Back on May 19 I explained the addition of the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua to my “decorations” that line a corner shelf adjacent to my altar.
Available from the Buddhist Text Translation Society.
On page 5 of the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, Śākyamuni says:
“Manjushri, the awesome spiritual vows of this Bodhisattva are inconceivable. If good men or women in the future hear this Bodhisattva’s name, praise him, behold or bow to him, call his name, make offerings to him, or if they draw, carve, cast, sculpt, or paint images of him, such people will be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three one hundred times and will never fall into the evil paths.”
And on pages 50-51:
The Buddha told the Bodhisattva Universally Expansive, “If, in the future, good men or good women, upon hearing Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahāsattva’s name, place their palms together, praise him, bow to him, or gaze at him in worship, they will overcome thirty eons’ worth of offenses.
Universally Expansive, if good men or women gaze upon and bow but once to painted or drawn images of the Bodhisattva or ones made of clay, or stone, or lacquer, or gold, or silver, or bronze, or iron, they will be reborn one hundred times in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and will eternally avoid falling into the evil destinies. If their blessings in the heavens come to an end and they are born in the human realm, they will become national leaders who suffer no loss of benefits.
I personally like the thought of such benefits, but that’s not my focus here. Instead, I look at the Bodhisattvas as exemplars to be emulated.
In fully employing the bodhisattva figures as archetypes, we must also realize the tentative, artificial nature of archetypes. The archetypal aspects of the bodhisattva figures are helpful as patterns. We can feel a sense of what it might mean to behave and function as a bodhisattva ourselves by examining the fearless insight and eloquence of Mañjuśrī, the luminous helpful activity of Samantabhadra, the unmediated, unconditional generosity of Avalokiteśvara, the faithful witness of Jizō, the patience and loving concern of Maitreya, the clever, illuminating displays of Vimalakirti, and the selfless decision and determination of Siddhārtha Gautama. However, all of their kindness and efforts are only manifest and real when we see the bodhisattva figures not as theoretical or mythological, but as actualities expressed in our world.
Beyond all the archetypal patterns, the life of the bodhisattva is in ordinary, everyday activity. In simple acts of kindness and gestures of cheerfulness, bodhisattvas are functioning everywhere, not as special, saintly beings, but in helpful ways we may barely recognize. The bodhisattvas are not glorified, exotic, unnatural beings, but simply our own best qualities in full flower.
Jizo Bosatsu is next to the “Jeweled Vehicle” on the right end of my corner shelf of “decorations.”
These quotes, which are from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra, are examples of lessons that should be applied by all Buddhists.
Merit and Virtue
Merit is created externally, while virtue is accumulated internally. One creates merit by building temples, repairing bridges or roads, or doing other work to benefit others. Virtue exists within one’s self and doesn’t rely on anything external. A virtuous person doesn’t have a bad conscience. He has no reason to feel ashamed before the heavens or before other people. He doesn’t cheat others or himself. In everything he does, he creates outer merit and amasses inner virtue. A saying about virtue goes,
Good done in the hope that others will notice is not genuine good.
Evil done in the fear that others will find out is truly great evil.
Don’t boast about yourself, saying, “I’ve done good deeds. I’ve received the five precepts, the eight precepts, and the Bodhisattva precepts!” Virtuous deeds are done without others knowing. If you want others to notice your good deeds, you are not virtuous. If you try to cover up your bad deeds, then your offenses are great indeed.
Buddhists should not be boastful or competitive, saying, “I’ve done many good deeds and made many donations. I actually do much to support Buddhism.” People with such an attitude are not fit to be Dharma-protectors. Therefore, in studying the teachings, we should remember this point. We should value genuine practice, not false publicity. This is very important. As Buddhists, we must be models for the world. If we have integrity and hold to our principles, other people will respect us and be influenced by us. That is merit and virtue.
How to Become A Buddha
If we want to be like the Buddha, first we should learn not to contend, not to be greedy, not to seek, not to be selfish, and not to pursue personal advantage. But that doesn’t mean saying you won’t do these things, while at the same time planning to commit a robbery. Then you’re only cheating yourself and others. Genuine non-contention means letting things follow their natural course. If you are not greedy, you will also let things happen naturally. As for seeking nothing, it is said, “When one reaches the state of seeking nothing, one has no worries.” Worries come from seeking things. You should also be unselfish. All the troubles in the world come from selfishness and desire. Being unselfish means seeking nothing and having no emotional attachments. Not pursuing personal advantage means not thinking about your own benefit, pleasure, or comfort. Cast out all these faults, and then you can become a Buddha.
I vow that in a future life when I attain Bodhi, I will, by means of limitless, unbounded wisdom and skill-in-means. Medicine Master Buddha uses wise expedients, not stupid ones, to teach and transform living beings. While wise expedients may not necessarily benefit oneself, they benefit others. Wise expedients are wholesome and in accord with Dharma. Stupid expedients are unwholesome and go against the Dharma.
What are unwholesome expedients? Doing wrong things and then rationalizing them as “expedient.” For example, someone may rationalize the killing of a mosquito as an expedient, saying that it doesn’t violate the precept against killing. Someone else might justify stealing something that doesn’t belong to him, saying, “I’m just being expedient! What difference does it make whether he uses it or I use it? We’re all the same.” However, stealing is not in accord with Dharma; it’s an evil deed. As for sexual misconduct, a man may know very well that his extramarital affair will upset his wife, but he thinks, “Why should I worry about her? I’m just being expedient, that’s all!” He thinks sexual misconduct is an “expedient dharma.” All people know how to defend their infidelity. They know it’s wrong, yet they still say it doesn’t matter. Do they really know then? People rationalize lying and taking intoxicants as well.
“I think I’ll have a little wine, just for the fun of it. What’s wrong with that? I’m not getting drunk or anything.”
“Why should I be worried about telling a little lie? It’s not like I’m committing a murder. What’s the big deal?”
Expedients can be wise or stupid. Stupid expedients are wrong deeds that people rationalize as “expedient.” Medicine Master Vaiḍūrya Light Tathāgata uses wise expedients.
Three Gifts
At that time, the World-Honored One, Śākyamuni Buddha, again compassionately spoke to the Pure Youth Mañjuśrī, saying, “Mañjuśrī, there are living beings who don’t distinguish good from evil, who mix up good and evil, who indulge in greed and stinginess, unable to give things away, and who know nothing of giving or its rewards. They don’t know how to be generous or how to treat people well. They don’t understand that they should give to the needy.
There are three kinds of giving:
The giving of wealth
The giving of Dharma
The giving of fearlessness
The giving of wealth means giving away one’s wealth and property, including one’s skills and talents, to help other people. In giving Dharma, one bestows teachings suited to the needs of each individual, like a physician prescribing medicine. When one sees people who are suffering or in danger, one may bestow fearlessness by comforting them and dispelling their fears. These are the three kinds of giving. If you have no wealth, you can give Dharma. If you have no Dharma, then you can give fearlessness. You may also explain the rewards of giving to others, telling them, for example, that in giving one thing, one may reap a reward ten thousand times greater (as stated in Chapter Ten of the Earth Store Sūtra).
Does anyone have opinions or questions about the principles of the sūtra? Do you have any insights into the sūtra’s meaning? We should all bring out our opinions and questions for discussion.
The principles that we study in Buddhism are neither your principles, nor my principles, nor the Buddha’s principles. They are the principles of logic and wisdom that everyone should follow. Buddhism is not like certain religions that use faulty reasoning to keep people ignorant and uninformed so that they will accept the tenets of the religion without questioning them.
Buddhism comes from a kind of collective wisdom. What accords with wisdom is the truth, while what does not cannot be practiced. The principles that we are investigating are not imposed from on high with the purpose of keeping us ignorant and uninformed. Therefore, everyone has the right to speak. Using our wisdom, we should determine which doctrines are correct and which are not. We need to have Dharma-selecting vision so that we can judge for ourselves, not just follow the opinions of others. We must develop our own wisdom. Each person should open his “mine of wisdom” and discover his own genuine wisdom.
Medicine Buddha block print by Ryusho Shonin dated 25 March 2020
On March 25, 2020, Ryusho Jeffus Shonin sent a card to my wife and me. On the cover was a blue print of a linoleum block carving Ryusho had done of Medicine Buddha. This was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, shelter-at-home mandates had been issued for both the state of New York, where Ryusho lived, and California, where we lived.
