Stories from The Threefold Lotus Sutra 
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law

2 – Tactfulness – “Rejoice greatly in your hearts

                          knowing that you will become buddhas. . .”

  AT THAT TIME the World-honored One, rising quietly and clearly from contemplation, addressed Shariputra: “The wisdom of buddhas is very profound and infinite. Their wisdom-school is difficult to understand and difficult to enter, so that the shravakas [persons of learning-those who hear the Law] and pratyekabuddhas [persons of self-attained enlightenment] cannot apprehend it. Wherefore? The buddhas have been in fellowship with countless hundred thousand myriads of countless buddhas, perfectly practicing the infinite Law of all buddhas, boldly and zealously advancing and making their fame universally known, perfecting the very profound, unprecedented Law and preaching, as opportunity serves, its meaning difficult to understand.

  “Shariputra! Ever since I became Buddha, with various reasonings and various parables I have widely discoursed and taught, and by countless tactful methods have led living beings, causing them to leave all attachments. Wherefore? The Tathagata is altogether perfect in his tactfulness and paramita of wisdom. Shariputra! The wisdom of the Tathagata is broad and great, profound and far-reaching; his mind infinite; his expositions are unimpeded; his powers, fearlessness, meditations, emancipations, contemplations have enabled him to enter into the boundless realms and to accomplish all the unprecedented Law.

  “Shariputra! The Tathagata is able to discriminate everything, preach the laws skillfully, use gentle words, and cheer the hearts of all. Shariputra! essentially speaking, the Buddha has altogether fulfilled the infinite, boundless, unprecedented Law.

  ”Enough, Shariputra, there is no need to say more. Wherefore? The Law which the Buddha has perfected is the chief unprecedented Law, and difficult to understand. Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom the Reality of All Existence, that is to say, all existence has such a form, such a nature, such an embodiment, such a potency, such a function, such a primary cause, such a secondary cause, such an effect, such a recompense, and such a complete fundamental whole.

The Buddha challenges Shariputra

  Enough, Shariputra, there is no need to say more. . . The Law which the Buddha has perfected is the chief unprecedented Law, and difficult to understand. . . In the verse following, the Buddha develops this challenge:

“Innumerable are the world’s heroes,
embracing gods and living creatures,
none can know the buddhas.
The Buddha’s powers and fearlessness,
emancipations and contemplations,
and the Buddha’s other laws,
no one is able to measure.

"Of yore I followed countless buddhas,
and perfectly trod the ways.
Of the profound and wonderful Law,
which is difficult to perceive and perform,
during infinite countless kalpas,
after pursuing all those ways,
having obtained the perfect fruit on the wisdom throne,
I was able perfectly to understand.

“Such great effects as these,
the meaning of every nature and form:
I and other buddhas in the universe
I alone can understand these things.
This Law is inexpressible,
it is beyond the realm of things;
among all the other living beings
none can apprehend it
except the bodhisattvas
who are firm in the power of faith.

“The disciples of all the buddhas
who have offered worship to the buddhas
and have ended all their faults
and dwell in this last bodily state,
such living beings as these
have not powers equal to such knowledge.
Though the world were full
of beings like Shariputra
who with utmost thought combined to measure it,
they could not fathom the Buddha-wisdom.

“Indeed though the world were full
of beings like Shariputra,
and the rest of my disciples
filled the world in every quarter,
who with utmost thought combined to measure it,
they also could not understand. . .”

  The challenge continues. It’s clear Shakyamuni wishes to be certain that Shariputra and the other persons of learning have a strong desire to hear the Law before he preaches it. In verse, the Buddha encourages Shariputra to beget great strength in the laws formerly preached by the Buddha, for now the Buddha must proclaim the perfect truth, and again affirms his employment of tactful powers, showing the Way by the three-vehicle teaching: for persons of learning (shravakas), the self-enlightened (pratyekabuddhas), and persons of universal compassion (bodhisattvas).

  The twelve hundred in the assembly, which includes the four groups of male and female lay devotees, also earnestly question where the principle of three-vehicle teaching is leading them, since they assume they have reached nirvana through the principal of emancipation, knowing full well, as expressed previously in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, that the Buddha has proclaimed: “I have never ceased from preaching suffering, voidness, transience, selflessness, nontruth, nonreality, nonlarge, nonsmall, nonbirth in origin, and also nondeath at present, one aspect, nonaspect, the form of the law, the nature of the law, noncoming, nongoing, and the four aspects by which all the living are driven.”

  The twelve hundred earnestly desire to know why the Buddha now proclaims that the meaning of the Law is so difficult for persons of learning and self-enlightened ones to understand, and why they are unable to attain the Law. They know that the Buddha always has preached the one principle of emancipation, and they want to know where this principle will lead them. They simply do not understand why the Buddha is leading them forward through the teaching of the three vehicles, indicating that clearly they have not fully grasped the teaching of Innumerable Meanings, which is that “innumerable meanings” come from one law.

  Shariputra apprehends doubt in their minds, and also that he himself hasn’t mastered the meaning. “World-honored One! what is the cause and what the reason for so earnestly extolling the paramount tactful method of teaching the three vehicles and the very profound, mysterious Law, difficult to understand?” He has never before heard such a discourse from the Buddha.

  In lengthy and dramatic prose and verse Shariputra earnestly beseeches the Buddha to explain. Significantly three times, he urges the Buddha to proclaim the truth as it is, saying that those who hear this Law will beget great joy. At first Shakyamuni refuses to expound the Law, because if he explains this matter, “all the worlds of gods and living beings would be startled and perplexed.” After Shariputra’s third request, the Buddha says, “How can I refuse to speak?” since Shariputra has so earnestly requested three times.

  When the Buddha agrees to discriminate and explain the law, five thousand get up, salute the Buddha and withdraw. The Buddha doesn’t stop them. He goes on to explain there’s only one very great cause why buddhas appear in the world, and that is to cause all living beings to open their hearts to the Buddha-knowledge so they gain the pure mind, to show living beings the Buddha-knowledge, to cause all living beings to apprehend and enter the way of the Buddha-knowledge.

  In verse, the Buddha again refers to the five-thousand who left the assembly. The Buddha knows all former karmas of all creatures and preaches nirvana for those who are greedily attached to existence and harassed by all the sufferings, setting up tactful ways for them to enter the Buddha-wisdom, announcing that now is the very time that all shall accomplish the buddha-way.

  The Buddha describes those who are attached to the five desires and how he has set up tactful methods so that suffering is ended through nirvana; but that all world-honored ones of the past proclaimed the One-vehicle Law, converting numberless creatures to enter the Buddha-way.

“Know, Shariputra!
when I saw the Buddha-sons-and-daughters
bent on seeking the buddha-way,
in countless thousands and countless myriads,
all with reverent hearts,
draw near to me, the Buddha;
they had already heard from the enlightened ones
the Law which they tactfully explained.

"Then I conceived this thought:
The reason why the Tathagata appears
is for preaching the Buddha-wisdom;
now is the very time.

  We “seek the Buddha” to attain Buddha-wisdom. We are not asked, as in other religions, to worship entities outside ourselves, nor does it suggest only if we believe in the Buddha, all our sins will vanish. To believe in, or “be saved” by the Buddha’s teachings is to gain absolute awareness of the one reality. There’s no need to make resounding proclamations. The law does not dwell in the law; it dwells within our lives, not outside it. As we are reminded in the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, “All the laws are emancipation, the truth of extinction, and quiescence. Such an aspect is called the great repentance, the greatly adorned repentance, the repentance of the non-sin aspect, and the destruction of discrimination. Those who practice this repentance have the purity of body and mind not fixed in the law, but free as flowing water.”

  “Seeking the Buddha” means to seek the teachings of the Buddha and to practice them, not “to become a Buddhist.” Here again reminded that just before Shakyamuni became extinct, he said to Ananda, “Make the Law your light – make yourself the light! Do not depend on me for your salvation.”

  Thus have I heard. Thus it is that the Lotus Sutra informs daily meditative practice. Certainly any meditative practice, in essence, is to “seek the teachings of the Buddha.” To become so instilled with the Buddha’s teachings that in our moment-to-moment experiences and contact with others, we reach instinctively beyond discriminations and dichotomous thinking. Our buddha-nature is manifest, and we see it in others, knowing that all are one substance with the great life-force of the universe and are caused to live by it.

  The Buddha describes those who are attached to the five desires and how he has set up tactful methods so that suffering is ended through nirvana; but that all world-honored ones of the past proclaimed the One-vehicle law, converting numberless creatures to enter the Buddha-way.

  Now once more realizing we attain the Buddha-way instinctively, often without knowing it; contemplating “all such ones who have entered the Buddha-way” helps motivate our intention to begin; a point-of-view clearly presented here. “Of those who hear the Law, not one fails to become an enlightened one.” Perhaps reading these verses, you will discover links to your own life-experiences:

“If there are any beings who have met the former buddhas;
if having heard the Law, they have given donations;
if they have kept the pure commandments and been persevering,
been assiduous, meditative, and wise;
having kept these various ways of happiness and virtue,
such beings as these have all attained the Buddha-way.

"After the extinction of buddhas,
those with good and soft minds for the truth,
such living beings as these
have all attained the Buddha-way.

  Again, above, we are reminded of the six perfections of the bodhisattvas.

“After the extinction of buddhas,
those who worshipped their relics
and built many thousands of kinds of stupas,
with gold, silver, and crystal,
with moonstone and agate,
with jasper and lapis lazuli,
clearly and broadly decorated,
handsomely displayed on every stupa;
or those who built stone shrines
of sandalwood and aloes,
eaglewood and other woods,
of brick, tiles, and clay;
or those who in the wilds
raised earth for buddhas' shrines;
even children in their play
who gathered sand for a buddha's stupa;
all such beings as these
have attained the Buddha-way.”

  . . . .even children in their play who gathered sand for a buddha’s stupa. . . recalling how, in 1983, in a cavernous loft apartment near the Hudson River in the west Village on the Isle of Manhattan, while listening to the playback of a recording I’d made, moved to tears at the utter simplicity of “children in their play gathering sand for a buddha’s stupa. . .”

“If living beings for the sake of enlightened ones
have erected images
carved with characteristic signs,
they have all attained the Buddha-way.
Or those who with the precious seven,
or with brass, red and white copper,
with wax, lead, and tin,
with iron, wood, and clay
 or with glue and lacquer
have adorned and made images of the enlightened ones,
all such ones as these
have attained the Buddha-way.

“Those who have painted buddhas' images
with the hundred blessing-adorned signs,
whether done by themselves or by employing others,
have all attained the Buddha-way.
Even boys in their play
who with reed, wood, or pen
or with the fingernail
have drawn images of the enlightened ones,
all such ones as these,
gradually accumulating merit
and perfecting hearts of great pity
 have attained the Buddha-way;
indeed, by influencing the bodhisattvas
 have saved countless creatures.

“If living beings to the stupas and shrines,
to the precious images and paintings,
with flowers, incense, flags, and umbrellas
have paid homage with respectful hearts;
or employed others to perform music,
beat drums, blow horns and conchs,
panpipes and flutes, play  lutes, harps,
guitars, gongs, and cymbals,
such mystic sounds as these,
all played by way of homage;
or with joyful hearts
by singing have extolled the merits of buddhas
even though in but a low voice,
these too have attained the Buddha-way.

  . . . or employed others to perform music / beat drums . . . recalls cast members of the original on-Broadway “Chorus Line” – many of whom were practicing with N.S.A. – all part of our Los Angeles and New York Theatre Districts.

“Even anyone who with distracted mind,
with but a single flower
has paid homage to the painted images
shall gradually see countless buddhas.
Or those who have offered worship,
were it by merely folding the hands,
or even raising a hand,
or by slightly bending the head,
by thus paying homage to the images
gradually see innumerable enlightened ones,
attain the supreme way,
extensively save countless creatures,
and enter the formless nirvana,
as when firewood is finished the fire dies out.

