I vow to taste the truth of the Tadāgata's words. Good evening. And now finally we come to the final six chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Again, I will one more time go over the way in which I've been approaching the Sutra as a whole. So we'll have a better idea of what we're going to look at tonight. The first ten chapters of the Sutra was the first assembly on Eagle Peak and in that section of the Sutra the Buddha taught the one vehicle and the Buddha finally revealed to all the disciples as well as the Bodhisattvas that they were all on the path to Buddhahood, so they should all aspire to become enlightened for the sake of themselves and others.

[01:05]

So that first section was dealing with aspiration, that part of our practice where we are aspiring to Buddhahood. And the middle section, chapters 11 through 22, that we covered last week, deal with the ceremony in the air, the appearance of the treasure tower, the union of Shakyamuni Buddha, the one in this world who realized enlightenment, and many treasures, Buddha, who represents the Buddha nature, united in the treasure tower and raising everyone up to their level so they can all see things in a different way, a new way. and that middle section dealt with that part of our practice where realization comes of itself, you might say. It's not the result of our own finite or ego-based efforts, but the power of our aspiration breaks through into a realization that transcends the self, really.

[02:09]

And now these final six chapters The treasure tower has returned. Buddha many treasures has returned to his realm and now we're back on Eagle Peak again back on solid ground but now with a very different way of understanding and acting and living. In the beginning, I spoke of this in reference to the Zen idea that before Zen, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers. During Zen, mountains are no longer mountains, rivers are no longer rivers. And now finally we've come to the stage where again, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers. But now, how does one live now that we've come back to earth, now that we need to put our feet back on the ground again? What do we do now that we've taken that step off the 100-foot pole? And that's what these six chapters are going to try to answer. These are the chapters of dedication, taking that realization, taking all of that merit, all of that turnover, that radical new view that has come about in the previous chapters, now applying it and giving it, turning it over to others.

[03:24]

Before I start I also want to say that this is only one of many different ways of looking at the sutra, this way of viewing it as the unfolding of our own practice in terms of aspiration, realization and dedication. There are many other perspectives. but because I've chosen this way I've skipped over many important and wonderful chapters. I've skipped the 12th chapter which talks about the enlightenment of Devadatta, the Buddhist Judas as it were, the enlightenment of the eight-year-old daughter of the Dragon King. I've skipped over chapters 13 and 14 that talk about how to carry out one's aspiration in daily life before realization. terms that are under conditions that are either pleasant or maybe a little more oppressive. I've had to skip over chapter 20, the chapter on Bodhisattva never despise, which is a wonderful chapter and in a way summarizes itself what Buddhism is about, recognizing and acknowledging the Buddha nature in all things.

[04:33]

Again, I encourage you all to look at these chapters on your own because there's no way, even if we had a hundred days and spent 24 hours of every day talking about the sutra, we really couldn't exhaust it. I don't want anyone to be under any illusion or think that I'm under the illusion that I'm covering everything. So without further ado, let's start looking at these last six chapters and think of them as different windows onto bodhisattva practice. different facets of the gem, the wish-fulfilling gem of Bodhisattva practice. The first one is the chapter on Bodhisattva Medicine King and this chapter is troubling to a lot of people because it is this chapter that you find the inspiration for the monks and nuns and others in Vietnam who set themselves on fire. And maybe a lot of people might have forgotten about that today or were born after those events, but certainly I was just a little baby.

[05:42]

I was born in 1966 when all that was going on, but I've heard about it and how troubling it is. And it's troubling to me too to think about it and to think that this Lotus Sutra could inspire such a such an act. I won't presume to judge it, but let me briefly summarize the chapter. In it, Bodhisattva Star-Constellation-King-Flower asks the Buddha, and again these are very descriptive names, he wants to know what were the past activities of Medicine King Bodhisattva. What did he do to attain the exalted position that he has as one of the celestial Bodhisattvas? And the Buddha then proceeds to tell him that in Medicine King Bodhisattva's past life, he was a Bodhisattva called Loveliness. And that in that life, he spent 12,000 years single-mindedly striving to see the Buddha.

[06:44]

Through doing that, he attained the contemplation of the revelation of all forms. I suspect that the original is the Samadhi of the revelation of all forms. Samadhi is when you unite with something so that there's no longer any separation, no longer any subject and object. So this isn't just Samadhi with one thing, like with a transcendent God or a mystic principle. This is a union with a revelation of all things. Upon attaining that, he then proceeded to turn himself for 1,200 years into basically a living incense stick. The Sutra says that he ingested all of these perfumes and herbs and that he doused himself in oils and then, as I said, lit himself on fire and became a living incense stick and burned for 1,200 years. And when he had consumed himself, he then reappeared, was reborn, as the son of King Pure Virtue, and then proceeded to again seek the Buddha with single-mindedness.

[08:02]

And in this case, it was the Buddha's sun-moon brilliance. And in these past life stories, these Buddhas lived for a very long time, so he was able to serve the very same Buddha. And when this Buddha passed away, as an offering, as a commemoration of this Buddha and his teachings he proceeded to set fire to his arms for 72,000 years and this Bodhisattva loveliness was thought very well of by all of the other fellow disciples and Bodhisattvas and they said well you know this is terrible you're burning yourself up you're destroying yourself how are you going to be able to continue helping others and then informs him that through the purity of his practice he is able to restore his arms. So we should understand by this that we're not talking about literally going out and setting yourself on fire. What we're talking about is a very symbolic expression or way of showing one's zeal, burning with zeal, burning with enthusiasm for the Dharma

[09:15]

throw all of oneself into the practice. That's really what this is about, of course. And through doing that, one is then mysteriously restored like a phoenix, restored to one's true nature, restored to one's true capacity to help and to reach out, just as Bodhisattva Loveliness had his arms restored, just as when he had consumed himself totally he was able to reappear and again serve the Buddha. So this is very much like in the Gospels where to find yourself you must lose yourself. So that is what is going on there. And now let's move to the next chapter to Bodhisattva Wondersound. And in this chapter there is a Buddha named King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation who lives in a pure land called you might remember last week we talked briefly about the Flower Garland Sutra and how it lists all the wonderful worlds and the beautiful names and the wonderful Buddhas who live in all these realms and we're just stuck here in the Saha world.

[10:26]

Well this is happening all over again here in the Lotus Sutra except in this case this Buddha King Wisdom of the Pure Flower Constellation has a attendant Bodhisattva named Wonder Sound who wishes to come to this world and pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha. And what impresses Bodhisattva Wondersound is that the Buddha would be willing, Shakyamuni Buddha, to come to this world with all its hardships and limitations and to teach under these circumstances to people who, much like myself, have such a very difficult time getting it through our thick heads what he's trying to share with us. So out of admiration for this heroic effort of the Buddha in coming to this world, Bodhisattva Wondersound wishes to come here himself, but what's interesting is the Buddha rather of King Wisdom Pure Flower Constellation gives him advice before making the trip.

[11:28]

He says, Do not look lightly on that domain, or conceive a low opinion of it. Good Sun, that Saha world with its high and low places is uneven and full of earth, stones, hills, and filth. The body of the Buddha is short and small, and all the Bodhisattvas are small of stature, whereas your body is 42,000 yojanas high, and my body is 6,800,000 yojanas. Your body is of the finest order, blessed with hundreds of thousands of myriads of felicities, and of a wonderful brightness. Therefore, on going there, do not look lightly on that domain, nor conceive a low opinion of the Buddha, nor of the Bodhisattvas, nor of that country." So in other words, don't be condescending. Don't think that because you're living in these ideal circumstances and have attained such high realizations and such marvelous powers that you're any better than they are, because really in the Dharma there is pure equality, there is no comparing high and low, many or few, and that if Bodhisattva Wondersound is a real Bodhisattva he will not succumb to the temptation of looking down upon those who he is coming to greet, those who he is trying to help, and

[12:50]

Just as in the first chapter we should be burning with zeal to help others, this chapter is pointing out that at the same time we should not set ourselves above them. So all these balances need to be maintained. As I said in one of the previous lectures, the sutra keeps giving you one thing and then giving you something else to keep it in perspective. So Bodhisattva Wondersound comes down and greets Shakyamuni Buddha and all of the Bodhisattvas are very impressed. to see this marvelous celestial Bodhisattva from another world who is so huge and transcendent. And yet the Buddha says to them, Shakyamuni Buddha this time, he tells them, you merely see here one body of the Bodhisattva wonder sound but this Bodhisattva appears in many kinds of bodies everywhere preaching this sutra to the living. And he then proceeds to enumerate all the different forms that Bodhisattva Wondersound takes on. I believe there are 34 of them altogether.

[13:53]

And he can appear as a god or as a goddess or as a Brahman, one of the priestly castes, or as a soldier or as a prince or as a beggar or as a child or a merchant, male, female, old, young. even in devilish or demonic or monstrous forms, and even, and this boggles my mind, the Bodhisattva can appear in the form of a Buddha if that's what will help people. This is very strange because when you think about the 16th chapter, the Buddha reveals that he remains in this world even though he seems to, even though he appears to go into nirvana. So in a sense, the Buddha is a Bodhisattva. Now you have the other way around, the Bodhisattva who can become a Buddha for us. So things are much more flexible much more open-ended and we're usually led to believe that we would usually like to think. And after telling the Bodhisattvas and the disciples of the many forms of Bodhisattva wonder sound he says, good son that contemplation by which he is able to do this is named the revelation of all forms.

[15:10]

the Bodhisattva wonder sound abiding in this contemplation is able thus to benefit countless beings. So there it is again the samadhi of all forms revealing all forms. This appears again and again throughout these last six chapters. So Bodhisattva wonder sound far from looking down on or having a condescending attitude is able to have such feelings of compassion and solidarity with those who he engages, that he becomes them. He loses his transcendent form, empties himself out into the form of a beggar, of a child, of a prince, of a god, of a goddess, of a hungry ghost, or even of a Buddha. And I think this is our challenge as well, to be able to empty ourselves out in our practice, to have that samadhi of the revelation of all forms. to have such total solidarity but at the same time to maintain that sense of freedom and liberation even while one is totally engaged.

[16:19]

Very mysterious process. The next chapter is about the all-sidedness of the bodhisattva regarder of the cries of the world. Many of you may know her as Quan Yin Bodhisattva, the Goddess of Mercy, or as Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. And this chapter is a great favorite in East Asia, of course. And even in the Soto school in Japan, the verse portion of this chapter, as well as the verse portion of the 16th chapter, is often recited. And of course in the Chinese school sometimes this will be the one part of the Lotus Sutra that they'll recite to the exclusion of all else. So it has received quite a lot of attention. And this chapter is intriguing for a number of reasons. I want to talk about three of them. The first is Quan Yin's practice.

[17:25]

Her practice is really deep listening, as Thich Nhat Hanh says. And this listening, it's not just listening to the exclusion, I'll listen to you but I'm not going to look at you. It's really about fully opening oneself to the needs of others, fully opening oneself to what is going on around one and within one as well. It is a panoramic awareness and attention to the world. responding directly and purely to that. And in the Surangama Sutra where all the Bodhisattvas are asked to share their meditation techniques, it is this practice of deep listening, of transcendent hearing as it says in the Goddard version translation that can lead directly to nirvana, to the

[18:26]

So that freedom and liberation that still responds and is engaged with others. So this is a very important practice that is being shared here. Now in the Surangama Sutra it is discussed in the perspective of the practitioner. In the 25th chapter it's looking at it more from the angle of we who are responded to. But there's always two sides to this because really to practice the 25th chapter we need to enter into that practice ourselves. And another part of this chapter is that another important aspect rather is that when you really look at it what Quan Yin is doing when she responds to others it says that she frees them of greed, frees those who call upon her from anger, frees them from ignorance. She rescues them from all the troubles and from lawsuits, from pirates, from bandits, from bankruptcy, from all of these things.

[19:36]

There's this huge list. And, you know, as a 20th century, almost 21st century Americans, you know, we kind of read this and go, isn't this like, you know, isn't this like medieval cult of Mary and the Virgin and, you know, all these things? And it has been interpreted and used that way. really what's going on here is from the outside that's what it seems like. She is the one who's going to help us when we call upon her, but really when we call upon her the true way, the real way, that calling is itself the deep listening. Our giving voice is also hearing and entering into the practice ourselves and that is really her real is in a sense a personification of nirvana itself and it is a nirvana entering into that context that there is no more greed, no more anger, no more ignorance, no more worrying and anxiety over a self that can go bankrupt or be put in jail or get mugged on the street or any of these other things.

[20:48]

Now of course on another level these things might still happen to us but Once we have really entered into this practice, it no longer affects some kind of self that needs to be protected. Now there is a flow, a grace that can respond to these difficulties without being overwhelmed by them. cannot only rise above these circumstances and frustrations and anger but relieve others also of these overwhelming feelings and difficulties and respond creatively to them. I think that's what's really going on here, not calling out to a transcendent Savior but entering into her real presence which is the presence of nirvana itself. It's easy to say these Kuan Yin also reveals the Samadhi of the revelation of all forms and just as in the previous chapter there is a list of the many beings that she is able to become.

[21:54]

So again this deep listening is also deep solidarity with others and a freedom that can flow into all circumstances like water filling many different kinds of containers but not getting fixed in any one form but able to flow again without fixations to new circumstances as they arise and to know from the inside how others feel instead of looking at them from the outside going, oh boy, I feel sorry for that guy or that person. You know, there's no question of that here. There is a full entering into the experience of the other but retaining that liberation as one enters into relationship with the other and in doing so communicate that liberation to others. Now the last part or the last aspect of this chapter that I want to talk about is what happens towards the end, just before the verse section, a very curious thing happens.

[22:56]

The, what's his name, Bodhisattva Infinite Thought. That's a very interesting name right there. The one who is really able to enter into the practice of Kuan Yin as infinite thought, no longer fixed or bound. infinite thought wishes to give an offering to Quan Yin Bodhisattva to the regarder of the cries of the world and she refuses and he tries again and says really he has this necklace I want to offer this to you I am so impressed with what with who you are and what you've been able to do for all of us and the example you've set and again she says no no I can't take it I can't accept it and finally the Buddha intervenes please, for the sake of all the beings here, accept it." So she does, reluctantly, but she takes this necklace and she splits it in two, and she gives one half to Shakyamuni Buddha, and she gives the other half to the treasure tower, which makes a brief cameo reappearance in this chapter.

[24:03]

That's very interesting, because on the folklore level, One just goes right to Bodhisattva Kuan Yin, right to the regarder of the cries and seeks her help in intercession. But in this chapter, Kuan Yin herself is saying, I don't want to be an intermediary. You have to enter into this directly yourself. Don't try to put me in between yourself and your own Buddha nature. And the only reason she does so is because some people otherwise couldn't identify with this exalted state, this transcendent aspect of ourselves, Buddha nature, in any other way. So she becomes a bridge, as it were. She becomes a link in a cycle of merit that is shared back and forth. And she returns the gifts that she receives back to her own source, the Buddha. the one who awoke to the Buddha nature and to the treasure tower which is the Buddha nature which is what is realized and of course this is the ground of our own lives of our own selves groundless ground I guess you could say the selfless self you know and so back and forth back and forth it goes from Buddha nature to Quan Yin to responding to us and from us responding to her

[25:30]

then back to the ground beneath our feet, back and forth, back and forth. So that's really what this chapter is about, not getting fixed on the Bodhisattvas to come bail us out, but seeing them as the bridge into that deeper understanding, seeing them as the way to go deeper into ourselves, seeing them as a link just as we are a link in that cycle of the grace of the Now a little later tonight we'll actually be reciting the verse portion of that chapter. So try to keep these things in mind as we're reciting it. Now the next chapter is called Dharanis. Dharanis sometimes are called spells. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but they are long strings of syllables. and many of these syllables they're usually kept in Sanskrit or the names of gods and goddesses and powers and of course from the Indian point of view a word has the power to or rather I should say the word itself is the power of that which it is trying to invoke.

[26:50]

Words are very powerful to them So these Dharanis were not just magical spells but were very powerful sound symbols of realization itself of the virtues and merits of the ones who bestowed these Dharanis and it was believed that if you could learn the Dharanis you would be able to remember the teachings and maintain them on a very deep level not just up here down here in the gut. And in this chapter, and as I've said, all of these six chapters are about dedication. In this chapter, various individuals give Dharanis, bestow Dharanis upon the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra so that they can be protected in their practice. So there's two things going on here. On the one hand, when one really realizes the value of the Dharma, one wishes to give back something and give back to the community, give back to others, bestow one's protection upon others.

[28:04]

And then on the other side, the one who takes up the Dharma, takes up the practice, are themselves protected. they receive the response of the Dharmadhatu, the Dharma realm, which in this case is personified by these various beings in this chapter who are bestowing these Dharanis, these mystic syllables. I'll tell you briefly who they are. Medicine King Bodhisattva, who we heard before, is bestowing his merit in the form of a Dharani, his protection. Bodhisattva Courageous Giver, and of course his name sort of is evoking the theme of this chapter. These two Bodhisattvas are followed by the Divine King Vaisravana and the Divine King Domain Holder. And I've often wondered why there aren't four Divine Kings here, and this is why. If you were ever to see the mandala of the Nichiren school, which I belong to, which depicts the ceremony in the air in calligraphic form, there are four large calligraphic

[29:12]

characters on the corners and they're the four divine kings who protect the universe, who kind of stand guard over the north, south, east and west of the universe. So in a sense their presence there is sort of delineating the Dharma realm and showing that the Nam-myoho-enge-kyo, the devotion to the true Dharma, the lotus flower teaching is pervading and illuminating the So in this sense the presence of these two Divine Kings is showing that the whole universe really is responding to us. These aren't just individuals, they're representing the four corners of the universe. Everything responds to our practice and our practice in turn is a response to everything. And finally the Dharanis, Dharanis are bestowed by Hariti in the original Sanskrit, Kishimojin is the Japanese.

