All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 29

Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

Day 29 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered some of the many ways he helps those in trouble, we consider other ways he helps.

“Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Endless-Intent! World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva has these great supernatural powers. He gives many benefits to all living beings. Therefore, they should constantly think of him.

“A woman who, wishing to have a boy, bows and makes offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, will be able to give birth to a boy endowed with merits, virtues and wisdom. [A woman] who, wishing to have a girl, [does the same,] will be able to give birth to a beautiful girl who will be loved and respected by many people because of the roots of virtue which the [newly-born] girl planted in her previous existence. Endless-Intent! Because World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva has these powers, the merits of those who respect him and bow to him will not be fruitless. Therefore, all living beings should keep the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 6, 2018, offers this:

Those who have much lust will be saved from lust if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much anger will be saved from anger if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him. Those who have much stupidity will be saved from stupidity if they constantly think of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and respect him.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. World-Voice-Perceiver is the embodiment of compassion for all beings, the wish that all beings be freed from suffering and realize the enlightenment of the Buddha. This compassion is the antidote to the three poisons of lust, anger and stupidity. By aspiring to the example of World-Voice-Perceiver and awakening our own compassion, we can overcome these poisons and bring benefits to all beings.

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

buddhaseed

Our True Reason for Living

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We realize that the Eternal and Original Buddha Śākyamuni has always had great compassion toward us. We feel the Buddha’s favor, respect Him, and adore Him and by upholding the Odaimoku verbally and faithfully, we connect our lives with the Original Buddha’s life. We should be aware that the Lotus Sūtra is the Buddha’s real intention and that the Lotus Sūtra and the Odaimoku are the paths to attain Buddhahood. We should endeavor to take the Buddha’s vow as our own. That vow is to save all people and have them attain Buddhahood with the Lotus Sūtra and the Odaimoku, and to help the Buddha through our compassionate activities. By doing so, we are able to participate in the Buddha’s eternal life. We are inspired with joy and we find our true reason for living.

Buddha Seed: Understanding the Odaimoku

Saicho

The Right Doctrine and Practice for the Japanese People

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Saichō believed that he was living at a time in history which required radical changes in Japanese Buddhism. His proposal to base monastic practice on the Fan wang Ching was only one part of a larger plan to reform Tendai Buddhism. Saichō envisioned Mount Hiei as an institution which would dispatch monks to the provinces to spread Tendai teachings as well as training them so that they could realize enlightenment during their current lifetime (sokushin jōbutsu).

In the Hokke shūku, Saichō argued that the Lotus Sūtra was the Buddha’s ultimate teaching and that it was appropriate for the Japanese people. In the following passage, Saichō mentioned some of the factors which he believed should be considered in determining the right doctrine and practice for the Japanese people.

If we speak of the age in which we live, it is the end of the Period of the Imitated Dharma and the beginning of the Period of the End of the Dharma. If we inquire about the land in which we live, it is to the east of China (in other words, Japan). … If we ask about the people to whom this teaching is to be preached, it is to those who are born in a time of strife during the period of the five defilements (gojoku).2

These same three factors, the age in which Saichō lived, the Japanese nation, and the capabilities of the Japanese people, decisively influenced Saichō’s understanding of the role which the precepts should play in Japanese Buddhism and led him to formulate a new interpretation of the precepts for Heian period Japan.

Note 2: The five defilements (gojoku) are described in the Lotus Sūtra (Hurvitz trans., p. 31). They consist of five characteristics of an age in decline. First, the age or kalpa itself was defiled. The time was such that the other four defilements tended to come into being. Second, passions (kleśa) such as covetousness, anger and ignorance arose in people. Third, all sentient beings who lived at such a time were defiled; because of past wrongdoings, people possessed inferior faculties and had weak bodies. Fourth, people maintained wrong religious views. They believed in heterodox teachings such as in the existence of an eternal soul. Fifth, the lifespan of people gradually shortened.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p170
WONS

Karmic Bonds Formed in the Past

When I was banished to Sado in the northern sea, people there, both priests and laity, hated me even more than did the men and women of Sagami Province. Abandoned in the wilderness and exposed to the snow, I survived by eating grass. I felt as though I were personally experiencing the sufferings of Su-wu, who survived by eating snow while living in captivity in the land of northern barbarians for nineteen years. Or of Li Ling, who was imprisoned in a rocky cave on the shore of the northern sea for six years. I suffered this ordeal not because of any fault of my own but solely because of my desire to save the country of Japan.

However, while I was exiled in Sado Province, you, my Lady Nun, and your husband, Lord Lay Priest, avoiding the watchful eyes of others, at times brought me food by night. At other times you were both ready to give your lives for my sake without fearing punishment from the provincial officials. Therefore, though life on Sado was harsh, I was loath to leave the island, feeling as if I was leaving my heart behind, and I seemed to be pulled back with each step I took.

I wonder what kind of karmic bond we had formed in the past. Just when I was thinking how mysterious it was, you sent your most precious husband as your messenger to this distant place. I thought it must have been a dream or an illusion. Even though I cannot see you, I am convinced that your heart remains here with me. Whenever you yearn for me, Nichiren, look toward the sun which rises in the morning and the moon which appears in the evening. I will inevitably be reflected in the sun and the moon. In the next life, let us meet in the Pure Land of Mt. Sacred Eagle. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Kō no Ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My lady, the Nun Kō, the Nun Myōichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 166-167

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 25, 2019

My disciples are performing
The Bodhisattva practices secretly
Though they show themselves in the form of Śrāvakas.
They are purifying my world.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. The Śrāvakas are those who hear the teachings of the Buddha and put it into practice only for themselves. They are concerned with ending their own suffering and do not believe they have the capacity to reach the Buddha’s enlightenment. But because they can serve as an example to those who are also unsure about receiving this great wisdom, they can be an inspiration to make progress on the path. With the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha declares that all beings have the capacity for enlightenment, and reveals that all of our pursuits are for the sake of benefiting others. It is when we realize this directly and openly that we perform the Bodhisattva practice, the selfless effort of awakening the world.

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

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Flower Virtue Bodhisattva’s questions about Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we learn of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva transformations.

“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva already made offerings to innumerable Buddhas, attended on them, and planted the roots of virtue a long time ago. He also already saw hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of Buddhas, that is, as many Buddhas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

“Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places. He became King Brahman, King Sakra, Freedom God, Great-Freedom God, a great general in heaven, Vaisravana Heavenly-King, a wheel-turning-holy-king, the king of a small country, a rich man, a householder, a prime minister, a brahmana, a bhikṣu, a bhikṣunī, an upāsakā, an upāsikā, the wife of a rich man, that of a householder, that of a prime minister, that of a brahmana, a boy, a girl, a god, a dragon, a yakṣa, a gandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kiṃnara, a mahoraga, a human being or a nonhuman being. [After he transformed himself into one or another of these living beings,] he expounded this sūtra, and saved the hellish denizens, hungry spirits, animals, and all the other living beings in the places of difficulties. When he entered an imperial harem, he became a woman and expounded this sūtra.

The Daily Dharma from Sept. 24, 2019, offers this:

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.

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

Saicho

Saichō’s Personality

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Saichō’s personality was crucial to his eventual success. In his retreat to Mount Hiei, his voyage to China, his debates with Tokuitsu and his pursuit of independence for the Tendai School, Saichō exhibited a single-minded seriousness of purpose. Throughout his life he stressed the importance of strict adherence to monastic discipline. In his quest for approval of the Shijōshiki and other petitions, he repeated his request almost every year. In approving his proposals, the court recognized that there was no element of self-seeking in Saichō’s reforms. A less serious monk would probably never have succeeded in obtaining approval for such a major revision of the precepts against so much opposition.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p165
Lotus Path

Having Freedom to Enjoy the Process

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We have a choice over how we carry out the activities of our daily life. We can choose to be either weighted down by heavy burdens or we can choose to approach our obligations with a joyful heart. It is a fact that our perception is a very powerful influence over our life condition. How we choose to view things affects how we experience those things. When we can look at our lives as lives that are continually manifesting the benefit of the Lotus Sutra we can experience greater joy. Is this merely mind over matter? I would say not. The reason why I would disagree is because we are not relying on some empty promise. Because we can know the outcome we have a freedom to enjoy the process. And we truly do know the outcome if we maintain our consistent daily effort and practice of the Lotus Sutra.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

d21b, WONS

The Person who has Lost his Right Mind

The reason why such śrāvaka disciples as Śāripūtra and Maudgalyāyana were in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as 3,000 or 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa was not because they committed the crime of ten evil acts, five rebellious sins, or eight rebellious sins such as treason. It was simply because they met “evil friends,” abandoned the faith in the Lotus Sūtra, and moved to the faith in the expedient teachings. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai explains this in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 6, “Upon meeting an ‘evil friend,’ people lose their right mind.” The right mind refers to the mind of putting faith in the Lotus Sūtra, and losing the right mind means abandoning the faith in the Lotus Sūtra and putting faith in other sūtras. Therefore, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, “No matter how effective a medicine is, such a person will never take it.” This is explained by Grand Master T’ien-ta’i in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 6, “A person who has lost his right mind will not take a good medicine, no matter how effective it is, choosing instead to roam about the street of life and death, and run away to foreign countries.”

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 75

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 24, 2019

Flower-Virtue! Now you see Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva here and nowhere else. But formerly he transformed himself into various living beings and expounded this sūtra to others in various places.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In their efforts to benefit all beings, Bodhisattvas develop the capacity to adapt themselves to their circumstances. They know they cannot use the same methods to teach everyone. Instead of seeing the beings in our world of conflict as obstacles to getting what we want, we can learn to see them as great teachers who have transformed themselves into what we need to become enlightened. This can also help them to realize their nature as Bodhisattvas, rather than beings stuck in the world of conflict, absorbed in their own gratification.

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