Nembutsu Practice

Let's say you've learned enough about Buddhism that you are now eager to begin practicing but you find yourself isolated and without a chance to learn how to practice. Many beginners are in this situation: where can I find someone who will teach me, down in the West Texas town of El Paso, or in Klamath Falls, or in Harrisonburg?

What you need in this situation is a practice you can do now that will bring real benefit, one that will help you create the causes and conditions that will put you next to an authentic teacher of Dharma. Nembutsu is a practice like this: open to the public and very profound. Here is how to do it:

Nembutsu is the mindful repetition of the name of Amitabha Buddha. You will need to be mindful of three aspects in this practice: your body, your speech, and your mind.

With your body, move mindfully with the understanding that the Buddha Amitabha is present and that your surroundings are ultimately a pure land, that you inhabit a sacred place where realization comes easily and all beings are blessed. During formal practice periods, we do nembutsu while walking mindfully. It is quite alright to do nembutsu while washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, or carrying on your other ordinary tasks so long as you can maintain the pure view of your location as being in essence inseparable from Amitabha's pure land. Do not fidget or fuss with extraneous things.  Turn off the television, the radio, the blackberry, the internet; cut away extraneous distractions and focus on the essential. Keep an upright posture and relax: not too loose, not too tight.

With your speech, gently repeat the name of Amitabha Buddha again and again like a flowing river. It need not be loud. If necessary, say the nembutsu with "the tongue of the mind," which is to say, in your imagination only. In Tendai, we recite it as Namu Amidabu, and this sounds like Nah Moo Ah Mee Dah Boo (you know the sound of "a" in "apple"? don't use that sound. Use the "ah" sound as in "open up and say 'ah'". If the pronunciation is difficult, send me an email and we can work on it.) It is possible to say this a million or two million times over and not exhaust the benefit of it. Just keep going.

With your mind, be very aware that Amidabha Buddha is near you. You can visualize Amitabha above your head as a standing Buddha emanating very bright clear light. Wherever this light touches and penetrates becomes purified of all negative past karma, and what is more, the seeds of bodhicitta are planted in the minds of all beings touched by it. As your practice strengthens, extend this Buddha-power to all corners of all worlds until Amitabha's pure light touches and blesses all without exception (your neighborhood, your town, your region, your nation, the continent where you live, the planet Earth, the cosmos) with no exceptions: the people who have helped you and the ones that have hurt you, the ones you like or don't like, all the beings from the cancer ward to the pigs in the slaughter to your daughter's classroom. All of them.

Studying images of Amitabha can help you get started and get inspired. If you put yourself into this practice one hundred percent, it begins to take on a life of its own and becomes more real than a heartbreak or a toothache. Too see this, however, you must try and not hold back.

The great Ch'an master Hsuan Hua made some profound comments on recitation practice. I'll repeat them here for your consideration:

Your goal is to dispense with all extraneous thoughts and to consolidate your thoughts into one mindful thought of the Buddha. If you don't have extraneous thoughts, you won't have any evil thoughts, and when nothing evil is arising in your mind, you're on the road to goodness.

(Surangama Sutra commentary, p. 231)

Finally, I would like to dispel a concern many beginners express when introduced to nembutsu practice: how do I know Amitabha Buddha is real and not just another bit of make-believe? My answer: Earnestly put it into practice and see which is more real, the body of Amitabha or your own aging body; your everyday distracted mind or Amitabha's enlightened mind; your everyday contradictory and not-always-perfectly-honest speech or the pure teaching of Amitabha Buddha.

In reality, your nature is no different from Amitabha's, and with practice, all the enlightened characteristics we associate with Amitabha arise in you. This is a method for accomplishing it, and it is free for you to try. I encourage you to do just that, to realize the nature of mind and be of real and lasting help to all who suffer.

An Introduction to the Sutra Service; Or, There Are No "Empty" Rituals

We have begun practicing our sutra service on Sunday mornings (and I hope you can join us).  I would like to offer a few words of introduction and description of the service in order to show how it works as a meditation practice, and how it can inform one's everyday life in a way that is deeply meaningful and helpful to oneself and others.  This is important because many of our sangha members have not had the opportunity to participate in this type of practice yet, due to limitations on our space and time that are no longer relevant.

I should address the sentiment I often hear from people who are interested in Buddhism but positively averse to anything that resembles a "ritual."  In our practice, there are no "empty rituals;" we are not indulging in some kind of rote exercise in followerdom or, what may be worse, lux exoticism.  On the contrary:  all Buddhist practices (and for that matter nearly everything we do on a day-to-day basis) are precisely rituals that make meaning for us, that give some kind of insight into how to conduct our lives.  The purpose of engaging in them is not to act the part of the Better Buddhist; Lisa Bright at Earth Sangha is right to insist that Buddhism, in the end, is not about Buddhism, but about the big picture.

Listen:  The purpose of engaging in these practices, the sutra service included, is to make it possible for us to be less and less bound by forces of habit that are out of our control, and more and more capable of conducting ourselves in an awake and creative way in every moment. 

The sutra service shows us how to do that, how to actualize our capacity for awakening in each moment.  It gives an outline for how to transform one's day, week, and year into an intentional practice, meditation-in-action, enlightened conduct.  It takes little imagination to see how the pieces fit together, especially with a few pointers.

After the service opens, the leader and the sangha take on the character of a chorus.  We recite all this together harmoniously.  From the start, the sutra service is an exercise in taking refuge in the right things (the wisdom of the three jewels) and not the wrong ones (distractions, harmful habits, untrustworthy projects of this world).  The service begins with this decision regarding what we, as a group value.  We choose to value the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha's teachings.  And we choose to value each other.  We recite together certain verses that have Japanese titles for convenience (translation for these would be cumbersome and inelegant), but we recite the verses themselves in English.  Here are the main points, in order (and there is a logic to the order in which we recite these--it is not as though this is a random assortment of pieties, as some may assume):

Sangemon. Here, we take honest stock of ourselves:  where we have been, and where we are going.  We recognize the habits of body, speech, and mind that are not helpful to ourselves or others (think, for instance, of envy, pride, hatred, greediness, closed-mindedness...), and we affirm that we do not wish to follow that path any longer.  Instead, we wish to do the next part:

Kaikyoge.  In this verse we rejoice in the opportunity to cultivate the qualities of wisdom and compassion.  This opportunity is not to be taken for granted, so we affirm that we will open our minds and seek the root while we can in the here and now.  We cultivate the aspiration to Wake Up.

What we have done so far sets the foundation for anything else one might do.  If one reflects on Sangemon and Kaikyoge at the start of one's day, then anything else one might do becomes a form of meditation insofar as one is able to maintain the thread of awareness and to keep the aspiration going.  This is one way in which the formal service can teach us a thing or two.  For the purposes of the service, the Thing To Do is to recite a selection of the Buddha's teachings, affirming, again, that this is what we value and what we wish to cultivate in ourselves and in our world.  Hence:

The Sutra.  Usually, we recite the Heart Sutra in our service.  Tendai temples usually recite the Lotus Sutra (selections of it) and the Amitabha Sutra as well, among others.  The point is that in announcing the teachings of the Buddha, we become like a chorus of Buddhas, telling the truth  about our condition.  After this and one or two other elements like it...

Hogo.  This verse looks back into historical time, to our spiritual ancestors Shakyamuni Buddha, Chih-i (sometimes spelled Zhiyi and referred to as Tendai Daishi), and Saicho (sometimes referred to as Dengyo Daishi).  All three of them told the truth in difficult times.  In spirit, we are looking back in history to all those men and women who have affirmed the path of wisdom and compassion, and showing gratitude and respect.  The last line of the verse looks to the future; we affirm our intention to bring this path forward into time, benefiting all.

Soeko closes the chanting portion of the service.  In this verse, we dedicate the merits of the practice we have done.  What does that mean?  When one does anything virtuous, a certain sort of positive energy or momentum is generated.  Then what?  We could choose to be stingy and horde all that positivity to ourselves, claiming for ourselves whatever good comes of it.  Or we could be negligent and just let it dissipate into nothingness.  Instead of these alternatives, we choose to share it and multiply it by affirming that these merits belong to all of animated life, so that together, we may "progress along the Buddha path of liberation."

Just as we close the service with Hogo and Soeko, one can close one's day reflecting a sense of gratitude into the past, and a sense of purpose into the future, and dedicate whatever virtuous acts one has engaged in to the benefit of all:  may these deeds become a cause for the awakening of all beings.  With this attitude, each day can become a meaningful ritual rather than a jumbled and out-of-control series of actions imposed on you; one can reflect back on each day without regret at having wasted time or opportunity.

And that is why I say that the sutra service demonstrates or models the Buddhist path of meditation in action.  It shows how to lay the groundwork for a life that has purpose, dignity, and joy.  And that is why I encourage everyone to participate fully in the sutra service.  (I should add, parenthetically, that there is much more to discover in the service than what I have gestured toward here...)

Enjoy your practice!

The Six Paramitas: An Introduction

A few years back, I wrote brief introductions for each of the Six Paramitas, which are fundamental aspects to the spiritual path.  This is where beginners are often asked to begin in Mahayana Buddhism, even though one may have been exposed to teachings such as the Four Noble Truths in their religions-of-the-world survey course.  These Six offer a straightforward and accessible way to get going and keep going in practice.  I encourage you to familiarize yourself with them and cultivate them as best you can.  Follow the links below for details:

Introduction:  On Making a Commitment

Dana, or Generosity

Sila, or Ethics

Ksanti, or Patience

Virya, or Perseverance

Dhyana, or Meditation

Prajna, or Wisdom

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 28

With Chapter 28, the Lotus Sutra comes to a conclusion.  This chapter introduces us to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (his name is Fugen in Japanese, and sometimes translated as Universal Sage Bodhisattva in English).  Samantabhadra makes a series of vows to protect the Lotus Sutra teachings, and to protect those who put them into practice.  This comes after Buddha Shakyamuni explains what one must do in order to access these teachings in the time after his passing (which is to say, right now): 

1. Secure the protection of the Buddhas, 2. plant the roots of virtue, 3. reach the stage of steadiness [in proceeding to enlightenment], and 4. resolve to save all living beings (pp.336-337, Murano translation).

Samantabhadra is associated with action and activity in the world.  What does it mean that the Lotus ends by giving him the last word?  Looking back through all 28 chapters, what relationship do you see between the contemplative teachings and the activities described in this sutra?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 27

Chapter 27 of the Lotus Sutra describes the importance of family and family relations in Buddhist practice.  This is expressed in somewhat mythic terms in the sutra.  The most important point is to consider the ways in which familial relationships can become fundamental aspects of everyday Dharma practice:  how we relate to others is a fundamental aspect of how we conduct ourselves, and with whom do we interact more than our families and the members of our household?  Our parents, siblings, children, and extended family can encourage us in practice, and help us work through doubt and distraction--and we can do the same for them.

Family can also function as a metaphor for how members of a sangha can cooperate together on the basis of mutual respect and care.  The contemporary writer and practitioner Peter Hershock has an excellent essay on this topic at the Journal of Buddhist Ethics; while Hershock's language is a bit wonky, his ideas are very much worthy of careful reflection.

How does this chapter describe family relationships among Dharma practitioners?  Do you notice anything unusual or extraordinary about the particular family described in this chapter?  More generally, what does a healthy and supportive family look like?  What is the relationship between our conduct with each other and our practice of Dharma together?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 25

Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra is among the most frequently chanted Buddhist texts in East Asia.  Its popularity may reflect its accessibility and the profundity of its message.  In content, this chapter sings the praises of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, whose name is translated in the Chinese editions variously as the one who hears the cries of the world, the world-voice-perceiver, the cry regarder; in all these translations, the essential point is that Avalokiteshvara represents the capacity to recognize and respond to the sufferings of others, even at a distance.  This capacity is compassion.

When the sutra calls on us to contemplate the power of the Cry Regarder, what the sutra is asking us to do on one level is to contemplate the power of compassion, and to cultivate that ability in ourselves. We have the capacity to do it.  It is in our power to develop in this way.  We ought to do it. This is how I have been taught to understand this chapter.

Other meanings are also available, and can be just as meaningful in regards to practice.  For instance, in some traditions practitioners are advised to recite the name of Avalokiteshvara, calling on her by name for aid (in the form of Guan Yin, Kanzeon, or Kwanseum).  This is another way to understand the sutra's repeated insistence that we should contemplate the power of the Cry Regarder.  And the famous Tibetan mantra OM MANI PEME HUM?  That, also, is an invocation to Avalokiteshvara; it is considered by many in this tradition to be the most important of Buddhist practices, and also the most accessible to all.  Anyone can cultivate this capacity, and more than one method exists to do it.  As the sutra says, this is a "Universal Gate" of practice.

Please take this contemplation to heart.  Consider:  what are some contexts in which you can start to this contemplation on the power of compassion?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 23

This is about trust, faith, and commitment:  sticking to something that is sacred, something you value, even when you do not know how it will turn out, and even if it means making intensive sacrifices of one kind or another to make it work.  That is Chapter 23, which is presented as a past-life story of Medicine King Bodhisattva. 

As the story goes, in a time long ago one Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva made an offering of his body to a Buddha named Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue by consuming fine incense and fragrant oils and setting his body alight with the pure intention of dedicating himself to the Dharma.  There was no way to know how this method would turn out, but in the story, it worked:  he was transformed, radiating intense light for an exceptionally long interval of time, and after finally dying, he took rebirth again in the company of the same Buddha.  After building many multitudes of stupas (monuments) for that Buddha's own mortal remains, Gladly-Seen Bodhisattva burnt off his own arms as an offering out of devotion to those stupas, again without knowing in advance how this would work.  His body was restored to health, intact, and he learned from the experience.

Sakyamuni Buddha goes on in this chapter to state that "Anyone who aspires for, and wishes to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, should offer a light to the stupa of the Buddha by burning a finger or a toe" (304).  There are Buddhist communities in which this practice is taken literally to this day; one can speculate that the self-immolations that have become famous in the last hundred years in Buddhist countries may have some relation to this practice.  In any event,  I do not wish for anyone to do this in our sangha.  Instead, I suggest what may be more difficult sacrifices:

*Offer your doubts and fears to the Buddha in your heart and set them on fire, imagining them to smell like sweet incense and to shine with the light of ten thousand suns.

*Offer your ignorance, arrogance, short-sightedness, cowardice, closed-mindedness, selfishness, hatred, jealousy, impatience, pride, aggression, and any other poisons of the heart in the same way, in a spirit of devotion.

*Respect the multitude of sentient beings you meet as though they contain the living relics of the Buddha in the way this ancient Bodhisattva did.  Because they do.  Use both arms if you can.

This leaves only one question:  what remains after these poisons are burned away and resolve into emptiness?  What is left behind?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 22

Chapter 22 of the Lotus Sutra is very brief.  In it, Buddha Shakyamuni entrusts or transmits (depending on the translation) the teachings to the assembly.  He is asking them to "keep, read, recite, and expound" the teachings presented in this Sutra.  Following this, many of the supernatural elements that so prominently feature in the second half of the sutra are sent away from sight, including the Buddha Ancient Treasures.

Practically speaking, what does it mean to keep and expound or uphold this teaching?  In terms of practice or conduct in everyday life, what is the Buddha asking for?  What kind of practice is outlined in this Sutra, as you understand it? 

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 21

Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra describes the miraculous supernatural activities of the Buddhas.  These are capacities that exceed the ordinary, repetitive, and mundane expectations and limits we experience in everyday samsaric life.  Of interest in this chapter is the relationship between this extraordinary Buddha-capacity and the opportunities for Buddhist practice that present themselves in this life.

The first kind of supernatural activity of the Buddhas is described here (all quotations from the Murano translation of the Lotus Sutra):

[The Buddha] stretched out his long and broad tongue upwards until the tip of it reached the World of Brahman.  Then he emitted rays of light with an immeasurable variety of colours from his pores.  The light illumined all the worlds of the ten quarters.  The Buddhas who were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jewelled trees also stretched out their broad and long tongues and emitted innumerable rays of light.  Sakyamuni Buddha and the Buddhas under the jewelled trees displayed these  supernatural powers of theirs for one hundred thousand years.  Then they pulled back their tongues, coughed at the same time, and snapped their fingers.  These two sounds [of coughing and snapping] reverberated over the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters, and the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways. (pp. 292-293)

I have been taught that the long, broad tongue of the Buddha represents the teachings of the Buddha s represented in the sutras and commentaries:  a deep and extensive canon of material, far-reaching.  Reflect on the light and sounds and unnaturally flexible duration of time described in this passage.  What might the different elements here mean if understood as symbolic language?  What is this passage attempting to communicate in its imagery?

The second kind of supernatural activity of the Buddhas is a bit more subtle.

all the teachings of the Tathagata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathagata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra (p. 294).

Review what you have learned so far in this sutra.  What are the most important achievements and capacities of the Buddha as presented in this sutra?  Just what teaching is the Buddha asking his disciples to follow, and how is he instructing them to practice here?  This chapter may offer a helpful point of departure in reflecting on this.

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 20

Lotus Sutra chapter 20 tells the story of a bodhisattva called Never Despising (a previous incarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni).  This bodhisattva's life describes a helpful and profound practice that benefits oneself and others.  I encourage everyone to work with this practice.  Here is the gist of it:

Bodhisattva Never Despising responded internally to anyone he met in the same way, regardless of whether they agreed with him or treated him unkindly:

"I do not despise you
Because you will practice the Way
And become Buddhas."

Lotus Sutra, p. 289, Murano translation.

What does this mean?  It means that in all situations, Never Despising refused to give up on anyone as worthless, valueless, or hopeless.  He refused to assume anyone was, in the last analysis, his enemy, or some source of evil.  Instead, he recognized in everyone without exception their capacity for awakening, a capacity he himself was cultivating.  Put differently, he understood the spiritual unity of all life, and made it his practice to recognize this in everyone.

How is this helpful?  Well, for starters:

Those who were attached to [wrong] views
Were led into the Way
To the enlightenment of the Buddha
By this Bodhisattva.

Lotus Sutra, p. 290

Through this practice, Never Despising helped those around him transform hatred and ignorance into wisdom. 

This week's study question is rhetorical:  are you willing to give this practice a try?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 14

The previous chapter found the assembly of the Buddha making a public commitment to practice and promote the teachings, without really knowing just what they were committing to, out of trust in the Buddha and faith in the Dharma.  This is very much like any meaningful relationship, in which one enters in good faith and accepts that the outcome may be very different from anything one might have reasonably expected.

Chapter 14 finds the Buddha giving specific instructions to the assembly on how one who upholds the Lotus Sutra should conduct him or herself in the world.  This conduct is simultaneously a form of practice and a way of teaching others (with or without words).  These instructions are quite detailed; here is a representative selection (despite the gendered language in this translation, I have been taught that the Buddha's advice applies to both men and women equally):

Anyone who wishes to expound this sutra
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception, and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.

He should not despise others,
Or have fruitless disputes about the teachings.
He should not perplex others by saying to them,
"You will not be able to attain Buddhahood."

Any son of mine who expounds the Dharma
Should be gentle, patient and compassionate
Towards all living beings.
He should not be lazy.

In the worlds of the ten quarters,
The great Bodhisattvas are practicing the Way
Out of their compassion towards all living beings.
He should respect them as his great teachers.

(Lotus Sutra, Murano translation, p. 219).

How does this advice relate to the teachings on Buddha-nature and skillful means we have seen in earlier chapters? 

As a thought experiment, consider what a community might be like in which everyone aspires to the sort of conduct that the Buddha outlines in the passage above.

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 13

With Chapter 13, we have reached the midpoint of the Lotus Sutra.  After hearing the teachings of the Ekayana and the potential for awakening of all beings, those assembled to hear the sutra promise the Buddha to put the teachings into practice:

Because we are your messengers,
We are fearless before multitudes.
We will expound the Dharma.
Buddha, do not worry!