[30:15]

Kishimojin and the ten Rakshasa women who are said to be her daughters and she is a demon. It's very interesting that in Buddhism we receive the protection of demons, but what's really going on here is it's not saying that Buddhists are actually devil worshippers or practicing black magic. What's really going on here is that Buddhism even those things which under some circumstances can be very negative can also be awakening and are catalysts for awakening I should say. And I often think of Kishimojin was one of those spirits in the ancient world who were believed to cause the sudden infant death syndrome. It was said that she carried away babies or killed babies in the night hearing of these activities, stole one of her many ten thousands of babies. She had plenty. So he stole just one of hers and she got very upset and looked all over for this baby which the Buddha had hidden with his transcended powers.

[31:23]

And finally she gave up and went to the one person who knows everything, which is the Buddha, and says, I can't find my baby. And the Buddha said to her, you know, you take these babies from these peasants and they might have two or three or four, you know, and you have ten thousand. And you have no compassion for them. And yet, I hid one of yours and you're so upset. And she realized, like that, I haven't even been aware of what I was doing. I haven't been thinking of how my actions were affecting others. And with that, she awakened her own bodhicitta, her own aspiration to help others and to lift herself out of her own self-inflicted suffering. and as we see in this chapter she then turned over all of that formerly negative energy into protection for us. Now this is a nice little fairy tale but if you think about it, what is penicillin? What are a lot of the medicines that we use?

[32:25]

In other circumstances they're poison but they've been redirected. So psychologically we can redirect ourselves but even in the non-psychological Even in that realm, things get redirected. And Buddhism recognizes this. And that's why we receive the protection even of the negative forces in life. And that's why we should never write anybody off as a hopeless case. We never know when there might be a sudden turnaround. And then they will become our benefactors. Now the next chapter is the story of King Resplendent. and in this chapter we have kind of another fairy tale where we have a the king whose name resplendent his wife pure virtue and their sons pure treasury and pure eyed and one gets an image from these names of something like Ozzie and Harriet like the 50s everything's very pure and wonderful and clean-cut names like this

[33:34]

But things, even with names like that, things are not perfect because King Resplendent, a horror of horrors, is not a Buddhist. He reveres the Brahmins. He's very backwards in old-fashioned that way and his very radical sons wish to follow the teachings of a Buddha named Thunder Voice Constellation King of Wisdom. the two sons go to their mother and so this is a trick that goes back thousands and billions of years. They know they're not going to get anywhere with dad so they'll ask mom and they ask pure virtue, can we go and join the Buddha? Can we go and renounce our positions as She says what all mothers have said for billions and billions of years, go ask your father.

[34:36]

Now, but she then gives them the advice to show them the benefits of their practice, show them what this Dharma is about. Don't try to talk him into it or badger him, show him. And that's what they do. Basically, Now the sutra, it wouldn't be very exciting if the sutra said that they showed him by mindfully washing the dishes and mindfully cleaning their rooms and mindfully doing their chores. So instead it makes things a little more spectacular and it has them walking on air and shooting fire from their mouths and water from below and then water from above and fire from below. all kinds of martial art style tricks that one would see in a video game where the characters are shooting lightning and flying through the air. So they do all this and the king is very impressed and he decides maybe there is something to this Buddhism after all. So washing the dishes didn't do the trick but shooting fire in the air and flying through space did in this case.

[35:41]

But the point is they set an example. They showed what their practice was about instead of just talking about it and saying, hey, guess what? I'm a Buddhist. I know all this great stuff. Let me tell you about all the books I've read, all these fantastic concepts. And they didn't do that. I leave it for people like me to do that. But these people directly showed what it was about. And the king was so impressed, in fact, that he himself decided he would go join and study under this Buddha Thunder Voice King constellation of wisdom. I'm sorry, Thunder Voice Constellation, King of Wisdom. It's going to be a test afterwards, remember. And the king is now able himself to show the fruits of the practice and the Dharma in his own life. And the following happens. He rises up into the sky to a height of seven tala trees and says to the Buddha, World Honored One,

[36:44]

these my two sons have already done a buddha deed by their supernatural transformations changing my heretical mind establishing me in the buddha dharma and causing me to see the world honored one these two sons are my good friends for out of a desire to develop the roots of goodness planted in my former lives and to benefit me they came and were born in my house and then he goes on to say how he himself is going to try to live the dharma and inspire others Then, when King Resplendent had extolled the Buddha's so many merits, countless hundreds of thousands and myriads of kotis of them, with all his mind he folded his hands before the Tathagata and again addressed that Buddha saying, unprecedented is the world honored one. The Tathagata's teaching is perfect in its inconceivable and wonderful merits. The moral precepts which he promulgates are comforting and quickening. From this day onward, I will not again follow my own mind, nor beget false views, nor be of a haughty, angry, or any other sinful mind.

[37:46]

Having uttered these words, he did reverence to the Buddha and went forth." That's a little better than flying through space and shooting fireballs. At least there's a moral example being set forth here. And of course, in the ancient world, the idea was that if the king, if the ruler set an example, the kingdom likewise would follow. and that the health of the nation would follow the health of the king. So here we have a whole kingdom transformed because of the example set by two sons. And of course in our own practice, that's what we need to do. We need to transform the world, not through badgering and conniving and trying to browbeat people into thinking and seeing things the way we do, but just setting the example ourselves. Now we come to the last chapter, Chapter 28, The Encouragement to the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue. Now this chapter may not mean so much to someone who doesn't know about Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, but to those who do know who this Bodhisattva is and read this chapter, it's mind-blowing, it's incredible.

[39:07]

Universal Virtue is also known as Samantabhadra or Fugen Bosatsu in Japanese. Is this supposed to be Manjushri here? Okay. The Buddha in his aspect of Sambhogakaya, the bliss body, the reward body Buddha is often accompanied by Bodhisattvas as opposed to the historical Buddha is often you know, people he knew in history. So a transcendent Buddha requires transcendent attendance. And Manjushri represents wisdom. And he's not doing it here, but... Oh, is he? Oh, he's right there. Okay. Okay. I was about to say he has the sword, the sword that cuts through delusion, the sword that gets to the point, as it were. So Manjushri is the wisdom, and he's on the one side, and he rides the lion, because the lion is the king of animals, and the Dharma, the truth, is the king of all things.

