The numbers are sobering. Every year some 15 million people die of hunger. Do we even know what 15 million is, can we comprehend that number? New York city has a population of 8.3 million, and Los Angeles is 9.8 million. So if we eliminated the entire population of Los Angeles and half the population of New York city every year that would be a fair representation of the number of people who die from hunger in one year. Now do that every year. It is frightful. This doesn’t even address the number of children who die as infants, the number of homeless, and so on. We just aren’t doing a very good job of taking care of each other. In the United States, we live in relative comfort for the most part. We consume as if there is no end to resources and completely oblivious to the suffering taking place all over the globe. Life goes on. You know I have written a lot about our personal practice, our practice to attain enlightenment. We cannot understand enlightenment without considering the suffering of others. We will not truly become happy until we enable all other to do so as well. The first of the Bodhisattva vows speaks of enabling all living beings to become enlightened, even before we do so.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Quotes
A Lifelong Application of a Spiritual Practice
The practice of Buddhism is not a guarantee of a life of complete ease and trouble-free living. To believe that is to believe in a fantasy. Buddhism is a lifelong application of a spiritual practice, one of awakening by degrees. The practice of Buddhism is working to overcome obstacles that test us and then making changes we would otherwise overlook. This is why the medicine of the Lotus Sutra sometimes does not appear to be of good flavor. The taste of practice and devotion is not always sweet, even though the outcome tastes of nectar, of ambrosia.
Physician's Good MedicineThe Truth of the Everlasting Relationship
The full-opened eyes see the Truth of the everlasting relationship between ourselves and the eternal Buddhahood, in which the Buddha, as revealed in the chapter on the Eternal Life of the Tathagata, is the Lord ruling over all subjects, the Master leading his pupils to maturity, and the Father who gives birth to the children. We are, from all eternity, subjects of the Buddha, his disciples, and his children; being essentially like him through the eternal Truth. When seen in this light, every religion and ethical system, compared with Nichiren’s religion revealed in the Lotus, is one of the preliminary steps leading up to the ultimate truth. Yet men are blind or squinting and do not see the whole truth in its full light.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetAll the Wisdom and Compassion of the Buddha
Chanting Odaimoku, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, is our primary practice. This is the essence of the Lotus Sutra and includes all the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha.
Nichiren Shonin said, “All the good deeds and virtues of the Buddha are manifested in the title of the Lotus Sutra, that is, in the five characters, Myo, Ho, Ren, Ge, and Kyo. However sinful we may be, we shall be naturally endowed with all the deeds and virtues of the Buddha, if we adhere to these five characters.”
– Kanjin Honzon-sho
Unification
The unification of the spirit of the Buddha, the mind of the Buddha, and the teachings of the Buddha are clearly stated when he says that he knows all, and he knows the Way. He states that he has opened the path up to us based upon his wisdom and skill. Even when the Buddha seemed to be teaching different paths to enlightenment he was in fact teaching the true single way to eliminate suffering. He has experienced the truth of the equality of all Buddhas through his own life, he is teaching this to us through his many teachings leading up to the ultimate of the Lotus Sutra, and because of these he has made it possible for all beings to attain what he himself has attained.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Perfection of Energy
Of the Six Perfections – generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom – the perfection of energy involves enthusiasm and unflagging dedication to the practice of Buddhism. We use our energy to make continuous efforts to weed out bad habits, avoid starting any new bad habits, cultivate good habits, and develop new good habits.
Lotus SeedsA Window and a Map
The Lotus Sutra provides us with a window to see other possibilities for our lives and it also provides us with a map that we can use to get to those other ways of being.
The Magic City: Studying the Lotus SutraThe Real State of Visible Things
Now the real state of visible things is one of emptiness and relativity. All phenomena, mental and material, in all times and spaces, are to be conceived of as existing subjectively in the consciousness of every individual, as his own physical and mental states, and thus only; so that the differences and varieties which distinguish things from one another must be regarded as purely imaginary and misleading, without any foundation in fact. Grasp this, and you have the Truth, and everything will then appear to you as it is in reality; you will see it as it is in itself.
Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)Our Infinite Connection with the Eternal Buddha
Because of the ray of light the Buddha emitted those present in the congregation were able to see far into the past. They were able to see Buddhas, and stupas of those Buddhas. In various places in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha reveals the past causes of a variety of people so they can know the causes made that enabled them to become Buddhas.
We may think that these are not things we can accomplish, yet through our daily practice of the Odaimoku and faith in the Lotus Sutra, we are able to reveal the historical truth of the Bodhisattvas who arose from beneath the earth. We can, by chanting Odaimoku, manifest the life of these great Bodhisattvas and reveal our infinite connection with the Eternal Buddha.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Living in the Material World
There is no perfect realm of only spiritual ideas or existence. It is in fact only an imaginary idea that leads to unhappiness in the end because it is not attainable.
It is better to realize that our everyday lives are the places where we are capable of attaining a tranquil existence. This accepts and cherishes the twists and turns, the ups and downs, the successes and failures of life. These are the true places in which to live our spirituality and reach enlightenment. The material world is the ground upon which we can build a beautiful, peaceful, and joyful life. It is also the place where we can show others how to live a similar life, which in turn will enable others to also reach enlightenment.
Physician's Good Medicine