Dharma Talk by Dr. Reeves - Kuan-yin's Universal Gate

"Kuan-yin's Universal Gate"
June 10, 2001

Kuan-yin became the most popular Buddhist figure in East Asia. We can find Kuan-yin images in every temple in China and Taiwan, and in many temples nuns regularly chant Chapter 25, "Kuan-yin's Universal Gate." Many believe that Chapter 25 is the whole Lotus Sutra, and it is often circulated and read as an independent sutra.

"Kuan-yin," more completely "Kuan-shih-yin," is a translation from Sanskrit of "Avalokiteshvara," a figure who perceives or hears the cries of people who suffer from a variety of difficulties in the world. In Japanese Avalokiteshvara is known as "Kannon" or "Kanzeon." In Chapter 25 the Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Mind asks, "For what reason does the Bodhisattva Kuan-shih-yin have the name Kuan-shih-yin?" Then Shakyamuni Buddha explains that if anyone who is suffering calls Avalokiteshvara's name with all their heart, they will immediately be heard and will be able to free themselves from suffering.

In the Sutra named "The Mahayana Marks of the Treasure King Sutra" it is even says that Kuan-yin is greater than any buddha, and has created the world.

In Chinese temples we almost always see a central Buddha statue or statues, with Manjushri somewhere on right, Universal Wisdom on the left, and Kuan-yin behind the Buddha image. It is as if Kuan-yin is supporting the Buddha from behind. As Kuan-yin's figure was developed as female in China, she became a powerful symbol of compassion as "the Goddess of Mercy" or bodhisattva of compassion.
In the Lotus Sutra as well as in other sutras it is said that a Buddha is always male. One of the 32 marks of a buddha is a male sexual organ. That is why there are many stories, including the story of Dragon Princess in the Lotus Sutra, in which a female figure is transformed into a male in order to become a buddha.

If we would visit a Kuan-yin temple in China or in Japan and ask ordinary people who the central figure is, they would probably reply "Buddha." Kuan-yin is often confused with Buddha. Dr. Reeves indicated that while this is a mistake from an academic or strict perspective, it might be a kind of wisdom of ordinary people which recognizes the importance of equality in Mahayana Buddhism, including the equality of men and women. Although an understanding of Kuan-yin as Buddha is incorrect in once sense, in an other sense recognizing the female Kuan-yin as Buddha is correct, as the Lotus Sutra teaches us that everyone has a Buddha nature, the potential to become a Buddha. Thus it is correct to see Buddha nature in this compassionate bodhisattva, Kuan-yin. Even today many Buddhists in East Asia pray to Kuan-yin and not to Shakyamuni Buddha.

One of reasons that the Lotus Sutra became so popular is because of a close association with Kuan-yin. Although Kuan-yin appears in many sutras, the Lotus Sutra is the only sutra that includes a significant story about Kuan-yin.

Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra is called "Kuan-yin's Universal Gate." A gate in Buddhism is an entrance to the Dharma and a beginning toward awakening. A beginning point is always regarded as very important in Buddhism, and Kuan-yin is understood as making it possible for all people to take the path, which is the Buddha-way.The Buddha-way may be difficult for ordinary people to follow, but the Universal gate of Kuan-yin was very wide, and can accommodate all kinds of people.

In the Rissho Kosei-kai Guest hall, Horinkaku, there is a magnificent Thousand-armed Kuan-yin statue. Each of the hands holds a symbol representing the different tools and skills by which Kuan-yin can help people. In the tradition of East Asia, when people had problems with family, job, health and so on, they turned to Kuan-yin for help. Thus, for some, Kuan-yin is a kind of supernatural deity.

But, as Founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, the late Rev. Nikkyo Niwano emphasized, Dr. Reeves, stressed that it was a mistake for us to think that Kuan-yin is a kind of supernatural power for helping us with our problems. Kuan-yin should be understood as a model for us, who should take up a bodhisattva way. We should see in Kuan-yin a model of what we could be. As Kuan-yin has a thousand skills, we too should develop a thousand skills for helping others.

Dr. Reeves concluded his talk by saying, "The Bodhisattva is ourselves," and then he read a Chinese poem:The Dharma-body of Kuan-yin is neither male nor female.Even the body is not the body, what attributes can there be?
Let it be known to all Buddhists:
Do not cling to form.
The bodhisattva is you:
Not the picture or the image.