[40:13]

But on the other side is Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, universal virtue, riding the elephant, the six-tusked elephant, which I believe represents the six perfections. And the elephant, when it is going through the jungle, nothing stands in its way. nothing can impede its progress it's too big and Samantabhadra is the practice of Buddhism not just the wisdom but the application of the wisdom and it is that making the good cause acting on what one knows that is unimpeded and Bodhisattva universal virtue is really the theme of the Flower Garland Sutra. The Flower Garland Sutra sets forth the path of the Bodhisattva and all its permutations and he is the personification of all of those practices. He is all of the activity, all of the good causes, all of the virtues and merits of the Buddha or that bring about Buddhahood or come from Buddhahood.

[41:23]

He is Buddhahood as activity, action, function, dynamic relationality. And as a personification of all these good causes of the Buddha, he comes at the very end of the Lotus Sutra to show the active side of taking faith in the Sutra, to show the active unfolding of that faith, and also to bring his practice into ours and to allow us to enter into his. Because if you think about it, the six perfections are very daunting. Do any of us have perfect generosity, perfect virtue, perfect patience, perfect enthusiasm, perfect tranquility of mind, perfect wisdom? Do any of us have even one of those? And now, when you read the sutras, we're expected to have all six.

[42:28]

Now that's scary. I think even if I had 20 billion lives I would never be able to amass that kind of perfection on my own. And yet the Lotus Sutra is saying, if you remember last week we were talking about the single moment of rejoicing, that even one moment of rejoicing in the truth of this sutra brings more merit than all of those perfections combined, except for perfect wisdom, which this single moment is really a different way of expressing. So somehow when we break out of the self we break out of the limitations of the self out of the finite efforts of the self and enter into the efforts and causes of all things in this case personified by Bodhisattva universal virtue. There is a merger between my own small way of embodying these truths in the embodiment which is everything. This of course is going back again to Dogen's essay where he says, we are the flower of Dharma turning the flower of Dharma and the flower of Dharma is turning us.

[43:36]

You know it's very helpful to think of this as merging into Bodhisattva universal virtue and Bodhisattva universal virtue merging into us but really when one understands what the Dharma is there is no self or other other power, self-power. It all just becomes the clear light of the perfect effort, the perfect practice, the perfect realization of reality itself. Words just can't do it justice, but words can attempt it. Words can try to make us realize that there's something to be realized. So with that, let me read to you the passages where Bodhisattva Universal Virtue is promising to aid us, to join with us in our practice. Bodhisattva Universal Virtue says to the Buddha, In the last 500 years of the corrupt and evil age, whoever receives and keeps this sutra, I will guard and protect, rid of the anxiety of decline and sickness, and give ease of mind so that no one shall be able to spy out and take advantage of weakness."

[44:54]

So we don't have to be afraid of our own failures or our own shortcomings. Our practice goes beyond that. World Honored One. If there be any Bodhisattvas who hear these Dharanis, they shall be aware of the supernatural power of universal virtue. Again in this chapter he's also shared Dharanis. If while the Law Flower Sutra proceeds on its course through Jambudvipa, that means this world, there be those who receive and keep it, let them reflect thus. This is all due to the majestic power of universal virtue. If any receive and keep, read and recite, rightly remember it, comprehend its meaning, and practice it as preached, let it be known that these are doing the works of universal virtue, and have deeply planted good roots under numberless, countless Buddhas, and that their heads will be caressed by the hands of the Tathagatas." So, our own practice is motivated by universal virtue himself. The fact that we've even taken up Buddhism

[45:56]

is coming from a source far deeper than our own desires and wishes and intentions. And then what follows upon that will resonate with reality itself. It will not just be limited to what we Just my posture here. I was telling someone the other day, I'm not sitting like that to show off. I'm sitting like that as I take every opportunity to prepare for the excruciating torture when I have to return to Japan.

[46:57]

Finish my training. Boy, talking about finite efforts and making the cause. Anyway, I think I'll just end what I was saying about these chapters with the idea that we need to make an effort ourselves. We need to dedicate whatever realization, whatever merits, whatever virtues we ourselves have. So it's not like we should wait around for Bodhisattva Universal Virtue to do it for us, but we should take heart that whatever effort we make will open up into the effort of all beings, the effort that is Buddhahood itself, the actions of the Buddha nature, and not just our self-actions with their short-sightedness and limits, that really we are in the midst of the boundarylessness of all of these practices and virtues and merits of the Buddha.

[48:00]

And I think that would be a good place to end the discussion tonight and open it up to questions or comments or answers. So, please. Are we going to recite? Right, right. After? After the questions, right. Let's see how much. Oh, we're doing good, yeah. So we have about half an hour, 20 minutes, 25 minutes for questions. like talk about thousands of people meeting Buddha. And in reality, if it's 10,000 of people, it can change its voice. So it's probably the imagination of some kind of fantasy. So it's not a real situation, I think. Right. Right. Or maybe it's just the imagination of literature writing.

[49:04]

There's very little in the Lotus Sutra that logistically makes any sense. But now that you've raised that point, it's true that the people sitting way in the back couldn't hear what the Buddha is saying because he didn't have a little speaker like this. It's too bad. We might have a different view of Buddhism if we had actual recordings of the Buddha's teachings, I don't know. The point is that it's not about listening to the actual physical voice, although sometimes that's involved of a particular person. Really what's happening in the Lotus Sutra is happening now. The ceremony in the air, the meetings on Vulture Peak are still going on. and they're still going on because we're still the disciples, we're still the Bodhisattvas, we ourselves are still the hungry ghosts and the demons and the gods and the goddesses. We're embodying all of that ourselves, all of those beings that were there.

