Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 18

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

Having last month begun the second thing the Bodhisattva should approach in gāthās, we complete the gāthās.

He should disregard the differences
Between the superior, mean, and inferior vehicles,
Between the things free from causality and those subject to it,
And between the real and the unreal.
He should not say:
“This is a man,” or “This is a woman.”
He should not obtain anything
Or know anything or see anything.
All these are the proper practices
That the Bodhisattva should perform.

Things are insubstantial.
They have no property.
They are not permanent.
They do not rise or perish.
This is the Dharma to be approached
By a man of wisdom.

Only perverted people say:
“All things exist,” or “Nothing exists,”
Or “All things are real,” or “Nothing is real,”
Or “All things are born,” or “Nothing is born.”

The Bodhisattva should live in a retired place,
And concentrate his mind.
He should be as peaceful
And as immovable as Mt. Sumeru.
Things have no property
Just as the sky has not.
They are not solid.
They are not born.
They do not appear or move or go.
They are permanently of one form.’
This truth is the proper thing
The Bodhisattva should approach.

A Bhikṣu who lives after my extinction
Will be free from timidity
If he performs these proper practices,
And approaches these proper things
As previously stated,
And then expounds this sūtra.

A Bodhisattva will be peaceful,
And free from timidity
If he stays in a quiet room
For some time,
Recollects the Dharma correctly,
Understands the Dharma
According to the meanings of it,
And then emerges
From his dhyāna-concentration,
And leads kings, princes,
Common people and brahmanas
By expounding this sūtra to them.

Mañjuśrī, all this is the first set of things
That the Bodhisattva should do
Before he expounds the Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
In the world after [my extinction].

See Peaceful Practices of the Mind

LS Introduction, LS32, d18b

Peaceful Practices of the Mind

[Peaceful Practices] means maintaining the right mental attitude while expounding the Dharma. There are four points.

  1. A Bodhisattva must not be jealous of others, or flatter them, or deceive them.
  2. He or she should not despise anyone who studies the Way to Buddhahood by any other method, speak ill of them, or point out their faults.
  3. He or she should not disturb or perplex those who seek any of the Three Vehicles (“hearers,” self-enlightened Buddhas, or practicers of the Way Of the Bodhisattvas), and never tell them, “You are far from enlightenment. You cannot attain the knowledge of the equality and differences of all things because you are licentious and lazy in seeking enlightenment. “
  4. A Bodhisattva should not get involved in meaningless quarrels with the followers of other schools of thought (p. 218).  Instead of getting bogged down in stupid arguments, a Bodhisattva should have great compassion toward all living beings. He should look upon all the Buddhas as his loving parents, and upon all the Bodhisattvas as his great teachers. He or she should expound the Dharma to all living beings without showing any partiality (p. 218-219).
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 17

Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Having last month started the tale of Śākyamuni as a Bodhisattva in his previous existence, we meet the seer who promised to teach the Great Vehicle.

“Thereupon a seer came to [me, who was] the king. He said, ‘I have a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. If you are not disobedient to me, I will expound this sūtra to you.’

“Having heard this, I danced with joy, and immediately became his servant. I offered him anything he wanted. I collected fruits, drew water, gathered firewood, and prepared meals for him. I even allowed my body to be his seat. I never felt tired in body and mind. I served him for a thousand years. In order to hear the Dharma from him, 1 served him so strenuously that l did not cause him to be short of anything.”

See Between Good and Evil

LS Introduction, LS32, d17b

Between Good and Evil

Buddhism believes that good and evil are not two separate things; there is no absolute distinction between the two. An evil deed cannot be considered an absolute. The Devadatta Chapter is known as the teaching that explains the attainment of enlightenment by evil people, and its philosophical background comes from the “non-duality of good and evil,” as understood in Buddhism.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 16

Day 16 concludes Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, and completes the Fourth Volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month witnessed Many Treasures Buddha offer half of his seat to Śākyamuni, we hear Śākyamunin ask who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up to the sky by his supernatural powers, and said to the four kinds of devotees with in a loud voice:

“Who will expound the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sūtra may be preserved.”

See Unification

LS Introduction, LS32, d16b

Unification

Many-Treasures Buddha is said to be a Buddha from the far distant past. Buddhism in general expounds that numerous Buddhas appeared one after the other throughout the ages before Sakyamuni. By presenting Sakyamuni and Many-Treasures Buddha sitting side by side in the Stupa of Treasures, the Sutra implies that the present Buddha (Sakyamuni) and the past Buddha (Many-Treasures) are united as one single entity.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 15

Day 15 concludes Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma, and opens Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures.

Having last month concluded Day 15’s portion of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, we return to today’s portion of Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Thereupon the Buddha said again to Medicine-King Bodhisattva mahāsattvas:

“I have expounded many sūtras. I am now expounding this sūtra. I also will expound many sūtras in the future. The total number of the sūtras will amount to many thousands of billions. This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.

“Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.

“Medicine-King, know this! Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe. He also will be protected by the present Buddhas of the other worlds. He will have the great power of truth, the power of vows, and the power of roots of good. Know this! He will live with me. I will pat him on the head.

See The Perfect Teacher

LS Introduction, LS32, d23b, d24b

The Perfect Teacher

As the title indicates, the teacher of the Dharma is the theme of this chapter. A teacher of the Dharma is one who expounds or propagates the Dharma (universal law or truth). If Bodhisattvas are expected to expound the Dharma, all of them must already be teachers of the Dharma. Why, then, does the Sutra purposely use the term, “teacher of the Dharma,” instead of simply saying, “Bodhisattva?” … [I]t was not until he expounded and propagated the Dharma that Sakyamuni was able to save people. In other words, Sakyamuni the Savior is nothing less than the (perfect) teacher of the Dharma. The role of teachers of the Dharma is to expound the law after the death of Sakyamuni in order to carry on his saving mission. This and the following chapters will discuss the practices which these teachers of the Dharma must undertake.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 14

Day 14 covers all of Chapter 9, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Śrāvakas Who Have Something More to Learn and the Śrāvakas Who Have Nothing More to Learn, and opens Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

Having last month heard the wishes of Ānanda and Rāhula, we hear Śākyamuni’s prediction for Ānanda.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Ānanda:

“In your future life you will become a Buddha called Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King, 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. You will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [and become that Buddha] after you make offerings to sixty-two hundred million Buddhas and protect the store of their teachings. That Buddha will teach twenty thousand billion Bodhisattvas, that is, as many Bodhisattvas as there are sands in the River Ganges, and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The world [of that Buddha] will be called Always-Raising-Banner-Of-Victory. His world will be pure, and the ground of it will be made of lapis lazuli. The kalpa [in which you will become that Buddha] will be called Wonderful-Voice-Resounding-Everywhere. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of kalpas. No one will be able to count the number of the kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his life, and the counterfeit of his right teachings will be preserved for twice as long as his right teachings.

“Ānanda! Mountain-Sea-Wisdom-Supernatural-Power-King Buddha will be praised for his merits by many thousands of billions of Buddhas or Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten quarters, that is, by as many Buddhas or Tathāgatas as there are sands in the River Ganges.”

See The Name of the Sutra

LS Introduction, LS32, d1b

The Name of the Sutra

[T]he Lotus Sutra was originally called Saddharma-pundarika-sutra in Sanskrit. Saddharma means the “wonderful Dharma,” and pundarika is rendered “lotus flower” by Kumarajiva. Sad means “righteousness” or “truth.” Dharma, the essential idea of Buddhism in various contexts, means in this case, “the law,” “the truth,” or “the teaching of the truth.” Therefore, literally Saddharma means “righteous teaching” or “righteous truth.”

You may wonder why we dare call this particular teaching “righteous” or “true” when we know that every single teaching of the Buddha is true. What does “righteous truth” imply? Because the Lotus Sutra reveals to us the principal and deepest teachings of the Buddha, people have tried to name it by expressing its special importance. Instead of saying, “the true truth,” Kumarajiva used the word myo, a word with an esoteric quality in Chinese meaning “noble richness” or “marvelous.” Therefore, he translated Saddharma as the “wonderful” or “marvelous” Dharma. Pundarika means “the lotus flower,” particularly the white lotus flower. We compare something wonderful and excellent with the lotus flower. So Saddharmapundarika represents “the righteous (wonderful) Dharma as marvelous as lotus flowers.” At the same time, the lotus flower symbolizes the most important Bodhisattva practices in Mahayana Buddhism. In Chapter Fifteen, “Bodhisattvas from Underground,” it says:

The Buddha’s children have studied the way of Bodhisattvas well. They are no more defiled by worldliness just as a lotus flower is not defiled by water.

The lovely lotus flower grows out of muddy water and is not defiled by it. In the same way, Bodhisattvas, persons who put the Buddha’s teachings into practice, can live in the midst of a world defiled by vice and corruption, and yet not be contaminated by it. They can teach and awaken other people while keeping their own minds pure. They can save others, however, only when they live with them here in this evil world.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra