All posts by John Hughes

Lotus Path

Seeing the Buddha

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“It is difficult to see a Buddha” – Lotus Sutra, Chapter I

Thinking about this phrase I am always struck by the differing ways this can be interpreted. On the one hand the sutra is specifically referring to how rare it is to encounter a Buddha in one’s lifetime; the fact that Buddhas only physically appear on rare occasions.

Here on this earth we have the historical Buddha who appeared and taught some 2,500 years ago. There is also the prediction of the appearance of Maitreya at some point in the distant future, who will teach for a limited amount of time, numbering supposedly just a few days at most.

Another meaning is we fail to perceive the eternally existing Buddha in the universe. It is difficult for us to look at life and see there is the Buddha present in every moment, in every breath. Of course through our practice and study of the Lotus Sutra we know, at least theoretically, that the Buddha is ever present and never disappears.

Another possible interpretation is that within our own lives it is difficult for us to see the Buddha. Also, that it is difficult for us to see the Buddha in other beings. Sometimes this difficulty is because we don’t want to see the Buddha either in others or ourselves. We may have ingrained in our minds that we are not worthy or that we are incapable of being such a thing as a Buddha. We may even hold that opinion of others also, thinking that there is no way this or that person, with the way they act, or the way they think, that they could be a Buddha.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

WONS

The True Teaching Of Śākyamuni Buddha

Since the Lotus Sūtra is the true teaching of Śākyamuni Buddha, anyone who chants even one character of it will not fall into the three evil regions (hell, realm of hungry spirits, and that of animals) even if he commits such serious sins as the ten evil acts,* five rebellious sins,** or four major sins.*** This means that women who believe in the Lotus Sūtra will never fall into the three evil regions because of their sins committed in this world, even if the sun and the moon should not rise in the east, the ground should be turned upside down, oceans should not have low or high tides, cracked stones should stick back together, or the river water should not flow into the sea.

* Ten evil acts: killing living beings, stealing, adultery, lies, harsh words, words causing enmity between two or more persons, idle talk, greed, anger, and false views.

** Five rebellious sins: killing one’s father, one’s mother, an arhat; injuring the Buddha; and disturbing peace among Buddhist monks.

*** Four major sins: killing living beings, stealing, adultery and lying.

Gassui Gasho, A Letter on Menstruation, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 32

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 26, 2019

When I saw that some people of little virtue and of much defilement were seeking the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, I told them, ‘I renounced my family when I was young, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago].’ In reality I became the Buddha in the remotest past as I previously stated. I told them so as an expedient to teach them, to lead them into the Way to Buddhahood.

In Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha gives this explanation of a parable he tells in Chapter Three. In that story, the foolish children of a wise man were playing in a burning house. The man tried to warn his children of the dangers of the house, but the children were so preoccupied with their games they would not leave. Only when the man promised them better toys outside would the children leave the house. The words used by the wise man were meant to get the children out of the house, even though the toys did not exist. These words were necessary to motivate the children to set aside their delusions. They were not meant to be taken literally. We learn from this explanation how the Buddha uses words, and why we formerly needed his expedient teachings.

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

original

Two Aspects of Human Relation to the Buddha

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As discussed thus far, the “three thousand realms in one thought-moment” both is the ontological basis on which the realization of Buddhahood can occur and is embodied in the daimoku as the “seed” that provides the condition of that realization. These two meanings of ichinen sanzen can also be distinguished respectively as “principle” (ri) and “actuality” (ji). The two perspectives are further brought out in the two aspects of human relation to the Buddha as described in the Kanjin honzon shō. On the one hand:

Śākyamuni of subtle awakening [myōkaku] is our blood and flesh. Are not the merits of his causes [ practice ] and effects [ enlightenment ] our bones and marrow? . . . The Śākyamuni of our own mind is the ancient Buddha without beginning, who has manifested the three bodies since countless dust-particle kalpas ago (gohyakujindengō).

Yet on the other hand,

For those unable to discern the three thousand realms in one thought moment, the Buddha, arousing great compassion, placed this jewel within the five characters and hung it from the necks of the immature beings of the last age.

(Page 271-272)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

Tallying with the Mind

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In terms of the mind that is related to the meaning “tallying with,” this refers to the mind that is identical to tallying with the contemplation as wisdom. Tallying with the mind that contains objects as truth is taken as tallying with conditions in terms of suiting the abilities of beings. Tallying with the mind of pleasure and desires is taken as tallying with the teaching as expedient means. Tallying with the mind that contains the Siddhānta for Each Person and the Siddhānta of Counteraction is taken as tallying with practice. Tallying with the mind that contains the Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth is taken as tallying with principle. (Vol. 2, Page 398)

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


LS32

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the reaction of the five hundred Arhats to Śākyamuni’s prediction, we conclude Chapter 8 with Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others repeating what they had said in gāthās.

Thereupon Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others, wishing to repeat what they had said, sang in gāthās:

Your assurance of our future Buddhahood
Gives us unsurpassed peace.
Hearing your voice, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.
We bow to you, to the Buddha of Immeasurable Wisdom.

