Category Archives: LS32

Daily Dharma, d3b

Daily Dharma – Feb. 10, 2023

My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

The Buddha sings these verses to Śāriputra in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. We sometimes think of arrogance as acting as if we know something that we really do not. These verses contrast arrogance with respect and faith. Faith does not mean blind belief. It is still important to ask questions when we don’t understand. Respect does not mean blind obedience, but it does mean that we have confidence in what the Buddha teaches, no matter how difficult it may seem. Arrogance blocks our ability to hear the Buddha. Respect and Faith open our hearts to his enlightenment.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 4

Day 4 concludes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 4 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the One Vehicle, we consider why the Buddha chose to use expedient teachings.

Seeing people of no wisdom, I thought:
“If I teach them only the Way to Buddhahood,
They will be distracted.
They will doubt my teaching, and not receive it.
I know that they did not plant
The roots of good in their previous existence.
They are deeply attached to the five desires.
They suffer because of stupidity and cravings.
Because they have many desires,
They will fall into the three evil regions,
Or go from one to another of the six regions
Only to undergo many sufferings.
Through their consecutive previous existences,
Their small embryos have continued to grow up
To become men of few virtues and merits.
They are now troubled by many sufferings.
They are in the thick forests of wrong views.
They say “Things exist,”
Or “Things do not exist.”
They are attached to sixty-two wrong views.
They are deeply attached to unreal things.
They hold them firmly, and do not give them up.
They are arrogant, self-conceited,
Liable to flatter others, and insincere.
They have never heard of the name of a Buddha
Or of his right teachings
For thousands of billions of kalpas.
It is difficult to save them.”

Therefore, Śāriputra!
I expounded an expedient teaching
In order to eliminate their sufferings.
That was the teaching of Nirvana.
The Nirvana which I expounded to them
Was not true extinction.

All things are from the outset
In the state of tranquil extinction.
The Buddhas’ sons who complete the practice of the Way
Will become Buddhas in their future lives.

I expounded the teaching of the Three Vehicles
Only as an expedient.
All the other World-Honored Ones also
Expound the teaching of the One Vehicle [with expedients].

The great multitude present here
Shall remove their doubts.
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
There is only one vehicle, not a second.

The number of the Buddhas who passed away
During the past innumerable kalpas was
Hundreds of thousands of billions,
Uncountable.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The truth of the reality of all things
With various stories of previous lives, parables and similes,
That is to say, with innumerable expedients.

All those World-Honored Ones expounded
The teaching of the One Vehicle,
And led innumerable living beings [with expedients]
Into the Way to Buddhahood.

All those Great Saintly Masters
Who knew the deep desires
Of the gods, men, and other living beings
Of all the worlds,
Revealed the Highest Truth
With various expedients.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 17, 2022, offers this:

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

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Śāriputra’s request for the Buddha to teach the Dharma, we consider the Buddha’s hesitance to preach the Dharma.

Thereupon the Buddha said to him,
“No, no, I will not. If I do, all the gods and men in the world will be frightened and perplexed.”

Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Explain it, explain it! The many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of living beings in this congregation have active functions of mind and clear wisdom because they have seen the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence. If they hear you, they will respect and believe you.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in a gāthā:

King of the Dharma, Most Honorable One!
Explain it! Do not worry!
The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe you.

The Buddha checked him again, saying, “No. If I do, all the gods, men and asuras in the world will be frightened and perplexed, and arrogant bhikṣus will fall into a great pit.”

Thereupon the Buddha repeated this in a gāthā:

No, no, I will not say any more.
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

Thereupon Śāriputra said to him again:

“World-Honored One! Expound the Dharma, expound the Dharma! The hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings in this congregation like me followed the [past] Buddhas and received their teachings in their consecutive previous existences. They will respect and believe you. They will be able to have peace after the long night and obtain many benefits.”

Thereupon Śāriputra, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Most Honorable Biped!
Expound the Highest Truth!
I am your eldest son.
Expound the Dharma!

