Category Archives: LS32

LS Introduction, LS32, d13b

Early Disciples

Kaundinya was one of Sakyamuni’s original disciples who followed him when he first gave up his princely throne and set forth on the quest for enlightenment. There had been five of them, and together with their master they had performed arduous ascetic practices (practices which Sakyamuni later said were useless). After the Buddha attained enlightenment, these five ascetics became his first disciples.

Others of the five hundred arhats included Uruvilva-Kasyapa, Gaya-Kasyapa, Nadi-Kasyapa, and Aniruddha. The first three arhats were three of the Kasyapa brothers, who had once been leaders of a group of fire-worshippers. It is said that originally these brothers had bitterly opposed Sakyamuni, and had used supernatural powers to discredit him. They were defeated, however, and they together with most of their followers became loyal disciples of the Buddha. Aniruddha, another of the arhats mentioned, was a cousin of Sakyamuni. He was famous for his clairvoyance, the alleged power of seeing beyond the natural range of the senses. It is said that during his early days of severe ascetic practices, he went blind. In place of his natural sight, he developed clairvoyance.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month heard the 16 princes plea for the Buddha to expound the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, the Buddha assented to the appeal of the śramaṇeras.

“Seeing the sixteen princes having renounced the world, eight billion followers of the wheel-turning-holy-king begged the king to allow them to do the same. He conceded to them immediately.

“The Buddha assented to the appeal of the śramaṇeras, but it was twenty thousand kalpas afterwards that he expounded to the four kinds of devotees the sūtra of the Great Vehicle called the ‘Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’

“When the Buddha completed the expounding of this sūtra, the sixteen śramaṇeras kept, recited and understood this sūtra in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. The sixteen śramaṇeras, [ who were] Bodhisattvas, received this sūtra by faith. Some Śrāvakas understood it by faith, but the other Śrāvakas and other living beings, thousands of billions in number, doubted it.

See The Central Buddha

LS Introduction, LS32, d12b

The Central Buddha

This is the narrative of Great-Universally-Excelling-Wisdom Buddha. After telling this story, Sakyamuni discloses that these sixteen Bodhisattva-disciples have already attained enlightenment and are now Buddhas. …

By listing the names of the Buddhas, Sakyamuni reveals that in a previous existence, he himself had been one of those sixteen princes who had become Bodhisattva-disciples. What is more, he proclaimed that he was the central Buddha, since he was the sixteenth of those princes, and the one who was to conclude the story.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 11

Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Having last month concluded this day’s portion of Chapter 7, we start again at the top.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

“When Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, five hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’ The palaces of the gods of those worlds, including the palace of Brahmans, also quaked in the six ways. The great rays of light which illumined all those worlds were brighter than the rays of light emitted by those gods.

See The Blessed Sardine

LS Introduction, LS32, d3b, d7b, d8b

The Blessed Sardine

We can come to faith only by encountering the absolute Buddha and believing his words. This is an act beyond the working of our knowledge. In Chapter Two, the Buddha says, “Sariputra, know this! The Buddhas do not speak differently.” The Buddhas speak truth. We can recognize that truth even when it is beyond our full understanding.

On the other hand, this does not mean that we should believe blindly. There is a Japanese saying that “even the head of a sardine seems blessed if you have faith in it.” This is not what we mean by faith. We can maintain a belief that is inspired by the experience of something beyond our ordinary capacities. We can evaluate it by means of our intellect and reason, and form our own mental attitudes. The title of Chapter Four, “Understanding by Faith,” refers to this process of the formation of our own psychological attitudes.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 10

Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.

Having last month witnessed Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence attain the Dharma and then meet the 16 princes, we conclude this portion of Chapter 7 with the princes begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma.

“Thereupon the sixteen princes, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, begged the World-Honored One to turn the wheel of the Dharma, saying, ‘World-Honored One! Expound the Dharma, and give peace and many benefits to gods and men out of your compassion towards them!’ They repeated this in gāthās:

You, the Hero of the World, are unequalled.
Adorned with the marks
Of one hundred merits,
You have obtained unsurpassed wisdom.
Expound the Dharma and save us
And other living beings of the world!

Expound the Dharma, reveal the Dharma,
And cause us to obtain that wisdom!
If we attain Buddhahood,
Others also will do the same.

You, the World-Honored One, know
What all living beings have deep in their minds,
What teachings they are practicing,
And how much power of wisdom they have.

You know their desires, the merits they obtained,
And the karmas they did
In their previous existence.
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma!

See The True Pure Land

LS Introduction, LS32, d21b, d28b

The True Pure Land

The Great Vehicle teaches us about the appearance of Buddhas in all of the worlds in the ten directions. When a Buddha appears in a certain world, that realm is named a “pure land.” For instance, Amitayus Buddha appeared in a world far to the west of our World of Endurance. His pure land was named Highest Joy or Land of Bliss. The worlds of the ten quarters are called “the other pure lands,” since they are on other sides of our World of Endurance. A pure land is an ideal world beyond the concrete reality of our world. But if the notion of pure lands were to ignore this world of ours (the only place of reality), those places would be no more than imaginary existences. The other pure lands would have no entities unless the real World of Endurance existed (that is, unless they originated here in our minds in harmony with the mind of the Buddha). Therefore a true pure land must be realized here where we are.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 9

Day 9 covers Chapter 5, The Simile of Herbs, and introduces Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood.

Having last month heard Śākyamuni’s purpose – To reveal the Great Vehicle, we learn of his impartiality.

I see all living beings equally.
I have no partiality for them.
There is not ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ to me.
I transcend love and hatred.

I am attached to nothing.
I am hindered by nothing.
I always expound the Dharma
To all living beings equally.
I expound the Dharma to many
In the same way as to one.

I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.

I am not tired of giving
The rain of the Dharma to all living beings.
I have no partiality for them,
Whether they are noble or mean,
Whether they observe or violate the precepts,
Whether they live a monastic life or not,
Whether they have right or wrong views,
Whether they are clever or dull .

Those who hear the Dharma from me
Will reach various stages
[Of enlightenment]
According to their capacities.

See Three Blades of Grass and the Two Trees

LS Introduction, LS32, d9b

Three Blades of Grass and the Two Trees

This chapter opens with Sakyamuni praising the four great “hearers” who told the parable of the rich man and his poor son. By their story, they demonstrated that they understood what the Buddha had been teaching. The Buddha said:

Excellent, excellent! You spoke very well about my true merits. They are just as you said. They are innumerable, asamkhya. You could not describe them all even if you tried for many hundreds of millions of eons. I am the King of the Law. I expound all teachings expediently by my wisdom in order to lead all living beings to the stage of knowing all things. I know how far a living being can be led by a particular teaching, and what each living being has deep in his mind (in his subconscious). Nothing hinders me from knowing all this. I know all things clearly, and show my knowledge of all things to all living beings (p. 105).

Sakyamuni then told them the following simile, which is called the “Simile of Herbs” or the “Three Blades of Grass and the Two Trees.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 8

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Having last month witnessed the Rich Man putting on rags and visiting his son at his work, we consider the purpose of this expedient.

By his wisdom the rich man succeeded
In leading his son into his household.
Twenty years after that
He had his son manage his house.

The son was entrusted
With the keeping of the accounts
Of gold and silver,
And of pearl, crystal, and so on.
But he still lodged
In the hut outside the gate, thinking:
“I am poor.
None of these treasures are mine.”

Seeing the mind of his son
Becoming less mean and more noble,
The father called in
His relatives, the king, ministers,
Kṣatriyas, and householders,
In order to give his treasures to his son.

He said to the great multitude:
“This is my son.
He was gone
For fifty years.
I found him Twenty years ago.
I missed him
When I was in a certain city.
I wandered, looking for him,
And came here.
Now I will give him
All my houses and men.
He can use them
As he likes.”

The son thought:
“I was poor, base and mean.
Now I have obtained
The treasures, houses,
And all the other things From my father.
Never before
Have I been so happy.”

See To Believe, Accept, and Understand