persecuted any monk who seriously practiced Buddhist austerities. Saichō saw himself as the persecuted monk and the Nara monks as the corrupt Buddhists described in the sütras.

Although Saichō referred to the theories describing the decline of Buddhism in three periods, he did not attempt to reconcile the discrepancies between the various accounts of the decline. Nor did he discuss the chronology of the decline of Buddhism in his writings. Saichō’s disciple Kōjō, however, included a passage in the Denjutsu isshinkaimon that did give a chronology for the decline. The Period of the True Dharma (shōbō) lasted one-thousand years, and the Period of the Imitated Dharma (zōhō) would also last one-thousand years. Thus Kōjō noted that 806, the year Emperor Kanmu granted yearly ordinands to the Tendai School, was 1747 years after the Buddha’s death. Only two-hundred years remained before the final period of decline, that of mappō. Kōjō’s mention of a significant event in Saichō’s life, the bestowal of yearly ordinands, in his chronology suggests that Saichō also accepted this time table.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p172-173
WONS

The Ten Objects Ten Stage Meditation

QUESTION: Why is the Wonderful Dharma called the “three thousand existences contained in one thought”?

ANSWER: Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, after perceiving the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine, expounded many teachings such as the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra (consisting of ten fascicles); the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra (consisting of ten fascicles); the Samadhi of Bodhicitta; the Shōshi-kan (Introduction to Meditation); the Annotations on the Vimalakirti Sūtra; the Commentary on How to Eliminate Four Misconceptions of Body, Feeling, Mind, and Self; and the Annotations on the Doctrine of the Dhyānapāramitā; without explaining the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine. What he expounded were only the Ten Realms, the Hundred Realms, and the Thousand Aspects. However, there exists the Great Concentration and Insight, ten fascicles, which he expounded to a disciple, Grand Master Chang-an, in the summer of the fourth month when he was fifty-seven years old, at the Yü-ch’üan-ssŭ Temple in Ching-chou. What he wrote in the first four fascicles was only concerned with such doctrines as the Six Stages in the practice of the Lotus Sūtra and Buddhahood, the Four Kinds of Meditation, and not the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine. Beginning with the fifth fascicle, however, he discusses the Ten Objects Ten Stage Meditation, revealing the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine for the first time. Grand Master Miao-lê recommended this to people of the Latter Age of Degeneration, saying in his Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Grand Master T’ien-t’ai’s doctrine of spiritual contemplation is based on the ‘three thousand existences contained in one thought’ doctrine. … Those who seek his teaching must not think that there is an ultimate doctrine of T’ien-t’ai’s except this.” The numerous doctrines expounded in the 60 fascicles and 3,000 pages of writings on the Lotus Sūtra as interpreted by T’ien-t’ai (three major writings of T’ien-t’ai, 10 fascicles each, and Miao-lé’s annotations on them, also 10 fascicles each) are not enough to perceive the true intent of Grand Master T’ien-t’ai. Instead, we should master just the first several lines (on the “3 ,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine) in the fifth fascicle of the Great Concentration and Insight.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 89-90

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 27, 2019

All living beings are either noble or humble. They are either handsome or ugly. They are destined to be reborn either in a better region or in a worse region. All of them will be reflected on the pure bodies [of the good men or women].

The Buddha makes this declaration to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. Much of what we see in the world is a projection of our own biases and ignorance. We see things for what we want them to be rather than what they are. We classify the people in our lives as friends, enemies or strangers not because of their inherent qualities, but because of how they treat us. When we act for the benefit of others rather than our own gratification, we are showing them their true qualities. We let them see themselves for what they are.

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

LS32

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King’s offering, we consider World-Holding Heavenly-King’s offering.

Thereupon World-Holding Heavenly-King, accompanied by thousands of billions of nayutas of gandharvas who were surrounding him respectfully, came to the Buddha, joined his hands together, and said to him, “World-Honored One! I also will protect the keeper of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma with dhārānis, with divine spells.”