The innumerable living beings in this congregation
Will respect and believe the Dharma.
They have been taught by the [past] Buddhas
In their consecutive previous existences.
They are joining their hands together [towards you],
Wishing with all their hearts to hear and receive your words.

Expound the Dharma
To us twelve hundred men,
And also to the other people
Who are seeking Buddhahood!
We shall be very glad to hear the Dharma.
The other people will also.

The Daily Dharma from Oct. 22, 2022, offers this:

No, no, I will not say any more.
My teaching is wonderful and inconceivable.
If arrogant people hear me,
They will not respect or believe me.

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. This was his response the first time Śāriputra asked to receive the Buddha’s highest teaching. The Buddha knew we must be prepared for his wisdom. We must discern clearly the difference between what we know and what we do not know. Because all things are impermanent, the truths we cling to may no longer apply. The ignorance and confusion at the root of our suffering will disappear as we set aside what is no longer true and gain wisdom.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

d27b, WONS

The True Taste of Fruits Remains in the Earth

In the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 23, it is said: “Propagate this sūtra throughout the world in the fifth five-hundred year period after My extinction lest it should be lost, and lest Devils and their followers, various heavenly beings, dragons, yakṣa and kumbhāṇḍa devils should take advantage of it.”

Flowers will return to their roots. The true taste of fruits remains in the earth. To my late Master Dōzen I have now dedicated all the merits I have accumulated in spreading the True Dharma.

Namu Myōhōrengekyō, Namu Myōhōrengekyō.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 59.

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the actions of the Bodhisattvas Maitreya sees, we consider the offerings of the Bodhisattvas.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering delicious food and drink
And hundreds of kinds of medicines
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer garments and beautiful robes
Worth tens of millions
Or beyond monetary value
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer thousands of billions
Of jeweled houses made of candana
And wonderful bedding
To the Buddha and the Sangha.

Some offer pure gardens and forests
Abounding in flowers and fruits,
And furnished with rivers, springs,
and pools for bathing,
To the Buddha and the Saṃgha.

I see those Bodhisattvas
Making offerings of those wonderful things
Joyfully and untiringly
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

Some Bodhisattvas expound
The truth of tranquil extinction,
And with various expedients,
Teach innumerable living beings.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Who attained the following truth:
“The nature of things is not dual.
It is [formless] like the sky.”

I also see some sons of the Buddha
Having no attachment in their minds.
They seek unsurpassed enlightenment
With this wonderful wisdom.

Mañjuśrī!
Some Bodhisattvas make offerings
To the śarīras of a Buddha
After his extinction.

See In the Buddha’s Light

Blog, Kern, d18b

The Plight of an Ordinary Bodhisattva

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

In the many, many times I’ve read Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, I’ve begun with the understanding that Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva wants to know how “ordinary” bodhisattvas should accomplish their propagation in the evil world described in the previous chapter. This has made the chapter a message to me, such a very ordinary bodhisattva.

Now I learn that this focus on “ordinary” bodhisattvas is an invention of Senchu Murano.

Murano opens the chapter with:

Thereupon Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, the Son of the King of the Dharma, said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! These Bodhisattvas are extraordinarily rare. They made a great vow to protect, keep, read, recite and expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the evil world after your extinction because they are following you respectfully. World-Honored One! How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

Murano uses square brackets to mark text that doesn’t appear in Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra. In other places these parenthetical insertions add clarity without changing the meaning. Not here. This insertion of “[ordinary]” appears in the first edition of Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, so it’s not something introduced by later editors.

It was only when comparing H. Kern’s English translation of a 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra that I realized what Murano had done.

Kern opens the chapter with:

Mañjuśrī, the prince royal, said to the Lord: It is difficult, Lord, most difficult, what these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas will attempt out of reverence for the Lord. How are these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas to promulgate this Dharmaparyāya at the end of time, at the last period?

When I checked against the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra I discovered they agreed with Kern’s Sanskrit document. We’re talking about the great Bodhisattvas who have vowed to spare nothing in promulgating this sutra in the evil age, not a subset of ordinary bodhisattvas.

