I keep track of traffic to this website. I do it just for curiosity; there’s no financial incentive to gather in more eyeballs. I suppose I take a certain pride that somewhere between 30 and 50 unique visitors read what I’ve posted here each day. I remember when that average was 10 unique visitors. The five top draws according to recent statistics were:
Top content over the last 28 days
| Title | Pageviews |
|---|---|
| 500 Yojanas | On the Journey to a Place of Treasures | 423 |
| Devadatta | 262 |
| The Basic Nichiren Shu Service | 122 |
| The Ten Epithets of the Buddha | 47 |
| Lotus Sutra Audiobook | 40 |
The popularity of the main landing page is understandable, as is the The Basic Nichiren Shu Service. The fact that Average Time on Page for this site runs more than three minutes is a reflection of the number of people who use this site for their daily practice. A woman who travels a lot for her job thanked me for making this available. Less obvious are Nichiren’s letter about Devadatta and Nikkyō Niwano’s explanation of the 10 Epithets of the Buddha from his Buddhism for Today.
For those who come for the 10 Epithets of the Buddha, I offer Master Hsuan Hua’s explanation from his commentary on the Lotus Sutra.
Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v4, p34-36What does Tathagata mean? It’s given the following interpretation: “By following the true Path, one attains perfect awakening.” One moves forward on the true, down-to-earth path, the path that truly leads to Buddhahood. The path to Buddhahood is real, not an illusion. Moving forward on this true path, one attains the perfect awakening and becomes a Buddha. This is one way to explain it.
The best explanation of the term Tathagata, however, is found in the Vajra Sutra, which says that “The Tathagata does not come from anywhere, nor does he go anywhere. That is why he is called the Tathagata.” He doesn’t come from anywhere, but does he go anywhere? He goes nowhere as well. So he is known as the Tathagata or Thus Come One. Tatha [“thus”] represents stillness. Agata [“come”] represents movement. Movement does not obstruct stillness, and stillness does not obstruct movement. Movement itself is stillness, and stillness itself is movement. Movement and stillness are one.
Why is movement itself stillness and stillness itself movement? Why is there movement? Movement appears in contrast to stillness. Why is there stillness? Stillness appears in contrast to movement. Stillness is produced from movement; movement comes from stillness. This is why movement and stillness are one; they’re dual yet nondual. Even though they’re dual, they’re actually one. They’re like water and ice. Water is ice, and ice is water. The principle is the same. Therefore, movement does not obstruct stillness, and stillness does not obstruct movement. Stillness at its extreme becomes movement, and movement at its extreme becomes stillness.
We human beings move around during the day and remain still at night. However, while in stillness there is movement, and in movement there is stillness. During the day, people are generally on the move, but some may choose to sleep. Sleeping is stillness, and waking is movement. At night, most people sleep, but some don’t. That’s movement. Tathagata is the first of the ten titles of the Buddha.
- One Worthy of Offerings
- Living beings, for their part, should make offerings to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The Buddha, for his part, is worthy of receiving offerings from gods and humans. It is said,
To every supplication, there will be a response.
No entreaty will be left unanswered.What is meant by “To every supplication, there will be a response”? Making offerings is a form of supplication. For example, those who make offerings to the Three Jewels hope to receive blessings and wisdom. Those who seek blessings and wisdom may make offerings to the Three Jewels.
- One of Right and Universal Knowledge
- Right knowledge refers to the understanding that the mind gives rise to the myriad phenomena; universal knowledge refers to the understanding that the myriad phenomena arise from the mind. It is said,
The Buddha taught all Dharmas in response to the minds of living beings.
In the absence of minds, what use would Dharmas be?- One of Perfect Clarity and Conduct
- “Clarity” refers to the Buddha’s brilliance–that is, his wisdom. “Conduct” refers to the strength of his cultivation. Because the Buddha is perfect in both wisdom and cultivation, he is One of Perfect Clarity and Conduct.
