As mentioned yesterday, Master Hsuan Hua did not see the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate teaching of Śākyamuni, as Zhiyi or Nichiren did. But while Hsuan Hua saw the Avataṃsaka Sutra – Flower Garland Sutra – as the king, he still warned people not to disparage the Lotus Sutra. Here’s a sampling from his commentary on Chapter 3, A Parable.

Those who don’t believe this sūtra / And who disparage it / Will destroy their disposition / For Buddhahood in this world. If people do not have faith in the Dharma Flower Sūtra and denounce it, they disconnect from their potential for realizing Buddhahood in this world. Destroying one’s disposition for Buddhahood is very serious; the karmic offenses of someone who does this are extremely grave. If one cuts off one’s disposition for Buddhahood, the potential for the hells comes forth. When the potential for the hells comes forth, one might fall into the hells. Why did I lecture on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra before lecturing on the Dharma Flower Sūtra? The Śūraṅgama Sūtra is not as strict on this point. So, whatever you do, be sure not to criticize the Dharma Flower Sūtra.

SŪTRA

O Śāriputra! This Dharma seal of mine
Is spoken because I wish
To benefit the world.
Wherever you go,
Do not proclaim it carelessly.

COMMENTARY

O Śāriputra! Although Śākyamuni Buddha was speaking directly to Śāriputra, he was also speaking to you, to me, and to all living beings of the present. In speaking to Śāriputra, he was also speaking to all Buddhists and Dharma masters who propagate the Buddhadharma by expounding the sūtras and teaching the Dharma.

This Dharma seal of mine / Is spoken because I wish / To benefit the world. The Buddha uses the Dharma seal of ultimate reality to certify that all living beings have the potential to realize Buddhahood. This Dharma seal is the most honorable and noble. It is not something to be used casually. The Buddha is speaking it now because he wants to benefit all living beings. What is meant by “benefit”? It refers to benefiting oneself as well as others. This Dharma seal is used to help all living beings. There are three worlds – the sentient world, the material world, and the world of perfect awakening. To “benefit the world” refers to benefiting the sentient world. The Buddha teaches the Dharma Flower Sūtra to benefit the sentient world.

Wherever you go, / Do not proclaim it carelessly. This Dharma is venerable and noble. You should not propagate it casually. Wherever you go, be sure not to criticize the Dharma Flower Sūtra casually. If you explain the Dharma to those who are not ready to hear it, they will disparage it. Then not only will you have failed to save them, you will have caused them to fall into the hells. Why should you not carelessly speak the sūtra? People might fall into the lower destinies because of you. Upon hearing this sūtra, most people will criticize it. They might say things like, “How can this be? How can it be that, without accruing any merit, we can still become Buddhas? That is just too good to be true. People are just people. How can they become Buddhas? The sūtras mislead people.” Those who utter a single sentence of criticism, such as “The sūtras mislead people,” will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. This principle will be discussed in more detail later in the sūtra. It is out of fear that people might criticize the sūtra and fall into the hells that the Buddha warned Śāriputra not to teach the sūtra casually. You can only explain the Dharma Flower Sūtra to those with the disposition for the Great Vehicle, who will bring forth faith upon hearing this text.

Some of you may be thinking, “[people failing into hell for slandering the Lotus Sūtra] is all the Buddha’s fault. If he had not taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra, nobody would fall into the hells. He taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra, and as a result, many people have fallen into the hells. Why? They criticized the Dharma Flower Sūtra. If the Buddha had never taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra, it would be impossible to criticize it. If no one criticized it, no one would fall into the hells. So in the end, it more or less amounts to Śākyamuni Buddha sending people to the hells.”

Do you think this argument is sound? Think about it and make your own judgment. This person argued no one would fall into the hells if Śākyamuni Buddha had not taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra, but because he did, many people have gone to the hells. The argument should not be one-sided. This person seems to be arguing in favor of living beings and against Śākyamuni Buddha. If you develop an argument from the perspective of living beings, you should also do that for Śākyamuni Buddha. I now present an argument from Śākyamuni Buddha’s side.

You may say that if Śākyamuni Buddha had not taught the Dharma Flower Sutra, no one would have fallen into the hells. But if Śākyamuni Buddha had not taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra, no one would have become a Buddha either. If someone falls into the hells, you cannot blame the Buddha, because he was very clear in saying that criticizing the sūtra is a grave offense. Since you already know that it is an offense, you should not criticize the sūtra. If you do not criticize the sūtra, you will not increase your risk of falling into the hells.

But if you insist on going ahead and criticizing this sūtra even more just to spite the Buddha, you will fall even deeper into the hells. There is not the slightest doubt about this. Śākyamuni Buddha warned us that whoever disparages the Dharma Flower Sutra will fall into the hells or turn into a hungry ghost or an animal and suffer in the three lower realms for countless eons. So why would you want to disparage the Dharma Flower Sūtra? If you do, you are deliberately pitting yourself against the Buddha. If nobody disparages it, nobody will fall into the hells. Therefore, you cannot say that people fall into the hells because the Buddha taught the Dharma Flower Sūtra.

Since Śākyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma Flower Sutra, just think of how many people it has inspired or will inspire to bring forth the bodhi resolve and attain Buddhahood in the future. More living beings will become Buddhas than will fall into the hells. I think those who will fall into the hells must be extremely ignorant, for they don’t believe anything at all. They know very well that Śākyamuni Buddha said that it is an offense to criticize the Dharma Flower Sūtra, yet they will do so. Who can save living beings like that? Actually, there is someone. Who is that? It’s Earth Store Bodhisattva. The Earth Store Sūtra describes how he saves this type of living being from the hells. When they have fallen into the hells and suffered enough to learn their lesson, Earth Store Bodhisattva will go down into the hells to teach the dharma to them. At that time they will finally understand. Their karmic offenses will be eradicated, and they will be reborn in the heavens or among human beings. Therefore, don’t worry about the people who criticize the sūtra and fall into the hells. Just select a good path for yourself and go forward. Do not worry about offenders or be upset about those in the hells.

People who study the Buddhadharma are supposed to take care of themselves and not mind other people’s business. There is a saying:

Others’ wrongs, others’ obsessions,
Are their bad karma and their transgressions.

Therefore, do not buy stock in someone else’s unwholesome “company” and become a shareholder. If you know they are not making money, then why do you still want to take a loss? Why insist on doing business in the red? If you see other people getting afflicted, you should stop and think, “Oh, affliction is really no good. I should sever it.” Do not inspect other people’s clothes and say, “Hey! Your clothes are stained and dirty,” without realizing that your own clothes are even dirtier. Don’t wash others’ clothes for them and forget about washing your own. The vow goes, “Buddhahood is unsurpassed; I vow to realize it.” You should all cleanse your own minds and hearts. Sweep out all those deluded thoughts. Don’t allow them to race back and forth in your minds.

What is a deluded thought? Thoughts about anything that you dislike are deluded thoughts of affliction. Thoughts about what you like are deluded thoughts of happiness. All your thoughts are deluded thoughts. You are either liking something or disliking it. Liking is deluded thinking, and so is disliking. What is to be done? Just let it go! If you let it go, then there won’t be any more liking or disliking. That is the ultimate truth of the Middle Way. You will no longer give rise to afflictions or have any worries.

In his Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, Master Hsuan Hua often quotes from Zhiyi of the Tiantai School, the same Zhiyi whom Nichiren relied upon in establishing the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. Hsuan Hua is not a strict adherent of Zhiyi’s teaching. This is particularly pronounced when the subject of the Avataṃsaka Sutra – Flower Garland Sutra – comes up. Although Zhiyi recognized  the Avataṃsaka Sutra as presenting the highest pinnacle of the Buddha’s insight and represented the sudden teaching method, Zhiyi ultimately maintained that the Perfect Teaching (which represents the Buddha’s highest insight) is set forth in its pure form only in the Lotus Sutra. Here are two examples of where Hsuan Hua places the Avataṃsaka Sutra above and beyond the Lotus Sutra.

Now that I have finished lecturing on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, I am lecturing on the Dharma Flower Sūtra. When I have finished lecturing on it, I intend to lecture on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra for you. That is even more wonderful because it is the king of the sūtras. The Dharma Flower Sūtra is also a king of sūtras, but it is not as magnificent as the Avataṃsaka Sutra. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra is really the king of the kings of sūtras. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra can be likened to a gold wheel-turning sage king, while the Dharma Flower Sūtra can be likened to a silver wheel-turning sage king. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra can be likened to a copper wheel-turning sage king. These three are kings among all sūtras.

I have not yet begun lecturing on the Avataṃsaka Sutra, but I can first talk a little about its background. After the Buddha realized Buddhahood, the first thing he did was to teach the Avataṃsaka Sutra. When he taught it, those of the Two Vehicles could not hear him. They could not even see him. It is said,

They had eyes but could not see Nişyanda Buddha;
They had ears but could not hear the perfect, sudden teaching.

The Buddha manifested a body ten thousand feet high to teach the sūtra, and although they had eyes, they could not see it. They had ears, but they could not hear the perfect, sudden teaching.

When the Buddha taught the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, those of the Two Vehicles could not understand it; only the Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas were able to understand it. Later, it was taken by the dragon king to his palace and disappeared from the human realm. Then, the fourteenth patriarch, Nagarjuna [Dragon Tree] Bodhisattva, who had mastered all worldly literature, used his spiritual powers to go to the dragon palace to take a look at their Tripiṭaka collection. There he found the three-volume set of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. The first volume contains verses as many as dust motes in ten trichiliocosms, with chapters as numerous as dust motes in one set of four great continents. The first and second volumes were too long for Bodhisattva Nagarjuna to remember, so he memorized the third volume, the last volume. When he returned to the human realm, he wrote this sūtra out from memory. Since Bodhisattva Nagarjuna had an excellent memory, he remembered it in its entirety after reading it just once. That is the source of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra.

After we finish the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra, we shall proceed to listen to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. By then, you will understand the three kings of Buddhist sūtras. Then you will be able to understand all the other sūtras on your own, without having them explained to you. Here in the West, the Buddhadharma has just begun to flourish. It is fitting that the Great Vehicle Dharma be propagated in order to teach and transform the Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas.

The twelve hundred Arhats present
Will all attain Buddhahood.

The Buddha gave all his disciples predictions of future Buddhahood.

In hundreds of thousands of eons, it is not easy to encounter the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra. Though one may encounter the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra, it is difficult to be able to read and recite it. Even if you are able to read and recite it, should you study it for hundreds of thousands of eons, you still may not understand its meaning. Finally, it is most difficult to hear it explained.

Now, in the entire world, there are very few places where the Dharma Flower Sūtra is explained. Rare as it is, I am now explaining it. In the future, we will study the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, which is even more difficult to encounter. In China, it would be difficult to find even one occasion when the Avataṃsaka Sūtra was lectured on during the past hundred years.

The principles of the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra are wonderful beyond words. Similarly, the principles of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra are so magnificent that they also surpass words. Without a solid foundation in learning, one would not be able to understand much less explain the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Therefore, no one feels capable of explaining it. For example, one passage says that those who cultivate samadhi will enter samadhi in the west and emerge from samadhi in the east. Those who enter samadhi in the south will emerge from it in the north. It says that those who enter samadhi through the eyes will emerge from samadhi through the ears. It further says that those who enter samadhi through the nose will emerge from samādhi through the tongue.

What does all this mean? What does it mean to enter samadhi through the nose and emerge from samadhi through the tongue? Within the six sense faculties, you enter through one and exit through another. This passage is confusing! What is going on? What on earth is entering and exiting?

In the future, if there are those who like to study the Buddhadharma and who wish to truly understand it, they should have the answers to such questions. But don’t worry. Don’t be concerned. Unlike Dharma Master Xuanzang, who walked to India from China seeking the Dharma, wearing himself out and blistering his feet, you can remain in your own country and listen to lectures on the wonderful Dharma. In the future, your options will be much better than those of Dharma Master Xuanzang.

In reading Hsuan Hua’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, I’ve been repeatedly impressed with the depth of the work. Particularly impressive has been the use of explanatory footnotes. Here’s an example from Volume 3, Chapter 2, Expedients.

All of the Tathāgatas,
By countless skillful means,
Will lead all living beings across
To realize the Buddhas’ nonoutflow wisdom.
Of those who have heard the Dharma,
None will fail to become a Buddha.

These six lines refer to “the oneness of people.” The Dharma Flower Sutra can be understood through the ten wonders of the door of the original and the ten wonders of the door of the derivative.

A note at this point references this note at the end of the chapter.

