If one takes seriously the sanction not to seek the Lotus Sutra, and by association Buddha, outside of oneself, and if it does permeate the universe, then shouldn't a sincere practitioner be able to "see it" expressed everywhere, even if not confined to a particular form like a scroll or a sound like chanting words in a language or any language for that matter. Some feel that Nichiren gave the Lotus Sutra its most direct or intoxicating expression, but can something one believes be limited to any particular manifestation of form? Can such a sincere person not hear the Lotus Sutra in the silent meditation, or in the visualization of the Ceremony in Space without a Japanese Mandala using our own imagination, reaching beyond space and time, the possibilities seem just endless limited by my abilities to explain my thoughts. Isn't sharing the insight of the Lotus Sutra, and helping others to find this principle, and if so, must those dedicated to doing so not "find it" themselves however it may express itself in a particular culture?
TCB
Maltz
Bruce:
You have perfectly described the cunundrum of connecting sick people with the Lotus Sutra. You have also clarified the direction to make Modern Buddhist Healing accessible to sick folk who are not inclined to use Mantra-Powered Visualization, but need vital life-healing imagery.
I have always believed that the Lotus Sutra alone as a visualization of experience, via the transfer at the Ceremony in Space, to be ground zero for the ultimate initiation of whole life healing, and the wellspring of the most powerful of immune responses.
For those folk for whom a mantra will not work or do, your depiction is Jakkodo in action, and the natural progression and expansion of Modern Buddhist Healing. And for the record, "Buddhist" healing, as in MBH, is not really Buddhist, it's just eternally tranquil light and has zero to do with "religion."
Thank you Bruce,
Charles
Posted by: Charles at April 27, 2008 10:05 AM
I've been wanting to ask you a question and this seems as opportune a time as any. If I understand what you have been saying the Buddha informed humankind that they have buddhanature and will become buddhas. It seem that you consider this to be universally true and thus there there is no need of sects or practices. I hope that is correct. My question is when do you think this maturing into a buddha will take place, in this life, after death, or in another lifetime? My thought is that it should not be in another time and place but in the here and now. Isn't that something from the Lotus Sutra that this land is not impure but is the Pure Land for those who can see it. Since I have heard you say that there is no practice necessary, are we just to await a spontaneous awakening?
Posted by: clown hidden at April 28, 2008 03:57 PM1) The Bodhisattva's of the Earth are expounded in the 14th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “Emerging from the Earth.” At the beginning of this chapter, innumerable bodhisattvas far outnumbering the sands of eight Ganges, who came from other lands, vow to propagate the Lotus Sutra after the passing away of Sakyamuni. However, Sakyamuni refuses their vow for the reason that there existed in the saha world other bodhisattvas equal to the number of the sands of 60 thousand Ganges, and that they were the very ones who possessed the mission to propagate the Lotus Sutra. Just then, those bodhisattvas emerged from the earth through a cleft in the ground. When Bodhisattva Maitreya and the bodhisattvas as many as the number of the sands of eight thousand Ganges saw these bodhisattvas never seen or heard of before, they were in doubt and inquired who they were. Sakyamuni replied that they were disciples whom he had taught since his attaining Buddhahood.
**HE HAD TAUGHT THEM SINCE HIS ATTAINING BUDDHHAOOD..THOSE BODHISATTVA'S ARE US.
2. Bodhisattva Maitreya, still not convinced how Sakyamuni could have taught so many disciples in the short period (some 40 years) after attaining Buddhahood, continued to beg Sakyamuni to relieve him from his doubt. In response to this request, Sakyamuni reveals the concept of the Buddha who attained Buddhahood in the remote past, as taught in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “The Life Span of the Thus Come One.” The “Emerging from the Earth” chapter does not give sufficient explanation on the characteristics of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. So, probably maybe we can refer to the 10th chapter, “The Teacher of the Law,” to have a glimpse of what we learned with the Buddha.
3. You may find this controversial, but out of deep compassion the Bodhisattvas from the Earth relinquished the fruit of their good karma and voluntarily chose to be born in this evil world to propagate the Lotus Sutra. If you notice, they never ask for Buddhahood, or enlightenment. They strongly bear in mind their true identity that they have already attained a state of no backsliding in their past life and have been born into this evil world at their own will to propagate the Lotus Sutra for the
sake of all sentient beings in the evil world, and thus feel satisfied by fulfilling their mission.
Each person that remembers therefore, with regard to their mission in this life, they declare that they are envoys of the Buddha, dispatched by the Buddha to undertake the task of the Buddha, which is to save all sentient beings by preaching the Lotus Sutra.
A pure minded person, not believes the interpretation of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth
but also of Sakyamuni who attained Enlightenment in the remote past.
4. Data from the Lotus Sutra. (Murano's edition)
I already taught them in their consecutive previous existence, and also because they have already honored the past Buddhas respectfully and planted the roots of good." (P.230, L.23.):
I have been teaching them since the remotest past." (P.237, L.7)
"They are not defiled by worldliness just as the lotus-flower is not defiled by water."(P.239, L.2.)
"To tell the truth, it is many hundreds of thousand of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.'
