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Saturday, May 7, 2016

The Buddha's impartial wisdom

Impartiality is one aspect of Buddhahood. The Buddha rebukes all who alter the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin whether they be handsome, ugly, glib, tongue-tied, illiterate, or the author of four hundred books. We who enjoy the "Merits of Joyful Acceptance" and the "Merits of the Preacher" [Chapters 18 and 19 of the Lotus Sutra] are also impartial. Nichiren writes, referring to these two chapters of the Lotus Sutra:

"Moreover, as life does not go beyond the moment, the Buddha expounded the blessings that come from a single moment of rejoicing [on hearing the Lotus Sutra]. If two or three moments were required, this could no longer be called the original vow of the Buddha endowed with great impartial wisdom, the single vehicle of the teaching that directly reveals the truth and leads all living beings to attain Buddhahood." (Questions and Answers About Embracing the Lotus Sutra)

and

"If a vessel is free of these four faults of overturning, leaking, being defiled, and being mixed, then it can be called a perfect vessel. If the embankments around a moat do not leak, then the water will never escape from the moat. And if the mind of faith is perfect, then the water of wisdom, the great impartial wisdom, will never dry up."(Akimoto Gosho)

Question: Then, why do you single out SGI and Daisaku Ikeda for rebuke?

Answer: I will let Nichiren Daishonin supply my answer: 

"At the time of his extinction, the World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment lamented, 'Now I am about to enter nirvana. The only thing that worries me is King Ajatashatru.' Bodhisattva Kashyapa then asked him, 'Since the Buddha’s mercy is impartial, your regret in dying should stem from compassion for all living beings. Why do you single out only King Ajatashatru?' The Buddha replied, 'Suppose that a couple has seven children, one of whom falls ill. Though the parents love all their children equally, they worry most about the sick child.' T’ien-t’ai, commenting on this sutra passage in his Great Concentration and Insight, said, 'Even if the parents of seven children are never partial, they are still particularly concerned about the sick one.' In essence, the sutra is saying that, even if there are many children, the parents’ hearts are with the child who is ill. To the Buddha, all living beings are his children. Among them, the sinful man who slays his own parents and becomes an enemy of the Buddha and the sutras is like the sick child." (Winter Always Turns to Spring).

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