Category Archives: WONS

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The Four Bodhisattvas from Underground

Among those great bodhisattvas, appearing out of the earth of the whole world, four great sages of Jōgyō (Superior Practice), Muhengyō (Limitless Practice), Jōgyō (Pure Practice), and Anryūgyō (Steadily Established Practice) were outstanding in appearance. Awe stricken by these four, those great bodhisattvas and others who had come to listen to the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra on Mt. Sacred Eagle and up in the sky could not even gaze upon them nor understand who they were. Standing in front of these four who had come from underground, four bodhisattvas in the Flower Garland Sūtra, four bodhisattvas in the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and sixteen bodhisattvas in the Diamond Peak Sūtra seemed to be men squinting at the sun or fishermen facing the emperor. These four bodhisattvas from underground were like the four sages such as T’ai-kung-wang living with the people, or four elder statesmen of Shang-shan waiting on Emperor Hui, the second emperor of the Former Han dynasty. The four bodhisattvas from underground, indeed, appeared commanding and awe-inspiring. With the exception of Śākyamuni, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation, they would have been looked up to by everyone as “good friends.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 70-71

LS32, WONS

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 20 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Maitreya Bodhisattva’s puzzlement about the great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground, we consider further Maitreya’s puzzlement.

Some great Bodhisattvas are each accompanied by attendants
Sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges.
They are seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha
With all their hearts.

The number of these great teachers is sixty thousand times
The number of the sands of the River Ganges.
They came together and made offerings to you.
Now they protect and keep this sūtra.
The attendants or disciples accompanying
Each [of the other great Bodhisattvas] number
Fifty thousand times or forty thousand times
Or thirty thousand times or twenty thousand times
Or ten thousand times or a thousand times
Or a hundred times as many as the sands of the River Ganges,
Or a half, a third, or a quarter
Of the number of the sands of the River Ganges,
Or as many as the sands of the River Ganges Divided by a billion;
Or ten million nayuta, a billion or fifty million,
Or a million, ten thousand, a thousand or a hundred,
Or fifty, ten, three, two or one.
[The great Bodhisattvas] who are accompanied
By less attendants are even more numerous.
Some [great Bodhisattvas] have no attendants
Because they prefer a solitary life.
They are the most numerous.
They came together to you.

No one will be able to count
All [these great Bodhisattvas] even if he uses
A counting wand for more kalpas
Than the number of the sands of the River Ganges.

These Bodhisattvas have
Great powers, virtues and energy.
Who expounded the Dharma to them? Who taught them?
Who qualified them to attain [perfect enlightenment]?

Under whom did they begin to aspire for enlightenment?
What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?
What sūtra did they keep and practice?
What teaching of the Buddha did they study?

These Bodhisattvas have supernatural powers
And the great power of wisdom.
The ground of this world quaked and cracked.
They sprang up from under the four quarters of this world.

World-Honored One!
I have never seen them before.
I do not know
Any of them.

They appeared suddenly from underground.
Tell me why!
Many thousands of myriads
Of millions of Bodhisattvas
In this great congregation
Also want to know this.

There must be some reason.
Possessor of Immeasurable Virtues!
World-Honored One!
Remove our doubts!

Nichiren addresses these doubts in his letter Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching:

Grand Master Miao-lê further explained in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Wise men know things in advance as a snake knows that it is a snake.” The meaning of these words in the Lotus Sūtra and annotations by T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê are clear, that is to say, nobody had ever seen or heard of those bodhisattvas from the earth after Śākyamuni’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree till today, either in this world or in any of the worlds in the universe.

So the Buddha answered the question of Bodhisattva Maitreya: “Maitreya! It was I who taught and guided those great bodhisattvas whom you said you had never seen. After I attained perfect enlightenment in this Sahā World, I taught, guided, and controlled them, and encouraged them to aspire for enlightenment.” He continued, “After I sat in meditation under the bodhi tree near the town of Gayā and was able to attain perfect enlightenment, I taught and guided them, while preaching the supreme dharma and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. Now they have all been proceeding to the highest enlightenment without falling back I have taught and guided them since the eternal past.”

Then Bodhisattva Maitreya and other great bodhisattvas began to doubt the Buddha. At the time the Flower Garland Sūtra was preached, numerous great bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom gathered. While wondering who they were, Maitreya and others were told by Śākyamuni Buddha, apparently to their satisfaction, that Dharma Wisdom and other great bodhisattvas were Śākyamuni’s “good friends.” The same thing happened to those great bodhisattvas who gathered together at Daihōbō where the Sūtra of the Great Assembly was preached, and to those who gathered at Lake White Heron upon the preaching of the Wisdom Sūtra. The great bodhisattvas appearing from underground now, however, seemed incomparably superior to them, and it appeared probable that they were teachers of Śākyamuni Buddha. Nevertheless, the Buddha declared that it was He who caused them to aspire for enlightenment, as if the Buddha taught and guided immature people as His disciples. It was only natural, therefore, that Bodhisattva Maitreya and others had serious doubts about Śākyamuni Buddha.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 72

d14b, WONS

The Merit of Making Offerings to a Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

The “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter in the 4th fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra states: “If there is one who, in the quest for the Buddha Way, honors me in countless verses with palms pressed together in my presence throughout one kalpa (aeon), such a person will gain immeasurable benefits because of this praise. But one who extols the upholders of this sūtra will accrue blessings that surpass even those.” This means that the merits received for making offerings to a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration surpass the benefits received for serving with sincerity a Buddha as noble as Śākyamuni with one’s body; mouth, and mind for an entire medium kalpa (aeon). Although this may seem implausible, there should be no doubt about it because such are the Buddha’s golden words.

Grand Master Miao-lê further clarifies this passage from the sūtra by saying: “Those who slander them (practicers of the Lotus Sūtra), will have their heads split into seven pieces. However, those who make offerings to them (practicers of the Lotus Sūtra) will find that their merits exceed those of a Buddha endowed with the ten honorable titles.” This means that the merit of making offerings to a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration exceeds that of making offerings to a Buddha with ten honorable titles. It also means that those who persecute a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the impure age will have their heads split into seven pieces.

Kō no Ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My lady, the Nun Kō, the Nun Myōichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 165-166

LS32, WONS

Day 19

Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.

Day 19 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered how Śākyamuni is like the king who rewards his soldiers’ efforts, we consider why Śākyamuni teaches this sūtra lastly.

“Mañjuśrī! This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most excellent and profound teaching of all the Tathāgatas. Therefore, I expound it lastly just as the powerful king gave the brilliant gem lastly, the one which he had kept [in his topknot) for a long time.

“Mañjuśrī! This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the treasury of the hidden core of the Buddhas, of the Tathāgatas. It is superior to all the other sūtras. I kept it [in secret] and refrained from expounding it for the long night. Now I expound it to you today for the first time.”

Nichiren comments on this in Selecting the Right Time:

It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 5 (chapter 14): “This Lotus Sūtra is the secret treasure of all Buddhas. It is supreme of all sūtras.” Please note that “it is supreme of all sūtras.” According to this sūtra, therefore, he who insists that the Lotus Sūtra is supreme of all sūtras is a true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, isn’t he? Nevertheless, many who are revered in the land insist that there are sūtras superior to the Lotus. Standing against these monks, who are revered by the king and his subjects, the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra is poor and powerless, with all the people in the land despising him. Under such circumstances, if he points out their sin of slandering the True Dharma as stubbornly as Never Despising Bodhisattva or as decisively as Commentator Bhadraruci defeated Brahman, the Boaster, his life will be in jeopardy. This seems of prime importance. This fits me, Nichiren.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right Time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1,
Page 250-251

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Difficulty in Meeting a Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

Putting aside the preciousness of the Lotus Sūtra for now, it is all the more difficult for us to meet a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra who preaches the sūtra as expounded in it than for a one-eyed turtle to find a piece of sandalwood tree floating on the sea or for anyone to lift Mt. Sumeru with a lotus root into the air.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 74

d22b, WONS

Stages of Practice

Because in a later section, when speaking of the fourth stage of practice the sūtra says, “Needless to say, anyone who not only keeps this sūtra but also gives alms, observes the precepts, practices patience, makes endeavors, concentrates his mind, and seeks wisdom, will be able to obtain the most excellent and innumerable merits.” This passage from the sūtra makes it clear that people in the first, second, and third stages of practice should refrain giving alms, observing the precepts, and the rest of the first five bodhisattva practices until they arrive at the fourth stage of practice and then they are allowed to begin practicing them. Therefore, if they are only allowed to practice them at this stage, we know that they should refrain from practicing them in the first stage.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 104

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The Buddha’s Pure and Immaculate Voice

Yesterday I wrote about Senchu Murano’s penchant for inserting his twist on tales from the Lotus Sutra (“Questions and Fantasy Answers“). I also posted that article on the Nichiren Shu Group on Facebook and asked if anyone could offer a defense for the use of “fantasy” stories in place of actual Lotus Sutra verses in teaching Nichiren Buddhism.

Judging from the comments I received, my original post failed to make clear my point. Let me try again.

In Nichiren’s Treatise on Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, Wooden Statues or Portraits (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 91), he writes:

The written words of the Lotus Sutra express in a visible and tangible form the Brahma’s voice of the Buddha, which is invisible and intangible, so that we can see and read them with our eyes. The Buddha’s pure and immaculate voice, which had disappeared, is resuscitated in the form of written characters for the benefit of humankind.

Shinkyo Warner, in his Daily Dharma post on this quote, says:

Living in this world, 2500 years after the Buddha Śākyamuni walked the Earth, it is difficult to hear his voice leading us to enlightenment and encouraging us to let go of our attachments. In the Lotus S̄ūtra we have an instrument for creating the Buddha’s voice in our own time. This is his highest teaching. It brings all beings to liberation, whether they are clever or dull, stupid or wise, focused or distracted. It reminds us of our true nature as Bodhisattvas who chose this life out of our determination to benefit all beings. It shows us how to transform the poison of suffering into the medicine of compassion, and the poison of ignorance into the medicine of wisdom.

When Senchu Murano inserts his words and ideas into his “fantasy” about the Lotus Sutra, what do we hear?

In Murano’s 1997 booklet, The Gohonzon, he tells this tale about the Buddha Many Treasures (Prabhutaratna, Taho):

The fantastic narration of the Lotus Sutra begins with the story of Prabhutaratna (Many-Treasures, Taho) Buddha, as follows:

There lived a Buddha called Taho many kalpas ago in a world called Treasure-Pure, which was located far to the east of the Saha World. Taho Buddha knew the Wonderful Dharma, but did not expound it by himself because he thought that the Wonderful Dharma should be expounded by a Buddha who would emanate from himself as many Replica-Buddhas as there are worlds in the universe, dispatch them to those worlds, and then expound the Wonderful Dharma in a sutra called the Lotus Sutra. Taho Buddha decided to wait for the advent of such a Buddha, and to approve the truthfulness of the Lotus Sutra expounded by that Buddha.

In Murano’s 1998 booklet, Questions and Answers on Nichiren Buddhism, he suggests this is how Chapter 11 starts:

Sakyamuni Buddha did what he had never done before at the beginning of Chapter XI of the Lotus Sutra. He produced innumerable Replica Buddhas of his own from himself, told them to expound what he was going to expound from that moment, and dispatched them to the worlds of the ten quarters: the four quarters, the four intermediate quarters, zenith, and nadir. After he saw them having reached their assigned worlds, Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the teaching of the One Vehicle, that is the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Obedient to their Original Buddha, his Replica-Buddhas expounded the same teaching throughout the universe and as a result the universal validity of the Wonderful Dharma was revealed.

The stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha at the opening of Chapter 11. There is no discussion of emanations of Śākyamuni until the congregation asks Śākyamuni to open the stupa. As for whether other Buddhas can create emanations, that is clearly the case in The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, which is the concluding portion of the Threefold Lotus Sutra. (See this post.)

If the tale of the Stupa of Treasures, as Murano says, is where “the fantastic narration of the Lotus Sutra begins,” then what of the earlier 10 chapters?

In Chapter 11, Śākyamuni explains to the congregation what has happened:

“The perfect body of a Tathāgata is in this stūpa of treasures. A long time ago there was a world called Treasure-Purity at the distance of many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds to the east [of this world]. In that world lived a Buddha called Many-Treasures. When he was yet practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas, he made a great vow: ‘If anyone expounds a sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in any of the worlds of the ten quarters after I become a Buddha and pass away, I will cause my stūpa-mausoleum to spring up before him so that I may be able to prove the truthfulness of the sūtra and say ‘excellent’ in praise of him because I wish to hear that sūtra [directly from him].”

“He attained enlightenment[, and became a Buddha]. When he was about to pass away, he said to the bhikṣus in the presence of the great multitude of gods and men, ‘If you wish to make offerings to my perfect body after my extinction, erect a great stūpa!’

“If anyone expounds the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in any of the worlds of the ten quarters, that Buddha, by his supernatural powers and by the power of his vow, will cause the stūpa of treasures enshrining his perfect body to spring up before the expounder of the sūtra. Then he will praise [the expounder of the sūtra], saying, ‘Excellent, excellent!’

“Great-Eloquence! Now Many-Treasures Tathāgata caused his stūpa to spring up from underground in order to hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [directly from me]. Now he praised me, saying, ‘Excellent, excellent!’ ”

Senchu Murano’s words are pure fabrication, a whole cloth that muffles the Buddha’s pure and immaculate voice.

How does one defend such an act, especially when the book was written in English for an audience that knew little if any of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra?

Previous: Questions and Fantasy Answers

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Perils in the Latter Age of Degeneration

The first thousand years following the Buddha’s extinction are called the Age of the True Dharma. During this period, many people kept the precepts and some attained Buddhahood. The next thousand years are called the Age of the Semblance Dharma. During this period, many people broke the precepts, and only a few attained Buddhahood. After the Age of the Semblance Dharma comes the Latter Age of Degeneration. This period is filled with people who neither keep nor break the precepts, but the country is filled with people who have no precepts.

Moreover, we live in a defiled and chaotic world. In the pure world, people abandon evil things and take on the right things, just as a bent tree is straightened with a straight rope. The five defilements (of the age, evil passions, people, views and life) began to increase in the Ages of the True and Semblance Dharmas, becoming furious and chaotic in the Latter Age of Degeneration. It is like when a strong wind creates big waves and they hit, not only the shore, but also each other. Defilement of views did not cause much trouble in the Ages of the True and Semblance Dharmas, but in the Latter Age of Degeneration, a few evil teachings spread, causing the destruction of the True Dharma; as a result there seems to be more people who fall into the evil realms due to their wrong beliefs than people who fall into evil paths due to worldly crimes.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 140.

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Something Shining Like the Moon Flew Like a Ball

Just at the time when I was thinking this must be the place where I would be beheaded, the soldiers began to get excited, gathering around me. Shijō Kingo began to cry saying, “The last moment has come!” Looking at this, I uttered, “How cowardly you all are! I am glad you are laughing at such a wonderful occasion as this when I am now going to present my malodorous head to the Lotus Sūtra. Why do you break the promise you had made?” Just at this moment, something shining like the moon flew like a ball from Enoshima Island from southeast to northwest. It was before daybreak, the night of the twelfth and was still too dark to see the faces of people. However, the night was brightened by the shining object for us to see our faces as clearly as on a moonlit night. The executioner who was ready to kill Nichiren fell down on the ground blinded. The soldiers became frightened. Some ran away as far as one hundred meters, others dismounted from horses and squatted down on the ground, and still others remained stiff on horseback.

I, Nichiren, shouted, “Why do you stay away from a felon like me? Come back here quickly.” None of them, however, came near me in a hurry. “Daybreak is coming very soon; what can you do if it gets light? If you have to kill me, do it right away. It would be unsightly when it gets lighted.” Thus I shouted to them, but there was no response.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 28-29

LS32, WONS

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the prediction for Pūrṇa Bhikṣu, we hear from twelve hundred Arhats.

Thereupon the twelve hundred Arhats, who had already obtained freedom of mind, thought:

“We have never been so joyful before. How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

Seeing what they had in their minds, the Buddha said to Maha-Kāśyapa:

“Now I will assure these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me, of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another. My great disciple Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu, who is among them, will make offerings to six billion and two hundred thousand million Buddhas, and then become a Buddha called Universal-Brightness, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya­Kāśyapa, Nadī-Kāśyapa, Kālodāyin, Udāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svāgata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.”

Nichiren writes of Aniruddha in his Letter to Hōren:

A Hinayāna sage known as Pratyekabuddha is incomparably superior to a śrāvaka. He is so great that he can stand in for the Buddha to appear in the world to save its people. It is said that there was once a hunter who in a time of famine gave a bowl of rice mixed with barnyard millet to a pratyekabuddha called Rita, and as a result he was rewarded with rebirth as a man of wealth in the human or heavenly world for as long as 91 kalpa (aeons). Aniruddha, one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha who is reputed to have mastered the divine-eye of heavenly beings to see through everything, is said to have been [the incarnation of) the hunter. Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this, “Although the bowl of barnyard millet rice has little value, the hunter donated all that he owned to a person of great merit. Therefore, the hunter was rewarded with such good fortune.” It means that although a bowl of millet rice was not much in value, it was presented to a noble person of Pratyekabuddha status, and this is the reason why he was able to be reborn with such good luck.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 46