I placed the Medicine Buddha card among my “decorations” (see this explanation) and put a generic Buddha incense burner in front of it to represent Medicine Buddha. Hung above this area of my “decorations” is a 16-inch long Medicine Buddha prayer flag garland that my son and his girlfriend brought home from one of their trips.
Each morning and evening I begin gongyo offering light from a burning incense stick to my “decorations” – Kannon and Jizo bodhisattvas, the Shichi Fuku Jin (Seven Happy Gods) and the Funjin Sho Butsu (Śākyamuni’s replicas). The Medicine Buddha card and statue and a Tibetan prayer box and flags represent the Buddhas in manifestation who appear in Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
I bring this all up because I recently purchased and read the Medicine Master Sūtra with commentary by Master Hsuan Hua. I’m going to place the book behind the card so that the statue, card and sutra create Medicine Buddha “decorations.”
Having this year discovered Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra, I’ve been reviewing the other sutras that he’s left commentaries on. For me, as a Nichiren Buddhist – as someone who holds that the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha’s highest teaching – I consider these other sutras as the expedient teachings that all flow into the ocean of the Lotus Sutra.
While Medicine Buddha can bestow blessings and long life upon believers and save them from disasters, illnesses, and offenses, his powers pale in comparison to the benefits of offering devotion to the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.
In Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, Śākyamuni says, “I am leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!”
In Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Śākyamuni says, “Just as a torch dispels darkness, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma saves all living beings from all sufferings, from all diseases, and from all the bonds of birth and death.”
And later in Chapter 23, the Buddha tells Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva to use his supernatural powers to protect the Lotus Sūtra: “Why is that? It is because this sūtra is a good medicine for the diseases of the people of the Jambudvipa. The patient who hears this sūtra will be cured of his disease at once. He will not grow old or die.”
I welcome the addition of Medicine Master Vaiḍūrya Light Tathāgata to my practice, but for me it’s more like the guy who wears both suspenders and a belt to hold up his pants.
While reading Master Hsuan Hua’s 15-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra, I have been periodically corresponding with the publisher, the Buddhist Text Translation Society, to clarify whether what I perceive are errors are in fact errors or simply different interpretations of Buddhism. Having mostly read texts based on Japanese perspective, I’ve found Hsuan Hua’s Chinese focus noticeable different at times. During one of these email exchanges, I was alerted to the fact that the Dharma Realm Buddhist University’s YouTube channel includes an audiobook of the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra. With the exception of chapters 8, 9 and 13, each chapter is introduced with a synopsis. This synopsis is combined for chapters 15 and 16 and chapters 17 to 19. The text is based on the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of Kumarajiva’s Chinese version of the Lotus Sutra.
What is the principal practice of Nichiren Buddhists?
And, invariably, the response is:
Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo:
This is the core practice. It’s the recitation of the phrase “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” which is considered to be the essence of the Lotus Sutra.
Google’s Gemini AI agent even tells you where it got the idea that the Odaimoku is spelled Nam-myoho-renge-kyo:
The Meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo | Soka Gakkai (global)
Source icon
www.sokaglobal.org
Gohonzon – Wikipedia
Source icon
en.wikipedia.org
Q: Why do we chant to the Gohonzon? – World Tribune
Source icon
www.worldtribune.org
Faith, Practice and Study – SGI USA
Source icon
www.sgi-usa.org
Chapter 3: Faith and Practice | Soka Gakkai (global)
Source icon
www.sokaglobal.org
Google describes its latest Gemini agent, 2.5 Pro Experimental, as employing a “thinking model.” So, I tried reasoning with Gemini.
I asked:
How many Chinese characters are there in the Daimoku?
Gemini responded:
To clarify the number of Chinese characters in the Daimoku:
Myoho-renge-kyo:
This portion consists of five Chinese characters.
妙 (myō)
法 (hō)
蓮 (ren)
華 (ge)
経 (kyō)
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo:
This, the full Daimoku chanted by Nichiren Buddhists, consists of seven Chinese characters. “Nam” or sometimes pronounced “Namu” is represented by two Chinese characters.