Editorial Note About the Ten Wonders:
In the Fahua xuanyi (Profound Meanings of the Dharma Flower), Master Zhiyi of the Tiantai School explains the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sūtra through three groupings of ten wonders. In his commentary, Venerable Master Hua refers only to the first two:

1. The ten wonders of the door of the derivative (Ch.門十秒)
2. The ten wonders of the door of the original (Ch.本門十分)
3. The ten wonders of the contemplation of the mind (Ch.觀心十秒)

1. The ten wonders of the door of the derivative pertain to the first half of the Dharma Flower Sutra (chaps. 1-14). The Tiantai School classifies the Dharma that Śākyamuni Buddha taught from the time of his awakening until he started teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra as the Dharma of the Three Vehicles of Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas, and the teaching of the Dharma Flower Sutra as the One Vehicle Dharma, the Buddha Vehicle. Based on his explanation. of “the essence of things as they really are (諸法實相)”in chapter a “Skillful Means,” Master Zhiyi asserts that the Dharma set forth for the Three Vehicles is introduced to expediently unfold the ultimate teaching. The Dharma of the Three Vehicles is provisional. The Dharma Flower Sutra is the ultimate teaching, which is the perfect teaching of the One Vehicle – that is, the Buddha Vehicle. The perfect teaching of the One Vehicle transcends the contradistinction between the provisional and the ultimate, in that the provisional is the ultimate and the ultimate is the provisional. The provisional and the ultimate are nondual; this nonduality embodies “the essence of things as they really are.” From the perspective of the perfect teaching, both the provisional and the ultimate possess “wonders” or “subtleties.” This is known as the wonder that transcends dualities.

The ten wonders of the first half of the Dharma Flower Sūtra, which elucidate the subtleties of the Buddha’s provisional manifestations (“the derivative”), are the wonders of:

i. His state of thusness: the ultimate truth that all Buddhas hold in reverence and realize.

ii. His wisdom: a Buddha’s omniscient wisdom arising from such realization.

iii. His practice: all practices leading to that realization.

iv. His position: the realization of varied attainments.

v. The three principles: The three principles are thusness, meditation upon and understanding of it, and extension of this understanding to all its workings. The three, taken from chapter to of the Dharma Flower Sutra, “The Dharma Teacher,” are respectively symbolized by the Tathagata’s room, which represents compassion; the Tathagata’s robe, which represents gentleness and forbearing; and the Tathagata’s throne, which represents the emptiness of all phenomena. These three principles guide the propagation of the Dharma Flower Sutra. Although they are three in name, they are none other than the One Vehicle Dharma, the supreme truth. The One Buddha Vehicle is replete with these three principles.

vi. His response: In stillness, without thought, the Buddha responds to every situation. Transcending time, he manifests everywhere at once. This is an inconceivably wondrous response. It is also like a bright mirror, clear and translucent, that reflects any number of images without discrimination. Without the least effort, it reflects whatever is there.

vii. His spiritual powers: All the spiritual powers that the Buddha applies in saving living beings accord with the One Vehicle teaching, without distinctions of inferiority and superiority.

viii. His teaching the Dharma: The Buddha can skillfully and perfectly explain all kinds of Dharma according to principle, inspiring all living beings to unfold, show, awaken to, and realize the knowledge and vision of the Buddhas.

ix. His retinue: The Buddha has a great retinue of faithful followers.

x. His benevolence: The Buddha benefits living beings by inspiring them to undertake various practices.

2. The ten wonders of the door of the original pertain to the second half of the Dharma Flower Sutra (chaps. 15-28). This section discusses the eternal, original Buddha. Through manifesting in various forms to save living beings, Śākyamuni Buddha reveals his origins in the distant past. The Buddha actually realized Buddhahood immeasurable, limitless billions of koṭis of nayutas of cons ago. Since then, the Buddha has always remained in the Sahā world, teaching the Dharma to transform living beings, as described in chapter 16, “The Tathagata’s Life Span,” and other chapters. While the first half of the sutra focuses on the Buddha’s expedient teaching of the Three Vehicles to unfold the One Buddha Vehicle, the second half reveals the Buddha’s distant origins through his various provisional manifestations.

The ten wonders of the second half of the Dharma Flower Sutra differ from those of the first set. They elucidate the subtleties of the Buddha’s eternal origins (“the original”), from which his provisional manifestations derive. These ten wonders are:

i. The formative stage of practice

ii. The fruition of awakening

iii. His (Buddha) land

iv. His response

v. His spiritual powers

vi. His teaching of the Dharma

vii. His retinue

viii. His nirvana

ix. His life span

x. His benevolence

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v3, p248

Back in March, I reviewed the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, which I had used as part of my daily practice of reading aloud a portion of the sutra during morning and evening services.

