In Chapters One and Two, Sakyamuni firmly declared that the true teaching of the Buddha is the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sutra. He urged us to believe and accept it from the bottom of our hearts. In Chapter 4, he unveils how we can believe, accept, and understand it properly. In the previous chapters, Sariputra had been the principal direct listener to Sakyamuni’s preaching. Here his place is taken by four other important “hearers.” They are Subhuti, Maha-Katyayana, Maha-Kasyapa, and Maha-Maudgalyayana. [Maha means “great” in Sanskrit.]
Introduction to the Lotus SutraCategory Archives: LS32
Day 7
Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.
Having last month considered some of the punishments for scowling at and doubting this sūtra, we consider more of the consequences for slandering the sūtra.
Some of them will become men again.
They will be foolish, short, ugly,
Crooked, crippled, blind, deaf,
And hunchbacked.
No one will believe their words.
They will always have fetid breath.
They will be possessed by demons.
Poverty-stricken and mean,
They will be employed by others.
Worn-out, thin,
And subject to many diseases,
They will have no one to rely on.
Anyone who employs them
Will not take care of them.
They will lose before long
What little they may have earned.
When they study medicine,
And treat a patient with a proper remedy,
The patient will have another disease
Or die.
When they are ill in health,
No one will cure them.
Even when they take a good medicine,
They will suffer all the more.
They will be attacked by others,
Or robbed or stolen from.
Their sins will incur these misfortunes.
These sinful people will never be able to see
The Buddha, the King of the Saints,
Who expounds the Dharma
And teaches all living beings.
They will always be reborn
In the places of difficulty
[In seeing the Buddha].
They will be mad, deaf or distracted.
They will never be able to hear the Dharma.
For as many kalpas
As there are sands in the River Ganges,
They will be deaf and dumb.
They will not have all the sense organs.
Accustomed to living in hell,
They will take it for their playground.
Accustomed to living in other evil regions,
They will take them for their homes. They will live
Among camels, asses, wild boars, and dogs.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.When they are reborn in the world of men,
Deafness, blindness, dumbness,
Poverty, and many other defects
Will be their ornaments;
Dropsy, diabetes, mange,
Leprosy, carbuncles, and many other diseases
Will be their garments.
They will always smell bad.
They will be filthy and defiled.
Deeply attached to the view
That the self exists,
They will aggravate their anger.
Their lust will not discriminate
Between [humans,] birds or beasts.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.(The Buddha said to Śāriputra:)
A kalpa will not be long enough to describe
The punishments to be inflicted
Upon those who slander this sūtra.
One Single Teaching
The first half of the Lotus Sutra (Shakumon) expounds the teaching of the One Vehicle. The several schools of Buddhism, which are divided roughly into three types (Sravaka-Vehicle, Pratyekabuddha-Vehicle, and Bodhisattva-Vehicle), are unified in the one single teaching of the One Vehicle. Since the number three represents all the various Buddhist Teachings, “three” here implies “many” or “all.”
Introduction to the Lotus SutraDay 6
Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month heard in gāthās the house was so dangerous, so dreadful, we learn of the denizens of the house.
This old and rotten house
Was owned by a man.
Shortly after he went out
To a place in the neighborhood,
Fires broke out suddenly
In the house.Raging flames came out
Of all sides at the same time.
The ridges, rafters,
Beams and pillars
Burst, quaked, split, broke and fell.
The fences and walls also fell.All the demons yelled.
The eagles, crested eagles,
And other birds, and kumbhandas
Were frightened and perplexed.
They did not know
How to get out of the house.
The wild beasts and poisonous vermin
Hid themselves in holes.In that house also lived
Demons called pisacakas.
Because they had few merits and virtues,
They suffered from the fire.
They killed each other,
Drank blood, and ate flesh.The small foxes were
Already dead.
Large wild beasts
Rushed at them and ate them.
Ill-smelling smoke rose
And filled the house.The centipedes, millipedes,
And poisonous snakes
Were driven out of their holes
By the fire,
And eaten
By the kumbhanda demons.The hair of the hungry spirits caught fire.
With hunger, thirst and burning,
The spirits ran about
In agony and dismay.The house was so dreadful.
[In that house] there were
Poisonings, killings and burnings.
There were many dangers, not just one.
An Image of the Buddha’s Personality
[The Parable of the Burning House] presents the Buddha as a concerned parent, and so brings an intimacy into the relationship between the Buddha and us ordinary people. On our part, the Buddha appears like a father to be loved and trusted in faith. On the Buddha’s part, living beings like us are his children to be saved with compassion. In all of Buddhist literature, there is no other example quite as vivid as this one in the Lotus Sutra, which presents the Buddha as the Savior of suffering humanity. Here in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha touches our hearts with a clear-cut image of his personality.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraDay 5
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month heard in gāthās Śāriputra’s realization, we hear Śāriputra’s acceptance of the Buddha’s explanation of his expedient teaching.
When I had heard this from you,
I was much frightened and perplexed; I thought:
“The Buddha troubles me.
Isn’t he Mara in the form of a Buddha?”You skillfully expound the Dharma with various parables and similes,
And with various stories of previous lives.
Now my mind is as peaceful as the sea.
Hearing you, I have removed the mesh of doubts.You said:
“The innumerable Buddhas in the past
Expounded the Dharma with expedients.
The numberless Buddhas at present
Also expound the Dharma
With expedients.
So will the countless Buddhas
In the future.”You appeared in this world,
Left your home, attained enlightenment,
And now turn the wheel of the Dharma,
Also with expedients.You expound the true teaching;
Papiyas does not.
Therefore, I know
That you are not a transformation of Mara.
I thought that the Dharma was expounded by Mara
Because I was in the mesh of doubts.I hear your gentle voice.
Your voice is deep and wonderful.
You expound the Pure Dharma.
My heart is filled with great joy.
All my doubts are gone.
I have obtained true wisdom.I shall become a Buddha without fail.
I shall be respected by gods and men.
I will turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
And teach Bodhisattvas.
The Expedient Process
[W]e all live in a world of relativity. We cannot ignore the fact that different opinions and different understandings of the world have always existed. According to the Lotus Sutra, this diversity of opinions should be appreciated and understood as valid steps we are taking on the road to the human ideal of the ultimate truth and ultimate value. For example, we often see conflicting theories in scientific research programs. Since each theory has good reasons behind it, it may be called a truth at that particular stage. But these various hypotheses must lie within the process leading to that truth.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraDay 4
Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sūtra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month discussed the arrogant bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs who left, we hear the Buddha explain his expedient teachings.
Śāriputra, listen attentively!
The Buddhas, having attained the Dharma,
Expound it to all living beings
By their immeasurable power to employ expedients.I caused all living beings to rejoice
By telling them stories of previous lives,
Parables, similes and discourses,
That is to say, by employing various expedients
Because I knew their thoughts,
The various teachings they were practicing,
Their desires, their natures,
And the good and evil karmas they have previously done.The sūtras were composed of prose, gāthās, and geyas.
The contents of them were
Miracles, parables, similes, upadesas,
And stories of the previous lives
Of Buddhas and of their disciples.
The reasons why the sūtras were expounded were also given.
The Spirit of the Great Vehicle
The teaching of the Lotus Sutra, which leads all beings without exception to Buddhahood, is the most highly exalted manifestation of the spirit of the Great Vehicle. It strives to benefit all living beings and leave behind no exceptions. This fundamental principle is clearly expounded in Chapter 2.
Introduction to the Lotus SutraDay 3
Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.
Having last month considered the depth of the insight of the Tathāgatas in gāthās, we consider that the Dharma is inexplicable by words.
The Dharma cannot be shown.
It is inexplicable by words.
No one can understand it
Except the Buddhas
And the Bodhisattvas
Who are strong in the power of faith.Even the Buddhas’ disciples who made offerings
To the [past] Buddhas in their previous existence,
[Even the disciples] who eliminated all asravas,
[Even the disciples] who are now at the final stage
Of their physical existence,
Cannot understand [the Dharma].