It cannot be that the good man or woman who obtained merits [by understanding my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought] falters in walking the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
The Buddha makes this declaration to the Bodhisattva Maitreya in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. We all have experiences that take a long time either to understand or to realize what affect they have had on our lives. We may even forget the experience and not be able to connect it with a present situation. This is also true with the experience of hearing the Buddha teach. We hear him declare that he is ever-present, always leading us to enlightenment. Then the memory of that teaching becomes obscured by our daily pursuits and attachments. By reminding ourselves and each other of this highest teaching, we regain our right minds and walk confidently on the path to the Buddha’s own enlightenment (Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi).
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
All of you, wise men!
Have no doubts about this!
Remove your doubts, have no more!
My words are true, not false.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. If we come to the Buddha, attached to our delusions and fearful of the potential for peace and joy we all have within us, it is easy to doubt what he says. We have been suffering a long time. Like the children playing in the burning house, we are so caught up in the drama and insanity of our world that we cannot imagine any other way to live. When the Buddha warns us of how dangerous it is to continue as we are, we are more certain of our familiar pain than of his enlightenment. When we trust the Buddha Dharma, and cultivate our potential to create unimaginable benefit in this world, then we realize the pettiness of the crises we create for ourselves. We awaken our curiosity and gratitude and learn to see this beautiful world for what it is.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
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.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. He describes the methods he used to prepare those whom he taught for receiving his highest teaching. In this chapter, the Buddha reveals that his existence is not limited to that of the physical body of Siddhartha Gautama 2500 years ago. In truth he has been leading all beings to his enlightenment for an unimaginably long time, and will continue to lead us for twice that time into the future. We approach the Buddha’s true wisdom when we see the purpose of our existence as benefiting all beings, and are certain that the outcome of whatever troubles us now is the enlightenment of all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Our palaces are beautifully adorned
Because we accumulated merits in our previous existence.
We offer [these palaces] to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!
The Brahma-Heavenly-Kings of the East sing these verses in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra. In the story, they came to the world of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence-Buddha from their worlds of beauty and pleasure when that Buddha became enlightened. Their offering shows their understanding that while they can enjoy the results of the merits they have created, these results are meant to be shared with all beings. No matter how much or how little we have, being grateful for what we have, rather than being resentful for what we lack, is an expression of the Buddha’s wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Sometimes he chided him, saying:
“Work hard!”
At other times he coaxed him, saying:
“I will treat you as my son.”
These verses are part of the story of the Wayward Son told by Subhūti, Mahā-Kātyāyana, Mahā-Kāśyapa, and Mahā-Maudgalyāyana in Chapter Four of the Lotus Sūtra. The son in the story has become attached to his lowly existence. The father must teach him slowly with expedients to prepare him to come into his inheritance. The story explains the disciples’ understanding of how the Buddha uses expedients to prepare us to aspire for enlightenment. The Buddha leads each of us differently, and as we progress in our wisdom, he changes how he teaches us. All this is preparation for us to come into the Buddha’s own mind and enjoy his wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Evil people in the future will doubt the One Vehicle
When they hear it from a Buddha.
They will not believe or receive it.
They will violate the Dharma, and fall into the evil regions.
The Buddha declares these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren wrote that while some people think hell is below the earth, it is really contained in our own bodies and minds. If we cannot believe or accept the Dharma the Buddha teaches us, then we are not seeing the world for what it is. We are creating worlds of our own separate from the Buddha’s world. We create worlds of greed, anger and ignorance, in which it is even more difficult to hear the Dharma. But even in these difficult worlds, the Buddha exists and works to benefit us. If we remember to look for him, he will show us the way out.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
You should remember that the secret doctrine to save the evil, the stupid, women, and those without Buddha-nature is not revealed in sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra. This is the very reason the Lotus Sūtra is superior to all other Buddhist scriptures.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Chanting the Great Title of the Lotus Sūtra (Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō). With so many proclaiming that their teaching is superior, it can be difficult to hear what Nichiren is telling us in this passage. Other teachings maintain that only some people can be saved. As a result, people who hear those teachings live in fear and uncertainty about their fate. The Lotus Sūtra proclaims that all who hear it will become enlightened, and that all who teach the Lotus Sūtra will create the conditions for others to be enlightened. Nichiren’s relentless determination to spread the Wonderful Dharma was not based on arrogance: merely wanting people to do as he said. It was based on compassion: the certainty that the Lotus Sūtra embodies the enlightenment of the Buddha and saves all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
You, the World-Honored One, are the light of wisdom.
Hearing from you
That we are assured of our future Buddhahood,
We are as joyful as if we were sprinkled with nectar.
These verses are sung by two thousand of the Buddha’s disciples in Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sūtra. When these followers of the Buddha were told that they would become as enlightened as he was, then many others like them realized that they too had this capacity. The superiority of the Lotus Sūtra lies not in having better explanations of what the Buddha taught, or in some supernatural ability it has to change the world. The superiority of the Lotus Sūtra is its completeness. It leads all beings to the joy of enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
In order to save the [perverted] people,
I expediently show my Nirvāṇa to them.
In reality I shall never pass away.
I always live here and expound the Dharma.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. This is part of the explanation that his existence in the physical form of Śākyamuni was only one way that he leads all beings to enlightenment. The Buddha described his ever-present nature as the most difficult of his teachings to believe and understand. Recognizing the presence of the Buddha in the world is the same as recognizing Buddha nature in ourselves and all beings. Knowing that the Buddha is always available to help us in this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma means we do not need to rely on our own limited abilities. The store of the Dharma is always available to us. We just need to find it and use it.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
He will have correct memory and the powers of merits and virtues. He will not be troubled by the three poisons. He will not be troubled by jealousy, arrogance from selfishness, arrogance from self-assumed attainment of enlightenment, or arrogance from self-assumed acquisition of virtues. He will want little, know contentment, and practice just as you do.
The Buddha gives this description of the person who keeps and practices the Lotus Sūtra to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. Powers of merits are what we have when we see things clearly. The three poisons are greed, anger and ignorance. The practice of Universal-Sage is to support and encourage everyone who takes on this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma. This is another Bodhisattva who gives us an example of how we can live in this world of conflict.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
