Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

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“If the nation is destroyed and people’s homes are wiped out, then where can one flee for safety? If you care anything about your personal security, you should first of all pray for order and tranquillity throughout the four quarters of the land, should you not?”

(On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land - WND, Vol. 1, page 24)

 

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"In the natural world, winter always turns to spring. What is needed in our human world for that to happen?

“The Swiss philosopher Carl Hilty (1833–1909) declared : ‘Break through!—this short phrase has an almost magical effect each time we face an inner crisis.'[1] Persevere through all; continue, no matter what difficulty. Persevering is the secret to everything, he concludes.

"To paraphrase Hilty: When your mind seems ready to drift off to sleep, or when you are overcome by a feeling of lethargy—tell yourself: Break through! This short phrase delivers a shock to a healthy will and awakens it. The elevated spirit is once again free to move towards the truth, towards what’s right and just. When you feel yourself succumbing to feelings of futility or apathy, rouse yourself and press on through!

"We all experience problems and deadlocks from time to time—it might be with SGI activities, with work, or with human relations. That’s the time to persevere. Continue pressing forward and win your own victory. That’s the only way.”

SGI Newsletter No. 9366, The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, Part 2: Human Revolution, 17.4 Seeking Out Challenges for Self-Development in One’s Youth, translation released 8th March, 2016

[1] Ibid., p. 193.

 

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“It must be ties of karma from the distant past that have destined you to become my disciple at a time like this. Shakyamuni and Many Treasures certainly realised this truth. The sutra’s statement, ‘Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers,’ (Lotus Sutra Chap. 7) cannot be false in any way.”

(The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life - WND, Vol. 1, page 217)

 

[Weird]

The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life

Written by Nichiren

Background

I HAVE just carefully read your letter. To reply, the ultimate Law of life and death as transmitted from the Buddha to all living beings is Myoho-renge-kyo. The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo were transferred from Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, the two Buddhas inside the treasure tower, to Bodhisattva Superior Practices, carrying on a heritage unbroken since the infinite past. Myō represents death, and hō, life. Living beings that pass through the two phases of life and death are the entities of the Ten Worlds, or the entities of Myoho-renge-kyo.

T’ien-t’ai says that one should understand that living beings and their environments, and the causes and effects at work within them, are all the Law of renge (the lotus).1 Here “living beings and their environments” means the phenomena of life and death. Thus, it is clear that, where life and death exist, cause and effect, or the Law of the lotus, is at work.

For more on this passage ---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/29

 

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five or seven characters ［五字七字］ ( goji-shichiji): The “five characters” indicating Myoho-renge-kyo, which consists of five Chinese characters (pronounced in Japanese)—myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō, and the “seven characters,” Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which comprises two additional Chinese characters, nan or na, and mu. Nichiren (1222–1282) often uses Myoho-renge-kyo synonymously with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in his writings. Nam or namu is a compound of the two Chinese characters of nan and mu. In his work On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law, Nichiren states: “I have offered prayers to the Gohonzon of Myoho-renge-kyo. Though this mandala has but five or seven characters, it is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the three existences and the seal that guarantees the enlightenment of all women. It will be a lamp in the darkness of the road to the next world and a fine horse to carry you over the mountains of death. . . . It is the teacher who leads all to Buddhahood and enlightenment” (WND/414).

 

[Weird]

Something I was learning about today

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings (Ongi kuden) says: Namu or nam is a Sanskrit word. Here it means to dedicate one’s life, that is, to the Person and to the Law. In terms of the Person, one dedicates one’s life to Shakyamuni Buddha; in terms of the Law, one dedicates one’s life to the Lotus Sutra. “Dedication” means dedication to the principle of eternal and unchanging truth of the theoretical teaching, and “life” means that one’s life dedicated to that principle bases itself on the wisdom of the truth of the essential teaching that functions in accordance with changing circumstances. In essence, one dedicates one’s life to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

for more on this passage ---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/ott/TEXTS/1

 

