Category Archives: d1b

d1b, WONS

All Teachings of the Buddha Stem from the Daimoku

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, who is said to have directly heard the Buddha preach on Mt. Sacred Eagle, says in the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “The word ‘thus’ is used to show the essence of the dharma they heard from the Buddha.” Grand Master Chang-an, listened to what Grand Master T’ien-t’ai preached on the Lotus Sūtra and recorded it as the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra. He states in it, “The first preface written by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai expresses the profound mind of the Lotus Sūtra and this profound mind is nothing but the profound spirit of this sūtra.” What is referred to as the spirit of this sūtra means that the title (daimoku) is the spirit of this one. Grand Master Miao-lê says in his Commentary on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “All the teachings of the Buddha stemmed from the title (daimoku) which is the spirit of letters in the Lotus Sūtra.”

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 52.

d1b, WONS

They Began With ‘Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō’

Venerable Ānanda and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī listened to every word of the wonderful teaching of the Lotus Sūtra for eight years and at the assembly for compilation of all the sūtras after the Buddha’s extinction, nine hundred ninety-nine arhats wrote them down. They began with “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” and chanted “Thus have I heard.” Doesn’t this prove that the five Chinese characters of “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” are the essence of the one volume Lotus Sūtra, twenty-eight chapters in eight fascicles?

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 52.

LS32, d1b, Buddhism For Today

Worshiping the Buddha

For Buddhists, worshiping the Buddha is an expression of gratitude. When we have a deep sense of gratitude, we must always be sure to express it in our conduct. Gratitude without worship cannot be said to be true gratitude. To venerate the Buddha, Japanese Buddhists worship at their family altars by presenting flowers, tea, and water and by burning incense and beating gongs.

Buddhism for Today, p4
d1b, WONS

The Essence of the One-Volume Lotus Sūtra

The five characters in Chinese “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” appearing above the sentence, “Thus have I heard” is the essence of the one-volume Lotus Sūtra in eight fascicles, the essence of all the sūtras, and the supreme and True Dharma for all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, men of the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), heavenly beings, human beings, asura demons, and dragon deities.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 50.

d1b, WONS

Tears of Nectar

Thus thinking of my situation, I am an exiled man but my joy is immeasurable. I shed tears of joy, and I also shed tears of sorrow. Tears are common to good and evil. As one thousand arhats shed tears while remembering the Buddha, and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī chanted “Myōhō Renge Kyō,” one of the thousand arhats, Venerable Ānanda, replied, “Thus I heard.” The other nine hundred and ninety-nine arhats also wept, and using tears as water for ink, wrote, “Thus have I heard,” and “Myōhō Renge Kyō” above it. Now, I, Nichiren, am shedding tears in the same manner.

I find myself in such a circumstance because I spread the five or seven character daimoku of “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō.” It was because I had heard that Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures have left the Lotus Sūtra for the sake of Japan and all people in the future. Tears keep falling when I think of the current unbearable hardships, but I cannot stop tears of joy when I think of obtaining Buddhahood in the future. Birds and insects chirp without shedding tears. I, Nichiren, do not cry but tears keep falling. These tears are shed not for worldly matters, but solely for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, they could be called tears of nectar. It is said in the Nirvana Sūtra, “When people part from their parents, brothers, wife, children, or relatives, they shed more tears than the water of four great oceans but not a teardrop for the Buddha’s Dharma.”

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 79

elements, d1b, d17b

Believing in Dragons

The dragon (nāga) is counted as one of the eight groups who are protectors of Buddhism. Nāgas, types of demons in snake form, were believed to dwell in the sea, call the clouds forth, and bring rain. Their head was called the Nāga King or the Nāga God. They feature widely in Buddhist sutras from the earliest times and are a good measure of the spread of the Buddhist faith. The Nāga cult is thought to have evolved from an indigenous Indian belief, and it spread widely throughout the country in ancient and medieval times. We have seen already how Buddhism absorbed the Nāga cult as it spread into Gandhāra and Kashmir. This is reflected in the Kashmir historical records, the Rājatarahgiṇi (I, 26—28, 178) and the Nirapurāṇa (984-89). The contact between the Nāga cult and Buddhism in northwestern India resulted in the conversion of many Nāga followers of the region to Buddhism, and placing the indigenous belief within the doctrinal structure of Buddhism provided a strong base for their new Buddhist belief.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 423-424
elements, d1b, d2b, d22b

The Cult of Maitreya

There also appeared the cult of Maitreya, who, it was believed, would appear as a savior in the future. “Maitreya” is derived from the Sanskrit mitra (friend); Mithra (Mitra) was an ancient Iranian and Indian deity whose cult extended to Greece and Egypt. Maitreya the benevolent savior, it was believed, would appear in the world after 5,670,000,000 years. At present dwelling in Tuṣita Heaven, Maitreya would cause those with faith in him either to ascend to Tuṣita Heaven directly and be reborn there or to remain in the world to await his coming.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 266-267
elements, d1b

According to One’s Nature People Flow Together

Twenty-one arhats are listed in Chapter 1:

Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya
Mahā-Kāśyapa
Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa
Gaya-Kāśyapa
Nadi-Kāśyapa
Śāriputra
Great Maudgalyāyana
Mahā-Kātyāyana
Aniruddha
Kapphina
Gavampati
Revata
Pilindavatsa
Bakkula
Maha-Kausthila
Nanda
Sundarananda
Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī
Subhūti
Ananda
Rahula.

