Buddhism for Today, p100-101When the Tathāgata Universal Surpassing Wisdom [Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata] received the entreaty of the Brahma heavenly kings of the ten regions and of his sixteen royal sons, he taught them the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths through the three ways of preaching.
The three ways of preaching are “show-rolling,” or ji-ten (to show the Four Noble Truths) ; “exhortation-rolling,” or kan-ten (to exhort to the practice of the Four Noble Truths), and “proof-rolling,” or shō-ten (to witness or prove that the Buddha has accomplished the Four Noble Truths). Because the tathāgata preached the Four Noble Truths in these three ways, the sutra says, “the Tathāgata Universal Surpassing Wisdom at once thrice rolled the Law-wheel of the twelve divisions.” Then he expounded in detail the Law of the Twelve Causes (jūni-innen), one of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha.
Category Archives: LS32
Like a Boat for a Traveler
Two Buddhas, p229-230The “Bhaiṣajyarāja” [Medicine King] chapter … offers ten analogies illustrating the supreme status of the Lotus Sūtra among all the Buddha’s teachings. It surpasses them just as the ocean is greater than all streams, rivers, and other bodies of water; as Mount Sumeru towers over all other mountains; and so forth. Then follow ten vivid similes illustrating the powers and blessings of the sūtra. Nichiren was deeply struck by these passages and often cited or elaborated on them to stress the merits of upholding the Lotus. Here, for example, in a personal letter to a follower called Shiiji Shirō, he expands on the statement that the Lotus Sūtra is “like a boat for a traveler.” This boat, he says, might be described as follows. Note how he weaves together Buddhist technical terms and phrases from different portions of the Lotus Sūtra:
The Lord Buddha, a shipbuilder of infinitely profound wisdom, gathered the lumber of the four flavors and eight teachings, planed it by “openly setting aside skillful means,” cut and assembled the planks, using both right and wrong in their nonduality, and completed the craft by driving home the spikes of the single truth that is like the supreme flavor of ghee. Then he launched it upon the sea of birth and death. Unfurling its sails of the three thousand realms on the mast of the single truth of the middle way, driven by the fair wind that is the “real aspect of the dharmas,” the vessel surges ahead, carrying aboard all sentient beings, who can “understand through faith.” The tathāgatha Śākyamuni takes the helm, the tathāgatha Prabhūtaratna mans the sails, and the four bodhisattvas led by Viśiṣṭacāritra strain in unison at the creaking oars. This is the vessel in “a boat for the traveler.” Those who can board it are the disciples and lay followers of Nichiren.
Day 11
Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City
Having last month considered the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the south, we consider the reaction of the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the zenith.
The great Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the zenith, who saw their palaces illumined more brightly than ever, also danced with joy. They wondered why [their palaces were so illumined]. They visited each other and discussed the reason, saying, ‘Why are our palaces illumined so brightly?’ There was a great Brahmanheavenly-king called Sikhin among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:
Our palaces are adorned
More brightly than ever.
Why are they illumined
By this powerful light?We have never seen nor heard
Of such a wonderful thing as this before.
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha appear
Somewhere in the universe?“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [worlds] went down, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that Great-UniversalWisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi-tree of the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and non-human beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. They worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-kings offered flowers also to the Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:
How good it is to see a Buddha,
To see the Honorable Saint who saves the world!
He saves all living beings
From the prison of the triple world.The All-Knower, the Most Honorable One of Gods and Men,
Opens the gate of the teachings as sweet as nectar,
And saves all living beings
Out of his compassion towards them.There has been no Buddha
For the past innumerable kalpas.
Before you appeared,
The worlds of the ten quarters were dark.The living beings in the three evil regions
And asuras are increasing.
The living beings in heaven are decreasing.
Many fall into the evil regions after their death.They do not hear the Dharma from a Buddha
Because they did evils,
Their appearances are getting worse;
And their power and wisdom, decreasing.
Because they did sinful karmas,
They lose pleasures and the memory of pleasures.
They are attached to wrong views.
They do not know how to do good.
They are not taught by a Buddha;
Therefore, they fall into the evil regions.Now you have appeared for the first time after a long time,
And become the eyes of the world.
You have appeared in this world
Out of your compassion towards all living beings,
And finally attained perfect enlightenment.
We are very glad.
All the others also rejoice at seeing you,
Whom they have never seen before.Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
We offer them to you.
Receive them out of your compassion towards us!May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!
The Closing Verse of Vows
Buddhism for Today, p100At the end of the fourteenth verse portion of this chapter occur the following lines:
“May this deed of merit
Extend to all creatures
That we with all the living
May together accomplish the Buddha-way!”This is called “the closing verse of vows” because not only the practicers of the Lotus Sutra but all believers in Buddhism recite it as a closing verse in their sutra-chanting service. It is said that the spirit of the great vow and practice of Buddhists can be summed up in these few short lines. The words “this deed of merit” mean “this deed of merit of serving the buddhas.” This does not mean that the Brahma heavenly kings desire to receive some merit in compensation for their having presented their palaces to the buddhas. It goes without saying that the buddhas are not anxious to have material things. To serve the Buddha by presenting flowers and offerings is an expression of our worship of and gratitude to him. But the most important thing is to serve the Buddha through our practice, namely, to practice the Buddha-way after abandoning our ego, or “small self.” The sutra reciting service that we perform before Buddhist altars is one of our practices in which we forget the small self, abandoning it and devoting ourselves solely to the pursuit of the Buddha-way. Therefore, our sutra reciting service is also a great way of serving the Buddha.
Serving the Buddha should not be done merely for the sake of mental peace and a comfortable life. It should be our heartfelt desire that the merit of our practice of serving the Buddha extend to all living beings. It should be also our prayer to accomplish the Buddha-way together with all the living. Because the closing verse of vows has this deep significance, we should not merely learn it by heart but recite it earnestly as our great vow as Buddhists.
The Inner Transmission
Two Buddhas, p221-222[T]he daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the source of all buddhas. One who chants it directly receives its transmission from the primordial buddha on Vulture Peak, and the place where one chants it is that buddha’s pure land. This claim is in keeping with the logic that “the assembly on Vulture Peak is awesomely present and has not yet dispersed” or of the primordial buddha’s realm of “original time” depicted on Nichiren’s mandala that can be entered through faith. Another of Nichiren’s personal letters explains the inner transmission in this way: “To chant Myōhō-renge-kyō with the understanding that these three — Śākyamuni Buddha who realized enlightenment in the remotest past, the Lotus Sūtra that enables all to attain the buddha way, and we ourselves, living beings — are altogether inseparable and without distinction is to receive the transmission of the one great purpose of birth and death.” “Transmission” in this sense does not pass through a single historical lineage of teachers but is immediately accessible to any practitioner who chants the daimoku.
The Buddha Does Not Bear a Grudge
Devadatta had 30 marks of physical excellence, two less than the Buddha’s 32 marks. Namely, Devadatta did not have a curl of white hair in the middle of his forehead, nor did he have dharma-cakra on his soles. Afraid that his disciples might slight him due to the lack of these two marks, Devadatta pretended to have the white curl by putting a collection of fireflies on his forehead. He also had a hot iron in the shape of a chrysanthemum crest made by a blacksmith and branded his soles. Having burned his feet severely, Devadatta was near death when he sought help from the Buddha. When the Buddha passed His hand over the burns, Devadatta’s pain disappeared instantly. Without repenting for his sins, Devadatta instead slandered the Buddha saying that the art of medicine practiced by the Buddha is trickery; it must be magic. The Buddha does not bear a grudge against such an enemy as this. How could He abandon a person who puts faith in the Buddha even once? So venerable is the Buddha that we revere His wooden statues and portraits. It is said that the wooden statue of the Buddha made by King Udayana walked and that the portrait of the Buddha painted by Mātaṅga preached all the Buddhist scriptures.
Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 48
Day 10
Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.
Having last month considered the introduction of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha, who lived countless kalpas ago, we consider the process needed for Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence to become that buddha.
The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:
“The duration of the life of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha was five hundred and forty billion nayuta kalpas. [Before he attained Buddhahood,] he sat at the place of enlightenment and defeated the army of Mara. He wished to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but could not because the Dharma of the Buddhas had not yet come into his mind. He sat cross-legged without moving his mind and body for one to ten small kalpas. During all that time the Dharma of the Buddhas did not come into his mind.
“[Before he sat at the place of enlightenment,] the Trāyastriṃs̒a Gods prepared him a lion-like seat a yojana high under the Bodhi tree so that he might be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi on that seat. When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.
“[When he sat on that seat,] the four heavenly-kings beat heavenly drums, and the other gods made heavenly music and offered it to him. They continued these offerings also for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued these offerings until he passed away.
The Daily Dharma from Nov. 18, 2019, offers this:
When he sat on that seat, the Brahman-heavenly-kings rained heavenly flowers on the area extending a hundred yojanas in all directions from that seat. From time to time withered flowers were blown away by fragrant winds and new flowers were rained down. [The Brahman-heavenly-kings] continued this offering to him for fully ten small kalpas. [After he attained Buddhahood also,] they continued raining flowers until he passed away.
The Buddha describes the life of an ancient Buddha named Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, when that Buddha took the seat from which he would become enlightened, the gods who created his world recognized the immense benefit all beings were about to receive and showed their joy by filling the skies with these beautiful flowers. After that Buddha became enlightened, gods from innumerable other worlds came to his world to make offerings, giving up the pleasures of their own worlds. The enlightenment of any being extends beyond the personal contact we have with any that being. It changes the entire universe.
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The Wondrous Votary of the Lotus Sūtra Dwelling on a Mountain
Two Buddhas, p221Nichiren alludes to [the] direct transmission [of the Lotus Sūtra] in a personal letter connecting his retreat in the depths of Mount Minobu in Kai province, where he spent the last years of his life, to the “Transcendent Powers” chapter, where it says that wherever the Lotus Sūtra is practiced — “in a garden, a forest, under a tree, in a monk’s chamber, in a layman’s house, in a palace, on a mountain, in a valley, or in the wilderness” — is a sacred place of the Buddha’s activity. Nichiren elaborates: “This place is deep in the mountains, far from human habitation. East, west, north, or south, not a single village is to be found. Although I dwell in this forlorn retreat, hidden in the fleshly heart within my breast I hold the secret dharma of the ‘one great purpose’ transmitted from Śākyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, at Vulture Peak. Within my breast the buddhas enter nirvāṇa; on my tongue, they turn the wheel of the dharma; from my throat, they are born; and in my mouth, they attain supreme awakening. Because this the wondrous votary of the Lotus Sūtra dwells in this mountain, how could it be inferior to the pure land of Vulture Peak?”
Day 9
Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.
Having last month considered the Buddha’s declaration of his unhindered knowledge like a world-covering rain cloud, we consider how the Buddha is like the cloud.
“Kāśyapa, know this! I, the Tathāgata, am like the cloud. I appeared in this world just as the large cloud rose. I expounded the Dharma to gods, men and asuras of the world with a loud voice just as the large cloud covered all the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds. I said to the great multitude, ‘I am 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. I will cause all living beings to cross [the ocean of birth and death] if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to emancipate themselves [from suffering] if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to have peace of mind if they have not yet done so. I will cause them to attain Nirvana if they have not yet done so. I know their present lives as they are, and also their future lives as they will be. I know all. I see all. I know the Way. I have opened the Way. I will expound the Way. Gods, men and asuras! Come and hear the Dharma!’
“Thereupon many thousands of billions of people came to hear the Dharma from me. Having seen them, I knew which were clever, which were dull, which were diligent, and which were lazy. Therefore, I expounded to them an innumerable variety of teachings according to their capacities in order to cause them to rejoice and receive benefits with pleasure. Having heard these teachings, they became peaceful in their present lives. In their future lives, they will have rebirths in good places, enjoy pleasures by practicing the Way, and hear these teachings again. After hearing these teachings again, they will emancipate themselves from all hindrances, practice the teachings according to their capacities, and finally enter the Way, just as the grasses and trees in the thickets and forests, which were watered by the rain from the same large cloud, grew differently according to their species.
The Ten Epithets of the Buddha
Buddhism for Today, p76-77The Buddha then explained his identity with the following ten titles: “I am the Tathāgata, the Worshipful, the All Wise, the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct, the Well Departed, the Understander of the World, the Peerless Leader, the Controller, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-honored One.” These are called the ten epithets of the Buddha, each of which represents an aspect of the Buddha’s virtue and power.
Tathāgata (nyorai) means “one who has come from the world of truth”; the Worshipful (ōgu), “one who deserves offerings in the human and the celestial worlds”; the All Wise (shōhenchi), “one who has the right and perfect wisdom”; the Perfectly Enlightened in Conduct (myōgyō-soku), “one who completely combines knowledge with practice”; the Well Departed (zenzei), “one who is free from everything”; the Understander of the World (sekenge), “one who can understand people in all circumstances”; the Peerless Leader (mujōji), “one who is unsurpassed”; the Controller (jōgo-jōbu), “one who is infallible in controlling men’s minds”; the Teacher of Gods and Men (tennin-shi), “one who leads all lives of creatures in the human and the celestial worlds”; and the Buddha, the World-honored One (butsu-seson), “the enlightened one who is most honored by the people of the world.” One who is possessed of these ten virtues and powers is called Buddha.
Because of such perfect virtues and powers, those who have not yet reached the mental state of being uninfluenced by changes in their circumstances, the Buddha causes to reach that state of mind; those who have not yet understood why their illusions occur and how they can be removed, he causes to understand; those who have not yet been comforted after their illusions are extinguished, he causes to be comforted; those who have not yet obtained true enlightenment, he causes to obtain it.
The Buddha also knows the present, the past, and the world to come as they really arc. He is the one who knows everything perfectly (issaichisha, the All Knowing), the one who discerns the real state of all things (issai-kcnsha, the All Seeing), the one who knows the true Way (chidōsha, the Knower of the Way), the one who makes all living beings understand the Way and leads them to it (kaidō-sha, the Opener of the Way) , and the one who preaches the Way to them (setsudō-sha, the Preacher of the Way).