Post by lowell on Jul 28, 2015 4:59:36 GMT -6
The Sage of the Shakya tribe in India is the historical Buddha. He taught for 40 years. His first Sutra, the Flower Garland Sutra was very profound. Only the Lotus Sutra is more profound.
Few of the people who listened were able to understand the Flower Garland Sutra, so the Buddha began teaching more specific Sutras that took into account the various misunderstandings of the people. Those misunderstandings and attachments to hindrances varied from one group of people to the next. So the teachings also varied. They were taught from the viewpoint of the disciples. They were a mixture of illusory incorrect beliefs and the truth and were designed to gradually help people discard incorrect beliefs and their attachments to things that hindered their understanding.
The 10th chapter of the Lotus Sutra reads, "[. . . this Lotus Sutra is] the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand."
After the death of the Buddha, there were only three persons who realized the true meaning of this passage of the Lotus Sutra. In India, Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said in his Daichido Ron: "[The Lotus Sutra] is like a great physician who changes poison into medicine." This is the way he explained the meaning of the passage, ". . . the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand." In China, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che interpreted this phrase in light of its context:
"Among all those [sutras] I have preached, now preach and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand."
And in Japan, the Great Teacher Dengyo elaborated on this phrase: "All the sutras of the first four of the five periods preached in the past, the Muryogi Sutra now being preached, and the Nirvana Sutra to be preached in the future, are easy to believe and easy to understand. This is because the Buddha taught these sutras in accordance with the capacity of his listeners. The Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and to understand because in it the Buddha directly revealed what he had attained."
The ease of believing and understanding in the one case is due to the fact that the Buddha taught in accordance with the capacity of the people. And the difficulty of believing and understanding in the other case is due to the fact that he taught in accordance with his own enlightenment.
Nichiren says: "No other doctrine can surpass the Lotus Sutra, a great lantern that illuminates the long night of the sufferings of birth and death, a sharp sword that can sever the fundamental darkness inherent in life. The teachings of the Shingon, Kegon and other sects are categorized as those expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity. They are, therefore, easy to believe and understand. The teachings expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity are those sutras which the Buddha preaches in response to the desires of the people of the nine worlds, just as a wise father instructs an ignorant son in a way suited to the child’s understanding. On the other hand, the teaching expounded in accordance with the Buddha’s enlightenment is the sutra which the Buddha preaches directly from the world of Buddhahood, just as a saintly father guides his ignorant son to his own understanding."
"The Shrimala Sutra says: "The Buddha brings to maturity those who have only practiced non-Buddhist teachings by enabling them to make good causes leading to the states of Humanity and Heaven. For those seeking the state of Learning, the Buddha imparts the vehicle which leads them to that state. To those seeking the state of Realization, the Buddha reveals the vehicle for that state. To those who seek the Mahayana teachings, the Buddha expounds them." This statement refers to those teachings which are easy to believe and easy to understand, such as the Kegon, Dainichi, Hannya, Nirvana and other sutras."
In contrast, the Lotus Sutra says, "At that time, through Bodhisattva Yakuo, the World-Honored One addressed the eighty thousand great seekers of the Law: ‘Yakuo, do you see—within this great multitude of uncountable gods, dragon kings, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, humans and non-humans, as well as monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen — those who seek the rank of shravaka, those who seek the rank of pratyekabuddha, and those who seek the path to Buddhahood? If any of them in the presence of the Buddha hears a single verse or phrase of the Lotus Sutra and experiences a single moment of rejoicing, then I hereby confer on him a prophecy that he shall attain supreme enlightenment’."
This, indeed, shows the immense power of Myo-Ho-Renge-Kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, and one of the phrases within it.
Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra contains this: "Now, for the sake of all bodhisattva-mahasattvas, he preaches the Great-vehicle Sutra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law,"
In Chapter 10 of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha predicts: "Moreover, after the extinction of the Tathagata, if there be any people who hear even a single verse or a single word of the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, and by a single thought delight in it, I also predict for them Perfect Enlightenment."