[50:08]

That's us, and not just the nice ones or the bad ones or mediocre ones, but all of them is us. And the ground that we're walking on, that's Vulture Peak. The air that we breathe, That's the air and the ceremony in the air. Our bodies, these bones and flesh and snot and sweat and blood and hair and all this, this is the treasure tower. And when we deeply listen, like Bodhisattva regarded the cries of the world to the sound of reality itself, we're hearing the sermon, we're hearing the Buddha's teaching. So that's what we should meditate very deeply, not like Zen meditation, but meditate in a sense of reflect very deeply on what it means that all those beings were gathered there at that particular place to listen to that particular person. We should really reflect very deeply on what that means for us.

[51:10]

Yes. Thank you. I have two questions. and they're quite different, but the first is, I think that you said that Zen, our Zen ancestors mostly refer to just the first three chapters of the Lotus Sutra? Right. Why? They weren't the only ones. The Tendai school, the Tiantai scholastic school, the scholastic meditative school that based their teachings on the Lotus Sutra also kind of stuck with the first few chapters. And part of the reason is that the first half of the Lotus Sutra is the theoretical half, the part that sets out what we're trying to do. and that gives a direction to our practice. And it's from chapter 15 on that you get into realization and what to do after realization.

[52:22]

But really, realization has to sort of come of itself. You kind of have to be there. Talking about it is just not good enough. Reading about it won't by itself get you there. So I think that the Tendai school and the Zen school and others thought that one should concentrate on the first half so that one could practice correctly with the right intention and that then when one had realization one could appreciate what's going on in the other half of the sutra. But if you tried to do it the other way around, you would read the last half without realization of your own and do what Hakuin did, which is throw up your hands and go, this is impossible. It doesn't make any sense. There's something so special about this. And then one would have discarded the Lotus Sutra without really looking at how the first half is trying to give you a key to understanding the second half. And the reason for only stopping at the third chapter is the second chapter

[53:28]

really, in an abstract sense, tells you what the whole sutra is about, or at least what the first half of Buddha nature and aspiring to the Buddha nature in one vehicle is all about. And then in the third chapter, you get that parable of the burning house. So you get the first real example, and all the other parables are really just trying to give you a better understanding of the second chapter. So I think that's why they stop there, because it's kind of like, okay, well, now we've got the essence of it, and the rest is just more of the same. The Nietzschean school takes a very different point of view. The idea of the Nietzschean school is that we're kidding ourselves if we think we can practice perfectly, if we think that we really have what it takes to practice the way the Buddha and his disciples practiced. Because if we had that kind of merit, we would have been born back in that time. If we had that kind of merit, we would be able to shave our heads and go off into the hills and do all those extremely strenuous, difficult practices.

[54:33]

If you think about it, most of us are leading pretty ordinary lives. And sure, we're able to take our retreats and we're able to, like in my case, meditate in the morning and meditate at night. in between, you know, take care of the family and go to the full-time job and do all those other things. But, you know, I can't for a second kid myself in the thinking that I'm practicing the way the Buddha practiced, the way Sariputra practiced, the way all those other guys practiced. You know, I'd be kidding myself if I thought, well, you know, I'm on the level of the bodhisattvas discussed here, you know. So, Nitran's idea was Keep that stuff in mind, but concentrate on the second half of the Sutra, because that realization is underlying your life right now, no matter how ordinary you think it is, no matter how limited or confused or frustrated you are, you're living in the midst of that realization. And if you could just have that faith that you are, if you could just open up your mind to that possibility that you're already living in the midst of enlightenment and the fulfillment of Buddhahood,

[55:45]

then you'll be able to practice correctly. So he kind of reversed everything. So sort of get the point, then you can practice, rather than practice so you can get the point. Does that make any sense? Yeah. Namu myoho denge kyo. So in other words, I think for him, for us, practice starts with the second half of the Lotus Sutra, with realization, or it's not separate from that. Right, right. The Nichiren Shu, the school that I belong to, has sometimes taken issue with other Nichiren schools.

[56:48]

Because the other Nichiren school says, well the last half is so important, let's forget about the first half. But the Nichiren Shu is also known as the Ichiha, the harmony school, because we believe both halves need to be in harmony with each other. I think that when I read Hoketan Hoke, on one level, it seems like he's not going beyond the third chapter, but on another level, his interpretation of the parable of the burning house presumes a deep understanding of the rest of the sutra and a deep realization based on what we call the essential section, the section of the eternal life of the Buddha. So, yeah, I would agree. Well, his instructions for practice seem to reflect the kind of ecstatic view, if you will, of the... Very much. And I think that was part of why he left the Tendai school. I think that he also was frustrated by this idea that, you know, if we're already enlightened, why do we need to practice so much?

[57:56]

Why are we concentrating on all this? I think that sort of dissonance between practice and realization you know, was as real for him as it was for Nichiren. Definitely, definitely. The Tendai school wasn't making the connections as it were, you know, or at least it wasn't for him and for Nichiren. Maybe some Tendai people would say something different. And of course we weren't there, so. I'll tell you one thing, though, now that I'm thinking of it. Well, I will wholeheartedly say that I believe the Nietzschean school most clearly shows how to practice the Lotus Sutra. In my experience, the sectarian boundaries are really fuzzy and, in a sense, kind of meaningless.

[58:56]

And I think the important thing is to find those people who have realized what the teaching is for themselves and can help you realize it too. And I think the sectarian affiliation or the official teachings of the sect really become secondary to what the real people are actually doing and actually thinking and actually seeing and how they can touch your life. Because if you can't enter into that kind of environment where there's that kind of existential confrontation to bring this to life, then it doesn't matter how clearly the teachings are given or what the ideals of the sect are, you're just going to fall flat on your face. And I think that was why Dogen had to spend so much time looking for a good teacher. Any other questions or comments?

[60:02]

Yes? Well, I understood from what you said, so I want to paraphrase it and see if you agree. What I got out of this was that we make the best effort we can, and then we're kind of like pulled in by this force, this energy force pulls us in that exists out there. And it's like, at that point, it's not our own I don't know if I would say pulled into something other or outside of us, but that self breaks open. You know, it's kind of like the image is often given of a jar of water floating around in the ocean, you know, and then the jar breaks open and that water becomes one with the water everywhere else. So it's more like that we break open into that non-dual reality.