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oneness of the Person and the Law ［人法一箇］ ( nimpō-ikka): A principle established by Nichikan (1665–1726), the twenty-sixth chief priest of Taiseki-ji temple in Japan, with regard to Nichiren’s (1222–1282) teaching, indicating that the object of devotion in terms of the Person and the object of devotion in terms of the Law are one in their essence. The Law is inseparable from the Person and vice versa. The “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states, “If one upholds this [sutra], one will be upholding the Buddha’s body.” This means that the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha’s body; that is, the Buddha (Person) and the teaching (Law) he expounded are one and inseparable. Nichiren revealed and spread the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and inscribed it in the form of a mandala, known as the Gohonzon, to enable all people in the Latter Day of the Law to attain Buddhahood; for this reason he is regarded as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. This is the object of devotion in terms of the Law, or the physical embodiment of the eternal and intrinsic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that Nichiren realized and manifested within his own life. Hence Nichiren is the object of devotion in terms of the Person. In his Reply to Kyō’ō, Nichiren writes, “The soul of Nichiren is nothing other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (WND/412). This means that Nichiren realized Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the origin and basis of his life and embodied it as a mandala. Nichiren also writes in the same reply, “I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart” (WND/412). Ultimately, Nichiren’s life embodied the principle of the oneness of the Person and the Law, as does the Gohonzon, the object of devotion he established.

 

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expedient means ［方便］ (, Pali upāya;  hōben): The methods adopted to instruct people and lead them to enlightenment. The concept of expedient means is highly regarded in Mahayana Buddhism, especially in the Lotus Sutra, as represented by its second chapter titled “Expedient Means.” This is because expedient means are skillfully devised and employed by Buddhas and bodhisattvas to lead the people to salvation. According to the Lotus Sutra, the three vehicles of the voice-hearer, cause-awakened one, and bodhisattva are provisional teachings and expedient means designed to lead people to the one Buddha vehicle, or the teaching that leads all people to Buddhahood. The teaching that directly reveals the truth of enlightenment is called the true teaching, while the teachings that are expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity and as a temporary means of leading people to the truth are called expedient teachings or provisional teachings. See also three expedient means.

 

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three expedient means ［三方便］ ( san-hōben): Also, three types of expedient means. A classification of Shakyamuni’s teachings into three categories, set forth by T’ien-t’ai (538–597) in The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra. In that work, T’ien-t’ai interprets the title of the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “Expedient Means,” with his three types of expedient means. Expedient means indicates the teachings the Buddha expounds in order to lead people to the true and supreme teaching. The first category is known as “adaptations of the Law expedient means” ( hōyū-hōben), the teachings that were preached in accordance with the people’s capacities. The second is called “expedient means that can lead one in” (nōtsū-hōben), indicating the teachings the Buddha preached as a gateway to the true teaching. These first two expedient means correspond to the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and constitute provisional teachings. They are what the Buddha refers to in the “Expedient Means” chapter where he says, “Honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way.” The third category, or “secret and wonderful expedient means” (himyō-hōben), is the teaching that contains the truth. This expedient means indicates that the Buddha concealed, or kept secret, the truth for the first forty-two years of his preaching life, expounding it only in the Lotus Sutra. When viewed from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra, however, all the provisional teachings are included in the sutra as partial explanations of the truth. This inclusion is termed “wonderful” (myō). Unlike the first two expedient means, the third category is not only a means that leads people to the truth, but also the truth itself.

Nichiren (1222–1282) explains “secret and wonderful expedient means” with the parable of the jewel in the robe from the “Five Hundred Disciples” (eighth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in which a poor man has a precious jewel sewn inside his robe but is unaware of it. Because he is unaware, the jewel is “secret,” but because he owns it, it is “wonderful.” The jewel sewn in the robe indicates that Buddhahood is inherent in all people (wonderful), and the poor man’s ignorance of it, that ordinary people are unaware of their own Buddha nature (secret).

 

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purpose of one’s advent ［出世の本懐］ ( shusse-no-honkai): A person’s ultimate purpose for being born into this world.

In the “Expedient Means” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha states, “The Buddhas, the world-honored ones, appear in the world for one great reason alone.” Shakyamuni continues, “The Buddhas, the world-honored ones, wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to allow them to attain purity. That is why they appear in the world. They wish to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world.”

Shakyamuni reveals that the purpose for which all Buddhas appear in this world is, by preaching the Lotus Sutra, to teach that all people originally possess within them the Buddha wisdom, and to show them the way to cultivate that wisdom and realize the life state of a Buddha.

Shakyamuni goes on to say, “Shāriputra, you should know that at the start I took a vow, hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us, and what I long ago hoped for has now been fulfilled.” The vow Shakyamuni made as a bodhisattva many kalpas in the past was to enable all people to achieve Buddhahood. And now, he says, he has been able to fulfill that original vow by preaching the Lotus Sutra.

