Category Archives: LS32

800years, Blog, d29b

800 Years: True Salvation

If the perfect bodhisattva seeks to save all sentient beings by whatever means necessary, then World-Voice-Perceiver is the exemplar. But for Nikkyō Niwano, writing in Buddhism for Today, none of the chapters in the Lotus Sutra is as badly misunderstood as Chapter 25.

The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra summarizes The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver with this:

“In this world, we have many problems and sorrows, and since we are not able to overcome them ourselves, we complain about them loudly. When World-Voice-Perceiver hears our voices, he immediately discerns what our problem is, solves it, and leads us towards enlightenment. That is the reason for his name. In Asia, millions of people chant his name sincerely for delivery from their troubles.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

Nikkyō Niwano sees such a practice as superficial and insufficient:

“[I]t is stated in chapter 25 … that anyone who keeps in mind the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World will be delivered from various sufferings. If we interpret this statement literally, it seems to mean that we do not have to work hard at practicing the Buddha’s teachings; but with such an attitude, none of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra will bear fruit. Anyone can easily understand that in the last six chapters the Buddha cannot have been so illogical and contradictory as to deny fundamentally all of the teachings preached up through chapter 22. It is surprising to find that for centuries many people have put a shallow interpretation on something that should be so easily understood and have turned to an easy, lazy faith that they thought would allow them to become free of suffering merely by keeping in mind the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World.

“When we read chapter 25 carefully and in depth, we understand that the supernatural powers of this bodhisattva are essentially identical with the power of the Law preached by the Tathāgata Sakyamuni. We also realize that we must depend spiritually upon the Law to the last, but that in cultivating and practicing it we should take the model of the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World as our immediate goal.”

Buddhism for Today, p351

As Nikkyō Niwano points out, we do not find salvation outside ourselves. We find salvation in the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha, who, because we all possess the 10 realms, is both within and outside us. Realization of this – faith in the teaching of the Lotus Sutra – brings salvation.

“Such a firm realization leads us to true peace of mind,” explains Niwano in Buddhism for Today. “At the same time, our speech and conduct come naturally to be in accord with the Buddha and will produce harmony in our surroundings. The Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, namely, an ideal society, will be formed when a harmonious world gradually spreads in all directions. True salvation comes about in this way.”

Buddhism for Today, p377-378

Or as Nichiren wrote in his Essay on Gratitude, chanting “Namu Myō hōRenge Kyō” swallows up the functions of “Namu Kanzeon bosatsu.”

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LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered in gāthās how the wisdom of the Buddhas is immeasurable, we consider the difficulty in understanding the dharma.

Even the Buddhas’ disciples who made offerings
To the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence,
[Even the disciples] who eliminated all asravas,
[Even the disciples] who are now at the final stage
Of their physical existence,
Cannot understand [the Dharma].

As many people as can fill the world,
Who are as wise as you, Śāriputra, will not be able
To measure the wisdom of the Buddhas,
Even though they try to do so with their combined efforts.

As many people as can fill the worlds of the ten quarters,
Who are as wise as you, Śāriputra,
Or as many other disciples of mine
As can fill the ksetras of the ten quarters,
Will not be able to know [the wisdom of the Buddhas]
Even though they try to do so with their combined efforts.

As many Pratyekabuddhas as can fill
The worlds of the ten quarters, or as many as bamboo groves,
Who are wise enough to reach
The final stage of their physical existence without āsravas,
Will not be able to know
Even a bit of the true wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they continue trying to do so with all their hearts
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas.

As many Bodhisattvas as rice-plants, hemps, bamboos or reeds,
Or as can fill the ksetras of the ten quarters,
Who have just begun to aspire for enlightenment,
Who made offerings to innumerable Buddhas in their previous existence,
Who understand the meanings of the Dharma [in their own ways],
And who are expounding the Dharma [as they understand it],
Will not be able to know the wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they continue trying to do so with all their hearts
And with all their wonderful wisdom
For as many kalpas as there are sands in the River Ganges.

As many never-faltering Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will not be able to know the wisdom of the Buddhas
Even though they try to do so with all their hearts.