[61:05]

Right. Right. It's really attaining to something that was already there in the first place. It's breaking through those artificial constructions that we've built up through our own actions and thoughts and words and deeds and it breaks through, you know? So do you think Nichiren thinks it takes less effort than Zen? I think that Nichiren pictured it maybe like a baby chick that was just ready to hatch, and it was tapping on the inside. And if the Buddha was like, you know, the mother, it taps on the outside in response, you know. So, I think Nietzsche and Tsao Zen is this kind of very heroic, macho self-power, I'm gonna do it myself kind of thing, and who needs the Buddha, you know.

[62:14]

I don't know if that's how, Maybe that's how some of the Zen people in his time were teaching it. I don't think that would be true of Dogen or anybody else who knew what they were actually talking about. But that was how he perceived the Zen sect, sort of like do it yourself. I don't need the tradition. I don't need the Buddha. And I think he also rejected the Pure Land idea that we are so totally helpless and God-forsaken that only the Buddha can come and save us. I think he disagreed with both those positions. And I think he saw it as a synergy, as a very subtle interrelationship between our own efforts and the Buddha, the Buddha nature. And then you get to the point where there really is no self or other. So where is this effort coming from? From the outside or from the inside? Is the egg cracking open because of the chick hitting it or because of the mother hitting it?

[63:21]

It just cracks open. I don't know if that's a very good answer, but... Yes? Oh, go ahead. The answer to the self and other power. can interpret the second half of the Lotus Sutra from the position of realization?

[64:25]

Well, let me get one thing out of the way. First off, we are all aspirants, but I've been explaining up to now our practice in terms, or the Lotus Sutra's demonstration of our practice in terms of aspiration, realization, and dedication, but these aren't three steps. You know, this isn't the cha-cha, you know, one, two, three. They're simultaneous aspects of the single moment of practice, of fully practicing where we are now, as we are now. And then I notice when I'm practicing, when I'm chanting, sometimes my mind is at the level of I'm just aspiring. Sometimes it goes a little deeper. Sometimes I'm really able to just throw myself into it. It's just, words just don't do justice to it. And then there's other times when I think more about, well, I'm chanting and I'm thinking about the people in Kosovo or the people in the high school shootings or thinking about other things and hoping that somehow through my practice this will benefit others.

[65:33]

But really all those levels are constantly interrelated, constantly you know, supporting one another, giving rise to one another. But I'll tell you another story that will maybe more directly answer your question. When I was in grade school, I was, the child psychologists and various other people diagnosed me as having learning disabilities and behavioral problems and all that other nonsense. And so I was in a special school, And the teachers were constantly sending reports to my parents. It was like a daily thing. They had to show if I did anything inappropriate that day. If I spoke out of turn or jumped out of my seat and sprayed chalk in someone's face. I enjoyed doing that. And all the other nasty little tricks I used to play. And they would mark it down, all the inappropriate things. So consequently, I became extremely self-conscious. You know, in grade school. Because I was always being watched. And I was always watching myself.

[66:34]

And I was always wondering, why can't I control myself? Why do I have all this energy that makes me want to jump up? Why can't I just be like the other kids and just do my work and go to regular school and be like everyone else? You know, but I couldn't. I just, ugh, it's too much. And no matter how hard I tried, it just didn't work. Something would screw me up or I'd forget myself and I would do something inappropriate. My self power wasn't working. And no matter what other people did, it didn't help very much either. But I remember one day, and it's really not quite right to say I remember it, but I came in, I sat down, I put my book bag down. They said, here, we're going to do this. I did it. Looked at the notes on the chalkboard. Did that. Go out to recess. Played. Went through the whole day just doing what was right there in front of me. And didn't even think about the fact that I was behaving myself so well. It didn't even occur to me until the end of the day and the teacher said, Michael, you were so good today.

[67:38]

And this I remember. I looked up and I said, I was? And I realized, wow, I just had a perfect day. Everything was in sync. And then I was so proud of myself, and then I just lost it after that. I don't know what I did the next day, but it wasn't that perfect. I don't remember that. But when I think back to that day, I wasn't making any effort to behave myself. And nobody else was making me behave myself. I just did what was there. And very clearly, too. It just unfolded. There was no ego in it at all, and that was part of what made it so smooth. So, I offer that for what it's worth. And you try very hard not to think about it, right?

[68:57]

But then there's all this curiosity. in this company, does anybody in this company know the answers to these questions by first-hand experience?

[70:13]

And my suspicion is, no. And that's just another way of saying, we are all aspirants, none of us is realized. My suspicion is that while I doubt that anybody here is fully established in it, that every person in this room has had moments where the sunshine broke through the clouds, as it were. That's my suspicion and I think our practice is a way of trying to widen that gap, let more sunlight in, or rather, you know, a way of further establishing us in that And that's my suspicion. Do you speak for yourself, Michael?

[71:17]

Yes. Yes, I do. That was part of the point of my telling that story, that even when I was a little kid, far before I heard of Buddhism, I think I had a very Buddhist, Buddhic moment, as it were. And there's been other times like that. Yes? Well, I can appreciate Kathy's question, and I can also appreciate your story. I don't know. It seems the farther along I go, the more confused about that I get. I'm having this gut feeling here that no effort at all. That's all my gut's telling me to say.

[72:20]

No effort at all. That is difficult. And I practice as does Michael, and I've done it for 30 years now. And there have been those times when the clouds cleared. And one of the common denominators, all of those experiences, and I've had experiences where, oh wow, we've got a chance. But the experiences that have been my epiphanies, or whatever term is to be used, were the ones that were no effort, as Michael said.

[73:25]

It was simply my sitting, and the most vivid one for me was when my mother was dying. And she was in the hospital, and I was at home. And the only thing I had left to do, because I'd already been called, the mandala in front of me and simply invoke the title of the Lotus Sutra. And that's all I did. I didn't do it with fear. I simply did it as an expression of my own life. And that experience was one of the most amazing for me in terms of nonexistence of object and subject, nonexistence of me, the only thing for me that existed at that time. to this day could not tell you how long I sat. All I know, all that existed for me was the mandala and the sound of mind and vocation.