In the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni explains that upon fulfilling this original vow, he has completed all of the work he set out to do in this world and will pass into nirvana. But even his entry into nirvana would be an expedient means, a method of teaching, for the same chapter reveals that he will remain always and eternally present in this sahā world. His lifespan as a bodhisattva who had made the vow and as the Buddha who attained the way in the remote past is described as inexhaustible. This means that the vow of a bodhisattva and the great desire of a Buddha are the same—to enable all living beings to attain Buddhahood—and that the power and function of the eternal Buddha to realize this goal are always present in this world.

The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai (Chih-i) of China and the Great Teacher Dengyō (Saichō) of Japan overcame various obstacles to promote Buddhist faith and practice founded on the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren, basing himself on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, described the purposes of their advent as follows: For T’ien-t’ai, who was active in China in the Middle Day of the Law, it was his work Great Concentration and Insight, in which he expounded the doctrine of “three thousand realms in a single moment of life” and established the practice of “observing the mind.” And for Dengyō, active in Japan at the end of the Middle Day of the Law, his purpose was realized through the establishment of a sanctuary for administering the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment based upon the Lotus Sutra.

For Nichiren, who appeared in the Latter Day of the Law when Shakyamuni’s teachings had lost their power to benefit people, the purpose of his advent was to establish the way by which all people of this age can attain Buddhahood. He expounded the teaching that people could study and practice and thereby attain Buddhahood. Nichiren revealed that that teaching is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and that it is the seed of Buddhahood hidden deep in the text of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

This Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was embodied in the form of the Three Great Secret Laws: the object of devotion of the essential teaching, the sanctuary of the essential teaching, and the daimoku of the essential teaching. Together they compose the essential teaching of the Latter Day of the Law.

The Three Great Secret Laws correspond to the three types of learning—three fundamentals of Buddhist practice that all Buddhists are supposed to master. They are the precepts, meditation, and wisdom.

The object of devotion of the essential teaching is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Law which brings about Buddhahood, that Nichiren discovered within his own life and then expressed in a mandala endowed with all of the Ten Worlds. Nichiren says that the benefit of embracing this object of devotion, called the Gohonzon, includes that of observing the mind. Among the three types of learning, this corresponds to meditation in Nichiren Buddhism.

The daimoku of the essential teaching means to believe in the object of devotion and chant the daimoku, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Because the Buddha wisdom emerges within one’s own life through this practice, the daimoku corresponds to wisdom among the three types of learning.

The sanctuary of the essential teaching indicates the place where the object of devotion of the essential teaching is enshrined and where one carries out faith and practice based upon it. One can thus extinguish the evil that has accumulated in one’s life and in its place cultivate the ultimate good that is the world of Buddhahood. For this reason, the benefit of embracing this object of devotion includes that of observing the precepts, and corresponds to the precepts among the three types of learning.

As described above, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws includes the three types of learning appropriate for the Latter Day of the Law that can enable all people to attain Buddhahood. Nichiren’s establishment of these Three Great Secret Laws is regarded as the purpose of his advent in this world.

Nichiren refers to the purpose of his advent in a letter titled On Persecutions Befalling the Sage, which he wrote on the first day of the tenth month in the second year of the Kōan era (1279). At the time, followers of Nichiren among the farmers in the Fuji area in Suruga province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture) were subjected to severe persecution by religious and political authorities, which came to be known as the Atsuhara Persecution. Nevertheless, these farmers persisted in upholding their faith. Nichiren regarded their practice as a model for all, for such selfless devotion would make possible the wide propagation of his teachings. Nichiren’s fundamental vow, and the purpose of his advent, was to spread Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws widely, to realize the attainment of Buddhahood by all people and to establish peace and prosperity throughout the world.

 

[Weird]

Shariputra, you should know

that at the start I took a vow,

hoping to make all persons

equal to me, without any distinction between us,

and what I long ago hoped for

has now been fulfilled.

I have converted all living beings

and caused them all to enter the Buddha way.

For more on this passage ---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/2

 

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The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings pgs. 39-41

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings pgs. 39-41

Chapter Two: Expedient Means
Eight important points

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/ott/PART-1/2

Point Six, regarding the passage “Shāriputra, you should know / that at the start I took a vow, / hoping to make all persons / equal to me, without any distinction between us, / and what I long ago hoped for / has now been fulfilled. / I have converted all living beings / and caused them all to enter the Buddha way.”

