Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 327-328The Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, Fa-hua lun (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa, T. 1519, variant T. 1520), by Vasubandhu and translated into Chinese twice early in the sixth century, states:
The chapters following teach seven parables for the sake of living beings and the seven kinds of defilements they possess, in order to overcome the seven kinds of overweening pride.
It summarizes the seven parables as follows:
- The parable of the burning house has been narrated for those who, seeking after power, perversely vaunt their assertion that they possess the Truth and seek after merits. In this world they burn the greatest from the fire of the various defilements and seek after reward in terms of the state of a heavenly being, which remains defiled with the outflows that obstruct enlightenment. These people are enabled to accumulate roots of goodness and the merits of samādhi in this world, and to be gladdened by expedients, so that later they will be able to enter true nirvana.
- The parable of the poor son has been narrated for those who, seeking the liberation of a śrāvaka, possess a singly directed pride in superior knowledge. They reason perversely that their own vehicle is no different from that of the Tathāgata. Through this parable, such people will be enabled to board the Great Vehicle, the one revealed through the three.
- The parable of the rain has been narrated for those who, seeking the Great Vehicle, have the arrogance of a singly directed resolve, reasoning perversely that there is no such thing as a śrāvaka or a pratyekabuddha vehicle. The parable allows them to know that there are other vehicles. Though the buddhas and tathāgatas preach the Dharma equally without discrimination, the seeds that sprout within living beings depend on the various roots of goodness.
- The parable of the magic city has been narrated for those who arrogantly believe that what is not real has being. They perform the samādhis (concentrations) and samāpattis (final, unperturbed samādhis) that are still defiled by the outflows, and though they know that nirvana is not real, they still pursue it. They are enabled through skillful expedients to enter the magic city, the city of nirvana, which is the city of the dhyānas and the samādhis. They pass through this city and enter the city of true nirvana.
- The parable of the priceless jewel has been narrated for those who, though not having false illusions, still do not realize that they have long possessed the roots of goodness of the Great Vehicle. They do not seek the Great Vehicle, but their narrow and inferior minds give rise to deluded understanding so that they think theirs is the first vehicle. Through the parable they are able to recall their past roots of goodness and learn to enter samādhi.
- The parable of the king’s jewel has been narrated for those who are arrogant in the accumulation of merits. Though they hear the teaching of the Great Vehicle, they attach themselves to teachings that are not of the Great Vehicle. The parable enables them to hear the teachings of the Great Vehicle, and through them receive the secret predictions of the buddhas-tathāgatas, the same as if they had completed the ten stages.
- The parable of the physician has been narrated for those who have pride in not accumulating merits. Remaining in the first vehicle, they have not in the past practiced and accumulated roots of goodness, so that even though they hear of the first vehicle, they cannot in their hearts believe in it. The parable shows them “the proper quantity of nirvana” … by enabling them to bring to fruition those roots that have not yet borne fruit.
Category: d9b
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Seven Parables in Vasubandhu’s Commentary on the Lotus Sutra
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Jurui Seed and Sōtai Seed
QUESTION: What then is the Lotus Meditation?
ANSWER: Regarding the practice of the Lotus Sūtra for the ordinary and unenlightened people in these latter days, there are two doctrines, that of “jurui seed” (opening and merging related concepts) and that of “sōtai seed”, (opening and merging of opposite concepts) leading them into the one Buddha vehicle.
QUESTION: What is the source of this information?
ANSWER: It originates from four characters, shu (seed), sō (appearance), tai (entity or body), and shō (nature), found in the fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra , “Simile of Herbs.” Jurui seed and sōtai seed are based on the first of the above four characters, seed, the seed of Buddhahood. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra comments on jurui seed, thus: “Anyone with a soul possesses the seed of Buddhahood. If one hears but a phrase of the sūtra, one would realize that one has the seed of Buddhahood. Should one put one’s hands together and bow in prayer towards the Buddha, then one is able to advance toward Buddhahood.” Sōtai seed means opening and merging the three paths of evil passions, karma, and suffering into three merits of hosshin (Dharma Body), hannya (wisdom) and gedatsu (salvation), respectively.
Of these two concepts, jurui seed has its basis in the Lotus Sūtra, although some aspects of it can be related to various sutras occurring prior to the Lotus Sutra. Grand Master Miao-lê has observed in his Annotations to the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra that the “jurui seed but not sōtai seed can be found in distinct teachings.” Distinct teachings, in this case, do not suggest its usual meaning referring to the four teachings, zō (tripiṭaka), tsū (common), betsu (distinct) and en (perfect), but rather it points to the perfect teachings that have existed prior to the Lotus Sūtra or the perfect teachings taught by those other than Grand Master T’ien-t’ai. Even within the theoretical section or the first half of the Lotus Sūtra, verses of the “Expedients” chapter mention the opening and merging of jurui seed of human and heavenly beings. The teaching beginning with the verse “those who pay their respect to the ashes of the Buddha,” followed by twenty or so lines claiming that even a small gesture of goodness would lead to enlightenment amounts to the opening and merging of jurui seed.
Shimon Butsujō-gi, Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 246
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Medicinal Herbs
The Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area is reviewing the Lotus Sutra a month at a time. The first Sunday of the month is a formal discussion about the subject of the chapter and the third Sunday, today, is devoted to a discussion of each attendee’s favorite verse of the chapter and how that verse impacts daily life. This month’s topic was Chapter 5.
The version of the Lotus Sutra that I have here, which was translated by Senchu Murano, calls the chapter “The Simile of Herbs.” But the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the San Francisco Bay Area’s preferred translation of the Lotus Sutra is Rissho Kosei-kai’s The Threefold Lotus Sutra: A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers. This 2019 translation by Michio Shinozaki, Brook Ziporyn and David Earhart calls Chapter 5 “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs.”
There are no Medicinal Herbs in either translation. Both are English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Sanskrit in 406 CE.
During the discussion on the first Sunday I raised the question of why “Medicinal” was added to the title. It distracts from the meaning of the simile, which discusses how the Buddha’s wisdom is rained upon everyone equally and it is received individually based on the individual’s nature and characteristics. Some of us are herbs, some are rice plants, some are trees – all receive the same nourishment from the Buddha. Adding “Medicinal” was a puzzle.
This week, when I was preparing for participating in the service, I decided I would quote from the two “missing” parables from Chapter 5. These – the Simile of the Clay Pots and Parable of a Blind Man – are from a surviving Sanskrit version that was translated by Leon Hurvitz in his 1983 “Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma.”
It was here, in the portion of the sutra Hurvitz added to Chapter 5, that I understood why Hurvitz called Chapter 5 Medicinal Herbs. It all has to do with how blindness was cured by a physician. Here’s the context:
“Now there is a certain physician, who knows all ailments. He sees that man born blind. The following occurs to him: ‘This man has fallen victim to an ailment thanks to a former evil deed. Whatever ailments arise, they are all of four kinds: rheumatic, bilious, phlegmatic, or due to a derangement of the humors.’ Then the physician thinks again and again of a means to put an end to that ailment. The following occurs to him: ‘Whatever drugs are current, with them this ailment cannot be treated. But on the Snowy King of Mountains there are four herbs. Which four? The first is named The One Possessed of All Colors, Flavors, and States of Being; the second is named The One That Brings Release from All Ailments; the third is named One That Destroys All Poisons; the fourth is named The One That Confers Happiness on Those Standing in the Right Place: these four herbs.’ Then the physician, showing compassion for that man born blind, thinks of a device by means of which he is able to go to the Snowy King of Mountains and, having gone, ascend it, then descend it, and also search through it thoroughly. Searching in this way, he finds the four herbs. And, having found them, he gives the blind man one chewed with his teeth, one he gives him pounded, one he gives him cooked in a mixture with other things, one he gives him mixed with other things raw, one he gives him after piercing his body with a lancet, one he gives him after burning it in fire, one he gives him mixed with a variety of things, including even such things as food, drink, and the like.
“Then that man born blind, through the application of those devices, regains his sight. …”
Still unresolved is why anyone else would add “Medicinal” to the title.
