Introduction
Even though I direct this post primarily to buddhists (in particular, to Soka Gakkai buddhists), I also direct it to followers of other faiths. One of my goals is to encourage believers to challenge their leaders and to investigate the traditions and scriptures they revere. Especially the scriptures. When I was a member of the Soka Gakkai, the vast majority of members I'd encountered - including leaders - had never read more than a smattering of passages from the Lotus Sutra. That's equal to a Christian never having read his Bible or a Muslim paying scant attention to his Quran.
Conclusions
I will attempt to justify my conclusions in the following sections, but I want to put these conclusions first - front and center - for emphasis (definition of terms follows this section):
- The daimoku is not an example of a dharani nor is it the essence of the Lotus Sutra; rather, it's the statement of a vow.
- The overemphasis on the importance of chanting daimoku is actually destructive since it encourages people to avoid reading, reciting, and pondering the Lotus Sutra in its entirety. For if people come to believe that the benefits of chanting one (or 10, 100, or 1000) daimoku are equivalent to reading the entire Lotus Sutra once (or ten, one hundred, or one thousand times), people will be tempted to ignore the Sutra in favor of reliance on this catch-phrase.
Definition of Selected Terms
daimoku - The invocation of the chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which, according to Nichiren Buddhist groups (of which the Soka Gakkai is but one of several such), has such great power that saying it once is equal to having read the entire Lotus Sutra once. This, by the way, is a claim that I vehemently deny and will explain below.
dharani - "A spell or formula said to protect the one who recites it and bring benefit by virtue of its mystic power" - according to glossary definition offered by translator Burton Watson.
Ikeda - Daisaku Ikeda, 3rd president of the Soka Gakkai, a layman's buddhist organization headquartered in Japan with a worldwide membership of 12 million, with 10 million of those living in Japan.
Lotus Sutra - Believed by many Buddhist sects as being the most profound teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha by means of which all bodhisattvas are enabled to attain enlightenment. The Burton Watson English-language translation of this runs to about 228 pages.
nayuta - an ancient Indian numerical unit meant to indicate a very large number, which (according to some sources) is as low as 100,000 and (according to others) as high as 1 trillion.
Order of Presentation
I will open with quotes from Daibyakurenge, which purport to be from a transcript of a dialogue between Daisaku Ikeda and members of the Soka Gakkai's Study Department (see Footnote 1). Within that quote, I will insert my own comments in paragraphs, the first words of which are highlighted in yellow (highlights in green will be explained soon after they appear). At the end of this dialogue, I close with my refutation of this claim made by Daisaku Ikeda: "In particular, the source of the enlightenment of all Buddhas is the implicit teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
Then I will quote the entire Dharani chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which is all of five pages long. This chapter's passages will be interspersed with my own interpretation of selected portions.
Finally, I will close with a third section that is highly critical of Daisaku Ikeda and, by implication, others who deny the importance of reading, reciting, studying, and pondering the entire Lotus Sutra.
From Daibyakurenge
QUOTE [see footnote 1]:
Not Even the Buddha Can Fathom the Power of Daimoku
The Buddha said to Medicine King, "If there are good men or good
women who offer alms to Buddhas equal in number to the sands of
eight hundred ten thousand million nayutas of Ganges [Rivers], what
is your opinion? The merit they gain will surely be great, will it not?"
women who offer alms to Buddhas equal in number to the sands of
eight hundred ten thousand million nayutas of Ganges [Rivers], what
is your opinion? The merit they gain will surely be great, will it not?"
[This is worthy of note. Put another way, this passage tells us to count all of the grains of sand in one Ganges River. Then multiply by two factors: 810,000,000,000 and at least 100,000, that last number being a conservative estimate of the magnitude of one nayuta.]
"Very great, World-Honored One."
The Buddha said, "If there are good men or good women who, with
regard to this [Lotus] sutra, can accept and uphold even one four-line
verse, if they read and recite it, understand the principle, and practice
it as the sutra directs, the benefits will be very many."(LS26, 307-308)
regard to this [Lotus] sutra, can accept and uphold even one four-line
verse, if they read and recite it, understand the principle, and practice
it as the sutra directs, the benefits will be very many."(LS26, 307-308)
[I found it interesting to compare the two answers given above: "Very great," and "very many." The first response ("very great") doesn't take into account exactly what kind of alms are to be given to this vast number of Buddhas, for almsgiving in Buddhism could be as modest as a simple bow of the head or as profound as donating one's kingdom. Obviously, the greater the donation, the greater the benefit to be received. On the other hand, elsewhere in the Lotus, embracing the Lotus is considered the equivalent of giving alms to all of the Buddhas in the universe, not just "merely" those 810,000,000,000X mentioned above.]
