All posts by John Hughes

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered seeing with the eyes of the Buddha the living beings of the six regions, we consider the thinking behind Śākyamuni’s decision to turn the Wheel of the Dharma.

On that occasion King Brahman,
Heavenly-King Śakra,
The four heavenly world-guardian kings,
Great-Freedom God, and other gods [of each world],
And thousands of millions of their attendants
Joined their hands together [towards me] respectfully,
Bowed to me,
And asked me to turn the wheel of the Dharma.

I thought:
“If I extol only the Buddha-Vehicle,
The living beings [of the six regions] will not believe it
Because they are too much enmeshed in sufferings to think of it.
If they do not believe but violate the Dharma,
They will fall into the three evil regions.
I would rather enter into Nirvana quickly
Than expound the Dharma to them.”

But, thinking of the past Buddhas who employed expedients,
I changed my mind and thought:
“I will expound the Dharma which I attained
By dividing it into the Three Vehicles.”

The Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters
Appeared before me when I had thought this.
They consoled me with their brahma voices:
“Good, Śākyamuni, Highest Leading Teacher!
You attained the unsurpassed Dharma.
You have decided to expound it with expedients
After the examples of the past Buddha
We also expound the Three Vehicles
To the Living beings
Although we attained
The most wonderful and excellent Dharma.
Men of little wisdom wish to hear
The teachings of the Lesser Vehicle.
They do not believe that they will become Buddhas.
Therefore, we show them
Various fruits of enlightenment.
Although we expound the Three Vehicles,
Our purpose is to teach only Bodhisattvas.”

Śāriputra, know this!
Hearing the deep, pure, and wonderful voices
Of the Lion-Like Saints,
I joyfully called out, “Namo Buddhaya!”
I thought:
“I appeared in the defiled world.
Just like the other Buddhas,
I will expound the Dharma
According to the capacities of all living beings.”
Having thought this, I went to Varanasi,
And expounded the Dharma to the five bhikṣus
With expedients
Because the state of tranquil extinction of all things
Is inexplicable by words.
That was my first turning
Of the wheel of the Dharma.
Thus the words: Nirvana, Arhat, Dharma,
and Sangha
Came into existence.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra discusses this process that followed the Buddha’s enlightenment but, for some reason, couches it in terms of a legend.

What is the significance of expedients? First of all, let us think about this question from the standpoint of Buddhism in general.

There is a legend that Sakyamuni, when he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya, in north-eastern India, was so impressed by its profundity that he remained motionless for hours. Then the Heavenly King Brahman, the lord of our world, came to him and said, “Your state of enlightenment is, indeed, impressive. Nevertheless, no matter how wonderful it may be to you, what good is it to anyone else? How are you going to serve people if you remain silent? Now that you have attained the ultimate truth, Please expound it to the people of the world and deliver them, too, from suffering.” After considering this request, Sakyamuni nodded in agreement, rose from his seat, and set out for Sarnath, where he delivered his first sermon

This legend shows that the profound depth of the Buddha’s enlightenment is almost impossible to express in words. (Otherwise the Buddha would have taught it immediately.) Nevertheless, it must be presented in words and expressed somehow if it is to help people. Words, however, are not always the perfect means of representing facts; they can express only part of them. For instance, we often find it difficult to express our innermost thoughts or complicated physical problems in words. (Physicists generally must resort to mathematical formulae; musicians use music; artists paint, and so on.)

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Lotus Path

Creating New Outcomes in Our Lives

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The Buddha taught the Eightfold Path as the way to eliminate suffering. We may wonder how it is we can eliminate suffering merely by following this way. If we look at the word ‘right’ in each of the eight instructions and we consider it from the perspective of right versus wrong then we will continue to suffer because we will form a perspective of judgment; trying to decide who or what is right and what is wrong. Instead, when we consider right from the perspective of what is most skillful and what will do the most good or even sometimes what will do the least harm, then we can begin to approach each of these in a different perspective. By trying to always consider what will do the most good, not only for ourselves but for others as well, we not only accumulate merit but we increase the good being done in society. By changing our behavior and thoughts we can then create new outcomes in our lives, different from the outcomes that cause suffering for ourselves and for others.

Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 16, 2019

Since time immemorial all the people on the earth have been the Buddha Śākyamuni’s beloved children. We had not realized the relationship because we had been undutiful children. It is a unique relationship. As the moon reflects on calm water, the Buddha appears in our calm mind.

