It is like the case of a baby being given milk to drink. Even though the baby may not understand the flavor of milk, the milk naturally nurtures the babys growth. Similarly, if a doctor gives medicine to a patient, even though the patient may not know the origin and nature of the medicine, if he takes it, then in the natural course of events his illness will be cured. But if he objects that he does not know the origin of the medicine that the doctor gives him and for that reason declines to take it, do you think his illness will ever be cured? Whether he understands the medicine or not, so long as he takes it, he will in either case be cured. The Buddha has already been called an excellent physician, and the Law has been likened to beneficial medicine and all living beings to people suffering from illness. The Buddha took the teachings that he had preached in the course of his lifetime, ground and sifted them, blended them together and compounded an excellent medicine, the pill of the Mystic Law. Regardless of whether one understands it or not, so long as he take the pill, can he fail to be cured of the illness of delusion? Even though the patient may not understand the medicine or even know the nature of the disease from which he suffers, if he takes the medicine, he is bound to recover. It is the same way with the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra. Though he may not understand the principles of Buddhism and may not know that he is suffering from delusion, if only he has faith, then without a doubt he will be able to free himself simultaneously from the illnesses of the three categories of illusion--illusions of thought and desire, illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and illusions about the true nature of existence. He will reach the lands of Actual Reward and Tranquil Light and cause the three properties of the Buddha that he inherently possesses to shine. Therefore, the Great Teacher Dengyo says: Neither teachers nor disciples need undergo countless kalpas of austere practice in order to attain Buddhahood. Through the power of the Lotus Sutra they can do so in their present form. This means that both the teacher who expounds the principles of the Lotus Sutra and the disciple who receives his teachings will, in no long time, together attain Buddhahood through the power of the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher Tien-tai produced the Hokke Gengi, Hokke Mongu, and Maka Shikan, thirty volumes of commentary on the Lotus Sutra. And the Great Teacher Miao-lo in addition produced the thirty volumes of the Hokke Gengi Shakusen, Hokke Mongu Ki and Maka Shikan Bugyoden Guketsu as annotations on Tien-tais works. Together these works are known as the sixty volumes of the Tendai school. In the Hokke Gengi, Tien-tai established the five major principles of name, entity, quality, function and teaching, and in their light explained the power and efficacy of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. In the section on the third of the five major principles, that dealing with the quality of the Lotus Sutra, he writes, When one pulls on the main cord of a net, there are no meshes that do not move, and when one raises a single corner of a robe, there are no threads in the robe that are not lifted up. The meaning of this passage is that, when one carries out the single practice of exercising faith in Myoho-renge-kyo, there are no blessings that fail to come to one, and no good karma that does not begin to work on ones behalf. It is like the case of a fishing net: though the net is composed of innumerable small meshes, when one pulls on the main cord of the net, there are no meshes that do not move. Or it is like a garment: though the garment is comprised of countless tiny threads, when one pulls on a corner of the garment, there are no threads that are not drawn along. In the Hokke Mongu, Tien-tai explains all the various words and phrases in the Lotus Sutra, from the opening words, Thus have I heard, to the final words, ...they bowed and departed. He explains them in terms of four categories, namely, causes and circumstances, correlated teachings, the theoretical and essential teachings, and the observation of the mind. Next, in the Maka Shikan, he expounds the meditation on the region of the unfathomable, namely on the three thousand realms within a single mind, based on his thorough understanding of the Lotus Sutra. This is a practice that derives from the Buddhas original enlightenment and represents a principle of truth inherent in ones being. I shall not go into it in detail here. What an occasion for rejoicing! Though born into an evil age that is stained with the five impurities, we have been able to hear the true words of the one vehicle. We read that a person who has planted roots of good fortune equal in number to the sands of the Hiranyavati or the Ganges River is able to encounter this sutra and take faith in it. Now you have aroused the mind that rejoices in faith. Thus without a doubt, just as a box and its lid fit together, so will your own faith evoke the Buddhas compassionate response, and the two will unite as one. The unenlightened man bowed his head, pressed his palms together and said: From now on I will receive and embrace this king of the sutras, the Lotus of the one truth, and revere the Buddha, who in the threefold world is alone worthy of honor, as my true teacher. From my present body as a common mortal until the time when I attain the body of a Buddha, I will never venture to turn aside from this faith. Though the clouds of the five cardinal sins should hang heavy above me, I will strive to emulate the example of Devadatta in attaining Buddhahood. Though the waves of the ten evil acts should buffet me, I will desire to be like those who formed a bond with the Lotus Sutra by listening to the princes preaching. The sage said, The human heart is like water that assumes the shape of whatever vessel it occupies, and the nature of beings is like the reflection of the moon undulating on the waves. Now you insist that you will be firm in this faith, but another day you are bound to waver. Though devils and demons may come to tempt you, you must not allow yourself to be distracted. The Devil of the Sixth Heaven hates the Buddhas Law, and the non-Buddhist believers resent the path of the Buddhist teachings. But you must be like the golden mountain that glitters more brightly when scraped by the wild boar, like the sea that encompasses all the various streams, like the fire that burns higher when logs are added, or like the gura insect that grows bigger when the wind blows. If you follow such examples, then how can the outcome fail to be good? Conversation Between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man - PART TWO MWND Vol.5
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:18:11 +0000