Now in your presence,
We reproach ourselves for our faults.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was
Only part of the immeasurable treasures of yours.
We were like a foolish man with no wisdom.
We satisfied ourselves with what little we had attained.

Suppose a poor man visited
His good friend, who was very rich.
The friend feasted him
With delicacies.

He fastened a priceless gem
Inside the garment of the man as a gift to him,
And went out without leaving a word.
The sleeping man did not notice [the gift].

The man woke up, and went to another country.
He worked to get food and clothing.
He had much difficulty
In earning his livelihood.

He satisfied himself with what little he earned.
He did not wish to get anything more.
He did not notice the priceless gem
Fastened inside his garment.

The good friend who gave the gem to the poor man
Happened to see him later.
He blamed him severely,
And showed him the gem fastened [inside the garment].

Seeing the gem,
The poor man had great joy.
Now he satisfied his five desires
With many treasures.

We are like the poor man.
In the long night you taught us
Out of your compassion towards us,
And caused us to aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

Because we had no wisdom, we did not notice that.
The Nirvāṇa we attained was only part [of your wisdom].
Satisfying ourselves with it,
We did not wish to attain anything more.

Now you have awakened us, saying:
“What you attained was not true extinction.
When you have the unsurpassed wisdom of the Buddha,
You will attain true extinction.”

Hearing from you that we are assured
Of becoming Buddhas one after another,
And that our worlds will be adorned,
We are joyful in body and mind.

The Daily Dharma from Feb. 6, 2019, offers this:

He satisfied himself with what little he earned.
He did not wish to get anything more.
He did not notice the priceless gem
Fastened inside his garment.

These verses are part of a story told by Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and other disciples in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. It is about a man whose friend gives him a jewel while he is asleep. Not realizing he has this treasure, the man returns to his ordinary life, desperate to make a living and satisfy his ordinary desires. The story shows how we live when we forget about the jewel of Buddha nature we carry with us.

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

History of Japanese Religion

For the Glory of Buddha

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The last and bitterest of the combats was fought in Miyako in 1536, when the soldier-monks of Hiei in alliance with the Ikkō fanatics attacked the Nichirenites and burnt down twenty-one of their great temples in the capital and drove them out of the city. Shouts of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” the slogan of the Nichirenites, vied with “Namu Amida Butsu,” the prayer of the Ikkō men; many died on either side, each believing that the fight was fought for the glory of Buddha and that death secured his birth in paradise.

History of Japanese Religion

Daily Dharma, d2b

Daily Dharma – Feb. 25, 2019

Always seeking fame and gain,
He often visited noble families.
He did not understand what he had recited,
Gave it up, and forgot it.
Because of this,
He was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] did many good karmas,
And became able to see innumerable Buddhas.

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva sings these verses in Chapter One of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story he tells about Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva (Gumyō, Yaśaskāma). This shows that each of the innumerable Bodhisattvas who are helping us to become enlightened use different ways of reaching people. Even those enmeshed in the suffering of self-importance, who use this Wonderful Dharma to make themselves seem superior to others, simply because they are leading others to this teaching, they too are creating boundless merit.

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

original

The Seed Being Simultaneously the Harvest of Liberation

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Although the very notion of a “seed” tends to suggest a gradual process of growth and maturation, in Nichiren’s thought, because “original cause” and “original effect” are simultaneous, the “process” of sowing, maturing, and harvesting also occurs simultaneously. This is called, in the terminology of Nichirenshū doctrine, “the seed being simultaneously [the harvest of] liberation” (shu soku datsu). Nichiren explains this idea in readily accessible terms to a lay follower:

The mahā-mandārava flowers in heaven and the cherry blossoms of the human world are both splendid flowers, but the Buddha did not choose them to represent the Lotus Sūtra. There is a reason why, from among all flowers, he chose this [lotus] flower to represent the sūtra. Some flowers first bloom and then produce fruit, while others bear fruit before flowers. Some bear only one blossom but many fruit, others send forth many blossoms but only one fruit, while others produce fruit without flowering. In the case of the lotus, however, flowers and fruit appear at the same time. The merit of all [other] sūtras is uncertain, because they teach that one must first plant good roots and [only] afterward become a Buddha. But in the case of the Lotus Sūtra, when one takes it in one’s hand, that hand at once becomes Buddha, and when one chants it with one’s mouth, that mouth is precisely Buddha. It is like the moon being reflected in the water the moment it appears above the eastern mountains, or like a sound and its echo occurring simultaneously.(Page 271)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

The ‘Line Marker’ of the Mind

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Five meanings that are related to mind are enumerated by Chih-i. …

With regard to the mind that contains the meaning “line marker” (Hsin-shih Sheng-mo), this refers to the mind that is correct without deviance, which is illustrated by Chih-i in reference to words, practice and principle. In terms of the mind that is related to words, this means that by contemplating mind, one is able to obtain correct words, and be removed from deviant words. In terms of the mind that is related to practice, this means that by contemplating mind, one is able to obtain correct thought and eliminate evil actions. In terms of the mind that is related to principle, this means that by contemplating mind, one’s correct mind is able to depart from false views and attachments, and to penetrate the correct principle. (Vol. 2, Page 397-398)

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