Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

Point Two, regarding the passage “The Thus Come One has great pity and compassion. He is in no way stingy or begrudging, nor has he any fear. He is able to bestow on living beings the wisdom of the Buddha, the wisdom of the Thus Come One, the wisdom that comes of itself. The Thus Come One is a great giver of gifts to all living beings.”

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: Since the Thus Come One is the Thus Come One of the wonders of the original Law, the term Thus Come One here refers to this votary of the Lotus Sutra.
In the phrase “great giver of gifts,” the word “gifts” refers to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which will spread in the present age, the Latter Day of the Law. The word “giver,” you should understand, refers to the bodhisattva Superior Practices. To be sure, this chapter is the one in which the theoretical teaching is entrusted to the p.172bodhisattvas in general. However, since the entrustment is made to the bodhisattvas who have Superior Practices as their leader, it is clear that the true meaning is that the entrustment1 is made to Superior Practices.

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Chanting the daimoku, or title, of the Lotus Sutra is the same as carrying out meditation. Ignorant persons may find this difficult to believe. But the second volume of Great Concentration and Insight by T’ien-t’ai has a passage “regarding recitation and silence” in which the word “recitation” refers to recitation of the Lotus Sutra and “silence” to the practice of meditation or contemplation. And again, in the first volume of his Meaning of the Four Teachings, T’ien-t’ai states: “Not only [are such practices as recitation] not a needless waste of effort, they are essential in enabling one to grasp the principle involved.”

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In the Lotus Sutra, we find the doctrine directly stated, we find it taught through similes, and we find it taught through an explanation of causes and conditions in the past. In passages where the doctrine is directly stated, the original purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the world is set forth, the direct path by which all living beings can attain Buddhahood. And daimoku represents the cause and condition that permits not only us but all living beings to proceed directly to the place of enlightenment.

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“The Buddha has already been called a skilled physician, and the Law has been likened to good medicine and p.133all living beings to people suffering from illness.97 The Buddha took the teachings that he had preached in the course of his lifetime, ground and sifted them, blended them together, and compounded an excellent medicine, the pill of the Mystic Law. Regardless of whether one understands it or not, so long as one takes the pill, can one fail to be cured of the illness of delusion? Even though the sick person may not understand the medicine or even know the nature of the disease from which he suffers, if he takes the medicine, he is bound to recover.
“It is the same way with the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. Though they may not understand the principles of Buddhism and may not know that they are suffering from delusion, if only they have faith, then without a doubt they will be able to free themselves simultaneously from the illnesses of the three categories of illusion—illusions of thought and desire, illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and illusions about the true nature of existence. They will reach the lands of Actual Reward and Tranquil Light, and cause the three bodies of a Thus Come One that they inherently possess to shine.
“Therefore, the Great Teacher Dengyō says: ‘Neither teacher nor disciples need undergo countless kalpas of austere practice in order to attain Buddhahood. Through the power of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law they can do so in their present form.’98 This means that both the teacher who expounds the principles of the Lotus Sutra and the disciple who receives his teachings will, in no long time, together become Buddhas through the power of the Lotus Sutra.

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Point One, regarding the Benefits of Responding with Joy to Myoho-renge-kyo

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: “Respond” means to respond to and comply with actuality and principle. “Joy” means that oneself and others together experience joy. By actuality is meant responding to and complying with the actual fact of Shakyamuni manifesting [in this life] his original state [of enlightenment] numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago. By principle is meant responding to the principle of ordinary people being able to manifest their original states. In the end, then, responding means responding to and complying with the inner truth of the “Life Span” chapter. When that is done, then both oneself and others together will take joy in their possession of wisdom and compassion.
Now, when Nichiren and his followers chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they are expressing joy in the fact that they will inevitably become Buddhas eternally endowed with the three bodies. For that reason, we may say that the word “respond” applies to the Law one responds to, while “joy” applies to the person one takes joy in. The person is the ancient Buddha of numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, Shakyamuni. The Law is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the “Life Span” chapter. To respond to them and take joy in them is what is meant by the words “responding with joy.”
Broadly speaking, “to respond” may be regarded as another name for faith. To respond means simply to have the mind of faith. That is why it is stated in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra, “It is because they have faith in the Buddha’s words / that p.147they can comply with this sutra, / not because of any wisdom of their own” (chapter three, Simile and Parable).

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Thcvhunter said:

Wow. When did Buddha teach censorship

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7. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2. The sentence reads: “Honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way.”

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