self realization

"you can forge the path to a fulfillinf and enjoyble life if you have the depth of faith to regard everything as a source for creating happiness and value. conversly if you see everything only in a negative or pessimistic light, your life will gradually but inevitable be plunged into the darkness. buddhism teaches the subtle principle of ichinen, and moreover, the power of faith "
When i first read this quote, i realized that these words, these guidance is for me only.
i am working in a plant and from the day 1 i joined i ddnt like my work.
well the working conditions are no better to make you happy, so is the boss.
name a thing and it will be dere. heat, dust, poisonous gases, fumes which chokes your throat, sound, hazardous waste and equally difficult staff to deal with and add on to it, to work in shifts.
it may sound like terrible but its a bit less terrible then i portrayed. nonetheless after coming from college i ddnt expected myself to be in the middle of all these thing. while my other friends in the same plant were enjoying their life with good comfortable condition and relaxation in coming and going out.
i was toiling hard, getting bullied by my boss and cussing .
in last 1 year i studied harder then ever to clear any other PSU exam and go ot of this place.
but much to my surprise i ddnt clear even a single written while a year before this i cleared all the PSU exams even without studying much.
with summer coming, my condition start becoming terrible. the temp in this region reaches to 46 and in plant and moreover in my area of working you can easily add 2-3 degree more to it.
but what i could have done. i have to work untill i get something good enough.
my cat exam was a big fiasco in the last year and with this summer raising i was getting afraid that this coming year cat will have the same fate.

but by reading sensei's guidance i actually realized that what is happening in my life.
by cursing my surroundings, my environment and blaming my job for not being able to do gakkai activities what i was doing last year was slowly but surely developing pessimistic attitude. though i was chanting but the attitude towards chanting wasnt that ought to be.
i was falling into the vicious circle without knowing and all the negative results were just the reflection of my inner state of life.
it took me a year to learn this thing.
but at last i learned it. the job is same, heat is same infact will go on to increase only but i am determined to increase the depth of my faith to become happy, respect this job and ofcourse this PSU for giving me this job and giving me a handsome salary and training me . there are no coincidence in buddhism and my being here in this dept and in this city, rourkela far away from my home that is delhi must have some higher meaning.
i must use my training in delhi to make bsg- rourkela a citadel of happiness.

i determine to improve my life condition and to expand my life so that i can give my best at my job, gakkai activities, health and my study.

hi, i am back

hi all, i am so sorry for not being able to keep this blog alive for such a long time.
well the major reason was that my CAT exam was coming and besides that i ddnt had my own PC with internet connection.
so now exams are finished and now i hv my own laptop and internet connection.
(did you notice that i ddnt talk about my results much which means i will be writing CAT again, anyways...)

well life is going quite good.

well i think it will be appropriate at this juncture to reintroduce myself.
i am sumit gupta, practising since 26th march 2004.
i would say that initial years of my practice were the best years till now.
with the time it has become more a sort of habit which shouldnt be the case.practising diligently is a daily struggle. isnt it?
as in BSG we always emphasise that it is faith practise and study.
these three things when work in coherent way then you have what is called consistent practice.
so i am trying to balance this tripod of faith practice and study by making all the three legs of this tripod equal.

recently i have been given responsibility of ymd district chief of rourkela district.
well this is a great responsibility. its a direct responsibility given to me by sensei.
i will try my level best to foster the ymds of rourkela to make them capable youth who can really take care of BSG-rourkela.
its been a bit more than 1 year since i am practising here in rourkela.
at that time i was the only ymd, now we have 7. bodhisattavas of the earth are emergiing here in this beautiful and still (and steel) city of rourkela.

books mentioned by sensei

Here is the list of books that Sensei mentioned in the 13th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting - VC - January 2008.

1 - The Eternal City By Hall Caine - Avaiable at Gutenberg website
2 - The Water Margin
3 - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
4 - The tale of the Heike
5 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - Avaiable at Gutenberg website
6 - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe avaiable at Gutenberg website
7 - Taras Bulba by Nikolay Gogol - avaiable at Gutenberg website
8 - Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo
9 - A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens
10 - The Last days of Pompeii by Edward Bulwer-Lytton - avaiable at Gutenberg website
11 - A Little women by Louisa May Alcott - avaiable at Gutenberg website
12 - A doll's house by Henrik Ibsen - avaiable at Gutenberg website
13 - Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini - avaiable at Gutenberg website
14 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - avaiable at Gutenberg website

lecture by sensei on "count of monte cristo"

hi all, this is an essay which appeared in world tribune in 2002. i got it in mail.
we all know sensei used to be voracious reader in his youth. he still reads a lot and he is even writing more than what we can actually read. :)

i read youthful diary somedays back and there i found sensei has quoted many great authors and as well written about his daily studies.
he has completed "romance of the three kingdoms" in just a week or so even at the time when he was giving his all for soka gakkai and hence toda sensei!!!
that show the power of law and sensei truly shows how much we can expand our dialy life and how by applying faith in our daily life we can achieve so much value.
:)


AN ESSAY BY SGI PRESIDENT IKEDA
THE CHAMPIONS OF GOOD MUST WIN
In this essay on ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ SGI President Ikeda clarifies the Buddhist view of revenge. ‘The greatest “revenge” against evil,’ he writes, ‘is for the champions of good to be victorious and for good itself to flourish.’
July 24 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexandre Dumas, the famous French
author of such well-known works as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte
Cristo. Victor Hugo was born in the same year, on Feb. 26. Two towering figures in French literature came into this world just five months apart.
When Dumas was asked who he would like to be other than himself, his answer was
“Hugo.” The two shared a deep bond of friendship.
Right now, an exhibition on Hugo and Dumas is being presented at the SGI-affiliated
Victor Hugo House of Literature on the outskirts of Paris.
When I was a young man, I avidly read these two great authors. In particular, I will
never forget reading and studying under my mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei
Toda, The Count of Monte Cristo — translated into Japanese as Gankutsu-o, or
Indomitable Champion.

The novel opens in France in 1815, during the turmoil of the Hundred Days, Napoleon’s
brief final return to power. The hero, Edmond Dantès, is a navigator and a fine, honest,trusting young man. He is skilled at his profession — expecting soon to become captain ofhis own ship — and is about to be married to his sweetheart.
But as the 19-year-old Dantès is poised to set sail into a happy future, he is suddenly accused of the serious crime of being a Bonapartist spy and thrown into prison. He is the victim of betrayal by colleagues who envy his good fortune and an unscrupulous, self-serving local magistrate.

President Toda said to us youth: “By subjecting his youthful hero to this excruciating ordeal, Dumas made him grapple with a desperate life-or-death struggle. When we experience suffering in life, both mental and physical, we become stronger. That is why if young people wish to become great human beings, they must not seek an idle or easy life.”Adversity is indeed the best education. My mentor used every available opportunity tofoster and rigorously train young people.

Dumas has Dantès make the observation that a person can increase in strength and
honor by struggling with adversity and thereby convert all trials and hardships into
prosperity.Dantès falls from a state of heaven to the depths of hell. Though innocent of any crime,he is imprisoned in the forbidding island fortress of the Château d’If.

I have stood atop a hill in the city of Marseilles in the south of France and gazed at thislittle island floating in the blue sea.Dantès emerges from the darkness of despair when he finds a mentor and father figurein the aged Abbé Faria, who is imprisoned in the adjoining cell. They forge an indestructible bond, and the abbé shares his vast learning with his youthful disciple. After revealing to Dantès the secret of a fabulous treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo,however, the abbé dies.

Though overcome with grief, Dantès remains undaunted. Alone again, he is determined
to survive and embarks on a new challenge. He does not give in to despair. Blazing afresh with an ardent desire for life, he vows, “Idesire to live, I desire to struggle to the very last.”

His resolve is driven by the ever-present wish to avenge the wrong done to him by the
despicable villains who sent him to prison. His thoughts turn also to precious friends towhom he is forever indebted and whom he hopes to one day repay for their kindness.Gratitude to the good and virtuous — this, when all is said and done, is the path of integrity and good faith for leading a truly human life.
By switching places with the dead body of the abbé, Dantès manages to make a daring
escape from the Château d’If.

On Jan. 8, 1945, President Toda was informed of the death in prison of his mentor, firstSoka Gakkai president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. The dedicated disciple wept in his coldprison cell. He wept, trembling with anger and grief.
And, all alone, he vowed: “Just wait! I will show the world my mentor was right! I willrepay my deep gratitude to my mentor by accomplishing something great. And were I toassume a pseudonym, I would use ‘Indomitable Champion.’”
Dantès, seeking to exact redress for the terrible injustice of false imprisonment that hadbeen perpetrated against him, turned into a ruthless avenger.
President Toda, meanwhile, gained his release from prison on July 3, 1945, and rose upas an “indomitable champion of faith” who dedicated his life to the mission of widely propagating Nichiren Buddhism and worked to bring happiness to all humanity.
Later, he wrote a novel titled The Human Revolution, under the pen name Myo Goku.
He called the story’s protagonist — modeled on himself — Gan Kutsuo [a homonym for
Gankutsu-o, “Indomitable Champion”].

Whenever the subject of his mentor’s death in prison was mentioned, tears rose in PresidentToda’s eyes, and he shook with anger. “Japanese nationalism killed President Makiguchi,” he cried. “I will avenge him! I will deal a crushing blow to those who caused President Makiguchi’s death!” Even today, his cry, like a great roaring wave, echoes in my heart.
President Toda’s anger was not anything personal; it was a fierce rage directed toward the devilish nature of authority that persecuted and brought about the death of his mentor, who had stood up for freedom of religion and the happiness of the people in an age of militarism.

Free for the first time in 14 years — and with the enormous treasure bequeathed him bythe abbé — Dantès, calling himself the Count of Monte Cristo, soon makes his appearance in Parisian society. In the intervening years, the enemies who have caused him such suffering have acquired wealth and station, and become established in the world. Dantès, with brilliant strategies and seemingly infinite wealth at his command, sets out to unmask the hypocrites, putting his plans for revenge into motion. He does not turn back until the last wrong has been righted.
President Toda, too, never forgot, even for a moment, the forces that caused his mentor’s death. “If you do not know your enemies, you will be deceived by them,” sternly warns Nichiren Daishonin (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 664).
Buddhism does not teach bloody, violent revenge. It teaches that life is supremely
precious; it does not condone the taking of life — even of evil people. Those who
perpetrate evil or injustice will without fail receive retribution for their actions in accord with the workings of the law of cause and effect.
That said, it is still imperative that we expose evil, and that we use our anger at injustice toward thoroughly denouncing it and rooting it out. If we permit evil to run rampant, even more people will suffer at its hands. A halfhearted struggle against evil only gives it greater leeway to grow and flourish.

The Daishonin declares, “Anger can be a function of either good or evil” (Gosho
Zenshu, p. 584). Anger that springs from good and justice, and is directed at fighting evil and injustice, can produce great good. To oppose extreme evil is an act of extreme good. The greatest “revenge” against evil is for the champions of good to be victorious and for good itself to flourish.

Dantès says to a young man: “I have two friends, who in this way never depart from me; the one who gave me being, and the one who conferred knowledge and intelligence on me. Their spirits live in me.” He is saying that he lives each day carrying on a dialogue with his father and his mentor.
There is nothing more noble than a life lived together with one’s mentor. President Toda once said, as if addressing his mentor, President Makiguchi, “In your vast and boundless compassion, you let me accompany you even to prison.”

On the same date of July 3, precisely 12 years after President Toda was released from
prison, I was arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. I had violated no law of
society or the nation. How could my arrest have been anything other than persecution for the sake of the Lotus Sutra?
As the disciple of an indomitable champion of faith, I followed the example of my
mentor and struggled as valiantly as a lion in prison. I have achieved a spiritual state that allows me to say with complete conviction, “I feel immeasurable delight” (WND, 386).
The first, second and third presidents of the Soka Gakkai have all possessed the
unyielding fighting spirit of indomitable champions of faith. It is crucial that my disciples inherit this precious treasure, this priceless legacy of faith.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was imprisoned many times in the course of his
unwavering struggle for human rights, declared: “If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means keep moving.”
As long as we live and persevere and never give up, there is hope. As long as we work
hard and keep moving forward, a path will open for us.
No matter what storms of adversity may descend upon us, we, the indomitable
champions of the SGI, will never know defeat — because Nichiren Buddhism is a religion of human triumph that shines with the sun of eternal, undying hope.

how should we pray?

The excerpts are from discussion on youth-2.
Hi all, i was reading DOY-2 and i found some guidance by sensei which i thought of sharing with all of you.
these are the guidances i have compiled from various chapters of DOY. i hope that it will be of some help to you.

"prayer is not of the realm of logic or intellect. It transcends such things. Prayer is an act in which we give expression to the pressing and powerful wishes and hopes in the depths of our being and yearn for their fulfilment."

"There is nothing extraordinary about prayer. it is simply wishing for something with all our heart. our heart is what matters most. in that respect, it is important that we chant with deep faith,reverenve and love for the gohonzon in our heart."

"while praying you just need to be yourself. thats the most important thing. revere the gohonzon as the fundamental basis of your life, reach out to it and take your problems to it as naturally as a child reaches for its mother. when you are suffering or when you are sad, there's no need to put on a good face or pretend everything is all right; just chant daimoku exactly as you are, unreservedly giving expression to the feelings in your heart."

"Nichiren Daishonin writes "... what is called faith is nothing unusual." and he urges"... as parents refuse to abandon their children or as a child refuses to leave its mother; so we should put our trust in the lotus sutra. in other words, all we need to do is trust the gohonzon wholeheartedly & pray sincerely that our desires will be realized.such prayers will definitly empower us."

"there are no hard and fast rules about having to chant a certain number of hours. setting daimoku targets can be useful, but when you are tired or sleepy and are just mumbling in a half conscious daze, then its better to stop and go to bed. after you're rested, you will be able to chant with concentration and energy again.
this is much more valuable. we should be alert and earnest when we pray not nodding off."
"The most important thing is that ou daimoku be personally satisfying and refreshing, so that we can exclaim when we finish "Ah, that felt good". by reinforcing that feeling day after day. we naturally move in the more positive diection of our lives."

gongyo- the welspring of life force

hi all, gongyo is a quintessential part of our practice.
this is a ceremony in which we connect our microcosm with the macrocosm of the universe. by doing gongyo regularly we develop a very strong engine (of life force) from where we can draw lots of energy and wisdom to carry out our work.
i personally like one analogy for gongyo. it is:
gongyo is like a salt in dish. while dish is nam myoho renge kyo.
we can have dish without salt but tell me isn't it taste better with appropriate salt in it??
anyways, doing gongyo is important but doing it correctly is as much important.
we all have a liturgy book in which some excerpts of 2nd and 16th chapters are given which we recite in morning and in evening.
liturgy in itself is self- explanatory, explaining the basic pronunciation.
during my practice i found there are certain parts and words where people do more mistakes.
i would touch upon them only.

1.) before goin further lets clear that there is a difference between S & SH. (SANMAI and shoho)PRONOUNCE PROPERLY.
2.) DIFFERENCE BETWEEN J AND Z . NIJI SESON, ZO.
I Know you must be thinkin that these are the things which everyone knows.i agree but i have seen members which do mistakes while pronouncing these words.

3.) if there is any inverted crescent between two words. then the last alphabet of first word willbe silent. Sho But Chi E

in liturgy between this two words inverted crescent is placed. so "t

"would be silent. it will be pronounce like Bu' Chi.

4.) now as it is there in liturgy as well, rhythm is very important in gongyo. to maintain steady rhythm the classical chinese symbols are given over words.

this acts as a beat. so if any word has 1 symbol it means there is only 1 beat and it need to be completed in a single beat.
exception is SHARI(of 2nd chapter) which inspite of having 2beats will be pronounced as a single beat.

i hope that it will be of some help to you. i would love to get your feedback on this.
thankyou.

Part A
THE 2ND CHAPTER. (HOBEN) PROSE FORM

Myoho renge kyo -- The wonderful Law of the Lotus Sutra
Ho ben pon dai ni: Skillful Ways
Ni Ji Se Son -- There the World Honored One
Ju San Mai -- Quietly came up
An Jo Ni Ki -- From his samadhi
Go Shari Hotsu -- And said to Shariputra:
Sho Bu' Chi E -- The wisdom of the Buddhas
Jin Jin Mu Ryo -- Is profound and cannot be measured
Go Chi E Mon -- Its gate is hard to understand
Nange Nan Nyu -- And difficult to enter.
Is Sai Sho Mon -- No Shravaka-Disciple
Hyaku Shi Butsu -- Or Self-taught buddha
Sho Fu No Chi -- Can understand it.
Sho I Sha Ga -- Why is that? (because!)
Butsu Zo Shin Gon -- the [present] Buddhas attended on many
Hyaku Sen Man Noku -- hundreds of thousands of billions
Mu Shu Sho Butsu -- Of [past] Buddhas,
Jin Gyo Sho Butsu -- And practiced the many teachings
Mu Ryo Do Ho -- Of those Buddhas bravely and energetically
Yu Myo Sho Jin -- To their far-flung fame till they attained
Myo Sho Fu Mon -- The profound Law
Jo Ju Jin Jin -- Which you've never heard before,
Mi Zo U Ho -- And also because they are exposing
Zui Gi Sho Setsu -- The Law according to the capacities
I Shu Nan Ge -- Of all living beings a way that the intention is hard to understand
Shari Hotsu -- Shariputra!
Go Ju Jo Butsu I Rai -- Since I became Buddha, I also
Shu Ju In Nen -- Have been stating various teachings
Shu Ju Hi Yu -- With different stories of previous lives,
Ko En Gon Kuyo -- Various parables, and various similes.
Mu Shu Ho Ben -- I have been leading all living beings
In Do Shu Jo -- With countless expedients
Ryo Ri Sho Jaku -- In order to save them from materialism,
Sho I Sha Ga -- Because I have the power
Nyo Rai Ho Ben -- To employ skills,
Chi Ken Hara Mitsu -- And the power to perform
Kai I Gu Soku -- The Paramita (reached goal of wisdom) of insight
Shari Hotsu -- Shariputra!
Nyo Rai Chi Ken -- The insight of the Tathagatas
Ko Dai Jin Non -- Is wide and deep.
Mu Ryo Mu Ge -- They have all the [states of mind
Riki Mu Sho I -- Towards] countless [living beings],
Zen Jo Ge Da's' San Mai -- unchecked [intelligence], powers,
Jin Nyu Mu Sai -- Fearlessness, dhyana-concentrations,
Jo Ju Is Sai -- Liberations and samadhis. They entered
Mi Zo U Ho -- Deep into no limits, and attained the Law which you've never heard before
Shari Hotsu -- Shariputra!
Nyo Rai Nyo Shu Ju Fun Betsu -- The Tathagatas divide the Law
Gyo Ses Sho Ho -- Into various teachings, and state
Gon Ji Nyu Nan -- Those teachings so gently and skillfully
Ek Ka Shu Shin -- That living beings are delighted.
Shari Hotsu -- Shariputra!
Shu Yo Gon Shi -- In short, the Buddhas attained
Mu Ryo Mu Hen -- The countless teachings
Mi Zo U Ho -- Which you've never heard before
Bus Shitsu Jo Ju -- No more
Shi -- Will I say
Shari Hotsu -- Shariputra
Fu Shu Bu Setsu -- Because the Law
Sho I Sha Ga -- attained by the Buddhas
Bus Sho Jo Ju -- Is the highest Truth.
Dai Ichi Ke U -- Rare [to hear] and hard
Nan Ge Shi Ho -- To understand.
Yui Butsu Yo Butsu -- Only the Buddhas attained
Nai No Ku Jin -- The highest Truth, that is

Sho Ho Jis So -- The Reality of All Things
Sho I Sho Ho -- In regards to:
Nyo Ze So -- Their appearances (form? shape? size? ) as such,
Nyo Ze Sho -- Their natures (essence) as such,
Nyo Ze Tai -- Their embodiments (present incarnation) as such,
Nyo Ze Riki -- Their powers (potentiality also possibilities) as such,
Nyo Ze Sa -- Their activities (function or role) as such,
Nyo Ze In -- Their primary causes (obvious cause) as such,
Nyo Ze En -- Their environmental causes (process) as such,
Nyo Ze Ka -- Their effects (latent or hidden effect) as such,
Nyo Ze Ho -- Their requital (final outcome or return) as such,
Nyo Ze Hon Ma' Ku Kyo To -- And the combination of these [factors] as such (over and over again)


Part C

THE 16TH CHAPTER. (JURYO) VERSE FORM (JIGAGE)

Myo ho renge kyo - The Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law - 16th Chapter.
nyo rai ju ryo hon, dai ju roku - the duration of Life of the Tathagata (Many Treasures).
Ji ga toku bu'rai -- Since I became a Buddha
Sho kyo sho ko shu -- It is many hundreds of thousands
Mu ryo hyaku sen man -- Of billions of trillions
Oku sai a so gi -- Of asankhyas of aeons (many many years).
Jo sep po kyo ke -- For the past countless aeons
Mu shu oku shu jo -- I have been stating the Dharma
Ryo nyu o butsu do -- To hundreds of millions of beings
Ni rai mu ryo ko -- To lead them into the Way to Buddhahood
I do shu jo ko -- In order to save [perverted] people,
Ho ben gen ne han -- I expediently show my Nirvana to them
Ni jitsu fu metsu do -- But In reality I never pass away.
Jo ju shi sep po -- I always live here and preach the Law.
Ga jo ju o shi -- Although I always live here
I sho jin zu riki -- With perverted people
Ryo ten do shu jo -- I disappear from their eyes
Sui gon ni fu ken -- By my supernatural powers
Shu ken ga metsu do -- When they see me seemingly pass away,
Ko ku yo shari -- they make offerings to my relics
Gen kai e ren bo -- they adore and admire me,
Ni sho katsu go shin -- they become devout, upright and gentle,
Shu jo ki shin buku -- And wish to see me
Shichi jiki I nyu nan -- With all their hearts
Is shin yok ken butsu -- Even at the cost of their lives.
Fu ji shaku shin myo -- So I reappear on Mt. Sacred Vulture peak
Ji ga gyu shu so -- With all my people (community/sangha)
Ku shutsu ryo ju sen -- And say to them:
Ga ji go shu jo -- I always live here.
Jo zai shi fu metsu -- I'll never be extinct.
I ho ben rik ko -- But I show my extinction expediently
Gen u metsu fu metsu -- Although I never pass away.
Yo koku u shu jo -- I also state the highest Law
Ku gyo shin gyo sha -- To the living beings of other worlds
Ga bu o hi chu -- If they respect me, they believe me,
I setsu mu jo ho -- And wish to see me.
Nyo to fu mon shi -- But you've never heard this;
Tan ni ga metsu do -- So you thought that I passed away
Ga ken sho shu jo -- I see [perverted] people sinking
Mo tsu zai o ku kai -- In a sea of sufferings.
Ko fu I gen shin -- Therefore, I disappear from their eyes
Ryo go sho katsu go -- And cause them to admire me.
In go shin ren bo -- Whey they adore me,
Nai shitsu I sep po -- I reappear and expound the Law to them.
Jin zu riki nyo ze -- I can do this by my supernatural powers.
O a so gi ko -- For countless aeons
jo zai ryo ju sen -- I lived on Mt. Sacred Eagle
Gyu yo sho ju sho -- And in all other delay.
Shu jo ken ko jin -- [Perverted] people think:
Dai ka sho sho ji -- 'This world is in a great fire.
Ga shi do an non -- The end is coming.'
Ten nin jo ju man -- but really this world of mine is peaceful.
On rin sho do kaku -- It is filled with gods and good people.
Shu ju ho sho gon -- Its gardens, forests, and palaces
Ho ju ta ke ka -- Are adorned with treasures;
Shu ju sho yu raku -- Gem trees have fruits and flowers;
Sho ten gyaku ten ku -- Living beings are enjoying themselves;
Jo sas shu gi gaku -- And the gods are beating heavenly drums,
U man da ra ke -- Pouring music and mandarava blossoms
San butsu gyu dai shu -- On the Buddha and all assembled beings.
Ga jo do fu ki -- My land is pure and indestructible.
Ni shu ken sho jin -- But [perverted] people think:
U fu sho ku no -- ‘It is full of sorrow, fear and pain,
Nyo ze shitsu ju man -- and will soon burn away.'
Ze sho zai shu jo -- Because of their evil karmas,
I aku go In nen -- these sinful people cannot hear even the names
Ka a so gi ko -- Of the Three Treasures
Fu mon san bo myo -- For countless aeons
Sho u shu ku doku -- To those who have accumulated merits
Nyu was shichi jiki sha -- Who are gentle and upright,
Sok kai ken ga shin -- And see me living here,
Zai shi ni sep po -- stating the Dharma,
Waku ji I shi shu -- I say: ‘The duration
Setsu butsu ju mu ryo -- Of my life is immeasurable.'
Ku nai ken bus sha -- To those who see me after a long time,
I setsu butsu nan chi -- I say: ‘It's hard to see a Buddha.'
Ga chi riki nyo ze -- This I can do by the power of my wisdom.
Eko sho mu ryo -- The light of my wisdom knows no limit.
Ju myo mu shu ko -- The duration of my life is forever
Ku shu go sho toku -- I obtained this by ages of practices.
Nyo to u chi sha -- All of you, wise men!
Mot to shi sho gi -- Have no doubts about this!
To dan ryo yo jin -- Remove your doubts, have no more!
Butsu go jip pu ko -- Because the Buddha's words are true, not false.
Nyo I zen ho ben -- The doctor, sent a man skillfully
I ji o shi ko -- To tell his perverted sons
Jitsu zai ni gon shi -- Of his death so he could to cure them,
Mu no sek ko mo -- Was not accused of falsehood through living
Ga yaku I se bu -- Likewise, I am the parent of this world.
Ku sho ku gen sha -- I save all living beings from suffering.
I bon bu ten do -- Because they are perverted, I say
Jitsu zai ni gon metsu -- That I pass away, even though I do not.
I jo ken ga ko -- If they always see me,
Ni sho kyo shi shin -- They will become arrogant and no morals
Ho itsu jaku go yaku -- And cling to the five human desires
Da o aku do chu -- Till they fall into evil paths (Hell, Hunger and Animality).
Ga jo chi shu jo -- I know all living beings,
Gyo do fu gyo do -- Who practice the Way and who do not.
Zui o sho ka do -- Therefore I expound various teachings
I ses shu ju ho -- According to the abilities of all.
Mai ji sa ze nen -- I am always thinking:
I ga ryo shu jo -- 'How can I cause all living beings
Toku nyu mu jo do -- To enter into the highest Way
Soku jo ju bus shin -- So they can quickly become Buddhas?

the three carts and the burning house

The Three Carts and the Burning House
[from the Hiyu chapter (Chapter 3) of the Lotus Sutra]

One day, a fire brokes out in the house of a wealthy man who had many children. The wealthy man shouts at his children inside the burning house to flee. But, the children are absorbed in their games and cannot understand his warning, though the house is being consumed by flames.

Then, the wealthy man devises a practical way to lure the children from the burning house. Knowing that the children are fond of interesting playthings, he calls out to them, “Listen! Outside the gate are the carts that you have always wanted: carts pulled by goats, carts pulled by deer, and carts pulled by oxen. Why don't you come out and play with them?"

The wealthy man knows that these things will be irresistible to his children.

The children immediately race out to get into the carts. In this way, the wealthy man is able to get his children safely away from the burning house.

Once outside, the children demand the carts they have been promised. Instead, the wealthy man gives them a much finer and larger cart — one that runs as swiftly as the wind — adorned with many jewels and drawn by a great white ox. This cart is called the Great White Ox Cart.