THE TIME (ji). This category encompasses Nichiren’s understanding of the Final Dharma age, which, like most Buddhist scholars of the time, he held to have begun in 1052. Here again, the comparison with Hōnen is instructive. For Hōnen, in the time of mappō, people are of limited capacity, and the easy practice of the nenbutsu is therefore appropriate. For Nichiren, the Buddha specifically intended the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra for the Final Dharma age; thus this age is the very time when the daimoku is destined to spread. This element of historical inevitability is a key aspect of Nichiren’s thought and would later form the topic of one of his major treatises: Senji shō (The selection of the time). By defining the beginning of the Final Dharma age as the precise historical moment when the Buddha’s ultimate teaching, the Lotus Sūtra, shall spread, Nichiren was able to reverse the conventional gloomy connotations of the last age and celebrate it as the best possible time to be alive. He represented great teachers of the past, such as Chih-i, Chan-jan, and Saichō, as lamenting their inability to see the dawn of this age. “Rather than be great rulers during the two thousand years of the True and Semblance Dharma ages, those concerned for their salvation should be common people now in the Final Dharma age. … It is better to be a leper who chants Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō than be chief abbot (zasu) of the Tendai school.” (Page 254)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismAll posts by John Hughes
Subtleties in the Traces and the Origin
According to Chih-i’s interpretation of the Lotus Sūtra, the identities of the Ten Subtleties in the Traces can be traced back to the Ten Subtleties in the Origin. In view of the Origin that indicates the Buddha’s initial practice as the cause of Buddhahood and the Buddha’s initial enlightenment as the effect of Buddhahood in an incalculable past, what Chih-i stresses is that the Origin is the fundamental source for all the activities of the Buddha in the Traces. Therefore, the Ten Subtleties in the Traces are related to the Ten Subtleties in the Origin, given that both groups of the Ten Subtleties express the cause and effect of Buddhahood. (Vol. 2, Page 318)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 21
Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.
Having last month considered Śākyamuni’s various activities during his lifetime, we consider purpose of the sūtras expounded to this point.
“Good men! All the sūtras that I expounded [hitherto] were for the purpose of saving all living beings. I told the stories of my previous lives [in some sūtras,] and the stories of the previous lives of other Buddhas [in other sūtras]. I showed my replicas [in some sūtras,] and my transformations [in other sūtras]. I described my deeds [in some sūtras,] and the deeds of others [in other sūtras]. All that I say is true, not false, because I see the triple world as it is. I see that the triple world is the world in which the living beings have neither birth nor death, that is to say, do not appear or disappear, that it is the world in which I do not appear or from which l do not disappear, that it is not real or unreal, and that it is not as it seems or as it does not seem. I do not see the triple world in the same way as [the living beings of] the triple world do. I see all this clearly and infallibly. The living beings are various in their natures, desires, deeds, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, I expounded the dharma with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, similes and discourses, in order to cause all living beings to plant the roots of good. l have never stopped doing what I should do. As I said before, it is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asaṃkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.
This portion of Chapter 16 is used by Nichiren to explore the manifestation of Śākyamuni’s powers:
It is preached in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “The scriptures that I, the Buddha, expound are all for the purpose of emancipating all living beings. For this purpose I guide them in various ways, sometimes speaking of myself, sometime of others. Sometimes I present myself, sometimes others. Sometimes I show my own actions, sometimes those of others.”
Accordingly, who among the great beings – Zentoku Buddha of the World Without Worry to the east; the Great Sun Buddha in the center of the universe; various Buddhas in the worlds throughout the universe; the past seven Buddhas who appeared in this world; various Buddhas in the past, present, and future; the direct disciples of the Original Buddha who emerged from the earth such as Bodhisattva Superior Practice; bodhisattvas of theoretical teachings, such as Mañjuśrī, Śrāvaka disciples such as Śāriputra, the King of the Mahābrahman Heaven who controls the triple world; the King of Devils who lives in the Sixth Heaven in the realm of desire; Indra who controls the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven; or Sun Deity, Moon Deity, Deity of the Stars, innumerable stars such as the Great Bear, twenty-eight stars, Five Stars, Seven Stars and 84,000 Stars; those who occupy the headship of various places throughout the world such as the King of asura demons, god of the heavens, god of the earth, god of the mountains, god of the ocean, god of the house, and god of the village – is not a manifestation of the Lord Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha?
Nichigen-nyo Sakabutsu Kuyōji, Construction of a Statue of Śākyamuni by Lady Nichigen, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 123-124
Thus Have I Heard
There are actually two ways of looking at the phrase “thus have I heard.” The difference is which way or which direction “thus have I heard” points. In one understanding, “thus have I heard” points to the text that follows. So in this interpretation Ananda is saying what he heard from the Buddha and it is titled Myoho Renge Kyo. The other interpretation is “thus have I heard” is pointing to Myoho Renge Kyo, and what follows is an explanation, or interpretation of Myoho Renge Kyo. In the first understanding the text of the sutra is primary, in the second the text is secondary to the title. As different sentence constructions it might look like this. ‘Myoho Renge Kyo is what I heard’ versus ‘This is what I heard. The Buddha one …’ The difference is slight but important. In the first Myoho Renge Kyo is the most important thing and all that follows is a way to understand Myoho Renge Kyo. The second understanding places the text of the sutra as key and the title is a summary of the contents.
Nichiren argues that “thus have I heard” is referring to Myoho Renge Kyo and this supports the conclusion that chanting the title as a single practice is very much appropriate and correct. Everything then recounted in the text of the sutra is similar to an exegesis of the most important thing, which is Myoho Renge Kyo.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraDaily Dharma – Feb. 1, 2019
How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.
