Category Archives: LS32

d12b, WONS

The Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni’s Three Benefits and Three Virtues

The seventh chapter on “The Parable of a Magic City” of the Lotus Sūtra states that the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha had been the king of a country with 16 princes before entering the priesthood; when the king became a Buddha, his 16 princes awakened aspiration for Buddhahood and became novices. Meanwhile the 16 novices grew to be 16 bodhisattvas, preaching the Lotus Sūtra as their father Buddha had taught them and planting the seed of Buddhahood in all the people in the Sahā World. These 16 bodhisattvas all attained Buddhahood, the seventh chapter continues, and they became 16 Buddhas, the first of whom was Akṣobha Buddha, the ninth was Amitābha Buddha, and the sixteenth was Śākyamuni Buddha. Akṣobha Buddha has connection with the world to the east, Amitābha (Buddha of Infinite Life) is connected to the world of the west, and only Śākyamuni Buddha has a karmic relationship with this Sahā World. Each of these Buddhas is equipped with the three benefits of guidance (sowing, maturing, and harvesting) and the three virtues (of lord, master and parents), but both Akṣobha and Amitābha Buddhas are provisional Buddhas who appeared in the world to preach expedient teachings. Therefore, they have neither the three benefits nor the three virtues in the true sense of the word. In other words, their benefits and virtues are recognized only in term of their guidance of the people in their respective worlds, whereas the Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni is perfectly equipped with the three benefits and three virtues.

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 248

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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 simple acts of those who have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha, we consider more simple acts of those who have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.

Those who respectfully offered
Flowers, incense, streamers, and canopies
Enshrined in a stupa-mausoleum;
Or those who caused men to make music
By beating drums, by blowing horns and conches,
And by playing reed-pipes, flutes, lyres, harps,
Lutes, gongs, and copper cymbals,
And offered the wonderful sounds produced thereby
To the image or picture of the Buddha;
Or those who sang joyfully in praise of him for his virtues;
Or those who just murmured [in praise of him],
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.

Those who bowed to the image of the Buddha,
Or just joined their hands together towards it,
Or raised only one hand towards it,
Or bent their head a little towards it
And offered the bending to it,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
They attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
Saved countless living beings,
And entered into the Nirvana-without-remainder
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.

Those who entered a stupa-mausoleum
And said only once “Namo Buddhaya,”
Without even concentrating their minds,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who heard the Dharma
In the lifetime of a past Buddha
Or after his extinction
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

See Doing Good

d2b, d5b, stories

Doing Good

Doing good in the Dharma Flower Sutra means doing the good of all, including oneself.

Just as “doing good” appears often in the Dharma Flower Sutra, so too does the expression “to see countless buddhas” and the like. By doing good, we are told, Fame Seeker was able to see countless buddhas. What could this possibly mean?

Perhaps it means seeing the buddhas who are in the buddha lands in every direction. Or perhaps it means seeing countless buddhas of the past. But I do not think so. Though the idea was not formalized until much later, I believe the Dharma Flower Sutra would have us understand that the Buddha is to be found, is to be seen, in every living being. Thus to see countless buddhas is to see the buddha in others, in everyone one meets, just like Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva.

Thus doing good and seeing countless buddhas are truly connected. One does good because one sees the buddha both in oneself and in others, and seeing the buddha in others gives one a motivation for doing good, helping them in whatever ways are appropriate.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p45
LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered what happened when Śākyamuni finally agrees to teach the dharma, we consider the one great purpose of the Buddha’s teaching.

“Śāriputra! The purpose of the various teachings that the Buddhas expound according to the capacities of all living beings is difficult to understand. I also expound various teachings with innumerable expedients, that is to say, with stories of previous lives, parables, similes and discourses. [The purpose of the various teachings of the Buddhas is difficult to understand] because the Dharma cannot be understood by reasoning. Only the Buddhas know the Dharma because the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds only for one great purpose.

“Śāriputra! What is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds? The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to enter the Way to the insight of the Buddha. Śāriputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.”

See The Four Meanings of ‘One Great Purpose’ of the Buddhas

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month met the eight sons of the last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha, we learn what happened after Sun-Moon-Light Buddha expounded Sūtra of Innumerable Teachings.

“Thereupon the last Sun-Moon-Light Buddha expounded a Sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Innumerable Teachings, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ Having expounded this sūtra, he sat cross-legged [facing the east] in the midst of the great multitude, and entered into the samādhi for the purport of the innumerable teachings. His body and mind became motionless.

“Thereupon the gods rained mandarava-flowers, maha-­mandarava-flowers, manjusaka-flowers, and maha-manjusaka­flowers upon the Buddha and the great multitude. The world of the Buddha quaked in the six ways. The great multitude of the congregation, which included bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, upāsikās, gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, nonhuman beings, the kings of small countries, and the wheel turning-holy kings, were astonished. They rejoiced, joined their hands together [towards the Buddha], and looked up at him with one mind.

‘Thereupon the Tathagata emitted a ray of light from the white curls between his eyebrows, and illumined all the corners of eighteen thousand Buddha-worlds in the east just as this Buddha is illumining the Buddha-worlds as we see now.

“Maitreya, know this! There were two thousand million Bodhisattvas in that congregation. They wished to hear the Dharma. They were astonished at seeing the Buddha-worlds illumined by this ray of light. They wished to know why the Buddha was emitting this ray of light.

See The Culture of the Buddha Dharma

LS32, stories

The Culture of the Buddha Dharma

[T]he Buddha Dharma is at once both cultural and transcultural. That is, it can be found in many languages and cultures and in that sense is “beyond” culture. Though we may not know exactly what he and his assistants translated from, Kumarajiva’s translation is a translation into Chinese in which the Dharma Flower Sutra is embodied, for the most part, in Chinese terms and ways of thinking. Similarly, Japanized versions take on, to some degree, characteristics of Japanese language and culture. I have translated the Chinese version into English. In doing this, I know very well that a great deal is lost, but I also believe that it is possible that something is gained, for by being rendered in additional languages and cultural contexts, the transcultural Dharma Flower Sutra once again, to some extent, finds embodiment and life.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p236
LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the teachings of Buddhas that Maitreya sees, we consider the practices of the Bodhisattvas of those worlds that Maitreya sees.

Mañjuśrī!
I see and hear
Hundreds of thousands of millions of things
Such as these
From this world.
I will tell you briefly some more of them.

I see as many Bodhisattvas of those worlds
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
Who are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
[In various ways] according to their environments

Some of them practice almsgiving.
They joyfully give treasures
Such as gold, silver,
Pearls, manis, shells, agates, and diamonds.
They also give menservants and maidservants,
Vehicles and palanquins adorned with treasures.

They proceed to the enlightenment of the Buddha
By the merits obtained thereby,
Wishing to obtain this vehicle,
The most excellent vehicle
In the triple world,
The vehicle praised by the Buddhas.

Some Bodhisattvas give
Jeweled chariots yoked with four horses,
Equipped with railings and flower-canopies,
And adorned on all sides.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Offering their flesh or their limbs
Or their wives or their children
In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

I also see some Bodhisattvas
Joyfully offering
Their heads or their eyes or their bodies
In order to attain the wisdom of the Buddha.

Mañjuśrī!
I see some kings coming to a Buddha,
And asking him about unsurpassed enlightenment.
They have renounced the world of pleasures,
Left their palaces,
Parted from their ministers and women,
And shaved their beard and hair.
They now wear monastic robes.

See What It Means To Be A Reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra

LS32, d1b, stories

What It Means To Be A Reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra

When contemplating any of the stories of the Dharma Flower Sutra, we would do well to ask oneself where we ourselves fit into the story – to remember in this case that I myself am a member of the great assembly gathered before the Buddha. That is what it means to be a hearer or reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p36
d29b, Peaceful Action

The More You Give, The More You Receive

Giving (dana) is an essential bodhisattva practice. In Chapter Twenty on Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, the Universal Gate, we learned about the four skillful means of a bodhisattva. The first of these is the practice of making offerings. There are three kinds of offering. The first is giving material goods. The second is giving the gift of the Dharma, the practice that liberates us from suffering. The third and ultimate offering of the bodhisattva is the gift of non-fear. We have to understand giving in this light. Dana paramita, the perfection of giving, has nothing to do with material wealth. It has to do with generosity and openness, our capacity to embrace others with our compassion and love. With that spirit, we quite naturally want to give everything we can to help them. So we can see right away that dana paramita intersects with the practice of kṣānti, inclusiveness, and it also has the element of prajn͂ā, wisdom, because it is through our understanding of interbeing that generosity and compassion arise. When we truly see ourselves as others and others as ourselves, we naturally want to do everything we can to secure their happiness and well-being, because we know that it is also our own well-being and happiness.

There’s a kind of vegetable in Vietnam called he (prounounced “hey”). It belongs to the onion family and looks like a scallion, and it is very good in soup. The more you cut the plants at the base the more they grow. If you don’t cut them, they won’t grow very much, but if you cut them often, right at the base of the stalk, they grow bigger and bigger. This is also true of the practice of dana. If you give and continue to give, you become richer and richer all the time, richer in terms of happiness and well-being. This may seem strange, but it is always true. The more you give away the things that you value – not just material things but also gifts of time and energy – the greater your store of riches. How is this possible? When you try to hoard things you may end up losing them, but everything you give to help others always remains with you as the foundation of your well-being.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p243-244
Innumerable, LS32

Another Innumerable Day Before Day 1

Having last month considered the third of the 10 Beneficial Effects of the Sutra of Innumerable Meaning, we consider the fourth beneficial effect:

“O you of good intent! Fourth, this sutra’s unimaginable power for beneficial effect is this: If there are living beings who can hear this sutra – whether a section of it, whether a verse of it, or whether a phrase – they will gain a dauntless attitude, they will become capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves, and they will gain the company of bodhisattvas. The buddha tathāgatas will always attend to such people and will expound the teachings to them. After hearing them, these people will be fully able to accept them, uphold them, and follow them without opposition; they will also, in turn, expound them appropriately to others far and wide. O you of good intent! Such people can be likened to the newborn prince of a king and queen. One day becomes two days, and then seven; one month becomes two months, and then seven; he becomes one year old, and then two, and then seven. Even though he cannot yet govern or administer the affairs of state, he is revered and respected by the people and enjoys the companionship of all great princes. The king and queen constantly give him earnest counsel and shower their affection upon him. Why is this so? It is because he is of tender age and has not yet matured. O you of good intent! So it is also with one who keeps faith with this sutra. The convergence of the buddhas and this sutra – the union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child. If this bodhisattva can hear this sutra – whether a phrase of it or whether a verse, whether one, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand times, or, like myriad multiples of all the sands of the Ganges River, an infinite number of times – even though he or she will not yet be able to embody its principles and truths to the fullest extent, or be able to make lands in the universe of a thousand-million Sumeru worlds tremble and shake from the rolling thunder of a Brahma voice that turns a great wheel of the Dharma, he or she will have gained the respect and admiration of all of the four kinds of followers and eight kinds of ever-present guardian spirits, will gain the company of great bodhisattvas, and will see deeply into doctrines preserved by the buddhas and be able to speak on them without fault or lack. Because this bodhisattva is just beginning to learn, he or she will always be kept in mind by the buddhas and will be wrapped in their affection. O you of good intent! This is known as the inconceivable power of the fourth beneficial effect of this sutra.

Underscore: The union of ‘king’ and ‘queen’ – gives birth to this bodhisattva-child – capable of ferrying others even though they do not yet ferry themselves.