Saito: The "Dharani" chapter begins with Bodhisattva Medicine King asking Shakyamuni how much merit or benefit people can gain from accepting and upholding, reading and reciting, studying the meaning of or copying the Lotus Sutra.
Without replying to this query, Shakyamuni poses the following question
to Medicine King: "If there are good men or good women who offer alms
to Buddhas equal in number to the sands of eight hundred ten thousand
million nayutas of Ganges, what is your opinion? The merit they gain will
surely be great, will it not?" (LS, 307).
[Saito is wrong to claim that Shakyamuni didn't reply to Medicine King's query. I highlighted in green the first words, above, of the three paragraphs which followed Medicine King's query. The Buddha starts, in paragraph one, by asking about alms made to a huge number of Buddhas. His introduction of this huge number was intended to give his disciples a reference point for his paragraph three's "very many" comment, by means of which he compares the benefits of those alms to the benefits gained by embracing one four-line verse of the Lotus Sutra. While Shakyamuni didn't state that these benefits are equal, he also didn't even bother to use more than "one four-line verse" of the Lotus Sutra as the basis of his comparison. The Buddha was expecting his listeners to compare the two sets of benefits without necessarily connecting all of the dots for them.]
When Medicine King says that the benefit of such people will be very great indeed, Shakyamuni instructs him: "If there are good men or good women who, with regard to this sutra, can accept and uphold even one four-line verse, if they read and recite it, understand the principle, and practice it as the sutra directs, the benefits will be very many." (LS26, 308)
Suda: He says that by accepting and upholding just a single verse of the Lotus Sutra we will gain the same benefit as we would by making offerings to an infinite number of Buddhas. When you stop and think about it, this is really remarkable.
[Suda's comment above indicates he disagrees with Saito's assessment about the Buddha not having replied to Medicine King's query. When Suda opened with "He [the Buddha] says that...," one must assume Suda's referring to what was said by the Buddha in the material just quoted from the Dharani chapter; if not, he should have cited the source he had in mind. However, if indeed referring to the Dharani quote, Suda is wrong in claiming the benefit being the same. The Buddha's comment concerning the benefits of upholding "one four-line verse" was limited to "...the benefits will be very many," rather than that these benefits would be the same. And when Suda speaks of "making offerings to an infinite number of Buddhas," he must surely be aware that the number 810,000,000,000X is not an infinite "number;" since even greater numbers than these are indicated elsewhere in the Lotus. There is a certain intolerable sloppiness in Saito's and Suda's responses that have appeared far too often and from far too many others among the official SGI analyses of scriptural matters.]
Ikeda: How is this possible? It's because the Lotus Sutra is the source of the enlightenment of all the infinite numbers of Buddhas in the universe. In particular, the source of the enlightenment of all Buddhas is the implicit teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This daimoku is the sutra's undiluted and pure essence.
[I'm going to reply to Ikeda's preceding comment in the next nine paragraphs which conclude this section.]
:UNQUOTE.
The Lotus Sutra itself makes clear that the Lotus Sutra is the source of enlightenment, just as Ikeda claims. However, Ikeda's last two sentences are mere conjecture offered without any proof. I've personally read, aloud, the entire 228-page Lotus Sutra 130 times, and I could not discern anywhere within those pages any (even faint) hint of support for Ikeda's claims.
As for Ikeda's claim concerning "the implicit teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo," I offer this from the Lotus Sutra's chapter 21 (see footnote 2), in which the Buddha states (with my emphasis in yellow):
If in the process of entrusting this sutra to others I were to employ these
supernatural powers for immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands,
ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas [NOTE: a conservative
estimate of a kalpa's duration is 16 million years] to describe the benefits
of the sutra, I could never finish doing so.To put it briefly, all the doctrines
possessed by the thus come one, all the freely exercised supernatural
powers of the thus come one, the storehouse of all the secret essentials
of the thus come one, all the most profound matters of the thus come
one - all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this
sutra.
There will never be any shortage of people running around claiming that they discern "implicit teachings" in religious scriptures, teachings which no one prior to them or only an elite has noticed. However, I take comfort in the part I highlighted immediately above - that is, "clearly expounded in this sutra" - which argues against such esoteric interpretations.
The first highlighted item - "I could never finish doing so" - refutes the claim which serves as a heading for this SGI article - that is, "Not Even the Buddha can Fathom the Power of Daimoku." A more accurate heading would have been, "Not Even the Buddha can Fathom the Power of the Lotus Sutra," since (according to the above passage) the Buddha is talking about "the benefits of the sutra." The Lotus Sutra does not mention the concept of the daimoku even once or even faintly/indirectly/etc.
Basically, the chanting of daimoku is an act of vow-taking. Myoho-Renge-Kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra as rendered in Japanese, and the word "Nam" means devotion. Therefore, when a person chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he is basically saying "I devote myself to the Lotus Sutra." My complaint is simply this: How can a person claim to be devoting themselves to the Lotus Sutra (the Buddha's highest teaching) if all he does is chant, over and over again, his claim that he is devoted? It seems to me that true devotion would be manifested by an immersion into the text of the Sutra itself.
The only way believers can propagate the Law contained in the Lotus Sutra is for them to actually read it. For only then will they have the background needed in order to "make distinctions" - that is, comments based on the text which come from within and are meant as examples by which potential converts can attain understanding of the Lotus's various doctrines. I cite the following quote (my emphasis in yellow) from the Buddha found in Chapter 10 of the Lotus (see footnote 2):
You should understand that these people are great bodhisattvas who have
succeeded in attaining supreme perfect enlightenment. Pitying living beings,
they have vowed to be born among them where they may broadly expound
and make distinctions regarding the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. How
much more so is this true, then, of those who can embrace the entire sutra
and offer various types of alms to it!
Over and over again, within the text of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha urges his disciples to read, recite, ponder, and embrace the Lotus Sutra - all of it and not merely its title. And that's why I am no longer a member of the SGI, and have reduced the amount of daimoku I chant in favor of the practice favored by the Buddha as mentioned in the Lotus itself - to read, recite, ponder and propagate the entire Lotus Sutra.
The Dharani Chapter in its Entirety
I'm now going to quote the entire Dharani chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which consists of five pages. I will insert some of my own comments in paragraphs the first words of which will be yellowed.
QUOTE [see footnote 2]:
CHAPTER 26
Dharani
At that time the Bodhisattva Medicine king rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, pressed his palms together and, facing the Buddha, spoke to him, saying, "World-Honored One, if there are good men or good women who can accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra, if they read and recite it, penetrate its meaning, or copy the sutra scrolls, how much merit will they gain?"
The Buddha said to Medicine King, "If there are good men or good women who offer alms to Buddhas equal in number to the sands of eight hundred ten thousand million nayutas of Ganges, what is your opinion? The merit they gain will surely be great, will it not?"
"Very great, World-Honored One."
The Buddha said, "If there are good men or good women who, with regard to this sutra, can accept and uphold even one four-line verse, if they read and recite it, understand its meaning and practice it as the sutra directs, the benefits will be very many."
At that time Bodhisattva Medicine King said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One, I will now give to those who preach the Law dharani spells, which will guard and protect them." Then he pronounced these spells:
anye manye mane mamane chitte charite shame
shamitavi shante mukte muktame same avishame sama
same kshaye akshaye akshine shante shame dharani
alokabhasha pratyavekshani nivishte abhyantaranivishte
atyantaparishuddhi ukule mukule arade parade shukakashi
asamasame buddhavilokite dharmaparikshite samgha-
nirghoshani bhasyabhasya shoddhi mantra mantraksha-
yate rute rutakaushalye akshara akshayataya abalo
amanyanataya.
[It is worth noting that the number of Buddhas affiliated with each of the following dharani spells (starting with the next quoted paragraph's claim of being "equal in number to the sands of sixty-two million Ganges Rivers") is far smaller than the number of "Buddhas equal in number to the sands of eight hundred ten thousand million nayutas of Ganges" mentioned in paragraph two. As I proceeded to read the Dharani chapter, I kept waiting for the Buddha to say something like this, "And I will guard and protect the preachers of the Law by giving them the ultimate dharani which is held most sacred by all Buddhas - that being the mystic invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." Of course, the Buddha said no such thing because it's simply not true. For if it were true, then the Dharani Chapter would have been the ideal place for such a revelation. Or at least, somewhere within the Lotus would have been such a revelation since the Buddha said (as I'd quoted earlier), "...all the most profound matters of the thus come one - all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this sutra."]
[Some sects of Buddhism are so enamored of the physical aspects of the Buddha, they make much of claims concerning his magical hand gestures and spells allegedly uttered by the him. However, nowhere within the Lotus are any of these mentioned as a causative agent for the miracles performed by any of the buddhas. For when the Thus Come Ones want to perform any supernatural wonders, they simply will them into being.]
"World-Honored One, these dharanis, these supernatural spells, are pronounced by Buddhas equal in number to the sands of sixty-two million Ganges Rivers. If anyone should assault or injure these teachers of the Law, then he will have assaulted and injured these Buddhas!"
At that time Shakyamuni Buddha praised Bodhisattva Medicine King, saying, "Excellent, excellent, Medicine King! You keep these teachers of the Law in your compassionate thoughts, shield and guard them, and for that reason you pronounce these dharanis. They will bring great benefit to living beings."
[The praise just offered by the Buddha is not because of the dharani just uttered by Medicine King but because of "[his] compassionate thoughts."]
At that time Bodhisattva Brave Donor said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One, I too will pronounce dharanis to shield and guard those who read, recite, accept, and uphold the Lotus Sutra. If a teacher of the Law acquires these dharanis, then although yakshas, rakshasas, putanas, krityas, kumbhandas or hungry spirits should spy out his shortcomings and try to take advantage of them, they will be unable to do so." Then in the presence of the Buddha he pronounced these spells:
jvale mahajvale ukke mukke ate atavati nrite nritavati itini
vitini chitini nritini nrityavati
"World-Honored One, these dharanis, these supernatural spells, are pronounced by Buddhas equal in number to the sands of the Ganges River, and all of them respond with joy. If anyone should assault or injure these teachers of the Law, then he will have assaulted and injured these Buddhas!"
At that time the heavenly king Vaishravana, protector of the world, said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One, I too think compassionately of living beings and shield and guard these teachers of the Law, and therefore I pronounce these dharanis." Then he pronounced these spells:
ade nade nunade anadu nadi kunadi
"World-Honored One, with these supernatural spells I shield and guard the teachers of the Law. And I will also shield and guard those who uphold this sutra, making certain that they suffer no decline or harm within the area of a hundred yojanas."
At that time heavenly king Upholder of the Nation, who was in the assembly along with a host of thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of gandharvas who surrounded him and paid him reverence, advanced to the place where the Buddha was, pressed his palms together and said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One, I too will employ dharanis, supernatural spells, to shield and guard those who uphold the Lotus Sutra." Then he pronounced these spells:
agane gane ghori gandhari chandali matangi janguli
vrunasi agasti
"World-Honored One, these dharanis, these supernatural spells, are pronounced by forty-two million Buddhas. If anyone should assault or injure these teachers of the Law, then he will have assaulted and injured these Buddhas!"
At that time there were daughters of rakshasa demons, the first named Lamba, the second named Vilamba, the third named Crooked Teeth, the fourth named Flowery Teeth, the fifth named Black Teeth, the sixth named Much Hair, the seventh named Insatiable, the eighth named Necklace Bearer, the ninth named Kunti, and the tenth named Stealer of the Vital Spirit of All Living Beings. These ten rakshasa daughters, along with Mother of Demon Children, her offspring, and her attendants, all proceeded to the place where the Buddha was and spoke to the Buddha in unison, saying, "World-Honored One, we too wish to shield and guard those who read, recite, accept, and uphold the Lotus Sutra and spare them from decline or harm. If anyone should spy out the shortcomings of these teachers of the Law and try to take advantage of them, we will make it impossible for him to do so." Then in the presence of the Buddha they pronounced these spells:
iti me iti me iti me ati me iti me nime nime nime nime
nime ruhe ruhe ruhe ruhe stahe stahe stahe stuhe shuhe
"Though he climbs upon our very heads, he will never trouble the teachers of the Law! Whether it be a yaksha, or a rakshasa, or a hungry spirit, or a putana, or a kritya, or a vetada, or a skanda or an umaraka, or an apasmaraka, or a yaksha kritya, or a human kritya, or a fever, a one day, a two day, a three day, or a four day, or up to a seven day or a constant fever, whether he is in man's form, in woman's form, in young boy's form, in young girl's form, though only in a dream, he will never trouble them!"
Then in the presence of the Buddha they spoke in verse form, saying:
If there are those who fail to heed our spells
and trouble and disrupt the preachers of the Law,
their heads will split into seven pieces
like the branches of the arjaka tree.
Their crime will be like that of one who kills father and
mother,
or one who presses out oil,
or cheats others with measures and scales,
or, like Devadatta, disrupts the Order of monks.
Anyone who commits a crime against these teachers of
the Law
will bring on himself guilt such as this!
[This entire section on the rakshasa daughters is remarkable for at least two reasons:
- Even though these are monsters (demons), even they have a desire for enlightenment deep down inside which caused them to promise the Buddha they too would protect the preachers of the Law;
- These monsters are the only ones, among the others who had given dharanis of protection, to actually offer protection above and beyond mere words, as evidenced below when they say, "...we will use our own bodies to shield and guard those who [embrace] this sutra."]
[I highlight in yellow one sentence in the following paragraph in order to emphasize the contrast between those who uphold the "mere name of the Lotus Sutra" - that "mere name" being Myoho-Renge-Kyo - and those who "uphold it in its entirety" which is what the Buddha defines as appropriate practice in many places within the Lotus Sutra. I noticed that the Buddha didn't say in the yellowed sentence, "If you can shield and guard by means of dharanis those who accept and uphold..."]
The Buddha said to the rakshasa daughters, "Excellent, excellent! If you can shield and guard those who accept and uphold the mere name of the Lotus Sutra, your merit will be immeasurable. How much more so if you shield and guard those who accept and uphold it in its entirety, who offer alms to the sutra rolls, flowers, incense, necklaces, powdered incense, paste incense, incense for burning, banners, canopies, music, who burn various kinds of lamps, lamps of butter oil, oil lamps, lamps of various fragrant oils, lamps of sumana flower oil, lamps of champaka flower oil, lamps of varshika flower oil and lamps of utpala flower oil, and who in this manner offer hundreds and thousands of varieties of alms. Kunti, you and your attendants should shield and guard teachers of the Law such as these!"
When [the Buddha] preached this Dharani chapter, sixty-eight thousand persons gained the truth of birthlessness.
:UNQUOTE.
Closing Comments
I would like to close by commenting on a statement offered by Daisaku Ikeda in the interview quoted at the beginning of this piece (see FOOTNOTE 1):
QUOTE:
Japan today is facing a difficult economic situation. For precisely that reason, I hope all of our members will acquire immense benefit now. I would like to see each one gain inexhaustible good fortune. When times are good, anyone can do well. It is when things get tough that we see what we are made of. That is when our faith is put to the test. It is important that we patiently strive to forge open a way to hope.
:UNQUOTE.
I think it's sad that someone like Ikeda - leader of an international layman's religious organization - ties the concept of "immense benefit" to "a difficult economic situation" and speaks of "anyone can do well" in terms of financial gain. It's even sadder that he promotes the abbreviated Buddhism of chanting the daimoku at the expense of embracing the entirety of the Lotus Sutra.
But who am I that anyone should pay heed? Ikeda is very rich and is surrounded by an adoring cadre of yes-men. I am very poor, pretty much alone in life (please, not that I'm complaining since I've got a lot of hermit in me), and am dying of cancer - well, at least that's what my oncologist claims. Ikeda has about 300 honorary doctorates/professorships from universities/colleges worldwide - but not one earned doctorate. I have one degree only - and that was an AA I earned in my early 20s. So, in terms of pedigree, credentials, and the trappings deemed valuable by most members of society, nobody should pay any heed to any of my words. In my defense, all I can say is, "Let the Lotus Sutra be your guide - but for that to happen, you've got to read it."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle, former candidate for US President (in 2008 and 2012)
Founder of the Independent Contractors' Party
"I owe the SGI a tremendous debt of gratitude for having exposed me to Buddhism in general and the Lotus Sutra in particular. But I couldn't tolerate their dumbing down of doctrine which is very disrespectful of their own members. So I became a member of a sect that has only one member and one leader (me, in both cases) and I'm not recruiting."
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
Footnotes
Footnote 1:
March 1999 issue of the Soka Gakkai's study journal Daibyakurenge, though I wish I had found the SGI direct link to this source. Google: Wisdom Lotus Sutra March 1999 Daibyakurenge.
http://www.slashdocs.com/kkkvxm/wisdom-of-the-lotus-sutra-50.html
Footnote 2:
These are a direct quotes from the Burton Watson English-language translation of the Lotus Sutra published in 2009 by the Soka Gakkai.
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