All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 22

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

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits, we begin again with the merits received by those who heard of the duration of the Buddha’s life.

Thereupon the innumerable, asaṃkhya living beings in the great congregation, who had heard from the Buddha that the duration of his life was so many kalpas as previously stated, obtained great benefits.

At that time the World-Honored One said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva:

“Ajita! When I said that the duration of my life was so long, six hundred and eighty billion nayuta living beings, that is, the living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, obtained the truth of birthlessness. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas numbering one thousand times the number of these living beings obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize all that they had heard. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru-world obtained eloquence without hindrance. Another group of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru world obtained the dharanis by which they could memorize many hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the wheel of the pure Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after three rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas twice the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after two rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi immediately after this life. Living beings as many as the particles of earth of eight Sumeru-worlds aspired for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

One of the great messages here, for me, is not the benefits received but the variety of those benefits. We are all equal but different.

Lotus Seeds

The Ten Worlds: Hungry Ghosts

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The world of the hungry ghosts is only slightly better than that of hell-dwellers. Hungry ghosts are said to have large mouths and bellies, but only tiny throats. Hungry ghosts can never be satisfied and are consumed by craving. This is the state of those who suffer from addictions that control and dominate their lives. These addictions can be to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, power, work, entertainment, or even religion.

Lotus Seeds

Saicho

Mahāyāna Rules and Hinayāna and the Lotus Sūtra

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[In Saichō’s “Petition Asking For Permission To Use The Mahāyāna Precepts” he states:]

Saichō has heard that the Buddha’s precepts vary according to the faculties of the person who follows them. The aims of people differ according to whether they are Hinayāna or Mahāyāna practitioners. The place of honor (jōza) differs according to whether it is occupied by Mañjuśrī or Piṇḍola. The ordination ceremony differs according to whether one or ten teachers participate.

The late Sagely Emperor Kanmu supported the Lotus School and established it anew here. The [virtue] of His Majesty, the Sagely, Literary and Martial Konin Emperor, pervades heaven and earth. His brightness is equal to the sun and moon. His literary genius surpasses the old. His calligraphy is fresh. He gladdens the hearts of the myriad nations and converts the barbarians. He rules the nation and regulates propriety.

Now, at this time, I sincerely request that the monks of both courses turn away from Hinayāna rules and firmly adhere to Mahāyāna rules, and that in accordance with the Lotus Sūtra, Mahāyāna rules not be mixed with the Hinayāna ones. In the third month of every year, on the anniversary of the late emperor’s death, we shall initiate those who have been pure in their practice as bodhisattva novices on Mount Hiei. We shall also confer the full bodhisattva precepts and ordain them as bodhisattva monks. Then they shall live and practice on the mountain for twelve years. They shall be guards for the nation and shall benefit the people. They shall be the nation’s treasure and shall benefit the nation as is specified in the School’s regulations.

[Submitted in 819]

WONS

The Secretly Treasured Doctrine of the Buddha

QUESTION: Various sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra also state that an evil person can become a Buddha. It is preached in the Flower Garland Sūtra that five hundred evil people such as Devadatta will become Buddhas in the future. The Fuchō Zammai Sūtra states that an evil king, Ajātaśatru, will become a Buddha in the future and in the Sūtra of Mahāyāna Dhārani is the story of Vāsudeva, who had gone to hell because of his evil deeds but was guaranteed future Buddhahood. As for the enlightenment of women, the Bosatsu Shotai Sūtra says that any woman can become a Buddha. As for the enlightenment of beasts and birds, the Agama sūtras say that a pigeon will be a Buddha in the future. The enlightenment of the Two Vehicles is mentioned in the Sūtra of Mahāyāna Dhārani and the Heroic Valor Sūtra. The enlightenment of bodhisattvas is mentioned in such sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra. As for rebirth in the Pure Land by ordinary people bound by evil passions, the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life says that even “the lowest grade in the lowest class” will be reborn in the Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life, no matter how serious one’s sin is. As for a woman turning into a man, the Sūtra of the Buddha of Infinite Life states in the thirty-fifth of its forty-eight vows that a woman can turn into a man by reciting the name of the Buddha of Infinite Life and be reborn in the Pure Land. How are these enlightenments thus revealed in these various provisional sūtras different from the assurance of future Buddhahood of the Two Vehicles, a dragon girl, Devadatta, and bodhisattvas in the Lotus Sūtra? Also, there is no doubt that they all attain Buddhahood in these various sūtras even though there are some differences between them and the Lotus Sūtra. What do you think of this?

ANSWER: It is easy to answer your question based on the teachings passed down to me which I hold dear. After hearing my answer, you will clearly see that the Lotus Sūtra is superior to the various other sūtras and determine whether or not it is indeed possible to become Buddhas in those sūtras. However, I cannot write this down on paper because it is the secretly treasured doctrine of the Buddha.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 88-89

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 18, 2019

If they hear the Dharma, some will attain enlightenment;
Others will be reborn in heaven.
The living beings in the evil regions will decrease;
And those who do good patiently will increase.

The Brahma-Heavenly-Kings of the Southwest sing these verses to Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They are imploring that Buddha to share his highest teaching with them, and demonstrating that they are ready to receive it. Those living in evil regions are in great difficulty, because they do not know how to keep from reinforcing their delusions and truly benefit themselves. When a Buddha appears to show all beings the world as it is, he helps us to shed our delusions. But we must still come to him and show through our respect for him that we are ready for his teaching.

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

LS32, WONS

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 concluded Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata, we begin again with Śākyamuni telling the congregation to pay attention.

Thereupon the Buddha aid to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
He said to the great multitude again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”

He said to them once again, “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”

Thereupon the great multitude of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, joined their hands together and said to the Buddha, “World-Honor done, tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”

They said this three times. Then they said once again, “Tell us! We will receive your words by faith.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, seeing that they repeated their appeal even after they repeated it three times, said to them:

“Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers. The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. Suppose someone smashed into dust five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds, which were each composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and went to the east [carrying the dust with him). When he reached a world at a distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds [from this world], he put a particle of dust on that world. Then he went on again to the east, and repeated the putting of a particle of the dust [on the world at every distance of five hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds] until the particles of the dust were exhausted. Good men! What do you think of this? Do you think that the number of the world he went through is conceivable, countable, or not?”

Maitreya Bodhisattva and others said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable, uncountable, inconceivable. No Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha could count them even by his wisdom-without-āsravas. We are now in the state of avaivartika, but cannot, either. World-Honored One! Those worlds are innumerable.”

Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude of Bodhisattvas:

“Good Men! Now I will tell you clearly. Suppose those worlds, whether they were marked with the particles of the dust or not, were smashed into dust. The number of the kalpas which have elapsed since I became the Buddha is on hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhyas larger than the number of the particles of the dust thus produced. All this time I have been living in this Sahā-World, and teaching [the living beings of this world] by expounding the Dharma to them. I also have been leading and benefiting the living beings of one hundred thousand billion nayuta asaṃkhya worlds outside this world.

Nichiren comments on what happened when the Eternal Buddha was revealed in his letter, A Treatise :Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One:

[W]hen the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, this world of endurance (Sahā World) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction, and emptiness. Śākyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this Pure Land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past, present, and future. All those who receive His guidance are one with this Eternal Buddha. It is because each of our minds is equipped with the “3,000 modes of existence” and the “three factors,” namely, all living beings, the land in which they live, and the five elements of living beings (matter, perception, conception, volition and consciousness).

This truth was not made clear in the first fourteen chapters of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. Perhaps it was because the time was not ripe at this stage of preaching the Lotus Sūtra; and capacity of comprehension on the part of the listeners was not yet sufficient.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 148

Saicho

Two Types of Bodhisattva

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[In Saichō’s Shijōshiki (Regulations in Four Articles) submitted in 819, he writes:]

I have pondered upon how the Lotus Sūtra calls the bodhisattva the nation’s treasure and how the Mahāyāna sūtras preach the Mahāyāna practice of benefiting others. If we do not employ Mahāyāna sūtras to prevent the seven calamities which affect the world, then what shall we use? If the great disasters to come are not vanquished by the bodhisattva monks, then how will they be forestalled? The virtue of benefiting others and the power of great compassion is that which the Buddhas extol and that in which gods and men rejoice. The hundred monks (who chant the) Jen wang ching draw upon the power of wisdom (hannya). The eight worthies who practice The Sūtra Used in Asking for Rain (Ch’ing yü Ching) follow the Mahāyāna precepts. If the bodhisattva is not the treasure of the nation or the benefactor of the nation, then who is? In Buddhism he is called a bodhisattva; in the secular world he is called a gentleman. These precepts are broad and extensive; they have the same import for layman and monk (shinzoku ikkan).

Two types of bodhisattva are mentioned in the Lotus Sūtra. The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and the bodhisattva Maitreya are both bodhisattva monks. Bhadrapāla and the five hundred bodhisattvas are lay bodhisattvas. The Lotus Sūtra fully presents both types of men but considers them to be one group. It distinguishes them from Hinayāna monks and considers them to be Mahāyāna practitioners. However, this type of bodhisattva has not yet appeared in Japan. I humbly ask His Majesty to establish this Great Way and transmit the Mahāyāna precepts beginning from this year in the Konin era and continuing forever, and thus benefit (the people and the nation).

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p144
d19b, d20b, WONS

The Four Bodhisattvas from Underground

Among those great bodhisattvas, appearing out of the earth of the whole world, four great sages of Jōgyō (Superior Practice), Muhengyō (Limitless Practice), Jōgyō (Pure Practice), and Anryūgyō (Steadily Established Practice) were outstanding in appearance. Awe stricken by these four, those great bodhisattvas and others who had come to listen to the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra on Mt. Sacred Eagle and up in the sky could not even gaze upon them nor understand who they were. Standing in front of these four who had come from underground, four bodhisattvas in the Flower Garland Sūtra, four bodhisattvas in the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and sixteen bodhisattvas in the Diamond Peak Sūtra seemed to be men squinting at the sun or fishermen facing the emperor. These four bodhisattvas from underground were like the four sages such as T’ai-kung-wang living with the people, or four elder statesmen of Shang-shan waiting on Emperor Hui, the second emperor of the Former Han dynasty. The four bodhisattvas from underground, indeed, appeared commanding and awe-inspiring. With the exception of Śākyamuni, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation, they would have been looked up to by everyone as “good friends.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 70-71

