The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p171The reason for the chapter title, “Encouragement to Uphold the Sutra,” may be obscure, as it is not so much that the bodhisattvas or nuns are encouraged as that they themselves promise or make a vow to endure and persist in teaching the Sutra despite rejection and persecution.
This concern and promise follow from the request of the Buddha at the end of Chapter 11, where Shakyamuni Buddha asks that anyone who can embrace, read, and recite the Sutra come before him now and make such a vow.
Now, here in Chapter 13, bodhisattvas respond: “We will cherish neither our bodies nor our lives but care only for the unexcelled way. In ages to come, we will protect and uphold what the Buddha has entrusted to us.” And they promise that they will go to preach the Dharma to anyone who seeks it. “We are emissaries of the WorldHonored One,” they declare, and say that they will teach the Dharma well, facing multitudes without fear. (LS 259—60)
Words such as these were very important to Nichiren and to many of his followers over the centuries who suffered abuse and persecution as a consequence of being ardent, sometimes fanatical, devotees of the Lotus Sutra.
Category Archives: LS32
Day 17
Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.
Having last month started Chapter 12, Devadatta, with the king who sought the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for innumerable kalpas without indolence, we repeat in gāthās the king’s search and the teacher he finds.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
I remember that I became a king in a kalpa of the past.
Although I was a king,
I did not indulge in the pleasures of the five desires
Because I was seeking the Great Dharma.I tolled a bell, and said loudly in all directions;
“Who knows the Great Dharma?
If anyone expounds the Dharma to me,
I will become his servant.”There was a seer called Asita.
He came to [me, who was] the great king, and said:
“I know the Wonderful Dharma.
It is rare in the world.
If you serve me well,
I will expound the Dharma to you.”Hearing this, I had great joy.
I became his servant at once.
I offered him
Anything he wanted.I collected firewood and the fruits of trees and grasses,
And offered these things to him respectfully from time to time.
I never felt tired in body and mind
Because I was thinking of the Wonderful Dharma.I sought the Great Dharma strenuously
Because I wished to save all living beings.
I did not wish to benefit myself
Or to have the pleasures of the five desires.Although I was the king of a great country,
I sought the Dharma strenuously.
I finally obtained the Dharma and became a Buddha.
Therefore, I now expound it to you.
Seeing the Buddha in All Those We Encounter
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p151Basic to the teachings of this Sutra is a kind of promise, an assurance, that each and every living being has the potential to become a buddha. This tells us something about ourselves, of course, but here the light is shining in the other direction, encouraging us to see the buddha in others—regardless of their moral or other qualities.
In an important sense, this story [about Devadatta] is not so much about Devadatta as it is about Shakyamuni Buddha. It does not teach us that Devadatta was able to become a buddha because his inner intentions were really good, or because he changed his ways and became a good man, or because of anything else he did or did not do. What this story teaches is that the Buddha is one who can see the buddha in others. And that is what we are encouraged by this story to do – to look for and see the buddha in all those we encounter.
‘Having Taken Poison’
“The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter says: “Having taken poison, some had lost their senses while others had not. … Seeing this excellent medicine with color and scent both good, those who had not lost their senses took it and recovered from their illness.” This refers to those who received the seed of Buddhahood in the eternal past as preached in “The Life Span of the Buddha,” those who had the opportunity to establish a connection with Buddhist dharma at the time of Great Universal Wisdom Buddha as revealed in the seventh chapter on “The Parable of a Magic City”, and all those bodhisattvas, Two Vehicles (śrāvakas and pratyekabuddha), men and gods who received the teaching of the Buddha in the pre-Lotus sūtras as well as the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra attain Buddhahood in the preaching of the essential section. It is said in the same chapter:
“The remainder who had lost their senses were happy to see their father come back and requested him to cure their illness, but they refused to take the medicine their father offered them. Why did they not take it? It was because they had been affected by poison, causing them to lose their senses and think this excellent medicine, in both color and scent, not good at all. … ‘Now I have to devise an expedient means so that they may take this medicine,’ thought the father. ‘Now I will leave this excellent medicine here with you. You should take it without worrying about its effectiveness,’ instructed the father to his children and he again went abroad. Then he sent a messenger back to his children, telling them that their father had passed away.”
The seventeenth chapter, “Variety of the Merits,” in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra states, “In the evil age of the latter dharma…,” indicating that the teaching was for the Latter Age of Degeneration.
Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 156
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.
Having last month witnessed Śākyamuni sharing seat with Many Treasures and raising the congregation into the air, we repeat in gāthās the story of the Saintly Master, the World-Honored One, Who had passed away a long time ago.Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
The Saintly Master, the World-Honored One,
Who had passed away a long time ago,
Came riding in the stūpa of treasures
To hear the Dharma [directly from me].
Could anyone who sees him
Not make efforts to hear the Dharma?It is innumerable kalpas
Since he passed away.
He wished to hear the Dharma at any place
Because the Dharma is difficult to meet.His original vow was this:
“After I pass away,
I will go to any place
To hear the Dharma.”The Buddhas of my replicas
As innumerable
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Also came here
From their wonderful worlds,
Parting from their disciples,
And giving up the offerings made to them
By gods, men and dragons,
ln order to hear the Dharma,
See Many-Treasures Tathāgata,
Who passed away [a long time ago],
And have the Dharma preserved forever.I removed innumerable living beings from many worlds,
And purified those worlds
By my supernatural powers
In order to seat those Buddhas.Those Buddhas came under the jeweled trees.
The trees are adorned with those Buddhas
Just as a pond of pure water is adorned
With lotus flowers.There are lion-like seats
Under the jeweled trees.
Those Buddhas sat on the seats.
The worlds are adorned
With the light of those Buddhas as bright
As a great torch in the darkness of night.Wonderful fragrance is sent forth
From the bodies of those Buddhas
To the worlds of the ten quarters.
The living beings of those worlds
Smell the fragrance joyfully,
Just as the branches of a tree bend before a strong wind.
Those Buddhas employ these expedients
In order to have the Dharma preserved forever.
The Reality and Togetherness of Being Both One and Many
The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p141-142We are to understand that the number of Buddhas throughout the universe is incredibly large, and that all of them are, in some sense, subordinate to Shakyamuni Buddha. Thus, Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as being the Buddha of this world, in which suffering has to be endured and can be, is also a universal buddha – a buddha who is somehow present everywhere in time and space.
The exact meaning of the Chinese term used for these many buddhas is not very clear. They can be said to be “representatives,” or perhaps “duplicates” or “replicas” of Shakyamuni, but I think that they can best be understood as embodiments of Shakyamuni. Certainly, they are not, as some would have it, mere “emanations.” The complex point is that they are both independently real apart from Shakyamuni Buddha and in some sense subordinate to him. Put abstractly, we have here one of several images in the Dharma Flower Sutra in which the reality and togetherness of being both one and many is affirmed: here are both the one central reality of Shakyamuni, somehow represented throughout vast reaches of space, and the reality of many buddhas, each with their own lands and their own attendant bodhisattvas. Nowhere in the Sutra is it suggested that these buddhas and their lands are in anyway unreal. Other worlds are less important – to us in our daily lives – than is our own world, but that does not mean that they are any less real than our world.
Day 15
Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, we witness the arrival of the Stupa of Treasures.Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha. The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep. lt was adorned with various treasures. It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers. It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down. The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world. Many canopies, adorned with streamers, and made of the seven treasures-gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby were hanging in the sky [one upon another from the top of the stupa] up to the [heaven of the] palaces of the four heavenly-kings. The thirty-three gods offered a rain of heavenly mandārava-flowers to the stupa of treasures. Thousands of billions of living beings, including the other gods, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings, also offered flowers, incense, necklaces, streamers, canopies and music to the stupa of treasures, venerated the stupa, honored it, and praised it.
Thereupon a loud voice of praise was heard from within the stupa of treasures:
“Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas. So it is, so it is. What you, Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, have expounded is all true.”
Thereupon the four kinds of devotees [in the congregation], having seen the great stupa of treasures hanging in the sky, and having heard the voice from within the stupa, had delight in the Dharma, but wondered why these unprecedented things had happened. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together [towards the stupa] respectfully, retired, and stood to one side.
Thereupon a Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas called Great-Eloquence, having noticed that the gods, men and asuras of the world had doubts, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Why did this stupa of treasures spring up from underground? Why was that voice heard from within [the stupa]?”
Springing From Within Ourselves
Buddhism for Today, p148The description of the Stupa springing from the earth has a very deep meaning. The earth symbolizes our bodies and minds as ordinary people. It also means this sahā-world, which consists of ordinary people. The enlightenment and salvation of the buddhas do not drop out of the clouds but spring from within ourselves. Enlightenment and salvation that spring from within ourselves are truly valuable and powerful, as the Buddha teaches us clearly here. His teaching is realistic and positive.
Attainment of Buddhahood by Women
[I]gnorant people today should believe in Śākyamuni Buddha as the Most Venerable One (honzon), and they will automatically be able to avoid being unfilial to the Buddha. If they, moreover, believe in the Lotus Sūtra, they will also be able to avoid unknowingly committing the sin of slandering the True Dharma. Besides, as it is said that women have the five hindrances and the three to obey (parents, husband, and children), women are disliked in the world and abandoned in the holy scriptures of the Buddha’s lifetime teachings. Only in the Lotus Sūtra does a female dragon attain Buddhahood and many nuns were guaranteed to be future Buddhas. If all the women in the world should abandon this sūtra, which other sūtra should they then embrace?
Zemmui-shō, Treatise on Śubhākarasiṃha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 54-55
Day 14
Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, we return to Chapter Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn and the prediction for Ānanda.Thereupon Ānanda and Rāhula thought, ‘We are always thinking: How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood!’ They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, worshipped his feet with their heads, and said to him:
“World-Honored One! We think that we also are qualified to be assured [of our future Buddhahood]. Only you, the Tathāgata, are our refuge. We are known to all gods, men and asuras of the world. Ānanda always protects the store of the Dharma as your attendant. Rāhula is your son. If you assure us of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, the wishes not only of us but also of others will be fulfilled.”Thereupon the two thousand disciples [composed of the two kinds of Śrāvakas]: the Śrāvakas who had something more to learn and the Śrāvakas who had nothing more to learn, also rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together with all their hearts, looked up at the WorldHonored One, begged him just as Ānanda and Rāhula did, and stood to one side of the place.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Ānanda:
“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, 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. You will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.
“Ānanda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddhas or Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathāgatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.”
Thereupon Ānanda and Rāhula thought, ‘We are always thinking: How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood!’ They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, worshipped his feet with their heads, and said to him:
“World-Honored One! We think that we also are qualified to be assured [of our future Buddhahood]. Only you, the Tathāgata, are our refuge. We are known to all gods, men and asuras of the world. Ānanda always protects the store of the Dharma as your attendant. Rāhula is your son. If you assure us of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, the wishes not only of us but also of others will be fulfilled.”Thereupon the two thousand disciples [composed of the two kinds of Śrāvakas]: the Śrāvakas who had something more to learn and the Śrāvakas who had nothing more to learn, also rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together with all their hearts, looked up at the WorldHonored One, begged him just as Ānanda and Rāhula did, and stood to one side of the place.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Ānanda:
“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, 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. You will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.
“Ānanda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddhas or Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathāgatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Now I announce to the Saṃgha:
Ānanda, the keeper of the Dharma,
Will make offerings to Buddhas,
And then attain perfect enlightenment.He will be called
Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King.
His world will be pure, and called
Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory.He will teach as many Bodhisattvas
As there are sands in the River Ganges.
He will be exceedingly powerful and virtuous.
His fame will extend over the worlds of the ten quarters.The duration of his life will be immeasurable
Because he has compassion towards all living beings.
His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life;
The counterfeit of them, for twice as long as his right teachings.Under him, as many living beings
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Will obtain the seeds
Of the enlightenment of the Buddha.