See Understanding the Foundational Teaching of Skillful Means

800years, Blog, d28b

800 Years: The Importance of this Suffering World

At the opening of Chapter 24, the Buddha Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom admonishes Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva not to put on airs when he visits Śākyamuni’s world:

“ ‘Do not despise that world! Do not consider it to be inferior to our world! Good Man! The Sahā-World is not even. It is full of mud, stones, mountains and impurities. The Buddha of that world is short in stature! So are the Bodhisattvas of that world. You are forty-two thousand yojanas tall. I am six million and eight hundred thousand yojanas tall. You are the most handsome. You have thousands of millions of marks of merits, and your light is wonderful. Do not despise that world when you go there! Do not consider that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas of that world are inferior to us! Do not consider that that world is inferior to ours!’ ”

As Gene Reeves explains in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“We can only guess what is behind the concern contained in this statement. Obviously, the writers believed that someone was not taking this world seriously enough. Does it indicate a time and place where people thought some distant land, some faraway paradise, was to be preferred to this world? Does it indicate a reaction to a worldview that rejected the reality and importance of this world in favor of some ideal world? We cannot be sure. But it is very clear that both here and in many other places the Dharma Flower Sutra emphasizes the value and importance of life in this world, the home of Shakyamuni Buddha, in which the path of the bodhisattva can be taken, the land that is our only home and place of practice.”

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p261

Looking at this comparison of the world of Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom with Śākyamuni’s world, Nikkyō Niwano emphasizes in Buddhism for Today the difference in accomplishment for those who practice here, in the land of suffering, and those who practice in a pure land:

“The domain where the Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation dwells is an ideal world situated in the heavens. For this reason the bodies of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas in that domain are extraordinarily large and of a wonderful brightness.

“On the other hand, what is the actuality? There is nothing impressive about it when compared with the ideal. The actuality appears to be far smaller, lower, and plainer than the ideal. A person who has perfected his character in such an actual world is far more sacred than an ideal form in the heavens, even if his body is small and has no apparent brightness. There is nothing more sacred than the attainment of the mental state of the Buddha in the actual world, where obstructions are often thrown up by evil-minded people. The Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation preached this earnestly to the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound.”

Buddhism for Today, p370

Like the lotus flower, we need the mud of this world to nurture us and to allow us to bloom.

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LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion)

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month consider what Mañjuśrī said to Maitreya, we consider the Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light.

“Good men! Innumerable, inconceivable, asamkya kalpas ago, there lived a Buddha called Sun-Moon-Light, the Tathagata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. He expounded the right teachings. His expounding of the right teachings was good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. The meanings of those teachings were profound. The words were skillful, pure, unpolluted, perfect, clean, and suitable for the explanation of brahma practices. To those who were seeking Śrāvakahood, he expounded the teaching of the four truths, a teaching suitable for them, saved them from birth, old age, disease, and death, and caused them to attain Nirvāṇa. To those who were seeking Pratyekabuddhahood, he expounded the teaching of the twelve causes, a teaching suitable for them. To Bodhisattvas, he expounded the teaching of the six paramitas, a teaching suitable for them, and caused them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, to obtain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things.

“After his extinction there appeared a Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. After his extinction there appeared another Buddha also called Sun-Moon-Light. In the same manner, seventy thousand Buddhas appeared in succession, all of them being called Sun­Moon-Light with the surname Bharadvaja.

See Prince Sun and Moon Light

Daily Dharma, d22b

Daily Dharma – Oct. 28, 2022

When you see any teacher of the Dharma
Who has obtained these merits,
You should strew heavenly flowers to him,
Dress him in a heavenly garment,
Worship his feet with your head,
And think that he will become a Buddha.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. This chapter tells the variety of merits enjoyed by anyone who understands, however briefly, the ever-present nature of the Buddha. This reminder is not just for the great Bodhisattvas such as Maitreya. It is also for all of us who are awakening our Bodhisattva nature through this teaching. It is important for us to treat all people, especially those who share this practice of the Buddha Dharma with us, with the same respect we would give to the Buddha himself.

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

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month repeated in gāthās what Maitreya sees, we consider the buddhas Maitreya sees.

I see from this world
The living beings of the six regions
Extending down to the Avici Hell,
And up to the Highest Heaven

Of each of those worlds.
I see the region to which each living being is to go,
The good or evil karmas he is doing,
And the rewards or retributions he is going to have.