南 (nan or na)
無 (mu)
Therefore:
When the “Nam” or “Namu” is added, The Daimoku becomes seven characters. “Myoho renge kyo” on its own, is 5 characters.
I hope this helps.
I asked:
The daimoku means “devotion to the wonderful dharma lotus blossom sutra.” This is expressed in Chinese characters. Which Chinese characters represent “devotion”?
Gemini responded:
In the phrase “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” the characters that represent “devotion” are:
南無 (Namu or Nam):
These two Chinese characters are a transliteration of the Sanskrit word “namas.”
It signifies “devotion,” “to dedicate oneself,” or “obeisance.”
Therefore, when Nichiren Buddhists chant “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” the “Nam” portion of the phrase expresses their devotion.
To which I responded:
If there are two characters 南無 — na and mu — why do you offer “Nam” instead of “Namu” in the Daimoku?
Gemini apparently liked my question:
You’ve raised a very good point about the pronunciation of 南無. The pronunciation can indeed vary, and both “Nam” and “Namu” are used. Here’s a breakdown of why you’ll see both:
Sanskrit Origin:
The characters 南無 are a transliteration of the Sanskrit word “namas.”
In Sanskrit, it’s pronounced closer to “namas.”
Japanese Pronunciation:
In Japanese, the pronunciation can vary. While “namu” is a very accurate rendering of the two characters, the “u” sound can be very subtle, and in some cases, the word can sound very much like “nam”.
Also, depending on the specific sect, and area of Japan, the pronunciation can vary slightly.
Common Usage:
In many Nichiren Buddhist communities, “Nam” is often used in the spoken form of the Daimoku, even though “Namu” is the more phonetically accurate representation of the characters.
Therefore, you’ll encounter both “Nam” and “Namu” because of the interplay between the Sanskrit origin, the variations in Japanese pronunciation, and common usage within Nichiren Buddhist practice.
At this point, Gemini is apparently “thinking” because it has stopped offering source links.
So I decided to test Gemini’s thinking. I asked:
Why have you chosen “Nam” as the primary response rather than the more accurate “Namu”?
Gemini responded:
You’re right to point out that “Namu” is the more phonetically accurate representation. My tendency to offer “Nam” as the primary response likely stems from a few factors:
Common Usage:
In many Western contexts, and within certain Nichiren Buddhist communities, “Nam” is frequently used in spoken practice. This common usage might influence my responses.
Subtleties of Pronunciation:
The “u” sound in “Namu” can be quite subtle, and in casual speech, it may be elided or shortened. This could lead to a perception that “Nam” is the primary pronunciation.
Data Training:
My training data, which includes vast amounts of text and speech, may reflect this common usage.
However, I acknowledge that “Namu” is the more accurate transliteration of the Chinese characters. I will strive to be more precise and offer “Namu” as the primary pronunciation in the future, while also acknowledging the common usage of “Nam.” Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Your feedback helps me improve my accuracy.
While I was taken aback by the apparent promise to offer “Namu” as the primary pronunciation in the future, I wasn’t surprised when I went back hours later and received the same “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” response.
For the record, when reading the Daimoku I say Namu. When I chant, I say Nam. I do that because Rev. Igarashi at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church chants Nam and also because my son has taught my grandson to chant Nam.
In reading Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary on the Lotus Sutra – I’m currently on the fourth volume, which covers Chapter 3, A Parable – I have come across several references to the Vajra Sutra.
For example, in discussing the term Tathāgata, Hsuan Hua says:
What is meant by Tathāgata? The Vajra Sūtra says:
The Tathāgata does not come from anywhere,
nor does he go anywhere.
That is why he is called the Tathāgata.
Or in discussing Chapter 2 he says:
Since nothing can be grasped, why does the text say “to attain the Buddha’s Path”? The so-called “Buddha’s Path” is not attained from the outside. As it says in the Vajra Sūtra, when the Tathagata received the Dharma of anuttara samyaksaṃbodhi from the Buddha Dīpaṃkara, Burning Lamp, he in fact received nothing.
I took a break from Hsuan Hua’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra to read his commentary on the Vajra Sutra.