Nichiren wrote this in his Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Shuyō Shō). The ancient Chinese believed that society became civilized only when people recognized the debt they owe to their ancestors. As children we must grow to become independent, but that does not mean we should forget how dear we are to our parents and show gratitude for their bringing us into this world. Nichiren uses this example to remind us how dear we are to the Buddha. When we forget who we are and where we came from, our minds become disturbed and conflicted. It is through gratitude that we find peace.

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

original

Fivefold Comparison

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It should be noted that, in the context of the Kaimoku shō, this “true ichinen sanzen,” the mutual encompassing of original cause and original effect that is “hidden in the depths” of the “Fathoming the Lifespan” chapter, comes as the culmination of a discussion of five successive levels of teaching, codified by later Nichiren scholars as the “fivefold comparison” (gojū sōtai). Though he did not state so explicitly, Nichiren was in effect here establishing his own doctrinal classification (kyōhan). In so doing, he drew on both traditional T’ien-t’ai categories and the medieval Tendai of his own day, assimilating them to his own insights. The five steps of the comparison are: (1) Buddhist teachings surpass those of non-Buddhist traditions, such as Confucianism and Brahmanism (naige sōtai); (2) within Buddhism, Mahāyāna surpasses Hinayāna (daishō sōtai); (3) within the Mahāyāna, the Lotus Sūtra, being true, surpasses the other sūtras, which are provisional (gonjitsu sōtai); (4) within the Lotus Sūtra, the origin teaching surpasses the trace teaching (honjaku sōtai); and (5) within the origin teaching, “contemplative insight” (kanjin) surpasses the written text (kyōsō). From the standpoint of the sūtra text, the “Fathoming the Lifespan” chapter reveals that Śākyamuni Buddha first achieved Buddhahood countless kalpas ago; yet, however inconceivably distant, that Buddhahood nonetheless had a beginning in time and represents the fruit of a linear process of cultivation. From the standpoint of kanjin, however, the same “Fathoming the Lifespan” chapter is seen to reveal the mutual encompassing of the beginningless nine realms and the beginningless Buddha realm, or the simultaneity of original cause and original effect. Unlike some of the later, more extreme medieval Tendai thinkers, Nichiren never regarded kanjin as a separate transmission independent of the Lotus Sūtra; the realm of “original cause and original effect” is always mediated by the sūtra text. (Page 265)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

Sūtra Line Markers

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With regard to sūtra that means line marker (Han-sheng-mo), Chih-i addresses that when the meaning “line marker” is discussed in terms of teaching, it indicates that when one hears the teaching of the Worldly Siddhānta, one eradicates heretic views. One is not deluded by a heretic force and is able to enter the correct path. When the meaning “line marker” is discussed in terms of practice, it indicates that when one hears the teaching of the Siddhānta for Each Person, and the teaching of the Siddhānta of Counteraction, one alters from the wrong path to the correct path. When the meaning “line marker” is discussed in terms of doctrine, it indicates that when one hears the teaching of the Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth, one severs false views in this shore of the mundane world, and reaches the other shore of liberation. (Vol. 2, Page 392)

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


LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 2, Expedients, we return to the top and the World-Honored One emerging quietly from his samādhi.

Thereupon the World-Honored One emerged quietly from his samādhi, and said to Śāriputra:

“The wisdom of the [present] Buddhas is profound and immeasurable. The gate to it is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. [Their wisdom] cannot be understood by any Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha because the [present] Buddhas attended on many hundreds of thousands of billions of [past] Buddhas, and practiced the innumerable teachings of those Buddhas bravely and strenuously to their far-flung fame until they attained the profound Dharma which you have never heard before, [and became Buddhas,] and also because [since they became Buddhas] they have been expounding the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings in such various ways that the true purpose of their [various] teachings is difficult to understand.

“Śāriputra! Since I became a Buddha, I [also] have been expounding various teachings with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, and with various similes. I have been leading all living beings with innumerable expedients in order to save them from various attachments, because I have the power to employ expedients and the power to perform the pāramitā of insight.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sūtra explains why Śāriputra is the recipient of this revelation:

In Chapter One, Sakyamuni entered into the samadhi (deep concentration) on the Innumerable Teachings, and his body and mind became motionless. Now at the beginning of this chapter, he emerges quietly from that samadhi and begins to speak to Sariputra, one of his disciples. “The wisdom of the Buddhas,” he says, “is profound and immeasurable. Their wisdom cannot be understood by any “hearer” or “private Buddha.”