(Murano trans., p. 208-209).

As we will see in later chapters, particular instructions on how to practice this teaching follow from this vow.  For now, it is worthwhile to reflect on the power of making a firm commitment to doing something honorable, even if you might not know exactly what that entails or what the consequences may be.

Just what are the Buddha's disciples committing to here?  What is the nature of that commitment?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 12

Historians have shown that Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sutra is a later addition to the text; it was not in Kumarajiva's translation from the Sanskrit to the Chinese (this was done around the year 400 CE).  It is noteworthy in part because it seems to come in out of nowhere, disrupting the flow of the narrative, and differs from the previous chapters stylistically.

The content of the chapter is in keeping with the rest of the sutra, however.  The all-beings-can-become-Buddhas theme is reiterated with the example of a girl who, through the purity of her practice, becomes fully realized in an instant. 

What does this mean in terms of practice?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 11

...and then, something totally unexpected happens:

Thereupon a stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha.  The stupa was five hundred yojanas high and two hundred and fifty yojanas wide and deep.  It was adorned with various treasures.  It was furnished with five thousand railings and ten million chambers.  It was adorned with innumerable banners and streamers, from which jeweled necklaces and billions of jeweled bells were hanging down.  The fragrance of tamalapattra and candana was sent forth from the four sides of the stupa to all the corners of the world...  (page 181)

A stupa is a kind of reliquary, sometimes called a pagoda in east Asia or a chorten in Tibetan.   Its purpose is to house the remains of an enlightened being.  This particular stupa emerges from the earth in the middle of the Buddha's discourse, and hovers in the sky before the assembly, miraculously.  A loud voice is heard from within the stupa:

"Excellent, excellent!  You, Sakyamuni, the World-Honoured One, have expounded to this great multitude the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.  So it is, so it is.  What you, Sakyamuni, the World-Honoured One, have expounded, is all true" (page 181).

 Within this stupa is an ancient Buddha called Ancient Treasures, from a time immeasurably past and a world system that does not even exist any longer.  The two Buddhas--Sakyamuni in our time, Ancient Treasures from so long ago--sit together in the stupa, as one.  They are clearly of one mind; they are harmonious in their conduct.

After this, Buddha Sakyamuni manifests other miracles and expresses the importance of understanding what is going on in this sutra and explaining it to others.  What is going on here?   How you explain this?

Now would be a good time to consider the role of surprises and the miraculous in this Sutra.  What purpose do these interruptions serve?

What is the significance of this meeting of contemporary enlightened activity and ancient enlightened activity?  Is there any gap between them?  What does this tell us of the relations among past, present, and future? 

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 10

In Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha explains how one should teach the Lotus Sutra.  Here is one particularly relevant passage:

How should the good men or women who live after my extinction expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees when they wish to?  They should enter the room of the Tathagata, wear the robe of the Tathagata, sit on the seat of the Tathagata, and then expound this sutra to the four kinds of devotees.  To enter the room of the Tathagata means to have great compassion toward all living beings.  To wear the robe of the Tathagata means to be gentle and patient.  To sit on the seat of the Tathagata means to see the voidness of all things.  They should do these [three] things and then without indolence expound this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to Bodhisattvas and the four kinds of devotees.

 Lotus Sutra, trans. Senchu Murano, p. 177

As the text progresses, look for other instances where both the literal meaning of a passage and its metaphoric meaning (as in the room, robe, and seat of the Buddha this time) offer insights into practice.  What does the Buddha expect of someone who would attempt to expound this text?

From what you have read so far in this sutra, can you infer what the Buddha might expect of someone who is interested in learning the Dharma?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 9

Chapter Nine of the Lotus Sutra is relatively brief and straightforward.  In it, the Buddha announces that Ananda (his personal attendant) and Rahula (his son from his early days as a prince) will both become Buddhas, along with 2,000 other sravakas.  All of them are delighted with this news.

Sravakas are practitioners who are committed to a path of renunciation and personal liberation:  the so-called Hinayana.  Here, the Buddha declares again that all the approaches he has presented so far, including the sravaka vehicle, leads inevitably to Buddhahood.