The BDK Tripiṭaka translation of the Lotus Sutra begins Chapter 14:

Thereupon the Prince of the Dharma, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha, saying: “O Bhagavat! These bodhisattvas are very rare. In respectful obedience to the Buddha they have made this great vow: ‘In the troubled world to come, we will preserve, recite, and teach this Lotus Sutra!’

“O Bhagavat! How can these bodhisattva mahāsattvas teach this sutra in the troubled world to come?“

Rissho Kosei-Kai’s 1975 translation begins chapter 14:

At that time the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī, the Law-king’s son, spoke to the Buddha, saying: “World-honored One! Rare indeed are such bodhisattvas as these! Reverently according with the Buddha, they have made great vows that in the evil age to come they will protect, keep, read, recite, and preach this Law-Flower Sutra. World-honored One! How are these bodhisattva-mahāsattvas to be able to preach this sutra in the evil age to come?“

Only Leon Hurvitz’s translation, which incorporates both Kumārajīva’s Chinese and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers of hint of why Murano might have felt compelled to insert “[ordinary].”

Hurvitz begins Chapter 14:

At that time, Mañjuśrī the dharma prince, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, addressed the Buddha, saying, “O World-Honored One! Very rarely do there exist such bodhisattvas as these, who out of respectful obedience to the Buddha utter a great vow to keep and hold, to read and recite this Scripture of the Dharma Blossom in the latter evil age! O World-Honored One! How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?“

This is not unlike what I discovered when considering the name of the sutra Śākyamuni taught before the Lotus Sutra. If one assumes Hurvitz’s translation is the gold standard and that there is some ambiguity about which bodhisattvas we’re inquiring about, then one can appreciate why “How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?” could become “How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

Next: The Message Beyond the Details

Daily Dharma, d24b

Daily Dharma – Feb. 6, 2023

He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. As Bodhisattvas we chose to come into this world, as frightening and dangerous as it is, to make things better for all beings. We do not lose any of the six senses we have, but learn to use them in ways that may seem impossible to others. Any of our senses can be deluded. When we remove our attachments and delusions, we see with the Buddha’s eye the world as it is.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the teachings that followed the Buddha arising from beneath the bodhi tree, we consider that the buddhas have but one message.

“O you of good intent! I expounded the Four Noble Truths for the benefit of those seeking to become śrāvakas during the initial period; yet, eight hundred million heavenly beings came down to hear teaching and awakened the aspiration for enlightenment. I spoke about the sublimely profound twelve-linked chain of dependent origination at various locations during the middle period for the benefit of people seeking to become pratyekabuddhas; nevertheless, innumerable living beings awakened the aspiration for enlightenment or remained as śrāvakas. I next described kalpas-long bodhisattva practice by expounding twelve types of comprehensive sutras, the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra), and the similes of clouds and oceans in the Flower Garland Sutra (Avataṃsaka-sūtra); even so, a hundred thousand monks, hundreds of millions of myriads of human and heavenly beings, and innumerable living beings15 attained the fruit of entering the stream, attained the fruit of one remaining return, attained the fruit of non-returning, attained the fruit of arhatship, or stayed within their understanding of the principle of dependent origination as pratyekabuddhas. O you of good intent! Accordingly, it should be known that even though the discourse is the same, its meaning will vary. Because the meaning varies, living beings have various understandings. Because their understanding varies, so also does their grasp of the Dharma, their attainment of its fruits, and their realization of the Way.

“And so, you of good intent, starting from when I established the Way and first began to expound the Dharma, until this moment in which I am discoursing on the all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra, there has never been a time when I have not expounded suffering, emptiness, ever changingness, nonexistence of self, non-reality, non-unreality, non- greatness, non-smallness, intrinsic non-origination,16 continuing non-cessation, the formlessness of all things, that aspects and natures of phenomena neither come nor go, and that the four modes are the dynamic of living beings.

