Therefore, Śāriputra!
I expounded an expedient teaching
In order to eliminate their sufferings.
That was the teaching of Nirvāṇa.
The Nirvāṇa which I expounded to them
Was not true extinction.
All things are from the outset
In the state of tranquil extinction.
The Buddha provides this explanation to his disciple Śāriputra in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In this part of the story, the Buddha has announced that everything he had taught up until then, including the teachings of suffering and Nirvāṇa, were merely preparation for his highest teaching: the realization of the same enlightenment he reached. With the teaching of Nirvāṇa, the Buddha helps us take responsibility for our own situation rather than relying on an external force to make us happy. One problem with Nirvāṇa is that we can believe that it is something we do not have now. When we extinguish the fires of our delusion, we see the world with the Buddha’s eyes. We see the world for what it is, right here and right now.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
I know who is practicing the Way and who is not.
Therefore I expound various teachings
To all living beings
According to their capacities.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Even though the Buddha knows when we have strayed from the way of compassion and wisdom that he has opened for us, he knows that the innate capacity we have for enlightenment remains unchanged. Therefore, he does not judge us, or give up in his efforts to lead us away from our delusions. When we maintain our determination to save all beings despite their delusions, we maintain this mind of the Buddha and nourish the seeds of our own enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
All this while Śākyamuni Buddha sat in silence. The four kinds of devotees also kept silence for the fifty small kalpas. By his supernatural powers, however, the Buddha caused the great multitude to think that they kept silence for only half a day.
We find this description of the Buddha and his congregation in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Innumerable Bodhisattvas have sprung up from underground and come to pay their respects to the Buddha. This passage shows that in our suffering and attachment, we have a different concept of time than the Buddha. The kalpas the Lotus Sūtra uses to measure time are unimaginably long periods. When a stone a mile on each side is worn down to a pebble by a celestial being flying past it every thousand years and brushing it with her veil, a kalpa expires. When we see the world on this scale of time, rather than the limited years we have in our lives, it opens us up to the Buddha’s wisdom.
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We have never seen
These many thousands of billions
Of Bodhisattvas.
Tell me, Most Honorable Biped!
Where did they come from?
Maitreya Bodhisattva sings these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, the Buddha has asked who among those gathered to hear him teach will continue teaching this Wonderful Dharma in our world of suffering after the Buddha passes into his final extinction. Some Bodhisattvas say they will teach in other worlds, since the beings of this world are too defiled to hear the Buddha’s teaching. Other Bodhisattvas vow to remain in our world, but the Buddha tells them not to bother. At that moment, the ground cracks open, and innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up and vow to carry on the work of the Buddha. Maitreya and others had never seen these Bodhisattvas before. His asking the Buddha respectfully to explain what they do not understand. This example emphasizes that we must continue to question how the Buddha’s teaching applies to our lives rather than dogmatically accepting whatever happens.
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They will not think
Of any other food [than the two kinds of food:]
The delight in the Dharma, and the delight in dhyāna.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra, speaking of the future lives of those who practice the Wonderful Dharma. In the existence we occupy now, it is difficult to imagine any other ways we could live. When the Buddha shows us the world as it is, he is not just opening our eyes to what is in front of us now. He shows us innumerable possibilities far better than anything we could dream up ourselves. To reach these other worlds, we only need to shed our attachment to our delusions and have faith in the path the Buddha opens to his enlightenment.
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May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!
These verses are from Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, where the Brahma Kings from the ten quarters of the universe come to celebrate the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. We too can cultivate this wish that all the good results of our life’s work be for the benefit of all beings.
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Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are like the winter season, for many hardships come incessantly. Winter is surely followed by spring. We have never heard nor seen that winter returned to fall. We have never heard that the believers in the Lotus Sutra go back to ordinary people. The Lotus Sutra says, “All people who listen to this sutra will attain Buddhahood.”
Nichren wrote this in a letter to one of the lay women who followed his teachings, Myoichi Ama. Knowing the hardships Nichiren faced in his life helps us understand his great fearlessness and determination to spread the Wonderful Dharma. One of the most difficult things about hardship is that it can seem like it will never end. Nichiren reminds us that hardships do end, and that we who practice the Lotus Sutra are assured of our future enlightenment. The example of Nichiren’s life also shows us that as Bodhisattvas, we can use our hardships to lead other beings to enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Buddhas seldom appear in the worlds.
It is difficult to meet them.
Even when they do appear in the worlds,
They seldom expound the Dharma.
The Buddha proclaims these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. Later in the Sūtra he explains that in reality he became enlightened far in the past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment far into the future. The reason the Buddhas appear so rarely is not because they conceal themselves. It is because we do not recognize them for what they are. We cannot see the air we breathe, but it is crucial for our lives. Because of this we often take it for granted, unless we are so afflicted, or the air is so poisoned that we cannot breathe. Then we are aware of it. Likewise, the Buddha Dharma is available to us all the time.
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They will see the reality of all things.
Knowing the position [of this sūtra in the series of sūtras],
And the names and words [of this sūtra], according to the meanings of it,
They will expound [this sūtra] as they understand it.
The Buddha sings these verses to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. In our practice of the Wonderful Dharma, we may be able to enjoy the circumstances of being able to spend lots of time studying the Lotus Sūtra and the guidance given by our leader in this age of degeneration, Nichiren Shonin. But even if we do not have that luxury of time, as long as we remember how the Lotus Sūtra uses expedients to lead all beings to enlightenment, that the goal of this sūtra is not just to end suffering, we can teach it using our own capacities, however limited those may be. Each word of the sūtra is an embodiment of the Buddha. When we share these words with others, we share the Buddha.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
If you see what we have deep in our minds,
And assure us of our future Buddhahood,
We shall feel as cool and as refreshed
As if we were sprinkled with nectar.
Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana sing these verses to the Buddha in Chapter Six of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha knows that our habits of thought and behavior have developed over many lifetimes. We cannot clear them away by ourselves. In the Lotus Sūtra, he assures many of his disciples personally of the certainty of their enlightenment. He shows that this universe has innumerable Buddhas, and tells all of us who hear this teaching that we too should be certain of our enlightenment. When we take the Buddha’s voice to heart, and release the grip we have on our fears, and open ourselves to the joy within ourselves and the world.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
