Who We Are and What We Do

Together, we have been writing and revising our mission statement in recent weeks. I have received feedback from sangha members in all kinds of contexts, in person and online.  This version, available for free at this link (just click here for it), should be the next-to-last version.  By that I mean:  this is the last opportunity for sangha members to propose refinements to this document before we put it to use in shaping our program and our future.

Much of this document is aspirational.  It reflects what we really should be doing--what we would be doing if we had the resources.  This is another way of saying that it reflects what we are working toward now, and what we will be doing once we have the resources we need to meet these most basic functions.

Coming Attractions: Series on the Bodhisattva Precepts

In 2013, our Sunday morning Dharma talks and discussions will be centered around a text known as the Brahma Net Sutra, translated most recently into English by Martine Batchelor and published as The Path of Compassion (available at Amazon and other fine retailers; check bookfinder.com for used copies). 

This text is of central importance to us for practical reasons.  It directs our attention to the fundamental matter of conducting ourselves as bodhisattvas in the world.  We will use this text to provoke this question from many different perspectives:  how ought one to conduct one's life, to act in the world, in order to fulfill the Buddha-path?

Also, this text is of great historical and doctrinal importance to Tendai Buddhism.  The founder of our school in Japan, Saicho (also known as Dengyo Daishi, as he is referred to in our sutra service), built the training and ordination program that became the Tendai school on the foundation of the Brahma Net Precepts.  One might say that the specific characteristics of Tendai Buddhism, this is among the most distinctive.  The Brahma Net Precepts are big part of what make Tendai Buddhism Tendai Buddhism.

Martine Batchelor's translation of this sutra is valuable to us for a number of reasons.  The introduction is lengthy, and while it is particularly appropriate for beginners, experienced practitioners will also learn from it.  I encourage everyone to find a copy, read it, reflect on it seriously, and join us for a discussion on this remarkable cluster of teachings. 

It is not necessary to "do the homework" to participate in and benefit from the Dharma discussion.  But as with so many Dharma practices, you get out of it what you put into it...

I look forward to cultivating the highest intentions for 2014 with you.

Complete Lotus Sutra Study Guide Now Available

Earlier this year, our sangha read the Lotus Sutra together chapter by chapter.  I posted some guidance for each week's reading on this very blog.  Taken together, these offer a useful if informal approach to reading this fundamental Buddhist scripture.  I put them together in this document (just follow the links) in exactly that spirit.

I hope this is useful and helps people actualize the heart of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in their everyday lives.  Enjoy!

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 26

When it comes to Chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra, "Study Questions" are not exactly possible from the point of view of practice.  This is because the practice described in it is not amenable to discussion.  It is not a teaching to be contemplated; it is something to be tried and experienced.  You have to be "game" for it, willing to try with an open mind.  By analogy:  you can try to question and discuss what the flavor of honey is, debate it and dissect it conceptually, take a stand for or against this or that characteristic you ascribe to it... or you can be smart about it and just taste some honey yourself. 

This practice is the chanting of dharani.  Each dharani is a series of syllables, not unlike a spell or incantation, that is charged with a certain capacity.  For instance, in Chapter 26, a number of dharani are transmitted to the assembly by different bodhisattvas, with the approval of Buddha Shakyamuni, in order to protect those who practice the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.  Chanting dharani is a spiritual practice that can serve a particular function in ordinary life, but are ultimately intended as means to the realization of the Dharma.

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 24

Chapter 24 of the Lotus Sutra tells the story of someone named Wonderful Voice bodhisattva (Gadgadasvara in Sanskrit, Myo-on in Japanese).  Much of the chapter gives an elaborate frame narrative that describes Wonderful Voice's intentions toward and relationship with Shakyamuni Buddha.  The portion of this chapter that is likely of most relevance to our sangha's current survey of the sutra overall is this one, in the words of Shakyamuni Buddha:

"This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Saha-World.  He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Saha-World and expounds this sutra to all living beings without reducing his super-natural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom.  He illumines this Saha-World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know.  He also does the same in the innumerable worlds of the ten quarters, that is, in as many worlds as there are sands in the River Ganges.  He takes the shape of a Sravaka and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Sravaka.  He takes the shape of a Pratyekabuddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha.  He takes the shame of another Bodhisattva and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Pratyekabuddha.  He takes the shape of a Buddha and expounds the Dharma to those who are to be saved by a Buddha.  He takes these various shapes according to the capacities of those who are to be saved" (page 313).

Does this recall to memory any themes you have encountered so far in your study of this sutra?  Is it directly in line with these themes, or does it introduce something new or unfamiliar to you? 

Keep an eye on this idea of a Bodhisattva appearing in different forms to suit the capacities of those who need help in future chapters of this sutra.

