How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post Reply
bcol01
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:20 pm

How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by bcol01 »

And can one practice according to Nichiren and yet also follow the Dhammapada?
In his writing, Hokkemongu (Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), The Great Master Nichiren said, “If the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra wholeheartedly devote their life to the Lotus Sutra and practice according to its golden words, it is certainly needless to say that not only in the next life, but also in this lifetime they will overcome severe difficulty, prolong their life, receive the great, good fortune of unsurpassed enlightenment, and accomplish the great vow of the widespread, propagation of True Buddhism.”
User avatar
Johnny Dangerous
Global Moderator
Posts: 17092
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:58 pm
Location: Olympia WA
Contact:

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

bcol01 wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 10:38 pm And can one practice according to Nichiren and yet also follow the Dhammapada?
One would have to first ask how familiar Nichiren even was with Pali Material, I would think. The Dhammapada gives quite basic advice though, I can't recall offhand where it would conflict with the Mahayana, though it is just generally somewhat "fire and brimstone" in Buddhist terms.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
markatex
Posts: 429
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:33 am

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by markatex »

Nichiren would’ve been familiar with the Agamas (I’m not sure if 13th century Japanese Buddhists would’ve even known of the existence of the Pali Nikayas) and I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent to the Dhammapada there. At any rate, he would’ve considered it a provisional teaching; a teaching of the Buddha, to be sure, but one of comparatively little importance when placed next to pre-Lotus Mahayana sutras, to say nothing of the Lotus Sutra itself.

I would say that having an understanding of those early sutras is definitely helpful, but they’re ultimately provisional and should be understood as such.
illarraza
Posts: 1257
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:30 am

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by illarraza »

bcol01 wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 10:38 pm And can one practice according to Nichiren and yet also follow the Dhammapada?
Regarding Nichiren and the Dhammapada, Nichiren teaches (from the Dhammapada)"THERE were two brothers named Chūdapanthaka. When the name Chūdapanthaka was called, either would answer." He also relates the Dhammapada story in another Gosho (which I can't find right now) that the younger brother was so dull-witted that he couldn't remember any of the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha realized this and gave him but one verse to memorize and he became an Arhat. From the viewpoint of the "absolute myo", Nichiren teaches, that we can open up the "rough" teachings and merge them in the wonderful teaching of the Lotus Sutra. However, from the viewpoint of the "comparative myo", he teaches, that the Lotus Sutra refutes the rough teachings and reveals the wonderful teaching. Nichiren utilized "all" the teachings of the Buddha to exalt the Lotus Sutra but when confusion arose about the profundity and ability to enlighten of the various sutras, he would refute them in light of the Lotus Sutra.

M
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by Aemilius »

markatex wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:58 am Nichiren would’ve been familiar with the Agamas (I’m not sure if 13th century Japanese Buddhists would’ve even known of the existence of the Pali Nikayas) and I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent to the Dhammapada there. At any rate, he would’ve considered it a provisional teaching; a teaching of the Buddha, to be sure, but one of comparatively little importance when placed next to pre-Lotus Mahayana sutras, to say nothing of the Lotus Sutra itself.

I would say that having an understanding of those early sutras is definitely helpful, but they’re ultimately provisional and should be understood as such.
In the Chinese/Japanese Tripitaka there is Udanavarga which has 1100 verses and it corresponds to the somewhat shorter work called Dhammapada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udanavarga
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
Brian Rahilly
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:26 pm

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by Brian Rahilly »

The Dhammapada is part and parcel of the Theravada tradition. Initially, the teachings of the Buddha were in a deplorable state when they arrived in China over a span of many years. It was like getting the contents of a huge library with none of the books being catalogued and most with pages missing. Over time, Chinese scholars, many of them well known today, put their minds to examining these texts in a rigorous manner. Having done that, they could now address the question as to what united these teachings and what was ultimately their intended purpose. It was then that divisions between Theravada and Mahayana were established. It appears that there was general agreement that the important teachings came towards the end of the Buddha's life and, more specifically, the Lotus Sutra being preeminent among them.

If Nichiren made some glancing references to the Dhammapada, it was never because he considered it to have some importance in the same way as he did the Lotus Sutra, but rather as part of the cultural soup that many of his contemporaries were aware of and thus some aspect from it could be used when making a point. The fact that he did this on very rare occasions alludes to its low status.
User avatar
Kim O'Hara
Former staff member
Posts: 7065
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:09 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Aemilius wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:06 am
markatex wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:58 am Nichiren would’ve been familiar with the Agamas (I’m not sure if 13th century Japanese Buddhists would’ve even known of the existence of the Pali Nikayas) and I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent to the Dhammapada there. At any rate, he would’ve considered it a provisional teaching; a teaching of the Buddha, to be sure, but one of comparatively little importance when placed next to pre-Lotus Mahayana sutras, to say nothing of the Lotus Sutra itself.

I would say that having an understanding of those early sutras is definitely helpful, but they’re ultimately provisional and should be understood as such.
In the Chinese/Japanese Tripitaka there is Udanavarga which has 1100 verses and it corresponds to the somewhat shorter work called Dhammapada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udanavarga
We discussed these parallels here a few weeks ago, too, although I can't remember just where.

:namaste:
Kim
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by Aemilius »

"Although the Pāli edition is the best-known, a number of other versions are known:

Gāndhārī Dharmapada – a version possibly of Dharmaguptaka or Kāśyapīya origin in Gāndhārī written in Kharosthi script
Patna Dharmapada – a version in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, most likely Sammatiya (school of Buddhism)
Udānavarga – a seemingly related Mula-Sarvastivada or Sarvastivada text in 3 Sanskrit versions
a Tibetan translation (of Udanavarga), which is popular in traditional Tibetan Buddhism
Mahāvastu – a Lokottaravāda text with parallels to verses in the Pāli Dhammapada's Sahassa Vagga and Bhikkhu Vagga.
FaJuJing 法句经" – 4 Chinese works; one of these appears to be an expanded translation of the Pali version; this has not traditionally been very popular.

Comparing the Pali Dhammapada, the Gandhari Dharmapada and the Udanavarga, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure. He suggests that the three texts have a 'common ancestor' but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the "primitive Dharmapada" from which the other two evolved.

The Dhammapada is considered one of the most popular pieces of Theravada literature. A critical edition of the Dhammapada was produced by Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll in 1855, becoming the first Pali text to receive this kind of examination by the European academic community."
(Wikipedia)

"Fausbøll, Viggo (1900), The Dhammapada: being a collection of moral verses in Pali / edited a second time with a literal Latin translation and notes, London."
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
ronnymarsh
Posts: 170
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:52 am

Re: How did Nichiren view the Dhammapada?

Post by ronnymarsh »

The Chinese canon has four versions of the dharmapada (Fajujing). The first is the translation of the Upasaka Zhi Qian, part of the early Buddhist translations in China. The other versions are more recent products, made from the 10th century onwards, so the sutra's popularity is not as great in the Mahayana community as it is in the Theravada community.
Nichiren obviously had knowledge of the Agamas, which I believe are essential to Buddhist learning. There are many stories that Nichiren reproduces that are based on the narratives found in these texts, and as the Fajujiung is a compilation of Buddhist teachings that often appear in the other Agamas texts, it is not possible to say with certainty whether Nichiren was aware of the text.
But essentially the perspective of the Dhammapada is that of the Tripitaka Teaching, and it is only consistent with the Mahayana as a shared and common teaching, but in soteriological terms it does not follow the same structure.
Post Reply

Return to “Nichiren”