The commentary [volume four of Words and Phrases] says, “This points out the cause [for the attainment of Buddhahood] in order to encourage faith.”

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: The “I” here refers to Shakyamuni Buddha, who in fact attained Buddhahood in the remote past. This Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching is none other than we, living beings.

The “me” in the phrase “equal to me” [that is, the Buddha] represents the last seven of the ten factors of life. The living beings of the nine worlds represent the first three of the ten factors. We living beings are the parent, and the Buddha is the child. Father and son constitute a single entity, a beginning and end that are ultimately equal. We living beings are described in the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra as the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies.

Nichiren and his followers, who today chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, are the ones meant here. And if we stop to think of it, we realize that the two vows taken by Shakyamuni, the universal or general vow and the individual or particular vow, were taken for the sake of living beings such as us. Therefore when Nichiren chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, vowing to make it possible for all the living beings in this country of Japan to attain Buddhahood, this is what is described in the sutra in the words “at the start I took a vow, / hoping to make all persons / equal to me.” And when in the end he has guided and led all beings so that they become one with the Buddha himself, you should understand that this is what is referred to by the words “what I long ago hoped for / has now been fulfilled.”

In the phrase “has now been fulfilled” (kon ja i manzoku), the character i means “already.” What is the passage referring to when it says that “now it has already been fulfilled”? On the whole, the commentaries of T’ien-t’ai indicate that the “already” refers to the pronouncement on the “true aspect of all phenomena” made earlier by the Buddha. But from the point of view of the teachings of our school, you should understand that it refers to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and that this is what is being described in the words “now it has already been fulfilled.”

For this reason the passage “hoping to make all persons / equal to me, without any distinction between us” is one of great importance. “What I long ago hoped for” is the True Cause. And “to make all persons / equal to me, without any distinction between us” is the True Effect. The Shakyamuni Buddha of perfect enlightenment is our own flesh and blood. His practices and the resulting virtues are our bones and marrow, are they not?

The commentary of T’ien-t’ai says, “This points out the cause [for the attainment of Buddhahood] in order to encourage faith.” “Pointing out the cause” is none other than the True Effect.(3) And now when Nichiren chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he is enabling all living beings to attain Buddhahood in the ten thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law. Is it not right, therefore, to say, “What I long ago hoped for / has now been fulfilled”?

“Already” refers to the daimoku, which was chanted for the first time on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of the fifth year of the Kenchō era (1253), and hence we may think of it as something that has taken place “already.” There can be no question that through this act the truly excellent medicine of the Wonderful Law is being applied in order to cure the grave illness of darkness that afflicts all living beings. In the light of this act, Nichiren has “fulfilled” his vow. “Fulfilled” may also be taken to refer to the achieving of Buddhahood on the part of the living beings.

The passage in a commentary [volume one of On “Great Concentration and Insight”] says, “Perfect means perfect and interfused or perfect and full. Sudden means sudden and complete or sudden and satisfactory.”(4) You should think about this.

Notes:

3. Realizing the cause for the attainment of Buddhahood means the attainment of Buddhahood itself. Hence “pointing out the cause” means the True Effect, or the effect of Buddhahood.
4. The quotation explains the key principles of the Lotus Sutra that enable ordinary people to attain Buddhahood immediately. It is cited to describe the characteristics of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which Nichiren expounded to lead all people in the Latter Day of the Law to Buddhahood.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

For Nichiren, who appeared in the Latter Day of the Law when Shakyamuni’s teachings had lost their power to benefit people, the purpose of his advent was to establish the way by which all people of this age can attain Buddhahood. He expounded the teaching that people could study and practice and thereby attain Buddhahood. Nichiren revealed that that teaching is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and that it is the seed of Buddhahood hidden deep in the text of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Who said Shakyamuni's teachings would lose their power to benefit people in the Latter Day of the Law?

Shakyamuni did in the Lotus Sutra. It is the basis of the division of the Buddhism of the Harvest and the Buddhism of the Sowing.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Reply to the Lay Priest Soya

Reply to the Lay Priest Soya

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/58

I HAVE written out the prose section of the “Expedient Means” chapter for you. You should recite it together with the verse portion of the “Life Span” chapter, which I sent you earlier.

The characters of this sutra are all without exception living Buddhas of perfect enlightenment. But because we have the eyes of ordinary people, we see them as characters. For instance, hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita. Though the water is the same, it appears differently according to one’s karmic reward from the past.