I also see the Buddhas,
The Saintly Masters, the Lion-like Ones,
Who are expounding
The most wonderful sūtra
With their pure and gentle voices,
And teaching
Many billions of Bodhisattvas.
The brahma voices of the Buddhas
Are deep and wonderful,
Causing people to wish to hear them.

I also see the Buddha of each of those worlds
Expounding his right teachings to all living beings
In order to cause them to attain enlightenment.

He explains his teachings
With stories of previous lives,
And with innumerable parables and similes.

To those who are confronted with sufferings,
And tired of old age, disease, and death,
The Buddha expounds the teaching of Nirvana,
And causes them to eliminate these sufferings.

To those who have merits,
Who have already made offerings to the past Buddhas,
And who are now seeking a more excellent teaching,
The Buddha expounds [the Way of] cause-knowers.

To the Buddha’s sons
Who are performing various practices,
And who are seeking unsurpassed wisdom,
The Buddha expounds the Pure Way.

See A Teaching Applicable Throughout the Cosmos

Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the question of Bodhisattva Fully Composed, we consider the Buddha’s realization that not everything should be explained.

With that, the Buddha said to the bodhisattva Fully Composed: “Well done, you of great good intent! Well done! You have skillfully questioned the Tathāgata regarding this profound, unequaled, all-ferrying, transcendental essence. You should know that you will enable many to benefit, you will please and bring ease to human and heavenly beings, and you will relieve living beings of their suffering. This is great and real compassion—trust wholly and completely that this is true. By this direct cause and its outgrowths, you will surely realize and quickly achieve ultimate enlightenment; you will also enable all living beings, now and in the future, to realize and achieve ultimate enlightenment.

“O you of good intent! By virtue of sitting upright and properly for six years at the place of the Way beneath the bodhi tree, I realized and achieved the full dynamic of ultimate enlightenment. With the insight of a buddha I perceived that not everything should be explained. What is the reason for this? It is that the conditioned desires of all living beings are not the same. Since conditioned desires differ, ways of expounding the Dharma are many and various. For more than forty years I have expounded the Dharma in all manner of ways through adeptness in skillful means, but the core truth has still not been revealed. That is why living beings differ regarding realization of the Way, and do not realize and quickly achieve ultimate enlightenment.

See Difference in Meaning Between Pre-Lotus Period and Lotus Period

LS32, Universal Sage

Between 32 and Day 1: Praise from Innumerable Buddhas

Having last month considered how Universal Sage Bodhisattva will help the practitioner and the specialized focus of mind the practitioner will attain, we consider the words of praise from the innumerable buddhas.

Having attained purification of the six sense faculties, the practitioner’s body and mind become joyful and free of unwholesome elements. Giving full devotion to this method, he or she will be in full accord with the Dharma. The practitioner will also gain a further hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of Dharma-grasping empowerments of interaction and exchange, and he or she will once again perceive a hundred-thousand-myriad koṭis of innumerable buddhas far and wide. Each of these World-honored Ones will extend their right hand, gently stroke the practitioner’s head, and say:

“Well done! Well done, Great Vehicle practitioner – you who aspires to the fully composed mind, you who are mindful of the Great Vehicle! When our aspiration for enlightenment was awakened in the past, we all supremely endeavored to never lose sight of it, in the very same manner as you. Because we practiced in accordance with the Great Vehicle throughout previous existences, we have now become the embodiments of purity and full enlightenment. You should also practice diligently now, and do not be remiss!

“These Great Vehicle sutras are the buddhas’ treasury, the essence of past, present, and future buddhas in all of the ten directions, and the seed from which the tathāgatas of the past, present, and future come forth. One who keeps faith with these sutras is an embodiment of a buddha and is one who does a buddha’s work. You should know that such a person is an ambassador of the buddhas, is clothed in the garments of the buddhas, the World-honored Ones, and is a true and genuine Dharma successor of the buddha tathāgatas. Practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle, and do not sever yourself from the seed of Dharma! Now, focus your contemplation on the buddhas of the east!”

When these words are spoken, the practitioner will immediately perceive all of the innumerable worlds in the eastern direction. The lands are as level as the palm of a hand, with neither hills, nor mounds, nor brambles; and the ground is [composed of] lapis lazuli, with boundaries made of gold. Worlds in all directions will be successively perceived as being similar to this.

