BuddhismInPractice, Promises

A Disciple Named Wangming

Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”

The Buddhist monk Daochao. Nothing is known of his secular background, but on leaving home he took up residence at Qijunshan Monastery and observed the Buddhist practices with utmost purity. He had a disciple named Wangming, who was about fifteen years of age. He set out to memorize the Lotus Sūtra, but upon learning the first fascicle he contracted a sudden illness and died. This disciple was particularly zealous in his studies, possessed of both character and spirit, and naturally endowed with human-heartedness and filiality. His master loved him dearly, and from the moment the boy died, he grieved over him day and night.

Qi commandery is not far from the shrine of Mount Tai. Daochao ruminated to himself, “I have often heard it said that, when a person dies, the soul must first pass through [the court of] the Lord of Mount Tai. Only after that is it able to be reborn. Even though the worlds of light and darkness are veiled from one another, a sincere heart will inevitably bring a response. I will try to ask the Lord of Mount Tai. Perhaps he will know where my disciple has been reborn.”

So resolved, Daochao took up his mendicant’s staff and incense [for offering] and set off for the mountain shrine. There he related in full his reasons for coming, declaring [his intentions] three times before the deity. Suddenly the wooden spirit-tablet spoke out in response, “Since you, master, are completely sincere in your observance of the precepts and your motives for coming here are so grave, I dare not tell you what you wish to know.” Thereupon he ordered an attending deity from one of the adjacent placards to summon [the spirit] in charge of [the dead disciple]. The deputy deity thereupon went into a chamber in the eastern wing of the shrine and called for a particular person to come forth. The Lord of Mount Tai then asked, “Where is the disciple Wangming at this moment?” To which the individual replied, “He is being retained here. He does not yet have a place of birth.”

Daochao then pleaded to see him, whereupon the Lord [of Mount Tai] had Chao follow the person back to the chamber in the eastern wing. Therein, at a distance of some ten paces away, he saw his disciple. His physical demeanor and clothing were the same as when he was alive. Master and disciple broke out in tears of grief. After a long while, Chao asked the boy, “Is your retribution painful or pleasant?”

The disciple replied, “At the moment I am being held here, so it is neither painful nor pleasant. It is just that my next place of birth has not yet been determined. I desperately need the support of religious merit. If I do not acquire wholesome karmic roots, I fear that I may be reborn in evil realms.”

The master asked, “What sort of meritorious acts might I perform to enable you to obtain an illustrious [destiny]?” His disciple replied, “I pray that you might make a single copy of the Lotus Sūtra [on my behalf] and hold a vegetarian feast for one hundred monks.”

“This can easily be arranged,” the master replied.

Thereupon, Daochao parted with the disciple. When he again saw the Lord [of Mount Tai], the Lord asked him what was said during their meeting. The master related how he needed to hold a vegetarian feast and fashion a copy of the sūtra [on his disciple’s behalf]. The Lord [of Mount Tai] told him, “Beings in the netherworld are in great need of spiritual merit. You should hasten to take care of this. When the task is completed, you may return to see [your disciple] again.”

Chao thereupon returned home, where he immediately prepared paper and brush and hired a person to copy the sūtra. After that, he held a purificatory celebration. With the merit making complete, he returned to the shrine and announced to the Lord [of Mount Tai] that the meritorious work was finished and he had come in search of his disciple. The Lord again ordered his deputy spirit to call [the disciple’s] warden. When the person arrived, the Lord asked him, “Is the disciple still here?”

The individual replied, “He has been reborn in a fine place.”

“What were the circumstances that brought about this rebirth?” Daochao asked.

The warden replied, “As the copyist began to form the first character miao – having finished the nu radical but not yet having started on the shao part – the disciple in that split instant obtained rebirth.”

“Where is he living now?” Chao asked.

The deity replied, “He has been born into the household of Wang Wu of Qi commandery. Wait for another two or three years, and then you may go to look for him.”

Chao inscribed the deity’s words in his heart, took his leave of the Lord [of Mount Tai], and departed. After three years had passed, he went to the Wang household and asked, “Good almsgiver, you have a little boy. This poor mendicant would like to see him.”

The household in question was a truly blessed one, in which they revered the three jewels faithfully. However, hitherto they had been unable to produce a son, as everyone both far and near knew. When this child was later born, [they kept it secret] and did not even tell their relatives about it. Thus, the head of the Wang clan stubbornly refused to admit that they had a son. Chao said to him, “It has been three years now since my disciple was born in your household. Why won’t you let me see him?”

