The Buddha Always Present, Expounding the Dharma

Jigage, The Verses of Chapter XVI of the Lotus Sutra By Daniel B. Montgomery.

The verses of Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra are generally considered the most important fines in the text. They are recited daily by most Nichiren believers and as many as eight times a day by some. Constant repetition, however, can weaken the impact of there fines to the point where we no longer appreciate their daring originality. In truth they are unique in world literature and have no comparison in the sacred texts of any major religion. The Buddha says: I always live here and expound the Dharma.

Where, exactly, is this "here?" At first glance it would seem to be the Vulture Peak near the modem town of Rajgir in northern India. It is mentioned twice in the verses, and the Buddha promises to appear there "with all my sangha" when people yearn to see him. Not a few weary pilgrims have climbed this desolate peak hoping to walk where he walked and see him suddenly appear before them. They have, indeed, walked where he walked and peered into the cave where he might have dwelt, but they have not seen him appear with all his sangha. In the second reference to the Vulture Peak, he says: I live on Mt. Sacred Eagle (the Vulture Peak), and also in the other abodes For asamkhya kalpas (forever).

He seems to be speaking from the Vulture Peak, but he lives also "in the other abodes" as well. Actually he is not speaking from the Vulture Peak at all, but from the stupa in the air, to which he ascended in a previous chapter. "Here" is not the mountain in India or any other geographical location. We must look elsewhere.

Whenever he mentions "living here," the Buddha connects "here" to "expounding the Dharma."

For the past innumerable kalpas I have always been expounding the Dharma... I always live here and expound the Dharma... When they adore me, I appear and expound the Dharma to them... To those..see me living here, Expounding the Dharma, I say: The duration of my life is immeasurable.

"Here" is not the mountain top but the expounded Dharrna, the very words of the sutra. These verses have transformed mere letters into the body of the Buddha, making them his manifestation (Ojin). The whole sutra is animated, brought to life, at this point, linking the abstract truth to the concrete "body" of the expounded Dharma, thus enabling later writers to say in the "Verses on Opening the Sutra:"

Expounded is the Buddha's Truth (Hoshin); Expounding is the Buddha's Essence (Hosshin); And the letters comprising the sutra Are the Buddha's Manifestation (Ojin).

In Kumrajiva's translation, he twice refers to the Buddha revealing his "body." To those who do not vet yearn to see him, "I do not reveal my body" (line -39). But

To those who have accumulated merits, And who are gentle and upright, And who see me living here, Expounding the Dharma, I say: "The duration of my life is immeasurable" (lines 67-72).

Leon Hurvitz makes a more literal translation of lines 67-70: Those who have cultivated merit, Who are gentle and agreeable, straightforward and honest. All do, however, see my body Dwelling here and preaching Dharma.

The Buddha can be seen bodily by those who have accumulated merit and are gentle and agreeable, straightforward and honest, but not by others. He is seen "expounding the Dharma."

All religions have sacred scriptures written by the founder, his most prominent disciples, or even by God, Himself. Both the Bible and the Koran are called, "the Word of God." Only the Lotus Sutra, however, claims to be the physical manifestation of the founderthe very body by which his hidden inner self can be discerned. Here the Buddha, whose life is eternal, is always present, expounding the Dharma. Here we can actually see him with our eyes.

This does not lead us to a bibliolatryworship of the book. The book manifests the inner reality the way a smile or a frown manifest the inner per-son. The letters of the sutra manifest the hidden core, but they are not the same thing. Scholars of the Lotus Sutra are free to subject the text to scientific scrutiny. Its words and expressions arose within historical circumstances, and such factors are open to investigation.

The sutra is not just the sum of its parts. The parts can be added to or subtracted from without affecting the inner reality. It is the sutra taken as a whole which manifests the inner life of the Buddha, just as a physical body as a whole manifests a per-son. The person as such is identified by his name. In the same manner, the sutra as a whole, the Manifest Body of the Buddha, is seen in its title.

The expounded Dharma reveals the eternal life hidden within. This theme is reiterated throughout the sutra and especially in Chapter 21, "The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata:"

All the teachings of the Tathagata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathagata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathagata, and oil the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra. Therefore, keep, real, recite, expound, and copy this sutra, and act according to the teachings of it with oil your hearts alter my extinction! In any world where anyone keeps... this sutra, or acts according to its teachings, or in any place where a copy of this sutra is put,... there should a stupa be erected and offerings be made to it because, know this! That place is the place of enlightenment. Here the Buddhas attained Anuttarasamyak-sambodhi. Here the Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dharma. Here the Buddhas entered into Parinirvana.

Here! This is the place where the Eternal Buddha manifests himself. "I always live here and expound the Dharma." If every word is "a bright shining Buddha," as Nichiren said, then so much more so is the Sacred Tale, which brings together all the words to express one inner realitythe Buddha as ever present expounding the Dharma. 4

Published by the Nichiren Shu Headquarters & Kagai Fukyo Koenkai

Gassh __/\__ Y k, Namu Myh Renge Ky.

http://nichirensangha.com