“O you of good intent! What all this means is that the buddhas have but one message: they are able to conform universally to all voices by means of a single sound. From a single body they are able to manifest embodiments as countless and immeasurable as millions upon millions of myriads of Ganges Rivers’ sands; then, in each embodiment, manifest various shapes as countless as millions upon millions of myriads of Ganges Rivers’ sands; then, in each shape, display appearances as countless as some millions upon millions of myriads of Ganges Rivers’ sands. O you of good intent! This, in fact, is the profound and unimaginable realm of all of the buddhas! It is neither knowable by those of the two vehicles nor reachable by bodhisattvas in the tenth development stage! Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom it completely! O you of good intent! Thus do I expound the transcendent, profound, incomparable, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra! Its content and principles are true and correct, and its value is supreme and unsurpassed. It is embraced by the buddhas of the past, present, and future together. It is impervious to the influence of disruptive forces and the influence of differing views, and is neither corrupted nor destroyed by any deluded perception or the cycle of births and deaths. If great-being bodhisattvas wish to achieve ultimate enlightenment quickly, they should achieve mastery in the practice of this deeply profound, unsurpassed, all-ferrying Infinite Meanings Sutra.”

See Immeasurable Meanings From One Dharma

Daily Dharma, d21b

Daily Dharma – Feb. 5, 2023

Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This Chapter is the first time he reveals himself as the Ever-Present Buddha who became enlightened in the far distant past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment into the far distant future. The Buddha uses the death of his physical body as an expedient so that those who take him for granted will make efforts to practice his teachings. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, then we learn to see the Buddha in ourselves and all beings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: The Function of Your Sense Faculty of Sight

Having last month considered the instructions for the purification of the six sense faculties, we consider the sense faculty of sight.

Throughout innumerable existences, the function of your sense faculty of sight has caused you to yearn for and become attached to various kinds of forms. Because of your attachments to various forms, you are passionate about the smallest of matters. Because of your passions for the smallest of matters, your body is derived from a woman.22 Wherever you take birth, in life after life, you are attracted and attached to all kinds of forms. Forms spoil your eyes, and you become a slave to emotion and passion: forms thus make you23 wander throughout the three realms. Such impairment renders you blind, so that you can perceive nothing.

Now, take the comprehensive Great Vehicle sutras to heart! In these sutras it is taught that forms and embodiments of the buddhas of the ten directions never cease to exist: you must now be able to recognize whether or not this is true! The dysfunction of your sense faculty of sight does you great harm! Heed what we are saying: Take refuge in the buddhas and in Śākyamuni Buddha! Regarding the impurities and faults in your sense faculty of sight, say this:

“May I be cleansed and be made to become pure by means of the Dharma water of the profound insight24 of buddhas and bodhisattvas!”

After saying these words, the practitioner must pay homage to the buddhas of the ten directions and, directing his or her heart and mind toward Śākyamuni Buddha and the Great Vehicle sutras, speak again, saying:

“I now recognize that heavy impurities obstruct, cloak, defile, and cloud my sense faculty of sight: I am blinded and can perceive nothing! May the Buddha, with great mercy and compassion, protect me! O Bodhisattva Universal Sage – aboard the great ship of Dharma in company with countless bodhisattvas of the ten directions, universally ferrying all living beings: Out of compassion and sympathy for me, please accept my way of amending myself of the unwholesome and harmful encumbrances of my sense faculty of sight!”

The practitioner must say this three times, prostrate him- or herself on the ground, and maintain right mindfulness of the Great Vehicle, neither forgetting nor forsaking it. This is called the method of self-amendment regarding impurities of the sense faculty of sight.

One who calls upon the buddhas by name, burns incense, scatters flowers, generates a Great Vehicle consciousness, hangs banners, flags, and canopies, speaks to the faults and afflictions of the eye, and undertakes self-amendment for his or her impurities will behold Śākyamuni Buddha in this present world and innumerable buddhas emanated from him as well. He or she will not fall into bitter conditions for countless kalpas of time. Through the affirmation and the power of the Great Vehicle, such a person will constantly be among and accompany all of the bodhisattvas that possess Dharma-grasping empowerments. Producing such a focus of mind is the effecting of right mindfulness; focusing on other things is described as aberrant thought. This is said to be the condition of the first stage with regard to the sense faculty of sight.

See The Eye of Buddhas