Dharma Talk by Dr. Reeves - Generosity

"Generosity"
June 03, 2001

The Rev. George Mullins, an Episcopal minister from Australia, gave a talk as a personal testimony. He showed a picture of a tree near the precious Sputa of the One Vehicle, in which Founder Nikkyo Niwano's remains are resting. The central trunk of the tree looked dead, but it is surrounded by many new branches with green leaves. Referring to this tree, Mullins said that even though the lifetime of a human being is limited and not eternal, as we see with the passing of Founder Niwano in 1999, the Dharma taught by the Founder has been enthusiastically inherited by his disciples, and thus is flourishing eternally.Then Dr. Gene Reeves gave his Dharma talk entitled as "Generosity."

The bodhisattva way, which can be understood simply as doing good or being helpful for others, is advocated in the Lotus Sutra. Within the traditions of Buddhism there are many ideas about the bodhisattva path, but one of the practices found throughout Buddhism is generosity, the first of the six bodhisattva practices or "perfections" (generosity, morality, patient endurance of hardship, persistence, concentration and wisdom).

"Generosity is a translation of the Sanskrit Buddhist term dana. It has been translated into Japanese as fuse, the original meaning of which is to give coins, especially to monks.

There is a story about a king and his three sons, namely Mahapranada, Mahadeva and Mahasattva. One day the king took the three princes for a walk in the garden. The boys wandered off by themselves into the woods, where they met a female tiger with five cubs who had just been born. The mother tiger was so exhausted after delivery that she could not move to get food for her hungry, newborn cubs. The three princes were afraid of the tigress, but they did not have anything to give to feed her. These princes discussed with each other "What should we dofor this tigress?"

Mahasattva, then, decided to give his body to feed the tigress and threw his body in front of her. But she did not try to eat him. Realizing that she hardly had enough energy to move, Mahasattva cut himself with a bamboo stick, so that the smell of his blood stimulated the tigress to eat his body.

We are told that Mahasattva later became Shakyamuni Buddha, and that having made such an extreme act of generosity was a cause of his enlightenment. This story illustrates extreme generosity in order to encourage people to become more generous.

There are two meanings of "generosity" in English. The first is liberality in giving, which can be translated into Japanese as kandai, and the other is freedom from smallness or narrowness of mind, which corresponds to the Japanese phrase kokoro ga hiroi. Dr. Reeves said that both of these two meanings are included in the Buddhist notion of dana and correspond to the Japanese translation of fuse whose broad meaning includes both being generous in giving and openness.

Dr. Reeves explained several types of generosity. Making donations of money or things to others and to organizations is a basic component of giving and generosity. Most religious organizations, for example, have to have donations to survive.

However, in the Lotus Sutra, more important than giving money or things is to give the Dharma to others. One who has the received the Dharma from others is to pass it on to others, so that Dharma-wheel rolls on and on.

The so-called transference of blessings is also a sign of generosity. In Chapter 7 of the Lotus Sutra we find:

"May the blessing from this recitation
extend to all,
That we with all the living
together attain the Buddha way."


This is a kind of generosity related in the Lotus Sutra. The purpose of this expression is to open our hearts to share what we have done with others. From this sense we can understand that we are a part of wide and extensive community, and that we recite not only for individual benefit but for the benefit of others as well.

In addition to these meanings, moral support or encouragement is also a kind of embodiment of generosity. The Founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, Nikkyo Niwano, was always very generous with his smile. It always encouraged us and was a kind of gift.
The other side of generosity is openness. This might mean exercising skills of listening so that one is really able to hear others. Listening to people who are angry or disappointed may require an extra effort, but it will heal those people.

To be generous, not only in giving, but in having an open attitude toward others or other religious movements is also an act of generosity and the mark of a generous person. Thus, we should never say that all truths are in Buddhism.The Lotus Sutra teaches that wherever and whenever people are doing good the dharma is present, whether or not anyone has ever heard of Buddhism. In this sense, the important notion of generosity can be understood not only as giving, a kind of outgoing, but also as receiving, a kind of welcoming. Thus there are both directions to generosity, namely away from attachment to things and to self and away from selfishness and self-centeredness.

Dr. Reeves concluded by referring briefly to Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra, which teaches how to be generous.

It says if we are generous we will be rewarded. But if we are generous in order to be rewarded, we will be disappointed. This tells us we should be generous both in the sense of giving and in sense of openness toward others. But if our real intention is to gain rewards, then we are the opposite of generous."Let us be generous with one another!"