THE SADDHARMA PUNDARIKA: THE LOTUS SUTRA OF JAPAN

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THE SADDHARMA PUNDARIKA: THE LOTUS SUTRA OF JAPAN

RE: THE CHINESE DAOZANG AND THE TIBETAN KANJUR & TANJUR RGYUD

http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/sutra/english/hokke-idx.htm

http://www.salvationscience.com

 

Bodhidharma apparently was not a Tantric. This restricted the

knowledge he would transmit from India to China. The Chinese

Mahayana Canon, is considerably smaller than its Tibetan

counterpart. As for the number of Mahayana scriptures to enoble a

nation, Japan had only this solitary mediocre text - the Lotus

Sutra.

 

To make matters worse, the Japanese have taken a single line from

this incomprehensible text, and made it into a mantra, which they

repeat over and over again. To make matters even worse, the

Japanese, like the rest of the world, have expresssed no interest in

the many untranslated scriptures of their own religion.

 

My beloved Tibetan Canon - the Kanjur or Kagyur (teachings of the

Buddha) and Tanjur or Tangyur (commentaries by disciples) remains

relatively untouched by translators. Of the over 300 separate

Tantric (rGyud in Tibetan) texts in this collection, we have only

three or four in English. The Tibetans, who could have translated,

are most to blame for this negligence.

 

The Chinese Taoist canon - the Daozang - comprising over 1,500

texts, has been even more ignored by translators. When people say

they are experts in Tibetan Mahayana Tantra or in Taoist Alchemy, I

tell them: " Either you can read Tibetan or Chinese, or you are 'full

of shit'. " A Roman guard killed Jesus by piercing his

intestines: " As a witness, only water and blood came out " - no shit.

 

Because of the lack of such translations, we have relied more

heavily on the scriptures of other religions. The Tantric scriptures

of these two great religions, which remain untranslated, would be of

inestimable value in adding to our " mountain of evidence " for Urine

Therapy, Rasa Tantra, and Project Genesis (the Serum Union of a man

and woman of the same blood type).

 

I chose this chapter, because of its references to and implications

for the deathlessness of the immortal body of a " Tathagata " or

Tantric adept. This constant state of continuous Genetic

Rejuvenation, is the obvious " Jewel in the Lotus " , which we call Om

in the east and Ankh, On, or N. in ancient Egypt - a word meaning

both sex and water. See the Biblical " Joshua, son of Nun (N.N.) " .

 

Take note of the " medicine " in this scripture. Om Mani Padma Hummm -

Om is the Jewel in the Lotus, a water lily, which lives entirely on

water. And the Biblical patriarch, " Joseph, married the daughter of

the priest of On " , and " Moses " means " Birth " : Moses was " the Child

of the Nile " . Thus it is for all those who received what Jesus

wanted for us - to be " Born Again of water and Spirit " !

Jai Om. - Sw. Tantrasangha

 

The Lotus Sutra

Translated by Burton Watson

 

Chapter Sixteen: The Life Span of the Tathagata

http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/sutra/english/hokke-idx.htm

 

At that time the Buddha spoke to the Bodhisattvas and all the great

assembly: " Good men, you must believe and understand the truthful

words of the Thus Come One. " And again he said to the great

assembly: You must believe and understand the truthful words of the

Thus Come One. " And once more he said to the great assembly: " You

must believe and understand the truthful words of the Thus Come One. "

 

At that time the bodhisattvas and the great assembly, with Maitreya

as their leader, pressed their palms together and addressed the

Buddha, saying: " World-Honored One, we beg you to explain. We will

believe and accept the Buddha's words. " They spoke in this manner

three times, and then said once more: " We beg you to explain it. We

will believe and accept the Buddha's words. "

 

At that time the World-Honored One, seeing that the bodhisattvas

repeated their request three times and more, spoke to them,

saying: " You must listen carefully and hear of the Thus Come One's

secret and his transcendental powers. In all the worlds the heavenly

and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni

Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in

the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there

attained annuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But good men, it has been

immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions

of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood.

 

" Suppose a person were to take Five Hundred, a thousand, ten

thousand, a million nayuta asamkhya thousand-million-fold worlds and

grind them to dust. Then, moving eastward, each time he passes Five

Hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million nayuta asamkhya worlds

he drops a particle of dust. He continues eastward in this way until

he has finished dropping all the particles. Good men, what is your

opinion? Can the total number of all these worlds be imagined or

calculated? "

 

The bodhisattva Maitreya and the others said to the Buddha: " World-

Honored One, these worlds are immeasurable, boundless--one cannot

calculate their number, nor does the mind have the power to

encompass them. Even all the voice-hearers and pratyekabuddhas with

their wisdom free of outflows could not imagine or understand how

many there are. Although we abide in the stage of avivartika, we

cannot comprehend such a matter. World-Honored One, these worlds are

immeasurable and boundless. "

 

At that time the Buddha said to the multitude of great

bodhisattvas: " Good men, now I will state this to you clearly.

Suppose all these worlds, whether they received a particle of dust

or not, are once more reduced to dust. Let one particle represent

one kalpa. The time that has passed since I attained Buddhahood

surpasses this by a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a million

nayuta asamkhya kalpas.

 

" Ever since then I have been constantly in this saha world,

preaching the Law, teaching and converting, and elsewhere I have led

and benefited living beings in hundreds, thousands, ten thousands,

millions of nayutas and asamkhyas of lands.

 

" Good men, during that time I have spoken about the Buddha Burning

Torch and others, and described how they entered nirvana. All this I

employed as an expedient means to make distinctions.