Sakyamuni chose Sariputra deliberately. He was a good example of a “hearer” who had attained the highest rank and become an arhat. In addition, he was considered the wisest among the ten great disciples of the Buddha. The Buddha begins his sermon with a gentle but firm criticism of the “hearers” and “private Buddhas.” The wisdom of the real Buddhas, he says, is far beyond their comprehension. The disciples must break from any attachment to their own way. Its results are only partial, not complete.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

History of Japanese Religion

The Debate

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[Nichiren’s] disciples went into temples and monasteries where their adversaries were preaching or giving lectures and entered into hot debates with them, crying: “Be converted to the right faith, or convince me and I will surrender to your standpoint.” In this respect the Nichirenites revived the method of the Indian fighter Arya-deva, and like him offered even their own lives if defeated in the debate. This fierce side of the “repressive propaganda” was, however, supplemented by the “persuasive way” of meek admonition and kind counsel.

History of Japanese Religion

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Feb. 15, 2019

Enemies find it difficult to attack when two people are together. Therefore, do not keep your brothers at a distance even for a brief period, regardless of what faults they may have; always be close to them. Whenever you get angry, it is clearly written on your face. Please remember that at no time do gods or deities protect those who are short tempered. It is true that you are destined to become a Buddha, but isn’t it regrettable for you to get hurt, pleasing your enemy and causing us grief?

Nichiren wrote this passage in his “Emperor Shushun” Letter (Sushun Tennō Gosho) addressed to his disciple Shijō Kingo. Nichiren knew the temperament of this Samurai warrior, and gave him detailed instructions for how to navigate the political hazards he faced. No matter how vindictive his Lord Ema became, Nichiren reminded him to persist in leading Ema by the Buddha Dharma and to rely on those who kept the Lotus Sūtra with him. As a result, Kingo outlived both Ema and Nichiren himself and is well known as one of Nichiren’s first followers.

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

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Demolishing the Trace Teachings

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Nichiren elaborates (see earlier) in the following passage:

“When one arrives at the origin teaching, because [the view that the Buddha] first attained enlightenment [in this lifetime] is demolished, the fruits of the four teachings are demolished. The fruits of the four teachings being demolished, their causes are also demolished. The causes and effects of the ten realms of the pre-Lotus Sūtra and trace teachings being demolished, the cause and effect of the ten realms of the origin teaching are revealed. This is precisely the doctrine of original cause (hon ‘in) and original effect (honga). The nine realms are inherent in the beginningless Buddha realm; the Buddha realm inheres in the beginningless nine realms. This represents the true mutual inclusion of the ten realms, the hundred realms and thousand suchnesses, and the three thousand realms in one thought-moment.”

To unpack the rather technical language of this passage, the “four teachings” here represent those other than the Lotus Sūtra. Their “effects” refers to the attainment of Buddhahood, or to the Buddhas, represented in these teachings, and their “causes,” to the practices for attaining Buddhahood, or to those still in the stages of practice. In terms of the ten dharma realms, “cause” represents the nine realms, and “effect,” the Buddha realm. “Demolishing” the causes and effects of the pre-Lotus Sūtra teachings and the trace teaching of the Lotus Sūtra means to demolish linear views of practice and attainment, in which efforts are first made and then Buddhahood is realized as a later consequence. The origin teaching   specifically, the “Fathoming the Lifespan” chapter with its revelation of the Buddha’s original enlightenment   is here seen as opening a perspective in which cause (nine realms) and effect (Buddhahood) are present simultaneously. It is passages such as this that led Tamura Yoshirō to assert that Nichiren maintained the notion of original enlightenment in the depths of his mature thought. (Page 264-265)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


Profound

The Gushing Spring

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With regard to sūtra that means gushing spring (flan-Yungch ‘üan), Chih-i explains that the meaning “gushing spring” is a figure of speech, indicating that the meanings stemming from the teaching of the Four Siddhāntas are endless, and what flows out of the Buddha-dharma is inexhaustible. The gushing spring in terms of teaching refers to measureless meanings that flow out of one sentence in the Worldly Siddhānta. The gushing spring in terms of practice refers to measureless practices arouse by hearing the teaching of the Siddhānta for Each Person, and the teaching of the Siddhānta of Counteraction. These practices can lead one to enter the realm of wholesomeness and the Eightfold Correct Path. The gushing spring in terms of the doctrine refers to the one, by hearing the Supreme Truth, is able to understand that the principle is like empty space. The dharma as empty space cannot be conceptualized and permeates everywhere.

Chih-i adds that when these three aspects are scrutinized as the Dharmadoor, the teaching as the gushing spring refers to the eloquence of the dharma without obstruction; the practice as the gushing spring refers to the eloquence of phrases without obstruction; the doctrine as the gushing spring refers to the eloquence of the doctrine without obstruction. (Vol. 2, Page 392)

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