In my review I cited a number of typos I’d noticed, but I paid particular attention to one word I felt was used in error.

A more significant error appears in Chapter 4, Faith and Understanding, when the rich man wants to get close to his son, who has been convinced to come work for him. On page 107 it reads:

“Later, on another day, the elder looked through a window and saw his son at a distance. His son was feeble, emaciated, haggard, and soiled with dung, dirt, and filth. The elder removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. Smearing himself with dirt and holding a dung shovel in his right hand, he looked frightened.”

The word should be frightful or frightening, not frightened. In Senchu Murano’s translation we’re told:

He looked fearful. He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

The BTK English Tripiṭaka translation (PDF), the Rissho Kosei-kai modern translation and Leon Hurvitz’s translation (PDF) all agree that the rich man, dressed in work clothes, looked frightful or commanding.

It is important to keep in mind that the sutra text is volume 15 of Master Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra. At the time I wrote my review I had not read Hsuan Hua’s commentary. Needless to say, I was surprised by what I found when I finally read Hsuan Hua’s explanation of this portion of the Parable of the Rich Man and his Poor Son.

SUTRA

“The elder removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. Smearing himself with dirt and holding a dung shovel in his right hand, he looked frightened.”

COMMENTARY

The elder removed his jeweled necklace. “Jeweled necklace” refers to the Buddha’s various Dharmas, including precepts, samādhi, wisdom, and dhārāṇi. “Removed his jeweled necklace” means to hide the awe-inspiring, virtuous, and majestic appearance of the Tathagata’s ten-thousand-foot-tall Nişyanda Buddha body.

His soft, fine upper garments is a metaphor for the Buddha’s great, adorned body and his oceanic subsidiary characteristics. The Buddha’s physical attributes are as limitless as the sea. The Buddha also has countless bodies, and each of his bodies is replete with the thirty-two hallmarks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics and with awe-inspiring virtue and adornments. Now he has hidden these bodies. Why? Those of the Two Vehicles do not recognize these honored, exquisite bodies; in other words, those of the Two Vehicles do not recognize their father, the Buddha. The Buddha is actually their father, but they do not dare to believe it because the Buddha is so wealthy and they are so terribly poor. If the Buddha tried to take them across with his reward and transformation bodies, they would become frightened. Why? Those of the Lesser Vehicle have never seen such honorable and noble bodies with oceanic hallmarks.

That is why the Buddha removed his jeweled necklace, his soft, fine upper garments, and his ornaments, and put on a coarse, torn, and grease-stained robe. What is meant by “coarse”? The Buddha hid his ten-thousand-foot-tall Nişyanda Buddha body and manifested the six-foot-tall body of an old bhikṣu, which looked more or less the same as that of an ordinary person. “Torn” refers to the Lesser Vehicle’s patience toward living beings and patience toward all phenomena. “Grease-stained robe” represents conditional phenomena and outflows that are filthy and impure.

Having afflictions is analogous to smearing himself with dirt. The afflictions are like dirt that smears the body. And holding a dung shovel in his right hand. Why did he hold the dung shovel in his right hand? “Right hand” represents the use of expedient Dharma-doors to teach those of the Two Vehicles. What does “dung shovel” represent? “Dung shovel” refers to the Dharma-door that dispels delusions arising from incorrect views and delusions arising from incorrect thoughts. The Buddha used this Dharma to cut off delusions arising from incorrect views, delusions arising from incorrect thoughts, and delusions of ignorance, thereby becoming a Buddha. He uses this kind of Dharma to teach those of the Two Vehicles, enabling them to follow this method to cut off their own delusions and realize Buddhahood. Because he realized Buddhahood by means of this method, he also teaches this method to living beings. This is called “holding a dung shovel.”

He looked frightened. He appears in the guise of a practitioner of the Two Vehicles, seeming to fear birth and death. The Bodhisattvas are in the cycle of birth and death yet are not subject to birth and death. They are afraid neither of suffering nor of birth and death. Those of the Two Vehicles are afraid of birth and death as well as impermanence and suffering. Thus, the Buddha manifests as if he were afraid of birth and death, impermanence, and suffering. Therefore, the sūtra line says “he looked frightened.”

Next: The Law of Cause and Effect’s Strict Retribution