| THE DRAGON KING'S DAUGHTER As told by Reverend Raido Hirota |
| odhisattva Monjushiri was teaching Buddhism in the depts of the ocean. The Dragon King's daughter heard him and wanted to practice herself. Once she started to practice she immediately aspired to attain enlightenment. With a longing to see the Buddha she asked Monjushiri to take her to meet Shakyamuni. So Bodhisattva Monjushiri took her to Eagle Peak, just outside the city of Rajagriha, to meet the Buddha. The Dragon King's daughter asked Shkayamuni if she could attain enlightenment. Without hesitation Shakyamuni replied, "Yes!" |
| Sharihotsu, Shakyamuni's most learned disciple, objected. Turning to the Buddha he said, "You taught that females were prohibited from becoming enlightened. Women are doomed by the five obstacles and three types of obediences. Women cannot become a Bonten. Women cannot become a Taishaku. Women cannot become a devil king. Women cannot become a wheel-turning king. And most certainly women cannot become a Buddha. In addition, it is demanded of women that they obey their parents in childhood, their husbands after marriage, and their sons in old age." Nonetheless Shakyamuni Buddha held firm, and despite these objections and prohibitions against women the Dragon King's daughter attained enlightenment. |
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THE LESSON: |
| Every living thing can achieve enlightenment because all life itself is Namu-myoho-renge-kyo . Everything possesses the life of Buddha. Because the Buddha's life is in you, when you chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo -- which is the Buddha's life -- you awaken it. Before the Lotus Sutra was taught, even if all of society wanted to practice true Buddhism, it would have been difficult to do so, and impossible for women. Society was patriarchal -- men were dominant. The role of women was to support the men and do as they were told. Women had no power or free will to determine their own lives. That is the kind of society into which true Buddhism was introduced. Even today there are cultures and societies that are still like this. In the 12th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, however, it is revealed that even animals and women can become enlightened. This teaching was revolutionary. There is no way that only men can achieve enlightenment and the rest of life can not. All life has the same value. Therefore, only Namu-myoho-renge-kyo can save all life -- women, animals, plants, everything. Only the practice of Namu-myoho-renge-kyo can enlighten all life. |
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