Chih-i brings forth a critical theory of good and evil, which is based on the principle of True Reality that the Dharma-realm is of no distinction, and that good and evil are of the same reality, in a sense, good contains evil and evil contains good. In the phenomenal world, what appears to be good may be evil as it may attract evil result; and what appears to be evil may bring good result. Good and evil are only relative, and they can never be absolute as long as there is a distinction between them. Only when what one refers to as so-called good and evil are conceived as one identical entity, can one reach the absoluteness of the True Reality. This is true in spite of the fact that in the course of time and space, there appear to be dual aspects called “good” and “evil” in the eyes of ignorant people. (Vol. 2, Page 260)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismAll posts by John Hughes
Day 29
Day 29 covers all of Chapter 25, The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.
Having last month considered more ways in World-Voice-Perceiver helps those who call his name, we consider the merits to be given to the person who bows and makes offerings to World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva.
“Endless-Intent! Suppose a good man or woman keeps the names of six thousand and two hundred million Bodhisattvas, that is, of as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and offers drink, food, clothing, bedding and medicine to them throughout his or her life. What do you think of this? Are his or her merits many or not?”
Endless-Intent said, “Very many. World-Honored One!”
The Buddha said:
“Anyone who keeps the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and bows and makes offerings to him even for a moment, will be given as many merits as to be given to the good man or woman as previously stated. The merits will not be exhausted even after hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas. Endless-Intent! Anyone who keeps the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will be given these benefits of innumerable merits and virtues.”
The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra offers this on the Perceiver of Our Voices:
In this world, we have many problems and sorrows, and since we are not able to overcome them ourselves, we complain about them loudly. When World-Voice-Perceiver hears our voices, he immediately discerns what our problem is, solves it, and leads us towards enlightenment. That is the reason for his name. In Asia, millions of people chant his name sincerely for delivery from their troubles.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraPractice as Cause
Since the Buddha’s Ingyō, practice as cause, and katoku, virtues as effect, are contained in the Odaimoku, the merits of our Bodhisattva practices are also contained in the Odaimoku as the Buddha’s merits and are accumulated in the Great Mandala. This means that not only the merits of the Buddha, but also all the merits of the practice of the Bodhisattva way performed by practitioners such as Nichiren Shōnin, his disciples and followers since the beginningless beginning are contained in the Great Mandala and the Odaimoku as merits of Ingyō. We also successfully accumulate merits in this life time. This is how the Ingyō of the Original Buddha produces effects. Therefore, as we receive the merits from the Buddha, the Great Mandala and the Odaimoku by devoting ourselves to them, we also send merits to them as well. How wonderful it is!
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuDaily Dharma – Jan. 8, 2019
Tomorrow, I, Nichiren, will be exiled to Sado Island. In this cold evening I am thinking of you in the cold dungeon. My thought is that you have read and practiced the Lotus Sutra with your thought and action, which would save your parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, ancestors and everyone around you. Other people read the sutra vocally without feeling it in their hearts. Even though they might read it with their heart, they do not experience it as the sutra teaches. Compared with them you are very precious since you are practicing the sutra with your actions, voice and spirit.
Nichiren wrote this passage in a Letter to his Disciple Nichiro (Tsuchi-ro Gosho). At this point in Nichiren’s life, he had been placed on the execution mat at Tatsunokuchi Beach, only to have the execution stopped at the last minute. Instead of deterring him from teaching the Wonderful Dharma, this experience cemented his resolve to continue admonishing all those who were harming the people of Japan. He taught that rewarding delusions and leading people away from the Buddha’s wisdom only causes misery. Nichiren recognized that his life was the experience of the Lotus Sūtra, and showed his appreciation to everyone who, as he put it, “reads it with their bodies.”
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Chih-i’s Contemplation
In the T’ien-t’ai/Tendai tradition, kuan-hsin or kanjin (literally, the “contemplation of the mind”) generally denotes meditative practices, in contrast to doctrinal study (chiao-hsiang, kyōsō). The choice of “the mind” as the object of contemplation is grounded in a passage of the Hua-yen Ching: “The mind, the Buddha, and all living beings: these three are without distinction.” Chih-i reasoned that, for novice practitioners, the “Buddha” as an object of contemplation would be too deep, while “living beings” would be too broad. Contemplating one’s own mind, however, is easy.
