Category Archives: LS32

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 learned that Never-Despising Bodhisattva was Śākyamuni in a previous life, we repeat in gāthās the story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

There was once a Buddha,
Called Powerful-Voice-King.
His supernatural powers and wisdom
Were immeasurable.
Leading all living beings, he is honored
By gods, men and dragons with offerings.

Some time after the extinction of that Buddha,
His teachings had almost died out.
At that time there lived a Bodhisattva
Called Never-Despising.
The four kinds of devotees at that time
Were attached to views.

Never-Despising Bodhisattva
Went to them,
And said,
“I do not despise you
Because you will practice the Way
And become Buddhas.”

When they heard this,
They spoke ill of him and abused him.
But Never-Despising Bodhisattva
Endured all this.

Thus he expiated his sin.
When he was about to pass away,
He heard this sūtra,
And had his six sense-organs purified.
He prolonged his life
By his supernatural powers,
And expounded this sūtra
To many people.

Those who were attached to views
Were led into the Way
To the enlightenment of the Buddha
By this Bodhisattva.

Never-Despising [Bodhisattva] met
Innumerable Buddhas after the end of his life.
He expounded this sūtra,
And obtained innumerable merits,
He quickly attained the enlightenment of the Buddha
By these accumulated merits.

See The Phases of the Dharma

LS32, d25b, mappō, stories

The Phases of the Dharma

Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, we are told, lived in an era of merely formal Dharma. In Buddhism it is often taught that there are three or four phases of the Dharma, what we might think of as phases in the life of the Dharma. The first can be called the phase of true Dharma; the second, merely formal Dharma; and the third, the end of the Dharma. One common interpretation has it that in the first phase, the phase of true, real, correct, or right Dharma, following the life of a buddha in the world, the Buddha’s teachings are taught and practiced and awakening is sometimes achieved. We can think of this as a time of living Dharma, a time when the Dharma has a deep impact on people’s lives. In the second phase, the teachings are practiced but awakening is generally not possible because the teachings are only superficially held and practiced. In the third phase the teachings exist but they are not practiced at all, not embodied in the lives of people. Sometimes a fourth phase is added, a period in which the teachings themselves are no longer even present. Eventually, another Buddha emerges and the cycle begins again.

While this pattern of phases is quite common in Buddhism, we do not find it in the Dharma Flower Sutra. There we find the end of the Dharma mentioned directly only twice, and perhaps indirectly twice, but never in connection with the phases of true Dharma and merely formal Dharma. These first two phases, on the other hand, are often mentioned together, suggesting that there is a two-phase cycle in which a new phase of true Dharma follows a phase of merely formal Dharma. In Chapter 20, this two-phase cycle is clearly endorsed. Setting the scene for the appearance of Never Disrespectful Bodhisattva, we are told that “after the true Dharma and merely formal Dharma had entirely disappeared, another buddha appeared in that land.” (LS 338) And this event of a period of true Dharma not only preceding but also following a period of merely formal Dharma is said to have happened two trillion times in succession!

We can only speculate as to why this three-phase cosmology is not in the Dharma Flower Sutra. My sense of it is that in the context of the Dharma Flower Sutra it is not appropriate to believe that the end of the Dharma, the third phase, is inevitable. Virtually the whole thrust of the Sutra is to encourage keeping the Dharma alive by embodying it in everyday life. It simply would not make good sense to repeatedly urge people to keep the Dharma alive by receiving, embracing, reading, reciting, and copying it, and teaching and practicing it if a decline of the Dharma were inevitable. The Dharma Flower Sutra teaches that the bodhisattva path is difficult, even extremely difficult, but it cannot be impossible. Even the many assurances of becoming a buddha that we find in the first half of the Sutra should, I think, be taken as a kind of promise that supreme awakening is always possible.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p212-213
LS32

Day 24

Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 24 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the eight hundred merits of the nose in gāthās, we complete the merits of the nose in gāthās.

He will be able to know by smell
What a man or a woman is thinking of,
Or whether he or she is greedy, ignorant or angry,
Or whether he or she is doing good.

He will be able to recognize by smell
The gold, silver, and other treasures
Deposited underground,
And the things enclosed in a copper box.

He will be able to know by smell
The values of various necklaces,
And the deposits of their materials,
And also to locate the necklaces [when they are lost].

He will be able to recognize by smell
The mandārava-flowers,
And the mañjūṣaka-flowers,
And the pārijātaka-trees in heaven.

He will be able to know by smell
Whether a heavenly palace
Adorned with jeweled flowers
Is superior, mean or inferior.

He will be able to recognize by smell
Gardens, forests, excellent palaces,
And the wonderful hall of the Dharma in heaven,
And other stately buildings where [the gods] enjoy themselves.

He will be able to know by smell
Whether the gods are hearing the Dharma
Or satisfying their five desires,
Or coming, going, walking, sitting or reclining.

He will be able to know by smell
Whether the goddesses, clad in the garments
Adorned with fragrant flowers,
Are playing as they are moving about.

He will be able to know by smell
Who has reached the Heaven of Brahman,
Who has entered into dhyāna,
And who has come out of it.

He will be able to know by smell
The person who has appeared for the first time in the Light-Sound Heaven
Or in the Universal-Pure Heaven or in the Highest Heaven,
And who has disappeared from there.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to locate by smell
The bhikṣus who are sitting or walking about
In seeking the Dharma strenuously,
And the bhikṣus who are reading or reciting [this] sūtra
Or devoting themselves
To sitting in dhyāna
Under the trees of forests.

He will be able to know by smell
The Bodhisattvas who are resolute in mind,
And who are sitting in dhyāna or reading [this] sūtra
Or reciting it or expounding it to others.

He will be able to locate by smell
The World-Honored One who is expounding the Dharma
Out of his compassion
Towards all living beings who respect him.

He will be able to know by smell
Those who rejoice at hearing [this] sūtra
From the Buddha,
And act according to the Dharma.

Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to have these merits of the nose
Although he has not yet obtained the nose
Of the Bodhisattva [who attained] the
Dharma without āsravas.

See The Four Fearlessnesses of a Bodhisattva

b4today, LS32, d24b

The Four Fearlessnesses of a Bodhisattva

In considering the four fearlessnesses of a bodhisattva, some people may be daunted at the thought of the difficulty of preaching the Law to others. However, we must not be afraid. These four categories describe the ideal preacher, and if one attains such a stage, then indeed one will have become a great bodhisattva. No great bodhisattva becomes so without effort; he reaches such a stage only after a long practice of severe discipline.

We, who train ourselves in the bodhisattva practice, must always preach the Law by bearing in mind the four ideals of the bodhisattva and by taking these four ideals as our yardstick. When we meet with a difficult problem or are asked questions that we do not know how to answer, we should say so frankly: “As this question is beyond me, I will ask somebody for instruction and then I will answer you.” We must not dream up an answer just to make it through the occasion somehow. To say “I am not sure” does not lower us in the estimation of others as preachers but results in increasing the confidence of our listeners.

Buddhism for Today, p298

An explanation of the four fearlessnesses can be found here.

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Day 23 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, we consider The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma and the merits of the eye.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva:

“The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the eye, twelve hundred merits of the ear, eight hundred merits of the nose, twelve hundred merits of the tongue, eight hundred merits of the body, and twelve hundred merits of the mind. They will be able to adorn and purify their six sense-organs with these merits. With their pure eyes given by their parents, these good men or women will be able to see all the mountains, forests, rivers and oceans inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, [each of which is composed of six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to see the living beings of those worlds, to know the karmas which those living beings are now doing and the region to which each of those living beings is destined to go by his karmas.”

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

Listen! I will tell you of the merits
Of those who fearlessly expound
To the great multitude
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

They will be able to obtain the excellent eyes
Adorned with eight hundred merits.
Their eyes will be pure
Because of this adornment.

With their eyes given by their parents,
They will be able to see Mt. Meru, Mt. Sumeru,
The Surrounding Iron Mountains,
And the other mountains,
And the forests, oceans and rivers
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.

They will be able to see the living beings
Of those worlds [each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
Although they have not yet obtained heavenly eyes,
They will be able to see all this
With their natural eyes.

See Merits of the Eye

b4today, LS32, d23b

Merits of the Eye

The expression “Though not yet having attained divine vision” indicates the opposite of the expression “with the natural pure eyes received at birth from his parents.” The last line of the verse means that even though living beings do not yet possess the divine vision of heavenly beings, capable of discerning the real state of all things, they can receive the power to do so while living in the sahā-world because they have pure eyes unclouded with mental illusion. To put it more plainly, they can do so because their minds become so pure that they are devoid of selfishness, so that they view things unswayed by prejudice or subjectivity. They can see things correctly, as they truly are, because they always maintain calm minds and are not swayed by impulse.

The Buddha preaches in a certain sutra as follows: “A thing is not reflected as it is in water boiling over a fire. A thing is not mirrored as it is on the surface of water hidden by plants. A thing is not reflected as it is on the surface of water running in waves stirred up the wind.” The Buddha teaches us here that we cannot view the real state of things until we are free from the mental illusion caused by selfishness and passion. We should interpret the merits of the eye in this way.

Buddhism for Today, p296
d21b, WONS

‘Send a Messenger Back’

QUESTION: What does “send a messenger back” mean in this sūtra?

ANSWER: The messenger refers to the Four Reliances, four ranks of bodhisattva-teachers whom people turned to for guidance after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha. There are four kinds of messengers. First, are the bodhisattva-teachers of Hinayāna Buddhism. They would mostly appear in the first 500 years of the Age of the True Dharma. On the other hand, the second, the bodhisattva-teachers of Mahāyāna, for the most part would appear in the latter 500 years of the Age of the True Dharma. The third, bodhisattva-teachers of the theoretical section, would appear mostly in the 1,000-year Age of the Semblance Dharma and partly in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration. The fourth, bodhisattva-teachers of the essential section, namely those numerous bodhisattvas who had appeared from underground, would surely appear in the beginning of the Latter Age.

The phrase, “send a messenger back,” in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, which I have just cited, refers to those bodhisattvas who were called out from underground. “This excellent medicine” refers to Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, which is the essence of the chapter, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” and which contains the five major principles: the name, entity, quality, function, and teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha did not grant this excellent medicine to those bodhisattvas who had been guided by the teaching of the theoretical section, not to mention bodhisattvas from other worlds.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 156-157

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month repeated in gāthās the benefits of keeping this sūtra, we conclude Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits

Anyone who respects the stupa-mausoleum,
Who is modest before bhikṣus,
Who gives up self-conceit,
Who always thinks of wisdom,
Who does not get angry when asked questions,
And who expounds the Dharma
According to the capacities of the questioners,
Will be able to obtain innumerable merits.

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.

You should think
“He will go to the place of enlightenment before long.
He will be free from āsravas and free from causality.
He will benefit all gods and men.”

Erect a stupa in the place
Where he expounded even a gāthā of this sūtra
While he was standing,
Walking, sitting or reclining!
Adorn the stupa beautifully,
And make various offerings to it!

He is my son.
I will accept his place as mine.
I will be there.
I will walk, sit or recline there.

See Living Rich Lives Filled with Hope

b4today, LS32, d22b

Living Rich Lives Filled with Hope

Man’s life is not limited to this world but continues eternally in each world to come. However, if we could foresee the repetition of the various occurrences of our daily lives in each and every world to come, we would be discouraged and would reject such a bleak prospect. Most people repeat the same suffering without any repentance in world after world because they cannot foresee this repetition. On the other hand, those who have been able to gain a true faith do not tire of and feel no objection to the journey of human life, however long it may be, because they know they can approach Perfect Enlightenment step by step. They can live rich lives filled with hope. This can be said to be the very greatest merit, which only believers in Buddhism can obtain.

Buddhism for Today, p264
Japanese Culture, d15b, d16b

Lessons from the Jeweled Stupa

Chapter 11, “Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa,” relates that the Stupa in which the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna (Abundant Treasures) sat rose into the sky and Śākyamuni moved from the earth to the precious Stupa in the sky, seating himself next to Prabhūtaratna. Almost simultaneously, buddhas who had emanated from Śākyamuni gathered from all directions, returning to Śākyamuni, and as they did so, all their worlds were united, becoming the world of the one Buddha. This has been interpreted to mean that the Tathāgata Prabhūtaratna was the past manifestation of Śākyamuni and that Sakyamuni’s taking his seat beside him symbolizes that Śākyamuni has been a buddha eternally. In other words, Śākyamuni is the eternal Buddha, and the return of the buddhas and the unification of their worlds in the world of the one Buddha are expressions of Śākyamuni as the “unifying Buddha.” Thus the “Apparition of the Jeweled Stupa” chapter has been interpreted as a preliminary statement of the theme of chapter 16, the eternal life of the Tathāgata. Both chapters, however, advocate bodhisattva practices and activities in this sahā world of the decay of the law, and expound entrusting the law to bodhisattvas. This being the case, the concepts of the precious Stupa rising up, the gathering of buddhas who are emanations of the eternal Buddha, and the united world of the one Buddha should be understood as expressions from the standpoint of advocacy of bodhisattva practices.

Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, {author-numb}