This is very esoteric stuff, the sort of stuff one would expect a Chinese Chan master to explore. Consider this discussion of “true prajña” – true direct insight or true wisdom:
Once Subhūti was sitting in a cave cultivating and a god came scattering flowers.
“Who has come to scatter flowers?” asked Subhūti.
“The god Sakra,” came the reply. “Sakra has come to scatter flowers.”
“Why have you come here to scatter flowers?” asked Subhūti.
Sakra said, “Because the Venerable One speaks prajña well, I have come to make offerings.”
Subhūti said, “I have not said one word. How can you say I speak prajña?”
Sakra replied, “The Venerable One has not spoken and I have not heard a thing. Nothing spoken and nothing heard: that is true prajña.”
You think it over. Nothing spoken and nothing heard is true prajña. Have you heard prajña? If not, that is true prajña.
“World-honored One! For more than forty years, ever since achieving enlightenment, the Tathāgata, for the benefit of living beings, has continuously discoursed on the principle of the four modes of all phenomena, the meaning of suffering, and the meaning of emptiness; on ever changingness, nonexistence of self, non-greatness, non-smallness, non-origination, and non-cessation; on the formlessness of all things; and on the natures and aspects of phenomena being intrinsically empty and tranquil—neither coming nor going, neither appearing nor disappearing.
Or in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, when the Buddha explains:
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 Vajra Sutra is concerned with “marks” or characteristics and how to avoid clinging to them. There are four marks: the mark of self, the mark of others, the mark of living beings and the mark of life.
Hsuan Hua explains in his commentary:
Because Subhūti had cultivated good roots for limitless kalpas, it was not difficult for him to believe. He realized, however, that anyone in the Dharma Ending Age, at the time when people are Strong in Fighting, who could believe, understand, receive, and hold the sūtra, would be a foremost individual and very rare. And why? Such people will have no mark of self, meaning they have no greed. No mark of others, meaning they have no anger. No mark of living beings, meaning they are not stupid. No mark of a life, meaning they have no desire. They have no greed, anger, stupidity, or desire, these four kinds of attachments. The four marks are without a mark. No mark is real mark. Real mark is no mark. And why? Because real mark is also distinct from all which has no marks. If you can obtain real mark, that is obtaining the principle substance of the self-nature of all Buddhas. Those who have relinquished all marks are called Buddhas. Therefore you too can certainly become a Buddha.
Twice each year at the Spring and Winter Equinox Nichiren Buddhists are asked to “strive to consciously reflect upon ourselves and our deeds. Have our words hurt anyone around us? Are our actions serving ourselves more than others? How can we be productive for the sake of society? Are our decisions creating a world of strife rather than peace? Does our lifestyle encroach upon the liberty or happiness of others? Are we aware of how our actions may adversely affect our environment – the soil, air, plants, insects, fish, birds, and animals? In sum, the basic question from a Buddhist point of view is whether or not we are following the right path.” (Higan brochure)
Specifically, Nichiren Buddhists are asked to reflect on the six pāramitās of Bodhisattva practice for three days before the equinox and for three days after.
This year for Higan week, which begins tomorrow, I’m going to post content taken from Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary on the Lotus Sutra and specifically from Chapter 1, Introductory.
The subject of Bodhisattva Practices and the Six Pāramitās comes up after the Buddha emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand worlds in the east and prompting Maitreya Bodhisattva to ask what this omen meant.
Hsuan Hua’s commentary includes on outline of the Lotus Sutra created by Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655 CE).
H5. Asking About Cultivation Of Bodhisattva Practices In Other Lands
I1. Asking In General
I2. Asking About The Six Pāramitās In Sequence
J1. Question About Giving
J2. Question About Upholding Precepts
J3. Question About Patience
J4. Question About Vigor
J5. Question About Dhyāna
J6. Question About Wisdom
I3. Asking About The Six Pāramitās Out Of Sequence
I’m going to post content from “Asking About The Six Pāramitās In Sequence” beginning tomorrow and “Asking About The Six Pāramitās Out Of Sequence” in September for the Fall Equinox.
I’ve completed reading aloud the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation of the Lotus Sutra as part of my daily practice. While reading the sutra I was comparing it with Senchu Murano’s translation and the other English translations I’ve used in my daily practice.