Immediately after having seen these lands, the practitioner will behold a jewel tree that wondrously stands five thousand yojanas tall. The tree is composed of the seven precious metals and gems, and it continually produces white silver and gold. At the base of the tree, a jeweled lion seat spontaneously appears: it is twenty yojanas in height, and the brilliant lights of one hundred jewels are radiating from above it. There are other trees with other jeweled seats similar to this. Five hundred white elephants spontaneously appear by each of the jeweled seats, and the bodhisattva Universal Sage is atop each one. The practitioner will then pay homage to the numerous Universal Sage Bodhisattvas and say:

“What impurities do I have that I perceive jewel lands, jeweled seats, and also jewel trees without perceiving buddhas?”

When the practitioner finishes saying these words, a World-honored One – majestic beyond expression – will be present at each jeweled seat and will sit down upon it. After seeing the buddhas, the practitioner’s heart will fill with great joy, and he or she will again further internalize and master the Great Vehicle sutras.

See Polishing Our Buddha Nature

LS32

Day 32

Day 32 covers Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, closing the Eighth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 32 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded Chapter 28, The Encouragement of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, we begin again at the top with the arrival of Universal-Sage Bodhisattva.

Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva, who was famous for his virtues and supernatural powers without hindrance, came from a world [in the distance of many worlds] to the east [of this Sahā-World]. He was accompanied by innumerable, uncountable great Bodhisattvas. All the worlds quaked as he passed through. [The gods] rained down jeweled lotus-flowers, and made many hundreds of thousands of billions of kinds of music. He was also surrounded by a great multitude of innumerable gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They reached Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa of the Sahā-World by their virtues and supernatural powers.

See Universal Sage Bodhisattva’s Obligation To Spread the Lotus Sūtra

Blog, Kern, d6b, d7b

Variations to Puzzle Over

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

Many of the variations between H. Kern’s translation of the 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit document and Kumārajīva’s fifth century translation fall into a category I call, “Now that’s interesting, but what does it mean?”

Consider the Parable of the Burning House. In the gāthās re-telling, Kern states:

62. In such a state is that awful house, where thousands of flames are breaking out on every side. But the man who is the master of the house looks on from without.

63. And he hears his own children, whose minds are engaged in playing with their toys, in their fondness of which they amuse themselves, as fools do in their ignorance.

64. And as he hears them he quickly steps in to save his children, lest his ignorant children might perish in the flames.

But Senchu Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva offers this:

The house was so dreadful.
[In that house] there were
Poisonings, killings and burnings.
There were many dangers, not just one.

At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate.
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva include this point, but what is added to the meaning of the story to have someone telling the father his children are inside versus the father hearing his children inside?

Further down in the gāthās, Kern says:

105. This, Śāriputra, is the closing word of my law which now at the last time I pronounce for the weal of the world including the gods. Preach it in all quarters.

But Murano adds a caution:

Śāriputra!
I expound this seal of the Dharma
In order to benefit
[All living beings] of the world.
Do not propagate it carelessly
At the place where you are!

Again, the “do not propagate it carelessly” is unique to Kumārajīva, but why has it been added? Does Kumārajīva want to presage the later warnings about teaching to those who won’t benefit? Both Kern and Kumārajīva caution future preachers.

Kern:

111. But do not speak of this matter to haughty persons, nor to conceited ones, nor to Yogins who are not self-restrained; for the fools, always reveling in sensual pleasures, might in their blindness scorn the law manifested.

112. Now hear the dire results when one scorns my skillfulness and the Buddha-rules for ever fixed in the world; when one, with sullen brow, scorns the vehicle.

Murano:

Śāriputra
Do not expound this sūtra
To those who are arrogant and idle,
And who think that the self exists!

Do not expound it to men of little wisdom!
They would not be able to understand it
Even if they heard it
Because they are deeply attached to the five desires.

Those who do not believe this sūtra
But slander it,
Will destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Of all living beings of the world.

Some will scowl at this sūtra
And doubt it.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

I expect to have many more of these “Now that’s interesting, but what does it mean?” discussions.

Next: Comparing and Contrasting a Parable