Few of the people who listened were able to understand the Flower Garland Sutra, so the Buddha began teaching more specific Sutras that took into account the various misunderstandings of the people. Those misunderstandings and attachments to hindrances varied from one group of people to the next. So the teachings also varied. They were taught from the viewpoint of the disciples. They were a mixture of illusory incorrect beliefs and the truth and were designed to gradually help people discard incorrect beliefs and their attachments to things that hindered their understanding.
The 10th chapter of the Lotus Sutra reads, "[. . . this Lotus Sutra is] the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand."
After the death of the Buddha, there were only three persons who realized the true meaning of this passage of the Lotus Sutra. In India, Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said in his Daichido Ron: "[The Lotus Sutra] is like a great physician who changes poison into medicine." This is the way he explained the meaning of the passage, ". . . the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand." In China, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che interpreted this phrase in light of its context:
"Among all those [sutras] I have preached, now preach and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand."
And in Japan, the Great Teacher Dengyo elaborated on this phrase: "All the sutras of the first four of the five periods preached in the past, the Muryogi Sutra now being preached, and the Nirvana Sutra to be preached in the future, are easy to believe and easy to understand. This is because the Buddha taught these sutras in accordance with the capacity of his listeners. The Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and to understand because in it the Buddha directly revealed what he had attained."
The ease of believing and understanding in the one case is due to the fact that the Buddha taught in accordance with the capacity of the people. And the difficulty of believing and understanding in the other case is due to the fact that he taught in accordance with his own enlightenment.
Nichiren says: "No other doctrine can surpass the Lotus Sutra, a great lantern that illuminates the long night of the sufferings of birth and death, a sharp sword that can sever the fundamental darkness inherent in life. The teachings of the Shingon, Kegon and other sects are categorized as those expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity. They are, therefore, easy to believe and understand. The teachings expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity are those sutras which the Buddha preaches in response to the desires of the people of the nine worlds, just as a wise father instructs an ignorant son in a way suited to the child’s understanding. On the other hand, the teaching expounded in accordance with the Buddha’s enlightenment is the sutra which the Buddha preaches directly from the world of Buddhahood, just as a saintly father guides his ignorant son to his own understanding."
"The Shrimala Sutra says: "The Buddha brings to maturity those who have only practiced non-Buddhist teachings by enabling them to make good causes leading to the states of Humanity and Heaven. For those seeking the state of Learning, the Buddha imparts the vehicle which leads them to that state. To those seeking the state of Realization, the Buddha reveals the vehicle for that state. To those who seek the Mahayana teachings, the Buddha expounds them." This statement refers to those teachings which are easy to believe and easy to understand, such as the Kegon, Dainichi, Hannya, Nirvana and other sutras."
In contrast, the Lotus Sutra says, "At that time, through Bodhisattva Yakuo, the World-Honored One addressed the eighty thousand great seekers of the Law: ‘Yakuo, do you see—within this great multitude of uncountable gods, dragon kings, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, humans and non-humans, as well as monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen — those who seek the rank of shravaka, those who seek the rank of pratyekabuddha, and those who seek the path to Buddhahood? If any of them in the presence of the Buddha hears a single verse or phrase of the Lotus Sutra and experiences a single moment of rejoicing, then I hereby confer on him a prophecy that he shall attain supreme enlightenment’."
This, indeed, shows the immense power of Myo-Ho-Renge-Kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, and one of the phrases within it.
Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra contains this: "Now, for the sake of all bodhisattva-mahasattvas, he preaches the Great-vehicle Sutra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law,"
In Chapter 10 of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha predicts: "Moreover, after the extinction of the Tathagata, if there be any people who hear even a single verse or a single word of the Wonderful Law-Flower Sutra, and by a single thought delight in it, I also predict for them Perfect Enlightenment."