Friday, March 4, 2022

The question is when?

"The Bodisattva Fukyo in the past, saying that all beings have the Buddha Nature and that, if they keep the Lotus Sutra, they will certainly attain Buddhahood and to slight them would turn out to be slighting Buddhas, established the Practice of Bowing in Reverence; saying that even those who do not keep the Lotus Sutra, if they were to keep it, have the Buddha Nature, and would become Buddhas, he performed Bowing in Reverence in this way to those who did not keep it. How much more to the householders and those who have left the household life who keep it! In the fourth fascicle of this Sutra it appears that if there is demeaning with even one evil word of one who keeps and preaches the Lotus Sutra, be it a householder or one who has left the household life, the magnitude of the sin is beyond the sin of directly disparagine the Buddha Shakya. It is also preached, 'Whether real or not real.' When one thinks of it in these terms, those who keep the Lotus Sutra should not, even forgetfully, disparage each other, should they? The reason is that all those who keep the Lotus Sutra are necessarily Buddhas and to disparage a Buddha is to earn oneself a sin. When one understands it in this way, the merit of the Title (Daimoku) which one chants must be equal to the merit of Lord Shakya." -- Matsuno dono gohenji (Reply to Lord Matsuno)

Many chant the Daimoku but fail to keep the Lotus Sutra. They mix the Lotus Sutra and teachings of Nichiren with Shingon and Zen teachings. As Bodhisattva Never Despise teaches... "You will all be Buddhas." The question is when?


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