Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered how the Buddha prepares Maitreya to listen to the answer to his question, we consider the Buddha’s explanation of this great multitude.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, having sung these gāthās, said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World. When they were there, they read many sūtras, recited them, understood them, thought them over, evaluated them, and remembered them correctly. Ajita! These good men did not wish to talk much with others [about things other than the Dharma] but to live in a quiet place. They practiced the way strenuously without a rest. They did not live among gods and men. They had no hindrance in seeking profound wisdom. They always sought the teaching of the Buddha. They sought unsurpassed wisdom strenuously with all their hearts.”

See Being a Bodhisattva of the Earth

d4b, WONS

Leading People to the One Buddha Vehicle

The Lotus Sūtra, chapter 2, “Expedients,” states: “In preaching the dharma the World Honored One expounds the expedient teachings first and reveals the true teaching last;” “honestly casting away (‘cast away’ means ‘abandon’) the expedient teachings (the pre-Lotus sūtras, i.e. first three of the four doctrinal teachings or the four doctrinal teachings except the pure perfect teaching, first four of the five tastes: all sūtras except the Lotus Sūtra, or the tripiṭaka, common and distinct teachings taken into the perfect teaching), the Buddha solely preaches the One Vehicle true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra.” Moreover, “The Buddha preaches various teachings (the four periods and seven teachings refer to the pre-Lotus sūtras, and five periods and eight teachings refer to the entire teaching of the Buddha) for the purpose of leading the people into the One Buddha Vehicle.”

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 242-243

LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, we open Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and consider the request of the Bodhisattvas more than eight times the number of the sands of the River Ganges.

Thereupon the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, more than eight times the number of the sands of the River Ganges, who had come from the other worlds, rose from among the great multitude, joined their hands together towards the Buddha, bowed to him, and said:

“World-Honored One! If you permit us to protect, keep, read, recite and copy this sūtra, and make offerings to it strenuously in this Sahā-World after your-extinction, we will [do so, and] expound it in this world.”

Thereupon the Buddha said to those Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas:

“No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sūtra because there are Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Sahā-World. They are each accompanied by attendants also numbering sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges. They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sūtra after my extinction.”

See The Bodhisattva Way

LS32, d19b, d20b, stories

The Bodhisattva Way

The bodhisattva way is affirmed throughout the Dharma Flower Sutra. The Sutra does not reject other ways, neither the shravaka way nor the pratyekabuddha way, but it does make them subordinate to the way of bodhisattvas, which, revealingly, is also called “the Buddha Way.” This is because the bodhisattva way is understood to be a path leading one to becoming a buddha, that is, to embodying the Buddha in one’s life. Lesser goals may be useful and effective in leading one to the bodhisattva way, but they should be regarded as entrances to the way, or resting places along the way.

Thus it is that the four great bodhisattvas – Superior Practice, Unlimited Practice, Pure Practice, and Firm Practice – who lead the great horde of bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth are said to display, or correspond to, the four great bodhisattva vows:

Firm Practice: However innumerable living beings are, I vow to save them all;

Pure Practice: However innumerable hindrances are, I vow to overcome them all;

Unlimited Practice: However innumerable the Buddha’s teachings are, I vow to master them all;

Superior Practice: However supreme the Buddha Way is, I vow to reach it.

These four vows make clear what the way of the bodhisattva is: It is devotion to the goal of helping everyone to attain the potential they have within themselves to be a buddha.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p193-194
LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the litany of perils to be faced preaching the Lotus Sutra in the future saha world, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

There will be many dreadful things
In the evil world of the kalpa of defilements.
Devils will enter the bodies [of those bhikṣus]
And cause them to abuse and insult us.

We will wear the armor of endurance
Because we respect and believe you.
We will endure all these difficulties
In order to expound this sūtra.

We will not spare even our lives.
We treasure only unsurpassed enlightenment.
We will protect and keep the Dharma in the future
If you transmit it to us.

World-Honored One, know this!
Evil bhikṣus in the defiled world will not know
The teachings that you expounded with expedients
According to the capacities of all living beings.

They will speak ill of us,
Or frown at us,
Or drive us out of our monasteries
From time to time.
But we will endure all these evils
Because we are thinking of your command.

When we hear of a person who seeks the Dharma
In any village or city,
We will visit him and expound the Dharma [to him]
If you transmit it to us.

Because we are your messengers,
We are fearless before multitudes.
We will expound the Dharma.
Buddha, do not worry.

We vow all this to you
And also to the Buddhas who have come
From the worlds of the ten quarters.
Buddha, know what we have in our minds!

See Encouragement to Endure Suffering and Persist in Teaching the Sutra

LS32, d18b, stories

Encouragement to Endure Suffering and Persist in Teaching the Sutra

[A]n enormously large group of bodhisattvas spoke to the Buddha, telling him not to worry as after his extinction, “in a frightful and evil age,” even if cursed and abused or attacked with swords and sticks they would teach the Sutra everywhere. In such an evil age, “full of dreadful things, evil spirits will take possession of others to curse, abuse, and insult us.” In order to teach this Sutra they will wear “an armor of patient endurance” and “endure all such difficult things.” “We will cherish neither our bodies nor our lives,” they say, “but care only for the unexcelled way,” protecting and upholding in ages to come “what the Buddha has entrusted to us.” Repeatedly driven out from stupas and monasteries, they will endure such troubles, going wherever there are those who seek it to teach the Dharma entrusted to them by the Buddha. We are, they say, “emissaries” of the Buddha, “facing multitudes without fear,” in order to spread the Dharma. (LS 257-60)

We do not know what circumstances in India led to this kind of anticipation of abuse and persecution of followers of the Dharma Flower Sutra, but, especially for Nichiren and his followers, these words could be seen as anticipating their own experience. They were a powerful encouragement to endure suffering and persist in teaching the Sutra to others no matter how great the difficulties.

Today, few of us have to face such extreme persecution for teaching the Lotus Sutra. But most followers of the Sutra certainly do face difficulties, especially from those who are antagonistic toward the Sutra and toward those who seek to teach it. And in most, if not all, of the world such antagonism may be directed more intensely toward women. We know that Mahaprajapati and Yashodhara had to overcome great difficulties and even hostility toward women in order to become nuns and teachers of the Dharma.

There are other kinds of difficulties as well, difficulties in understanding the Sutra, difficulties in translation and interpretation, difficulties adequately embodying the teachings in our everyday lives, difficulties in teaching or preaching it, difficulties in sharing our enthusiasm for it. Indeed, for those who want to uphold the Dharma Flower Sutra, there is no shortage of difficulties. It is all too easy to become disheartened and discouraged and want to give up.

Chapter 13, especially perhaps in the final verses, “We will cherish neither our bodies nor our lives, but care only for the unexcelled way,” can be a wonderful encouragement to continue despite such difficulties. If others have faced terrible abuse and persecution, surely we too can face difficulties and survive.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p175-176
Daily Dharma, d3b

Daily Dharma – Oct. 26, 2020

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 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Day 17 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the prediction of Devadatta’s future buddhahood, we consider the meeting of Accumulated-Wisdom and Mañjuśrī bodhisattvas.

At that time Many-Treasures, the World-Honored One, who had come from the nadir,’ was accompanied by a Bodhisattva called Accumulated-Wisdom. The Bodhisattva said to Many-Treasures Buddha, “Shall we go back to our home world?”

Śākyamuni Buddha said to Accumulated-Wisdom:

“Good man, wait for a while! A Bodhisattva called Mañjuśrī is coming. See him, talk about the Wonderful Dharma with him, and then go back to your home world!”

Thereupon Mañjuśrī came sitting on a one-thousand-petaled lotus-flower as large as the wheel of a chariot. He was accompanied by other Bodhisattvas who were also sitting on jeweled lotus-flowers. Mañjuśrī had sprung up from the palace of Dragon-King Sagara in the great ocean, gone up to the sky[, and traveled through the sky towards Mt. Sacred Eagle]. Having reached Mt. Sacred Eagle, he descended from the lotus flower, came to the two World-Honored Ones,” and worshipped their feet with his head. Having completed the worship, he came to Accumulated-Wisdom, exchanged greetings with him, retired and sat to one side.

Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva asked Mañjuśrī, “You went to the palace of the dragon-king. How many living beings did you lead into the Way to Bodhi there?”

Mañjuśrī answered, “Their number is immeasurable, incalculable, inexplicable, unthinkable. Wait for a while! You will be able to see them.”

No sooner had he said this than innumerable Bodhisattvas, who were sitting on jeweled lotus-flowers, sprang up from the sea, came to Mt. Sacred Eagle, went up to the sky, and stayed there. All these Bodhisattvas had been led [into the Way to Bodhi] by Mañjuśrī. They had already performed the Bodhisattva practices. [Up in the sky] they [began to] expound the six pāramitās. Some of them were formerly Śrāvakas. When they were Śrāvakas, they expounded the Śrāvaka practices in the sky. Now they were acting according to the truth of the Void of the Great Vehicle.

See Lifelong Learning

LS32, d17b, stories

Lifelong Learning

As we see in Chapter 12 of the Dharma Flower Sutra, there are two stories, both of which suggest the importance of enabling by seeing. The first is ostensibly a story about Devadatta, someone whom everyone, at least in the Buddhist world, knows is the epitome of evil. But in Chapter 12 we find none of this, which everyone knows already. Instead we find the Buddha telling a story about a previous life in which Devadatta was his teacher. We may think this story is mainly about Devadatta, but, more importantly, it is a story about the Buddha, especially about the Buddha’s ability to see the bodhisattva in Devadatta. The Buddha enables Devadatta by assuring him that he too is to become a buddha.

The second story in Chapter 12 is about the dragon princess who becomes a buddha in an instant. Present are two men, Shariputra, who thinks that it is impossible for a woman to become a buddha, and Accumulated Wisdom Bodhisattva, who thinks it is crazy to think that a little girl could become awakened suddenly. What the dragon princess says to them is very interesting. “Just watch,” she says, “use your holy powers to watch me become a buddha even more quickly than it took for Shakyamuni Buddha to take a jewel from my hand.” (LS 283) In a sense, a little girl becomes a buddha for them, but she can do this only if they used their “holy powers,” their vision, to allow her to be a buddha for them, to open themselves to her being a buddha for them.

Normally we think of Buddha Dharma as coming from the Buddha. This is correct, of course. But it is also essential to see that the Dharma, and therefore the Buddha, can come to us from many sources – if we open ourselves to it.

The title of the English version of the autobiography of the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, Nikkyo Niwano, is Lifetime Beginner. The term “beginner” has connotations of being inexperienced or green. The implication of this is, of course, that one always needs to be learning, always needs to be open to new experience, new stories, new ideas. It is easy to think of this remarkable man as being self-taught, which in a sense he was. But he was self-taught only by learning from others, a great variety of others. He learned, for example, about Buddhist teachings from Buddhist scholars, including some very famous Buddhist scholars, but he also learned about Buddhism, and received the Buddha Dharma from ordinary members of Rissho Kosei-kai. He was a lifetime learner. The importance of being open to others, of learning from them, even of seeing the Buddha in them, is something we might learn from the story ofWonderful Voice Bodhisattva.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p266-267
LS32

Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 16 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard the Buddha ask in gāthās who will protect and keep this sūtra, we consider the easy and difficult tasks.

Good men! Think this over clearly!
It is difficult
[To expound this sūtra].
Make a great vow to do this!

It is not difficult
To expound all the other sūtras
As many as there are sands
In the River Ganges.

It is not difficult
To grasp Mt. Sumeru
And hurl it to a distance
Of countless Buddha-worlds.

It is not difficult to move [a world]
[Composed of] one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
With the tip of a toe
And hurl it to another world.

It is not difficult
To stand in the Highest Heaven
And expound innumerable other sūtras
To all living beings.

It is difficult
To expound this sūtra
In the evil world
After my extinction.

It is not difficult
To grasp the sky,
And wander about with it
From place to place.

It is difficult
To copy and keep this sūtra
Or cause others to copy it
After my extinction.

It is not difficult
To put the great earth
On the nail of a toe
And go up to the Heaven of Brahman.

It is difficult
To read this sūtra
Even for a while in the evil world
After my extinction.

It is not difficult
To shoulder a load of hay
And stay unburned in the fire
At the end of the kalpa [of destruction].

It is difficult
To keep this sūtra
And expound it to even one person
After my extinction.

It is not difficult
To keep the store
Of eighty-four thousand teachings
Expounded in the sūtras
Composed of the twelve elements,
And expound it to people,
And cause the hearers to obtain
The six supernatural powers.

It is difficult
To hear and receive this sūtra,
And ask the meanings of it
After my extinction.

It is not difficult
To expound the Dharma
To many thousands of billions of living beings
As many as there are sands
In the River Ganges
So that they may be able
To obtain the benefits:
Arhatship and the six supernatural powers.

It is difficult
To keep
This sūtra
After my extinction.

Two Buddhas Seated Side By Side offers this on the The Six Difficult and Nine Easy Acts