Then he uttered spells,” Akyanei (1), kyanei (2), kuri (3), kendari (4), sendari (5), matōgi (6), jōguri (7), furoshani (8), atchi (9).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! These dhārānis, these divine spells, have already been uttered by four thousand and two hundred million Buddhas. Those who attack and abuse this teacher of the Dharma should be considered to have attacked and abused those Buddhas.”

Vaiśravaṇa, last month, and World-Holding Heavenly-King are present at the top of the Mandala Gohonzon, Vaiśravaṇa on the top left and World-Holding Heavenly-King, top right.

Lotus World offers this about World-Holding Heavenly-King:

The Flammarion Iconographic Guide: Buddhism describes Dhritarashtra (Jikoku Tenno, Heavenly King of the East) as follows: “This guardian king governs in the east and presides over the spring. He is ‘He who maintains the kingdom (of the Law)’; ‘the maintainer of the state’ … He commands an army of celestial musicians (gandharvas) and vampire demons (pishachas). The gandharvas are one of the eight kinds of supernatural beings who are said to revere and protect the Dharma; the pishachas are a type of hungry ghost.

According to the Kumarajiva translation of the Lotus Sutra, it is Dhritarashtra who offers dharanis in chapter 26 for the benefit of those who keep the Lotus Sutra.

Lotus World: An Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon

Basics

Giving

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At the outset, a person may engage in charitable works in the hope of the karmic reward of rebirth in paradise. But as the experience is repeated the person forgets about rewards and gives for the pleasure of giving, eventually advancing to the realization that even this pleasure is selfish. Warmed by the light and peace generated by giving, such a person finds life meaningless without giving selflessly and no longer even takes into consideration the pleasure to be derived from acts of giving.
Basic Buddhist Concepts

Saicho

Predictions of the Decline of the Buddhist Teaching

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Predictions of the decline of the Buddhist teaching had played an important role in Indian and Chinese Buddhism. In China these predictions had been crucial to the development of Pure Land Buddhism and the Sect of the Three Stages. Buddhists representing these movements had argued that a new age in Buddhist history required new teachings. Other Chinese monks, such as Daoxuan, had responded to the threat of a decline in Buddhism by calling upon monks to faithfully follow established Buddhist practices, especially those specified in the precepts.

In Japan the idea of a decline in Buddhist teachings and practices was familiar to Japanese monks as early as the Nara period. Particularly popular was a theory which classified the deterioration of Buddhism into three stages: the Period of the True Dharma (shōbō), the Period of the Imitated Dharma (zōhō) and the End of the Dharma (mappō).

Of the various theories concerning the length of these periods, two were particularly well-known in China and Japan. According to the first, the Period of the True Dharma lasted five-hundred years and the Period of the Imitated Dharma lasted one-thousand years. By the eighth century, the Chinese and Japanese usually dated the death of the Buddha as occurring in 949 BC,5 thus the Nara and Heian periods corresponded to mappō.

Note 5: During the Six Dynasties, Chinese Buddhists moved the date of the death of the Buddha back in time from the fifth century BC to 949 BC in order to counter Taoist charges that the arrival of Buddhism had caused Chinese dynasties to be short-lived and to prove that the Buddha had lived before Lao Tzu. Eventually the date of 949 BC was accepted as the date of the Buddha’s death by most Chinese. By claiming that Buddhism had arrived in China shortly after the Buddha’s death, Chinese monks could argue that Buddhism had been taught in China during the long Chou Dynasty and thus had not adversely affected the longevity of Chinese dynasties.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p171
Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 26, 2019

Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

The Buddha has this discussion with his aunt, Mahā-Prajāpatī, also called Gautamī, in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. She raised the young Siddhartha after his mother Queen Māyā died when he was only six weeks old. Gautamī was also the first woman to be ordained into the Sangha. Since women then were thought by some to be not as capable as men, the Buddha specifically assures Gautamī, and thus all women, of the certainty of her enlightenment.

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