Gene Reeves’ 2008 translation has “The Parable of the Plants” for Chapter 5. Reeves offers a footnote explanation for the difference:
“In Kumārajīva’s version, though the title is literally ‘Medicinal Herbs Parable,’ in the chapter itself there is no parable having to do with medicinal herbs.”
Reeves notes Hurvitz’s inclusion of a medicinal herb parable but, since it wasn’t included in Kumārajīva’s translation, Reeves chose to change the title to more accurately reflect the content.
Interestingly, the 1975 version of Rissho Kosei-kai’s “The Threefold Lotus Sutra” has Chapter 5 as “The Parable of the Herbs.”
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Devils and Devilish Deeds
Buddhism for Today, p87We must not ignore the following words of the Buddha: “No Māra deeds will be there, and though there are Māra and Māra’s people, they all will protect the Buddha-law.” Māra, or “devil,” includes all creatures that obstruct the righteous way. “Māra’s people” means the followers of the devil. They have such great powers that they may appear in succession before those who endeavor to realize the righteous way, lead them into temptation, and confuse them. These devilish people conspire to obstruct and intimidate those who try to practice the righteous way. They may be likened to a gang of hooligans or racketeers. The power of evil-minded speech and writing is a still greater devil.
A devil and its followers appeared before Sakyamuni Buddha when he was deep in meditation shortly before his enlightenment and tried to throw various obstacles in his way. If he had been an ordinary man, he would have yielded immediately. However, he was able to withstand the temptations, obstructions, and threats by which the devils tested him, and then his enlightenment became unshakable. Judging from the results Sakyamuni Buddha achieved, these devils’ hindrances can even be said to have spurred his enlightenment.
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The Taste of Liberation
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p66Living beings cannot see into their own true nature right away, but the Buddha can. The Tathagata looks deeply into different beings, their forms, their essence, and their innate dispositions, and so is able to offer the Dharma in the way that is most beneficial to them. Seeing that one kind of disciple will best be able to follow a particular path of practice, the Buddha opens that Dharma gate. Mahayana sutras often mention “84,000 Dharma doors,” which is a way of saying that there are an infinite number of teachings and methods by which living beings may be liberated.
The Dharma is described as being “of a single flavor.” Just as the rain has one function, one effect – to nourish all the different species of plants and cause them to grow – the different teachings offered by the Tathagata as skillful means have but one taste – the taste of liberation and universal wisdom that delivers all beings to the realm of peace and joy.
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The Dharma Is Universal
Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p65-66In [Chapter 5] the Buddha uses the example of medicinal herbs. Throughout the worlds there are innumerable valleys, fields, and gardens that contain countless species of plants. Every species has its own name and character, its own life cycle, its specific strengths and properties. None is exactly like another. Living beings are the same. They are of many different types. The sphere of activities of one person is like this; the social circumstance of another person is like that. Living beings are thus like the innumerable kinds of plants that grow in different environments.
One day the clouds came and covered the entire cosmos, and rain fell on all the species of plants. Some plants were very small with slim branches, some were very large with broad leaves, and some were neither small nor large. There were so many species, so many types of plants, yet they all benefited fully from the rain, each according to its own needs and capacity.
The teachings of the Buddha are like this. The rain of the Dharma falls not just on one class or type of human being. Whether they are shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, or bodhisattvas, monastics or laypeople, nobles or peasants, workers or warriors, male or female, child, youth, adult, or elder – all beings benefit from the Tathagata’s teachings. The Dharma is universal and has the capacity to serve all kinds of people, not just one social class, one nation, or one kind of understanding.
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Sūtras Preached Before Lotus Sūtra Are All Expedient
When Śāripūtra, a man of the Two Vehicle considered unable to attain Buddhahood in the pre-Lotus sūtras, was guaranteed future Buddhahood, he expressed his astonishment in the third chapter, “A Parable,” “Is this not a devil pretending to be the Buddha, trying to trouble and confuse my mind?” The Buddha preaches in the fifth chapter, “The Simile of Herbs,” “Regarding this essential doctrine, I kept silent for a long time without revealing it at once.” These make clear that the sūtras preached before the Lotus Sūtra are all expedient; only the Lotus Sūtra is the True Dharma.
Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 243