(P.241, L.22.):
"All this time I have been living in this Saha-World, and teaching by expounding the Dharma to them." (P.242, L.20):
"During this time I gave names to myself differently" (P.241, L.25.):
"To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathagata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathagata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathagata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra." (P.294, L.14.):
"Sakyamuni Buddha rose from the seat of the Dharma, and by his great supernatural powers, put his right hand on the heads of the innumerable Bodhisattva-mahasattvas, and said; "For many hundreds of thousands of billions of asamkhya of kalpas, I studied and practiced the Dharma difficult to obtain, and finally attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Now I will transmit the Dharma to you. Propagate it with all your heats, and make it known far and wide." (P.297, L.3.):
Sorry to take so long, and I hate cut and paste. I want you see, I was not making things up. We were taught by the Buddha, we were sent by the Buddha, and it seems everyone forgot, well almost everyone. Everyone is looking for new teachers, net practice, but we have already learned from the best. Human teachers are replacing the Buddha, and by the results, we can see chaos. A confused person can only make another person confused.
The Lotus Sutra presents a picture of time and positioning of human activity if knitted together into a single coherent picture, is somewhat baffling; vast stretches of past and present time are invoked, and various figures in the drama are said to attain “Buddhahood” either in the distant past or the distant future, and sometimes both. The Buddha’s vow to make all beings equal to himself as Buddha is “already accomplished”; the Buddha attained Buddhahood in the distant past, but also more recently, and over and over again in between.
I think we have been practicing the Bodhisattva path without knowing it, indeed, precisely by not knowing it, its absence from our consciousness in and of the past is no longer any argument against the claim that I and you have been a Bodhisattva of the Earth all this time all this time. We may have to remember being at the ceremony in space, when the Buddha transfered all his merits to us, and then remember we agreed to come here to this planet where people like Ikeda want to become the new Buddha, and it is mission of the bodhisattva (not practice) to remind all those that fall for Elvis Impersonators that they are not the real Elvis. I cannot remember Buddha say to bring out my Buddha nature, or practice Buddhism or Religion, in fact, I remember to spread the Lotus Sutra, and I already learned from the Buddha. In Mappo there are no expedient means, everyone has to remember. Buddha didn't tell us to be a Buddha, there was no prophesy of Buddhahood.
Hope I gave you food for thought,
Maltz
I've come about as close to thinking as I can manage and I have two more questions.
Was there really a time when the bodhisattvas of the earth were taught or is it a metaphor for an eternal dynamic?
You said,"The Buddha’s vow to make all beings equal to himself as Buddha is “already accomplished”; the Buddha attained Buddhahood in the distant past, but also more recently, and over and over again in between."
Does that mean we are all buddhas but we have to realize it over and over again?
What a great question.
The Jinriki (twenty-first) chapter states: "Thereupon in the presence of the Buddha the bodhisattvas equal in number to the dust particles of a thousand worlds who had sprung up from the earth, all with a single mind, pressed their palms together, gazed up reverently at his solemn countenance, and said to the Buddha, 'Honored One! After your passing we pledge to propagate this sutra throughout every land where your manifestations appear or where you pass into nirvana.'"T'ien-t'ai says: "The great assembly witnessed the Bodhisattvas of the Earth alone making this pledge."Hokke Mongu, vol. 10.
Tao-hsien remarks: "The Buddha transmitted this sutra solely to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Because the Law was expounded by the original Buddha, it was intrusted to his true disciples."Fusho Ki, vol. 6
After the Buddha displayed his ten great mystic powers described in the Jinriki chapter, he transferred the Mystic Law to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth: "At that time the Buddha addressed Jogyo and the host of other bodhisattvas, saying, 'The mystic powers of a Buddha are boundless, beyond imagination. Even if I were to exert all these powers for infinite aeons in explaining the great benefit of this sutra to ensure its propagation, I could never explain them fully. I have briefly described in this sutra all the laws of the Buddha, all the invincible mystic powers of the Buddha, all the secret storehouses of the Buddha and all the profound practices of the Buddha.'"T'ien-t'ai says: "This paragraph begins the third stage of the chapter, where the Buddha transfers the essence of his teachings to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth."(Hokke Mongu, vol. 10.)
Dengyo states: "The Jinriki chapter says, 'I have briefly described in this sutra all the laws of the Buddha...' In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha revealed all the laws, invincible mystic powers, secret storehouses and profound practices of his enlightenment."Hokke Shuku.
At this very time the Bodhisattvas of the Earth appear in the world to give the medicine of the Lotus Sutra to the ignorant people of the Latter Day. This is what Miao-lo means when he states: "Even if they revile the true teaching and fall into the evil paths, they create the causes for eventual attainment of Buddhahood."(Kanjin Honzon Sho)
You who are my disciples, take this to heart! The Bodhisattvas of the Earth were the first disciples of Lord Shakyamuni when he attained enlightenment in the remotest past, yet they were not faithful to him in India. They did not come to Buddh Gaya after he attained enlightenment, nor did they come to the Sala grove when he entered nirvana. They also failed to appear when the Buddha preached the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra, and they left the assembly when he preached the last six chapters. They only attended the Buddha when he expounded the first eight chapters of the essential teaching. (Kanjin Honzon Sho)
A lot to metabolize, original Buddha, original disciples, eternal Buddha, eternal disciples, if something is eternal it is beyond time and cause and effect, what is our nature and function? Seems the stories in the Lotus Sutra are more than what they seem, Buddhism is not a Religion, we have to remember almost like reversing time, but time doesn't exist.
If everyone left their sect, and just remembered being at the Ceremony in Space, and started to wake up other people, and stopped all the religion crap and false Buddha's we will know we are waking up.
Maltz
Posted by: Bruce Maltz at May 1, 2008 03:14 PMNo matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn't matter what you do girl, oh girl with you
No matter what you do
I will always be around
Won't you tell me what you found girl, oh girl won't you
Knock down the old brick wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be
No matter where you go
There will always be a place
Can't you see in my face girl, oh girl don't you
Knock down the old brick wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be
No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn't matter what you do girl, oh girl want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you