Category Archives: LS32

2buddhas, LS32, d3b, d4b

Chih-i’s Three-Fold Doctrine

Zhiyi [Chih-i] drew on the Lotus Sūtra’s claim that the Buddha’s various teachings were all his “skillful means,” or teaching devices, preached in accordance with the capacity of different individuals but all ultimately united in the fundamental principle of the one vehicle.

What was that fundamental principle? Zhiyi described it as the “threefold truth,” or “threefold discernment,” of emptiness, conventional existence, and the middle. Discerning all phenomena as “empty,” lacking self-essence or independent existence, frees the practitioner from attachment to desires and intellectual constructs. It collapses all categories, hierarchies, and boundaries to reveal an absolute equality and nondifferentiation. This insight corresponds to the wisdom of persons of the two vehicles of the “Hinayāna,” those who seek the goal of nirvāṇa, stopping the wheel of birth and death, as well as the wisdom of novice bodhisattvas. However, from a Mahāyāna perspective, it is one-sided. Though empty of fixed substance, all things nonetheless exist conventionally in dependence upon causes and conditions. The discernment of “conventional existence” reestablishes discrete entities and conceptual distinctions as features of commonsense experience but without false essentializing or clinging; it frees the practitioner to act in the world without bondage to it. This corresponds to the wisdom of more advanced bodhisattvas. Finally, phenomena are neither one-sidedly empty nor conventionally existing but exhibit both aspects simultaneously: at each moment, every existent, without losing its individual character, permeates and contains all others. This insight, termed “the middle,” encompasses both poles of understanding – emptiness and conventional existence – without dissolving the tension between them. The bodhisattva path culminates in the simultaneous discernment of all three truths as integrated in one. Page 16-17

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Day 22 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Maitreya Bodhisattva repeat the merits received in gāthās, we hear Maitreya explain the reaction of the gods and the bodhisattvas to these merits.

[The gods] rained down mandārava-flower ,
And mahā-mandārava-flowers of heaven.
Sakras and Brahmans came from the [other] Buddha-worlds
As many as there are sands in the River Ganges.

[The gods] rained down candana and aloes [powder],
And offered it to the Buddhas.
The powder came down fluttering
Just as birds fly down from the sky.

Heavenly drums automatically sounded
Wonderful in the sky.
Thousands of billions of heavenly garments
Whirled down.

[The gods] burned priceless incense which was put
In wonderful incense-burners of many treasures.
The incense-burners automatically went around,
And the odor was offered to the World-Honored Ones.

The great Bodhisattvas lined up vertically one upon another
To the Heaven of Brahman, holding
Billions of lofty and wonderful canopies and streamers
Made of the seven treasures.

[The great Bodhisattvas] hoisted before the Buddha
Jeweled banner adorned with excellent streamers.
They also praised the Tathāgatas
With tens of millions of gāthās.

I have never seen these things before.
All living beings
Rejoice at hearing
That the duration of your life is immeasurable.

Your fame is extended over the worlds of the ten quarters.
You benefit all living beings.
The root of good which they have planted
Will help them aspire for unsurpassed [enlightenment].

See Faith Is the Cause for Wisdom

2buddhas, LS32, d22b, WONS

Faith Is the Cause for Wisdom

In its claims for the salvific powers of the Lotus Sūtra, the “Description of Merits” chapter says that the merit accruing to those who generate even a single thought of willing acceptance — that is, faith — in the Lotus Sūtra immeasurably surpasses that gained by men and women who cultivate the first five perfections of a bodhisattva for eighty myriads of kotis of nayutas of eons. The sixth perfection, wisdom, is not included. But Nichiren held that wisdom, too, is inherent in, and emerges from, faith in the Lotus Sūtra. Scholars of his day, he notes, all agree that those who would practice the Lotus Sūtra must devote themselves to the three disciplines of moral conduct, meditative concentration, and wisdom; lacking any of these, one cannot attain the way. Nichiren adds, “I too once thought the same.” But over time, he became convinced that this was not the case. Citing the “Description of Merits” chapter to support his argument, Nichiren asserts that the Buddha had restrained persons at the first, second, and third of the five stages of practice from focusing on the cultivation of moral conduct and meditative concentration and directed them solely to cultivate some degree of wisdom.” And because our wisdom is inadequate, he teaches us to substitute faith, making this single word ‘faith’ the basis. … Faith is the cause for wisdom and corresponds to the stage of verbal identity.”

Two Buddhas, p196
LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

Day 21 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the purpose of the sutras, we learn of the lifespan of the Buddha and why he implies he enters extinction.

“Good men! The duration of my life, which I obtained by the practice of the way of Bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time as previously stated. Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views. If they think that I am always here, and do not think that I will pass away, they will become too arrogant and lazy to realize the difficulty of seeing me, and they will not respect me. Therefore I say [to them] expediently, ‘Bhikṣus, know this! It is difficult to see a Buddha who appears in [this] world.’ Why is that? It is because some men of little virtue cannot see me even during many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas while the others can. Therefore, I say [to them], ‘Bhikṣus! It is difficult to see a Tathāgata.’ Those who hear this and know that it is difficult to see me, will adore me, admire me, and plant the roots of good. Therefore l say [to them], ‘I shall pass away,’ although I shall not.

“Good men! All the Buddhas, all the Tathāgatas, do the same as I do. [They expound their teachings] for the purpose of saving all living beings. Therefore, [their teachings] are true, not false.

See Revealing the Original Cause and Original Effect

2buddhas, LS32, d21b, d22b, WONS

Revealing the Original Cause and Original Effect

Nichiren understood the revelation of Buddha’s inconceivable “lifespan” as the very heart of the sūtra. The sūtra text makes clear that, even after realizing buddhahood, Śākyamuni has remained in the world, and will continue to do so, for countless eons, “teaching the dharma and inspiring sentient beings.” For Nichiren, this signaled a seismic shift in the entire concept of buddhahood as a realm apart from the nine realms of ordinary experience. Conventional understanding holds that the cause of buddhahood and its effect, that is, practice and attainment, are separated in time. To become a buddha, one must carry out the practices of the bodhisattva for three immeasurable eons, a staggering length of time spanning countless lifetimes. The “trace teaching” or shakumon portion of the Lotus Sūtra, even while extending the promise of buddhahood to all beings, still preserves this perspective on realizing buddhahood as a linear process in which one moves from practice (nine realms) toward attainment (buddhahood). We see this in Śākyamuni Buddha’s predictions in the sūtra’s early chapters that his individual śrāvaka disciples such as Sāriputra, Mahākāśyapa, and others will become buddhas in the remote future, after many eons of bodhisattva practice. From this perspective, buddhahood remains a distant goal, abstracted from one’s present experience.

But with the origin teaching, Nichiren wrote, the cause and effect of the pre-Lotus Sūtra teachings and of the trace teaching are “demolished” and “original cause and original effect” are revealed: “The nine realms are inherent in the beginningless buddha realm, and the buddha realm inheres in the beginningless nine realms. This represents the true mutual inclusion of the ten realms … and three thousand realms in a single thoughtmoment.” That is, he saw the origin teaching as overturning linear views of practice and attainment, in which one first makes efforts and then realizes buddhahood as a later result, and revealing that cause (the nine realms) and effect (the buddha realm) are present simultaneously; buddhahood is manifested in the very act of practice.

Two Buddhas, p185-186
LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month heard Śākyamuni urge Maitreya and the others to pay close attention, we hear Śākyamuni tell Maitreya that he is the one who taught these Bodhisattvas.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, having sung these gāthās, said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World. When they were there, they read many sūtras, recited them, understood them, thought them over, evaluated them, and remembered them correctly. Ajita! These good men did not wish to talk much with others [about things other than the Dharma] but to live in a quiet place. They practiced the way strenuously without a rest. They did not live among gods and men. They had no hindrance in seeking profound wisdom. They always sought the teaching of the Buddha. They sought unsurpassed wisdom strenuously with all their hearts.”

See Who Are These Bodhisattvas?

2buddhas, LS32, d19b, d20b, WONS

Who Are These Bodhisattvas?

Who are these bodhisattvas who emerge from beneath the earth? One interpretative move, current in medieval Japanese Tendai circles in Nichiren’s day, was to associate their four leaders — Viśiṣṭacaritra (J. Jōgyō, “Superior Conduct”), Anantacāritra (Muhengyō, “Boundless Conduct”), Viéuddhacāritra (Jyōgyō, “Pure Conduct”), and Supratisthitacāritra (Anryūgyo, “Firm Conduct”) — with the four universal elements of fire, wind, water, and earth, which were believed to constitute and benefit all beings. In a sense, Nichiren also understood these bodhisattvas as innate, for example, when he writes that they represent the bodhisattva realm within us; they are “the followers of the Śākyamuni Buddha who dwells within ourselves.” However, he also took them to be historical agents, entrusted by the Buddha with the mission of propagating the Lotus Sūtra specifically in the Final Dharma age, that is, his own time. “And what is this dharma that was entrusted to them?” he asked. “From within the Lotus Sūtra, it discards the broad to take up the condensed and discards the condensed to take up the essence, that is, the five characters Myōhō-renge-kyō.”

Two Buddhas, p174-175
LS32

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the benefits of the peaceful ways of expounding the this sutra, we dream of wonderful things and conclude today’s portion of Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’

He also will dream:
‘As many living beings, including dragons and asuras,
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Are joining their hands together
Towards me respectfully,
And I am expounding the Dharma to them.’

He also will dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are emitting innumerable ray of light,
And illumining all things.
The Buddhas are expounding all teachings
With their brahma voices.
I am among the four kinds of devotees
To whom a Buddha is expounding
The unsurpassed Dharma.
I praised the Buddha
With my hands joined together.
I heard the Dharma from him with joy.
I made offerings to him, and obtained dharanis.
I also obtained irrevocable wisdom.
The Buddha knew
That I entered deep into the Way to Buddhahood.
So he assured me of my future attainment
Of perfect enlightenment, saying:
‘Good man, in your future life,
You will be able to attain immeasurable wisdom,
That is, the great enlightenment: of the Buddha.
Your world will be pure and large
Without a parallel.
There will be the four kinds of devotees there.
They will hear the Dharma from you
With their hands joined together.’

He also will dream:
‘I am now in the forest of a mountain.
[ studied and practiced good teachings.
[ attained the truth of the reality of all things.
I am now in deep dhyāna-concentration.
I see the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters.’

He also will have a good dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are adorned with a hundred marks of merits.
Having heard the Dharma from them,
I am now expounding it to others.’

He also will dream:
‘Although I was a king,
I gave up the five desires
And the most wonderful pleasures.
I left my palace and attendants,
And reached the place of enlightenment.
I sat on the lion-like seat under the Bodhi-tree,
And sought enlightenment.
After seven days, I obtained the wisdom of the Buddhas
And attained unsurpassed enlightenment.
I emerged [from dhyāna] and turned the wheel of the Dharma.
I expounded the Dharma to the four kinds of devotees
For a thousand billion kalpas.
I expounded the Wonderful Dharma-without-āsravas
And saved innumerable living beings.
Then I entered into Nirvana
Just as a flame dies when smoke is gone.’

Anyone who expounds
This supreme teaching
In the evil world after [my extinction]
Will obtain great benefits as previously stated.

See The Unburnt Tongue of Kumārajīva

2buddhas, LS32

The Unburnt Tongue of Kumārajīva

Kumārajīva’s translation, Miaofa lianhua jing (J. Myōhō Renge Kyō, “Sūtra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma”), proved by far the most popular. All English translations of the sūtra that have been made from Chinese (seven at the time of this writing, not counting revisions or multiple editions of the same translation) are based upon it. According to his biography, Kumārajīva (344-413), a learned scholar-monk from Kucha in Central Asia, vowed that after his death, his tongue, with which he had expounded the meaning of the Buddhist sūtras, would remain unburnt in the crematory fire, and indeed, although the flames consumed his body, his tongue remained untouched. This story expresses the confidence that Kumārajīva’s translations faithfully captured the Buddha’s intent. It was also in China that the Lotus Sūtra became “threefold,” being grouped together with an introductory sūtra, the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings (Wuliangyi jing, T no. 276), possibly a Chinese apocryphon, and the Sūtra of the Practice of Visualizing the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Foshuo guan Puxian pusa xingfa jing, T no. 277).

Two Buddhas, p15
LS32

Day 18

Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.

Day 18 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month concluded today’s portion of Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, we begin Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices and Mañjuśrī’s question.

Thereupon Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, the Son of the King of the Dharma, said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! These Bodhisattvas are extraordinarily rare. They made a great vow to protect, keep, read, recite and expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the evil world after your extinction because they are following you respectfully. World-Honored One! How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

The Buddha said to him:

“A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to expound this sūtra in the evil world after [my extinction] should practice four sets of things.

“First, he should perform proper practices, approach proper things, and then expound this sūtra to all living beings.

See India vs. China’s perspective