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Sept. 17, 2019

It is useless to stack up a pile of treasures in your storehouse if you are in poor health. Therefore the value of a healthy body is more important than treasures in the storehouse. At the same time, however, a healthy body means nothing if your mind is not pure. This is why we can say that our most precious treasure is our mind itself. Upon reading this letter, please try to accumulate the treasure of your mind.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his “Emperor Shushun” Letter (Sushun Tennō Gosho) addressed to his disciple Shijō Kingo. We can become so focused on acquiring material resources to meet the needs of our bodies, that we neglect to care for our health. A sick man in a mansion cannot be happy. Nichiren points out that even when we have physical health, if our minds are clouded by delusion, we cannot be happy either. The practice of the Wonderful Dharma can bring great physical and material benefits. But more importantly, this practice helps us prepare our minds to appreciate what we have and use it for the benefit of all beings.

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

LS32, WONS

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Maitreya Bodhisattva’s puzzlement about the great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, we consider further Maitreya’s puzzlement.

Some great Bodhisattvas are each accompanied by attendants
Sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges.
They are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
With all their hearts.

The number of these great teachers is sixty thousand times
The number of the sands of the River Ganges.
They came together and made offerings to you.
Now they protect and keep this sūtra.
The attendants or disciples accompanying
Each [of the other great Bodhisattvas] number
Fifty thousand times or forty thousand times
Or thirty thousand times or twenty thousand times
Or ten thousand times or a thousand times
Or a hundred times as many as the sands of the River Ganges,
Or a half, a third, or a quarter
Of the number of the sands of the River Ganges,
Or as many as the sands of the River Ganges Divided by a billion;
Or ten million nayuta, a billion or fifty million,
Or a million, ten thousand, a thousand or a hundred,
Or fifty, ten, three, two or one.
[The great Bodhisattvas] who are accompanied
By less attendants are even more numerous.
Some [great Bodhisattvas] have no attendants
Because they prefer a solitary life.
They are the most numerous.
They came together to you.

No one will be able to count
All [these great Bodhisattvas] even if he uses
A counting wand for more kalpas
Than the number of the sands of the River Ganges.

These Bodhisattvas have
Great powers, virtues and energy.
Who expounded the Dharma to them? Who taught them?
Who qualified them to attain [perfect enlightenment]?

Under whom did they begin to aspire for enlightenment?
What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?
What sūtra did they keep and practice?
What teaching of the Buddha did they study?

These Bodhisattvas have supernatural powers
And the great power of wisdom.
The ground of this world quaked and cracked.
They sprang up from under the four quarters of this world.

World-Honored One!
I have never seen them before.
I do not know
Any of them.

They appeared suddenly from underground.
Tell me why!
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Bodhisattvas
In this great congregation
Also want to know this.

There must be some reason.
Possessor of Immeasurable Virtues!
World-Honored One!
Remove our doubts!

Nichiren addresses these doubts in his letter Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching:

Grand Master Miao-lê further explained in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Wise men know things in advance as a snake knows that it is a snake.” The meaning of these words in the Lotus Sūtra and annotations by T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê are clear, that is to say, nobody had ever seen or heard of those bodhisattvas from the earth after Śākyamuni’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree till today, either in this world or in any of the worlds in the universe.

So the Buddha answered the question of Bodhisattva Maitreya: “Maitreya! It was I who taught and guided those great bodhisattvas whom you said you had never seen. After I attained perfect enlightenment in this Sahā World, I taught, guided, and controlled them, and encouraged them to aspire for enlightenment.” He continued, “After I sat in meditation under the bodhi tree near the town of Gayā and was able to attain perfect enlightenment, I taught and guided them, while preaching the supreme dharma and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. Now they have all been proceeding to the highest enlightenment without falling back I have taught and guided them since the eternal past.”

Then Bodhisattva Maitreya and other great bodhisattvas began to doubt the Buddha. At the time the Flower Garland Sūtra was preached, numerous great bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom gathered. While wondering who they were, Maitreya and others were told by Śākyamuni Buddha, apparently to their satisfaction, that Dharma Wisdom and other great bodhisattvas were Śākyamuni’s “good friends.” The same thing happened to those great bodhisattvas who gathered together at Daihōbō where the Sūtra of the Great Assembly was preached, and to those who gathered at Lake White Heron upon the preaching of the Wisdom Sūtra. The great bodhisattvas appearing from underground now, however, seemed incomparably superior to them, and it appeared probable that they were teachers of Śākyamuni Buddha. Nevertheless, the Buddha declared that it was He who caused them to aspire for enlightenment, as if the Buddha taught and guided immature people as His disciples. It was only natural, therefore, that Bodhisattva Maitreya and others had serious doubts about Śākyamuni Buddha.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 72