The Etadaggavagga (Aṅguttara-Nikāya) lists the Buddha’s disciples in terms of their specialized abilities. For example, the ten great disciples are classified as follows1:

  1. Sāriputta [Śāriputra], the foremost in deep wisdom,
  2. Mahāmoggallāna [Maudgalyāyana], the foremost in transcendental faculties,
  3. Anuruddha [Aniruddha], the foremost in divine sight,
  4. Mahākassapa [Mahākāśyapa], the foremost in observance of ascetic practices,
  5. Puṇṇa Mantāniputta [Pūrṇa, son of Maitrāyanī], the foremost in expounding the teaching,
  6. Mahākaccāyana [Mahākātyāyana], the foremost in ability to analyze and explain the teachings,
  7. Rāhula, the foremost of all who loved learning,
  8. Revata Khadiravaniya, the foremost of the forest dwellers,
  9. Ānanda, the foremost of those who had heard and memorized the teachings, and
  10. Upāli, the foremost of those who had memorized the Vinaya.

The chapter goes on to list other bhikkhus, bhikkhuṇis, upāsakas, and upāsikās and describes their special abilities.

It is understandable that those leading disciples who responded to the Buddha’s teachings in the way that suited them best then became teachers of those special abilities, guiding new followers in their own particular expertise. The disciples who gathered under them appear to have formed groups according to their interests, as is hinted by a sentence in the Saṃyutta-Nikaya: “According to one’s nature/selfdom (dhātu) people flow together, meet together.” The Buddha pointed out that the groups that formed around the various leaders tended to have the same leanings as those leaders (Saṃyutta-Nikāya), commenting that the disciples who were walking with Śāriputra were people of great wisdom; those around Mahāmoggallāna were of transcendental powers; those around Mahākassapa were of ascetic tendencies; those around Anuruddha were of divine sight; those around Puṇṇa Mantāniputta were expounders of the teaching; those around Upāli were memorizers of the Vinaya; those around Ānanda were those who had “heard much” (bahussuta); and those who had followed Devadatta were people of evil.
Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 169-170

1
Lotus World and the Oxford dictionary of Buddhism list Subhuti, foremost in understanding emptiness, among the 10 disciples. While Revata Khadiravaniya, the younger brother of Śāriputra, is not listed in those lists, other lists have him as foremost among forest dwellers. return
Foundations, d1b

Similarities and Differences Between the Lotus Sūtra and Other Scriptures

The name of the Lotus Blossom of the Subtle Dharma [Miao-fa lien-hua, Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra] is different from all other scriptures; this is a distinct [characteristic]. [For all scriptures] to have the title “Sūtra” is a shared [characteristic]. The establishment of these two terms [shared and distinct] includes three meanings with reference to teaching, practice, and reality. There are distinctions in the teachings [of the Buddha] with regard to conditions, but the teachings share a common message.2 There are distinctions in practice with regard to the ability to receive, but there is a common shared practice with regard to that which is to be realized.3 When reality is interpreted with regard to names, then there are distinctions. When names are interpreted in accordance with reality, then there is shared commonality.

[This first paragraph is a summary of the similarities and differences between the Lotus Sūtra and other scriptures. Chih-i now discusses this issue in more detail. In fact, the rest of the Fa hua hsüan i – the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra – is an extended discussion of this subject.]

Foundations of T'ien T'ai Philosophy, p 164
2
The teachings of the Buddha are different in different times and places in accordance with the capacity of the listener, but the basic underlying intent and teaching of the Buddha is one. return
3
Ultimately all correct practice is altruistic bodhisattva practice with the single ultimate goal of Buddhahood for all beings. return
stories, LS32, d1b, d2b, d17b, d22b, d25b

The Eloquence of Bodhisattvas

Throughout the Dharma Flower Sutra there are references to the eloquence of bodhisattvas. Already at the beginning of Chapter 1 we are told that the eighty thousand bodhisattvas present had all “taught with delight and eloquence.” Later, in Chapter 17, the Buddha says, “When I taught that the length of the [Buddha’s] life is very long … bodhisattva great-ones as numerous as the specks of dust in an entire world delighted in being eloquent and unhindered in speech.” Even the bodhisattva called “Never Disrespectful,” because he always went around bowing to people and telling them that he would never disrespect them, is said to have “powers of joyful and eloquent speech.” And of the dragon princess, a young girl, it is said that her “eloquence knows no bounds.” (LS 251)

Such an emphasis on eloquence is simply another indication of the importance of the teaching role of bodhisattvas. Of course, not everyone who follows the Dharma Flower Sutra will become truly eloquent, and certainly not automatically. But there is a strong suggestion that those who seek to spread the Dharma must strive to overcome reticence and shyness in order to be able to speak freely without being hindered by worries about embarrassing oneself. In many cases, this may require training and much practice, but it is an integral part of the bodhisattva path. Being shy should not be an excuse for leaving the teaching of the Dharma to others.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p239