Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

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Having last month considered the Buddha’s past efforts to lead Śāriputra to unsurpassed enlightenment, we hear the prediction for Śāriputra’s future buddhahood.

“Śāriputra! After a countless, inconceivable number of kalpas from now, you will be able to make offerings to many thousands of billions of Buddhas, to keep their right teachings, to practice the Way which Bodhisattvas should practice, and to become a Buddha called Flower-Light, 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. The world of that Buddha will be called Free-From-Taint. That world will be even, pure, adorned, peaceful, and fertile, where gods and men will prosper. The ground of that world will be made of lapis lazuli; the roads will fan out from the center to the eight directions. Those roads will be marked off by ropes of gold, and the trees of the seven treasures on the roadsides will always bear flowers and fruit. Flower-Light Tathāgata will also lead the living beings [of his world] by the teaching of the Three Vehicles.

“Śāriputra! Although the world in which he appears will not be an evil one, that Buddha will expound the teaching of the Three Vehicles according to his original vow. The kalpa in which he appears will be called Great-Treasure-Adornment. Why will it be called Great-Treasure-Adornment? It is because in that world Bodhisattvas will be regarded as great treasures. The number of the Bodhisattvas [in that world] will be countless, inconceivable, beyond any mathematical calculation, beyond inference by any parable or simile. No one will know the number except the Buddha who has the power of wisdom. When those Bodhisattvas wish to go somewhere, jeweled flowers will receive their feet and carry them. Those Bodhisattvas will not have just begun to aspire for enlightenment. A long time before that they will have already planted the roots of virtue, performed the brahma practices under many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, received the praises of the Buddhas, studied the wisdom of the Buddhas, obtained great supernatural powers, and understood all the teachings of the Buddhas. They will be upright, honest, and resolute in mind. The world of that Buddha will be filled with such Bodhisattvas.

“Śāriputra! The duration of the life of Flower-Light Buddha will be twelve small kalpas excluding the period in which he was a prince and had not yet attained Buddhahood. The duration of the life of the people of his world will be eight small kalpas. At the end of his life of twelve small kalpas, Flower-Light Tathāgata will assure Resolution-Fulfillment Bodhisattva of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, saying to the bhikṣus, ‘This Resolution-Fulfillment Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Flower-Foot-Easy-Walking, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha. His world will be like mine.’

“Śāriputra! After the extinction of Flower-Light Buddha, his right teachings will be preserved for thirty-two small kalpas. After that the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved also for thirty-two small kalpas.”

The significance of this prediction for Nichiren is outlined in Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side:

In the Lotus Sūtra’s narrative, Śāriputra is the first śrāvaka to receive the Buddha’s prediction of his future buddhahood. “When Śāriputra heard this,” Nichiren wrote, “he not only cut off the illusions arising from primal ignorance and reached the stage of the true cause [for liberation] but was acclaimed as the [future] tathāgata Padmaprabha [Lotus Light]. … This was the beginning of the attainment of buddhahood by all beings of the ten realms.”

For Nichiren, … the Lotus Sūtra’s message that persons of the two lesser vehicles could attain buddhahood was not about extending this possibility to a group of previously excluded individuals but, rather, established the mutual inclusion of the ten realms as the ground that, for the first time, opened buddhahood as a real possibility to anyone.

Two Buddhas, p82
d21b, d5b, d9b, WONS

The Difficulty of the Lotus Sūtra

In the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha preaches about Himself, “I have been the Buddha since the eternal past, 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa (aeons).” We, ordinary beings, do not remember things in the past even things that occurred after our birth. How much more so can we remember things in the past life or two! How can we believe anything that took place as far away in the past as 500 million dust-particle kalpa ago?

The Buddha also spoke to His disciple Śāriputra predicting his future Buddhahood, “You will become a Buddha in the future after passing numerous and unimaginable number of kalpa (aeons). You will then be called the Flower Light Buddha.” Predicting the future of Mahā-Kāśyapa, the Buddha stated, “In a future life, you will become a Buddha named the Light Buddha during your last incarnation.”

These scriptural statements, however, are the predictions of the future, which does not seem possible for us ordinary people to put faith in. Therefore, this Lotus Sūtra is difficult for us, ordinary men and women, who have no knowledge of things in the past or in the future. Hence it does not make sense for us to practice the Lotus Sūtra. Yet it may be possible for some people to believe this Lotus Sūtra if there was someone at present who could present factual proofs to people in front of their very eyes.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 50

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.

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Having last month considered the Buddha’s initial decision to use expedients, we consider the Buddha’s decision to teach Bodhisattvas.

Śāriputra, know this!
Then I saw many sons of mine,
Thousands of billions in number,
Seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha.
They came to me respectfully.
They had already heard
Expedient teachings
From the past Buddhas.

I thought:
“I appeared in this world
In order to expound my wisdom.
Now is the time to do this.”

Śāriputra, know this!
Men of dull capacity and of little wisdom cannot believe the Dharma.
Those who are attached to the appearances of things are arrogant.
They cannot believe it, either.

I am now joyful and fearless.
I have laid aside all expedient teachings.
I will expound only unsurpassed enlightenment
To Bodhisattvas.

The Bodhisattvas who hear the Dharma
Will be able to remove the mesh of doubts.
The twelve hundred Arhats also
Will become Buddhas.

See Teaching Only Bodhisattvas

b4today, LS32, d4b

Teaching Only Bodhisattvas

The true meaning of the Buddha’s words, “The buddhas teach only bodhisattvas,” should be interpreted as follows: As long as you think that the fact that you have been able to obtain enlightenment for yourself alone is enough, you cannot attain real enlightenment. If you feel that you yourself have attained enlightenment though many other people have not, such a feeling is positive proof that you are keeping yourself aloof from others. Such a feeling is not a blending with others; it is, rather, isolation from them. You cannot enter the state of “Nothing has an ego” because your egoistic feeling still remains. Therefore, your enlightenment is not real. One can obtain enlightenment for one’s own self, and by the same token, all others can do the same. One can be saved from one’s own suffering, and at the same time, all others can be saved from theirs. Your salvation together with that of others is your real salvation. At the very time that you understand this, you can be said to have attained real enlightenment and to have been set free from the bonds of illusion and suffering in the world.

Buddhism for Today, p47
LS32, WONS

Day 3

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

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Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 2, Expedients, we return to the top and the World-Honored One emerging quietly from his samādhi.

Thereupon the World-Honored One emerged quietly from his samādhi, and said to Śāriputra:
“The wisdom of the [present] Buddhas is profound and immeasurable. The gate to it is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. [Their wisdom] cannot be understood by any Śrāvaka or Pratyekabuddha because the [present] Buddhas attended on many hundreds of thousands of billions of [past] Buddhas, and practiced the innumerable teachings of those Buddhas bravely and strenuously to their far-flung fame until they attained the profound Dharma which you have never heard before, [and became Buddhas,] and also because [since they became Buddhas] they have been expounding the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings in such various ways that the true purpose of their [various] teachings is difficult to understand.

“Śāriputra! Since I became a Buddha, I [also] have been expounding various teachings with various stories of previous lives, with various parables, and with various similes. I have been leading all living beings with innumerable expedients in order to save them from various attachments, because I have the power to employ expedients and the power to perform the pāramitā of insight.

“Śāriputra! The insight of the Tathāgatas is wide and deep. [The Tathāgatas] have all the [states of mind towards] innumerable [living beings,] unhindered [eloquence,] powers, fearlessness, dhyāna-concentrations, emancipations, and samādhis. They entered deep into boundlessness, and attained the Dharma which you have never heard before.

“Śāriputra! The Tathāgatas divide [the Dharma] into various teachings, and expound those teachings to all living beings so skillfully and with such gentle voices that living beings are delighted. Śāriputra! In short, the Buddhas attained the innumerable teachings which you have never heard before. No more, Śāriputra, will I say because the Dharma attained by the Buddhas is the highest Truth, rare [to hear] and difficult to understand. Only the Buddhas attained [the highest Truth, that is,] the reality of all things’ in regard to their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, their powers as such, their activities as such, their primary causes as such, their environmental causes as such, their effects as such, their rewards and retributions as such, and their equality as such [despite these differences].

Nichiren discusses how the dharma can be understood only between Buddhas and Buddhas alone in his letter “Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time”:

Pondering the Great Wisdom Discourse, we are reminded of the quotation in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “Expedients,” which reads: “Only between Buddhas and Buddhas alone can this be understood.” This quotation exists for the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) who, through pre-Lotus teachings, have overcome the delusions arising from incorrect views and thoughts, have undertaken extreme austerities, turning the body to ashes and annihilating consciousness, and are allowed to gain enlightenment by the grace of the Lotus Sūtra, which assures that the three ways of evil passions, karma, and suffering would immediately be transformed into the three merits of the Dharma Body, wisdom, and emancipation. Since what was believed to be beyond the reach of the Two Vehicles is attainable, it can be assumed that bodhisattvas and the untutored may also anticipate enlightenment. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra claims: “Granted that the condition in which someone of the Two Vehicles reaches a state of extreme mental and physical exhaustion where desires, which were called ‘poison,’ are thoroughly extinguished, then with the advent of enlightenment as guaranteed by the Lotus Sūtra such a poison would be transformed into medicine. This summarizes Nāgārjuna’s position. Nāgārjuna’s Great Wisdom Discourse further claims, ‘The Lotus Sūtra is indeed truly representative of an esoteric teaching; other teachings cannot be referred to as being so defined.’ ”

Shimon Butsujō-gi, Listening to the Once Buddha Vehicle Teachings for the First Time, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 249

d17b, d19b, d21b, d25b, d30b, d3b, d4b, WONS

Lotus Sūtra and Ten Realms

The second, “Expedients,” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra (fascicle 1) states that the purpose of the Buddhas appearing in the worlds was “to cause all living beings to open the gate to the insight of the Buddha.” This means that of the nine of the ten realms of living beings (excepting the realm of Buddhas), each embraces the realm of Buddhas. In the sixteenth chapter, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” the sūtra also declares: “As I said before, it is immeasurably long since I, Śākyamuni Buddha, obtained Buddhahood. My life spans an innumerably and incalculably long period of time. Nevertheless, I am always here and I shall never pass away. Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by practicing the way of bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It will last twice as long as the length of time as stated above.” This passage also shows that the nine realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.

The following passages in the Lotus Sūtra also show that the ten realms of living beings embrace one another. It is said in the twelfth chapter, “Devadatta,” that after an incalculably long period of time, Devadatta will be a Buddha called “Heavenly King.” This shows the realm of Buddhas included in the realms of hells as it says that even a man as wicked as Devadatta, who had tried to kill the Buddha and had gone to hell, will be able to become a Buddha.

In the twenty-sixth chapter on the “Mystic Phrases,” the Buddha praises the ten female rākṣasa demons such as Lambā saying, “Your merits will be immeasurable even when you protect the person who keeps only the name of the Lotus Sūtra.” Since even these rākṣasa demons in the realm of hungry spirits protect the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, the ten realms, from hells up to the realm of Buddhas, are comprised in the realm of hungry spirits.

The “Devadatta” chapter states also that a daughter of a dragon king attained perfect enlightenment, proving the existence of the ten realms in the realm of beasts.

The tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” says that even a semi-god like Asura King Balin (a king of asura demons mentioned in the first “Introduction” chapter) will obtain Buddhahood if he rejoices for a moment at hearing a verse or a phrase of the Lotus Sūtra. This shows that the ten realms are contained in the realm of asura demons.

It is stated in the second “Expedients” chapter: “Those who carve an image of the Buddha with proper physical characteristics in His honor have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,” showing that the realm of man includes the ten realms in it.

Then in the first “Introduction” and the third “A Parable” chapters, various gods such as the great King of the Brahma Heaven declare, “we also shall be able to become Buddhas,” proving that the ten realms are contained in the realm of gods. In the third chapter, the Buddha assures Śāripūtra, the wisest of His śrāvaka disciples, that he will also attain Buddhahood in future life and will be called “Kekō (Flower Light) Buddha.” This confirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of śrāvaka.

The second chapter states that those monks and nuns who sought emancipation through the way of pratyekabuddha (without guidance of teachers by observing the principle of cause and effect) pressed their hands together in respect, wishing to hear the Perfect Way. This affirms the existence of the ten realms in the realm of pratyekabuddha.

It is written in the twenty-first chapter, “Divine Powers of the Buddha,” that bodhisattvas as numerous as particles of dust of 1,000 worlds, who had sprung up from underground, beseeched the Buddha for this true, pure, and great dharma, namely the Lotus Sūtra. This verifies the existence of the ten realms in the realm of bodhisattvas.

Finally, in the sixteenth chapter, the Buddha sometimes appears as a Buddha in the realm of Buddhas but at other times appears as some of the others who reside in the other nine realms. This indicates that the ten realms are included in the realm of Buddhas.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 132-133

LS32

Day 2

Chapter 1, Introductory (Conclusion).

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Having last month met a Bodhisattva called Wonderful-Light and heard the Lotus Sūtra, we learn what happened after the extinction of Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha.