Overall, this is an excellent translation and the quality of the printing – it was printed in Taiwan – puts my other translations to shame.
That’s not to say it is without its faults.
In Chapter 1, Introduction, pages 24 and 25, where Mañjuśrī is describing how Dharma Master Wondrous Light taught the eight sons of the Buddha Lamp Shining with the Brightness of the Sun and the Moon (Sun-Moon-Light Buddha in Murano’s translation) a block of 18 lines are duplicated. This is by far the most significant error in this translation.
I found simple typos on page 376:
“To those who can be saved by a mighty heavenly general, she appears as a might heavenly general and teaches them the Dharma.”
And on page 379:
If you are cast adrift upon an immense ocean
And subject to the perils of dragons, fish, and ghosts,
Invoke the powers of Guan Yin: Amidt the waves and breakers, you will not drown.
These are trivial, but as a retired newspaper copy editor I feel compelled to point them out. (Feel free to criticize me for the many, many typos I allow in my own writing!)
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.
In other cases, what I questioned as errors turned out to be discrepancies in Murano’s translation. I’ve read the Lotus Sutra more than 100 times in my daily practice and Murano’s translation is the one with which I’m most familiar.
For example, at the start of Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Murano has:
“World-Honored One! Why does Medicine-King Bodhisattva walk about this Sahā-World? World-Honored One! This Medicine-King Bodhisattva will have to practice hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of austerities in this world.” Note that Medicine-King would have to practice austerities.
I stumbled when I read the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s version in The Account of Bodhisattva Medicine King’s Past Lives on page 351:
“At that time Bodhisattva Constellation King Flowers said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, how is it that Bodhisattva Medicine King travels throughout the Sahā world? World Honored One, Bodhisattva Medicine King has undertaken several billions of koṭis of nayutas of ascetic practices that are difficult to practice.”
In this case, Murano is the outlier. The BTK English Tripiṭaka translation, the Rissho Kosei-kai translation and Leon Hurvitz’s translation all agree that Medicine-King has already accomplished these ascetic practices.
There was another place where Murano’s translation was problematic. In Chapter 26, Dhārānis, after Vaiśravaṇa offers his dhārānis, he says:
I also will protect the person who keeps this sūtra so that he may have no trouble within a hundred yojanas’ distance [from here].”
The parenthetical “from here” suggests that Vaiśravaṇa is promising people protection around a particular location “here.”
The Buddhist Text Translation Society has Vaiśravaṇa promise on page 387:
I shall also personally support and protect those who uphold this sūtra so that the area surrounding them for a hundred yojanas will be free of misfortunes and peril.
The other translations all agree that the area of protection encircles the keeper of the Lotus Sutra, not a particular place.
In several locations, the differences between the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translation and the other English translations appear to be the result of coping with ambiguities in Kumarajiva’s Chinese translation.
Consider Chapter 15, Emerging from the Earth. In describing the behavior of the bodhisattvas who have emerged from underground, we are told that they went up to Many Treasure’s stupa in the sky, paid their respects to the two Buddhas seated side by side, and then went to the ground and paid homage to the countless replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha seated on lion thrones beneath jeweled trees.
The Buddhist Text Translation Society offers this on pages 266-267:
“They went on to where all the Buddhas were seated on lion thrones beneath jeweled trees, bowed to them, circumambulated them three times to the right with their palms joined together reverently, and praised them in various ways used by Bodhisattvas. Afterward, they withdrew to one side, gazing joyfully and respectfully at the two World Honored Ones.
“From the time the Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas first emerged from the earth, a period of fifty small eons elapsed while they praised the Buddhas in various ways used by Bodhisattvas. During that period, Śākyamuni Buddha remained seated in silence, as did the fourfold assembly. By virtue of the Buddha’s spiritual power, the great assembly thought that the period of fifty small eons was only half a day long. At that time the fourfold assembly, also through the Buddha’s spiritual power, saw all the Bodhisattvas filling up the space of countless billions of koṭis of lands.”
Did these bodhisattvas stay on the ground or did they rejoin the congregation suspended in the air? The answer is found on page 272, where we’re told:
“At that time all the transformation bodies of Śākyamuni Buddha, having come from countless tens of millions of koṭis of lands in various directions, were sitting in lotus posture on lion thrones beneath jeweled trees in each of the eight directions. The attendants of these Buddhas, seeing this great multitude of Bodhisattvas emerging from the earth and hovering in space in the four directions of the trichiliocosm, each said to his Buddha, “World Honored One, where has this multitude of countless, limitless asaṃkhyeyas of Bodhisattvas come from?”
Murano’s translation takes care of this confusion with a parenthetical insertion. After praising the replicas of Śākyamuni Buddha:
“Then they [returned to the sky,] stood to one side, and looked up at the two World-Honored ones with joy.”
Murano then says later:
“Also by the supernatural powers of the Buddha, the four kinds of devotees were able to see that the skies of many hundreds of thousands of billions of worlds were filled with those Bodhisattvas.”
The BTK translation, the Rissho Kosei-kai translation and Leon Hurvitz’s translation each have the Bodhisattvas taking their places to one side and gazing up at the two world-honored ones. None takes Murano’s parenthetical route of specifically putting the bodhisattvas in sky with Many Treasures’ stupa. However, there’s disagreement with whether the bodhisattvas were “filling up the space of countless billions of koṭis of lands” or in the air.
The BDK translation:
Then, through the transcendent powers of the Buddha, the fourfold assemblies also saw the bodhisattvas filling the air throughout immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of lands.
Leon Hurvitz’s translation:
At that time, the fourfold assembly, thanks to the Buddha’s supernatural power, also saw bodhisattvas fill the open air of incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of lands.
Only the Rissho Kosei-kai translation agrees with the Buddhist Text Translation Society:
At that time, the four groups, thanks to the transcendent powers of the Buddha, could see these bodhisattvas entirely filling the space of immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions of domains.
There were a couple of places where I questioned the accuracy of what I read only to discover that my recollection was faulty. A good example of this occurred in Chapter 3, A Parable, where the Buddha lists the three vehicles as the vehicles of the Śrāvakas, the Pratyekabuddhas, and the Buddha. I was certain that the Boddhisattva Vehicle was the third vehicle. I was wrong. All of the translations of Chapter 3, even Murano, list the three vehicles as the Śrāvaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Buddha-Vehicle.
The Buddhist Text Translation Society was originally established by Chinese Master Hsuan Hua. This Chinese origin appears to have influenced the choice of words in several places.
In the Parable of the Burning House in Chapter 3, Murano has:
Mountain spirits, water spirits,
Yakṣas and other demons
Lived here and there.
They fed on people and poisonous vermin.
Hurvitz has “ghosts and demons,” the BDK translation has “Ogres of the mountains and valleys” and the modern Rissho Kosei-kai offers “goblins and ogres.”
On page 80 the Buddhist Text Translation Society has:
Chi, mei, and wangliang
Were everywhere.
Yakṣas and evil ghosts
Were eating human flesh.
After a little Googling we find “Chi, mei, and wangliang” are demons of the mountains and forests (chimei) and demons of the rivers and marshes (wangliang).
The Buddhist Text Translation Society also assumes more of its English readers than other translators.
In describing in Chapter 17, The Discourse on Merit and Virtue, the merits received from understanding the Buddha’s life span, the Buddhist Text Translation Society has on pages 291-292:
“Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in a single chiliocosm attained billions of koṭis of dhārāṇis of countless revolutions. Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in a trichiliocosm became capable of turning the irreversible Dharma wheel.
“Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in a medium chiliocosm became capable of turning the pure Dharma wheel. Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in a small chiliocosm were destined to attain Anuttara-samyaksaṃbodhi after eight lifetimes.
“Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in four world systems were destined to attain Anuttara-samyaksaṃbodhi after four lifetimes. Furthermore, Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes in three world systems were destined to attain Anuttara-samyaksaṃbodhi after three lifetimes.
Chiliocosm, trichiliocosm?
Consider Murano’s translation:
Another group of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of a Sumeru world obtained the dhārāṇis by which they could memorize many hundreds of thousands of billions of repetitions of teachings. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one million Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of turning the wheel of the pure Dharma. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of earth of one thousand Sumeru-worlds obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after eight rebirths. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas four times the number of the particles of earth of the four continents obtained the faculty of attaining Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi after four rebirths.
