Two Buddhas, p207We cannot know for certain, but the story of Sadāparibhūta [Never-Despising Bodhisattva] may reflect the experience of the Lotus Sūtra’s compilers in encountering anger and contempt from mainstream Buddhist monastics. The Sanskrit name Sadāparibhūta actually means “Always Despised.” As an ordinary monk without any particular accomplishments, Sadāparibhūta had no obvious authority for delivering predictions of future buddhahood, and monastics who looked askance at the nascent Mahāyāna movement may have found his words presumptuous and offensive. Hence, he was “always despised.” Dharmaraksa, who first rendered the Lotus Sūtra into Chinese, translated the bodhisattva’s name in this way. But Kumārajīva instead adopted “Never Despising,” shifting emphasis to the bodhisattva’s attitude of reverence for all. As Nichiren expresses it: “In the past, the bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta carried out the practice of veneration, saying that all beings have the buddha nature; that if they embrace the Lotus Sūtra, they are certain to attain buddhahood; and that to slight another is to slight the Buddha himself. He bowed even to those who did not embrace the Lotus Sūtra, because they too had the buddha nature and might someday accept the sūtra.”
Category: d25b
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Always Despised But Never Despising
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Rejecting the Bodhisattvas from Other Worlds
Two Buddhas, p174Zhiyi proposed several reasons why the Buddha ultimately rejected the offer of the bodhisattvas from other worlds to propagate the Lotus Sūtra in the present, Sahā world and instead summoned the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. The bodhisattvas from other worlds, he said, had responsibilities to benefit the beings of their own lands that they could not neglect. Furthermore, their ties to this world were only superficial, and so their efforts at spreading the dharma would have been ineffective. Had the Buddha accepted their offer, he would have had no reason to summon the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. These bodhisattvas were Śākyamuni’s original disciples, taught by him since the inconceivably distant past. Their ties to the Sahā world were profound, and they could also travel to other realms and benefit the beings there. And, without their presence, Śākyamuni could not have revealed his true identity as the Buddha awakened since the inconceivably distant past.
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Benefit Produced By Evil Karman From One’s Former Action
In Chih-i’s view, nothing good comes into being without evil. Evil assists sentient beings in pursuing good deeds and in accumulating merits. This is exemplified through evidence from the Lotus Sūtra. One example is drawn from one of the previous lives of the Buddha, when he was known as Sadāparibhūta-bodhisattva. This bodhisattva bowed humbly to everyone, claiming that someday they would all become Buddhas. His actions infuriated many people, and they scolded and beat him. As a result, those beings had to suffer from their karman in hell. However, as soon as they paid their dues, the cause and condition of their previous meeting with the bodhisattva matured, and they were able to meet the Buddha in their present lifetime. Upon receiving the Buddha’s teaching in the Lotus Sūtra, they entered the stage of non-retrogression (Skr., avinivartanīya). This case shows that the evil karman of beings in the past gives rise to the opportunity for beings to be taught by the Buddha in the present. This benefit is produced by the evil karman from one’s former action. Chih-i regards this situation as “the evil of oneself aiding the good of oneself.” Another example illustrates the benefit that is produced by the evil karman of others. This refers to the Buddha’s cousin Devadatta, who is regarded as an evil person because of attempting to kill the Buddha and alienating the Buddha’s saṃgha (community). However, the Buddha claims that Devadatta is a good friend. Chih-i uses this example to argue, “The evil of others can aid the good of oneself.” (Vol. 2, Page 259-260)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of Buddhism
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Dissemination in the Age of Degeneration
Judging from the Sutra as a whole, we can see that the Bodhisattvas taught by the Original Buddha assume the duty to disseminate the Lotus Sutra in the future, especially in the Age of Degeneration. The Age of Degeneration in this defiled World of Endurance will be filled with hazards and many people will reject the Lotus Sutra and oppose its teachers. Such a time and place will require Bodhisattvas of outstanding ability, ones who can overcome attitudes of apathy or resentment. The Bodhisattvas taught by the Provisional Buddha, on the other hand, are assigned a much easier task. They will work in this world during the Ages of Right Teaching and Counterfeit Teaching, or else in other worlds.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra
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Kamon
The studies conducted over so many centuries made possible a deeper understanding of the Lotus Sutra, and methodological standards for its interpretation were established. One example is called Kamon. It is a classification of the twenty-eight chapters into several sets for a systematic explanation of their meaning.
The major Kamon is the “Three Parts of Each of the Two Divisions of the Lotus Sutra” which was established by Great Master Chih-i. Most commentators since his time have accepted his guidelines. …
[T]he “Three Parts of Each of the Two Divisions of the Lotus Sutra” refers to the division of the Sutra into two main sections: the first half, consisting of Chapters One through Fourteen, and the second half, consisting of Chapters Fifteen through Twenty-eight. Kamon gives a detailed explanation of the reason for this division. The first half is named Shakumon, literally “imprinted gate.” Its main purpose is to teach how “hearers” and Pratyekabuddhas can attain Buddhahood in the One Vehicle. The second half is called Hommon, which means “Primal Gate” or “Primal Mystery.” This part reveals Sakyamuni to be the infinite, absolute Buddha, the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remotest past but still leads living beings in the present. These two points are considered the fundamental ideas of the Lotus Sutra.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra
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Purification of Never-Despising Bodhisattva
Purification of the six senses, which we discussed in the previous chapter, “Merits of the Teacher of the Law,” means purification of the bodily senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind. Once Never-Despising had purified his six senses, he was able to extend his lifetime for many years, and teach the Sutra to others. Thanks to his teaching, the same arrogant and conceited priests who had persecuted him before, now came to believe in the Lotus Sutra, themselves. In this way, he led many people to supreme enlightenment, and he himself became a Buddha.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra
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Age of Counterfeit Teachings
The terms, “Age of Right Teachings” and “Age of Counterfeit Teachings,” express the Buddhist view of history. It is believed that for a while after a Buddha has entered Nirvana, people will remember his teachings correctly, put them into practice, and attain enlightenment. However, as time passes, those teachings will become mere academic formalities. People will know about them and be able to discuss them, but they will no longer practice them diligently and attain enlightenment. This second period is called the Age of Counterfeit Teachings. Finally, the teachings will decay altogether. People will neither practice them, understand them, nor attain enlightenment. This is the Age of Degeneration, when Buddhism declines and finally fades away. It is believed by most scholars that the first and second periods last for a thousand years each. The Age of Degeneration can drag on for as long as 10,000 years. In any case, Never-Despising Bodhisattva lived during the second of these three periods, an Age of Counterfeit Teachings.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra
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Respect for All Human Beings
This story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva shows the spirit which lies at the heart of the Lotus Sutra: respect for all human beings.
Human history and culture have long sought an ideal society composed of ideal persons. The Buddha, who is revealed in Buddhism, expresses this image of an ideal human being—omniscient, omnipotent, and magnanimous to all. The ideal society is his Pure Land. Not only Buddhism, but all religions seek such an ideal.
In our modern age, however, many people think that revolutions in politics and economics, instead of religion, are the best ways to realize such an ideal. “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity,” acclaimed in the French Revolution, express this spirit, although it soon came to mean liberty, equality, and fraternity for us, but not for you. In the twentieth century, the Communist Revolution tried to realize the same ideal, also by brute force.
However, no such attempt can succeed without the spirit of Never-Despising Bodhisattva—venerating all living beings just as they are. This has been demonstrated by the recent collapse of communist countries in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Although they had high ideals, their revolution, which ignored the value of human beings, was doomed to fail. Never-Despising Bodhisattva teaches the most basic revolution of all: profound respect for each and every living person.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra