Buddhism for Today, p323-324This chapter is very important because two teachings, the Law of Appearance and the Law of Origin, are brought to their culmination herein. It also teaches us that these two teachings are not separate but, even though they seem different, are one in essence.
In the Law of Appearance, Sakyamuni Buddha revealed the aim and the content of the teachings that he had preached since his attainment of buddhahood. This is a philosophical and ethical teaching emphasizing the formation of this world, human beings as they ought to be, the right way to live, and ideal human relationships.
In the Law of Origin, Sakyamuni revealed that the Buddha is not limited to Sakyamuni himself, who appeared in this world and lived a mortal life, but is the Original Being with the great life of non-beginning and non-end. In this Law, the Buddha teaches us that in order to be finally saved and to establish true peace in our world, we must be united with the Original Buddha, that is, must take refuge in him wholeheartedly.
We can distinguish between the Law of Appearance and the Law of Origin in the following way: the former is the teaching preached by Sakyamuni, who appeared as a man in this world, while the latter is the teaching declared by the Original Buddha, who exists from the infinite past to the eternal future. Because wisdom is more necessary than anything else in order to live correctly, the former is the teaching of wisdom, while the latter is the teaching of compassion, which preaches absolute salvation. It is indeed necessary for us to distinguish these two Laws when we go deeply into the study of the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Category Archives: LS32
Opening the Buddha Realm within the Nine Realms
Two Buddhas, p69-70Nichiren took the ichinen sanzen concept that Zhiyi had briefly delineated and made it the foundation of his teaching. For Nichiren, ichinen sanzen was “the father and mother of the buddhas.” He often referred to it in its “short form,” so to speak, as the mutual inclusion of the ten dharma realms… . Because the “ten suchnesses” (referred to at the beginning of the “Skillful Means” chapter) and the mutual inclusion of the ten realms are both concepts integral to the single thought-moment that is three thousand realms, the one implied the other, and Nichiren could take “the real aspect of all dharmas” or the ten suchnesses as pointing to the mutual inclusion of the ten realms. For him, this teaching was unique to the Lotus Sūtra and was what qualified it as the “wonderful dharma.” In one passage, he writes: “The sūtras that the Buddha preached for more than forty years before the Lotus do not set forth the mutual inclusion of the ten realms. And because they do not set forth the mutual inclusion of the ten realms, one cannot know the buddha realm within one’s own mind, and because one does not know the buddha realm within one’s own mind, the buddhas do not manifest externally either. … But now with the Lotus Sūtra, the buddha realm within the nine realms was opened, and those who had heard the Buddha’s forty and more years of preaching — bodhisattvas, persons of the two vehicles, and ordinary beings of the six paths — could for the first time see the buddha realm within themselves.”
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.
Having last month considered the eight hundred merits of the nose in gāthās, we consider the twelve hundred merit of the tongue.
“Furthermore, Constant-Endeavor! The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy this sūtra, will be able to obtain twelve hundred merit of the tongue. Anything which tastes good, bad, delicious, distasteful, bitter or astringent, will become as delicious as the nectar of heaven and not distasteful when it is put on their tongues. When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude with their tongues, they will be able to raise deep and wonderful voices, to cause their voices to reach the hearts of the great multitude so that the great multitude may be joyful and cheerful. Hearing their speeches given in good order by their deep and wonderful voices, Śakra, Brahman, and the other gods and goddesses will come and listen to them. In order to hear the Dharma, dragons, dragons’ daughters, gandharvas, gandharvas’ daughters, asuras, asuras’ daughters, garuḍas, garuḍas’ daughters, kiṃnaras, kiṃnaras’ daughters, mahoragas, and mahoragas’ daughters also will come to them, respect them, and make offerings to them. Bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās; and kings, princes, ministers, and their attendants [also will come and hear the Dharma]. The wheel-turning[holy-]kings of small [countries], and the wheel-turning-[holy-]kings of great [countries, each of whom has the] seven treasures and one thousand children, also will come with their [treasures, children and] internal and external retinues, riding in their [movable] palaces, and hear the Dharma. These [good men or women, that is,] Bodhisattvas will expound the Dharma so well that the brahmanas, householders, and people of their country will, throughout their lives, attend on them, and make offering to them. The Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas also will wish to them. [These good men or women] will expound the Dharma in the places which the Buddhas will face. They will keep all the teaching of the Buddhas and raise deep and wonderful voices of the Dharma.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Their tongues will be purified.
Their tongues will not receive anything bad.
Anything they at will become
As delicious as nectar.When they e pound the Dharma to the great multitude
And lead them
By telling them the stories of previous lives, parables, and similes
With their deep, pure and wonderful voices,
The hearers will rejoice
And make excellent offerings to them.All gods, dragons,
Yakṣas and asuras
Will come together
And hear the Dharma respectfully.Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.The wheel-turning-kings of great and small [countries],
Who have each one thousand children,
Will come with their children and attendants,
And join their hands together respectfully to hear the Dharma.Gods, dragons, yakṣas,
Raksasas and pisacakas
Also will come joyfully,
And make offerings to him.The Brahman-Heavenly-King,
King Mara, Freedom [God],
Great-Freedom [God],
And the other gods also will come to him.The Buddhas and their disciples who hear
The voice of the expounder of the Dharma,
Will think of him, protect him,
And sometimes appear before him.
Enough Instruction To Lead To Perfect Enlightenment
Buddhism for Today, p305It is not supposed that all the disciples who listened to the Buddha’s preaching in chapter 19 completely understood the true meaning of his encouragement and the admonition included therein. Some of them may have become discouraged, thinking, “We cannot possibly practice all the teachings of the Lotus Sutra perfectly.” Others may have been complacent, thinking, “We can obtain merit somehow or other if we just do the five kinds of practices of preachers according to form.” Still others may have momentarily felt conceited, flattering themselves: “Unlike the disciples of the two vehicles, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, we bodhisattvas are possessed of this kind of supernatural power. We are quite different from them.”
On all occasions, the Buddha’s sermons were perfect and left nothing to be desired. Whenever he perceived the slightest doubt in the minds of his disciples, he gave them enough instruction to lead them to Perfect Enlightenment. It can easily be imagined that probably he did the same in his preaching of chapter 19.
Persuasive and Aggressive Propagation
Now, two ways of propagation, the persuasive and aggressive, are incompatible with each other just as water and fire are. The fire dislikes the water, and the water hates the fire. Those who prefer the persuasive tend to laugh at those who practice the aggressive and vice versa. So, when the land is full of evil and ignorant people, the persuasive means should take precedence as preached in the “Peaceful Practices” (14th) chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. However, when there are many cunning slanderers of the True Dharma, the aggressive means should take precedence as preached in the “Never-Despising Bodhisattva” (20th) chapter.
It is the same as using cold water when it is hot and fire when it is cold. Plants and trees are followers of the sun, so they dislike the cold moon. Bodies of water are followers of the moon, so they lose their true nature when it is hot. As there are lands of evil men as well as those of slanderers of the True Dharma in this Latter Age of Degeneration, there should be both aggressive and persuasive means of spreading the True Dharma. Therefore, we have to know whether Japan today is a land of evil men or that of slanderers in order to decide which of the two ways we should use.
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 111
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.
Having last month considered the twelve hundred merits of the ear, we repeat in gāthās and conclude today’s portion of Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he bad said, sang in gāthās:
Their ears given by their parents will be purified, not defiled.
With their natural ears,
They will be able to recognize the sounds of voices
Of the one thousand million sumeru-worlds.They will be able to recognize
The voices of elephants, horses and cows;
Th sounds of carts, gongs, bells, conch-shell horns,
And of drums, lyres, harps, reed-pipes and flutes.
Although they recognize pure and sweet songs,
They will not be attached to them.
They also will be able to recognize
The countless kinds of voices of men.They will be able to recognize
The voices of gods,
The wonderful songs [of gods],
And the voices of men, women, boy and girls.They will be able to recognize
The songs of kalavinkas, of jivakajivakas,
And of the other birds in mountains,
And on rivers and ravines.The expounder of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize from afar,
While he is staying in the world [of men],
The cryings and shriekings
Of the denizens in hell,
The shoutings of hungry and thirsty spirits
Who are seeking food and drink,
And the voices of asuras
Bellowing to each other
[As they pound] on the seacoasts.
Even when he recognizes all this by hearing,
His organ of hearing will not be destroyed.The expounder of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in this world],
The voices of birds and animals calling each other
In the worlds of the ten quarters.The teacher of the Dharma will be able to recognize,
While he is staying [in the world of men],
The voices of the gods of the heavens
Above the Heaven of Brahman,
[That is,] of the Light-Sound Heaven,
Of the Universal-Pure Heaven, and of the Highest Heaven.The teacher of the Dharma
Will be able to recognize,
Without moving about,
The voices of the bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound them to others.He will be able to recognize
The voices of the Bodhisattvas
Who read or recite sūtras
Or expound the meanings
Of quotations from them
To others.Anyone who keeps this Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to recognize the voices of the Buddhas,
That is, the voices of the Great Honorable Saints
Who teach all living beings,
And who expound the Wonderful Dharma in great congregations.He will be able to recognize
All the sounds and voices
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds,
[Each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven.
And yet his organ of hearing will not be destroyed.
He will be able to recognize everything by hearing
Because his ears are sharp.Anyone who keeps
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Will be able to obtain these merits with his natural ears
Although he has not yet obtained heavenly ears.
Merits of the Ear
Buddhism for Today, p300We find the following two important expressions in the verse portion in which the Buddha speaks of the merits of the ear: “He can listen without being under their control” and “He will hear without harm to his organ of hearing.” The former expression means that even if he hears the sounds of beautiful music he is not attached to them. He may be charmed by music for a short time, but he has no permanent attachment to it, nor is lulled into forgetting important matters. This is a good example for us in regard to our attachment to amusements. The latter expression means that his hearing will not be impaired even if he hears all the sounds in the three-thousand-great-thousand-fold world. This indicates that he will not become confused by hearing all the various kinds of sounds in the world. If an ordinary person hears the sounds of worry, of suffering, and of grief on one side and the sounds of disputes and quarrels on the other, he will be thrown into confusion. However, a person who has deepened his faith sufficiently will not be overwhelmed; he will dwell calmly amid the noise and will be able to hear these sounds with serenity.
Even the Slightest Thought
Two Buddhas, p68On the basis of [ten suchnesses], Zhiyi formulated a grand, architectonic concept that came to be called the “single thought-moment entailing three thousand realms” (ichinen sanzen). In a famous passage, he writes: “Now a single thought [literally, “one mind”] comprises ten dharma-realms, and each dharma realm also comprises ten dharma-realms, giving a hundred dharma-realms. A single realm comprises thirty kinds of worlds; hence a hundred dharma-realms comprise three thousand kinds of worlds. These three thousand are contained in a single moment of thought. Where there is no thought, that is the end of the matter, but if there is even the slightest thought, it immediately contains the three thousand [realms].”
Day 22
Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.
Having last month heard Maitreya explain the reaction of the gods and the bodhisattvas to these merits, we hear the Buddha tell Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva the benefits of anyone who hears that his life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought.
Thereupon the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva-mahāsattva: “Ajita! Anyone who hears that my life is so long, and understands it by faith even at a moment’s thought, will be able to obtain innumerable merits. Suppose good men or women practiced [ the six pāramitās] except the prajñā- pāramitā, that is, the five pāramitās: the dāna-pāramitā, the śīla-pāramitā, the kṣānti-pāramitā, the vīrya-pāramitā, and the dhyāna-pāramitā, for eighty billion nayuta kalpas in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. These merits of the good men or women are far less than one hundredth or one thousandth of the merits of the person [who understand my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought], or less than his merits divided by one hundred thousand billion. [The superiority of his merits to theirs] cannot be explained by any calculation or parable or simile.
It cannot be that the good man who obtained merits [by understanding my longevity by faith even at a moment’s thought] falters in walking the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”
See Faith and Merits
Faith and Merits
Buddhism for Today, p257-258The mental happiness, hope, and self-confidence of those who have attained true faith are not frothy and superficial but deep and firm-rooted in their minds. These people have calm, steadfast minds not agitated by anything – fire, water, or sword – because they maintain a mental attitude of great assurance, realizing, “I am always protected by the Buddha as an absolute existence; I am caused to live by the Buddha.”
It is natural that life should change dramatically as soon as we attain such a mental state. It is impossible for our life not to change when our attitude changes. Our mental state changes because of faith, and through the change in our mind, our life changes at the same time. These are the merits of religious practice. Therefore faith is naturally associated with merits.
The merits of religious practice appear not only in man’s mind but also in his body and his material life. Because his mind, his body, and the material things around him are composed of the same void (energy), it stands to reason that his body should change according to changes in his mind, and at the same time that the material things around him should change. It is irrational and unscientific to admit mental merits but deny physical and material ones.