Right livelihood is more meaningful if we understand that it is not limited to social and moral conventions but includes the customs and patterns of our individual lives: making good use of the hours between rising and retiring, working well, maintaining good health. Such a way of life requires rational behavior. Care must be taken to get the right amounts of sleep and exercise and to eat wisely. Though our age, sex, constitution, environment, and occupation must all be taken into consideration, an optimum way of life exists for each of us. If we pursue this life steadily over the years, it will exert good influences on our economic and physical well-being, our progress in academic studies and religious practice, and even our ultimate success or failure in life. People who neglect to live in the way best suited to them bring ruin on their own heads. The Buddhist precepts set forth detailed prescriptions for the way monks are expected to live. It should be a major concern of everyone to correct bad habits and live in the regular and careful pattern that is best for him or her.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
All posts by John Hughes
Daily Dharma – Feb. 28, 2019
The Buddha is the master of the human and heavenly realms, the parent of all living beings, and the teacher who opens the way and leads us all to enlightenment. Lowly parents lack the virtue of a master, and the master without the virtue of parents is frightening. People with the virtues of parents or master do not necessarily possess the virtue of the teacher.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō). This illustrates three aspects of the ever-present Buddha to which we can aspire as we practice his highest teachings. Parents care about their children, but they can lack the skill and knowledge necessary to benefit them. A skillful master can be wise about how to live in this world of conflict, but without a true concern for the well-being of those he leads, can degenerate into cruelty and selfishness. As a teacher, the Buddha has found us all within himself, and cares for us as he cares for himself. He has also found himself within all of us, and knows what it takes to lead us to his wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
‘Object of Worship of the Origin Teaching’
Whether imagined as Dharma or as Buddha, Nichiren’s “object of worship of the origin teaching” is perfectly inclusive. As Dharma, its all-encompassing nature has already been discussed: Myōhō-Renge-Kyō contains all teachings, all phenomena, all merits. As Buddha, it is no less embracing:
Zentoku Buddha in the eastern quarter, Dainichi in the center, the [other] Buddhas of the ten directions, the seven Buddhas of the past, the Buddhas of the three time periods, Superior Conduct and the other bodhisattvas, Mañjuśrī and Śāriputra, the great heavenly King Brahma, King Māra of the sixth heaven, King Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the gods of the stars, the seven stars of the Big Dipper, the twenty-eight constellations, the five stars, the seven stars, the eighty-four thousand countless stars, the asura kings, the kami of heaven, the kami of earth, the mountain kami, the kami of the seas, the kami of the clans, the kami of the villages, the persons who rule the various lands in all worlds— which of them is not the Lord Śākyamuni? Tenshō Daijin and Hachiman Daibosatsu also have Śākyamuni, master of teachings, as their original ground (honji). Śākyamuni is like the single moon in the sky, while the various Buddhas and bodhisattvas are like its reflections in myriad bodies of water. One who makes an image of Śākyamuni [thereby] makes [images of] all Buddhas of the ten directions.
This passage appears to draw on the Lotus Sutra’s representation of all Buddhas as emanations of Śākyamuni, as well as on Mikkyō concepts of an all-pervading Dharma-body Buddha. One notes not only that all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhist tutelary deities emanate from Śākyamuni, but that the Japanese kami all have Śākyamuni as their original ground. This reflects Nichiren’s distinctive, Lotus-centered honji-suijaku thought, in which all kami are seen as the local manifestations of Śākyamuni. (Page 272-273)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismWeaving the Warp and Weft of the Mind
Chih-i illustrates the five meanings of sūtra (in the view concerning the word sūtra as translatable) with reference to the mind contemplation. …
In terms of the mind as warp and weft that is related to words, Chih-i views the realization as warp, and contemplation weft. This weaves and forms words and speeches. In terms of mind as warp that is related to practice, Chih-i states that the mind that contains the practice of wisdom is taken as warp, and the mind that contains the practice of eliminating defilement as weft. This weaves and forms all practices. In terms of mind as warp that is related to principle, Chih-i holds that the mind, which is vertically in accordance with the principle, is taken as warp, and the mind, which is horizontally in accordance with the principle, as weft. This weaves and forms the doctrine as principle. (Vol. 2, Page 398)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 15
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 11 with Śākyamuni emitting a ray of light, we return to Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and Śākyamuni explanation that the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.
Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva mahāsattvas:
“I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.
Nichiren explains the importance of this statement by the Buddha in his Essay on Gratitude:
The comparative superiority of all the sūtras preached during fifty years or so by Śākyamuni Buddha is declared in chapter 10 of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Teacher of the Dharma”: “I have expounded numerous sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands, ten thousands and millions of them. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.”