Thereupon, Chao related the instructions of the Lord of Mount Tai. Having overheard him from a small side-door to the vestibule, the child’s mother told her husband, “If the master has such numinal powers of invocation as this, how can we keep the boy from him?” She then picked up the child and set him down outside the entranceway, at a distance of several meters from Chao. The boy immediately ran to him and threw himself into Chao’s embrace. There they remained weeping for a long time. When the child became older he left home and again served Chao as his disciple. This all took place in the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang reign-period [581-600]. No one knows when the master and his disciple passed away.

Buddhism in Practice, p446-448
Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Nov. 3, 2025

[“The Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra] preaches, “Medicine King! Know this that although many laymen or monks will practice the way of bodhisattvas, they will not be able to practice it satisfactorily unless they see, hear, read, recite, copy or keep this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma or make offerings to it.” This obviously means that though the bodhisattvas practice the Six Bodhisattva Practices and the Four Great Vows through the expedient practices of the Tripiṭaka teaching taking three hundred asaṃkhya kalpa, the Common teaching taking numerous dust-particle kalpa, and the Distinct teaching taking numerous asaṃkhya kalpa, they practice neither the right practices of bodhisattvas nor meritorious good acts until they reach the Lotus Sūtra. It is obvious that they cannot become Buddhas because they do not practice the right way of bodhisattvas.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha

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Blog, Hsuan Hua, Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary

Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s Practice

Reading Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s 14-volume commentary of the Lotus Sutra, I’ve discovered another interesting twist in the interpretation of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra. This comes in Volume 11 of Hsuan Hua’s commentary during the discussion of the practice of Bodhisattva Never Slighting in Chapter 20.

This bhikșu Never Slighting not only read and recited sūtras, but he also walked the Bodhisattva Path and made obeisance, to the extent that as soon as he saw members of the fourfold assembly from afar, he would deliberately approach them, bow, and praise them, saying, “I dare not slight you, for you shall all become Buddhas.” Bodhisattva practice like this isn’t easy to do. Could any of you do it? He bowed to both monastics and laypeople. He cultivated what others couldn’t cultivate.

Hsuan Hua Lotus Sutra Commentary, v11, ch20, p180

When I read this I immediately recognized a discrepancy with Senchu Murano’s translation, which says:

“He did not read or recite sūtras. He only bowed to the four kinds of devotees. When he saw them in the distance, he went to them on purpose, bowed to them, and praised them, saying, ‘I do not despise you because you can become Buddhas.’ “

Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s lack of sutra reading  is often  emphasized in Nichiren Buddhism when discussing this chapter.  For Hsuan Hua, however, the full Bodhisattva practice is an essential element of his Five Schools Buddhism. It is, therefore, essential that “Never Slighting not only read and recited sūtras, but he also walked the Bodhisattva Path.”
I checked the other English translations I have of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra.

The BDK English Tripitaka Series offers:

“Furthermore, this monk did not concentrate himself on reciting the sutras but only paid homage such that, even when he saw the fourfold assembly from afar, he would go up to them, praise, and pay homage to them, saying:

I dare not belittle you, because you will all become buddhas.

Burton Watson’s 2009 Soka Gakkai translation offers:

“This monk did not devote his time to reading or reciting the scriptures, but simply went about bowing to people. And if he hap-pened to see any of the four kinds of believers far off in the distance, he would purposely go to where they were, bow to them and speak words of praise, saying, ‘I would never dare disparage you, because you are all certain to attain Buddhahood!’

Rissho Kosei-Kai’s The Threefold Lotus Sutra, A Modern Translation for Contemporary Readers offers:

“That monk did not apply himself to reading and reciting the sutras. Instead, he merely practiced bowing respectfully to people. Even when he saw one of the four groups in the distance, he would make a point of going up to them in order to bow respectfully and praise them, saying, ‘I could never find you unworthy of respect. All of you will become buddhas.’ “

Rissho Kosei-Kai’s 1975 edition offers:

And that bhikshu did not devote himself to reading and reciting the sutras but only to paying respect, so that when he saw afar off [a member of the] four groups, he would specially go and pay respect to them, commending them, saying: ‘I dare not slight you, because you are all to become buddhas.’

After using Hsuan Hua’s translation of the Lotus Sutra as part of my daily practice earlier this year, I wrote about discrepancies I had noticed. (See this post.) I did not notice the discrepancy in Chapter 20 at that time, but I did note a significant change in Chapter 4 when the rich man dons work clothes and visits with his poor son.  Murano and all other English translators of Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation say the rich man looked “fearful” or “frightening.” Hsuan Hua’s translation, instead, had him “frightened.”  In my post, I described this as an error in translation. It was later, when reading Hsuan Hua’s commentary, that I realized that this was not an error, per se, but a difference in interpretation. (See this post.)

In the case of Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s practice, the difference can again be seen as a difference of interpretation. But on this particular point Hsuan Hua has one supporter among the English translators.

While Leon Hurvitz’s 2009 translation had the rich man in Chapter 4 “frightful in appearance,” on the topic of Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s practice Hurvitz agrees with Hsuan Hua:

So this bhikşu did not simply read and recite the scriptural canon, but rather did obeisance, too, to the point that, when he saw the fourfold multitude from afar, he would make a special point of going to them, doing obeisance, and uttering praise, saying, ‘I dare not hold you all in contempt, since you are all to become buddhas!’

Hurvitz’s translation is unique in that he attempted to translate both Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation and the existing Sanscrit translations. Is that why he disagrees with all the other English translators? There’s no footnote at this point in his translation to explain his reasoning. In any event, the support of Hsuan Hua’s interpretation is thought provoking. This journey has been very rewarding.

Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Nov. 2, 2025

Therefore, you should realize that being able to chant the daimoku of this sūtra is an experience more wonderful than a blind person gaining his eyesight and seeing his parents for the first time and rarer than a man being captured by a mighty enemy and being released by a special pardon to be reunited with his wife and children.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Nov. 1, 2025

The Lotus Sūtra preaches in chapter 2, “Expedients,” of the first fascicle that to have the opportunity to hear teachers of this sūtra is rare even during innumerable kalpa (aeons) of time. The sūtra also states in chapter 14, “peaceful Practices,” of the fifth fascicle that it is difficult to hear even the title of the Lotus Sūtra in the innumerable countries. The above indicates how difficult it is for us to meet the Lotus Sūtra, and problems involved to even hear the title of the Lotus Sūtra.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Oct. 31, 2025

When we open the Lotus Sūtra, we can see its teachings as clearly as looking at our face in a mirror. It is similar to recognizing the color of grasses and trees as the sun rises. It is stated in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “The truth has not been revealed during the first forty years or so.” At the beginning of the “Expedients” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 1, it is said, “The World Honored One will expound the true teaching after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings].” In the chapter of “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” in the fourth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Lotus Sūtra of the Wonderful Dharma … is nothing but the truth.” In the chapter of “Divine Powers of the Buddha” in the seventh fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, it is clearly stated that the tongues of the three Buddhas (Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and numerous Buddhas in manifestation) “reach the Brahma Heaven,” proving the sūtra to be true. Moreover, in the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter, other sūtras preached before or after the Lotus Sūtra are compared to stars, rivers, petty kings or minor mountains whereas the Lotus Sūtra is compared to the moon, the sun, the great ocean, major mountains or a great king. These are not my own words, but the golden words of the Buddha and the words that Buddhas from all the worlds throughout the universe resolved.

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennichi

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Oct. 30, 2025

[T]he Chinese character for “great,” not that for “wonderful,” was put on each title of such sūtras as the Great Flower Garland Sūtra, the Sūtra of Great Assembly, the Great Wisdom Sūtra and the Great Nirvana Sūtra. These sūtras can save only people who are still alive but not dead ones, while the Lotus Sūtra can save dead people as well, which is why the sūtra is called “wonderful.” Therefore, those who are entitled to attain Buddhahood cannot do so by various other sūtras, while even those who have difficulty in attaining Buddhahood can become Buddhas by the Lotus Sūtra, let alone those who are easily capable of doing so. Accordingly, no one should rely on various other sūtras after the Lotus Sūtra was expounded.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Oct. 29, 2025

[T]hose who received the teaching of the Great Concentration and Insight from Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in the Age of the Semblance Dharma are, like those who heard the preaching of the pre-Lotus teaching in the lifetime of Śākyamuni Buddha, “people who received the perfect teaching taking on the expedients (provisional teaching).” People who receive the teaching from the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha are those who receive the teaching of the Wonderful Dharma revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra and go their way correctly to enlightenment.

Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Oct. 28, 2025

The merit of your offerings to me and becoming my follower, on the other hand, cannot be fully comprehended even with the Buddha’s wisdom. Therefore, it is preached in the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter, “Even the wisdom of the Buddha cannot measure the extent of such merit.”

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality

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Promises

Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Oct. 27, 2025

The Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra says: “If the practice of the spiritual contemplation is consistent with the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, it will become a wonderful way of practice different from such vain efforts as counting the treasures of other people. This shows that the Great Concentration and Insight is merely a means to attain the objective for knowing the Lotus meditation (like a coop which is unnecessary when the fish is caught). If a person understands this meaning, he can really obtain the essence of the Lotus Sūtra.

Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation

About this project

On the Journey to a Place of Treasures