The blind cannot see the characters of this sutra. To the eyes of ordinary people, they look like characters. Persons of the two vehicles perceive them as the void. Bodhisattvas look on them as innumerable doctrines. Buddhas recognize each character as a golden Shakyamuni. This is what is meant by the passage that says, “[If one can uphold this sutra], one will be upholding the Buddha’s body.”(1) Those who practice with distorted views, however, are destroying this most precious sutra. You should simply be careful that, without differing thoughts, you single-mindedly aspire to the pure land of Eagle Peak. A passage in the Six Pāramitās Sutra(2) says to become the master of your mind rather than let your mind master you. I will explain in detail when I see you.

With my deep respect,

Nichiren

The third month in the twelfth year of Bun’ei (1275)

To the lay priest Soya


Background


This letter was written at Minobu to Soya Kyōshin, a believer who lived in Soya Village of Katsushika District in Shimōsa Province. Soya Kyōshin converted to the Daishonin’s teachings around 1260 and became one of the leading believers in the area, together with Toki Jōnin and Ōta Jōmyō. Later, he took the tonsure, and the Daishonin gave him the Buddhist name Hōren Nichirai.

In this letter, Nichiren Daishonin purges Soya Kyōshin to recite both a portion of the “Expedient Means” chapter and the verse section of the “Life Span” chapter, the two key chapters of the Lotus Sutra, in his daily prayers. He also states that each character of the Lotus Sutra is in fact a living Buddha of supreme enlightenment. Therefore, to uphold and recite this sutra is to uphold the body of the Buddha—that is, to attain Buddhahood in one’s present form.


Notes

1. Lotus Sutra, chap. 11.
2. A sutra translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Prajnā of the T’ang dynasty. It explains in detail the six kinds of practices, or “perfections” (Skt pāramitā), that bodhisattvas must carry out in order to attain enlightenment.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39

The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One’s Passing

WND / pgs. 367-77

During the entire fifty years of Shakyamuni’s teaching, only in the last eight years did he preach the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Again, of all these chapters, only in the eight chapters did he reveal and transfer the object of devotion to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.(62) During the two millennia of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, statues were made showing Mahākāshyapa and Ānanda flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of Hinayana, and Manjushrī and Universal Worthy flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of the provisional Mahayana, the Nirvana Sutra, and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Even though statues and paintings were made of these Shakyamuni Buddhas during the two millennia, no image or statue was made of the Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter.(63) Only in the Latter Day of the Law will the representation of that Buddha appear.

Question: During the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the four ranks of bodhisattvas and the teachers constructed images of and built temples and pagodas for Buddhas of other worlds or for the Shakyamuni Buddha of Hinayana, of provisional Mahayana, of the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, or of the theoretical teaching of the sutra. No one in India, China, or Japan, however, neither rulers nor subjects, revered the object of devotion of the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching and the four great bodhisattvas. Though I think I generally understand what you are saying, I have never heard such a thing before, and therefore it startles my ears and perplexes my mind. Will you explain it to me again in greater detail?

Answer: All the teachings that Shakyamuni Buddha expounded during his lifetime—all the eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the first four flavors of teachings that preceded the sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra that came after the Lotus—make an unbroken series of teachings like one perfect sutra. [These teachings can be divided into three parts—preparation, revelation, and transmission].(64) Preparation indicates the part from the Flower Garland Sutra, his first preaching at the place of enlightenment, to the Wisdom sutras; revelation indicates the ten volumes of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Universal Worthy Sutra; and transmission indicates the Nirvana Sutra. The ten volumes of the revelation section likewise can be divided into these three parts. The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra are preparation. The fifteen and a half chapters from the “Expedient Means” chapter to the nineteen-line verse of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter are revelation. The remaining eleven and a half chapters and one volume, from the section in the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter clarifying the four stages of faith for people in the Buddha’s lifetime to the Universal Worthy Sutra, are transmission.

The ten volumes of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Universal Worthy Sutra can also be divided into two parts: theoretical and essential.(65) Each part has the three divisions. In the theoretical teaching, preparation comprises the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, revelation comprises eight chapters, from the “Expedient Means” through the “Prophecies” chapters, and transmission comprises five chapters, from the “Teacher of the Law” to the “Peaceful Practices.” The Buddha of the theoretical teaching declared that he first attained Buddhahood in this life. He revealed the hundred worlds and thousand factors inherent in life, but he did not expound their eternal nature. Since the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra thus directly reveals a part of the Buddha’s own enlightenment, it excels all the other sutras that the Buddha had preached, now preached, or would preach, and is the correct teaching that is difficult to believe and difficult to understand.

The relationship between Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples can be traced back to the time when, as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, he planted the seeds of Buddhahood in their lives. In Shakyamuni’s present lifetime a few of these disciples discovered the seeds when they heard the Flower Garland Sutra and the other teachings of the first four flavors. This was not, however, the Buddha’s true intention. Their discovery through these teachings was like poison having a positive effect. Ordinary people and the persons of the two vehicles came to the Lotus Sutra gradually through the first four flavors of teachings. They then revealed the seeds of Buddhahood from within themselves and were able to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.

Among the human and heavenly beings who listened to the eight chapters for the first time in Shakyamuni’s days, some took the seeds into their lives by hearing just a single phrase or verse. Some nurtured and harvested the seeds they had received. Others brought their seeds to fruition when they came to the Universal Worthy and Nirvana sutras. Still others appeared in the Former, Middle, or Latter Day of the Law and, through the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana teachings, obtained the fruit of enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra. These last are like the disciples in Shakyamuni’s lifetime who discovered their seeds of Buddhahood through the first four flavors of teachings.

Preparation, revelation, and transmission also exist in the fourteen chapters of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The first half of the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter is preparation. The latter half of this chapter, the “Life Span” chapter, and the first half of the following “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter—one chapter and two halves—are revelation. The remainder is transmission.

The Buddha of the essential teaching denies that he first attained Buddhahood in this life. The difference between the theoretical and the essential teachings is as great as that between heaven and earth. The latter reveals the eternity of the Ten Worlds and, further, the realm of the environment. The theoretical teaching, the first four flavors of teachings, the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra were all preached according to the capacities of the people. All these teachings that fall into the three categories of preaching (66) are therefore easy to believe and easy to understand. In contrast, the essential teaching, which transcends the three categories, is difficult to believe and difficult to understand, for it directly reveals the Buddha’s own enlightenment. Nevertheless, even the difference between the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life of the theoretical teaching and that of the essential teaching pales into insignificance [before the ultimate teaching contained in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter].(67)

The essential teaching(68) [contained in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter] also has its preparation, revelation, and transmission. Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra in the past as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. When he appeared in his present life [in India], he also preached teachings for some fifty years, from the Flower Garland Sutra to the fourteen chapters of the theoretical teaching [of the Lotus Sutra] and the Nirvana Sutra. All these sutras as well as the countless sutras of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences are preparation for revealing [the heart of] the “Life Span” chapter.

All the teachings other than the “one chapter and two halves” are Hinayana in nature and erroneous. Not only do they fail to lead to enlightenment, but also they lack the truth. Those who believe in them are meager in virtue, heavy with defilement, ignorant, poor, solitary, and like birds and beasts [that do not know their own parents].

The first half of the Lotus Sutra and the sutras preceding it contain the perfect teaching, but even this is not the cause for Buddhahood. Much less so are teachings of a Hinayana nature, such as the Mahāvairochana Sutra. It is out of the question to think that the scholars and teachers of the seven schools, including the Flower Garland and the True Word, preach the cause for attaining Buddhahood.

These inferior sutras seem to fall within the Tripitaka, connecting, and specific teachings, but actually they are no better than the lowest two. They may maintain that their doctrines are incomparably profound, but nowhere do they clarify when the Buddha planted the seeds of Buddhahood, or when he nurtured and reaped them. These doctrines are no different from Hinayana, which demands that one reduce one’s body to ashes and annihilate one’s consciousness, for they do not reveal when the Buddha started teaching and when he finished. If a consort of a king were to conceive by a beast, her baby would be inferior to a chandāla.

Setting aside these lesser teachings, the eight chapters of the revelation section [the second through the ninth chapters] of the theoretical teaching seem to have been expounded for the sake of the persons of the two vehicles rather than for the ordinary people and bodhisattvas in Shakyamuni’s lifetime. From a more profound viewpoint, they are intended for the ordinary people after the Buddha’s passing—in the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law—and, in particular, for the ordinary people in the beginning of the Latter Day.

Question: On what authority do you say so?

Answer: The “Teacher of the Law” chapter of the Lotus Sutra states, “Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?” The “Treasure Tower” chapter states, “They [the Buddhas] make certain that the Law will long endure. . . . [The Thus Come One Many Treasures, I myself], and these emanation Buddhas who have gathered here, surely know this is our aim.” Look at what the “Encouraging Devotion” and “Peaceful Practices” chapters state about the future. The theoretical teaching was preached for the people after Shakyamuni Buddha’s passing.