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 19

Lotus Sutra chapter 19 describes the merits of someone who teaches the meaning of the Lotus Sutra to others.  These merits involve an extraordinary refinement of the five senses and the discriminative mind (citta).  For instance, such a one can gain unusual kinds of knowledge through the sense of hearing, including the voices of beings that people do not ordinarily hear. 

This chapter suggests that teaching is itself a kind of spiritual practice, and that this practice bears certain kinds of fruit:  from teaching comes knowledge, that is the pattern.  Thinking back on earlier chapters in this Sutra, where do you see ideas about teaching and learning develop?  What kinds of knowledge is valued in this Sutra?  How does this chapter fit into that context?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 18

The topic of Lotus Sutra chapter 18 is rejoicing in practice and in learning.  Rejoicing is a spiritual practice in its own right.  It also has a role in magnifying, if you will, the energy or effect of the activities one rejoices in.  Karma is like that:  for an action to be complete, one first forms an intention to do something, then carries out the intended act, and finally takes satisfaction in having done it.  Two thirds of all karma (at least) is mental and volitional, having to do with intentions regarding future actions and attitudes regarding past actions.

All of this means that intentionally and earnestly celebrating the attainments of others amounts to participating in that attainment, karmically-speaking.  Rejoicing in one's own virtuous actions, one's Buddhist activities, redoubles the strength of the seeds planted.  Seeds bear fruit:

Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sutra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.

Lotus Sutra, Murano translation, p. 268

I encourage you to rejoice in the wholesome deeds and activities of others, and the good qualities of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. 

Having heard much of the Lotus Sutra and hopefully taken it to heart, what is to be rejoiced in?  Reflect on what you have learned so far:  How can you incorporate these teachings into your spiritual practice?  Into your everyday conduct with others and on your own?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 17

Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra describes the merits of someone who learns, understands, and "upholds" or teaches to others the meaning of this sutra, particularly in regard to the previous chapter on the lifespan of the Buddha.  The Buddha advises his listeners that, if they should happen to meet such a person...

You should think:
'He will go to the place of enlightenment before long.
He will be free from asravas and free from causality.
He will benefit all gods and men'

Lotus Sutra, Murano translation, p. 262

I should emphasize here that this is not out of the capacity of ordinary laypersons and householders.  It merely requires the willingness to listen to the teachings, reflect on them, and integrate them into your everyday life activities as much as you can:  to practice them.

Reviewing earlier chapters:  what does it mean to teach or "uphold" this sutra?  Are words necessary?  What is the relation between practice and teaching in this sense?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 16

Buddha Shakyamuni, at the end of Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, states:

I am always thinking:
"How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?"

Murano translation, p. 249

Chapter 16 is a significant and often-discussed chapter.  In it, Buddha Shakyamuni makes two startling claims that fly in the face of convention and expectation.  To summarize:  while the Buddha  appears to live and die as an ordinary man, in reality, this is simply a trick or a ruse; the real Buddha is by nature very, very ancient, not dying and not taking birth, but the personal or historical Buddha appears to be mortal.  Why does the Buddha take this appearance?  So that beings will not become complacent in practice or take the teachings for granted in their present lives.

Question: What Buddha is eternal and always abiding, according to the teachings you have read so far in the Lotus Sutra?  On behalf of whom or what is Buddha Shakyamuni speaking here?

Lotus Sutra Study Questions 15

Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sutra strongly emphasizes supernatural and fantastic narrative elements:  Buddha Shakyamuni, for instance, emanates many replicas of himself into space.  While these characteristics of the chapter may test some readers' willingness to suspend disbelief, they serve an important function in presenting new shades of meaning in teaching.  Here is one example:

Remember how the Buddha named Ancient Treasures appeared before the assembly to congratulate the Buddha on teaching the core doctrines of the Lotus Sutra, the absolute view that all beings have the nature of Buddhas?  In this chapter, a similar-but-different event happens.  Now that the Buddha has given some detailed instructions on how to practice and live the teachings, we see next...

the ground of the Saha-World, which was composed of one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, quaked and cracked, and many thousands of billions of Bodhisattva-mahasattvas sprang up from underground simultaneously.  Their bodies were golden-coloured, and adorned with the thirty-two marks and with innumerable rays of light [...].  They came up here because they heard these words of Sakyamuni Buddha.

Lotus Sutra chapter 15, pp. 228-229, trans. Murano.

*Compare and contrast these two situations:  the Buddha Ancient Treasures appearing in Chapter Eleven, and the uncountable bodhisattvas emerging in response the Buddha's teaching in Chapter Fourteen as presented here in Chapter Fifteen.  What can be learned from these repeated motifs in new contexts?

*What is the relationship between the exhortations to practice in a rigorous way and the previous teachings presented in this sutra on the availability of Buddhahood to all?

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 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?