The Brahma Heavenly-Kings of the Zenith sing these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They gave up their kingdoms, their subjects and their homes to travel across innumerable worlds to hear the Wonderful Dharma. They inspire our devotion by showing how important this teaching is to them. For us who know of the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni, we recognize that the Buddha exists everywhere, even in our triple world of form, formlessness and desire. When let go of the delusions that imprison us, and recognize this Buddha in our midst, we find ourselves in the Buddha’s pure land.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Concept of Human Capacity
[The concept of human capacity], often invoked in the context of mappō discourse, refers to innate receptivity or capacity for achieving salvation through a particular teaching. “Capacity” forms an element central to the exclusive nenbutsu teaching of Honen, who argued that the superiority of a teaching depends not on its depth of philosophical content but on whether or not people can actually practice it; hence he maintained that the nenbutsu, readily accessible even to those of limited capacity who predominate in this evil age, is superior. For Nichiren, as for Hōnen, “capacity” was to be understood in universal terms; being advocates of exclusive practices, neither man focused on individual differences in receptivity but maintained that all persons can be saved through a single teaching. However, Nichiren did not base his argument for the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra solely on ease of practice. The Lotus Sūtra is the seed of Buddhahood; that is, encountering the Lotus Sūtra is the condition that enables salvation. Nichiren described the people of the Final Dharma age as “not yet having good [roots]” (honmi uzen), that is, without prior connection to the Lotus Sūtra that would ensure their enlightenment. Thus, persons of this age should, he said, all be instructed in the Lotus Sūtra; whether they accept it or slander it, they will in either case receive the seed of Buddhahood and eventually become Buddhas. Nichiren vehemently rejected the position of exclusive nenbutsu adherents, that the Lotus should be set aside as too profound for the benighted people of the Final Dharma age. He maintained, with Chan-jan, that “the more true the teaching, the lower the stage [of the practitioners it can bring to enlightenment].” It was in part to stress the ability of the Lotus to save even the lowly and sinful that Nichiren would refer to himself, later in life, as “the son of lowly people” and born of a caṇḍāla family.” (Page 253)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismLiberation for Oneself Is Inseparable from Liberating Others
In terms of the difference between Śrāvakayāna and Mahāyāna Buddhism over the issue of self-enlightenment and enlightening others, Chih-i’s category of the Ten Subtleties as a whole proves that there are actually no differences, for both issues are interactive. The first five categories of Subtlety center on the issue of enlightenment for oneself, and the last five categories of Subtlety address the Buddha’s activity of enlightening others. In actuality, even in the first five categories, Chih-i reveals that the bodhisattva practice of striving for enlightenment is in the context of helping others. Liberation for oneself is inseparable from liberating others. In terms of the relation between the first and last five categories of the Ten Subtleties, what Chih-i intends to demonstrate is that as a result of attaining Buddhahood, the Buddha’s soteriological activity of saving living beings spontaneously arises. If we say that the bodhisattva practice of attaining self-enlightenment lies in his action of helping others as it is addressed in the first five categories of the Ten Subtleties; likewise, the Buddha’s manifestation of Buddhahood also lies in his action of saving beings. The only difference between these two types of saving others is that the former is the bodhisattva practice with a deliberate action, and the latter is the Buddha’s spontaneous manifestation of his Buddhahood with no-action (i.e., action with complete spontaneity and naturalness), because the Buddha is in a state of quiescence and constant illumination. (Vol. 2, Page 317-318)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 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.
Having last month heard both Maitreya and the attendants of the replicas of Śākyamuni plea for an explanation about the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, we hear Śākyamuni’s reply to Maitreya?
Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:
“Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he said, sang in gāthās:
Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.Now I will relieve you.
Do not doubt me! Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!
The Daily Dharma from Oct. 13, 2018, offers this:
Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural powers without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita (Invincible) in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up from underground and vow to the Buddha to keep the sūtra after his extinction. Maitreya, knowing the minds of many others who have come to hear the Buddha teach, asks about these Bodhisattvas, whom he has never seen before. This question from Maitreya then leads to the Buddha later giving his most difficult teaching in Chapter Sixteen. The Buddha’s declaration in this passage shows how important questioning is to our faith.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Five Aggregates
In the Buddhist tradition, it is taught that an individual is made up of Five Aggregates: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. In fact, everything that we experience comes under the heading of one or more of these components.
They are not, however, five separate substances, but are different factors or stages in the process of consciously experiencing anything, including the experience of our own self. The process of conscious awareness often begins with form: a visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, or gustatory object. Of course, a thought or feeling can also begin a process of conscious awareness, but even these can almost always be traced back to the memory of a concrete experience. Contact with form gives rise to feeling, which can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. These feelings draw our attention to the form so that we then perceive the form as a specific object of awareness. Perception gives rise to mental formations, such as opinions for or against the object of awareness, as well as subsequent decisions, actions, and reactions. This activity in turn gives rise to awareness of a self-conscious subject acted upon by or acting upon an object.
Lotus SeedsDaily Dharma – Jan. 31, 2019
When the sun shines brightly in the sky, everything is made clearly visible on the earth. In the same manner, when one knows the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, one will understand the meaning of occurrences in the world.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his great work, Spiritual Contemplation and the Object of Devotion (Kanjin Honzon Shō). When we awaken to our nature as Bodhisattvas who have chosen our lives to benefit others and improve the world, we are freed from the confusion and anxiety around us. By keeping the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra, and following the guidance of Nichiren’s writings, we see what to do to make the world we live in now better for everyone.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com