As regards the essential teaching, it was addressed exclusively to the people early in the Latter Day of the Law. On the surface, the Buddha seems to have preached this teaching for the enlightenment of the people of his day; he planted the seeds of Buddhahood in their lives in the remote past [numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago] and nurtured the seeds through his preaching as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence [major world system dust particle kalpas ago] and through the first four flavors of teachings and the theoretical teaching in this life. Then with the essential teaching he brought his followers to the stage of near-perfect enlightenment and finally to that of perfect enlightenment.

In actuality, however, the essential teaching bears no resemblance whatsoever to the theoretical teaching. The preparation, revelation, and transmission of the essential teaching are intended entirely for the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law. The essential teaching of Shakyamuni’s lifetime and that revealed at the beginning of the Latter Day are both pure and perfect [in that both lead directly to Buddhahood]. Shakyamuni’s, however, is the Buddhism of the harvest, and this is the Buddhism of sowing. The core of his teaching is one chapter and two halves, and the core of mine is the five characters of the daimoku alone.

Question: On what authority do you say [that the essential teaching is meant for the generations of the Latter Day of the Law]?

Answer: The “Emerging from the Earth” chapter states: “At that time the bodhisattvas mahāsattva who had gathered from the lands of the other directions, greater in number than the sands of eight Ganges Rivers, stood up in the midst of the great assembly, pressed their palms together, bowed in obeisance, and said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One, if you will permit us in the age after the Buddha has entered extinction to diligently and earnestly protect, embrace, read, recite, copy, and offer alms to this sutra in the sahā world, we will preach it widely throughout this land!’ At that time the Buddha said to the bodhisattvas mahāsattva: ‘Leave off, good men! There is no need for you to protect and embrace this sutra.’” This statement totally contradicts the Buddha’s exhortations in the preceding five chapters from the “Teacher of the Law” [to the “Peaceful Practices”]. In the latter part of the “Treasure Tower” chapter is the passage: “In a loud voice he [Shakyamuni Buddha] addressed all the four kinds of believers, saying, ‘Who is capable of broadly preaching the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law in this sahā world?’” Medicine King and the other great bodhisattvas, Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings would have followed Shakyamuni’s command before anything else even if no other Buddha had supported his exhortations, but Many Treasures Buddha and the Buddhas from throughout the ten directions came to this world to exhort them to propagate the sutra after Shakyamuni’s passing. Thus, hearing the Buddha’s solemn appeal, the bodhisattvas all pledged, saying, “We care nothing for our bodies or lives,”(69) for they desired solely to fulfill the Buddha’s will.

[In the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter,] however, the Buddha suddenly reversed himself and forbade all the bodhisattvas, more numerous than the sands of eight Ganges Rivers, from propagating the sutra in this world. We therefore face what appears to be an insoluble contradiction, one that is beyond ordinary understanding.

The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che gave three reasons for Shakyamuni’s stopping the bodhisattvas, and three more for his summoning the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Essentially, the great bodhisattvas taught by the Buddha in his transient status and the great bodhisattvas who gathered from the other worlds were not qualified to inherit the “Life Span” chapter that reveals the eternal Buddha’s inner truth. At the dawn of the Latter Day evil people who slander the correct teaching would fill the land, so Shakyamuni Buddha rejected the pledge of these bodhisattvas and instead summoned the multitude of great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. He entrusted them with the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the “Life Span” chapter, for the enlightenment of all beings in the land of Jambudvīpa. The bodhisattvas taught by the Buddha in his transient status were also unqualified because they had not been the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha since the time he had first set his mind on and attained enlightenment in the remote past. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai states, “[The Buddha said of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth,] ‘These are my disciples, destined to propagate my Law.’”(70) Miao-lo says, “The children propagate the Law of the father, and this benefits the world.”(71) The Supplement to “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra”(72) states, “The Law embodied therein [in the Lotus Sutra] is the Law that was realized countless kalpas in the past, and therefore it was entrusted to persons who had been the Buddha’s disciples from countless kalpas in the past.”

