Category Archives: LS32

LS32

Day 7

Day 7 concludes Chapter 3, A Parable, and begins Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith.

Having last month considered some people to avoid when expounding the sūtra, we learn of some of the punishments for scowling at and doubting this sūtra.

Some will scowl at this sūtra
And doubt it.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

In my lifetime or after my extinction
Some will slander this sūtra,
And despise the person
Who reads or recites
Or copies or keeps this sūtra.
They will hate him,
Look at him with jealousy,
And harbor enmity against him.
Listen! I will tell you
How they will be punished.

When their present lives end,
They will fall into the Avici Hell.
They will live there for a kalpa,
And have their rebirth in the same hell.
This rebirth of theirs will be repeated
For innumerable kalpas.

After that they will be reborn
In the world of animals.
Some of them will become dogs or small foxes.
They will be bald, thin and black.
They will suffer from mange and leprosy
Men will treat them mercilessly,
And hate and despise them.
They will always suffer from hunger and thirst.
Their bones will project; their flesh sag.
They will always suffer in their present existence.
After their death, they will be put
Under pieces of tile or stones.
Those who destroy the seeds of Buddhahood
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become
Camels or asses.
They will always be heavily loaded,
And beaten with sticks or whips.
They will think of nothing
But water and hay.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

Some of them will become small foxes.
They will suffer
From mange and leprosy.
They will have only one eye
When they come to a town,
They will be struck by boys.
Some of them
Will be beaten to death.
After they die
They will become boas.
Their bodies will be large,
Five hundred yojanas long.
They will be deaf and stupid.

They will wriggle along without legs.
They will be bitten
By many small vermin.
They will suffer day and night.
They will have no time to take a rest.
Those who slander this sūtra
Will be punished like this.

See Narratives of the Buddha in the Future

LS Introduction, LS32, d21b, d22b, d23b, d24b

Narratives of the Buddha in the Future

The Lotus Sutra can be seen as a book of prophetic teachings. For this reason, Nichiren called these teachings “narratives of the Buddha in the future.” These narratives of the future, however, do not merely prophesy what will happen in coming generations. Their point is that Sakyamuni teaches living beings how to perform practices in an era when he does not physically exist. Since the words of the Buddha are true, we are expected to accept them as the Truth, and we are all required to follow the teaching

Nichiren actually put into practice what the Lotus Sutra had expounded concerning its propagation in the future. His determined efforts, however, raised opposition, which led to persecutions.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 6

Day 6 continues Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month heard why the rich man gave each child the large cart, we repeat in gāthās.

Thereupon the Buddha, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

I will tell you a parable.
A rich man had a manor house.
It was old, rotten,
Broken and ruined.
The house was about to collapse.
The lower parts of the pillars were rotten;
The beams and ridge-poles, tilting and slanted;
The foundation and steps, broken;
The fences and walls, corrupt;
The plaster of the walls, peeling;
The rush thatched on the roof, falling;
The rafters and eaves, slipping out of each other;
The hedges around the house, bent;
And refuse and debris, scattered all over.

In this house lived
Five hundred people.
Kites, owls, crested eagles,
Eagles, crows,
Magpies, doves, pigeons,
Lizards, snakes, vipers, scorpions,
Millipedes, wall lizards, centipedes,
Weasels, badgers, mice, rats,
And poisonous vermin
Were moving about.

Maggots and other vermin
Assembled on the excretions
Scattered all over
In the house.

Foxes, wolves, and small foxes
Were crawling on corpses,
Biting them, chewing them,
And dismembering them.

Many dogs were scrambling for their prey.
Weak and nervous from hunger,
They were seeking food here and there.
They were fighting with each other,
Snapping at each other,
And barking at each other.
The house was
So dreadful, so extraordinary.

Mountain spirits, water spirits,
Yakṣas and other demons
Lived here and there.
They fed on people and poisonous vermin.

Wild birds and beasts
Hatched their eggs,
Suckled or bred.
They protected their offspring.
Yakṣas scrambled for their young,
Took them, and ate them.
Having eaten to their hearts’ content,
They became more violent.
They fought with each other.
Their shrieks were dreadful.

The demons called kumbhandas
Crouched on the ground
Or jumped a foot or two above the ground.
They walked to and fro
And played at their will.
They seized dogs by the legs,
Or hit them
Until they lost their voices,
And held their feet against their necks.
They enjoyed seeing them frightened.

Some demons,
Tall, large,
Naked, black, and thin,
Lived in the house.
They were crying for food
With loud and evil voices.

The necks of some demons
Were as slender as needles.
The heads of some demons
Were like that of a cow.
They ate people or dogs.
Their hair was disheveled
Like mugworts.
They were cruel and dangerous.
Always hungry and thirsty,
They were running about, shrieking.

Yakṣas, hungry spirits,
And wild birds and beasts
Were unbearably hungry.
They were looking out of the windows
In all directions for food.
The house was so dangerous, so dreadful.

See The Remedy

LS Introduction, LS32, d6b

The Remedy

Sakyamuni indicates the path to true happiness by first pointing out that suffering in this world surely exists. Then in the last verses of Chapter 3 he gives the remedy.

I am the father of this world, the best of the sages. All living beings are my children. They are deeply attached to the pleasures of the world. They lack wisdom. The triple world is not peaceful. It is like the burning house. It is full of sufferings. It is dreadful. There are always the sufferings of birth, old age, disease, and death. They are like flames raging endlessly. I have already left the burning house of the triple world. I am tranquil and peaceful in a bower in the forest. This triple world is my property. All living beings in it are my children. There are many sufferings in this world. Only I can save all living beings.

It is based on this passage that Nichiren formulated his doctrine of the three virtues of the Buddha: he is our master, our teacher, and our parent.

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 5

Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable

Having last month heard in gāthās Śāriputra’s understanding that the Buddha expounds the Dharma according to the capacities of all living beings, we hear Śāriputra’s realization.

I once was attached to wrong views,
And became a teacher of the aspirants for the teaching of Brahman.
You expounded to me the teaching of Nirvāṇa,
And removed my wrong views because you understood me.
I gave up all those wrong views,
And attained the truth that nothing is substantial.

At that time I thought
That I had attained extinction.’
But now I know
That the extinction I attained is not the true one.
When I become a Buddha in the future,
I shall be adorned with the thirty-two marks,
And respected
By gods, men, yakṣas, and dragons.
Only then I shall be able to say
That I have eliminated all [illusions].

In the midst of the great multitude,
You said to me, “You will become a Buddha.”
Hearing this truthful voice,
All my doubts are gone.

See Offering of Robes

LS Introduction, LS32, d5b

Offering of Robes

Sariputra was the first among the Ten Great Disciples and the numerous other “hearers” and arhats who were personally assured by Sakyamuni of future Buddhahood. The congregation rejoiced to see that Sariputra was assured of his future Buddhahood, took off their outer robes, and offered them to the Buddha. (The monks, who had practically no possessions, were offering their only “luxury.” Wealthy followers made more costly offerings.) They venerated the Buddha and exalted him, saying, “The Buddha first turned the wheel of the law at Varanasi a long time ago. Now he turns the wheel of the unsurpassed and greatest law.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 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 concluded Chapter 2, Expedients, we return to the start of Day 4’s portion.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Some bhikṣus and bhikṣunīs
Were arrogant.
Some upāsakās were self-conceited.
Some upāsikās were unfaithful.
Those four kinds of devotees
Were five thousand in number.

They could not see their own faults.
They could not observe all the precepts.
They were reluctant to heal their own wounds.
Those people of little wisdom are gone.
They were the dregs of this congregation.
They were driven away by my powers and virtues.

They had too few merits and virtues
To receive the Dharma.
Now there are only sincere people here.
All twigs and leaves are gone.

See Expedient Words

LS Introduction, LS32, d3b

Expedient Words

[W]ords function only if commonly understood within a given society. If they are clearly understood, they bear objective meanings. This objectivity, however, is not absolute. It depends on conventional practices mutually agreed upon within a particular society. Something acceptable or commonly understood within one society may be neither acceptable nor understood in another society. Words, by themselves, cannot express the truth in full. If someone wants to expound the truth in words, his explanation will naturally have the characteristic of an expedient. The truth of enlightenment is beyond all our normal experience. There are no words to describe it. Therefore it can be expressed only partially, by expedients. Moreover, each expedient can be presented only in a limited form and on a case-by-case basis. (What makes good sense to one person may make no sense at all to somebody else.)

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra

LS32

Day 3

Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.

Having last month considered the depth of the insight of the Tathāgatas, we repeat in gāthās.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

The [ wisdom of the] World-Heroes is immeasurable.
None of the living beings in the world,
Including gods and men,
Knows the [ wisdom of the] Buddhas.

No one can measure the powers, fearlessness,
Emancipations, samādhis,
And other properties of the [present] Buddhas,
Because they, in their previous existence,
Followed innumerable Buddhas
And practiced the teachings of those Buddhas.

The profound and wonderful Dharma
Is difficult to see and difficult to understand.
I practiced the teachings of the [past] Buddhas
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And became a Buddha at the place of enlightenment.
I have already attained the Dharma.

l know the various effects, rewards and retributions,
Natures and appearances of all things:
The Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters
Also know all this.

See Two Identities of the Great Vehicle

LS Introduction, LS32, d3b

Two Identities of the Great Vehicle

[W]e need a central theme or foundation to unify our many theories of the truth—some theme which has already served us well in the past. So we pick out the one which has been of the most value. In Buddhism, the Bodhisattva Vehicle, or Great Vehicle, has been of the most value. Accordingly, the Great Vehicle has two identities: one which is unified as an expedient, and one which unifies the three expedients as the true teaching. The former is the Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva Vehicle, in relation to the other two vehicles. The latter is the one which is higher in value and embraces the other two by transcending any contrast between them. In this case, the Bodhisattva Vehicle may be a synonym for the One Buddha Vehicle.

Since the Bodhisattva Vehicle is the basis for the unification of the three vehicles, it follows that the “hearers” and “private Buddhas” are themselves really Bodhisattvas without knowing it. So the Buddha says:

“Śāriputra! Some disciples of mine, who think that they are Arhats or Pratyekabuddhas, will not be my disciples or Arhats or Pratyekabuddhas if they do not hear or know that the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, teach only Bodhisattvas.”

Introduction to the Lotus Sutra