All posts by John Hughes

Profound

The All-Embracing Nature of the Ultimate Truth

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Whereas the Ultimate Truth is proved to be the substance of the Lotus Sūtra, upon which all the coarse dharmas can be converged into the subtle dharma, Chih-i further argues that the Ultimate Truth can also be taken as the universal substance for all sūtras, based on his own theory of the all-embracing nature of the Ultimate Truth.

In the first aspect, Chih-i argues that the Ultimate Truth as the substance of the Lotus Sūtra actually bears different names, which are indicated in various quotations cited. The phrases quoted by Chih-i, such as “presently, the Buddha signals rays of light, wishing to reveal the doctrine of the Ultimate Truth,” “the doctrine of the Ultimate Truth of all dharmas, I have already taught you,” “to open the Buddha’s insight and knowledge,” “unsurpassed Path,” and so on, support his argument that these names refer to the Ultimate Truth. (Vol. 2, Page 429-430)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


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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 concluded Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we begin again at the top with Śākyamuni Buddha emitting rays of light illumining one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds in the east.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha [faced the east and] emitted rays of light from the fleshy tuft on his head, that is, from one of the marks of a great man, and also from the white curls between his eyebrows. The light illumined one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds, that is, as many worlds in the east as there are sands in the River Ganges. There was a world called [All-] Pure-Light-Adornment [in the east] beyond those worlds. In that world was a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. He expounded the Dharma to a great multitude of innumerable Bodhisattvas who were surrounding him respectfully. The ray of light, which was emitted from the white curls [between the eyebrows] of Śākyamuni Buddha, also illumined that world.

At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World. He had already planted roots of virtue a long time ago. He had already made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and attended on them. He had already obtained profound wisdom. He had already obtained hundreds of thousands of billions of great samadhis, that is, as many great samadhis as there are sands in the River Ganges, such as the samadhi as wonderful as the banner of a general, the samadhi for the traveling of the king of the stars, the samadhi for freedom from causality, the samadhi for the seal of wisdom, the samadhi by which one could understand the words of all living beings, the samadhi by which one could collect all merits, the samadhi for purity, the samadhi for exhibiting supernatural powers, the samadhi for the torch of wisdom, the samadhi for the Adornment-King, the samadhi for pure light, the samadhi for pure store, the samadhi for special teachings, and the samadhi for the revolution of the sun.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra offers this observation on the world of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva:

In Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, the Pure Land of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva is described as existing in the east. According to the Lotus Sutra, however, the Pure Land should not be anywhere else than right here in our Sahā-world. This idea was presented in Chapter Sixteen, the “Duration of the Life of the Tathagata.” It is a principal theme of the Lotus Sutra, which always emphasizes practice in our real world. It concludes that “the Sahā-world itself is the Pure Land.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Lotus Seeds

Defilements

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Before looking at the non-dual nature of defilements and awakening, we should make sure that we clearly understand what is meant by the two terms. Defilements are those personal characteristics or personality traits that keep us in a state of agitation, anxiety, or frustration and prevent us from realizing our own Buddha-nature. “Defilements” refers to the Three Poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, and also to pride, false views, and doubt. According to Buddhism, the neediness of greed, the paranoia of hatred, the confusion of delusion, and the negativity generated by the other defilements are what keep us from feeling totally at ease, happy, peaceful, and confident. Because of these defilements, we never see things in the true light of reality. …

On the other hand, the defilements, or self-centered desires, can also be viewed as positive qualities that have not yet developed. For instance, those who are full of craving and attachment are also capable of single-minded devotion to the Three Treasures. Those who are highly critical and hostile towards others also have the capacity to develop critical thinking in order to discern truth from falsehood. Those whose minds are easily distracted by endless speculation are also acknowledged for their open-mindedness and curiosity. Buddhism recognizes that ignorant desires can be harnessed or developed into good qualities. We should also keep in mind that these defilements are the very qualities which motivate us to practice Buddhism. After all, if our lives were perfect and we felt neither desire nor dissatisfaction, then there would be no need to seek out the true nature of all existence or to cultivate the wisdom and compassion of Buddhahood. Our recognition of these qualities as defilements reveals a deep need within us to find meaning, security, and true happiness.

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 12, 2019

Thus, what the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration should be afraid of are not swords and sticks, tigers and wolves, or the ten evil acts and the five rebellious sins but those monks who wear Buddhist robes and pretend to be high priests without knowing the true teaching and those people who regard monks of provisional teachings as venerable and hate the practicers of the True Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). In Nichiren’s time, Buddhist monks had a great influence on the leaders of Japan, and thus on the lives of ordinary people. Wars, taxes, disease and education were no less important in Nichiren’s time than they are now. Nichiren recognized that the greatest danger came not from external forces, but from those within the country who took positions of power to benefit themselves rather than others. Nichiren’s reliance on the Wonderful Dharma, and his refusal to be coerced by his persecutions, show us how to live in this degenerating age.

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

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Aspiration for the Pure Land of Eagle Peak

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In Nichiren’s thought, aspiration for the Pure Land of Eagle Peak assumes a particular orientation, informed by his exclusive commitment to the Lotus Sūtra. Most Lotus practitioners of the Heian and Kamakura periods recited the sūtra in hopes of achieving Amida’s western Pure Land. Nichiren, however, had so thoroughly rejected any aspect of faith in Amida that he would not have been able to represent the next life in such terms. The “Pure Land of Sacred Eagle Peak” provided him with a needed alternative image, consistent with his Lotus exclusivism, for conceptualizing what happens to believers after death. As others have suggested, Nichiren may also have begun to preach to his followers about this pure land in response to the sense of imminent danger accompanying the Mongol threat, and the concept was no doubt further stimulated by the suppressions experienced by Nichiren and his community. The “Pure Land of Eagle Peak” was thus posited in contrast to, and as recompense for enduring, the hardships occasioned by upholding exclusive faith in the Lotus in this present world. Moreover, during his reclusion on Mt. Minobu, as Nichiren himself grew older, he was also faced increasingly with the need to console followers who had lost parents, spouses, and children; the promise of reunion in the Pure Land of Eagle Peak occurs frequently in his letters on such occasions. (Page 293-294)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

The Ultimate Truth as Substance Is Same

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Chih-i reiterates that although there are different teachings in accordance with different abilities of beings, the Ultimate Truth as substance is the same. He explains that the Buddha teaches four different Dharma-doors in accordance with four kinds of faculties of beings. Different teachings of the Buddha designate names different. Separate functions of the teaching designate meanings also different. However, as one’s final realization of the principle is not different, the underlying substance is the same. (Vol. 2, Page 416)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism


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Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, we begin again with today’s portion and Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva’s greeting to Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha.

“Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

“Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha said to Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, ‘Good man! The time of my Nirvana is near at hand. The time of my extinction is coming. Prepare me a comfortable couch! I shall enter into Parinirvana tonight.’ “Then he instructed Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, saying, ‘Good man! I will transmit all my teachings to you. [I also will transmit] to you all the Bodhisattvas and all my great disciples. [I also will transmit] to you my teachings for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. I also will transmit to you the one thousand Sumeru worlds made of the seven treasures, the jeweled trees, the jeweled platforms, and the gods attending on me. I also will transmit to you the śarīras to be left after my extinction. Distribute my śarīras far and wide and make offerings to them! Erect thousands of stupas [to enshrine them]!’

The Daily Dharma from May 10, 2018, offers this:

Having sung this gāthā, Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! You do not change, do you?’

This description of the life of Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva comes from Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. In a previous existence, this Bodhisattva had given up his body and his life for the sake of teaching the Wonderful Dharma. He was then reborn into a world in which the Buddha he served previously was still alive and benefitting all beings. Recognizing this unchanging aspect of the Buddha despite his changing appearances helps us see into our own capacity for enlightenment.

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

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – March 11, 2019

He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra, speaking of those who keep and practice the Wonderful Dharma. Dreams for many of us can be frightening places. They can be where we relive bad situations in our past or develop fantastic scenarios for disasters in the future. When we accept our nature as Bodhisattvas, and live assured of our future enlightenment, we find that even the thoughts over which we have no control begin to harmonize with the world around us. When we learn to recognize the Buddha in our everyday lives, our old traumas become vehicles for compassion.

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

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The Pure Land of Sacred Eagle Peak

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THE PURE LAND OF SACRED EAGLE PEAK

Shortly before his exile to Sado, Nichiren began to refer in his letters and other writings to the “Pure land of Sacred [Eagle] Peak” (ryōzen jōdo). These references increase during the Sado period and especially during Nichiren’s retirement on Mt. Minobu. “Sacred Eagle Peak” (or “Sacred Vulture Peak”) translates Ryōjusen (Chn. Ling-chiu-shan), the Chinese translation for Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak), the name of the mountain in Rājagṛha where the Lotus Sūtra is said to have been preached. The notion of Eagle Peak as a pure land seems to arise from a conflation of this site with the sūtra’s assertion that this Sahā world is the eternal dwelling place of the original Buddha:

Throughout asaṃkhya-kalpas I am always on Sacred Eagle Peak as well as in other dwelling places. When the beings see the kalpa ending and [the world] being consumed in a great fire, this land of mine is safe and peaceful, always filled with gods and humans.

In it are gardens, groves, halls, and towers . . . wherein the beings play and amuse themselves . . . My pure land is not destroyed, yet the multitude see it consumed in flames.

Worried, they fear the torment of pains. … Those who have cultivated merit, who are gentle and agreeable, straightforward and honest, all do, however, see my body dwelling here and preaching the Dharma.

Kumārajīva (344—413), the sūtra’s translator, is said to have interpreted the lines “My pure land is not destroyed / yet the multitude see it consumed in flames” to mean “the two qualities of purity and defilement dwelling in the same place.” Since his time, “Eagle Peak” was frequently understood as representing the ontological nonduality of delusion and enlightenment, or of the present, Sahā world and the Land of Ever Tranquil Light. This reading clearly informs Nichiren’s understanding of the present world as potentially the Buddha land… . However, “Sacred Eagle Peak” was also known to be a specific place and, in the manner of many continental sacred sites, had manifested itself in Japan. Mt. Hiei, Ōmine, Kasagi, and other locations of mountain ascetic practice were all at times identified with “Eagle Peak.” Nichiren, too, occasionally equated Eagle Peak with Mt. Minobu, where he, the gyōja of the Lotus Sūtra, was living. (Page 292-293)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

Greater Vehicle

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Chih-i concludes that [his three analogies concerning Ultimate Truth as substance] embody the subtleties of substance, function, and gist. The substance of the Lotus Sūtra as the Ultimate Truth is like the big elephant touching the bottom of mud, so firm that this substance cannot be destroyed. This analogizes the Subtlety of Substance (T’i-miao). The wishing-grant gem Ju-i that rains down treasures analogizes the Subtlety of Function (Yung-miao). The skilled wisdom of the bodhisattva of the Perfect Teaching analogizes the Subtlety of Gist (Tsung-miao). Chih-i adds that these three subtleties that cannot be conceptualized as either vertical or horizontal are named “Greater Vehicle.” (Vol. 2, Page 412)

The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism