That is a great page Babba; thanks for sharing. The Gohonzon is really magnificent!!!
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The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
In order to dispel this doubt and puzzlement, Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, then preaches the "Life Span" chapter. Referring first to the version of the events presented in the earlier sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra, he says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment." But then, in order to dispel their doubts, he says, "But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."
All the other sutras such as the Flower Garland, Wisdom, and Mahavairochana not only conceal the fact that people of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, but they also fail to make clear that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past. These sutras have two flaws. First, because they teach that the Ten Worlds are separate from one another, they fail to move beyond the provisional doctrines and to reveal the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life as it is expounded in the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Second, because they teach that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment for the first time in this world, referring only to his provisional aspect, they fail to reveal the fact stressed in the essential teaching that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago. These two great doctrines are the core of the Buddha's lifetime of teachings, and the very heart and marrow of all the sutras.
The "Expedient Means" chapter, which belongs to the theoretical teaching, expounds the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, making clear that persons of the two vehicles can achieve Buddhahood. It thus eliminates one of the two errors found in the earlier sutras. But it nevertheless retains the provisional aspect, and fails to reveal the eternal aspect, of the Buddha's enlightenment. Thus the true doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life remains unclear, and the attainment of Buddhahood by persons of the two vehicles is not properly affirmed. Such teachings are like the moon seen in the water, or rootless plants that drift on the waves.
When we come to the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, then the belief that Shakyamuni first obtained Buddhahood during his present lifetime is demolished, and the effects of the four teachings are likewise demolished. When the effects of the four (51) teachings are demolished, the causes of the four teachings are likewise demolished. Thus the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds as expounded in the earlier sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten (52) Worlds in the essential teaching are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It reveals that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood is inherent in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life.
When we consider the matter in this light, we can see that Vairochana Buddha seated on the lotus pedestal of the ten directions as described in the Flower Garland Sutra, the little Shakyamuni (53) described in the Agama sutras, and the provisional Buddhas described in the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods such as the Golden Light, Amida, and Mahavairochana sutras are no more than reflections of the Buddha of the "Life Span" chapter. They are like fleeting reflections of the moon that float on the surfaces of various large and small bodies of water. The scholars of the various schools of Buddhism, confused as to [the nature of the Buddhas of] their own school and, more fundamentally, ignorant of [the Buddha of] the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, mistake the reflection in the water for the actual moon, some of them entering the water and trying to grasp it in their hands, others attempting to snare it with a rope. As T'ien-t'ai says, "They know nothing of the moon in the sky, but gaze only at (54) the moon in the pond."
Having pondered this, I am of the opinion that, though the Lotus Sutra teaches that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, this view tends to be overshadowed by the opposite view propounded in the sutras that precede the Lotus. How much more so is this the case with the doctrine that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past! For in this case, it is not the Lotus Sutra as a whole that stands in contradiction to the earlier sutras, but the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra that stands in contradiction both to the earlier sutras and to the first fourteen chapters of the theoretical teaching of the Lotus. Moreover, of the latter fourteen chapters of the essential teaching, all of them with the exception of the "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span" chapters retain the view that the Buddha first attained enlightenment in his present lifetime.
The forty volumes of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, preached by the Buddha in the grove of sal trees just before his passing, as well as the other Mahayana sutras except the Lotus Sutra, have not one single word [to say about the fact that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past]. They speak of the Dharma body of the Buddha as being without beginning and without end, but they do not reveal the true nature of the other two bodies, the reward body and the manifested (55) body. How, then, can we expect people to cast aside the vast body of writings represented by the earlier Mahayana sutras, the Nirvana Sutra, and the major portion of the theoretical and essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra, and put all their faith simply in the two chapters "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span"?
If we examine the origins of the school called Dharma Characteristics, we find that, nine hundred years after the Buddha passed away in India, there was a great scholar called Bodhisattva Asanga. At night, he ascended to the inner court of the Tushita heaven, where he came before Bodhisattva Maitreya and resolved his doubts concerning the sacred teachings propounded by the Buddha during his lifetime. In the daytime, he worked to propagate the Dharma Characteristics doctrines in the (56) state of Ayodhya. Among his disciples were various great scholars such as Vasubandhu, Dharmapala, Nanda, and Shilabhadra (57). The great ruler, King Shiladitya, bowed his head in reverence, and the people of all the five regions of India abandoned their arrogance and declared themselves followers of his teaching.
The Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang of China journeyed to India, spending seventeen years visiting 130 or more Indian states. He rejected all the other teachings of Buddhism, but brought back the doctrines of the Dharma Characteristics school to China and presented them to the worthy sovereign, Emperor T'ai-tsung. Hsüan-tsang numbered among his disciples such men as Shen-fang, Chia-shang, P'u-kuang, and K'uei-chi. He preached his teachings in Ta-tz'u-en-ssu temple and spread them through more than 360 districts of China.
In the reign of Emperor Kotoku, the thirty-seventh sovereign of Japan, Doji, Dosho, and other priests went to China and studied these doctrines, and on their return preached them at Yama-shina-dera temple (58). In this way, the Dharma Characteristics school was regarded as the leading school of Buddhism throughout all three lands of India, China, and Japan.
According to this school, in all the teachings of the Buddha, from the Flower Garland Sutra, the earliest of the sutras, to the Lotus and Nirvana sutras, which were preached last, it is laid down that those sentient beings without the nature of enlightenment and those predestined for the two vehicles can never become Buddhas. The Buddha, they say, never contradicts himself. Therefore, if he has once declared that these people will never be able to attain Buddhahood, then, even should the sun and moon fall to the earth or the great earth itself turn upside down, that declaration can never be altered. In the earlier sutras, those sentient beings without the nature of enlightenment and those predestined for the two vehicles were said to be incapable of attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, they conclude, even in the Lotus or Nirvana Sutra it is never said that they can in fact do so.
"Close your eyes and consider the matter," the members of the Dharma Characteristics school would say. "If it had in fact been plainly stated in the Lotus and Nirvana sutras that those who possess no innate nature of enlightenment or those predestined for the two vehicles can actually attain Buddhahood, then why would the great scholars such as Asanga and Vasu-bandhu or the Tripitaka masters and teachers such as Hsüan-tsang and Tz'u-en not have taken notice of this fact? Why did they not mention it in their own writings? Why did they not accept the belief and transmit it to later ages? Why did Asanga not question Bodhisattva Maitreya about it? People like you, Nichiren, claim that you are basing your assertions on the text of the Lotus Sutra, but in fact you are simply accepting the biased views of men like T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyo and interpreting the text of the sutra in the light of their teachings. Therefore, you claim that the Lotus Sutra is as different from the earlier sutras as fire from water."
Again, there are the Flower Garland and True Word schools, which are of an incomparably higher level than the Dharma Characteristics and Three Treatises schools. They claim that the doctrines that persons of the two vehicles may attain Buddhahood and that the Buddha achieved enlightenment in the remote past are to be found not only in the Lotus Sutra, but in the Flower Garland and Mahavairochana sutras as well.
According to these schools, the Flower Garland patriarchs Tu-shun, Chih-yen, Fa-tsang, and Ch'eng-kuan, and the True Word masters Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, and Pu-k'ung were far more eminent than T'ien-t'ai or Dengyo. Moreover, they claim that Shan-wu-wei's teachings descend in an unbroken line from the Thus Come One Mahavairochana. “How could men like this, who are manifestations of the Buddha, possibly be mistaken?” they ask. They point to the passage in the Flower Garland Sutra that reads, "Some people perceive that immeasurable numbers of kalpas have passed since Shakyamuni attained the Buddha way," or the passage in the Mahavairochana Sutra that says, "I [Mahavairochana Buddha] am the source and beginning of all things." Why, they ask, would anyone claim that it is the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra alone that expounds the doctrine that Shakyamuni attained enlightenment long ago? Persons who do so are like frogs at the bottom of a well who have never seen the great sea, or like mountain dwellers who know nothing of the capital. "You people look only at the 'Life Span' chapter and know nothing of the Flower Garland, the Mahavairochana, and the other sutras! Do you suppose that, in India and China, and in Silla and Paekche [in Korea], people believe that these two doctrines are limited to the Lotus Sutra alone?"
Notes:
51. The "causes" refers to the practice of the four teachings - the Tripitaka, connecting, specific, and perfect teachings -leading to the attainment of enlightenment. See also eight teachings in Glossary.
52. By revealing that the Buddha still retains all the nine worlds even after achieving enlightenment, the "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching demonstrates that cause (nine worlds) and effect (Buddhahood) exist simultaneously.
53. In the Agama sutras Shakyamuni preaches Hinayana or lesser teachings. Hence the "little Shakyamuni."
54. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
55. The "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span" chapters reveal that Shakyamuni's enlightenment actually occurred in the far distant past, and that the three bodies - the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body - are eternally inherent in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha.
56. A state in northeast India. Asanga was a native of Gandhara but lived most of his life in Ayodhya.
57. Dharmapala, Nanda, and Shilabhadra were scholars of the Yogachara, or Consciousness-Only school, associated with Nalanda Monastery in India.
58. An old name of Kofuku-ji, the head temple of the Dharma Characteristics school, one of the seven major temples of Nara.
(to be continued from pg. 238)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
In order to dispel this doubt and puzzlement, Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, then preaches the "Life Span" chapter. Referring first to the version of the events presented in the earlier sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra, he says: "In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment." But then, in order to dispel their doubts, he says, "But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."
All the other sutras such as the Flower Garland, Wisdom, and Mahavairochana not only conceal the fact that people of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, but they also fail to make clear that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past. These sutras have two flaws. First, because they teach that the Ten Worlds are separate from one another, they fail to move beyond the provisional doctrines and to reveal the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life as it is expounded in the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Second, because they teach that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment for the first time in this world, referring only to his provisional aspect, they fail to reveal the fact stressed in the essential teaching that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago. These two great doctrines are the core of the Buddha's lifetime of teachings, and the very heart and marrow of all the sutras.
The "Expedient Means" chapter, which belongs to the theoretical teaching, expounds the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, making clear that persons of the two vehicles can achieve Buddhahood. It thus eliminates one of the two errors found in the earlier sutras. But it nevertheless retains the provisional aspect, and fails to reveal the eternal aspect, of the Buddha's enlightenment. Thus the true doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life remains unclear, and the attainment of Buddhahood by persons of the two vehicles is not properly affirmed. Such teachings are like the moon seen in the water, or rootless plants that drift on the waves.
When we come to the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, then the belief that Shakyamuni first obtained Buddhahood during his present lifetime is demolished, and the effects of the four teachings are likewise demolished. When the effects of the four (51) teachings are demolished, the causes of the four teachings are likewise demolished. Thus the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds as expounded in the earlier sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten (52) Worlds in the essential teaching are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It reveals that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood is inherent in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life.
When we consider the matter in this light, we can see that Vairochana Buddha seated on the lotus pedestal of the ten directions as described in the Flower Garland Sutra, the little Shakyamuni (53) described in the Agama sutras, and the provisional Buddhas described in the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods such as the Golden Light, Amida, and Mahavairochana sutras are no more than reflections of the Buddha of the "Life Span" chapter. They are like fleeting reflections of the moon that float on the surfaces of various large and small bodies of water. The scholars of the various schools of Buddhism, confused as to [the nature of the Buddhas of] their own school and, more fundamentally, ignorant of [the Buddha of] the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, mistake the reflection in the water for the actual moon, some of them entering the water and trying to grasp it in their hands, others attempting to snare it with a rope. As T'ien-t'ai says, "They know nothing of the moon in the sky, but gaze only at (54) the moon in the pond."
Having pondered this, I am of the opinion that, though the Lotus Sutra teaches that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, this view tends to be overshadowed by the opposite view propounded in the sutras that precede the Lotus. How much more so is this the case with the doctrine that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past! For in this case, it is not the Lotus Sutra as a whole that stands in contradiction to the earlier sutras, but the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra that stands in contradiction both to the earlier sutras and to the first fourteen chapters of the theoretical teaching of the Lotus. Moreover, of the latter fourteen chapters of the essential teaching, all of them with the exception of the "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span" chapters retain the view that the Buddha first attained enlightenment in his present lifetime.
The forty volumes of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, preached by the Buddha in the grove of sal trees just before his passing, as well as the other Mahayana sutras except the Lotus Sutra, have not one single word [to say about the fact that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past]. They speak of the Dharma body of the Buddha as being without beginning and without end, but they do not reveal the true nature of the other two bodies, the reward body and the manifested (55) body. How, then, can we expect people to cast aside the vast body of writings represented by the earlier Mahayana sutras, the Nirvana Sutra, and the major portion of the theoretical and essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra, and put all their faith simply in the two chapters "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span"?
If we examine the origins of the school called Dharma Characteristics, we find that, nine hundred years after the Buddha passed away in India, there was a great scholar called Bodhisattva Asanga. At night, he ascended to the inner court of the Tushita heaven, where he came before Bodhisattva Maitreya and resolved his doubts concerning the sacred teachings propounded by the Buddha during his lifetime. In the daytime, he worked to propagate the Dharma Characteristics doctrines in the (56) state of Ayodhya. Among his disciples were various great scholars such as Vasubandhu, Dharmapala, Nanda, and Shilabhadra (57). The great ruler, King Shiladitya, bowed his head in reverence, and the people of all the five regions of India abandoned their arrogance and declared themselves followers of his teaching.
The Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang of China journeyed to India, spending seventeen years visiting 130 or more Indian states. He rejected all the other teachings of Buddhism, but brought back the doctrines of the Dharma Characteristics school to China and presented them to the worthy sovereign, Emperor T'ai-tsung. Hsüan-tsang numbered among his disciples such men as Shen-fang, Chia-shang, P'u-kuang, and K'uei-chi. He preached his teachings in Ta-tz'u-en-ssu temple and spread them through more than 360 districts of China.
In the reign of Emperor Kotoku, the thirty-seventh sovereign of Japan, Doji, Dosho, and other priests went to China and studied these doctrines, and on their return preached them at Yama-shina-dera temple (58). In this way, the Dharma Characteristics school was regarded as the leading school of Buddhism throughout all three lands of India, China, and Japan.
According to this school, in all the teachings of the Buddha, from the Flower Garland Sutra, the earliest of the sutras, to the Lotus and Nirvana sutras, which were preached last, it is laid down that those sentient beings without the nature of enlightenment and those predestined for the two vehicles can never become Buddhas. The Buddha, they say, never contradicts himself. Therefore, if he has once declared that these people will never be able to attain Buddhahood, then, even should the sun and moon fall to the earth or the great earth itself turn upside down, that declaration can never be altered. In the earlier sutras, those sentient beings without the nature of enlightenment and those predestined for the two vehicles were said to be incapable of attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, they conclude, even in the Lotus or Nirvana Sutra it is never said that they can in fact do so.
"Close your eyes and consider the matter," the members of the Dharma Characteristics school would say. "If it had in fact been plainly stated in the Lotus and Nirvana sutras that those who possess no innate nature of enlightenment or those predestined for the two vehicles can actually attain Buddhahood, then why would the great scholars such as Asanga and Vasu-bandhu or the Tripitaka masters and teachers such as Hsüan-tsang and Tz'u-en not have taken notice of this fact? Why did they not mention it in their own writings? Why did they not accept the belief and transmit it to later ages? Why did Asanga not question Bodhisattva Maitreya about it? People like you, Nichiren, claim that you are basing your assertions on the text of the Lotus Sutra, but in fact you are simply accepting the biased views of men like T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyo and interpreting the text of the sutra in the light of their teachings. Therefore, you claim that the Lotus Sutra is as different from the earlier sutras as fire from water."
Again, there are the Flower Garland and True Word schools, which are of an incomparably higher level than the Dharma Characteristics and Three Treatises schools. They claim that the doctrines that persons of the two vehicles may attain Buddhahood and that the Buddha achieved enlightenment in the remote past are to be found not only in the Lotus Sutra, but in the Flower Garland and Mahavairochana sutras as well.
According to these schools, the Flower Garland patriarchs Tu-shun, Chih-yen, Fa-tsang, and Ch'eng-kuan, and the True Word masters Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, and Pu-k'ung were far more eminent than T'ien-t'ai or Dengyo. Moreover, they claim that Shan-wu-wei's teachings descend in an unbroken line from the Thus Come One Mahavairochana. “How could men like this, who are manifestations of the Buddha, possibly be mistaken?” they ask. They point to the passage in the Flower Garland Sutra that reads, "Some people perceive that immeasurable numbers of kalpas have passed since Shakyamuni attained the Buddha way," or the passage in the Mahavairochana Sutra that says, "I [Mahavairochana Buddha] am the source and beginning of all things." Why, they ask, would anyone claim that it is the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra alone that expounds the doctrine that Shakyamuni attained enlightenment long ago? Persons who do so are like frogs at the bottom of a well who have never seen the great sea, or like mountain dwellers who know nothing of the capital. "You people look only at the 'Life Span' chapter and know nothing of the Flower Garland, the Mahavairochana, and the other sutras! Do you suppose that, in India and China, and in Silla and Paekche [in Korea], people believe that these two doctrines are limited to the Lotus Sutra alone?"
Notes:
51. The "causes" refers to the practice of the four teachings - the Tripitaka, connecting, specific, and perfect teachings -leading to the attainment of enlightenment. See also eight teachings in Glossary.
52. By revealing that the Buddha still retains all the nine worlds even after achieving enlightenment, the "Life Span" chapter of the essential teaching demonstrates that cause (nine worlds) and effect (Buddhahood) exist simultaneously.
53. In the Agama sutras Shakyamuni preaches Hinayana or lesser teachings. Hence the "little Shakyamuni."
54. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
55. The "Emerging from the Earth" and "Life Span" chapters reveal that Shakyamuni's enlightenment actually occurred in the far distant past, and that the three bodies - the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body - are eternally inherent in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha.
56. A state in northeast India. Asanga was a native of Gandhara but lived most of his life in Ayodhya.
57. Dharmapala, Nanda, and Shilabhadra were scholars of the Yogachara, or Consciousness-Only school, associated with Nalanda Monastery in India.
58. An old name of Kofuku-ji, the head temple of the Dharma Characteristics school, one of the seven major temples of Nara.
(to be continued from pg. 238)
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Buddhahood in this Lifetime!!!
Buddhahood in this Lifetime!!!
The same is true of your attaining Buddhahood. No matter what grave
offenses you might have committed, because you did not turn against
the Lotus Sutra, but showed your devotion by accompanying me, you will
surely become a Buddha. Yours is like the case of King Possessor of
Virtue, who gave his life to save the monk Realization of Virtue and
became Shakyamuni Buddha. Faith in the Lotus Sutra acts as a prayer
[to attain Buddhahood]. Strengthen your resolve to seek the way all
the more and achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime.
(WND, 946)
The Receipt of New Fiefs
Written to Shijo Kingo in October 1278
Buddhahood in this Lifetime!!!
The same is true of your attaining Buddhahood. No matter what grave
offenses you might have committed, because you did not turn against
the Lotus Sutra, but showed your devotion by accompanying me, you will
surely become a Buddha. Yours is like the case of King Possessor of
Virtue, who gave his life to save the monk Realization of Virtue and
became Shakyamuni Buddha. Faith in the Lotus Sutra acts as a prayer
[to attain Buddhahood]. Strengthen your resolve to seek the way all
the more and achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime.
(WND, 946)
The Receipt of New Fiefs
Written to Shijo Kingo in October 1278
This schism in christianity was between Luther and the Catholics who also stated that a life of good works was required before one could be saved. Luther said it happened to him at age 15 like I do. 
The Catholics didnt buy it so he formed the Lutheran Church but I doubt most members even know the difference.
In buddhism like this it seems that salvation can be attained in a moment. The evolution of understanding.
Now I have a question. What is Dharma?
The Catholics didnt buy it so he formed the Lutheran Church but I doubt most members even know the difference.
In buddhism like this it seems that salvation can be attained in a moment. The evolution of understanding.
Now I have a question. What is Dharma?
November 18 Events
November 18 Events
Soka Gakkai Founding Day
November 18, 1930: Soka Gakkai is established.
November 18, 1944: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the Soka Gakkai's first
president, dies in prison.
The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value Creation Education Society) was founded
on November 18, 1930, by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda. Born in
1871, Makiguchi was an educator and author passionately dedicated to
educational reform. The theory of Soka (value-creating) Education was
first set out by Makiguchi in the book Value Creating Pedagogy, in
which he voiced criticisms of the Japanese pre-war education system,
many of which continue to be leveled today. Makiguchi asserted that
the purpose of education is the development of the unique creative
potential of each child - not the "manufacture" of obedient servants
of the state. Makiguchi's relentless critique of existing philosophies
in his search for a basis for his educational views eventually led him
to take faith, in 1928, in the Buddhism of Nichiren. Josei Toda, a
young teacher, had met Makiguchi around 1920 and joined his mentor in
his conversion. The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was founded in order to promote
humanistic education based on Buddhist principles. Membership
expanded, reaching a peak of about three thousand in 1942.
With the prospects of the war worsening for Japan, the militarist
government intensified its efforts to enforce belief in state
Shintoism as a means of rallying the spiritual resources of the
Japanese people. As leader of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, Makiguchi
refused to cooperate with this attempt to compromise the fundamental
tenets of Buddhism in order to lend support to a war whose disastrous
consequences he could clearly foresee.
In 1943, Makiguchi, Toda, and other leaders of the organization were
arrested and imprisoned as "thought criminals." In prison, Makiguchi
endured brutality and privation, but refused on all counts to
compromise his convictions. On November 18, 1944, he died at the age
of 73 in the Tokyo Detention House.
Rebuilding the Organization
Josei Toda survived the ordeal of imprisonment and was released on
July 3, 1945, just weeks before Japan's unconditional surrender.
Although ill and emaciated, Toda immediately set about the task of
rebuilding the organization, which had all but disintegrated under the
wartime persecutions. The organization was renamed the Soka Gakkai
(Value Creating Society), expressing Toda's conviction that the
organization's mission was not confined to education and educators,
but must be directed toward the whole of society. Under Toda's
leadership the organization grew rapidly, to more than 750,000
households by the time of Toda's death in 1958.
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/resourceguide/
November 18 Events
Soka Gakkai Founding Day
November 18, 1930: Soka Gakkai is established.
November 18, 1944: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the Soka Gakkai's first
president, dies in prison.
The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value Creation Education Society) was founded
on November 18, 1930, by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda. Born in
1871, Makiguchi was an educator and author passionately dedicated to
educational reform. The theory of Soka (value-creating) Education was
first set out by Makiguchi in the book Value Creating Pedagogy, in
which he voiced criticisms of the Japanese pre-war education system,
many of which continue to be leveled today. Makiguchi asserted that
the purpose of education is the development of the unique creative
potential of each child - not the "manufacture" of obedient servants
of the state. Makiguchi's relentless critique of existing philosophies
in his search for a basis for his educational views eventually led him
to take faith, in 1928, in the Buddhism of Nichiren. Josei Toda, a
young teacher, had met Makiguchi around 1920 and joined his mentor in
his conversion. The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was founded in order to promote
humanistic education based on Buddhist principles. Membership
expanded, reaching a peak of about three thousand in 1942.
With the prospects of the war worsening for Japan, the militarist
government intensified its efforts to enforce belief in state
Shintoism as a means of rallying the spiritual resources of the
Japanese people. As leader of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, Makiguchi
refused to cooperate with this attempt to compromise the fundamental
tenets of Buddhism in order to lend support to a war whose disastrous
consequences he could clearly foresee.
In 1943, Makiguchi, Toda, and other leaders of the organization were
arrested and imprisoned as "thought criminals." In prison, Makiguchi
endured brutality and privation, but refused on all counts to
compromise his convictions. On November 18, 1944, he died at the age
of 73 in the Tokyo Detention House.
Rebuilding the Organization
Josei Toda survived the ordeal of imprisonment and was released on
July 3, 1945, just weeks before Japan's unconditional surrender.
Although ill and emaciated, Toda immediately set about the task of
rebuilding the organization, which had all but disintegrated under the
wartime persecutions. The organization was renamed the Soka Gakkai
(Value Creating Society), expressing Toda's conviction that the
organization's mission was not confined to education and educators,
but must be directed toward the whole of society. Under Toda's
leadership the organization grew rapidly, to more than 750,000
households by the time of Toda's death in 1958.
http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/resourceguide/
Question on Dharma
Question on Dharma
Bog, here is the definition; most of the time in our discussion here and elsewhere I always refer to the "Law" instead of dharma
dharma (Skt)
[法] (Pali.: dhamma; Jpn.: ho)
1.
A term fundamental to Buddhism, dharma derives from the root dhri, which means to preserve, maintain, keep, or uphold. It has a wide variety of meanings, including law, truth, doctrine, the Buddha's teaching, decree, observance, conduct, duty, virtue, morality, religion, justice, nature, quality, character, characteristic, essence, elements of existence, or phenomena.
Some of the more common usages are: (1) (Often capitalized) The Law, or ultimate truth. For example, Kumarajiva translated saddharma, the Sanskrit word that literally means Correct Law, as Wonderful Law or Mystic Law, indicating the unfathomable truth or Law that governs all phenomena. (2) The teaching of the Buddha that reveals the Law. Dharma of abhidharma means the Buddha's doctrine, or the sutras. (3) (Often plural) Manifestations of the Law, i.e., phenomena, things, facts, or existences. The word phenomena in "the true aspect of all phenomena" is the translation of dharmas. (4) The elements of existence, which, according to the Hinayana schools, are the most basic constituents of the individual and his or her reality. (5) Norms of conduct leading to the accumulation of good karma.
The word dharma is a component of the names of many Indian Buddhist monks, including Dharmagupta, Dharmaraksha, Dharmamitra, Dharmapala, Dharmayashas, Dharmakala, and Bodhidharma.
From source: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism
Question on Dharma
Bog, here is the definition; most of the time in our discussion here and elsewhere I always refer to the "Law" instead of dharma
dharma (Skt)
[法] (Pali.: dhamma; Jpn.: ho)
1.
A term fundamental to Buddhism, dharma derives from the root dhri, which means to preserve, maintain, keep, or uphold. It has a wide variety of meanings, including law, truth, doctrine, the Buddha's teaching, decree, observance, conduct, duty, virtue, morality, religion, justice, nature, quality, character, characteristic, essence, elements of existence, or phenomena.
Some of the more common usages are: (1) (Often capitalized) The Law, or ultimate truth. For example, Kumarajiva translated saddharma, the Sanskrit word that literally means Correct Law, as Wonderful Law or Mystic Law, indicating the unfathomable truth or Law that governs all phenomena. (2) The teaching of the Buddha that reveals the Law. Dharma of abhidharma means the Buddha's doctrine, or the sutras. (3) (Often plural) Manifestations of the Law, i.e., phenomena, things, facts, or existences. The word phenomena in "the true aspect of all phenomena" is the translation of dharmas. (4) The elements of existence, which, according to the Hinayana schools, are the most basic constituents of the individual and his or her reality. (5) Norms of conduct leading to the accumulation of good karma.
The word dharma is a component of the names of many Indian Buddhist monks, including Dharmagupta, Dharmaraksha, Dharmamitra, Dharmapala, Dharmayashas, Dharmakala, and Bodhidharma.
From source: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism
Dharma and purpose?
Dharma and purpose?
So Dharma is what we believe and practice. It is whats right like filial duty and such?
It is how we are trying to live our lives then. With morality understanding that our actions affect our culminative karma. Thanks for that simple explanation because I thought that perhaps it had something to do with an individuals lifes purpose.
Like it may have been that great masters dharma to rebel in Japan. It was what was right to do as it was what he believed to be congruent with dharma but I think you have clarified how dharma affects our lives and leads us to our purpose if followed. BOG
Dharma and purpose?
So Dharma is what we believe and practice. It is whats right like filial duty and such?
It is how we are trying to live our lives then. With morality understanding that our actions affect our culminative karma. Thanks for that simple explanation because I thought that perhaps it had something to do with an individuals lifes purpose.
Like it may have been that great masters dharma to rebel in Japan. It was what was right to do as it was what he believed to be congruent with dharma but I think you have clarified how dharma affects our lives and leads us to our purpose if followed. BOG
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The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
As we have seen, the Lotus Sutra, which was preached over a period of eight years, is quite different from the earlier sutras preached over a period of some forty years. If one had to choose between the two, one ought by rights to choose the Lotus Sutra that was preached later, and yet the earlier sutras in many ways appear to carry greater weight.
While the Buddha was still alive, there would have been good reasons for choosing the Lotus Sutra. But in the ages since his passing, the teachers and scholars have in most cases shown a preference for the earlier sutras. Not only is the Lotus Sutra itself difficult to believe, but in addition, with the coming of the latter age, sages and worthies gradually disappear from the scene, and deluded people increase in number. People are prone to make mistakes even in shallow, worldly affairs, so how much more likely are they to be mistaken about the profound Buddhist teachings that lead to enlightenment? (59)
Vatsa and Vaipulya were keen and perceptive, but still they confused the Hinayana and Mahayana sutras. Vimalamitra and Madhava were very clever by nature, but they could not distinguish properly between the provisional teachings and the true teaching. These men lived during the thousand-year period known as the Former Day of the Law, not far removed in time from the Buddha himself, and in the same country of India, and yet they fell into error, as we have seen. How much more likely, therefore, that the people of China and Japan should do so, since these countries are far removed from India and speak different languages from it?
Now human beings have grown increasingly dull by nature, their life span (60) diminishes steadily, and the poisons of greed, anger, and foolishness continue to multiply. Many ages have passed since the Buddha's demise, and the Buddhist scriptures are all misunderstood. Who these days has the wisdom to interpret them correctly?
Therefore, the Buddha predicted in the Nirvana Sutra that in the Latter Day of the Law those who abide by the correct teaching will be as few as the specks of dirt that can be placed on a fingernail, while those who slander the correct teaching will be as numerous as the specks of dirt in all the lands of the ten directions.
In the Decline of the Law Sutra we find a passage stating that those who slander the correct teaching will be as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, but those who abide by the correct teaching will be no more than one or two pebbles. Though five hundred or a thousand years go by, it will be difficult to find even a single person who believes in the correct teaching. Those who fall into the evil paths because of secular crimes will be as insignificant in number as the specks of dirt placed on a fingernail, but those who do so because of violations of the Buddhist teachings will be equal in number to the specks of dirt in all the lands of the ten directions. More monks than laymen, and more nuns than laywomen, will fall into the evil paths.
Here Nichiren considers as follows: Already over two hundred years have passed since the world entered the Latter Day of the Law. I was born in a remote land, and moreover, I am a person of low station and a priest of humble learning. While being born again and again amid the six paths, I have perhaps at times been born as a great ruler in the human or heavenly world, and have bent the multitudes to my will as a great wind bends the branches of small trees. And yet at such times I was not able to become a Buddha.
I studied the Hinayana and Mahayana sutras, beginning as an ordinary practitioner with no understanding at all and gradually moving upward to the position of a great bodhisattva. For one kalpa, two kalpas, countless kalpas I devoted myself to the practices of the bodhisattva, until I almost reached the stage of non-regression. And yet I was dragged down by the powerful and overwhelming influences of evil, and I never attained Buddhahood. I do not know whether I was among the third (61) group who failed to take faith when the sons of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra and again failed to attain Buddhahood during the lifetime of Shakyamuni Buddha, or whether I faltered and fell away from the teachings that I heard numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago and thus have been reborn in this age.
While one is practicing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, one may surmount all kinds of difficulties occasioned by the evil forces of worldly life, or by the persecutions of rulers, non-Buddhists, or the followers of the Hinayana sutras. And yet one may encounter someone like Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, or Honen, priests who seemed thoroughly conversant with the teachings of the provisional and the true Mahayana sutras but who were in fact possessed by devils. Such men seem to praise the Lotus Sutra most forcefully, but in fact they belittle the people's capacity to understand it, claiming that its principles are very profound but human understanding (62) is slight. They mislead others by saying that "not a single person has ever attained Buddhahood" through that sutra, or that "not even one person (63) in a thousand" can be saved by it. Thus, over a period of countless lifetimes, people are deceived as often as there are sands in the Ganges, until they [abandon their faith in the Lotus Sutra and] descend to the teachings of the provisional Mahayana sutras, abandon these and descend to the teachings of the Hinayana sutras, and eventually abandon even these and descend to the teachings and scriptures of the non-Buddhist doctrines. I understand all too well how, in the end, people have come in this way to fall into the evil paths.
Notes:
59. Vatsa was the founder of the Hinayana Vatsiputriya school, and Vaipulya incorporated Mahayana into non-Buddhist teachings. Vimalamitra, who appears in the next sentence, is said to have opposed Vasubandhu, and Madhava was a scholar of the Samkhya school.
60. This age is a period of decrease, in which the human life span was diminishing. According to The Dharma Analysis Treasury, during the kalpa of continuance, the human life span is said to undergo a repeated cycle of increase and decrease.
61. The third group refers to the story of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Buddha and his sixteen sons, which appears in the "Parable of the Phantom City" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Major world system dust particle kalpas ago, Great Universal Wisdom Excellence preached the Lotus Sutra to his sixteen sons. These sons then preached the sutra to the people. Among the people, the third group comprises those who heard the Lotus Sutra at that time but did not take faith in it and could not attain enlightenment even when the sixteenth son appeared in India as Shakyamuni Buddha and preached it to them again.
62. The Collected Essays on the World of Peace and Delight, by Tao-ch'o, the second patriarch of the Pure Land school in China.
63. The first quotation is from On the World of Peace and Delight, and the second quotation, from Praising Rebirth in the Pure Land by Shan-tao, the third patriarch of the Pure Land school in China.
(to be continued from pg. 239)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
As we have seen, the Lotus Sutra, which was preached over a period of eight years, is quite different from the earlier sutras preached over a period of some forty years. If one had to choose between the two, one ought by rights to choose the Lotus Sutra that was preached later, and yet the earlier sutras in many ways appear to carry greater weight.
While the Buddha was still alive, there would have been good reasons for choosing the Lotus Sutra. But in the ages since his passing, the teachers and scholars have in most cases shown a preference for the earlier sutras. Not only is the Lotus Sutra itself difficult to believe, but in addition, with the coming of the latter age, sages and worthies gradually disappear from the scene, and deluded people increase in number. People are prone to make mistakes even in shallow, worldly affairs, so how much more likely are they to be mistaken about the profound Buddhist teachings that lead to enlightenment? (59)
Vatsa and Vaipulya were keen and perceptive, but still they confused the Hinayana and Mahayana sutras. Vimalamitra and Madhava were very clever by nature, but they could not distinguish properly between the provisional teachings and the true teaching. These men lived during the thousand-year period known as the Former Day of the Law, not far removed in time from the Buddha himself, and in the same country of India, and yet they fell into error, as we have seen. How much more likely, therefore, that the people of China and Japan should do so, since these countries are far removed from India and speak different languages from it?
Now human beings have grown increasingly dull by nature, their life span (60) diminishes steadily, and the poisons of greed, anger, and foolishness continue to multiply. Many ages have passed since the Buddha's demise, and the Buddhist scriptures are all misunderstood. Who these days has the wisdom to interpret them correctly?
Therefore, the Buddha predicted in the Nirvana Sutra that in the Latter Day of the Law those who abide by the correct teaching will be as few as the specks of dirt that can be placed on a fingernail, while those who slander the correct teaching will be as numerous as the specks of dirt in all the lands of the ten directions.
In the Decline of the Law Sutra we find a passage stating that those who slander the correct teaching will be as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, but those who abide by the correct teaching will be no more than one or two pebbles. Though five hundred or a thousand years go by, it will be difficult to find even a single person who believes in the correct teaching. Those who fall into the evil paths because of secular crimes will be as insignificant in number as the specks of dirt placed on a fingernail, but those who do so because of violations of the Buddhist teachings will be equal in number to the specks of dirt in all the lands of the ten directions. More monks than laymen, and more nuns than laywomen, will fall into the evil paths.
Here Nichiren considers as follows: Already over two hundred years have passed since the world entered the Latter Day of the Law. I was born in a remote land, and moreover, I am a person of low station and a priest of humble learning. While being born again and again amid the six paths, I have perhaps at times been born as a great ruler in the human or heavenly world, and have bent the multitudes to my will as a great wind bends the branches of small trees. And yet at such times I was not able to become a Buddha.
I studied the Hinayana and Mahayana sutras, beginning as an ordinary practitioner with no understanding at all and gradually moving upward to the position of a great bodhisattva. For one kalpa, two kalpas, countless kalpas I devoted myself to the practices of the bodhisattva, until I almost reached the stage of non-regression. And yet I was dragged down by the powerful and overwhelming influences of evil, and I never attained Buddhahood. I do not know whether I was among the third (61) group who failed to take faith when the sons of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra and again failed to attain Buddhahood during the lifetime of Shakyamuni Buddha, or whether I faltered and fell away from the teachings that I heard numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago and thus have been reborn in this age.
While one is practicing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, one may surmount all kinds of difficulties occasioned by the evil forces of worldly life, or by the persecutions of rulers, non-Buddhists, or the followers of the Hinayana sutras. And yet one may encounter someone like Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, or Honen, priests who seemed thoroughly conversant with the teachings of the provisional and the true Mahayana sutras but who were in fact possessed by devils. Such men seem to praise the Lotus Sutra most forcefully, but in fact they belittle the people's capacity to understand it, claiming that its principles are very profound but human understanding (62) is slight. They mislead others by saying that "not a single person has ever attained Buddhahood" through that sutra, or that "not even one person (63) in a thousand" can be saved by it. Thus, over a period of countless lifetimes, people are deceived as often as there are sands in the Ganges, until they [abandon their faith in the Lotus Sutra and] descend to the teachings of the provisional Mahayana sutras, abandon these and descend to the teachings of the Hinayana sutras, and eventually abandon even these and descend to the teachings and scriptures of the non-Buddhist doctrines. I understand all too well how, in the end, people have come in this way to fall into the evil paths.
Notes:
59. Vatsa was the founder of the Hinayana Vatsiputriya school, and Vaipulya incorporated Mahayana into non-Buddhist teachings. Vimalamitra, who appears in the next sentence, is said to have opposed Vasubandhu, and Madhava was a scholar of the Samkhya school.
60. This age is a period of decrease, in which the human life span was diminishing. According to The Dharma Analysis Treasury, during the kalpa of continuance, the human life span is said to undergo a repeated cycle of increase and decrease.
61. The third group refers to the story of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Buddha and his sixteen sons, which appears in the "Parable of the Phantom City" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Major world system dust particle kalpas ago, Great Universal Wisdom Excellence preached the Lotus Sutra to his sixteen sons. These sons then preached the sutra to the people. Among the people, the third group comprises those who heard the Lotus Sutra at that time but did not take faith in it and could not attain enlightenment even when the sixteenth son appeared in India as Shakyamuni Buddha and preached it to them again.
62. The Collected Essays on the World of Peace and Delight, by Tao-ch'o, the second patriarch of the Pure Land school in China.
63. The first quotation is from On the World of Peace and Delight, and the second quotation, from Praising Rebirth in the Pure Land by Shan-tao, the third patriarch of the Pure Land school in China.
(to be continued from pg. 239)
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The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
I, Nichiren, am the only person in all Japan who understands this. But if I utter so much as a word concerning it, then parents, brothers, and teachers will surely censure me, and the ruler of the (64) nation will take steps against me. On the other hand, I am fully aware that if I do not speak out I will be lacking in compassion. I have considered which course to take in the light of the teachings of the Lotus and Nirvana sutras. If I remain silent, I may escape persecutions in this lifetime, but in my next life I will most certainly fall into the hell of incessant suffering. If I speak out, I am fully aware that I will have to contend with the three obstacles and four devils. But of these two courses, surely the latter is the one to choose.
If I were to falter in my determination in the face of persecutions by the sovereign, however, it would be better not to speak out. While thinking this over, I recalled the teachings of the "Treasure Tower" chapter on the six difficult and nine easy acts. Persons like myself who are of paltry strength might still be able to lift Mount Sumeru and toss it about; persons like myself who are lacking in supernatural powers might still shoulder a load of dry grass and yet remain unburned in the fire at (65) the end of the kalpa of decline; and persons like myself who are without wisdom might still read and memorize as many sutras as there are sands in the Ganges. But such acts are not difficult, we are told, when compared to the difficulty of embracing even one phrase or verse of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. Nevertheless, I vowed to summon up a powerful and unconquerable desire for the salvation of all beings and never to falter in my efforts.
It is already over twenty years since I began proclaiming my doctrines. Day after day, month after month, year after year I have been subjected to repeated persecutions. Minor persecutions and annoyances are too numerous even to be counted, but the major persecutions number four. Among the four, twice I have been subjected to persecutions by (66) the rulers of the country. The most recent one has come near to costing me my life. In addition, my disciples, my lay supporters, and even those who have merely listened to my teachings have been subjected to severe punishment and treated as though they were guilty of treason.
In the fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra we read, "Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so (67) after his passing?" The second volume states, "If this person [should slander a sutra such as this], or on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy, or bear (68) grudges against them . . .". And the fifth volume says, "It [the Lotus Sutra] will face much hostility in the world (69) and be difficult to believe." It also states, "There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of (70) us," and "They will address the rulers, high ministers, Brahmans, and householders, [as well as the other monks], slandering and speaking evil of us, saying, 'These are men of perverted views [who preach non-Buddhist doctrines]!'" It is also stated in the same volume, "Again and again we will be (71) banished," and [in the seventh volume] "Some among the group would take sticks of wood or tiles and stones (72) and beat and pelt him."
The Nirvana Sutra records: "At that time there were innumerable non-Buddhists who plotted together and went as a group to Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, and said: 'At present there is a man of incomparable wickedness, a monk called Gautama. . . . All sorts of evil people, hoping to gain profit and alms, have flocked to him and become his followers. These people do not practice goodness, but instead use the power of spells and magic to win over men like Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, and Maudgalyayana.'"
T'ien-t'ai says, "It will be much worse in the future because the principles [of the Lotus Sutra] are so hard to (73) teach." Miao-lo says, "'Hatred' refers to those who have not yet freed themselves from impediments, and 'jealousy,' to those who take no delight in listening (74) to the doctrine." The teachers of the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north in China, as well as the countless other scholars of China, all regarded T'ien-t'ai with resentment and animosity. Thus Tokuitsu said, "See here, Chih-i, whose disciple are you? With a tongue less than three inches long you slander the teachings that come from the Buddha's long broad tongue that can cover even his (75) face!"
In Tung-ch'un we read: "Question: While the Buddha was in the world, there were many who were resentful and jealous. But in the age after his passing, when someone preaches this [Lotus] sutra, why do so many oppose that person? Answer: It is said that good medicine tastes bitter. This sutra, which is like good medicine, dispels attachments to the five vehicles and establishes the one ultimate principle. It reproaches those in the ranks of ordinary beings and censures those in the ranks of sage-hood, denies [provisional] Mahayana and refutes Hinayana. It speaks of the heavenly devils as poisonous (76)insects and calls non-Buddhists demons. It censures those who cling to Hinayana teachings, calling them mean and impoverished, and it dismisses bodhisattvas as beginners in learning. For this reason, heavenly devils hate to listen to it, non-Buddhists find their ears offended, persons of the two vehicles are dumbfounded, and bodhisattvas flee in terror. That is why all these types of people try to make hindrances [for a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra]. The Buddha was not speaking nonsense when he declared that hatred and jealousy would abound."
A Clarification of the Precepts states: "The superintendents of priests [in the capital of Nara] say in their memorial to the throne: 'Just as in a land west of China there was a Brahman named Demon Eloquence, so now in this eastern realm of Japan there is a shave-pated monk who spits out crafty words. Evil spirits invisibly invite such people to deceive and mislead the world.' I [Dengyo] reply to these charges by saying: 'Just as in the Ch'i dynasty of China we heard of the arrogant superintendent of priests, Hui-kuang, so now in our own country we see these six superintendents of priests. (77) How true was [the Buddha's prediction in] the Lotus Sutra that the situation would be much worse after his passing.'"
The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra states: "Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T'ang and to the west of Katsu. As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, 'Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?' There is good reason for this statement."
When a little boy is given moxibustion treatment, he will invariably resent his mother; when a seriously ill person is given good medicine, he will complain without fail about its bitterness. And we meet with similar complaints about the Lotus Sutra, even in the lifetime of the Buddha. How much more severe is the opposition after his passing, especially in the Middle and Latter Days of the Law and in a far-off country like Japan? As mountains pile upon mountains and waves follow waves, so do persecutions add to persecutions and criticisms augment criticisms.
During the Middle Day of the Law, one man alone, T'ien-t'ai, understood and expounded the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras. The other Buddhist leaders of both northern and southern China hated him for it, but the two sage rulers of the Ch'en and Sui dynasties gave him an audience so he could establish the correctness of his views in debate with his opponents. Thus in time he ceased to have any more opponents. At the end of the Middle Day of the Law, one man alone, Dengyo, grasped the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras just as the Buddha had expounded them. The seven major temples of Nara rose up like hornets against him, but the two worthy sovereigns, Emperor Kammu and Emperor Saga, themselves investigating the views of both sides, made clear which was correct, and thereafter there was no further trouble.
It is now over two hundred years since the Latter Day of the Law began. The Buddha predicted that conditions would be much worse after his passing, and we see the portents of this in the quarrels and wranglings that go on today because unreasonable doctrines are prevalent. And as proof of the fact that we are living in a muddied age, I was not summoned for a doctrinal debate with my opponents, but instead I was sent into exile and my very life imperiled.
When it comes to understanding the Lotus Sutra, I have only a minute fraction of the vast ability that T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo possessed. But as regards my ability to endure persecution and the wealth of my compassion for others, I believe they would hold me in awe. [As a votary of the Lotus Sutra] I firmly believe that I should come under the protection of the gods, and yet I do not see the slightest sign of this. On the contrary, I am subjected to increasingly severe punishments. In view of this, am I perhaps then not a votary of the Lotus Sutra after all? Or have the heavenly gods and benevolent deities perhaps taken leave and departed from this land of Japan? I find myself in much perplexity.
But then I recall the twenty lines of verse in the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter of the fifth volume of the Lotus (78) Sutra. If I, Nichiren, had not been born in this land of Japan, then the words of the World-Honored One predicting such persecutions would have been a great prevarication, and those eight hundred thousand million nayutas of bodhisattvas would have been guilty of the same offense as that of Devadatta, of lying and misleading others.
The sutra says, "There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of us and will attack us with swords and staves, with rocks and (79) tiles." Look around you in the world today - are there any priests other than Nichiren who are cursed and vilified because of the Lotus Sutra or who are attacked with swords and staves? If it were not for Nichiren, the prophecy made in this verse of the sutra would have been sheer falsehood.
The same passage says, "In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning (80) and crooked," and "They will preach the Law to white-robed laymen and will be respected and revered by the world as though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental powers (81)." If it were not for the priests of the Nembutsu, Zen, and Precepts schools of our present age, then the World-Honored One would have been a teller of great untruths.
The passage likewise says, "Because in the midst of the great assembly . . . they will address the rulers, high ministers, Brahmans, and householders . . . [slandering and speaking evil of us]." If the priests of today did not slander me to the authorities and have them condemn me to banishment, then this passage in the sutra would have remained unfulfilled.
"Again and again we will be banished," says the sutra. But if Nichiren had not been banished time and again for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, what would these words "again and again" have meant? Even T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo were not able to fulfill this prediction represented by the words "again and again," much less was anyone else. But because I have been born at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, the "age of fear and evil" described in the sutra, I alone have been able to live these words.
As other examples of prophecies that were fulfilled, in the Buddha's Successors Sutra it is recorded that the World-Honored One said that one hundred years after his passing a ruler named Ashoka the Great would appear. In the Maya Sutra he said that six hundred years after his passing a man named Bodhisattva Nagarjuna would appear in southern India. And in the Great Compassion Sutra he said that sixty years after his passing a man named Madhyantika would establish his base in the dragon palace. All of these prophecies came true. Indeed, if they had not, who would believe in the Buddha's teachings?
Notes:
64. The Japanese text may also read, "Then the ruler of the nation will surely take steps against my parents, brothers, and teachers."
65. A world was said to go through a continuous cycle of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration, each of these four phases lasting one medium kalpa. The end of the kalpa of decline is marked by a great fire that consumes the world.
66. These persecutions refer to the exiles to the Izu Peninsula and Sado Island.
67. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
68. Ibid., chap. 3.
69. Ibid., chap. 14.
70. Ibid., chap. 13. The quotation that follows is from the same chapter.
71. Ibid.
72. Ibid., chap. 20.
73. The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.
74. The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra."
75. An Essay on the Protection of the Nation. Tokuitsu (n.d.), a priest of the Dharma Characteristics school, carried on a long-standing controversy with Dengyo. Chih-i is another name for T'ien-t'ai.
76. Non-Buddhists: This term generally refers to Brahmanists in the text of the sutras and, furthermore, to Confucians and Taoists in the context of Tung-ch'un.
77. The six superintendents of priests were the priests of the temples in the city of Nara, who opposed Dengyo in 819. They were Jo'e of Kofuku-ji, Buan of Toshodai-ji, Shuen of Kofuku-ji, Taien of Saidai-ji, Sebyo of Gango-ji, and the Chief Superintendent Gomyo of Gango-ji.
78. In the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter, eight hundred thousand million nayutas of bodhisattvas describe the persecutions they will endure after the Buddha's passing for the sake of the Lotus Sutra.
79. In the twenty-line verse of the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter, the countless assembled bodhisattvas vow to brave various hardships in propagating the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. These hardships were later categorized by Miao-lo as the work of the three powerful enemies. This passage refers to the first of the three powerful enemies. The "Encouraging Devotion" chapter itself refers only to "swords and staves." "Rocks and tiles" is an interpolation from the "Never Disparaging" chapter.
80. This passage refers to the second of the three powerful enemies.
81. This passage refers to the third of the three powerful enemies: monks who enjoy the respect of the general public but, in fear of losing fame and profit, induce the authorities to persecute the votaries.
(to be continued to pg. 243)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
I, Nichiren, am the only person in all Japan who understands this. But if I utter so much as a word concerning it, then parents, brothers, and teachers will surely censure me, and the ruler of the (64) nation will take steps against me. On the other hand, I am fully aware that if I do not speak out I will be lacking in compassion. I have considered which course to take in the light of the teachings of the Lotus and Nirvana sutras. If I remain silent, I may escape persecutions in this lifetime, but in my next life I will most certainly fall into the hell of incessant suffering. If I speak out, I am fully aware that I will have to contend with the three obstacles and four devils. But of these two courses, surely the latter is the one to choose.
If I were to falter in my determination in the face of persecutions by the sovereign, however, it would be better not to speak out. While thinking this over, I recalled the teachings of the "Treasure Tower" chapter on the six difficult and nine easy acts. Persons like myself who are of paltry strength might still be able to lift Mount Sumeru and toss it about; persons like myself who are lacking in supernatural powers might still shoulder a load of dry grass and yet remain unburned in the fire at (65) the end of the kalpa of decline; and persons like myself who are without wisdom might still read and memorize as many sutras as there are sands in the Ganges. But such acts are not difficult, we are told, when compared to the difficulty of embracing even one phrase or verse of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. Nevertheless, I vowed to summon up a powerful and unconquerable desire for the salvation of all beings and never to falter in my efforts.
It is already over twenty years since I began proclaiming my doctrines. Day after day, month after month, year after year I have been subjected to repeated persecutions. Minor persecutions and annoyances are too numerous even to be counted, but the major persecutions number four. Among the four, twice I have been subjected to persecutions by (66) the rulers of the country. The most recent one has come near to costing me my life. In addition, my disciples, my lay supporters, and even those who have merely listened to my teachings have been subjected to severe punishment and treated as though they were guilty of treason.
In the fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra we read, "Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so (67) after his passing?" The second volume states, "If this person [should slander a sutra such as this], or on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy, or bear (68) grudges against them . . .". And the fifth volume says, "It [the Lotus Sutra] will face much hostility in the world (69) and be difficult to believe." It also states, "There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of (70) us," and "They will address the rulers, high ministers, Brahmans, and householders, [as well as the other monks], slandering and speaking evil of us, saying, 'These are men of perverted views [who preach non-Buddhist doctrines]!'" It is also stated in the same volume, "Again and again we will be (71) banished," and [in the seventh volume] "Some among the group would take sticks of wood or tiles and stones (72) and beat and pelt him."
The Nirvana Sutra records: "At that time there were innumerable non-Buddhists who plotted together and went as a group to Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, and said: 'At present there is a man of incomparable wickedness, a monk called Gautama. . . . All sorts of evil people, hoping to gain profit and alms, have flocked to him and become his followers. These people do not practice goodness, but instead use the power of spells and magic to win over men like Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, and Maudgalyayana.'"
T'ien-t'ai says, "It will be much worse in the future because the principles [of the Lotus Sutra] are so hard to (73) teach." Miao-lo says, "'Hatred' refers to those who have not yet freed themselves from impediments, and 'jealousy,' to those who take no delight in listening (74) to the doctrine." The teachers of the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north in China, as well as the countless other scholars of China, all regarded T'ien-t'ai with resentment and animosity. Thus Tokuitsu said, "See here, Chih-i, whose disciple are you? With a tongue less than three inches long you slander the teachings that come from the Buddha's long broad tongue that can cover even his (75) face!"
In Tung-ch'un we read: "Question: While the Buddha was in the world, there were many who were resentful and jealous. But in the age after his passing, when someone preaches this [Lotus] sutra, why do so many oppose that person? Answer: It is said that good medicine tastes bitter. This sutra, which is like good medicine, dispels attachments to the five vehicles and establishes the one ultimate principle. It reproaches those in the ranks of ordinary beings and censures those in the ranks of sage-hood, denies [provisional] Mahayana and refutes Hinayana. It speaks of the heavenly devils as poisonous (76)insects and calls non-Buddhists demons. It censures those who cling to Hinayana teachings, calling them mean and impoverished, and it dismisses bodhisattvas as beginners in learning. For this reason, heavenly devils hate to listen to it, non-Buddhists find their ears offended, persons of the two vehicles are dumbfounded, and bodhisattvas flee in terror. That is why all these types of people try to make hindrances [for a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra]. The Buddha was not speaking nonsense when he declared that hatred and jealousy would abound."
A Clarification of the Precepts states: "The superintendents of priests [in the capital of Nara] say in their memorial to the throne: 'Just as in a land west of China there was a Brahman named Demon Eloquence, so now in this eastern realm of Japan there is a shave-pated monk who spits out crafty words. Evil spirits invisibly invite such people to deceive and mislead the world.' I [Dengyo] reply to these charges by saying: 'Just as in the Ch'i dynasty of China we heard of the arrogant superintendent of priests, Hui-kuang, so now in our own country we see these six superintendents of priests. (77) How true was [the Buddha's prediction in] the Lotus Sutra that the situation would be much worse after his passing.'"
The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra states: "Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T'ang and to the west of Katsu. As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, 'Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?' There is good reason for this statement."
When a little boy is given moxibustion treatment, he will invariably resent his mother; when a seriously ill person is given good medicine, he will complain without fail about its bitterness. And we meet with similar complaints about the Lotus Sutra, even in the lifetime of the Buddha. How much more severe is the opposition after his passing, especially in the Middle and Latter Days of the Law and in a far-off country like Japan? As mountains pile upon mountains and waves follow waves, so do persecutions add to persecutions and criticisms augment criticisms.
During the Middle Day of the Law, one man alone, T'ien-t'ai, understood and expounded the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras. The other Buddhist leaders of both northern and southern China hated him for it, but the two sage rulers of the Ch'en and Sui dynasties gave him an audience so he could establish the correctness of his views in debate with his opponents. Thus in time he ceased to have any more opponents. At the end of the Middle Day of the Law, one man alone, Dengyo, grasped the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras just as the Buddha had expounded them. The seven major temples of Nara rose up like hornets against him, but the two worthy sovereigns, Emperor Kammu and Emperor Saga, themselves investigating the views of both sides, made clear which was correct, and thereafter there was no further trouble.
It is now over two hundred years since the Latter Day of the Law began. The Buddha predicted that conditions would be much worse after his passing, and we see the portents of this in the quarrels and wranglings that go on today because unreasonable doctrines are prevalent. And as proof of the fact that we are living in a muddied age, I was not summoned for a doctrinal debate with my opponents, but instead I was sent into exile and my very life imperiled.
When it comes to understanding the Lotus Sutra, I have only a minute fraction of the vast ability that T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo possessed. But as regards my ability to endure persecution and the wealth of my compassion for others, I believe they would hold me in awe. [As a votary of the Lotus Sutra] I firmly believe that I should come under the protection of the gods, and yet I do not see the slightest sign of this. On the contrary, I am subjected to increasingly severe punishments. In view of this, am I perhaps then not a votary of the Lotus Sutra after all? Or have the heavenly gods and benevolent deities perhaps taken leave and departed from this land of Japan? I find myself in much perplexity.
But then I recall the twenty lines of verse in the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter of the fifth volume of the Lotus (78) Sutra. If I, Nichiren, had not been born in this land of Japan, then the words of the World-Honored One predicting such persecutions would have been a great prevarication, and those eight hundred thousand million nayutas of bodhisattvas would have been guilty of the same offense as that of Devadatta, of lying and misleading others.
The sutra says, "There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of us and will attack us with swords and staves, with rocks and (79) tiles." Look around you in the world today - are there any priests other than Nichiren who are cursed and vilified because of the Lotus Sutra or who are attacked with swords and staves? If it were not for Nichiren, the prophecy made in this verse of the sutra would have been sheer falsehood.
The same passage says, "In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning (80) and crooked," and "They will preach the Law to white-robed laymen and will be respected and revered by the world as though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental powers (81)." If it were not for the priests of the Nembutsu, Zen, and Precepts schools of our present age, then the World-Honored One would have been a teller of great untruths.
The passage likewise says, "Because in the midst of the great assembly . . . they will address the rulers, high ministers, Brahmans, and householders . . . [slandering and speaking evil of us]." If the priests of today did not slander me to the authorities and have them condemn me to banishment, then this passage in the sutra would have remained unfulfilled.
"Again and again we will be banished," says the sutra. But if Nichiren had not been banished time and again for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, what would these words "again and again" have meant? Even T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo were not able to fulfill this prediction represented by the words "again and again," much less was anyone else. But because I have been born at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, the "age of fear and evil" described in the sutra, I alone have been able to live these words.
As other examples of prophecies that were fulfilled, in the Buddha's Successors Sutra it is recorded that the World-Honored One said that one hundred years after his passing a ruler named Ashoka the Great would appear. In the Maya Sutra he said that six hundred years after his passing a man named Bodhisattva Nagarjuna would appear in southern India. And in the Great Compassion Sutra he said that sixty years after his passing a man named Madhyantika would establish his base in the dragon palace. All of these prophecies came true. Indeed, if they had not, who would believe in the Buddha's teachings?
Notes:
64. The Japanese text may also read, "Then the ruler of the nation will surely take steps against my parents, brothers, and teachers."
65. A world was said to go through a continuous cycle of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration, each of these four phases lasting one medium kalpa. The end of the kalpa of decline is marked by a great fire that consumes the world.
66. These persecutions refer to the exiles to the Izu Peninsula and Sado Island.
67. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
68. Ibid., chap. 3.
69. Ibid., chap. 14.
70. Ibid., chap. 13. The quotation that follows is from the same chapter.
71. Ibid.
72. Ibid., chap. 20.
73. The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.
74. The Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra."
75. An Essay on the Protection of the Nation. Tokuitsu (n.d.), a priest of the Dharma Characteristics school, carried on a long-standing controversy with Dengyo. Chih-i is another name for T'ien-t'ai.
76. Non-Buddhists: This term generally refers to Brahmanists in the text of the sutras and, furthermore, to Confucians and Taoists in the context of Tung-ch'un.
77. The six superintendents of priests were the priests of the temples in the city of Nara, who opposed Dengyo in 819. They were Jo'e of Kofuku-ji, Buan of Toshodai-ji, Shuen of Kofuku-ji, Taien of Saidai-ji, Sebyo of Gango-ji, and the Chief Superintendent Gomyo of Gango-ji.
78. In the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter, eight hundred thousand million nayutas of bodhisattvas describe the persecutions they will endure after the Buddha's passing for the sake of the Lotus Sutra.
79. In the twenty-line verse of the "Encouraging Devotion" chapter, the countless assembled bodhisattvas vow to brave various hardships in propagating the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. These hardships were later categorized by Miao-lo as the work of the three powerful enemies. This passage refers to the first of the three powerful enemies. The "Encouraging Devotion" chapter itself refers only to "swords and staves." "Rocks and tiles" is an interpolation from the "Never Disparaging" chapter.
80. This passage refers to the second of the three powerful enemies.
81. This passage refers to the third of the three powerful enemies: monks who enjoy the respect of the general public but, in fear of losing fame and profit, induce the authorities to persecute the votaries.
(to be continued to pg. 243)
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The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
Thus the Buddha decided the time [when the votary of the Lotus Sutra should appear], describing it as "an age of fear and evil," "the latter age hereafter," "the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish," and "the last five-hundred-year period," as attested by the two Chinese versions of the Lotus Sutra, the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law and the Lotus Sutra of the (82) Wonderful Law. At such a time, if the three powerful enemies predicted in the Lotus Sutra did not appear, then who would believe in the words of the Buddha? If it were not for Nichiren, who could fulfill the Buddha's prophecies concerning the votary of the Lotus Sutra? The three schools of southern China and seven schools of northern China, along with the seven major temples of Nara, were numbered among the enemies of the Lotus Sutra in the time of the Middle Day of the Law. How much less can the Zen, Precepts, and Nembutsu priests of the present time hope to escape a similar label?
With this body of mine, I have fulfilled the prophecies of the sutra. The more the government authorities rage against me, the greater is my joy. For instance, there are certain Hinayana bodhisattvas, not yet freed from delusion, who draw evil karma to themselves by their own compassionate vow. If they see that their father and mother have fallen into hell and are suffering greatly, they will deliberately create the appropriate karma in hopes that they too may fall into hell and share in and take their suffering upon themselves. Thus suffering is a joy to them. It is the same with me [in fulfilling the prophecies]. Though at present I must face trials that I can scarcely endure, I rejoice when I think that in the future I will escape being born into the evil paths.
And yet the people doubt me, and I too have doubts about myself. Why do the gods not assist me? Heavenly gods and other guardian deities made their vow before the Buddha. Even if the votary of the Lotus Sutra were an ape rather than a man, they should address him as the votary of the Lotus Sutra and rush forward to fulfill the vow they made before the Buddha. Does their failure to do so mean that I am in fact not a votary of the Lotus Sutra? This doubt lies at the heart of this piece I am writing. And because it is the most important concern of my entire life, I will raise it again and again here, and emphasize it more than ever, before I attempt to answer it.
Prince Chi-cha in his heart had promised to give the lord of Hsü the precious royal sword that he wore. Therefore [when he later found that the lord of Hsü had died], he placed (83) the sword on his grave. Wang Shou, having drunk water from a river, carefully tossed a gold coin into the water (84) as payment. Hung Yen, finding that his lord had been killed, cut open his stomach and inserted his lord's liver in it before he died. These were worthy men, and they knew how to repay a debt of gratitude. How much more so, then, should this be the case with great sages like Shariputra and Mahakashyapa, who observed every one of the two hundred and fifty precepts and the three thousand rules of conduct, and had cut themselves off from the illusions of thought and desire and separated themselves from the threefold world? They are worthy to be the leaders of Brahma, Shakra, and the other heavenly gods, and the eyes of all living beings. During the first forty and more years of the Buddha's preaching, these men were disliked and pushed aside with admonitions that they could never attain Buddhahood. But when they had tasted the medicine of immortality in the Lotus Sutra, they were like scorched seeds that sprout, a shattered rock joined together again, or withered trees that put forth blossoms and fruit. Through the Lotus Sutra, it was revealed that they would attain Buddhahood after all, though they had yet to enter the eight phases of a Buddha's existence. How, then, can they not do something to repay the profound debt of gratitude that they owe to the sutra? If they do not do so, they will show themselves to be inferior to the worthy men I mentioned earlier and, in fact, be no more than animals who have no understanding of a debt of gratitude.
The turtle that Mao Pao saved did not forget to repay the kindness of (85) the past. The great fish of K'un-ming Pond, in order to repay the man who had saved his life, presented a (86) bright jewel in the middle of the night. Even these creatures understood how to repay a debt of gratitude, so why shouldn't men who are great sages?
The Venerable Ananda was the second son of King Dronodana, and the Venerable Rahula was the grandson of King Shuddhodana. Both men were born into very distinguished families and even attained arhatship. However, they were declared to be unable to attain Buddhahood. And yet, during the eight-year assembly at Eagle Peak [when the Lotus Sutra was preached], it was revealed that they would become Buddhas with names such as the Thus Come One Mountain Sea Wisdom [Unrestricted Power King] and the Thus Come One Stepping on Seven Treasure Flowers. No matter how distinguished their families or what great sages they were, if it had not been for the revelation in the Lotus Sutra, who would have paid them respect?
King Chieh of the Hsia dynasty and King Chou of the Yin dynasty were lords of an army of ten thousand chariots and commanded the allegiance of the entire populace of their kingdoms. But because they governed despotically and brought about the downfall of their dynasties, people speak of Chieh and Chou as the epitome of evil men. Even a person of low station or a leper, if he is likened to Chieh and Chou, will be enraged at the insult.
If it had not been for the Lotus Sutra, then who would ever have heard of (88) the twelve hundred voice-hearers and the countless other voice-hearers [who would attain Buddhahood through the sutra, and] who would have listened to their voices? No one would have read the Buddhist sutras compiled by the thousand voice-hearers, (89) nor would there be any paintings or wooden statues of them set up and worshiped. It is entirely due to the power of the Lotus Sutra that these arhats are revered and followed. If these voice-hearers were to separate themselves from the Lotus Sutra, they would be like a fish without water, a monkey without a tree, a baby without the breast, or a people without a sovereign. How then can they abandon the votary of the Lotus Sutra?
Through the sutras that precede the Lotus Sutra, the voice-hearers have acquired the heavenly eye and the wisdom eye in addition to their physical eyes. Through the Lotus Sutra, they have been provided with the Dharma (90) eye and the Buddha eye. Their eyesight can penetrate any of the worlds in the ten directions. How then could they fail to see me, the votary of the Lotus Sutra, right here in the saha world? Even if I were an evil man who had said a word or two against them, or even if I cursed and reviled the voice-hearers for a year or two, a kalpa or two, or a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or a million kalpas, and went so far as to threaten to take up swords and staves against them, so long as I maintain my faith in the Lotus Sutra and act as its votary, then they should never abandon me.
A child may curse his parents, but would the parents for that reason cast him aside? The young owls eat their mother, but the mother nevertheless does not abandon them. The hakei beast kills its father, but the father does nothing to prevent this. If even animals behave like this, then why should great sages abandon the votary of the Lotus Sutra?
Notes:
82. Two of the three extant Chinese versions of the Lotus Sutra are mentioned here. The three are the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law translated by Dharmaraksha, the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law by Kumarajiva, and the Supplemented Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law by Jnanagupta and Dharmagupta. Among these versions, Kumarajiva's is by far the most widely used.
83. In 544 BCE Chi-cha, the son of Shou-meng, king of Wu, was ordered to visit other countries as an envoy. At that time he was given a valuable sword. When he happened to be passing through the country of Hsü, the lord of the state saw Chi-cha's sword and wanted it, though he did not dare to say so. Chi-cha, however, understood the lord's desire and in his heart promised to give him the sword after he had fulfilled his mission and returned to Hsü. But when he returned, he found that the lord had already died. True to his promise, he offered the sword at the lord's grave.
84. The details of the story are unknown; it symbolizes Wang Shou's deep gratitude for the natural environment and sense of integrity.
85. When Mao Pao was walking along the Yangtze River, he saw a fisherman catch a turtle and prepare to kill it. He bought the turtle and put it back in the water. Later, Mao Pao was defeated by a powerful general named Shih Hu. When he fled in retreat to the Yangtze River, the turtle that he had saved appeared and carried him on its back to the opposite shore.
86. A pond constructed by Emperor Wu of the Former Han dynasty. One day he saw a fish in the pond suffering because of a hook caught in its throat. The emperor felt pity for the fish and removed the hook, putting the fish back into the water. Later, to repay its obligation, the fish offered a bright jewel to the emperor.
87. Because King Chieh, the seventeenth ruler of the Hsia dynasty, tyrannically perpetrated various atrocities, he was overthrown by his enemies, and the Hsia dynasty perished. King Chou, the last ruler of the Yin dynasty, enslaved by his love for his consort Ta Chi, totally misgoverned the country. He was destroyed by King Wu of the Chou dynasty.
88. The twelve hundred voice-hearers refer to the arhats who received a prophecy of attaining Buddhahood in the "Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Each of them was given the same designation: the Thus Come One Universal Brightness.
89. The thousand voice-hearers refer to the disciples who gathered at the First Buddhist Council convened shortly after Shakyamuni's death in Magadha to compile his teachings.
90. The five types of vision are given here. "Eye" here means perceptive faculty. See five types of vision in Glossary.
(to be continued from pg. 245)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
Thus the Buddha decided the time [when the votary of the Lotus Sutra should appear], describing it as "an age of fear and evil," "the latter age hereafter," "the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish," and "the last five-hundred-year period," as attested by the two Chinese versions of the Lotus Sutra, the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law and the Lotus Sutra of the (82) Wonderful Law. At such a time, if the three powerful enemies predicted in the Lotus Sutra did not appear, then who would believe in the words of the Buddha? If it were not for Nichiren, who could fulfill the Buddha's prophecies concerning the votary of the Lotus Sutra? The three schools of southern China and seven schools of northern China, along with the seven major temples of Nara, were numbered among the enemies of the Lotus Sutra in the time of the Middle Day of the Law. How much less can the Zen, Precepts, and Nembutsu priests of the present time hope to escape a similar label?
With this body of mine, I have fulfilled the prophecies of the sutra. The more the government authorities rage against me, the greater is my joy. For instance, there are certain Hinayana bodhisattvas, not yet freed from delusion, who draw evil karma to themselves by their own compassionate vow. If they see that their father and mother have fallen into hell and are suffering greatly, they will deliberately create the appropriate karma in hopes that they too may fall into hell and share in and take their suffering upon themselves. Thus suffering is a joy to them. It is the same with me [in fulfilling the prophecies]. Though at present I must face trials that I can scarcely endure, I rejoice when I think that in the future I will escape being born into the evil paths.
And yet the people doubt me, and I too have doubts about myself. Why do the gods not assist me? Heavenly gods and other guardian deities made their vow before the Buddha. Even if the votary of the Lotus Sutra were an ape rather than a man, they should address him as the votary of the Lotus Sutra and rush forward to fulfill the vow they made before the Buddha. Does their failure to do so mean that I am in fact not a votary of the Lotus Sutra? This doubt lies at the heart of this piece I am writing. And because it is the most important concern of my entire life, I will raise it again and again here, and emphasize it more than ever, before I attempt to answer it.
Prince Chi-cha in his heart had promised to give the lord of Hsü the precious royal sword that he wore. Therefore [when he later found that the lord of Hsü had died], he placed (83) the sword on his grave. Wang Shou, having drunk water from a river, carefully tossed a gold coin into the water (84) as payment. Hung Yen, finding that his lord had been killed, cut open his stomach and inserted his lord's liver in it before he died. These were worthy men, and they knew how to repay a debt of gratitude. How much more so, then, should this be the case with great sages like Shariputra and Mahakashyapa, who observed every one of the two hundred and fifty precepts and the three thousand rules of conduct, and had cut themselves off from the illusions of thought and desire and separated themselves from the threefold world? They are worthy to be the leaders of Brahma, Shakra, and the other heavenly gods, and the eyes of all living beings. During the first forty and more years of the Buddha's preaching, these men were disliked and pushed aside with admonitions that they could never attain Buddhahood. But when they had tasted the medicine of immortality in the Lotus Sutra, they were like scorched seeds that sprout, a shattered rock joined together again, or withered trees that put forth blossoms and fruit. Through the Lotus Sutra, it was revealed that they would attain Buddhahood after all, though they had yet to enter the eight phases of a Buddha's existence. How, then, can they not do something to repay the profound debt of gratitude that they owe to the sutra? If they do not do so, they will show themselves to be inferior to the worthy men I mentioned earlier and, in fact, be no more than animals who have no understanding of a debt of gratitude.
The turtle that Mao Pao saved did not forget to repay the kindness of (85) the past. The great fish of K'un-ming Pond, in order to repay the man who had saved his life, presented a (86) bright jewel in the middle of the night. Even these creatures understood how to repay a debt of gratitude, so why shouldn't men who are great sages?
The Venerable Ananda was the second son of King Dronodana, and the Venerable Rahula was the grandson of King Shuddhodana. Both men were born into very distinguished families and even attained arhatship. However, they were declared to be unable to attain Buddhahood. And yet, during the eight-year assembly at Eagle Peak [when the Lotus Sutra was preached], it was revealed that they would become Buddhas with names such as the Thus Come One Mountain Sea Wisdom [Unrestricted Power King] and the Thus Come One Stepping on Seven Treasure Flowers. No matter how distinguished their families or what great sages they were, if it had not been for the revelation in the Lotus Sutra, who would have paid them respect?
King Chieh of the Hsia dynasty and King Chou of the Yin dynasty were lords of an army of ten thousand chariots and commanded the allegiance of the entire populace of their kingdoms. But because they governed despotically and brought about the downfall of their dynasties, people speak of Chieh and Chou as the epitome of evil men. Even a person of low station or a leper, if he is likened to Chieh and Chou, will be enraged at the insult.
If it had not been for the Lotus Sutra, then who would ever have heard of (88) the twelve hundred voice-hearers and the countless other voice-hearers [who would attain Buddhahood through the sutra, and] who would have listened to their voices? No one would have read the Buddhist sutras compiled by the thousand voice-hearers, (89) nor would there be any paintings or wooden statues of them set up and worshiped. It is entirely due to the power of the Lotus Sutra that these arhats are revered and followed. If these voice-hearers were to separate themselves from the Lotus Sutra, they would be like a fish without water, a monkey without a tree, a baby without the breast, or a people without a sovereign. How then can they abandon the votary of the Lotus Sutra?
Through the sutras that precede the Lotus Sutra, the voice-hearers have acquired the heavenly eye and the wisdom eye in addition to their physical eyes. Through the Lotus Sutra, they have been provided with the Dharma (90) eye and the Buddha eye. Their eyesight can penetrate any of the worlds in the ten directions. How then could they fail to see me, the votary of the Lotus Sutra, right here in the saha world? Even if I were an evil man who had said a word or two against them, or even if I cursed and reviled the voice-hearers for a year or two, a kalpa or two, or a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or a million kalpas, and went so far as to threaten to take up swords and staves against them, so long as I maintain my faith in the Lotus Sutra and act as its votary, then they should never abandon me.
A child may curse his parents, but would the parents for that reason cast him aside? The young owls eat their mother, but the mother nevertheless does not abandon them. The hakei beast kills its father, but the father does nothing to prevent this. If even animals behave like this, then why should great sages abandon the votary of the Lotus Sutra?
Notes:
82. Two of the three extant Chinese versions of the Lotus Sutra are mentioned here. The three are the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law translated by Dharmaraksha, the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law by Kumarajiva, and the Supplemented Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law by Jnanagupta and Dharmagupta. Among these versions, Kumarajiva's is by far the most widely used.
83. In 544 BCE Chi-cha, the son of Shou-meng, king of Wu, was ordered to visit other countries as an envoy. At that time he was given a valuable sword. When he happened to be passing through the country of Hsü, the lord of the state saw Chi-cha's sword and wanted it, though he did not dare to say so. Chi-cha, however, understood the lord's desire and in his heart promised to give him the sword after he had fulfilled his mission and returned to Hsü. But when he returned, he found that the lord had already died. True to his promise, he offered the sword at the lord's grave.
84. The details of the story are unknown; it symbolizes Wang Shou's deep gratitude for the natural environment and sense of integrity.
85. When Mao Pao was walking along the Yangtze River, he saw a fisherman catch a turtle and prepare to kill it. He bought the turtle and put it back in the water. Later, Mao Pao was defeated by a powerful general named Shih Hu. When he fled in retreat to the Yangtze River, the turtle that he had saved appeared and carried him on its back to the opposite shore.
86. A pond constructed by Emperor Wu of the Former Han dynasty. One day he saw a fish in the pond suffering because of a hook caught in its throat. The emperor felt pity for the fish and removed the hook, putting the fish back into the water. Later, to repay its obligation, the fish offered a bright jewel to the emperor.
87. Because King Chieh, the seventeenth ruler of the Hsia dynasty, tyrannically perpetrated various atrocities, he was overthrown by his enemies, and the Hsia dynasty perished. King Chou, the last ruler of the Yin dynasty, enslaved by his love for his consort Ta Chi, totally misgoverned the country. He was destroyed by King Wu of the Chou dynasty.
88. The twelve hundred voice-hearers refer to the arhats who received a prophecy of attaining Buddhahood in the "Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Each of them was given the same designation: the Thus Come One Universal Brightness.
89. The thousand voice-hearers refer to the disciples who gathered at the First Buddhist Council convened shortly after Shakyamuni's death in Magadha to compile his teachings.
90. The five types of vision are given here. "Eye" here means perceptive faculty. See five types of vision in Glossary.
(to be continued from pg. 245)
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And yet the people doubt me, and I too have doubts about myself. Why do the gods not assist me? Heavenly gods and other guardian deities made their vow before the Buddha. Even if the votary of the Lotus Sutra were an ape rather than a man, they should address him as the votary of the Lotus Sutra and rush forward to fulfill the vow they made before the Buddha. Does their failure to do so mean that I am in fact not a votary of the Lotus Sutra? This doubt lies at the heart of this piece I am writing. And because it is the most important concern of my entire life, I will raise it again and again here, and emphasize it more than ever, before I attempt to answer it.
"Now, no matter what, strive in faith and be known as a votary of the
Lotus Sutra, and remain my disciple for the rest of your life. If you
are of the same mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the
Earth." (True Aspect of all Phenomena" WND** p. 385)
Lotus Sutra, and remain my disciple for the rest of your life. If you
are of the same mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the
Earth." (True Aspect of all Phenomena" WND** p. 385)
notes from a study mtg by Eugene Hirahara (SGI)
notes from a study mtg by Eugene Hirahara (SGI)
In the Lotus Sutra, a chapter describes the scene where Shakyamuni
asks "who will shoulder the propagation of this Law after my death?"
All his disciples offer to take on this task. However, Shakyamuni,
calls on his disciples from the remote past to shoulder the
responsibility of spreading the Law. They emerge from the Earth and
are called the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, called upon to propagate
Buddhist Law. The crowd already present is amazed at how magnificent,
beautiful and shining these people are as they emerge from the earth.
They look more magnificent than even Shakyamuni !!! They were shining
with virtue, dignity and courage.
notes from a study mtg by Eugene Hirahara (SGI)
In the Lotus Sutra, a chapter describes the scene where Shakyamuni
asks "who will shoulder the propagation of this Law after my death?"
All his disciples offer to take on this task. However, Shakyamuni,
calls on his disciples from the remote past to shoulder the
responsibility of spreading the Law. They emerge from the Earth and
are called the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, called upon to propagate
Buddhist Law. The crowd already present is amazed at how magnificent,
beautiful and shining these people are as they emerge from the earth.
They look more magnificent than even Shakyamuni !!! They were shining
with virtue, dignity and courage.
are u walking?
are u walking?
The Utopia
By Eduardo Galeano
It is in the horizon
I get two steps closer and it moves two steps away
I walk 10 steps and the horizon walks 10 steps ahead
No matter how much I walk, I will never reach it.
For what purpose is Utopia : it is to walk.
(I believe we are all walking together, thanks!)
are u walking?
The Utopia
By Eduardo Galeano
It is in the horizon
I get two steps closer and it moves two steps away
I walk 10 steps and the horizon walks 10 steps ahead
No matter how much I walk, I will never reach it.
For what purpose is Utopia : it is to walk.
(I believe we are all walking together, thanks!)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The four great voice-hearers, in the passage that expresses their understanding, proclaimed: "Now we have become voice-hearers in truth, for we will take the voice of the Buddha way and cause it to be heard by all. Now we have become true arhats, for everywhere among the heavenly and human beings, devils, and Brahmas of the various worlds we deserve to receive offerings. The World-Honored One in his great mercy makes use of a rare thing, in pity and compassion teaching and converting, bringing benefit to us. In numberless millions of kalpas who could ever repay him? Though we offer him our hands and feet, bow our heads in respectful obeisance, and present all manner of offerings, none of us could repay him. Though we lift him on the crown of our heads, bear him on our two shoulders, for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands reverence him with all our hearts; though we come with delicate foods, with countless jeweled robes, with articles of bedding, various kinds of potions and medicines; with oxhead sandalwood and all kinds of rare gems, construct memorial towers and spread the ground with jeweled robes; though we were to do all this by way of offering for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands, still we could not repay (91) him."
In the various sutras preached during the earlier period of the Buddha's teaching life, which have been compared to the first four flavors, the voice-hearers were depicted on countless occasions as being subjected to all kinds of abuse and shamed before the great assembly of human and heavenly beings. Thus we are told that the sound of the Venerable Mahakashyapa's weeping and wailing echoed throughout the (92) major world system, that the Venerable Subhuti was so dumbfounded that he almost went off and left the alms (93) bowl he had been carrying, that Shariputra spat out the food he was (94) eating, and that Purna was berated for being the kind who would put filth in (95) a precious jar.
When the World-Honored One was at Deer Park, he extolled the Agama sutras and enjoined his disciples to rely on the two hundred and fifty precepts as their teacher, warmly praising those who did so, and yet before long, as we have seen, he turned about and began condemning such men. He is guilty, we would have to say, of making two different and completely contradictory pronouncements.
Thus, for example, the World-Honored One cursed Devadatta, saying, "You are a fool who licks the spit of others!" Devadatta felt as though a poison arrow had been shot into his breast, and he cried out in anger, declaring: "Gautama is no Buddha! I am the eldest son of King Dronodana, the elder brother of the Venerable Ananda, and kin to Gautama. No matter what kind of evil conduct I might be guilty of, he ought to admonish me in private for it. But to publicly and outrageously accuse me of faults in front of this great assembly of human and heavenly beings - is this the behavior appropriate to a great man or a Buddha? He showed himself to be my enemy in the past when he stole the (96) woman I intended to marry, and he has shown himself my enemy at this gathering today. From this day forward, I will look upon him as my archenemy for lifetime after lifetime and age after (97) age to come!"
When we stop to consider, we note that, of the great voice-hearers, some were originally from non-Buddhist Brahman families, or were leaders of various non-Buddhist orders who had converted kings to their teachings and were looked up to by their followers. Others were men of noble families or the possessors of great wealth. But they abandoned their exalted positions in life, lowered the banners of their pride, cast off everyday clothing, and wrapped their bodies in the humble, dingy-hued robes of a Buddhist monk. They threw away their white flywhisks, their bows and arrows, and took up a solitary alms bowl, becoming like paupers and beggars and following the World-Honored One. They had no dwellings to protect them from the wind and rain, and very little in the way of food or clothing by which to sustain life. Moreover, all the people of the five regions and the four seas of India were disciples or lay supporters of the non-Buddhist teachings, so that even the Buddha himself was on nine occasions forced to suffer major hardships.
Thus, for example, Devadatta hurled a great stone at him, and King Ajatashatru loosed a drunken elephant on him. Failing to receive alms from King Agnidatta, the Buddha was forced to eat horse fodder, and at a Brahman city, he was offered stinking rice gruel. Again, Chincha, the daughter of a Brahman, tying a bowl to her belly, claimed to (98) be pregnant with his child.
Needless to say, the Buddha's disciples were likewise forced to suffer frequent hardships. Thus, countless numbers of the Shakya clan were killed by King Virudhaka, and ten million of the Buddha's followers were trampled to death by drunken elephants that were set upon them. The nun Utpalavarna was killed by Devadatta, the Venerable Kalodayin was buried in horse dung, and the Venerable Maudgalyayana was beaten to death by members of a Brahman group named Bamboo (99) Staff. In addition, followers of the six non-Buddhist teachers banded together and slandered the Buddha before King Ajatashatru and King Prasenajit, saying: "Gautama is the most evil man in the whole land of Jambudvipa. Wherever he may be, the three calamities and seven disasters rampage without fail. As the numerous rivers gather together in the great sea and the groves of trees cluster on the great mountains, so crowds of evil men gather about Gautama. The men called Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Subhuti are examples. All those who are born in human form should place loyalty to the sovereign and filial piety above all else. But these men have been so misled by Gautama that they disregard the lessons of their parents, abandon their families, and, defying the commandments of the king, go to live in the mountain forests. They should be expelled from this country. It is because they are allowed to remain that the sun, moon, and stars manifest sinister phenomena, and many strange happenings (100) occur in the land."
The voice-hearers did not know how they could possibly bear such persecutions. Then, as if to add to their hardship, [the Buddha himself began to denounce them]. They found it difficult to follow him. Now and then, hearing him condemn them repeatedly in great assemblies of human and heavenly beings, and not knowing how to behave, they only became more confused.
On top of all this, they had to face the greatest hardship of all, as revealed in the Vimalakirti Sutra, [when the Buddha addressed the voice-hearers], saying, "Those who give alms to you are cultivating for themselves no field of good fortune. Those who give alms to you will fall into the three evil paths." These words were spoken when the Buddha was staying at Ambapali (101) Garden. There Brahma, Shakra, the deities of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, and the heavenly gods of the threefold world, along with earthly gods, dragon gods, and other beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, had gathered in this great assembly, when the Buddha said, "The heavenly and human beings who give alms to Subhuti and the other monks will fall into the three evil paths." After the heavenly and human beings had heard this, would they be likely to go on giving alms to the voice-hearers? It would almost appear as though the Buddha were deliberately attempting through his words to inflict death upon those who upheld the two vehicles. The more sensible persons in the assembly were no doubt repelled by the Buddha's action. Nevertheless, the voice-hearers were able to obtain enough of the alms given to the Buddha to keep themselves alive, meager though the amount was.
When I consider the situation, it occurs to me that, if the Buddha had passed away after preaching the various sutras delivered in the first forty and more years of his teaching life and had not lived to preach the Lotus Sutra in the following eight years, then who would ever have offered alms to these venerable ones? They would have been living in the realm of hungry spirits.
But after more than forty years of preaching various sutras, it was as though the bright spring sun emerged to melt the frigid ice, or a great wind arose to dispel the dew from countless grasses. With one remark, in one moment, the Buddha wiped away his earlier pronouncements, saying, "I have not yet revealed the truth." Like a great wind scattering the dark clouds or the full moon in the vast heavens, or like the sun shining in the blue sky, he proclaimed, "The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now must reveal the truth." With the brilliance of the sun or the brightness of the moon, it was revealed in the Lotus Sutra that Shariputra would become the Thus Come One Flower Glow and Mahakashyapa would become the Thus Come One Light Bright. Because of the Lotus Sutra, the phoenix among scriptures and the mirror that reflects the teachings, after the Buddha's passing, the voice-hearers were looked up to by the human and heavenly supporters of Buddhism just as the Buddha would be.
If the water is clear, then the moon will not fail to be reflected there. If the wind blows, then the grass and trees will not fail to bow before it. And if there is a votary of the Lotus Sutra, then the sages, the voice-hearers, should not fail to go to his side, though they might have to pass through a great fire or make their way through a great rock to do so. Though Mahakashyapa may be deep in meditation, he should (102) not ignore the circumstances. Why does he do nothing about the situation? I am completely perplexed. Is this not the last five-hundred-year period? Is the prediction that the Lotus Sutra will spread abroad widely mere nonsense (103)? Is Nichiren not the votary of the Lotus Sutra? Are the voice-hearers protecting those who disparage the Lotus Sutra as a mere written teaching and who put forth their great lies about (104) what they call a special transmission? Are they guarding those who write (105) "Discard, close, ignore, abandon!" urging people to close the gate to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and to throw away its scrolls, and who cause the ruin of the temples dedicated to the practice of the Lotus Sutra? The various heavenly deities swore before the Buddha to protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra, but now that they see how fierce are the great persecutions of this muddied age, do they fail to come down? The sun and the moon are still up in the sky. Mount Sumeru has not collapsed. The ocean tides ebb and flow, and the four seasons proceed in their normal order. Why then is there no sign of aid for the votary of the Lotus Sutra? My doubts grow deeper than ever.
Notes:
91. Lotus Sutra, chap. 4. "A rare thing" in the quotation refers to the Lotus Sutra, and "offer him our hands and feet" means to serve the Buddha and practice his teachings.
92. This story appears in the Vimalakirti Sutra. When Mahakashyapa heard Vimalakirti speak about enlightenment, he could not understand it at all and wept over the fact that he did not inherently possess the seed of Buddhahood. The sutra relates that the sound of his weeping echoed throughout the major world system.
93. This story is also found in the Vimalakirti Sutra. One day Subhuti came to Vimalakirti asking for alms. Vimalakirti filled Subhuti's bowl but told him that he did not deserve to receive alms and that those who offered alms to him would invariably fall into the three evil paths. At that time Subhuti was so shocked that he almost went off without his alms bowl.
94. This story is found in The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom. When Shakyamuni Buddha reproached Shariputra for eating impure food, Shariputra was so surprised that he spat it out. Impure food indicates what is not an offering made from the heart.
95. This story appears in the Vimalakirti Sutra. When Shakyamuni Buddha saw Purna preaching the Hinayana teachings to the people, he told Purna that he should not put impure things into a precious vessel.
96. In the period before Shakyamuni renounced the secular life, he married Yashodhara, a beautiful woman whom Devadatta had wished to marry. As a result, Devadatta nurtured a grudge against Shakyamuni.
97. Based on a passage in the Nirvana Sutra.
98. The above stories are included among the nine great ordeals or persecutions suffered by Shakyamuni Buddha. They are described in Great Perfection of Wisdom and other texts.
99. The story of King Virudhaka appears in The Monastic Rules on Various Matters and elsewhere; it is also included in the nine great ordeals mentioned above. The story of the nun Utpalavarna is found in Great Perfection of Wisdom; because she reproved Devadatta for being a great enemy of Buddhism, he was so enraged that he beat her to death. Kalodayin's disaster is described in The Ten Divisions of Monastic Rules: one day when he was going about begging, a woman offered him alms, but her jealous and enraged husband killed him. The fate of Maudgalyayana is found in Monastic Rules on Various Matters. All of these stories appear also in the various Agama sutras.
100. Adapted from a passage in the Nirvana Sutra.
101. The garden of mango trees in the city of Vaishali in India.
102. A History of the Buddha's Successors states that, when Mahakashyapa felt that death was approaching, he transferred the teachings to Ananda and went to Mount Kukkutapada in Magadha, where he entered into meditation and died. It is said that not until Bodhisattva Maitreya appears in the world 5,670 million years after the Buddha's death will Mahakashyapa reappear.
103. Reference is to a passage in the "Medicine King" chapter of the Lotus Sutra that reads, "After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvipa and never allow it to be cut off."
104. Reference is to a special transmission outside the scriptures, not dependent on words and phrases, an expression commonly used in Zen.
105. Honen does not use these words in this particular form, however. Nichiren Daishonin took these words from The Nembutsu Chosen above All and put them together as a set.
(to be continued from pg. 248)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The four great voice-hearers, in the passage that expresses their understanding, proclaimed: "Now we have become voice-hearers in truth, for we will take the voice of the Buddha way and cause it to be heard by all. Now we have become true arhats, for everywhere among the heavenly and human beings, devils, and Brahmas of the various worlds we deserve to receive offerings. The World-Honored One in his great mercy makes use of a rare thing, in pity and compassion teaching and converting, bringing benefit to us. In numberless millions of kalpas who could ever repay him? Though we offer him our hands and feet, bow our heads in respectful obeisance, and present all manner of offerings, none of us could repay him. Though we lift him on the crown of our heads, bear him on our two shoulders, for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands reverence him with all our hearts; though we come with delicate foods, with countless jeweled robes, with articles of bedding, various kinds of potions and medicines; with oxhead sandalwood and all kinds of rare gems, construct memorial towers and spread the ground with jeweled robes; though we were to do all this by way of offering for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands, still we could not repay (91) him."
In the various sutras preached during the earlier period of the Buddha's teaching life, which have been compared to the first four flavors, the voice-hearers were depicted on countless occasions as being subjected to all kinds of abuse and shamed before the great assembly of human and heavenly beings. Thus we are told that the sound of the Venerable Mahakashyapa's weeping and wailing echoed throughout the (92) major world system, that the Venerable Subhuti was so dumbfounded that he almost went off and left the alms (93) bowl he had been carrying, that Shariputra spat out the food he was (94) eating, and that Purna was berated for being the kind who would put filth in (95) a precious jar.
When the World-Honored One was at Deer Park, he extolled the Agama sutras and enjoined his disciples to rely on the two hundred and fifty precepts as their teacher, warmly praising those who did so, and yet before long, as we have seen, he turned about and began condemning such men. He is guilty, we would have to say, of making two different and completely contradictory pronouncements.
Thus, for example, the World-Honored One cursed Devadatta, saying, "You are a fool who licks the spit of others!" Devadatta felt as though a poison arrow had been shot into his breast, and he cried out in anger, declaring: "Gautama is no Buddha! I am the eldest son of King Dronodana, the elder brother of the Venerable Ananda, and kin to Gautama. No matter what kind of evil conduct I might be guilty of, he ought to admonish me in private for it. But to publicly and outrageously accuse me of faults in front of this great assembly of human and heavenly beings - is this the behavior appropriate to a great man or a Buddha? He showed himself to be my enemy in the past when he stole the (96) woman I intended to marry, and he has shown himself my enemy at this gathering today. From this day forward, I will look upon him as my archenemy for lifetime after lifetime and age after (97) age to come!"
When we stop to consider, we note that, of the great voice-hearers, some were originally from non-Buddhist Brahman families, or were leaders of various non-Buddhist orders who had converted kings to their teachings and were looked up to by their followers. Others were men of noble families or the possessors of great wealth. But they abandoned their exalted positions in life, lowered the banners of their pride, cast off everyday clothing, and wrapped their bodies in the humble, dingy-hued robes of a Buddhist monk. They threw away their white flywhisks, their bows and arrows, and took up a solitary alms bowl, becoming like paupers and beggars and following the World-Honored One. They had no dwellings to protect them from the wind and rain, and very little in the way of food or clothing by which to sustain life. Moreover, all the people of the five regions and the four seas of India were disciples or lay supporters of the non-Buddhist teachings, so that even the Buddha himself was on nine occasions forced to suffer major hardships.
Thus, for example, Devadatta hurled a great stone at him, and King Ajatashatru loosed a drunken elephant on him. Failing to receive alms from King Agnidatta, the Buddha was forced to eat horse fodder, and at a Brahman city, he was offered stinking rice gruel. Again, Chincha, the daughter of a Brahman, tying a bowl to her belly, claimed to (98) be pregnant with his child.
Needless to say, the Buddha's disciples were likewise forced to suffer frequent hardships. Thus, countless numbers of the Shakya clan were killed by King Virudhaka, and ten million of the Buddha's followers were trampled to death by drunken elephants that were set upon them. The nun Utpalavarna was killed by Devadatta, the Venerable Kalodayin was buried in horse dung, and the Venerable Maudgalyayana was beaten to death by members of a Brahman group named Bamboo (99) Staff. In addition, followers of the six non-Buddhist teachers banded together and slandered the Buddha before King Ajatashatru and King Prasenajit, saying: "Gautama is the most evil man in the whole land of Jambudvipa. Wherever he may be, the three calamities and seven disasters rampage without fail. As the numerous rivers gather together in the great sea and the groves of trees cluster on the great mountains, so crowds of evil men gather about Gautama. The men called Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Subhuti are examples. All those who are born in human form should place loyalty to the sovereign and filial piety above all else. But these men have been so misled by Gautama that they disregard the lessons of their parents, abandon their families, and, defying the commandments of the king, go to live in the mountain forests. They should be expelled from this country. It is because they are allowed to remain that the sun, moon, and stars manifest sinister phenomena, and many strange happenings (100) occur in the land."
The voice-hearers did not know how they could possibly bear such persecutions. Then, as if to add to their hardship, [the Buddha himself began to denounce them]. They found it difficult to follow him. Now and then, hearing him condemn them repeatedly in great assemblies of human and heavenly beings, and not knowing how to behave, they only became more confused.
On top of all this, they had to face the greatest hardship of all, as revealed in the Vimalakirti Sutra, [when the Buddha addressed the voice-hearers], saying, "Those who give alms to you are cultivating for themselves no field of good fortune. Those who give alms to you will fall into the three evil paths." These words were spoken when the Buddha was staying at Ambapali (101) Garden. There Brahma, Shakra, the deities of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, and the heavenly gods of the threefold world, along with earthly gods, dragon gods, and other beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, had gathered in this great assembly, when the Buddha said, "The heavenly and human beings who give alms to Subhuti and the other monks will fall into the three evil paths." After the heavenly and human beings had heard this, would they be likely to go on giving alms to the voice-hearers? It would almost appear as though the Buddha were deliberately attempting through his words to inflict death upon those who upheld the two vehicles. The more sensible persons in the assembly were no doubt repelled by the Buddha's action. Nevertheless, the voice-hearers were able to obtain enough of the alms given to the Buddha to keep themselves alive, meager though the amount was.
When I consider the situation, it occurs to me that, if the Buddha had passed away after preaching the various sutras delivered in the first forty and more years of his teaching life and had not lived to preach the Lotus Sutra in the following eight years, then who would ever have offered alms to these venerable ones? They would have been living in the realm of hungry spirits.
But after more than forty years of preaching various sutras, it was as though the bright spring sun emerged to melt the frigid ice, or a great wind arose to dispel the dew from countless grasses. With one remark, in one moment, the Buddha wiped away his earlier pronouncements, saying, "I have not yet revealed the truth." Like a great wind scattering the dark clouds or the full moon in the vast heavens, or like the sun shining in the blue sky, he proclaimed, "The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now must reveal the truth." With the brilliance of the sun or the brightness of the moon, it was revealed in the Lotus Sutra that Shariputra would become the Thus Come One Flower Glow and Mahakashyapa would become the Thus Come One Light Bright. Because of the Lotus Sutra, the phoenix among scriptures and the mirror that reflects the teachings, after the Buddha's passing, the voice-hearers were looked up to by the human and heavenly supporters of Buddhism just as the Buddha would be.
If the water is clear, then the moon will not fail to be reflected there. If the wind blows, then the grass and trees will not fail to bow before it. And if there is a votary of the Lotus Sutra, then the sages, the voice-hearers, should not fail to go to his side, though they might have to pass through a great fire or make their way through a great rock to do so. Though Mahakashyapa may be deep in meditation, he should (102) not ignore the circumstances. Why does he do nothing about the situation? I am completely perplexed. Is this not the last five-hundred-year period? Is the prediction that the Lotus Sutra will spread abroad widely mere nonsense (103)? Is Nichiren not the votary of the Lotus Sutra? Are the voice-hearers protecting those who disparage the Lotus Sutra as a mere written teaching and who put forth their great lies about (104) what they call a special transmission? Are they guarding those who write (105) "Discard, close, ignore, abandon!" urging people to close the gate to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and to throw away its scrolls, and who cause the ruin of the temples dedicated to the practice of the Lotus Sutra? The various heavenly deities swore before the Buddha to protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra, but now that they see how fierce are the great persecutions of this muddied age, do they fail to come down? The sun and the moon are still up in the sky. Mount Sumeru has not collapsed. The ocean tides ebb and flow, and the four seasons proceed in their normal order. Why then is there no sign of aid for the votary of the Lotus Sutra? My doubts grow deeper than ever.
Notes:
91. Lotus Sutra, chap. 4. "A rare thing" in the quotation refers to the Lotus Sutra, and "offer him our hands and feet" means to serve the Buddha and practice his teachings.
92. This story appears in the Vimalakirti Sutra. When Mahakashyapa heard Vimalakirti speak about enlightenment, he could not understand it at all and wept over the fact that he did not inherently possess the seed of Buddhahood. The sutra relates that the sound of his weeping echoed throughout the major world system.
93. This story is also found in the Vimalakirti Sutra. One day Subhuti came to Vimalakirti asking for alms. Vimalakirti filled Subhuti's bowl but told him that he did not deserve to receive alms and that those who offered alms to him would invariably fall into the three evil paths. At that time Subhuti was so shocked that he almost went off without his alms bowl.
94. This story is found in The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom. When Shakyamuni Buddha reproached Shariputra for eating impure food, Shariputra was so surprised that he spat it out. Impure food indicates what is not an offering made from the heart.
95. This story appears in the Vimalakirti Sutra. When Shakyamuni Buddha saw Purna preaching the Hinayana teachings to the people, he told Purna that he should not put impure things into a precious vessel.
96. In the period before Shakyamuni renounced the secular life, he married Yashodhara, a beautiful woman whom Devadatta had wished to marry. As a result, Devadatta nurtured a grudge against Shakyamuni.
97. Based on a passage in the Nirvana Sutra.
98. The above stories are included among the nine great ordeals or persecutions suffered by Shakyamuni Buddha. They are described in Great Perfection of Wisdom and other texts.
99. The story of King Virudhaka appears in The Monastic Rules on Various Matters and elsewhere; it is also included in the nine great ordeals mentioned above. The story of the nun Utpalavarna is found in Great Perfection of Wisdom; because she reproved Devadatta for being a great enemy of Buddhism, he was so enraged that he beat her to death. Kalodayin's disaster is described in The Ten Divisions of Monastic Rules: one day when he was going about begging, a woman offered him alms, but her jealous and enraged husband killed him. The fate of Maudgalyayana is found in Monastic Rules on Various Matters. All of these stories appear also in the various Agama sutras.
100. Adapted from a passage in the Nirvana Sutra.
101. The garden of mango trees in the city of Vaishali in India.
102. A History of the Buddha's Successors states that, when Mahakashyapa felt that death was approaching, he transferred the teachings to Ananda and went to Mount Kukkutapada in Magadha, where he entered into meditation and died. It is said that not until Bodhisattva Maitreya appears in the world 5,670 million years after the Buddha's death will Mahakashyapa reappear.
103. Reference is to a passage in the "Medicine King" chapter of the Lotus Sutra that reads, "After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvipa and never allow it to be cut off."
104. Reference is to a special transmission outside the scriptures, not dependent on words and phrases, an expression commonly used in Zen.
105. Honen does not use these words in this particular form, however. Nichiren Daishonin took these words from The Nembutsu Chosen above All and put them together as a set.
(to be continued from pg. 248)
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The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
In the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha is shown predicting that various great bodhisattvas and heavenly and human beings will attain Buddhahood in the future. But trying to realize such predictions is like trying to grasp the moon in the water, like mistaking the reflection for the actual object - it has the color and shape of the object but not the reality. Likewise, the Buddha would seem to be displaying profound kindness in making such predictions, but in fact it is little kindness at all.
When the World-Honored One had first attained enlightenment and had not yet begun to preach, more than sixty great bodhisattvas, including Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Diamond Banner, and Diamond Storehouse, appeared from the various Buddha lands of the ten directions and came before Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. There, at the request of the bodhisattvas Chief Wise, Moon of Deliverance, and others, they preached the doctrines of the ten stages of security, the ten stages of practice, the ten stages of devotion, the ten stages of development (106), and so forth. The doctrines that these great bodhisattvas preached were not learned from Shakyamuni Buddha. At that time, Brahma and other deities of the worlds of the ten directions came together and preached the various teachings, but again those were not what they had learned from Shakyamuni.
These great bodhisattvas, deities, dragons, and others who appeared at the assembly described in the Flower Garland Sutra were beings who had dwelt in "inconceivable emancipation (107)" since before Shakyamuni Buddha began preaching. Perhaps they were disciples of Shakyamuni when he was carrying out bodhisattva practices in previous existences, or perhaps they were disciples of previous Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions. In any event, they were not disciples of the Shakyamuni who first attained enlightenment in this world and expounded his lifetime teachings.
It was only when the Buddha set forth the four teachings in the Agama, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods that he finally acquired disciples. And although they were doctrines preached by the Buddha himself, they were not doctrines that revealed his true intention. Why do I say this? Because the specific and perfect teachings, as set forth in the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods, do not differ in meaning from the specific and perfect teachings as set forth in the Flower Garland Sutra. The specific and perfect teachings given in the Flower Garland Sutra are not the specific and perfect teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. They are the specific and perfect teachings of Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas mentioned earlier. These great bodhisattvas may appear to most people to have been disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, but in fact it would be better to call them his teachers. The World-Honored One listened to these bodhisattvas' preaching and, after gaining wisdom and understanding, proceeded to set forth the specific and perfect teachings of the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods. But these differ in no way from the specific and perfect teachings of the Flower Garland Sutra.
Therefore, we know that these great bodhisattvas were the teachers of Shakyamuni. These bodhisattvas are mentioned in the Flower Garland Sutra, where they are called "good friends." To call a person a good friend means that that person is neither one's teacher nor one's disciple. The two types of teachings called Tripitaka and connecting teachings are offshoots of the specific and perfect teachings. Anyone who understands the specific and perfect teachings will invariably understand the Tripitaka and connecting teachings as well.
A teacher is someone who teaches his disciples things that they did not previously know. For example, in the ages before the Buddha, the heavenly and human beings and followers of Brahmanism were all disciples of the (108) two deities and the three ascetics. Though their doctrines branched off to form ninety-five different schools, these did not go beyond the views of the three ascetics. Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, also studied these doctrines and for a time became a disciple of the Brahmanic teachers. But after spending twelve years in various painful (109) and comfortable practices, he came to understand the principles of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Therefore, he ceased to call himself a disciple of the Brahmanic teachings and instead proclaimed himself the possessor of a wisdom acquired from no teacher at all. Thus in time the human and heavenly beings came to look up to him as a great teacher.
It is clear, therefore, that during the teaching period of the first four flavors Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, was a disciple of Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas. Similarly, he was the ninth disciple of Bodhisattva (110) Manjushri. This is also the reason why the Buddha repeatedly declares in the earlier sutras, "I never preached a single word."
When Shakyamuni Buddha was seventy-two, he preached the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra on Eagle Peak in the kingdom of Magadha. At that time he denied all the sutras he had preached during the previous more than forty years, and all the fragmentary teachings derived from those sutras, saying, "In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth." At that time, the great bodhisattvas and the various heavenly and human beings hastened to implore the Buddha to reveal the true doctrine. In fact, in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra he made a single pronouncement that appeared (111) to suggest the true doctrine, but he did not elaborate on it. It was like the moment when the moon is about to rise. The moon is still hidden behind the eastern hills, and though its glow begins to light the western hills, people cannot yet see the body of the moon itself.
In the "Expedient Means" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in the section that concisely reveals the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle, the Buddha briefly explained the concept of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the doctrine that he had kept in mind for his final revelation. But because this was the first time he had touched on the subject, it was only dimly apprehended, like the first note of the cuckoo heard by someone drowsy with sleep, or like the moon appearing over the rim of the hill but veiled in thin clouds. Shariputra and the others, startled, called the heavenly beings, dragon deities, and great bodhisattvas together and, begging for instruction, said: "The heavenly beings, dragons, spirits, and the others, their numbers like Ganges sands, the bodhisattvas seeking to be Buddhas in a great force of eighty thousand, as well as the wheel-turning kings [who] come from ten thousands of millions of lands, all press their palms and with reverent minds wish to hear the teaching of (112) perfect endowment."
The passage indicates that they requested to hear a doctrine such as they had not heard in the previous more than forty years, one that differed from the four flavors and the three teachings. With regard to the part "[they] wish to hear the teaching of perfect endowment," it may be noted that the Nirvana (113) Sutra states, "Sad indicates perfect endowment." The Profound Meaning of the Four Mahayana Treatises states, "Sad connotes six. In India the number six implies perfect endowment." In his commentary Chi-tsang writes, "Sad is (114) translated as perfect endowment." In the eighth volume of his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra T'ien-t'ai remarks, "Sad is a Sanskrit word, which is translated as myo, or wonderful." Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, in the heart of his thousand-volume Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, comments, "Sad signifies six." Nagarjuna was thirteenth in the lineage of the Buddha's successors, the founder of the True Word, Flower Garland, and the other schools, a great sage of the first stage of development, and the person whose true identity was the Thus Come One Dharma Clouds Freedom King.
The characters Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese. In India, the Lotus Sutra is called Saddharma-pundarika-sutra. The following is the mantra concerning the heart of the Lotus Sutra composed by the Tripitaka Master Shan-wu-wei:
namah samanta-buddhanam
om a a am ah
sarva-buddha-jna-sakshebhyah
gagana-sambhavalakshani
saddharma-pundarika-sutra
jah hum bam hoh vajrarakshaman
hum svaha
Hail to all the Buddhas! Three-bodied Thus Come Ones! Open the door to, show me, cause me to awaken to, and to enter into the wisdom and insight of all the Buddhas. You who are like space and who have freed yourself from form! Oh, Sutra of the White Lotus of the Correct Law! Cause me to enter into, to be everywhere within, to dwell in, and to rejoice in you. Oh, Adamantine Protector! Oh, empty, (115) aspect-free, and desire-free sutra!
This mantra, which expresses the heart of the Lotus Sutra, was found in the iron tower in southern India. In this mantra, saddharma means "correct Law." Sad means correct. Correct is the same as myo [wonderful]; myo is the same as correct. Hence the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law and the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. And when the two characters for namu are prefixed to Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, we have the formula Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (117).
Myo means perfect endowment. Six refers to the six paramitas representing all the ten thousand practices. When people ask to hear the teaching of perfect endowment, they are asking how they may gain the perfect endowment of the six paramitas and ten thousand practices of the bodhisattvas. In the phrase "perfect endowment," endowment refers to the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, while perfect means that, since there is mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, then any one world contains all the other worlds, indicating that this is "perfect." The Lotus Sutra is a single work consisting of eight volumes, twenty-eight chapters, and 69,384 characters. Each and every character is endowed with the character myo, each being a Buddha who has the thirty-two features and eighty characteristics. Each of the Ten Worlds manifests its own Buddhahood. As Miao-lo writes, "Since even Buddhahood is present in all living beings, then all the other (118) worlds are of course present, too."
The Buddha replied to the request of his listeners by saying that "the Buddhas wish to open the door of Buddha (119) wisdom to all living beings." The term "all living beings" here refers to Shariputra, and it also refers to icchantikas, persons of incorrigible disbelief. It also refers to the nine worlds. Thus the Buddha fulfilled his words, "Living beings are numberless. I vow to save (120) them all," when he declares, "At the start I took a vow, hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us, and what I long ago hoped for has now been fulfilled."
All the great bodhisattvas, heavenly beings, and others, when they had heard the doctrine of the Buddha and comprehended it, said, "Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One's preaching, but we have never heard this kind of profound, (121) wonderful, and superior Law."
The Great Teacher Dengyo comments: "'Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One's preaching' refers to the fact that they had heard him preach the great doctrines of the Flower Garland Sutra and other sutras in the time previous to the preaching of the Lotus Sutra. 'We have never heard this kind of profound, wonderful, and superior Law' means that they had never heard the teaching of the one vehicle of Buddhahood propounded (122) in the Lotus Sutra."
They understood, that is, that none of the previous Mahayana sutras -which are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and include those of the Flower Garland, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods, such as the Profound Secrets and Mahavairochana sutras - had ever made clear the great principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the core of the Buddha's lifetime teachings. Nor had they clarified the bone and marrow of those teachings, the doctrines that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood and that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past.
End of Part One
Notes:
106. These four types of ten stages are divisions of the fifty-two stages through which a bodhisattva advances from his first resolve to his attainment of perfect enlightenment.
107. "Inconceivable emancipation" is defined as awakening to the profound and subtle principle of Mahayana. Described in the Vimalakirti Sutra.
108. The two deities are Shiva and Vishnu.
109. After he renounced secular life, Shakyamuni engaged in various practices for twelve years until he attained enlightenment. It is said that for the first six years he carried out ascetic practices (painful), and for the second six years he persevered in the practice of meditation (comfortable).
110. This story appears in the "Introduction" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. In the distant past, Manjushri appeared as Bodhisattva Wonderfully Bright, a disciple of Sun Moon Bright Buddha. After the Buddha's demise, Wonderfully Bright continued to embrace the Lotus Sutra, which his teacher had expounded. The Buddha had fathered eight sons before renouncing the world. Wonderfully Bright led the princes to enlightenment. The last of them to attain Buddhahood was Burning Torch Buddha, under whom Shakyamuni practiced the sutra for enlightenment in a previous existence. This is why Shakyamuni is called "the ninth disciple of Bodhisattva Manjushri."
111. In the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra Shakyamuni Buddha says, "These immeasurable meanings are born from a single Law," although he does not clarify what this Law is.
112. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
113. Sad corresponds to sad of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, the Sanskrit name of the Lotus Sutra.
114. The quotation has not been identified. Chi-tsang (549-623) was a priest of the Three Treatises school in China.
115. The English translation is based on this reconstruction made from versions of the mantra found in The Writings of Kakuzen and other sources.
namah samanta-buddhanam
om a a am ah
sarva-buddha-jña-sakqebhyah
gagana-sambhavalakqani
saddharma-pundarika-sutra
jah hum bam hoh vajrarakqaman
hum svaha
116. The True Word tradition holds that Nagarjuna received the Mahavairochana Sutra from Bodhisattva Vajrasattva along with other esoteric teachings pre-served in an iron tower in southern India.
117. "Nam" is a phonetic contraction of "Namu."
118. On "Great Concentration and Insight."
119. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
120. One of the four universal vows of a bodhisattva. The others are to eradicate countless earthly desires, to master immeasurable Buddhist teachings, and to attain supreme enlightenment. The following quotation is from chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra.
121. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
122. Essay on the Protection of the Nation.
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 220 (continued)
In the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha is shown predicting that various great bodhisattvas and heavenly and human beings will attain Buddhahood in the future. But trying to realize such predictions is like trying to grasp the moon in the water, like mistaking the reflection for the actual object - it has the color and shape of the object but not the reality. Likewise, the Buddha would seem to be displaying profound kindness in making such predictions, but in fact it is little kindness at all.
When the World-Honored One had first attained enlightenment and had not yet begun to preach, more than sixty great bodhisattvas, including Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Diamond Banner, and Diamond Storehouse, appeared from the various Buddha lands of the ten directions and came before Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. There, at the request of the bodhisattvas Chief Wise, Moon of Deliverance, and others, they preached the doctrines of the ten stages of security, the ten stages of practice, the ten stages of devotion, the ten stages of development (106), and so forth. The doctrines that these great bodhisattvas preached were not learned from Shakyamuni Buddha. At that time, Brahma and other deities of the worlds of the ten directions came together and preached the various teachings, but again those were not what they had learned from Shakyamuni.
These great bodhisattvas, deities, dragons, and others who appeared at the assembly described in the Flower Garland Sutra were beings who had dwelt in "inconceivable emancipation (107)" since before Shakyamuni Buddha began preaching. Perhaps they were disciples of Shakyamuni when he was carrying out bodhisattva practices in previous existences, or perhaps they were disciples of previous Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions. In any event, they were not disciples of the Shakyamuni who first attained enlightenment in this world and expounded his lifetime teachings.
It was only when the Buddha set forth the four teachings in the Agama, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods that he finally acquired disciples. And although they were doctrines preached by the Buddha himself, they were not doctrines that revealed his true intention. Why do I say this? Because the specific and perfect teachings, as set forth in the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods, do not differ in meaning from the specific and perfect teachings as set forth in the Flower Garland Sutra. The specific and perfect teachings given in the Flower Garland Sutra are not the specific and perfect teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. They are the specific and perfect teachings of Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas mentioned earlier. These great bodhisattvas may appear to most people to have been disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, but in fact it would be better to call them his teachers. The World-Honored One listened to these bodhisattvas' preaching and, after gaining wisdom and understanding, proceeded to set forth the specific and perfect teachings of the sutras of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods. But these differ in no way from the specific and perfect teachings of the Flower Garland Sutra.
Therefore, we know that these great bodhisattvas were the teachers of Shakyamuni. These bodhisattvas are mentioned in the Flower Garland Sutra, where they are called "good friends." To call a person a good friend means that that person is neither one's teacher nor one's disciple. The two types of teachings called Tripitaka and connecting teachings are offshoots of the specific and perfect teachings. Anyone who understands the specific and perfect teachings will invariably understand the Tripitaka and connecting teachings as well.
A teacher is someone who teaches his disciples things that they did not previously know. For example, in the ages before the Buddha, the heavenly and human beings and followers of Brahmanism were all disciples of the (108) two deities and the three ascetics. Though their doctrines branched off to form ninety-five different schools, these did not go beyond the views of the three ascetics. Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, also studied these doctrines and for a time became a disciple of the Brahmanic teachers. But after spending twelve years in various painful (109) and comfortable practices, he came to understand the principles of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Therefore, he ceased to call himself a disciple of the Brahmanic teachings and instead proclaimed himself the possessor of a wisdom acquired from no teacher at all. Thus in time the human and heavenly beings came to look up to him as a great teacher.
It is clear, therefore, that during the teaching period of the first four flavors Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, was a disciple of Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas. Similarly, he was the ninth disciple of Bodhisattva (110) Manjushri. This is also the reason why the Buddha repeatedly declares in the earlier sutras, "I never preached a single word."
When Shakyamuni Buddha was seventy-two, he preached the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra on Eagle Peak in the kingdom of Magadha. At that time he denied all the sutras he had preached during the previous more than forty years, and all the fragmentary teachings derived from those sutras, saying, "In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth." At that time, the great bodhisattvas and the various heavenly and human beings hastened to implore the Buddha to reveal the true doctrine. In fact, in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra he made a single pronouncement that appeared (111) to suggest the true doctrine, but he did not elaborate on it. It was like the moment when the moon is about to rise. The moon is still hidden behind the eastern hills, and though its glow begins to light the western hills, people cannot yet see the body of the moon itself.
In the "Expedient Means" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in the section that concisely reveals the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle, the Buddha briefly explained the concept of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the doctrine that he had kept in mind for his final revelation. But because this was the first time he had touched on the subject, it was only dimly apprehended, like the first note of the cuckoo heard by someone drowsy with sleep, or like the moon appearing over the rim of the hill but veiled in thin clouds. Shariputra and the others, startled, called the heavenly beings, dragon deities, and great bodhisattvas together and, begging for instruction, said: "The heavenly beings, dragons, spirits, and the others, their numbers like Ganges sands, the bodhisattvas seeking to be Buddhas in a great force of eighty thousand, as well as the wheel-turning kings [who] come from ten thousands of millions of lands, all press their palms and with reverent minds wish to hear the teaching of (112) perfect endowment."
The passage indicates that they requested to hear a doctrine such as they had not heard in the previous more than forty years, one that differed from the four flavors and the three teachings. With regard to the part "[they] wish to hear the teaching of perfect endowment," it may be noted that the Nirvana (113) Sutra states, "Sad indicates perfect endowment." The Profound Meaning of the Four Mahayana Treatises states, "Sad connotes six. In India the number six implies perfect endowment." In his commentary Chi-tsang writes, "Sad is (114) translated as perfect endowment." In the eighth volume of his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra T'ien-t'ai remarks, "Sad is a Sanskrit word, which is translated as myo, or wonderful." Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, in the heart of his thousand-volume Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, comments, "Sad signifies six." Nagarjuna was thirteenth in the lineage of the Buddha's successors, the founder of the True Word, Flower Garland, and the other schools, a great sage of the first stage of development, and the person whose true identity was the Thus Come One Dharma Clouds Freedom King.
The characters Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese. In India, the Lotus Sutra is called Saddharma-pundarika-sutra. The following is the mantra concerning the heart of the Lotus Sutra composed by the Tripitaka Master Shan-wu-wei:
namah samanta-buddhanam
om a a am ah
sarva-buddha-jna-sakshebhyah
gagana-sambhavalakshani
saddharma-pundarika-sutra
jah hum bam hoh vajrarakshaman
hum svaha
Hail to all the Buddhas! Three-bodied Thus Come Ones! Open the door to, show me, cause me to awaken to, and to enter into the wisdom and insight of all the Buddhas. You who are like space and who have freed yourself from form! Oh, Sutra of the White Lotus of the Correct Law! Cause me to enter into, to be everywhere within, to dwell in, and to rejoice in you. Oh, Adamantine Protector! Oh, empty, (115) aspect-free, and desire-free sutra!
This mantra, which expresses the heart of the Lotus Sutra, was found in the iron tower in southern India. In this mantra, saddharma means "correct Law." Sad means correct. Correct is the same as myo [wonderful]; myo is the same as correct. Hence the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law and the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. And when the two characters for namu are prefixed to Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, we have the formula Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (117).
Myo means perfect endowment. Six refers to the six paramitas representing all the ten thousand practices. When people ask to hear the teaching of perfect endowment, they are asking how they may gain the perfect endowment of the six paramitas and ten thousand practices of the bodhisattvas. In the phrase "perfect endowment," endowment refers to the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, while perfect means that, since there is mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, then any one world contains all the other worlds, indicating that this is "perfect." The Lotus Sutra is a single work consisting of eight volumes, twenty-eight chapters, and 69,384 characters. Each and every character is endowed with the character myo, each being a Buddha who has the thirty-two features and eighty characteristics. Each of the Ten Worlds manifests its own Buddhahood. As Miao-lo writes, "Since even Buddhahood is present in all living beings, then all the other (118) worlds are of course present, too."
The Buddha replied to the request of his listeners by saying that "the Buddhas wish to open the door of Buddha (119) wisdom to all living beings." The term "all living beings" here refers to Shariputra, and it also refers to icchantikas, persons of incorrigible disbelief. It also refers to the nine worlds. Thus the Buddha fulfilled his words, "Living beings are numberless. I vow to save (120) them all," when he declares, "At the start I took a vow, hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us, and what I long ago hoped for has now been fulfilled."
All the great bodhisattvas, heavenly beings, and others, when they had heard the doctrine of the Buddha and comprehended it, said, "Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One's preaching, but we have never heard this kind of profound, (121) wonderful, and superior Law."
The Great Teacher Dengyo comments: "'Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One's preaching' refers to the fact that they had heard him preach the great doctrines of the Flower Garland Sutra and other sutras in the time previous to the preaching of the Lotus Sutra. 'We have never heard this kind of profound, wonderful, and superior Law' means that they had never heard the teaching of the one vehicle of Buddhahood propounded (122) in the Lotus Sutra."
They understood, that is, that none of the previous Mahayana sutras -which are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and include those of the Flower Garland, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods, such as the Profound Secrets and Mahavairochana sutras - had ever made clear the great principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the core of the Buddha's lifetime teachings. Nor had they clarified the bone and marrow of those teachings, the doctrines that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood and that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the remote past.
End of Part One
Notes:
106. These four types of ten stages are divisions of the fifty-two stages through which a bodhisattva advances from his first resolve to his attainment of perfect enlightenment.
107. "Inconceivable emancipation" is defined as awakening to the profound and subtle principle of Mahayana. Described in the Vimalakirti Sutra.
108. The two deities are Shiva and Vishnu.
109. After he renounced secular life, Shakyamuni engaged in various practices for twelve years until he attained enlightenment. It is said that for the first six years he carried out ascetic practices (painful), and for the second six years he persevered in the practice of meditation (comfortable).
110. This story appears in the "Introduction" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. In the distant past, Manjushri appeared as Bodhisattva Wonderfully Bright, a disciple of Sun Moon Bright Buddha. After the Buddha's demise, Wonderfully Bright continued to embrace the Lotus Sutra, which his teacher had expounded. The Buddha had fathered eight sons before renouncing the world. Wonderfully Bright led the princes to enlightenment. The last of them to attain Buddhahood was Burning Torch Buddha, under whom Shakyamuni practiced the sutra for enlightenment in a previous existence. This is why Shakyamuni is called "the ninth disciple of Bodhisattva Manjushri."
111. In the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra Shakyamuni Buddha says, "These immeasurable meanings are born from a single Law," although he does not clarify what this Law is.
112. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
113. Sad corresponds to sad of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, the Sanskrit name of the Lotus Sutra.
114. The quotation has not been identified. Chi-tsang (549-623) was a priest of the Three Treatises school in China.
115. The English translation is based on this reconstruction made from versions of the mantra found in The Writings of Kakuzen and other sources.
namah samanta-buddhanam
om a a am ah
sarva-buddha-jña-sakqebhyah
gagana-sambhavalakqani
saddharma-pundarika-sutra
jah hum bam hoh vajrarakqaman
hum svaha
116. The True Word tradition holds that Nagarjuna received the Mahavairochana Sutra from Bodhisattva Vajrasattva along with other esoteric teachings pre-served in an iron tower in southern India.
117. "Nam" is a phonetic contraction of "Namu."
118. On "Great Concentration and Insight."
119. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
120. One of the four universal vows of a bodhisattva. The others are to eradicate countless earthly desires, to master immeasurable Buddhist teachings, and to attain supreme enlightenment. The following quotation is from chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra.
121. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
122. Essay on the Protection of the Nation.
It is sharing Buddhism with others "that will remain as the only memory of our present lives in this human world."* Let's talk about the Law confidently and in high spirits and help others to form a connection with Buddhism!
* "Single-mindedly chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and urge others to do the same; that will remain as the only memory of your present life in this human world. " - "Questions and Answers about Embracing the Lotus Sutra", WND, page 64
* "Single-mindedly chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and urge others to do the same; that will remain as the only memory of your present life in this human world. " - "Questions and Answers about Embracing the Lotus Sutra", WND, page 64
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 251
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 251
Part Two
From this time forward, the great bodhisattvas, as well as Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings, became the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. Thus, in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha treats these great bodhisattvas as his disciples, admonishing and instructing them in these words: "So I say to the great assembly: After I have passed into extinction, who can guard and uphold, read and recite this sutra? Now in the presence of the Buddha let him come forward and speak his vow!" This was the solemn way he addressed them. Then, among the great bodhisattvas, it was "as though a great wind were tossing (123) the branches of small trees." Like the (124) kusha grass bending before a great wind or like rivers and streams drawn to the great ocean, so were they drawn to the Buddha.
But it was still a relatively short time since the Buddha had begun to preach the Lotus Sutra on Eagle Peak, and what he said seemed to his listeners dreamlike and unreal. The treasure tower had first appeared to confirm the correctness of the theoretical teaching in the first half of the Lotus Sutra, and after that the treasure tower prepared the way for the expounding of the essential teaching in the latter half. The Buddhas of the ten directions gathered in assembly, Shakyamuni Buddha announcing that all of these were emanations of himself. The treasure tower hung in the air, with Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated in it side by side, as though both the sun and moon had appeared side by side in the blue sky. The great assembly of human and heavenly beings were clustered in the sky like stars, and the Buddhas who were emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha were on the ground, seated on their lion seats under jeweled trees.
In the Lotus Treasury World described in the Flower Garland Sutra, the Buddhas in their reward bodies all dwell in their separate lands. Buddhas of other worlds do not come to this world and call themselves emanations [as happened in the case of the Lotus Sutra], nor do Buddhas of this world go to other worlds. Only Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas come and go.
As for the nine honored ones on the eight-petaled lotus and the thirty-seven (125) honored ones described respectively in the Mahavairochana and Diamond Crown sutras, although they appear to be transformation bodies of the Thus Come One Mahavairochana, they are not Buddhas enlightened since the remote past or endowed with the three bodies.
The thousand Buddhas described in the Larger Wisdom Sutra and the Buddhas of the six directions represented in the Amida Sutra never assembled in this world [as did the Buddha's emanations in the Lotus Sutra]. The Buddhas who assembled when the Great Collection Sutra was preached were not emanations of Shakyamuni. The four Buddhas of the four directions depicted in the Golden Light Sutra are transformation bodies of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Thus, in the various sutras other than the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni does not assemble Buddhas who carry out different austerities and practices and who possess the three bodies, nor does he identify them as emanations of himself. [Only in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra does he do so.] This chapter, then, is intended as an introduction to the "Life Span" chapter that follows later. Shakyamuni Buddha, who was believed to have attained enlightenment for the first time only some forty years previously, calls together Buddhas who had become enlightened as long as one or even ten kalpas ago, and declares that they are emanations of himself. This is a far cry indeed from the Buddha's usual preaching on the equality of all Buddhas [in their Dharma bodies], and in fact a cause of great astonishment. If Shakyamuni had attained enlightenment for the first time only some forty years earlier, there could hardly have been so many beings in the ten directions who had received his instruction. And even if he was privileged to possess emanations, there would have been no benefit in his showing them to his listeners. T'ien-t'ai, describing what went on in the astonished minds of the assembly, says, "It was evident to them that Shakyamuni Buddha possessed numerous emanations. Therefore, they understood that he must have attained enlightenment in the far distant (126) past."
In addition, the great bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds appeared, rising up out of the ground. Even Universal Worthy and Manjushri, who had been regarded as the leading disciples of Shakyamuni, could not compare to them. The great bodhisattvas present in the assemblies described in the sutras of the Flower Garland, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods and in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, or Vajrasattva and the rest of the sixteen great bodhisattvas of the Mahavairochana [and Diamond Crown] sutras, when compared with these newly arrived bodhisattvas, seemed like a pack of apes or monkeys, with the new bodhisattvas appearing among them like so many Shakras. It was as though great ministers of court had mingled with humble mountain folk. Even Maitreya, who was to be the next Buddha after Shakyamuni, was perplexed by them, to say nothing of the lesser personages in the assembly.
Among these great bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds there were four great sages called Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, Pure Practices, and Firmly Established Practices. In the presence of these four, the other bodhisattvas suspended in the air or seated on Eagle Peak could not bear to gaze on them face to face or begin to fathom their dignity. Even the four bodhisattvas of (127) the Flower Garland Sutra, the four bodhisattvas of the Mahavairochana (128) Sutra, or the sixteen great bodhisattvas of the Diamond Crown Sutra, (129) when in the presence of these four, were like bleary-eyed men trying to peer at the sun, or like humble fishermen appearing in audience before the emperor. These four were like T'ai-kung Wang and the others of the four (130) sages of ancient China, who towered above the multitude. They were like (131) the Four White-Haired Elders of Mount Shang who assisted Emperor Hui. Solemn, dignified, they were beings of great and lofty stature. Aside from Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanations of Shakyamuni from the ten directions, they were worthy of being good friends upon whom all beings could rely.
Then Bodhisattva Maitreya began to consider the matter in his mind. He said to himself: "Since the time Shakyamuni Buddha was a crown prince, and during the forty-two years since he gained enlightenment at the age of thirty up until this gathering on Eagle Peak, I have known all the bodhisattvas of this world, and all the great bodhisattvas who have come from the worlds of the ten directions to attend the assemblies. Moreover, I have visited the pure and impure lands of the ten directions, sometimes as the Buddha's emissary, at other times on my own initiative, and I have become acquainted with all the great bodhisattvas of those various lands. As for these great bodhisattvas who have appeared from the earth, what kind of Buddha is their teacher? Surely he must be a Buddha who is incomparably superior to Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanation Buddhas from the ten directions! From the fury of the rain, we can judge the greatness of the dragon that caused it to fall; from the size of the lotus flower, we can tell the depth of the pond that produced it. Now from what land did these great bodhisattvas come, what Buddha did they follow, and what great teaching have they practiced?"
Thus did Bodhisattva Maitreya wonder to himself, becoming so puzzled that he was unable to utter a sound. But, perhaps through the Buddha's power, he was at last able to put his doubts into words, saying: "Immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, millions, a great host of bodhisattvas such as was never seen in the past . . . . This host of bodhisattvas with their great dignity, virtue, and diligence - who preached the Law for them? Who taught and converted them and brought them to this? Under whom did they first set their minds on enlightenment, what Buddha's Law do they praise and proclaim? . . . World-Honored One, from times past I have seen nothing like this! I beg you to tell me where they come from, the name of the land. I have constantly journeyed from land to land but never have I seen such a thing! In this whole multitude there is not one person that I know. Suddenly they have come up from the earth - I beg you to (132) explain the cause."
[Paraphrasing Maitreya's statement,] T'ien-t'ai comments: "Since the time of the Buddha's enlightenment at the place of meditation, up until the present gathering, great bodhisattvas unceasingly came from the worlds in the ten directions to attend the various assemblies. Their numbers are unlimited, but I, with the wisdom and power appropriate to the next Buddha, have been able to see and know every single one of them. And yet, among the newly arrived multitude, I do not know a single person - this in spite of the fact that I have traveled in the ten directions, have served the various Buddhas, and am well known among their audiences (133)."
Miao-lo comments, "Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes (134) know the way of snakes."
The meaning of these passages of scripture and commentary is perfectly clear. In effect, from the time of Shakyamuni's enlightenment up until the present assembly [on Eagle Peak], in this land and in all the lands of the ten directions, Bodhisattva Maitreya had never seen or heard of these bodhisattvas who came forth from the earth.
The Buddha, replying to Maitreya's (135) doubts, said: "Ajita, these bodhisattvas . . . whom you have never seen before in the past - when I had attained supreme perfect enlightenment in this saha world, I converted and guided these bodhisattvas, trained their minds, and caused them to develop a longing (136) for the way."
He also said: "When I was in the vicinity of the city of Gaya, seated beneath the bodhi tree, I attained the highest, the correct enlightenment and turned the wheel of the unsurpassed Law. Thereafter I taught and converted them, and caused them for the first time to set their minds on the way. Now all of them dwell in the stage of
non-regression . . . . Ever since the long distant past I have been teaching and converting this multitude."
But Maitreya and the other great bodhisattvas were further perplexed by these words of the Buddha. When the Buddha preached the Flower Garland Sutra, Dharma Wisdom and countless other great bodhisattvas appeared in the assembly. Maitreya and the others wondered who they could be, but the Buddha said, "They are my good friends," and they thought this must be true. Later, when the Buddha preached [the Great Collection Sutra] at the Great Treasure Chamber and [the Larger Wisdom Sutra] at White Heron (137) Lake, great bodhisattvas appeared in the assembly, and Maitreya and the others supposed that they too were good friends of the Buddha.
But these great bodhisattvas who had newly appeared out of the earth looked incomparably more venerable than those earlier bodhisattvas. One might conclude that they were the teachers of Shakyamuni Buddha, and yet the Buddha had "caused them for the first time to set their minds on the way," and, when they were still immature, had converted them and made them his disciples. It was this that Maitreya and the others found so profoundly perplexing.
Prince Shotoku of Japan was the son of Emperor Yomei, the thirty-second sovereign. When he was six years old, elderly men came to Japan from the states of Paekche and Koguryö in Korea and from the land of China. The six-year-old prince thereupon exclaimed, "These are my disciples!" and the old men in turn pressed their palms together in reverence and said, "You are our teacher!" This was a strange happening indeed.
There is a similar story found in a secular work. According to this work, a man was walking along a road when he saw by the roadside a young man of about thirty who was beating an old man of about eighty. When he asked the reason, the young man replied, "This old man is my son."
Bodhisattva Maitreya, continuing to doubt, said: "World-Honored One, when the Thus Come One was crown prince, you left the palace of the Shakyas and sat in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya, and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment. Barely forty years or more have passed since then. World-Honored One, how in that short time could you have accomplished so much work as a Buddha?”(138)
Notes:
123. Lotus Sutra, chap. 11.
124. A kind of lily used in religious ceremonies.
125. Symbolism found in the True Word sutras. On four of the eight petals four Buddhas are seated with four bodhisattvas on the other four petals. Mahavairochana Buddha is seated in the center of the lotus; this scene is described in the Mahavairochana Sutra. The Diamond Crown Sutra depicts thirty-seven Buddhas and bodhisattvas including Mahavairochana Buddha.
126. Profound Meaning.
127. Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Diamond Banner, and Diamond Storehouse.
128. Manjushri, Universal Worthy, Maitreya, and Perceiver of the World's Sounds.
129. The sixteen bodhisattvas who attend on the Buddhas of the four quarters of the universe.
130. T'ai-kung Wang is the title of a general who served the kings Wen and Wu of the Chou dynasty. The other three sages are Yin Shou, Wu Ch'eng, and Lao Tzu.
131. Emperor Kao-tsu (247-195 BCE), founder of the Former Han dynasty, tried to disown his son, the future Emperor Hui. Hui's mother, Empress Lü, persuaded four eminent elders who lived on Mount Shang to become his advisers. They were known as Master Tung-yüan, Scholar Lu-li, Ch'i Li-chi, and Master Hsia-hüang. On seeing these four elders, the emperor was impressed by their dignity and accepted Hui as his successor.
132. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15.
133. Words and Phrases.
134. On "The Words and Phrases."
135. An epithet of Maitreya, meaning "invincible."
136. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15. The following quotation is a continuation of this pas-sage.
137. A lake on the grounds of Bamboo Grove Monastery in Rajagriha, Magadha.
138. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15.
(to be continued from pg. 255)
The Opening of the Eyes / WND pg. 251
Part Two
From this time forward, the great bodhisattvas, as well as Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings, became the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. Thus, in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha treats these great bodhisattvas as his disciples, admonishing and instructing them in these words: "So I say to the great assembly: After I have passed into extinction, who can guard and uphold, read and recite this sutra? Now in the presence of the Buddha let him come forward and speak his vow!" This was the solemn way he addressed them. Then, among the great bodhisattvas, it was "as though a great wind were tossing (123) the branches of small trees." Like the (124) kusha grass bending before a great wind or like rivers and streams drawn to the great ocean, so were they drawn to the Buddha.
But it was still a relatively short time since the Buddha had begun to preach the Lotus Sutra on Eagle Peak, and what he said seemed to his listeners dreamlike and unreal. The treasure tower had first appeared to confirm the correctness of the theoretical teaching in the first half of the Lotus Sutra, and after that the treasure tower prepared the way for the expounding of the essential teaching in the latter half. The Buddhas of the ten directions gathered in assembly, Shakyamuni Buddha announcing that all of these were emanations of himself. The treasure tower hung in the air, with Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated in it side by side, as though both the sun and moon had appeared side by side in the blue sky. The great assembly of human and heavenly beings were clustered in the sky like stars, and the Buddhas who were emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha were on the ground, seated on their lion seats under jeweled trees.
In the Lotus Treasury World described in the Flower Garland Sutra, the Buddhas in their reward bodies all dwell in their separate lands. Buddhas of other worlds do not come to this world and call themselves emanations [as happened in the case of the Lotus Sutra], nor do Buddhas of this world go to other worlds. Only Dharma Wisdom and the other great bodhisattvas come and go.
As for the nine honored ones on the eight-petaled lotus and the thirty-seven (125) honored ones described respectively in the Mahavairochana and Diamond Crown sutras, although they appear to be transformation bodies of the Thus Come One Mahavairochana, they are not Buddhas enlightened since the remote past or endowed with the three bodies.
The thousand Buddhas described in the Larger Wisdom Sutra and the Buddhas of the six directions represented in the Amida Sutra never assembled in this world [as did the Buddha's emanations in the Lotus Sutra]. The Buddhas who assembled when the Great Collection Sutra was preached were not emanations of Shakyamuni. The four Buddhas of the four directions depicted in the Golden Light Sutra are transformation bodies of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Thus, in the various sutras other than the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni does not assemble Buddhas who carry out different austerities and practices and who possess the three bodies, nor does he identify them as emanations of himself. [Only in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra does he do so.] This chapter, then, is intended as an introduction to the "Life Span" chapter that follows later. Shakyamuni Buddha, who was believed to have attained enlightenment for the first time only some forty years previously, calls together Buddhas who had become enlightened as long as one or even ten kalpas ago, and declares that they are emanations of himself. This is a far cry indeed from the Buddha's usual preaching on the equality of all Buddhas [in their Dharma bodies], and in fact a cause of great astonishment. If Shakyamuni had attained enlightenment for the first time only some forty years earlier, there could hardly have been so many beings in the ten directions who had received his instruction. And even if he was privileged to possess emanations, there would have been no benefit in his showing them to his listeners. T'ien-t'ai, describing what went on in the astonished minds of the assembly, says, "It was evident to them that Shakyamuni Buddha possessed numerous emanations. Therefore, they understood that he must have attained enlightenment in the far distant (126) past."
In addition, the great bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds appeared, rising up out of the ground. Even Universal Worthy and Manjushri, who had been regarded as the leading disciples of Shakyamuni, could not compare to them. The great bodhisattvas present in the assemblies described in the sutras of the Flower Garland, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods and in the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, or Vajrasattva and the rest of the sixteen great bodhisattvas of the Mahavairochana [and Diamond Crown] sutras, when compared with these newly arrived bodhisattvas, seemed like a pack of apes or monkeys, with the new bodhisattvas appearing among them like so many Shakras. It was as though great ministers of court had mingled with humble mountain folk. Even Maitreya, who was to be the next Buddha after Shakyamuni, was perplexed by them, to say nothing of the lesser personages in the assembly.
Among these great bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds there were four great sages called Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, Pure Practices, and Firmly Established Practices. In the presence of these four, the other bodhisattvas suspended in the air or seated on Eagle Peak could not bear to gaze on them face to face or begin to fathom their dignity. Even the four bodhisattvas of (127) the Flower Garland Sutra, the four bodhisattvas of the Mahavairochana (128) Sutra, or the sixteen great bodhisattvas of the Diamond Crown Sutra, (129) when in the presence of these four, were like bleary-eyed men trying to peer at the sun, or like humble fishermen appearing in audience before the emperor. These four were like T'ai-kung Wang and the others of the four (130) sages of ancient China, who towered above the multitude. They were like (131) the Four White-Haired Elders of Mount Shang who assisted Emperor Hui. Solemn, dignified, they were beings of great and lofty stature. Aside from Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanations of Shakyamuni from the ten directions, they were worthy of being good friends upon whom all beings could rely.
Then Bodhisattva Maitreya began to consider the matter in his mind. He said to himself: "Since the time Shakyamuni Buddha was a crown prince, and during the forty-two years since he gained enlightenment at the age of thirty up until this gathering on Eagle Peak, I have known all the bodhisattvas of this world, and all the great bodhisattvas who have come from the worlds of the ten directions to attend the assemblies. Moreover, I have visited the pure and impure lands of the ten directions, sometimes as the Buddha's emissary, at other times on my own initiative, and I have become acquainted with all the great bodhisattvas of those various lands. As for these great bodhisattvas who have appeared from the earth, what kind of Buddha is their teacher? Surely he must be a Buddha who is incomparably superior to Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanation Buddhas from the ten directions! From the fury of the rain, we can judge the greatness of the dragon that caused it to fall; from the size of the lotus flower, we can tell the depth of the pond that produced it. Now from what land did these great bodhisattvas come, what Buddha did they follow, and what great teaching have they practiced?"
Thus did Bodhisattva Maitreya wonder to himself, becoming so puzzled that he was unable to utter a sound. But, perhaps through the Buddha's power, he was at last able to put his doubts into words, saying: "Immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, millions, a great host of bodhisattvas such as was never seen in the past . . . . This host of bodhisattvas with their great dignity, virtue, and diligence - who preached the Law for them? Who taught and converted them and brought them to this? Under whom did they first set their minds on enlightenment, what Buddha's Law do they praise and proclaim? . . . World-Honored One, from times past I have seen nothing like this! I beg you to tell me where they come from, the name of the land. I have constantly journeyed from land to land but never have I seen such a thing! In this whole multitude there is not one person that I know. Suddenly they have come up from the earth - I beg you to (132) explain the cause."
[Paraphrasing Maitreya's statement,] T'ien-t'ai comments: "Since the time of the Buddha's enlightenment at the place of meditation, up until the present gathering, great bodhisattvas unceasingly came from the worlds in the ten directions to attend the various assemblies. Their numbers are unlimited, but I, with the wisdom and power appropriate to the next Buddha, have been able to see and know every single one of them. And yet, among the newly arrived multitude, I do not know a single person - this in spite of the fact that I have traveled in the ten directions, have served the various Buddhas, and am well known among their audiences (133)."
Miao-lo comments, "Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes (134) know the way of snakes."
The meaning of these passages of scripture and commentary is perfectly clear. In effect, from the time of Shakyamuni's enlightenment up until the present assembly [on Eagle Peak], in this land and in all the lands of the ten directions, Bodhisattva Maitreya had never seen or heard of these bodhisattvas who came forth from the earth.
The Buddha, replying to Maitreya's (135) doubts, said: "Ajita, these bodhisattvas . . . whom you have never seen before in the past - when I had attained supreme perfect enlightenment in this saha world, I converted and guided these bodhisattvas, trained their minds, and caused them to develop a longing (136) for the way."
He also said: "When I was in the vicinity of the city of Gaya, seated beneath the bodhi tree, I attained the highest, the correct enlightenment and turned the wheel of the unsurpassed Law. Thereafter I taught and converted them, and caused them for the first time to set their minds on the way. Now all of them dwell in the stage of
non-regression . . . . Ever since the long distant past I have been teaching and converting this multitude."
But Maitreya and the other great bodhisattvas were further perplexed by these words of the Buddha. When the Buddha preached the Flower Garland Sutra, Dharma Wisdom and countless other great bodhisattvas appeared in the assembly. Maitreya and the others wondered who they could be, but the Buddha said, "They are my good friends," and they thought this must be true. Later, when the Buddha preached [the Great Collection Sutra] at the Great Treasure Chamber and [the Larger Wisdom Sutra] at White Heron (137) Lake, great bodhisattvas appeared in the assembly, and Maitreya and the others supposed that they too were good friends of the Buddha.
But these great bodhisattvas who had newly appeared out of the earth looked incomparably more venerable than those earlier bodhisattvas. One might conclude that they were the teachers of Shakyamuni Buddha, and yet the Buddha had "caused them for the first time to set their minds on the way," and, when they were still immature, had converted them and made them his disciples. It was this that Maitreya and the others found so profoundly perplexing.
Prince Shotoku of Japan was the son of Emperor Yomei, the thirty-second sovereign. When he was six years old, elderly men came to Japan from the states of Paekche and Koguryö in Korea and from the land of China. The six-year-old prince thereupon exclaimed, "These are my disciples!" and the old men in turn pressed their palms together in reverence and said, "You are our teacher!" This was a strange happening indeed.
There is a similar story found in a secular work. According to this work, a man was walking along a road when he saw by the roadside a young man of about thirty who was beating an old man of about eighty. When he asked the reason, the young man replied, "This old man is my son."
Bodhisattva Maitreya, continuing to doubt, said: "World-Honored One, when the Thus Come One was crown prince, you left the palace of the Shakyas and sat in the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya, and there attained supreme perfect enlightenment. Barely forty years or more have passed since then. World-Honored One, how in that short time could you have accomplished so much work as a Buddha?”(138)
Notes:
123. Lotus Sutra, chap. 11.
124. A kind of lily used in religious ceremonies.
125. Symbolism found in the True Word sutras. On four of the eight petals four Buddhas are seated with four bodhisattvas on the other four petals. Mahavairochana Buddha is seated in the center of the lotus; this scene is described in the Mahavairochana Sutra. The Diamond Crown Sutra depicts thirty-seven Buddhas and bodhisattvas including Mahavairochana Buddha.
126. Profound Meaning.
127. Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Diamond Banner, and Diamond Storehouse.
128. Manjushri, Universal Worthy, Maitreya, and Perceiver of the World's Sounds.
129. The sixteen bodhisattvas who attend on the Buddhas of the four quarters of the universe.
130. T'ai-kung Wang is the title of a general who served the kings Wen and Wu of the Chou dynasty. The other three sages are Yin Shou, Wu Ch'eng, and Lao Tzu.
131. Emperor Kao-tsu (247-195 BCE), founder of the Former Han dynasty, tried to disown his son, the future Emperor Hui. Hui's mother, Empress Lü, persuaded four eminent elders who lived on Mount Shang to become his advisers. They were known as Master Tung-yüan, Scholar Lu-li, Ch'i Li-chi, and Master Hsia-hüang. On seeing these four elders, the emperor was impressed by their dignity and accepted Hui as his successor.
132. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15.
133. Words and Phrases.
134. On "The Words and Phrases."
135. An epithet of Maitreya, meaning "invincible."
136. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15. The following quotation is a continuation of this pas-sage.
137. A lake on the grounds of Bamboo Grove Monastery in Rajagriha, Magadha.
138. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15.
(to be continued from pg. 255)
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"When the people all chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the wind will no longer buffet the branches, and the rain will no longer break the clods of soil. The world will become as it was in the ages of Fu Hsi and Shen Nung. In their present existence the people will be freed from misfortune and disasters and learn the art of living long."
(On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 392) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, November 19th, 2005
(On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 392) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, November 19th, 2005
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