None of the other translations use chiliocosm or trichiliocosm. In place of trichiliocosm, Hurvitz uses “thousand millionfold world” and Rissho Kosai-kai offers “three-thousand-great-thousandfold world.” The closest to trichiliocosm is the BDK translation, which offers “the great manifold cosmos.”
There’s another example of this in Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma. In detailing the twelve hundred merits of the tongue, Murano has:
In order to hear the Dharma, dragons, dragons’ daughters, gandharvas, gandharvas’ daughters, asuras, asuras’ daughters, garuḍas, garuḍas’ daughters, kiṃnaras, kiṃnaras’ daughters, mahoragas, and mahoragas’ daughters also will come to them, respect them, and make offerings to them.
The Buddhist Text Translation Society offers on page 326:
“All the dragons, female dragons, yakṣas, yakṣniṇīs, gandharvas, female gandharvas, asuras, female asuras, garuḍas, female garuḍas, kiṃnaras, female kiṃnaras, mahoragas, and female mahoragas will all draw near to these Dharma teachers in order to hear the Dharma, and will reverently make offerings to them.
“Yakṣniṇīs” is a typo so rare that Google has no record of anyone using the word. Yakṣiṇī are female Yakṣa.
Hurvitz and the BDK translation agree with Murano and use daughters. Standing alone is Rissho Kosei-kai, which offers “Male and female dragons, male and female yakshas…” (See this discussion of Rissho Kosei-kai’s effort to edit out “potentially discriminatory language and ideas” in order to create its Modern translation.)
Even more odd was the decision to use the name Sugatacetana in place of Thinking of Buddha in Chapter 20, Bodhisattva Never Slighting.
In listing who in the present congregation formerly abused the Bodhisattva Never Slighting, the Buddhist Text Translation Society has on page 337:
“Great Strength, what do you think? Could the fourfold assembly who at that time constantly despised this Bodhisattva have been anyone else? They were Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and the five hundred Bodhisattvas now in this assembly; Bhikṣu Lion Moon and the five hundred other bhikṣus; and Sugatacetana and the five hundred upāsakās.”
Murano and Rissho Kosei-kai both use the name Thinking of Buddha instead of Sugatacetana. Hurvitz uses “Thoughtful of the Buddha” and then in brackets ‘[Sugatachetanā, “she who is conscious of the Well Gone One”].’ Only the BTK translation uses Sugatachetanā and they have Siṃhacandrā in place of Lion Moon. (One of the problems with using the BTK translation in my daily practice of reading aloud is its failure to translate into English any of the Sanskrit names.)
The Buddhist Text Translation Society’s The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra is actually volume 15 of Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary of the Lotus Sutra. I’m currently making my way through the 14 volumes of commentary and finding it fascinating.
Postscript:
Rissho Kosei-kai’s “The Threefold Lotus sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers” was translated by Michio Shinozaki, Brook A. Ziporyn and David C. Earhart. The BTK English Tripiṭaka edition was translated by Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama.
The Buddhist Text Translation Society’s “The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra: Volume XV” was translated by The International Institute for The Translation of Buddhist Texts. There’s not a lot of information about the institute online. It doesn’t appear to have a website of its own. The institute was founded in 1973 by Chinese Master Hsuan Hua. The institute is currently associated with or perhaps a part of the Dharma Realm Buddhist University. Bhikshuni Heng Yi, an assistant professor at DRBU, has been the director of the International Institute for the Translation of Buddhist Texts (IITBT) since 2015.
Each time two-year-old Edwin arrives at his grandparents’ house, he is directed to the altar, where he rings the bell once, carefully replaces the bell stick, and then enthusiastically chants namu-myoho-renge-kyo three times along with his father and grandfather.
We’ve discovered that Edwin is willing to set quietly during the traditional Sunday services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. He only gets a little antsy after the chanting is over and the priest is giving his talk.For Kaji Kito services, Edwin and his father and mother attend. He’s been receiving Rev. Kenjo Igarashi’s purfication blessing since he was one month old.
