Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month consider what was illuminated by the light of the Buddha, we consider Sun-Moon-Light Buddha’s expounding of the Lotus Sutra.

The four kinds of devotees
Of the world of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha
Also saw the Buddha displaying this great wonder.
They had great joy.
They asked one another:
“Why is he doing this?”

He who was honored by gods and men
Emerged from his samādhi,
And praised Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva, saying:
“You are the eyes of the world.

You are believed and relied on
By all living beings.
You are keeping the store of the Dharma.
Only you will understand the Dharma which I shall expound.”

Having praised Wonderful-Light
And caused him to rejoice,
That World-Honored One expounded
The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
He never rose from his seat for sixty small kalpas.
Wonderful-Light, the Teacher of the Dharma,
Kept the Wonderful Dharma
Expounded by that World-Honored One.

Having expounded the Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma,
And caused the multitude to rejoice,
The Buddha told the gods and men
At that moment on that day,
“I have already expounded to you
The truth of the reality of all things.
I shall enter into Nirvāṇa at midnight tonight.
Make efforts with all your hearts!
Leave the life of license!
It is difficult to see a Buddha, who can be seen
Only once in hundreds of millions of kalpas.”

Having heard that the Buddha would enter into Nirvāṇa,
Those sons of the World-Honored One
Were filled with sorrow.
They said, “How quickly the Buddha is gone!”

The Saintly Master, the King of the Dharma,
Consoled the countless living beings, saying:
“Although I shall pass away,
You must not worry.
This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva has already understood
The truth of the reality [of all things]
[To be attained by the wisdom] without asravas.
He will become a Buddha immediately after me.
He will be called Pure-Body.
He will save innumerable living beings.”

The Buddha passed away that night
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.
His śarīras were distributed.
Countless stupas were erected to enshrine them.

As many bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Redoubled their endeavors
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

See The Cult of Maitreya

elements, d1b, d22b, d2b

The Cult of Maitreya

There also appeared the cult of Maitreya, who, it was believed, would appear as a savior in the future. “Maitreya” is derived from the Sanskrit mitra (friend); Mithra (Mitra) was an ancient Iranian and Indian deity whose cult extended to Greece and Egypt. Maitreya the benevolent savior, it was believed, would appear in the world after 5,670,000,000 years. At present dwelling in Tuṣita Heaven, Maitreya would cause those with faith in him either to ascend to Tuṣita Heaven directly and be reborn there or to remain in the world to await his coming.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 266-267
LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the gathering of arhats and bodhisattvas on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House, we consider the deities and other beings present in the congregation.

Sakra-Devanam-Indra was also present. Twenty thousand gods were attending on him. There were also Beautiful-Moon God, Universal-Fragrance God, Treasure-Light God, and the four great heavenly-kings. Ten thousand gods were attending on them. Freedom God and Great-Freedom God were also present. Thirty thousand gods were attending on them. Brahman Heavenly-King who was the lord of the Saha-World, Great Brahman Sikhin, and Great Brahman Light were also present. Twelve thousand gods were attending on them.

There were also the eight dragon-kings: Nanda Dragon-King, Upananda Dragon-King, Sagara Dragon-King, Vasuki Dragon­King, Taksaka Dragon-King, Anavatapta Dragon-King, Manasvin Dragon-King, and Utpalaka Dragon-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants. There were also the four kiṃnara-kings: Dharma Kiṃnara-King, Wonderful-Dharma Kiṃnara-King, Great-Dharma Kiṃnara-King, and Dharma­Keeping Kiṃnara-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four gandharva-kings: Musical Gandharva­King, Musical-Voice Gandharva-King, Beautiful Gandharva-King, and Beautiful-Voice Gandharva-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four asura-kings: Balin Asura-King, Kharaskandha Asura-King, Vemacitrin Asura-King, and Rahu Asura-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

There were also the four garuda-kings: Great-Power-Virtue Garuda-King, Great-Body Garuda-King, Great-Fulfillment Garuda­King, and Free-At-Will Garuda-King, each accompanied by hundreds of thousands of attendants.

See According to One’s Nature People Flow Together

elements, d1b

According to One’s Nature People Flow Together

Twenty-one arhats are listed in Chapter 1:

Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya
Mahā-Kāśyapa
Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa
Gaya-Kāśyapa
Nadi-Kāśyapa
Śāriputra
Great Maudgalyāyana
Mahā-Kātyāyana
Aniruddha
Kapphina
Gavampati
Revata
Pilindavatsa
Bakkula
Maha-Kausthila
Nanda
Sundarananda
Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī
Subhūti
Ananda
Rahula.

The Etadaggavagga (Aṅguttara-Nikāya) lists the Buddha’s disciples in terms of their specialized abilities. For example, the ten great disciples are classified as follows1:

  1. Sāriputta [Śāriputra], the foremost in deep wisdom,
  2. Mahāmoggallāna [Maudgalyāyana], the foremost in transcendental faculties,
  3. Anuruddha [Aniruddha], the foremost in divine sight,
  4. Mahākassapa [Mahākāśyapa], the foremost in observance of ascetic practices,
  5. Puṇṇa Mantāniputta [Pūrṇa, son of Maitrāyanī], the foremost in expounding the teaching,
  6. Mahākaccāyana [Mahākātyāyana], the foremost in ability to analyze and explain the teachings,
  7. Rāhula, the foremost of all who loved learning,
  8. Revata Khadiravaniya, the foremost of the forest dwellers,
  9. Ānanda, the foremost of those who had heard and memorized the teachings, and
  10. Upāli, the foremost of those who had memorized the Vinaya.

The chapter goes on to list other bhikkhus, bhikkhuṇis, upāsakas, and upāsikās and describes their special abilities.

It is understandable that those leading disciples who responded to the Buddha’s teachings in the way that suited them best then became teachers of those special abilities, guiding new followers in their own particular expertise. The disciples who gathered under them appear to have formed groups according to their interests, as is hinted by a sentence in the Saṃyutta-Nikaya: “According to one’s nature/selfdom (dhātu) people flow together, meet together.” The Buddha pointed out that the groups that formed around the various leaders tended to have the same leanings as those leaders (Saṃyutta-Nikāya), commenting that the disciples who were walking with Śāriputra were people of great wisdom; those around Mahāmoggallāna were of transcendental powers; those around Mahākassapa were of ascetic tendencies; those around Anuruddha were of divine sight; those around Puṇṇa Mantāniputta were expounders of the teaching; those around Upāli were memorizers of the Vinaya; those around Ānanda were those who had “heard much” (bahussuta); and those who had followed Devadatta were people of evil.
Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 169-170

1
Lotus World and the Oxford dictionary of Buddhism list Subhuti, foremost in understanding emptiness, among the 10 disciples. While Revata Khadiravaniya, the younger brother of Śāriputra, is not listed in those lists, other lists have him as foremost among forest dwellers. return
Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the eighth beneficial effect, we consider the ninth beneficial effect of this sutra.

“O you of good intent! Ninth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If men and women of good intent, upon obtaining this sutra—either during or after the lifetime of a buddha—dance with joy and delight at gaining something marvelous, accept and keep faith with it, internalize and recite it, make records of and honor it, and widely explain to people in great detail what this sutra means, they will immediately and instantly achieve the destruction and elimination of the heavy hindrances from karmic causes and other impurities that remain from the past. They will opportunely achieve purity, come to attain great eloquence, perfectly compose themselves in the spiritual attitudes one by one, and attain various kinds of specialized focus of mind, including that of courageous advancement (śūraṅgama-samādhi). They will gain access to great Dharma-grasping empowerments, obtain the power of diligent endeavor, and swiftly pass to the uppermost stage of development. They will be well capable of widely making their presence felt in all the lands of the ten directions. Rescuing greatly suffering living beings throughout the twenty-five states of existence, they will lead them all to emancipation. This is all because this sutra contains power of this kind. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the ninth beneficial effect of this sutra.

See The Lotus Sutra as a History Lesson

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Embracing the Nāga cult

The Lotus Sutra records that the eight-year-old daughter of the Nāga (Dragon) King attained buddhahood in the southern region. According to the chapter “The Nāga and Birds” in the fourth varga (Shih-chi Ching, “Origin of the Worlds”) of the Chinese translation of the Dirgha-āgama (Ch’ang-a-han Ching, translated by Buddhayagas and Chu Fo-nien in 412-13; T. 1:127-29), at the bottom of the sea was the Sāgara palace. The Cheng-fa-n’ien-ch’u Ching (T. 721; Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra, translated by Prajñāruci in 539) says that there is a great sea (the Arabian Sea) past the mountain called Gurjara in the southern part of Jambudvipa. Five hundred yojanas under this sea is the palace of the Dragon King, adorned with many kinds of jewels (T. 17:405b). We can safely conjecture that behind these traditions is the fact of the prosperity of Gandhāra and Kashmir as centers for East-West trade during the Kuṣāṇa dynasty, and the inflow of riches with the expansion of seaborne trade between the west coast of India and the Roman Empire. In the depiction in the “Devadatta” chapter of the daughter of the Dragon King offering the Buddha a pearl, we may suppose that those people who supported the Nāga cult had a connection with the merchants of that trade, and that with the expansion of the idea of compassion in Buddhism, such low class non-Aryan people became the object of salvation and received predictions of buddhahood; thus it is possible to infer that here we have the Nāga cult (and the buddhahood of women) symbolically being embraced by Buddhism.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra, p 424
d19b, d20b, WONS