"If any, even with distracted mind, enter a stupa or temple
and cry but once Namas Buddha,
they have attained the Buddha-way.

If any from the buddhas of the past,
whether in existence or already extinct,
have heard this Law
they have all attained the Buddha-way.
All the future world-honored ones,
infinite in number,
all these tathagatas
also by tactful ways preach the Law.
All of the tathagatas
by infinite expedient ways
save all living creatures
to enter the Buddha's faultless wisdom.

 Now the Buddha proclaims his desire that all should enter the same way along with me.

“Of those who hear the Law
not one fails to become an enlightened one.
This is the original vow of the buddhas,
By the Buddha-way which I walk,
I desire universally to cause all creatures
to attain the same way along with me.
Though the buddhas in future ages proclaim hundreds, thousands,
countless schools of doctrine,
in reality they are the One-vehicle.

“The enlightened ones, the honored ones,
know that nothing has an independent existence
and that seeds of the buddha-nature spring from a cause,
so they reveal the One-vehicle.
All things are immovable and ever abide in the world,
hence the world abides forever.

The Buddha reveals his earlier doubts about preaching the Law

“Now I also in like manner
for the relief of all creatures
by various kinds of doctrine
promulgate the Buddha-way.
I, by my power of wisdom,
knowing the natures and inclinations of creatures,
tactfully proclaim the laws
which cause all to obtain gladness.

“Know, Shariputra!
I, observing with the Buddha’s eyes,
see the creatures in the six states of existence,
poor and without happiness and wisdom,
in the dangerous path of mortality,
in continuous unending misery,
firmly fettered by the five desires
like the yak caring for its tail,
smothered by greed and infatuation,
blinded and seeing nothing;
they seek not the Buddha, the mighty,
and the Law to end sufferings,
but deeply fall into heresies,
and seek by suffering to be rid of suffering.
For the sake of all these creatures,
my heart is stirred with great pity.

“When I first sat on the wisdom throne,
looking at that tree and walking about it
during thrice seven days,
I pondered such matters as these;
The wisdom which I have obtained
is wonderful and supreme.
But all creatures are dull in their capacities,
pleasure-attached and blind with ignorance.
Such classes of beings as these, I saw,
how can they be saved?

  Note following, the Buddha’s inclusion of “Brahma kings and Lord Shakra of all the gods,” the Buddha again making it clear that he teaches the Law inclusively, not opposing the faith of Brahmins and other sects of his time and not too proud to draw upon their leaders for advice.

“Thereupon all the Brahma kings
and Lord Shakra of all the gods,
the four heavenly beings,
with hundreds of thousands of myriads of followers,
respectfully saluted with folded hands,
entreating me to roll the wheel of the Law.
Then I pondered within myself:
If I only extol the Buddha-vehicle,
all creatures, being sunk in suffering,
will not be able to believe this Law,
and by breaking the Law through unbelief
will fall into the three evil paths.
I had rather not preach the Law,
but instantly enter nirvana.

“Then, on remembering what former buddhas
performed by their tactful powers,
I thought, The Way which I have now attained
I must preach as the three-part vehicle.
While I was pondering thus,
all the buddhas in the universe appeared
and with sacred voice, cheered me in response:

“Excellent! Shakyamuni!
the first of leaders!
Having attained this supreme Law,
thou art following after all the buddhas
in using tactful powers.
We too have all attained
this most wonderful, supreme Law,
but for the sake of the many kinds of creatures,
we divide and preach it in three vehicles.

Those of little wisdom delight in petty laws,
not believing they can become buddhas,
hence we by tactful ways
divide and preach the natural results.
Though we also proclaim the three vehicles,
it is only for teaching the bodhisattvas.

“Know, Shariputra!
hearing the voices of the Holy Lions,
profoundly clear and mystic,
I saluted them, Hail, enlightened ones!
and again reflected thus:
Having come forth into the disturbed and evil world,
I, according to the enlightened ones’ behest,
will also obediently proceed.

The first teachings:

“Having finished pondering this matter,
I instantly went to Varañasi.
The nirvana-nature of all existence,
which is inexpressible,
I by tactful ability
preached to the five bhikshus.
This is called the first teaching of the Law,
whereupon was heard the sound of Nirvana,
and also the separate names of Buddha,
of Law, and of Community (Samgha).
From distant kalpas onward
I have extolled and indicated the Law of nirvana
for the perpetual end of mortal distress;
thus have I continuously spoken.

Why the Buddha decides to teach the One Buddha-vehicle:

“Know, Shariputra!

when I saw the Buddha-sons-and-daughters
bent on seeking the buddha-way,
in countless thousands and countless myriads,
all with reverent hearts,
draw near to the Buddha;
they had already heard from the enlightened ones
the Law which they tactfully explained.
Then I conceived this thought:
The reason why the Tathagata appears
is for preaching the Buddha-wisdom;
now is the very time.

“Know Shariputra! the stupid and those of little wit,
the tied to externals and the proud
cannot believe this Law.
But now I am glad and fearless;
in the midst of the bodhisattvas
frankly put aside tactfulness
and only proclaim the supreme Way.

“You bodhisattvas hearing this Law,
having all got rid of the nets of doubts,
you twelve hundred arhats
will all become buddhas.
In the same fashion that the buddhas,
past, present, and future, preach the Law,
so also will I now
proclaim the undivided Law.

“The appearing of buddhas in the world
is far apart and of rare occurrence,
and when they do appear in the world,
with equal rareness do they proclaim this Law.
Even in infinite countless kalpas,
rarely may this Law be heard;
and those who are able to listen to this Law,
men and women such as these are also rare.

“It is like the heavenly udumbara flower,
which all love and enjoy,
seldom seen by gods and living beings,
appearing but once in long periods.
So those who hearing the Law extol it joyfully,
and utter but one single word of it,
have already paid homage to
all the buddhas in the three worlds.
Such ones are exceedingly rare,
rarer than the udumbara flower.

“Be you free from doubts;
I am king of the Law
and declare to all the assembly:
I, only by the One-vehicle Way,
teach the bodhisattvas,
and have no shravaka disciples.

“Know all of you, Shariputra,
shravakas and bodhisattvas,
that this Wonderful Law
is the mystery of all the buddhas.
Because the chaotic world of the five decadences
only delights in sensual attachments,
creatures such as these
never seek the Buddha-way.

“The confused in generations to come
who hear the One-vehicle preached by the Buddha,
in their delusion and unbelief
will break the Law and fall into chaotic ways.
But there are beings modest and pure,
devoted to seeking the buddha-way;
for such as these I must
widely extol the One-vehicle Way.

“Know, Shariputra!
The Law of the buddhas is thus,
by myriads of countless tactful ways
they proclaim the Law as opportunity serves.
Those who will not learn
are not able to discern it.

“You already know
the expedient tactful ways of the buddhas,
the leaders of the world.

“Have no further doubts,
rejoice greatly in your hearts
knowing that you will become buddhas.” / / /

  As our awareness of Buddha-thought grows, may we have the good sense to reach out to discover, as the Buddha proclaims, we are all interconnected in inseparable webs of relationship; and as expressed in “Hui-neng’s Enlightenment—Here and Now” recalling the life and teachings of Zen’s Sixth Patriarch—“if we are able to see our original faces before our birth, we might then be able to participate in our day and age with renewed effect.  In doing so, we might assist in reviving vigor and hope in a troubled world. This was the Buddha’s intention; this is our duty, here and now. “

  Thus each Monday morning with The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, Chapters 1 and 2 of The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful law, we begin again. Now is the very time, the Buddha proclaims, remembering that for me, Now is the very time occurred in a Buddhist temple in Etiwanda, California on a bright, sunny morning when a Nichiren priest tapped me and fourteen others on the head with a scroll rolled up in a white paper envelope, while in the background the community chanted devotion to the Wonderful, mysterious Law of the Lotus, Nam Myoho Renge-kyo, knowing that I had been here before.

Namu Myoho Renge-kyo!

Namas Sad Dharma Pundarika Sutra!

Namas Buddha!