Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 28

Day 28 covers all of Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, and concludes the Seventh Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 28 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded Chapter 24, Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva, we return to the top and the light given off by Śākyamuni Buddha.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha [faced the east and] emitted rays of light from the fleshy tuft on his head, that is, from one of the marks of a great man, and also from the white curls between his eyebrows. The light illumined one hundred and eight billion nayuta Buddha-worlds, that is, as many worlds in the east as there are sands in the River Ganges. There was a world called [All-] Pure-Light-Adornment [in the east] beyond those worlds. In that world was a Buddha called Pure-Flower-Star-King-Wisdom, the Tathāgata, 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 Dharma to a great multitude of innumerable Bodhisattvas who were surrounding him respectfully. The ray of light, which was emitted from the white curls [between the eyebrows] of Śākyamuni Buddha, also illumined that world.

At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Voice in the All-Pure-Light-Adornment World. He had already planted roots of virtue a long time ago. He had already made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and attended on them. He had already obtained profound wisdom. He had already obtained hundreds of thousands of billions of great samadhis, that is, as many great samadhis as there are sands in the River Ganges, such as the samadhi as wonderful as the banner of a general, the samadhi for the traveling of the king of the stars, the samadhi for freedom from causality, the samadhi for the seal of wisdom, the samadhi by which one could understand the words of all living beings, the samadhi by which one could collect all merits, the samadhi for purity, the samadhi for exhibiting supernatural powers, the samadhi for the torch of wisdom, the samadhi for the Adornment-King, the samadhi for pure light, the samadhi for pure store, the samadhi for special teachings, and the samadhi for the revolution of the sun.

See Worshiping Buddhas of the Past

elements, d17b

Worshiping Buddhas of the Past

During the time of the Buddha, the homeland of the Śākyas appears to have possessed a cult of the buddhas of the past, a faith in the existence of a number of successive buddhas who had brought people to salvation and then passed into nirvana, and in a coming buddha who was soon to appear. In later times there were accounted either six or twenty-four buddhas of the past; then, including Śākyamuni, categories of the seven or twenty-five buddhas of the past were devised (the Jainas had similar legends). The seven buddhas were Vipaśyin, Śikhin, Viśvabhuj, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni. The final four are called the four buddhas of the Bhadra-kalpa (the present cosmic period). According to Asoka’s edict at Nigālī Sāgar (Nigliva in Nepal), he enlarged and refurbished the Stupa of the former buddha Kanakamuni and made offerings to it. Also Fa-hsien recorded in the “Kosala” section of the Fo-kuo chi (T. 51:861a, no. 2085) that when he visited the region (in the fifth century) followers of Devadatta were to be found there; they venerated the buddhas Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa – Śākyamuni alone they did not venerate, commented Fa-hsien. We have here an indication of the existence of a religious community that preserved an ancient belief and lifestyle different from that of the orthodox Buddha-Saṃgha.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 265-266
LS32

Day 27

Day 27 concludes Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 27 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the greatness of the Lotus Sutra, we consider the benefits of this sutra.

“Star-King-Flower! This sūtra saves all living beings. This sūtra saves them from all sufferings, and gives them great benefits. All living beings will be able to fulfill their wishes by this sūtra just as a man who reaches a pond of fresh water when he is thirsty, just as a man who gets fire when he suffers from cold, just as a man who is given a garment when he is naked, just as a party of merchants who find a leader just as a child who meets its mother, just as a man who gets a ship when he wants to cross [a river], just as a patient who finds a physician, just as a man who is given a light in the darkness, just as a poor man who gets a treasure, just as the people of a nation who see a new king enthroned, just as a trader who reaches the seacoast. Just as a torch dispels darkness, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma saves all living beings from all sufferings, from all diseases, and from all the bonds of birth and death. The merits to be given to the person who, after hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, copies it, or causes others to copy it, cannot be measured even by the wisdom of the Buddha. Neither can the merits to be given to the person who copies this sūtra and offers flowers, incense, necklaces, incense to burn, powdered incense, incense applicable to the skin, streamers, canopies, garments, and various kinds of lamps such as lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of perfumed oil, lamps of campaka oil, lamps of sumanas oil, lamps of pāṭala oil, lamps of vārṣika oil, and lamps of navamālikā oil [to the copy of this sūtra].