[74:29]

And at some point, I simply stopped. I went to bed. When I woke up the next morning and called the hospital, they informed me my mother was down the hall having pizza. That experience was the most profound experience I've ever had. and make me understand on such a gut level that the Buddha is not about effort ultimately. It's about the heart and simply existing in that moment. Thank you. That's a good point, because Shakyamuni had his perfect day when he was young, under the rose apple tree, but he wasn't able to do anything with it.

[75:39]

And it was... What's that? I've never heard that story. You've never heard? Has anyone heard that story? Yeah. Some of you have. His father was out plowing the fields for the festival day, the agricultural festival. It was the first time, he was a little baby, he sat up and meditated, and he achieved some The jhana states, the trance states, yeah. And it was based on his seeing when the plowing was going on, the ritual plowing, he saw the worms getting pulled out of the ground and the birds coming down and eating him. And he realized, like, wow, you know, nature reddened tooth and claw. And that kind of inspired him to try to sit down and find some peace in the midst of all this horrible suffering that this festival was creating. I'm a bit of an overwrought little child, I think. But the point is, Years later, you know, when all the asceticism and other difficult, you know, willful, effortful practices that he had tried, you know, kind of fell through, he remembered that experience.

[76:44]

But now, he was prepared to do something with it, to take it to that next level of insight, you know. Whereas before as a child, he didn't have enough preparation of the ground, you know. But even without the preparation, these moments, they come upon us, you know. And still, we're taught continuous effort, continuous practice. But it's the difference between our self-effort, the effort of a self that is striving to attain something, and then the effort of the Buddha, or the effort of universal virtue, which is really kind of effortless. and they have the brooms, you know?

[77:52]

Oh, those two guys. Yeah. Yeah. When I was in college, I was jokingly referred to as the Sage of 40th Street because I lived on 40th Street in West Philadelphia. And I had this tiny little apartment that I shared with a bunch of roaches. You know, I was trying to make it as Japanese as possible, because I like the aesthetic, and it was also very practical, because I didn't have enough space for anything else. And one of my favorite things was to pull the straw mat off the floor and clear the furniture and just kind of mindlessly sweep. I don't think it was their kind of sweeping, but it was just kind of, drop everything.

[78:57]

I'm just going to sweep. Stop worrying about all that stuff outside this little 10-foot apartment flat. That's neat. Oh, right. Yes. Let us now make the effort to chant the 25th chapter and enter into the Dharma ourselves through reciting the title of the Lotus Sutra. Turn to page... Page 23, I believe. The Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching, Chapter 25.

[80:15]

The All-Sightedness of the Bodhisattva-Regarder, the cries of the world. Listen to the deeds of the cry-regarder, who well responds to every quarter. Her vast vow is deep as the sea, inconceivable in its eons, serving many thousands of kotis of Buddhas. She has vowed a great pure vow, let me briefly tell you. He who hears her name and sees her, and bears her unremittingly in mind, will be able to end the sorrows of existence. Though others with harmful intent throw him into a burning pit, let him think of the cry of regarder's power, and the fire pit will become a pool. or driven along a great ocean in peril of dragons, fishes, and demons. Let him think of the cry, Regarder's power, and waves cannot submerge him.

[81:16]

Or if from the peak of Sumeru men would hurl him down, let him think of the cry, Regarder's power, and like the sun he will stand firm in the sky. Or if pursued by wicked men and cast down from Diamond Mountain, he thinks of the cry, Regarder's Power, not a hair shall be injured. Or if meeting with encompassing foes, each with sword drawn to strike him, he thinks of the cry, Regarder's Power, all their hearts will turn to kindness. Are if, meeting suffering by royal command, His life is to end in execution, And he thinks to the cry, Regarder's power, The executioner's sword will break in pieces. Are if, imprisoned, shackled and chained, Arms and legs and guides and stocks, He thinks to the cry, Regarder's power, Freely he shall be released.

[82:20]

Or if by incantations and poisons one seeks to hurt his body, and he thinks to the cry, Regarder's power, all will revert to their originator. are if meeting evil rakshasas, venomous dragons and demons, he thinks to the cry, regarder's power, at once none will dare to hurt him. If encompassed by evil beasts, tusks sharp and claws fearful, he thinks to the cry, regarder's power, They will flee in every direction. If scorched by the fire flame of the poisonous breath of boas, vipers, and scorpions, he thinks of the cry, regarder's power. Instantly at his voice they will retreat. Clouds, thunder, and lightning flashes. Hail falls and rain streams. He thinks of the cry, regarder's power, and all instantly are scattered.

[83:21]

The living crushed and harassed, oppressed by countless pains, the cry, regard her with her mystic wisdom, can save such a suffering world. Perfect and supernatural powers, widely practiced in wisdom intact, in the lands of the universe there is no place where she does not manifest herself. all the evil states of existence, hells, ghosts and animals, sorrows of birth, age, disease, death, all by degrees are ended by her. True regard, serene regard, regard of pity, compassionate regard, ever longed for, ever looked for, pure and serene in radiance, wisdom sun destroying darkness, subduer of woes of storm and fire. who illumines all the world. Law, pity, thunder, quivering, compassion, wondrous as a great cloud, pouring spiritual rain like nectar, quenching the flames of distress, in disputes before magistrate, are in fear in battles array.

[84:34]

If he thinks of the cry, regarder's power, all his enemies will be routed. Hers is the wondrous voice, voice of the world regarder, Brahma voice, voice of the rolling tide, voice all world-surpassing, therefore ever to be kept in mind with never a doubting thought. Regarder of the world's cries, pure and holy, in pain, distress, death, calamity, Able to be a sure reliance, perfect in all merit, with compassionate eyes beholding all, boundless ocean of blessings, prostrate, let us revere her. And again, let us try to realize the single moment of awakening practice through chanting the Lotus Sutra's title, Namu Myoho Denge Kyo. Namo Myoko Rinpoche Namo Myoko Rinpoche Namo Myoko Rinpoche Namo Myoko

[86:02]

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Namo'valokiteshvaraya [...] Namo Myoho Renge Kyo Namo Myoho Renge Kyo Namo Myoho Renge Kyo

[87:55]

Thank you all very, very much.

[88:01]

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