Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, “Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!”
With these words, the Buddha prepares those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. “Understanding by faith” can be a difficult idea for those of us who believe faith is opposed to understanding; that it means believing something even though we do not understand it. The Buddha does not ask us to set aside our curiosity or our comprehension to practice his highest teaching. But he does say that it takes more than understanding to reach the wisdom he attained. As we apprehend more of what the Buddha teaches us, our confidence in him grows. As we set aside our doubts about the benefits of the Buddha Dharma, we increase our ability to see the world for what it is.
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The king and queen took off their necklaces of pearls worth hundreds of thousands, and strewed the necklaces to the Buddha. The necklaces flew up to the sky [seven times as high as the tāla-tree], and changed into a jeweled platform equipped with four pillars. On the platform was a couch of great treasures, and thousands of millions of heavenly garments were spread [on the couch]. The Buddha [went up,] sat cross-legged [on the couch], and emitted great rays of light. King Wonderful-Adornment thought, ‘The Buddha is exceptional. He is exceedingly handsome. He has the most wonderful form.’
The Buddha uses this description as part of the story of King Wonderful-Adornment in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. This King was led by the supernatural powers of his children to meet Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star- King Flower-Wisdom Buddha who was teaching the Wonderful Dharma in that world. The King and his wife the Queen were both so inspired by that Buddha that they allowed the symbols of their wealth and power to be transformed into a sacred platform from which the Buddha could lead all beings to enlightenment. When they found that Buddha, the beauty of his wisdom far outshone the beauty of their jewels.
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For example, in building a huge tower, a scaffold is assembled from many small pieces of wood set up ten or twenty feet high. Then, using this scaffold, the huge tower is built with lumber. Once the tower is completed, the scaffold is dismantled. The scaffold here represents all Buddhist scriptures other than the Lotus Sutra, and the Great Tower is the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by “discarding the expedient.” A pagoda is built by using a scaffold, but no one worships a scaffold without a pagoda.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). In this simile, Nichiren compares the Buddha’s expedient teachings to the Wonderful Dharma he provides in the Lotus Sūtra.
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All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.
The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha proclaim this to their father in a story told by Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They understand that when beings are so preoccupied with their own happiness, and so convinced that this happiness comes from what they can acquire, that they need an enlightened being to lead them to see the world as it is. With the Lotus Sūtra as the embodiment of the Buddha’s highest teaching, we have the same wisdom present to us as those children’s father was to them.
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Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This Chapter is the first time he reveals himself as the Ever-Present Buddha who became enlightened in the far distant past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment into the far distant future. The Buddha uses the death of his physical body as an expedient so that those who take him for granted will make efforts to practice his teachings. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, then we learn to see the Buddha in ourselves and all beings.
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Provisional teachings today are enemies of the True Dharma. If provisional teachings stand in your way as you try to spread the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra, you should thoroughly refute them. Of the two ways of propagation, this is the aggressive way of the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We notice in this passage that his instruction is to refute the provisional teachings and not attack those who are attached to them. Even if those whose teachings we challenge become angry and violent, we can understand that we did not cause this reaction. This is one reason the Lotus Sūtra is so difficult. By keeping a mind of compassion we can maintain our respect for others even when we disagree with them. They too are going to become Buddhas, and we are benefiting them, even if they reject our help.
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He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. As Bodhisattvas we chose to come into this world, as frightening and dangerous as it is, to make things better for all beings. We do not lose any of the six senses we have, but learn to use them in ways that may seem impossible to others. Any of our senses can be deluded. When we remove our attachments and delusions, we see with the Buddha’s eye the world as it is.
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If his writings are against the teachings of the Buddha, no matter how hard one might believe them, one will never attain Buddhahood. No matter how much one prays for peace and tranquility for the country, only deplorable events will take place.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Prayers (Kitō-shō), commenting on the writings of a priest who did not hold the Lotus Sutra as the Buddha’s highest teaching. Because the Lotus Sutra assures the enlightenment of all beings who teach and practice the Wonderful Dharma, it is what brings peace and tranquility to the world.
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Seeing [these wonders displayed by] the supernatural powers of his sons, the father had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He joined his hands together towards his sons [staying in the sky], and said, ‘Who is your teacher? Whose disciples are you?’
King Wonderful-Adornment makes this declaration to his sons in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. His sons had been asked by their mother to display their supernatural powers to their father and awaken the desire in him to hear the Buddha Dharma. We all have abilities of which we are not aware, and can cultivate those abilities so that they may seem miraculous to those who do not understand them. But it is important for us not to fall in the trap of using these abilities to strengthen our ego delusion. Instead we should dedicate our talents towards awakening the joy of the Wonderful Dharma in all beings.
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They also had already obtained [the four states of mind towards all living beings:] compassion, loving-kindness, joy and impartiality.
The Buddha gives this description in Chapter Twenty-Seven of the Lotus Sutra of two boys who had been the previous lives of Medicine-King and Medicine-Superior Bodhisattvas. These four states of mind are those which allow to see the world for what it is and bring true benefit for all beings. Any living being is capable of them. Their opposites: cruelty, indifference, misery and prejudice, are never what we aspire to, even though we find ourselves in them far too often. But even these states can be used as an indication that we are not seeing things for what they are, and lead us back to a true curiosity and appreciation for what we have.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