However, in his commentary Pa-hua wen-chii (Words and phrases of the Lotus Sūtra), Chih-i uses the term kanjin in a somewhat different sense as the last of the “four modes of interpretation” (ssu-shih, shishaku), a four-part hermeneutical guideline for interpreting the “words and phrases” of the Lotus Sūtra. The first is to see the sūtra’s words and phrases in terms of “causes and conditions” (yin-yüan, innen)—that is, how they represent the Buddha’s response to the specific receptivity of his hearers. The second, “correlation with teachings” (yüeh-chiao, yakkyō), is to understand them in terms of each of the “four teachings of conversion “—the categories into which Chih-i analyzed the Buddhist teachings. The third, pen-chi or honjaku, is to understand them from the two viewpoints of the “trace teaching” and the “origin teaching,” the two exegetical divisions into which Chih-i analyzed the Lotus Sūtra. Fourth, having grasped the meaning of a particular word or phrase from these three doctrinal perspectives, one then internalizes it, contemplating its meaning with respect to one’s own mind. In this case, the “words and phrases” of the Lotus Sūtra are understood as referring not to abstract or external events, but to the practitioner’s own contemplation and insight. For example, in the kanjin reading of the sūtra’s opening passage, “Thus have I heard at one time” the word “I” (wo, ga) is interpreted as follows: “The dharmas produced by dependent origination prove, on contemplation, to be at once empty, conventionally existent, and the middle. ‘Empty’ means that self (wo) is without self. ‘Conventionally existent’ means that self is distinguished [from other]. ‘The middle’ means the true and subtle self. The words “at one time” are interpreted in this way: “To contemplate the mind as first empty, then conventionally existent, and then as the middle is the sequential mind-contemplation. To contemplate the mind as simultaneously empty, conventionally existent, and the middle is the perfect and subtle mind-contemplation.” In these instances, words and phrases of the Lotus are taken as revealing the threefold contemplation and discernment. (Page 157)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismBenefit Produced By Evil Karman From One’s Former Action
In Chih-i’s view, nothing good comes into being without evil. Evil assists sentient beings in pursuing good deeds and in accumulating merits. This is exemplified through evidence from the Lotus Sūtra. One example is drawn from one of the previous lives of the Buddha, when he was known as Sadāparibhūta-bodhisattva. This bodhisattva bowed humbly to everyone, claiming that someday they would all become Buddhas. His actions infuriated many people, and they scolded and beat him. As a result, those beings had to suffer from their karman in hell. However, as soon as they paid their dues, the cause and condition of their previous meeting with the bodhisattva matured, and they were able to meet the Buddha in their present lifetime. Upon receiving the Buddha’s teaching in the Lotus Sūtra, they entered the stage of non-retrogression (Skr., avinivartanīya). This case shows that the evil karman of beings in the past gives rise to the opportunity for beings to be taught by the Buddha in the present. This benefit is produced by the evil karman from one’s former action. Chih-i regards this situation as “the evil of oneself aiding the good of oneself.” Another example illustrates the benefit that is produced by the evil karman of others. This refers to the Buddha’s cousin Devadatta, who is regarded as an evil person because of attempting to kill the Buddha and alienating the Buddha’s saṃgha (community). However, the Buddha claims that Devadatta is a good friend. Chih-i uses this example to argue, “The evil of others can aid the good of oneself.” (Vol. 2, Page 259-260)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 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.
Having last month learned of the great supernatural powers and the power of wisdom obtained by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva asks the Buddha about the name of the samadhi practiced by Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva-mahāsattva.
Thereupon Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva planted deeply the roots of good. World-Honored One! What is the name of the samadhi by which he can transform himself into various living beings and appear in various places to save all living beings?”
The Buddha said to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva:
“Good man! This is called the ‘samadhi by which one can transform oneself into any other living being.’ Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva entered into this samadhi and benefited innumerable living beings as previously stated.”
When the Buddha expounded this chapter of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, the eighty-four thousand people, who had come accompanying Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, obtained the ability to practice the samadhi by which they could transform themselves into other living beings. Innumerable Bodhisattvas of this Sahā-World also obtained the ability to practice this samadhi. They also obtained dharanis.
The Daily Dharma from May 26, 2018, offers this:
When the Buddha expounded this Chapter of Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, the eighty-four thousand people, who had come accompanying Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, obtained the ability to practice the samādhi by which they could transform themselves into other living beings. Innumerable Bodhisattvas of this Sahā-World also obtained the ability to practice this samādhi.
This description comes at the end of Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva had come to our world of conflict and delusion from his perfect world to hear the Buddha teach the Wonderful Dharma. The Bodhisattvas in this world asked the Buddha about the transformations Wonderful-Voice made to benefit others. This chapter shows how those beings who have vowed to benefit us appear in ways we may not recognize right away. It also shows us the capability we have as Bodhisattvas to transform ourselves for the benefit of others.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Changing the Causes for Suffering
When we are released from some thing, which has caused us grief, we feel as if a great burden has been lifted from our lives. It can feel very good to know that we have overcome some hardship. We may even breathe a sigh of relief, or we may celebrate. In any case there comes a degree of happiness when our load is lightened. Practicing the Lotus Sutra provides a way for us to overcome suffering. Fundamentally we do this by changing in ourselves the causes for suffering. It isn’t by some magical process that provides avoidance of difficulties or by waving a wand and making them vanish. By changing our lives, by removing the “dust and dirt of illusions” we are able to firmly establish a foundation upon which gradually we find true happiness.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Daily Dharma – Jan. 7, 2019
There are thousands of fish eggs, but few become fish. Hundreds of mango blossoms bloom, but few become fruit. It is the same with human beings, because most people are turned aside by evil distractions. There is an army of warriors wearing armor, but few are able to fight bravely. Many people search for truth, but few attain Buddhahood.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Letter to Lord Matsuno. In Nichiren’s lifetime he saw many of his followers charmed by his teaching, but lacking the resolve to practice. This letter was one of many Nichiren used to encourage us not to waste our precious human life with frivolous pursuits, destructive actions, and selfish desires. It reminds us that we all carry the seed of Buddha nature, and to look for ways to nourish that seed.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
‘Transmission To One’s Own Son’
“Transmission to one’s own son” (jisshi sōzoku) was by no means uncommon, blood sons being indicated by the term “true disciple” (shintei or shin deshi) in lineage charts. Shinran has sometimes been cele brated as the first Japanese Buddhist monk to take a wife openly, but de facto clerical marriage is attested since the Nara period and was widespread by the late Heian: “Those who hide it are saints; those who don’t do it are Buddhas,” the retired emperor Goshirakawa is said to have remarked. For monks to marry or amass property was a violation of the Ritsuryō code, yet the right of their wives and children to inherit had been legally recognized since the ninth century, suggesting that the practice was far from uncommon. By the latter Heian period, such practices were being assimilated to the institution of the master-disciple lineage. Early examples of father-to-son transfer of temple administrative positions can be found by the late eleventh and twelfth centuries, becoming established custom by the mid-Kamakura period. Jisshi sōzoku was also practiced among lineages of scholar monks, such as those of the Eshin and Danna schools, as the above example of the Sugiu lineage indicates. (Page 139)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism