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18. December
2004: The Enlightenment of the Bad and the Ugly
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Shin Yatomi
SGI-USA
Study department leader
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1)
By challenging the obstacles caused by Devadatta,
the Buddha not only proved himself to be the Buddha
but also helped his erstwhile archenemy make a decisive
cause for his future enlightenment.
2) When we develop confidence about innate Buddhahood,
all our physical attributes, however imperfect,
will start working to increase our genuine happiness
and inspire many others. |
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Authentic happiness is not limited
to the good and the beautiful. SGI-USA Study department
leader Shin Yatomi discusses the enlightenment of Devadatta
and the dragon girl from the Lotus Sutra: When we develop
confidence about our innate Buddhahood, all our attributes
will work to increase our happiness and inspire many others.
Often in movies and on TV shows, good guys are good-looking,
and bad guys are bad-looking. Aside from the debate as
to whether the media shapes or reflects how we see ourselves,
most of us seem to think that the happy are good and beautiful.
For our entertainment, therefore, movie studios project
our fancies of happiness on the silver screen, and television
networks encode the what-ifs of our lives in the radio
waves.
But for those of us with moral frailties and less-than-perfect
bodies who don’t have enough money for nipping and
tucking, where shall we turn for the inspiration and encouragement
to achieve authentic happiness, just as we are, in our
present circumstances? The “Devadatta” chapter
of the Lotus Sutra depicts the enlightenment of the bad
and the ugly, providing an important clue as to how we
can create happiness in both our minds and bodies.
Davadatta was Shakyamuni’s treacherous disciple
who attempted to kill his teacher and cause a schism in
the Buddhist Order. For this reason, in the Buddhist tradition
Devadatta was regarded as symbolic of evil, and therefore,
in many sutras, he was depicted as being denied enlightenment.
In the Lotus Sutra, however, Shakyamuni prophesies this
evil man’s enlightenment. After revealing that Devadatta
was his teacher in the past, the Buddha proclaims, “Devadatta,
after immeasurable kalpas have passed, will attain Buddhahood”(The
Lotus Sutra,p.184). The Buddha further explains, “The
fact that I have attained impartial and correct enlightenment
and can save living beings on a broad scale is all due
to Devadatta, who was a good friend”(p.184).
We could surmise then that Shakyamuni predicts Devadatta’s
enlightenment simply because Devadatta aided the Buddha
as a teacher in the past. But Nichiren Daishonin takes
a different viewpoint.
Regarding the relationship between Shakyamuni and Devadatta,
the Daishonin writes: “Devadatta was the foremost
good friend to the Thus Come One Shakyamuni. In this age
as well, it is not one’s allies but one’s
powerful enemies who assist one’s progress”(The
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,p.770).
Here the Daishoinin suggests that what made Devadatta
“the foremost good friend” to Shakyamuni was
the fact that Shakyamuni never succumbed to the treacherous
monk’s machinations and instead further strengthened
his efforts to help people realize their innate Buddhahood.
Shakyamuni could do this because of, not in spite of,
the obstacles caused by Devadatta. We might say that the
defeat of the evil man’s scheme was the source of
that man’s supreme fortune and happiness. And by
challenging the obstacles caused by Devadatta, the Buddha
not only proved himself to be the Buddha but also helped
his erstwhile archenemy make a decisive cause for his
future enlightenment.
The dragon king’s daughter is another character
whose enlightenment is depicted in the “Devadatta”
chapter of the Lotus Sutra. She “has just turned
eight”(p.187). Yet, through the teaching of the
Lotus Sutra, she “in the space of an instant conceived
the desire for bodhi and reached the level of no regression”(p.187).
However, Shariputra, one of Shakyamuni’s main disciples,
objects: “But this is difficult to believe. Why?
Because a woman’s body is soiled and defied, not
a vessel for the Law”(p.188).
So, to demonstrate the enlightenment she had already attained
to those unbelieving men represented by Shariputra, the
dragon girl magically transforms her appearance into a
man and then into a Buddha endowed with the Buddha’s
magnificent bodily features and characteristics.
Sadly, Shariputra’s understanding of the “actual
proof” of happiness is here shown to be, literally,
skin deep—it stops at the level of biology. Before
her transformation, the dragon girl presents a “precious
jewel worth as much as the thousand-millionfold world”
to the Buddha, who immediately accepts it (p.188).
The act symbolically explains that the dragon girl recognized
the hitherto unknown gem of Buddhahood in her innermost
life. This discovery was then acknowledged by the Buddha’s
acceptance of the jewel.
The dragon girl was young (as if to insinuate her immaturity
and lack of intelligence), and she had what many considered
to be ugly physical features—a scaly, reptilian
body. In her sex and body, the dragon girl was doubly
removed from the possibility of attaining enlightenment,
according to the misogynist viewpoint of some Buddhist
scriptures.
The dragon girl, however, was the opposite of what many
thought. In the words of Boddhisattva Manjushri, who converted
her, “Her wisdom has keen roots” (p.187).
She is “kind, compassionate, benevolent” and
“gentle and refined in will, capable of attaining
bodhi”(p.187). Furthermore, the dragon girl herself
expresses confidence about her Buddhahood, “I have
attained bodhi—the Buddha alone can bear witness
to this”(p.188).
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Have you had an experience
whereby you discovered a new source of strength
through the process of challenging your negativity? |
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Have you judged yourself or
others as incapable of becoming happy because of
physical attributes? How can our understanding of
Nichiren Buddhism help us overcome such prejudice? |
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Despite the judgment cast on her because of being a female
with her unusual appearance, the dragon girl revealed
her supreme potential of Buddhahood, and her example inspired
the suffering multitudes, filling their hearts with “great
joy”(p.189).
Regarding those episodes of Devadatta and the dragon girl,
Nichiren Daishonin writes: “The fifth scroll contains
the very heart of the Lotus Sutra, for it reveals that
the dragon king’s daughter attained Buddhahood in
her present form. Devadatta represents the spiritual aspect
of enlightenment, and the physical aspect”(WND,963).
The enlightenment of Devadatta, then, shows us how to
create a truly happy state of mind. We can naturally manifest
our greatest potential, our inherent Buddhahood, despite
our life-negating tendencies (represented by Devadatta)
as long as we are keenly aware of and continue to challenge
these tendencies, both within us and around us. This is
the positive power of not ignoring but challenging the
negative.
The enlightenment of the dragon girl teaches us how to
create happiness in our physical selves. When we develop
confidence about our inner Buddhahood just as the dragon
girl did, all our physical attributes, however imperfect,
will start working to increase our genuine happiness and
inspire many others. Our bodies come in all sizes and
shapes, unique to each of us. Just as one can make an
attractive and comfortable home out of an imperfect house,
we can transform our bodies into wonderful homes for our
appreciative minds.
The Lotus Sutra offers a more realistic and hopeful approach
to the authentic happiness of mind and body than the imaginary
happiness of the good and the beautiful made in Hollywood.
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(from World Tribune, October
24, 2003)
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