Do you notice a pattern developing from chapter to chapter here?  What is the Buddha going with this?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 8

Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sutra picks up a theme developed in Chapter Six, in which four of the Buddha's foremost disciples are predicted to become Buddhas themselves.  In Chapter Eight, the Buddha declares that five hundred more of His disciples are destined to Buddhahood. 

Also, another parable is presented:  imagine that a friend has sewn into your jacket or shirt a jewel of limitless value, but you have forgotten about it and have wandered around struggling for cash, ignorant of the real wealth you possess.  Buddha-nature is like that:  it is yours and has been all along (everyone's really), but you may need someone to point this out to you and convince you to check the hem of your jacket...

In this chapter, two trends in the text come together:  first, the prediction that some disciples will become Buddhas, a club that is becoming less and less exclusive as the sutra progresses; and second, the reiterated teaching of Buddha-nature in all.  What do you make of this?  Where do you suppose the Buddha is going with this teaching?  More to the point, where does this lead in terms of practice and everyday life?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 7

Chapter Seven develops the ideas on teaching and learning in the earlier chapters by moving them into the field of leadership.  The Buddha leads the community, His students, by providing them with situations in which they can learn together, sometimes by extraordinary means.  This is to say that the Buddha's leadership is guided first and foremost by the intention to guide beings toward Buddhahood and away from the habits that cause trouble.

To explain this point, the Buddha gives a parable in which a group of people have begun taking a journey under the leadership of a wise guide.  The guide, knowing that the travelers he is responsible for are not mentally or physically capable of accomplishing the journey without a rest in the middle, magically manifests a resting place at the midway point.  Here we are now, everyone!  The travelers are delighted and, importantly, their capacity for travel improves because they have learned to trust their ability to achieve their goals.  Once they have rested adequately, the guide then explains the complete truth:  we have further to go, but now that we are rested and experienced, we can accomplish this easily.  So they do.

In terms of Buddhist doctrine, the magical city that has been conjured up as a skilful means is the teaching of nirvana, and the real destination is Buddhahood.  There is a sectarian overlay in this parable, because some Buddhist schools do teach that the first and only goal of practice is in fact nirvana.  In this chapter, the Buddha claims that this is not so:  nirvana is a peaceful experience that is not ultimately real and is not the final goal of practice, because it lacks all the capacities and capabilities of Buddhahood. 

I would prefer not to engage in sectarian squabbling.  Instead, I would like to direct our attention to this question of leadership.  How would you describe the Buddha's leadership of the sangha (community) in this chapter?  Is it of a piece with the teaching philosophy we have seen in earlier chapters, or is it a new development?  Also, what do you think of the metaphor of travel used in this chapter? 

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 6

In Chapter Six, the Buddha declares that four of his disciples--Maha-Kasyapa, Maha-Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, and Maha-Katyayana--will become Buddhas, and predicts the future circumstances in which this will happen.

What is that about?  How does this development relate to what we have seen so far in this text? Where might this go from here?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 5

(All references are to the Murano translation)

In chapter five of the Lotus Sutra, Buddha Shakyamuni explains the meaning of his teaching in earlier chapters through another parable.  Buddha compares his teaching activity to a great cloud that waters the entire world evenly and equally.  Some plants grow only a little; some grow great and tall.  Different plants and trees grow with different characteristics, according to their pattern.  All of them grow in the presence of the nourishment offered by the cloud, but all of them grow differently according to their capacities to grow.  Buddha's teaching is like that:  the Dharma is available to all, and everyone who accepts it makes whatever use of it he or she can, and grows accordingly.

There are different ways to understand this, depending on how you understand the term "Buddha."  Might it mean the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, in the role of a savior to all beings, metaphysically drawing all those who suffer toward the light?  Might it refer instead to the Buddha-nature within each of us?  There are other alternatives.  Reflect on this question and see where it leads you.

This chapter invites all of us to consider our own capacity as students of the teaching.  Here we are, fortunate enough to have an opportunity to learn and to grow; how can we make the best use of this opportunity?  Consider different ways in which you might expand your capacity to practice wisdom and compassion.