See Buddhahood for Women

elements, d17b

Buddhahood for Women

Buddhahood for women was dependent upon the idea that a woman would gain a man’s body; that is, a woman by changing sex would escape the restrictions of the five hindrances. Sutras that predict buddhahood for women include the O-shê-shih-wang-nü o-shu-ta p’u-sa ching (T. 337, Aśokadattā-vyākaraṇa, translated by Dharmarakṣa in 317), in which Aśokadatta, the princess of King Ajātaśatru, vowed at the age of twelve to attain perfect enlightenment and received the prediction that she would gain a male body and become a buddha (T. 12:83); the Li-kou-shih-nu ching (T. 338, Vimaladatta-pariprityā, translated by Dharmaraksa in 289), in which Vimaladatta, princess of King Prasenajit, vowed at the age of twelve to gain buddhahood, transformed into an eight-year-old boy, and received the prediction of buddhahood (T. 12:89); the Hsu-ma-t’i p’usa ching (T. 334, Sumati-dārikā-pariprityā, translated by Dharmarakṣa sometime during 266-313), in which Sumati, daughter of a Rājagṛha merchant, received the bodhisattva precepts at the age of eight and immediately transformed into a śramaṇera and received the prediction of future buddhahood (T. 12:78); the aforementioned Hai-lung-wang ching, in which the daughter of the Dragon King, together with wives of all the dragons, offered jewels to the Buddha, expressing their aspiration to supreme enlightenment and asking that they attain buddhahood, gaining the prediction of future buddhahood; and the P’u-sa ts’ung-tou-shut’ien chiang-shén mu-t’ai-shuo-kuang-p’u ching (translated by Chu Fo-nien in 412-13, T. 384), which speaks of the dragon girl’s being reborn in Amitābha’s buddha realm and attaining buddhahood (T. 12:1015).

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 423
d3b, WONS

Only Between Buddhas and Buddhas Alone

Pondering the Great Wisdom Discourse, we are reminded of the quotation in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “Expedients,” which reads: “Only between Buddhas and Buddhas alone can this be understood.” This quotation exists for the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) who, through pre-Lotus teachings, have overcome the delusions arising from incorrect views and thoughts, have undertaken extreme austerities, turning the body to ashes and annihilating consciousness, and are allowed to gain enlightenment by the grace of the Lotus Sūtra, which assures that the three ways of evil passions, karma, and suffering would immediately be transformed into the three merits of the Dharma Body, wisdom, and emancipation. Since what was believed to be beyond the reach of the Two Vehicles is attainable, it can be assumed that bodhisattvas and the untutored may also anticipate enlightenment. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra claims: “Granted that the condition in which someone of the Two Vehicles reaches a state of extreme mental and physical exhaustion where desires, which were called ‘poison,’ are thoroughly extinguished, then with the advent of enlightenment as guaranteed by the Lotus Sūtra such a poison would be transformed into medicine. This summarizes Nāgārjuna’s position. Nāgārjuna’s Great Wisdom Discourse further claims, ‘The Lotus Sūtra is indeed truly representative of an esoteric teaching; other teachings cannot be referred to as being so defined.’ ”

Shimon Butsujō-gi, Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 249

LS32

Day 26

Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.

Day 26 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered in gāthās the great supernatural powers of the Buddhas, we conclude Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able to cause me to rejoice.
He also will be able to bring joy
To [the Buddhas of] my replicas
And also to Many-Treasures Buddha who once passed away.

He also will be able to see
The present, past and future Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarters,
Make offerings to them, and cause them to rejoice.

The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to expound
The meanings of the teachings,
And the names and words [of this sūtra].
Their eloquence will be as boundless
And as unhindered as the wind in the sky.

Anyone who understands why the Buddhas expound [many] sūtras,
Who knows the position [of this sūtra in the series of sūtras],
And who expounds it after my extinction
According to its true meaning,
Will be able to eliminate the darkness
Of the living beings of the world where he walks about,
Just as the light of the sun and the moon
Eliminates all darkness.
He will be able to cause innumerable Bodhisattvas
To dwell finally in the One Vehicle.

Therefore, the man of wisdom
Who hears the benefits of these merits
And who keeps this sūtra after my extinction,
Will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
Definitely and doubtlessly.

See The Specific Transmission of Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō

elements, d26b

The Specific Transmission of Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō

The final eight chapters [of the Lotus Sutra] speak of the transmission of the sutra to the bodhisattvas. In “The Divine Power of the Tathāgata” (chapter 21), the Buddha declares: “The divine powers of buddhas are so infinite and boundless that they are beyond thought and expression. Even if I, by these divine powers … were to declare the merits of this sutra, I should still be unable to reach the end of those [merits]. Essentially speaking, all the laws belonging to the Tathāgata, all the sovereign, divine powers of the Tathāgata, all the mysterious, essential treasuries of the Tathāgata, … all are proclaimed, displayed, revealed, and expounded in this sutra” (MFH, 52a; TLS, p. 298). Nichiren called this the “specific transmission” (beppuzoku) because it was made specifically to the bodhisattva Eminent Conduct and the other bodhisattvas who had sprung up from the earth. It was upon his understanding of this chapter that he selected the five syllables of the title of the Lotus Sutra (myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō) and encouraged their chanting, because he thought of himself as a reincarnation of Eminent Conduct (Bodhisattva Viśiṣṭacāritra).

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 201-202
Daily Dharma, d3b

Daily Dharma – Aug. 2, 2021

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

LS32

Day 25

Day 25 covers all of Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, and opens Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas.

Day 25 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month conclude Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, we begin Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas with the vow of the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of dust of one thousand worlds who had sprung up from underground.

Thereupon the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the particles of dust of one thousand worlds, who had sprung up from underground, joined their hands together towards the Buddha with all their hearts, looked up at his honorable face, and said to him:

“World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will expound this sūtra in the worlds of the Buddhas of your replicas and also in the place from which you will pass away. Why is that? It is because we also wish to obtain this true, pure and great Dharma, to keep, read, recite, expound and copy [this sūtra], and to make offerings to it.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One displayed his great supernatural powers in the presence of the multitude, which included not only the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who had already lived in this Sahā-World [before the arrival of the Bodhisattvas from underground], headed by Mañjuśrī, but also bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. He stretched out his broad and long tongue upwards until the tip of it reached the World of Brahman. Then he emitted rays of light with an immeasurable variety of colors from his pores. The light illumined all the worlds of the ten quarters. The Buddhas who were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees also stretched out their broad and long tongue and emitted innumerable rays of light. Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddhas under the jeweled trees displayed these supernatural powers of theirs for one hundred thousand years. Then they pulled back their tongues, coughed at the same time, and snapped their fingers. These two sounds [of coughing and snapping] reverberated over the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters, and the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways. By the supernatural powers of the Buddhas, the living beings of those worlds, including gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, saw the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees in this Sahā-World. They also saw Śākyamuni Buddha sitting by the side of Many-Treasures Tathāgata on the lion-like seat in the stupa of treasures. They also saw that the many hundreds of thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas and the four kind of devotees were surrounding Śākyamuni Buddha respectfully. Having seen all this, they had the greatest joy that they had ever had.

See Refuting Heretical Views

elements, d25b

Refuting Heretical Views

In chapter 20 the Buddha addresses the bodhisattva Great Power Obtained and relates to him the story of the bodhisattva Never Despise, thereby pointing out the retribution of those who slander practitioners of the Lotus Sutra and the reward of those who preserve the true Dharma. In the past, after the death of the Buddha of that age, in a time when the Law had deteriorated and was only an imitation of the Truth, monks of the utmost arrogance held authority. A bodhisattva, named Never Despise, appeared and saluted all he met, whether ordained or lay, with the words, “I deeply revere you. I dare not slight and contemn you. Wherefore? [Because] you all walk in the bodhisattva-way and are to become buddhas” (MFH, 50c; TLS, p. 290). Those who were not pure of mind became irritated at his behavior, and reviled and abused him, and beat him with clubs and sticks, and threw potsherds and stones at him. Even so, he still saluted them and said, “I dare not slight you.” When his death drew near, he heard in the sky the verses of the Lotus Sutra and was able to receive and keep it, gaining the merits of the purity of the sense-organs. As a result, he was able to prolong his life for two hundred myriad kotis of nayutas (each equal to ten thousand kotis) of years, preaching the Lotus Sutra to the people, and converting the arrogant monks.

The story illustrates the principle of reversing a person’s belief by refuting his heretical views. Even being abused and reviled by people is itself a forging of links with Buddhism, planting the seed of future enlightenment. Nichiren based his method of shakubuku (refuting heretical views) upon this chapter.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 201