- Sugata, Knower of the World
- Sugata is translated as “one who goes well,” meaning that the Buddha has gone to a good place. As Knower of the World, he understands everything in the world. There is no phenomenon, be It mundane or transcendent, that he doesn’t understand.
- Unsurpassed One
- Only a Buddha can be called the Unsurpassed One; other living beings cannot. Bodhisattvas are called Great Ones and are also known as Surpassed Ones. Buddhas are Unsurpassed Ones, for no one is above them.
- Subduing and Regulating Hero
- To subdue and regulate is akin to driving a car in a certain direction. To drive a car, you have to turn the steering wheel. Driving is similar to subduing and regulating. In northern China they have horse chariots that are driven by people. The driver cracks the whip, and the horse moves forward. To subdue and regulate is also similar to driving a horse cart. The Buddha is a great hero who subdues and regulates those in the three realms: the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the realm of the formless.
- Teacher of Gods and Humans
- The Buddha is a teacher of both the beings in the heavens and the people on earth.
- Buddha
- The Buddha has perfected all three kinds of awakening: self-awakening, the awakening of others, and the perfection of self-awakening and of practices. It is said,
Having perfected the three kinds of awakening and accomplished the myriad virtues,
one is called a Buddha.- World Honored One
- The Buddha is honored both in the world and beyond.
In Volume 6, which covers Chapters 5, 6 and 7, Hsuan Hua expands on what Buddha means in discussing the 10 epithets in his commentary on Chapter 6, Conferring Predictions.
Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v6, p95-96
- 9. Buddha.
- What is a Buddha? Those who have heard the Dharma before will understand what Buddha means. Those who have not heard the Dharma will not know it. The Buddha is just a person, and a person is a Buddha. On the other hand, the Buddha is a Buddha and people are just people. We cannot assume that since the Buddha is a person, people are also Buddhas. The Buddha is a person who cultivated and then became a Buddha. How about people? If people cultivate, they can become Buddhas: if they do not cultivate, they cannot. Therefore, it is also said that the Buddha is a living being and that living beings are Buddhas. The Buddha is a living being who cultivated to become a Buddha, so living beings have to cultivate to become Buddhas. You cannot fail to cultivate yet claim to be a Buddha. That’s impossible! Even though the Buddha is a living being, he also has to cultivate. If, in the beginning, the Buddha had not cultivated, he would not have become a Buddha either.
Buddhahood is realized through cultivation, but how do you cultivate? You must first awaken yourself rather than demanding that others awaken. As the saying goes,
Awakened, one is a Buddha;
Confused, one is a living beingWhen you awaken, you are a Buddha among living beings. When you are confused, you are a living being who has not realized your Buddha nature. The only difference between the two is that one is confused and the other is awake. To awaken is to truly understand.
Those who are self-awakened are distinguished from ordinary people, who have not awakened. Not awakened to what?
They have not awakened to their own faults and offenses; they have not awakened to the fact that they have created so much karma. Luckily, the karma we have created has no physical form. Though empty space is truly vast, if our karma had shape and form, it would surely fill up the whole of space and break it open. But because karma doesn’t have a physical form, we don’t have to worry about storing it anywhere.
Nevertheless, it never leaves you; it follows you everywhere and all the time. Unawakened, you are an ordinary person. Self-awakened, you are no longer the same as ordinary people.
Your own awakening, however, does not have any merit; you still have to create merit. How do you do that? By awakening yourself and awakening others. You should think, “Having awakened myself, I will use the same methods and principles to awaken all living beings, so that everyone will attain awakening.” To awaken others is to walk the Bodhisattva Path, which distinguishes one from those of the Two Vehicles. Even though you are self-awakened and have awakened others, you’re awakening and practice has not yet reached perfection. To perfect your own awakening and the awakening of others is the perfection of awakening and of practices. There are three kinds of perfection in awakening-the perfection of self-awakening, the perfection of bringing others to awakening, and the perfection of awakening and of practices. When you perfect the three kinds of awakening and accomplish the myriad virtues, you will be called a Buddha.