At First Only I, Nichiren, Chanted Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

At first only I, Nichiren, started chanting the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, but then two, three, then one hundred people, gradually began chanting it. This will continue in the future. Isn’t this what emerging from the earth means? When an innumerable number of people emerge from the earth and this Wonderful Dharma spreads extensively, there will be no mistake, just as a shooting arrow never misses the earth, Japan will be filled with people chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. You should therefore establish your fame as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and devote your life to it.

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78

LS32, Universal Sage

Between Day 32 and Day 1: Six Senses in Verse

Having reviewed each of the senses and their karmic consequences – the sense faculty of sight, the sense faculty of hearing, the sense faculty of smell, the sense faculty of speech and the sense faculty of the body and mind – we repeat in verse:

Then, expounding further, the World-honored One spoke in verse:

“When the sense faculty of sight is corrupted
By karmic encumbrances that make it impure,
You must resolutely internalize the Great Vehicle
And ponder its ultimate principle!
This is called doing self-amendment for the eye
To bring unwholesome karmic influences to an end.
The sense faculty of hearing gives ear to disruptive sounds
And spoils your sense of accord.
Because such confusion occurs,
You become just like a foolish monkey.
You must resolutely internalize the Great Vehicle
And contemplate the emptiness and formlessness of all things!
You will lastingly bring an end to unwholesomeness
And hear in all ten directions with a celestial ear!
The sense faculty of smell has attachments to scents
And, so affected, drives you to make contacts.
The nose is thus crazed and seduced,
And, so affected, begets impure perceptions.
When you internalize the Great Vehicle sutras
And contemplate the true reality of all things,
You will lastingly part from harmful karmic actions
And, in lives to come, not produce them again!
The sense faculty of speech promotes the five wrong views29–
An unwholesome karmic cause resulting from the wanton use of words.
When you aspire to effect self-control,
Diligently foster a heart of compassion!
Reflect on how the tranquil true reality of all phenomena
Has no aspects for you to discern!
The sense faculty of the mind, just as a monkey,
Takes not even one moment of rest.
When you aspire to govern it,
You must diligently internalize the Great Vehicle!
Focus on the buddhas – on their fully awakened embodiments,
With the capabilities and dauntlessness they have achieved!
The material body, the agency of actions,
Behaves like dust blown about by the wind:
Six thieves have their way within it–
Without limit and free from control.
When you aspire to end this inferior condition,
To lastingly part from overwhelming desires,
To abide always in the city of nirvana,
And to be serene and have a calm mind,
You must internalize the Great Vehicle sutras
And turn your mind to the mother of bodhisattvas!
Countless surpassing skillful means are gained
By reflecting on the true reality of all things.
These six ways
Are thus named the governing of the six sense faculties.
The ocean of all karmic encumbrances
Is produced by deluded perceptions.
When you aspire to amend yourself of them,
Focus on the true reality of all phenomena while sitting upright and properly!
All impurities, like frost and dew,
Can be dispelled by wisdom’s sun;
Accordingly, with utmost dedication,
Do self-amendment for the six sense faculties!”

See Repentance: An Indispensable Requisite of Religious Life

b4today, LS32, Universal Sage

Repentance: An Indispensable Requisite of Religious Life

[R]epentance is to learn the teaching of the Great-vehicle and to practice it. Repentance means not compromising with oneself, not having a lukewarm or equivocal attitude, but polishing one’s buddha-nature by gradually removing illusions and defilements from one’s mind. The practice of repentance consists in the bodhisattva practice, through which one not only polishes his buddha-nature but also renders service to others. Repentance is an indispensable requisite of religious life. It is to be hoped that all people will repeatedly read and recite this sutra on repentance, realize its essence, and put it into practice in their daily lives.

Buddhism for Today, p459-460
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 return to the top and consider 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