World Peace Buddhists  

     Stanford University                           SGI-USA

* Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra

 

“Expedient Means” - The Art of Skillful Human Education

(from vol 1 wisdom of the lotus sutra chp 6)

 

Student division meeting May 1, 2004

 

Questions :

 

1.What’s expedient Means of Buddhist teaching ?

2. Would Buddhahood be achieved and maintained without Expedient Means ?

3. How is education and religion related ?

 

Expedient Means chapter is what we recite in our Gongyo A

 

Expedient Means is the title of Chapter 2 of the lotus sutra. The first part of the chapter is indeed what we chant everyday in our first part of our gongyo.

 

After the introductory chapter outlining the three meetings in two places, this chapter described the “Meetings” in detail. Starting with Shakamuni opened his eyes and arises from his meditation, and announced the profound and immeasurable power of Buddha’s wisdom. Immediately 5000 arrogant laid practitioners leave the meeting. Shakyamuni makes no attempt to stop their move. Shariputra – the wisest among shakyamuni’s disciples, represent those who conquer their arrogance with their seeking spirits and ready for the truth.

 

Shakyamuni declared : All three vehicles, “Learning, realization and Bodhisattvas” are all “Expedient Means” to achieve real Buddhahood. (Replacing three vehicles by one vehicles). He further claimed that his role as a buddha is to open, show, awaken and guide people into buddhahood, and the means of achieving that is through the “Expedient Means”.

 

Shakyamuni’s hesitation

 

From the life span chapter (Last part of gongyo C)

“At all times I think to myself , How can I cause living beings, to gain entry into unsurpassed way and quickly acquired the body of a Buddha ?”

 

After Shakyamuni attained buddhahood from the Bodhai tree, he run into hesitation of whether to preach the law, because of the difficulties, because of the foreseen prosecution, and the worry that people’s wisdom cannot afford the truth. Such hesitation reveal Shakyamuni’s buddhood.-  Buddha are the one who is thinking and agonizing over how to develop other’s ability to achieve happiness as well as over how to fulfill his or her own mission. Through compassion, true wisdom emerge.

 

“I have through various causes and various smiles widely expounded my teachings” – this power of teaching is called the power of expedient means. We see that Shakyamuni  tailor his teaching to serve the best to each entity, that’s the wisdom that emerge through love and care to each individual.

 

Such tailoring of teaching is the expedient means that Buddha open, show, awaken and guide people into buddhahood.

 

Various means of Expedient Means

 

Tientai further classify Expedient Means into three types :

 

Functional teaching expedient – which leads to temporary immediate benefit

Truth gateway expedient – represent all aspect of leading people to the truth

Secret and mystic expedient  - The state of  Buddhahood.

 

The first two expedient are processes that help to achieve enlightenment from daily life. It’s like raising into the Ceremony of the air from the Eagle peak. The third expedient represent from the state of Buddhahood back to everyday reality which is enlightenment in the real world, it’s like coming back from the ceremony of the air back to the Eagle peak.

 

Secret and mystic ….

 

Why is it secret ? Shakyamuni described “Only those who believe in the teaching would enter,. Those who don’t believe would not know” Hence it’s secret, hidden within ordinary entity. It’s mystic because of the wonder that all ordinary living entities really possess the ability to achieve buddhahood.

 

Indeed Daishonin declare : daimoku is the ninth consciousness which represent  buddhahood. The Expedient Means represent the first to the eighth consciousness.  When we start chanting the expedient means. (gongyo A), the title of the chapter reads “Myohorengekyo Hobenpon”. Hobenpon is the Chinese pronounciation  “Expedient Means chapter”. This opening sentence of our prayer illustrate that delusion and enlightenment are not separate.

 

Toda : You and I are ordinary people, yet at the same time, each of us is theoretically a Buddha, To attain Buddhahood is to know that one is a Buddha. This wondrous fact is secret and hidden, hence is the designation of secret and mystic. Buddha appear in the saha world as ordinary human beings to undergo suffering in order to save people. This is the principle of secret and mystic expedient.

 

Suffering and joy are the true expedient Means. Daishonin taught “Suffer what is to suffer, enjoy what is to enjoy” Practitioner of lotus sutra are reading the expedient means with our lives.

 

Buddhahood is the realization that we’re born with our body as an expedient Means to demonstrate the power of the mystic law. It’s a pity that we didn’t realize of supreme profoundness and think of ourselves totally as the expedient means.

 

Our practice is a dynamic demonstration of the secret and mystic of expedient.

 

Expedient means is to EDUCATE people to Buddhahood.

 

“True religious commitment and true spirit of education are actually two manifestation of the same ideal of the complete liberation of the human beings.

 

Makiguchi has realized that education is indeed in common with Buddhist belief.  “Philosophical core of the value creating education can be found in the essence of lotus sutra. Human education and Buddhism are the two aspects of the same reality

 

Finally, let’s conclude with the quote from Lu Xun, the greatest Chinese writer in the last century “In life it’s a joy to nurture others, even though doing so shedding one drop of blood in a time, one grow weaker and frailer”.