“At that time there was a Bodhisattva called Virtue-Store. Sun-­Moon-Light Buddha assured him of his future Buddhahood. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus, ‘This Virtue-Store Bodhisattva will become a Buddha immediately after me. He will be called Pure-Body, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Samyak-sambuddha.’

“Having assured him of his future Buddhahood, the Buddha then entered into the Nirvāṇa-without-remainder at midnight. After his extinction, Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva kept the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and expounded it to men for eighty small kalpas. The eight sons of Sun-Moon-Light Buddha became his disciples. He taught them and caused them to resolve to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They made offerings to many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas, and then attained the enlightenment of the Buddha [one after another]. The son who became a Buddha last was called Burning-Light. One of the eight hundred disciples [of Wonderful-Light] was called Fame­Seeking. He was attached to gain. He read and recited many sūtras, but did not understand them. He forgot many parts of those sūtras. Therefore, he was called Fame-Seeking. But he [later] planted the roots of good, and became able to see many hundreds of thousands of billions of Buddhas. He made offerings to them, respected them, honored them, and praised them.

“Maitreya, know this! Wonderful-Light Bodhisattva at that time was no one but myself; and Fame-Seeking Bodhisattva, no one but you. This good omen we see now is not different from what I saw at that time. Therefore, l think that the Tathagata of today also will expound the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

See The Immeasurable Value of the Buddha’s Mental Powers

b4today, LS32, d2b

The Immeasurable Value of the Buddha’s Mental Powers

What is most impressive in this chapter is the immeasurable value of the Buddha’s mental powers. Vividly expressed in the story of the last Buddha Sun Moon Light is the fact that Sakyamuni Buddha, who knew that the time of his entering nirvana was approaching, was determined to leave the most important experience of his enlightenment to posterity. However, we know that at that time his body had grown very weak from illness and old age. In spite of this fact, he began to preach the vast and profound Law of the Lotus Sutra, the strongest, most positive, and most affirmative teaching of his life. We must bow down before the greatness of his mental power and the depth of his enlightenment. And we must not forget that his mental power came from his great compassion for the yet unborn people of later times.

Buddhism for Today, p40
LS32

Day 1

Day 1 covers the first half of Chapter 1, Introductory

Day 1 Text with annotationsPlay MP3
Having last month considered the final practices of those Bodhisattvas that Maitreya sees, we conclude today’s portion of Chapter 1, Introductory.

The supernatural powers of the Buddha
And his wisdom are rare.
He is illumining innumerable worlds
By emitting a pure ray of light.
We were astonished
At seeing [those worlds].

Mañjuśrī, Son of the Buddha!
Remove our doubts!
The four kinds of devotees
Are looking up with joy at you and me,
Wishing to know why this ray of light is emitted
By the World-Honored One.

Son of the Buddha, answer me!
Remove our doubts and cause us to rejoice!
For what purpose is the Buddha
Emitting this ray of light?

Does he wish to expound the Wonderful Dharma
Which he attained when he was sitting
At the place of enlightenment?
Does he wish to assure us of our future Buddhahood?

He shows us the worlds of the Buddhas
Adorned with many treasures.
We can see the Buddhas of those worlds.
This cannot be for some insignificant reason.

Mañjuśrī, know this!
The four kinds of devotees and the dragons
Are looking at you, thinking:
“What is he going to say?”

See A Person of Perfect Generosity

b4today, LS32, d1b

A Person of Perfect Generosity

If I were asked to explain with a single phrase the character of Sakyamuni Buddha as a man, I would answer without hesitation, “A person of perfect generosity.” Therefore, I think that there is no action that makes Sakyamuni Buddha more sorrowful than when we become angry about something and reproach others or when we blame others for our own wrongs. Above all else, we should refrain from such actions toward each other. Perseverance is, in short, generosity. As we persevere in the practice of the bodhisattvas, we cease to become angry or reproachful toward others, or toward anything in the universe. We are apt to complain about the weather when it rains and to grumble about the dust when we have a spell of fine weather. However, when through perseverance we attain a calm and untroubled mind, we become thankful for both the rain and the sun. Then our minds become free from changes in our circumstances.

When we advance further, we come not only to have no feeling of anger and hatred toward those who hurt, insult, or betray us but even to wish actively to help them. On the other hand, we should not be swayed by flattery or praise of the good we may do but should quietly reflect on our conduct. We should not feel superior to others but should maintain a modest attitude when everything goes smoothly.

Buddhism for Today, p36-37