In case you didn’t know I am taking a break. I’ll be back to fresh posting in a day or so. In the meantime I am posting some older writings. This post today is from a Dharma Talk I gave July 2, 2006 in Portland OR.
Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, titled “Parable of a Magic City”, lists ten things the Buddha has perfect knowledge of. These ten things are called the Ten Powers of the Buddha (Juriki, Jpn.). The Ten Powers are the following; 1. Distinguishing right and wrong; 2. Knowing the karmas of all sentient beings of the past, present and future, and their outcome; 3. Knowing all forms of meditation; 4. Knowing the superior and inferior capacities of sentient beings; 5. Knowing what they desire and think; 6. Knowing the different levels of existence; 7. Knowing the results of various methods of practice; 8. Knowing the transmigratory states of all sentient beings and the courses of karma they follow; 9. Knowing the past lives of all sentient beings and the nirvanic state of non-defilement; and 10. Knowing how to destroy all evil passions.
Today I would like to take a little time and discuss number seven, knowing the results of various methods of practice. When I read this I cannot help but ask myself a couple of questions. One question is, what are the various methods of practice or specifically, how should I practice. Another question is what are the results. Does the Buddha reveal to us the answers to these questions?
I will start with the question, what are the practices that the Buddha has knowledge of. Several places in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha states clearly that in order to uphold the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, or in other words the correct way to practice, a person should; keep, read, recite, expound and copy the sutra. Looking at this list of five ways to practice people might ask, where is meditation. Many people in the west today think that Buddhism is only about meditation, and looking at the list above it might be natural to wonder why meditation is not mentioned.
Understanding what meditation is might be helpful at this point. Meditation is an English word, along with others such as contemplation or concentration, that have been used to translate such practices as dhyana, samadhi, pranayama and other profound practices engaged in by the Buddha and his followers. In a sense what the Buddha practiced was not meditation, it was not concentration or contemplation, it was all those things and more. These practices are much more than what our traditional meaning of meditation implies and to learn more about them specifically I hope you will attend Lotus Sutra study classes.
Meditation is, however, the word we have, and the word most commonly used, so it is important to understand what is meant by mediation. It turns out it is not such an inappropriate word after all. Our word meditation comes from the Latin word meditatio, which originally indicated every type of physical or intellectual exercise. A key point here is the inclusion of physical as well as intellectual. Meditation, throughout the ages, has been practiced by virtually every religion, in one form or another, and it is helpful to understand that meditation can be done in any number of different ways, both physical and intellectual. Meditation is not mentioned in the list of five practices because each of the five practices is a form of meditation.
In Nichiren Buddhism we adhere strictly to the practices set out by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra, those practices I mentioned earlier, and we approach them in a meditative or contemplative manner. With mindfulness we recite passages from the Lotus Sutra, as well as praise the title and by extension the entire Lotus Sutra when we recite our mantra, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. We do these things as part of our daily practice. It is also a practice in Nichiren Shu, and a practice that we observe at this temple, to copy passages of the Lotus Sutra as well as images of the Buddha. We also uphold the Lotus Sutra by studying it, and constantly renewing our understanding of the teachings contained within, as well as fine-tuning our practice of those teachings. We make efforts to teach others the meaning and joy of the Lotus Sutra through such activities as study classes and sharing our joy and faith with our friends and our community. These are the practices the Buddha has instructed us to carry out, and we do all of them with meditative or meditatio devotion.
Now we come to the question of why practice, or what is the benefit to be gained from practicing Buddhism. At this point I would like to share a quote from Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan , “the nature of foul weather, lieth not in a shower or two of rain; but in an inclination therto of many days together”. The direction Hobbes was taking was a particularly pessimist one in this particular section and so he used a negative image. We could just as easily rephrase it so that it said; the nature of a happy life is not in an occasional good thing happening but in many days of good things or happiness. We practice Buddhism not merely for the occasional spectacular result. We are not practicing merely to obtain some immediate gratification. Instead, our objective is to firmly establish the Buddha nature as a trend in our lives, not merely an occasional occurrence. It is through following the practices specified by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra that we can change our lives to become Buddhas. That is the promise guaranteed us, or the prophecy bestowed upon us by the Buddha.
To sum up, the Buddha, because of his Ten powers knows perfectly the practices to be followed in order to attain enlightenment. In the Lotus Sutra he clearly states that for those who whish to be assured of enlightenment the practices are to keep, read, recite, expound and copy the sutra. Therefore, if any person follows these teachings and practices according to the Buddha they are assured enlightenment. So let us together, renew our determination to practice according to the teachings of the Buddha, joining together with other sangha members to create peaceful enlightened lives and share that joy with others in our community.
