Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Day 5 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month heard the prediction for Śāriputra’s future buddhahood, we repeat Śāriputra’s prediction in gāthās.

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

Śāriputra! In your future life you will become
A Buddha, an Honorable One of Universal Wisdom,
Called Flower-Light,
And save innumerable living beings.

You will make offerings to innumerable Buddhas.
You will perform the Bodhisattva practices.
You will obtain the ten powers and the other merits,
And attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

The kalpa [of that Buddha] will come
after innumerable kalpas from now.
It will be called Great-Treasure-Adornment.
The world [of that Buddha] will be called Free-From-Taint.
It will be pure and undefiled.
Its ground will be made of lapis lazuli.
Its roads will be marked off by ropes of gold.
Its trees of the various colors of the seven treasures
Will always bear flowers and fruit.

The Bodhisattvas of that world
Will always be resolute in mind.
They will have already obtained
The supernatural powers and the paramitas.
They will have already studied the Way of Bodhisattvas
Under innumerable Buddhas.
Those great people will be taught
By the Flower-Light Buddha.

That Buddha will appear in his world at first as a prince.
The prince will give up his princeship and worldly fame.
He will renounce the world at the end of his life as a layman,
And attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The duration of the life of Flower-Light Buddha
Will be twelve small kalpas.
The duration of the life of the people of his world
Will be eight small kalpas.

After the extinction of that Buddha,
His right teachings will be preserved
For thirty-two small kalpas.
All living beings will be saved [by his right teachings].

After the end of the period of his right teachings,
The counterfeit of them will last for thirty-two [small kalpas].
His śarīras will be distributed far and wide.
Gods and men will make offerings to them.

These will be the deeds
Of Flower-Light Buddha.
That Honorable Biped will be
The most excellent one without a parallel.
You will be he.
Rejoice!

See An Ultimately Real World

LS32, d1b, d2b, stories

An Ultimately Real World

The stories in the Dharma Flower Sutra, or at least many of them, are so fantastic, so imaginative, so unlike anything we have experienced, that they cannot possibly be taken for history or descriptions of factual matters, or stories about actual historical events. The reader of the Dharma Flower Sutra knows from the very first chapter that he or she has entered an imaginary world quite different from what we ordinarily perceive. And if the stories are successful, the reader will come to understand that he or she is empowered to perform miracles by them.

That this setting is in the actual world, on earth, is very important for the Lotus Sutra. In it there is explicit rejection of forms of idealism – exemplified for instance by Platonism – in which actual things are only poor reflections of some other, ideal reality. In Buddhism, idealism sometimes takes the form of a “two-truth theory” according to which there is a conventional world of appearance or phenomena and an absolute world of reality or truth. For the Dharma Flower Sutra, however, this world, the world of things, is an ultimately real world. This is the world in which Shakyamuni Buddha lives, both historically and in the present. This is the world in which countless bodhisattvas emerge from below to indicate the importance of bodhisattvas of this world taking care of this world. This is the world to which buddhas and bodhisattvas from all over the universe come to witness the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. This is the world in which all human beings are offered a special opportunity to be bodhisattvas and practice the Buddha Way, the way by which we too can be buddhas, buddhas right here on earth in the midst of the world’s suffering, including our own.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p12-13
d19b, WONS

The Responsibility of Spreading Lotus Sūtra in Latter Age of Degeneration

QUESTION: Do you have proof to show that the bodhisattvas who have emerged from the earth are the leading teachers to save the people in this Sahā World in the Latter Age of Degeneration?

ANSWER: It is preached in the 15th chapter on “The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground” in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, “Then the Buddha said to the bodhisattvas more than eight times the number of the sand of the Ganges River, who had come from the other worlds, ‘No, good men! I do not want you to uphold this sūtra after My extinction.’ ” Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets this in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “As the bodhisattvas from the other worlds do not have close connections with this Sahā World, they will never have much success in propagating this sūtra.” Grand Master Miao-lê states in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Even bodhisattvas from other worlds were not entrusted with the task. How can we say that it was not entrusted to Śāriputra, a śrāvaka, alone.” Grand Master T’ien-t’ai [sic] also states in the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Stopping the 80,000 great bodhisattvas that came from other worlds was for the purpose of later calling out the original disciples from underground. Clearly the task of spreading this sūtra was considered too heavy for other bodhisattvas to shoulder.”

The meaning of these citations from sūtras and commentaries on them is that all men of the śrāvaka such as Kāśyapa and Śāriputra; such bodhisattvas of theoretical teaching as Mañjuśrī, Medicine King, Avalokiteśvara and Maitreya (disciples of Buddhas in manifestation); and great bodhisattvas who had come from other worlds were all unable to bear the responsibility of spreading the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 161-162.

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 Buddha’s decision to teach Bodhisattvas, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 2, Expedients.

All the Buddhas in the past, present, and future
Expounded, are expounding, and will expound
In the same manner the Dharma beyond comprehension.
I also will expound it in the same manner.

The Buddhas seldom appear in the worlds.
It is difficult to meet them.
Even when they do appear in the worlds,
They seldom expound the Dharma.

It is difficult to hear the Dharma
Even during innumerable kalpas.
It is also difficult to meet a person
Who listens to the Dharma attentively.
It is as difficult as seeing an udumbara-flower.
This flower, loved by all living beings,
And treasured by gods and men,
Blooms only once in a long time.

Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.

[The Buddha said to the great multitude:]

All of you, do not doubt me!
I am the King of the Dharma.
I say to you:
“I will expound the teaching of the One Vehicle
Only to Bodhisattvas.
There is no Śrāvaka among my disciples.”

Śāriputra, other Śrāvakas, and Bodhisattvas!
Know this!
This Wonderful Dharma is
The hidden core of the Buddhas.

The living beings
In the evil world of the five defilements
Are attached to many desires.
They do not seek the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Evil people in the future will doubt the One Vehicle
When they hear it from a Buddha.
They will not believe or receive it.
They will violate the Dharma, and fall into the evil regions.

Extol the teaching of the One Vehicle
In the presence of those who are modest,
Who are pure in heart,
And who are seeking enlightenment of the Buddha!

Śāriputra [and others], know this!
As a rule, the Buddhas expound the Dharma
With billions of expedients as stated above,
According to the capacities of all living beings.

Those who do not study the Dharma
Cannot understand it.
You have already realized
The fact that the Buddhas, the World-Teachers, employ expedients,
According to the capacities of all living beings.
Know that, when you remove your doubts,
And when you have great joy,
You will become Buddhas!

[Here ends] the First Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Daily Dharma from May 15, 2020, offers this:

Anyone who rejoices at hearing the Dharma
And utters even a single word in praise of it
Should be considered to have already made offerings
To the past, present, and future Buddhas.
Such a person is rarely seen,
More rarely than the udumbara-flower.

The Buddha sings these verses to his disciple Śāriputra and all those gathered to hear him teach in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. It is natural to admire and respect those who make great sacrifices for the sake of improving the world, and who lead us to know what deserves those offerings. It is sometimes difficult to see the joy that comes from those efforts. In these verses the Buddha reminds us that even when our reaction to his Dharma is just a smile, or saying “Wonderful,” our admiration is a reminder of our own capacity for such great efforts.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 3

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

Day 3 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month witnessed the World-Honored One emerging quietly from his samādhi an explaining to Śāriputra his use of expedients, we learn of the inexplicable nature of the dharma in gāthās.

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

The [ wisdom of the] World-Heroes is immeasurable.
None of the living beings in the world,
Including gods and men,
Knows the [ wisdom of the] Buddhas.

No one can measure the powers, fearlessness,
Emancipations, samādhis,
And other properties of the [present] Buddhas,
Because they, in their previous existence,
Followed innumerable Buddhas
And practiced the teachings of those Buddhas.

The profound and wonderful Dharma
Is difficult to see and difficult to understand.
I practiced the teachings of the [past] Buddhas
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And became a Buddha at the place of enlightenment.
I have already attained the Dharma.

I know the various effects, rewards and retributions,
Natures and appearances of all things:
The Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters
Also know all this.

The Dharma cannot be shown.
It is inexplicable by words.
No one can understand it
Except the Buddhas
And the Bodhisattvas
Who are strong in the power of faith.

Here’s my vow to become strong in the power of faith.

See You can too

LS32, d5b, stories

You Can Too

All of these stories [of the Lotus Sutra] essentially say to the hearer or reader, “you too.”

If shravakas and evil monks and little girls can become buddhas, so can you. And the teaching that buddha-nature is universal, a teaching not explicitly presented but strongly implied in the Lotus Sutra, does the same thing. It basically says that there are no exceptions to having buddha-nature; therefore you cannot make an exception of yourself.

That, I think, is the core purpose of the Lotus Sutra, not merely the abstract notion of universal awakening, but the always-present possibility and power of awakening, which is a kind of flowering, in each one of us.

The Buddha says to Shariputra in Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra, “Did I not tell you before that when the buddhas, the world-honored ones, by using causal explanations, parables, and other kinds of expression, teach the Dharma by skillful means, it is all for the purpose of supreme awakening? All these teachings are for the purpose of transforming people into bodhisattvas.” (LS 112)

These stories, then, are instruments, skillful means, to help us see and embrace what we might not otherwise see or appreciate – the potential and power in each of us to take up the way of the bodhisattva, which is to become supremely awakened, which is to become a buddha.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p4-5
LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

Day 2 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month learned what happened after the extinction of Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha, we repeat in gāthās Mañjuśrī’s recollection of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha.

Thereupon Mañjuśrī, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās in the midst of the great multitude:

According to my memory,
innumerable, countless kalpas ago,
There lived a Buddha, a Man of the Highest Honor,
Called Sun-Moon-Light.

That World-Honored One expounded the Dharma,
And caused innumerable living beings
And many hundreds of millions of Bodhisattvas
To enter the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha.

Seeing the Great Saint
Who had renounced the world,
The eight sons born to him when he was a king
Followed him, and performed brahma practices.

The Buddha expounded
To the great multitude
A sūtra of the Great Vehicle
Called the ‘Innumerable Teachings.’

Having expounded this sūtra, the Buddha sat cross-legged
On the seat of the Dharma [facing the east],
And entered into the samādhi
For the purport of the innumerable teachings.

The gods rained mandarava-flowers.
Heavenly drums sounded by themselves.
The gods, dragons, and other supernatural beings
Made offerings to the Man of the Highest Honor.

See Buddha of All Worlds and the Sutra of All Time

LS32, d2b, stories

Buddha of All Worlds and the Sutra of All Time

Manjushri Bodhisattva’s story about Sun and Moon Light Buddha indicates not only that the Buddha is the Buddha of all worlds, but also that the Dharma Flower Sutra itself is not something devised a few centuries ago. It too is in all time, at least in the sense that it teaches timeless truths. Thus the books we have called “The Lotus Sutra” and the like, whether in Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, French, or English, are at best representations or exhibits of the Sutra itself. Such pages of text, on wood or palm leaf or paper, are embodiments of the Sutra. This does not mean, however, that the Lotus Sutra itself is in any way more real than the concrete embodiments. Rather, it is only in such concrete embodiments – not only in printed texts, but also in recitation, in teaching, and in practicing it – that the Sutra lives.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p42
d17b, WONS

The Virtue of the Character ‘Myō’

Women, who were thus despised in various sūtras, were able to attain Buddhahood as soon as Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī expounded the character “myō.” This was so mysterious that Bodhisattva Accumulated Wisdom, the first disciple of the Buddha of Many Treasures in the Treasure Purity World, and Venerable Śāriputra, the wisest disciple of Śākyamuni Buddha, argued against the daughter of a Dragon King to be made a Buddha in the spirit of the various Hinayāna and Mahāyāna sūtras expounded by the Buddha during the 40 years or so of His preaching. Their efforts were in vain, and the daughter of a Dragon King ultimately became a Buddha. The statement in the Flower Garland Sūtra, “Women extirpated the seeds of Buddhahood” and that of the Nirvana Sūtra, “As all rivers are twisted, so are women’s mind” were both invalidated. Both opinions of the Sūtra of the Silver Colored Woman and that the Great Wisdom Discourse by Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna about women proved untrue. Bodhisattva Accumulated Wisdom and Śāriputra were so amazed to see the dragon daughter become a Buddha that they both were at a loss for words. A great crowd of gods and men who witnessed this realized that women and wicked people could attain Buddhahood, and delightedly put their palms together to worship the Buddha. This is entirely due to the virtue of the character “myō.”

There are 2,500 rivers in this world called Jambudvīpa: each river is as twisted as the minds of women, except the Shabaya River, which runs straight into the ocean in the west like a drawn rope. Like this river, the woman who believes in the Lotus Sūtra can go straight into the Pure Land to the West, thanks to the virtue of the character “myō.”

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 45-46

LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory, we begin at the beginning with the Buddha on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House and the vast audience of great bhikṣus and bodhisattvas.

Thus have I heard. The Buddha once lived on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa in the City of King-House. He was accompanied by twelve thousand great bhikṣus. They were Arhats. They had already eliminated āsravas, and had no illusions. They had already benefited themselves, broken off the bonds of existence [in the world of birth and death], and obtained liberty in their minds. They included 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, and Rahula. They were great Arhats well known to the multitude.

There were also two thousand [Śrāvakas], some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī was present with her six thousand attendants. Yasodhara Bhikṣunī, the mother of Rahula, was also present with her attendants.

There were also eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. They never faltered in [seeking] Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They had already obtained dharanis, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma with eloquence according to the wishes [of all living beings], made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and planted the roots of virtue under those Buddhas, by whom they had always been praised. They had already trained themselves out of their compassion towards others, entered the Way to the wisdom of the Buddha, obtained great wisdom, and reached the Other Shore so that their fame had already extended over innumerable worlds. They had already saved many hundreds of thousands of living beings. They included Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva, Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva, Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva, Never-Resting Bodhisattva, Treasure-Palm Bodhisattva, Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva, Treasure-Moon Bodhisattva, Moon-Light Bodhisattva, Full-Moon Bodhisattva, Great-Power Bodhisattva, Immeasurable-Power Bodhisattva, Transcending-Triple-World Bodhisattva, Bhadrapala Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Accumulated-Treasure Bodhisattva, and Leading-Teacher Bodhisattva. Eighty thousand Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas such as these were present.

See The Lotus Sutra’s World of Enchantment