 

" Good men, if there are living beings who come to me, I employ my

Buddha eye to observe their faith and to see if their other

faculties are keen or dull, and then depending upon how receptive

they are to salvation, I appear in different places and preach to

them under different names, and describe the length of time during

which my teachings will be effective. Sometimes when I make my

appearance I say that I am about to enter nirvana, and also employ

different expedient means to preach the subtle and wonderful Law,

thus causing living beings to awaken joyful minds.

 

" Good men, the Thus Come One observes how among living beings there

are those who delight in a little Law, meager in virtue and heavy

with defilement. For such persons I describe how in my youth I left

my household and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But in truth the

time since I attained Buddhahood is extremely long, as I have told

you. It is simply that I use this expedient means to teach and

convert living beings and cause them to enter the Buddha way. That

is why I speak in this manner.

 

" Good men, the scriptures expounded by the Thus Come One are all for

the purpose of saving and emancipating living beings. Sometimes I

speak of myself, sometimes of others: sometimes I present myself,

sometimes others; sometimes I show my own actions, sometimes those

of others. All that I preach is true and not false.

 

Why do I do this? The Thus Come One perceives the true aspect of the

threefold world exactly as it is. There is no ebb or flow of birth

and death, and there is no existing in this world and later entering

extinction. It is neither substantial nor empty, neither consistent

nor diverse. Nor is it what those who dwell in the threefold world

perceive it to be. All such things the Thus Come One sees clearly

and without error.

 

" Because living beings have different natures, different desires,

different actions, and different ways of thinking and making

distinctions, and because I want to enable them to put down good

roots, I employ a variety of causes and conditions, similes,

parables, and phrases and preach different doctrines. This, the

Buddha's work, I have never for a moment neglected.

 

" Thus, since I attained Buddhahood, an extremely long period of time

has passed. My life span is an immeasurable number of asamkhya

kalpas, and during that time I have constantly abided here without

ever entering extinction. Good men, originally I practiced the

bodhisattva way, and the life span that I acquired then has yet to

come to an end but will last twice the number of years that have

already passed. Now, however, although in fact I do not actually

enter extinction, I announce that I am going to adopt the course of

extinction. This is an expedient means which the Thus Come One uses

to teach and convert living beings.

 

" Why do I do this? Because if the Buddha remains in the world for a

long time, those persons with shallow virtue will fail to plant good

roots but, living in poverty and lowliness, will become attached to

the five desires and be caught in the net of deluded thoughts and

imaginings. If they see that the Thus Come One is constantly in the

world and never enters extinction, they will grow arrogant and

selfish, or become discouraged and neglectful. They will fail to

realize how difficult it is to encounter the Buddha and will not

approach him with a respectful and reverent mind.

 

" Therefore as an expedient means the Thus Come One says: 'Monks, you

should know that it is a rare thing to live at a time when one of

the Buddhas appears in the world.' Why does he do this? Because

persons of shallow virtue may pass immeasurable hundreds, thousands,

ten thousands, millions of kalpas with some of them chancing to see

a Buddha and others never seeing one at all. For this reason I say

to them: 'Monks, the Thus Come One is hard to get to see.' When

living beings hear these words, they are certain to realize how

difficult it is to encounter the Buddha. In their minds they will

harbor a longing and will thirst to gaze upon the Buddha, and then

they will work to plant good roots. Therefore the Thus Come One,

though in truth he does not enter extinction, speaks of passing into

extinction.

 

" Good men, the Buddhas and Thus Come Ones all preach a Law such as

this. They act in order to save all living beings, so what they do

is true and not false.

 

" Suppose, for example, that there is a skilled physician who is wise

and understanding and knows how to compound medicines to effectively

cure all kinds of diseases. He has many sons, perhaps ten, twenty,

or even a hundred. He goes off to some other land far away to see

about a certain affair. After he has gone, the children drink some

kind of poison that make them distraught with pain and they fall

writhing to the ground.

 

" At that time the father returns to his home and finds that his

children have drunk poison. Some are completely out of their minds,

while others are not. Seeing their father from far off, all are

overjoyed and kneel down and entreat him, saying: 'How fine that you

have returned safely. We were stupid and by mistake drank some

poison. We beg you to cure us and let us live out our lives!'

 

" The father, seeing his children suffering like this, follows

various prescriptions. Gathering fine medicinal herbs that meet all

the requirements of color, fragrance and flavor, he grinds, sifts

and mixes them together. Giving a dose of these to his children, he

tells them: 'This is a highly effective medicine, meeting all the

requirements of color, fragrance and flavor. Take it and you will

quickly be relieved of your sufferings and will be free of all

illness.'

 

" Those children who have not lost their senses can see that this is

good medicine, outstanding in both color and fragrance, so they take

it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness. Those who

are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father

return and beg him to cure their sickness, but when they are given

the medicine, they refuse to take it. Why? Because the poison has

penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before. So

although the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, they do

not perceive it as good.

 

" The father thinks to himself: My poor children! Because of the

poison in them, their minds are completely befuddled. Although they

are happy to see me and ask me to cure them, they refuse to take

this excellent medicine. I must now resort to some expedient means

to induce them to take the medicine. So he says to them: 'You should

know that I am now old and worn out, and the time of my death has

come. I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and

not worry that it will not cure you.' Having given these

instructions, he then goes off to another land where he sends a

messenger home to announce, 'Your Father is dead'. "

 

http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/sutra/english/hokke-idx.htm

http://www.salvationscience.com

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