Even if this statement of the Lotus Sūtra were uttered by Śākyamuni Buddha alone, anybody from the highest ranking bodhisattvas down should respect and believe in it. The Buddha of Many Treasures, coming from the Eastern Hōjō World, attested to its truth. Besides, various Buddhas in manifestation from all the worlds in the universe gathered to verify its truth “with their long and wide tongues extended to the Brahma Heaven” just as Śākyamuni Buddha did, and returned to their respective lands.
The three phrases of “already preached, being now preached, and going to be preached” (i, kon, tō) include all the sūtras preached not only by Śākyamuni Buddha during fifty years or so of His preaching but also by all the Buddhas from all the worlds in the universe through the past, present, and future. These numerous sūtras are all compared with the Lotus Sūtra. Suppose that these Buddhas, from all the worlds in the universe, who presented themselves at the assembly of the Lotus Sūtra and added their seals of approval, should return to their respective homelands and say to their disciples that there is a sūtra superior to the Lotus Sūtra, would their disciples trust them at all?
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Simultaneous Cause and Effect
From the point of view of the Original Buddha, the nine realms are swallowed in the Buddha’s great life. We just do not notice it. Renge (Lotus Flower) of Myoho Renge Kyo also shows that cause and effect exists simultaneously as the Lotus Flower contains the seed or potential of the Lotus itself.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuDaily Dharma – Feb. 27, 2019
Mind is called the spiritual aspect while voice is the physical aspect. Therefore the spiritual aspect reveals the physical aspect. But it is also possible to perceive the mind by listening to the voice. In this case, the physical aspect (voice) reveals the spiritual aspect (mind).
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, Wooden Statues or Portraits (Mokue Nizō Kaigen no Koto). This is one of the many instructions Nichiren gives us for how to read the Lotus Sūtra and find the wisdom of the Buddha within it. It is easy to understand how the intentions we have in our minds guide our words and actions. By cultivating the intention to benefit all beings, rather than just focusing on making ourselves happy, we mold our speech and actions to accord with that intention. Finding the mind behind the voice is more difficult. When we look for the Buddha speaking to us in all situations, especially those which are demanding, we bring ourselves closer to the Buddha’s own mind. We bring our speech and actions into harmony with the world as it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The True Aspect of Reality
The true aspect of reality, the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment,” is both immanent and bestowed by a transcendent Buddha. As the ontological basis of Buddhahood, it is timeless and originally inherent. As the seed of Buddhahood embodied in the daimoku of the origin teaching, its revelation is dependent upon the particular historical moment that is the beginning of the Final Dharma age. In the moment that it is taught, upheld, or “embraced,” the daimoku, as the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment in actuality,” embodies the intersection of the timeless realm of original enlightenment with temporal, concrete particulars. (Page 272)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismFive Meanings of Sūtra
Chih-i illustrates the five meanings of sūtra (in the view concerning the word sūtra as translatable) with reference to the mind contemplation. Each of these five meanings is also scrutinized by Chih-i in terms of words, practice and principle. This is because all speeches and words are caused by mental function; all practices are caused by the mind of thinking; and all doctrines and principles are derived from the mind of wisdom. (Vol. 2, Page 398)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 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.
Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s prediction of who will become a Buddha, we consider the consequences of speaking ill of someone who keeps the Lotus Sūtra.
“Medicine-King! An evil man who speaks ill of me in my presence with evil intent for as long as a kalpa is not as sinful as the person who reproaches laymen or monks with even a single word of abuse for their reading and reciting the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
“Medicine-King! Anyone who reads and recites the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, know this, will be adorned just as I am. I will shoulder him. Wherever he may be, bow to him! Join your hands together towards him with all your heart, respect him, make offerings to him, honor him, and praise him! Offer him flowers, incense, necklaces, incense powder, incense applicable to the skin, incense to burn, canopies, banners, streamers, garments, food and various kinds of music! Make him the best offerings that you can obtain in the world of men! Strew the treasures of heaven to him! 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.”
This problem with criticism of those who practice the Lotus Sūtra is a constant concern in Nichiren’s writings. In his “Treatise on Protecting the Nation” he writes:
Preaching the sin of abusing upholders of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra states, “Suppose a person with evil intent keeps speaking ill of the Buddha in His presence for as long as a kalpa (aeons), his sin is rather light. Suppose a person utters a word to curse lay persons or monks who read and recite the Lotus Sūtra, his sin is extremely grave.”
The sin of cursing just one upholder of the Lotus Sūtra is as serious as this. How much more serious the sin of writing books, causing people all over Japan to curse the upholders of the Lotus Sūtra! How much more serious the sin of discouraging practicers of the Lotus Sūtra by designating this sūtra the teaching through which not even one out of 1,000 persons would be able to attain Buddhahood!
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