[In the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter] Bodhisattva Maitreya questioned Shakyamuni Buddha as follows: “We ourselves have faith in the Buddha, believing that he preaches in accordance with what is appropriate, that the words spoken by the Buddha are never false, and that the Buddha’s knowledge is in all cases penetrating and comprehensive. Nevertheless, in the period after the Buddha has entered extinction, if bodhisattvas who have just begun to aspire to enlightenment should hear these words, they will perhaps not believe or accept them but will be led to commit the crime of rejecting the Law. Therefore, World-Honored One, we beg you to explain so we may put aside our doubts, and so that, in future ages when good men hear of this matter, they will not entertain doubts!”(73) Here Bodhisattva Maitreya was imploring the Buddha to preach the “Life Span” chapter for those to come after his passing.

The “Life Span” chapter states: “Some are completely out of their minds, while others are not. . . . Those children who have not lost their senses can see that this is good medicine, outstanding in both color and fragrance, so they take it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness.” The sutra explains that all bodhisattvas, persons of the two vehicles, and human and heavenly beings received the seeds of Buddhahood numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago. The seeds were nurtured by the preaching of the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence as well as by Shakyamuni Buddha’s four flavors of teachings and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Then they finally gained the way when they heard the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

The “Life Span” chapter continues: “Those who are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father return and beg him to cure their sickness, but when they are given the medicine, they refuse to take it. Why? Because the poison has penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before. So although the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, they do not perceive it as good. The father thinks to himself, ‘I must now resort to some expedient means to induce them to take the medicine.’ So he says to them: ‘I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you.’ Having given these instructions, he then goes off to another land, where he sends a messenger home to announce . . .” According to the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter, [the good medicine of the “Life Span” chapter is left for those] “in the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law.”

Question: Who is the messenger mentioned in the passage, “he sends a messenger home to announce”?

Answer: It means the four ranks of sages. They fall into four categories. [First,] most of the four ranks of sages of Hinayana appeared in the first five hundred years of the Former Day of the Law, and [second,] most of those of [provisional] Mahayana came in the second five hundred years. Third, those of the theoretical teaching appeared mainly in the next thousand years, the Middle Day of the Law, and the rest, in the beginning of the Latter Day. Fourth, the four ranks of sages of the essential teaching are the bodhisattvas emerging from the earth, numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, who are certain to appear in the beginning of the Latter Day. When the sutra says, “he sends a messenger home to announce,” it refers to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. “This good medicine” is the heart of the “Life Span” chapter, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is endowed with name, entity, quality, function, and teaching.(74) Since the Buddha would not entrust this good medicine even to the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching, how much less could he have done so to the bodhisattvas of other worlds?

The “Supernatural Powers” chapter states: “At that time the bodhisattvas mahāsattva who had emerged from the earth, numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds, all in the presence of the Buddha single-mindedly pressed their palms together, gazed up in reverence at the face of the Honored One, and said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One, after the Buddha has entered extinction, in the lands where the emanations of the World-Honored One are present, and in the place where the Buddha has passed into extinction, we will preach this sutra far and wide.’” T’ien-t’ai says, “The great assembly witnessed the Bodhisattvas of the Earth alone making this pledge.”(75) Tao-hsien remarks: “As far as transmission goes, this sutra was entrusted solely to the bodhisattvas who had welled up out of the earth. The reason for this is that the Law embodied therein is the Law that was realized countless kalpas in the past, and therefore it was entrusted to persons who had been the Buddha’s disciples from countless kalpas in the past.”(76)

Bodhisattva Manjushrī is a disciple of the Buddha Immovable, who dwells in the Golden-colored World to the east. Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds is a disciple of the Buddha Infinite Life in the west. Bodhisattva Medicine King is a disciple of the Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue.(77) Bodhisattva Universal Worthy is a disciple of the Buddha Jeweled Dignity. They came to this sahā world to help Shakyamuni Buddha teach the people of his day. They were bodhisattvas of the provisional and theoretical teachings, and were not entrusted with the supreme Law, so they could not possibly appear and propagate it in the Latter Day.

[In the “Supernatural Powers” chapter] the sutra states: “At that time the World-Honored One . . . before all these he displayed his great supernatural powers. He extended his long broad tongue upward till it reached the Brahmā heaven . . . The other Buddhas, seated on lion seats underneath the numerous jeweled trees, did likewise, extending their long broad tongues.” In no other sutra, whether Hinayana or Mahayana, exoteric or esoteric, is there a passage that describes Shakyamuni Buddha and all the other Buddhas, seated together, extending their tongues to the Brahmā heaven.

The Amida Sutra states that Buddhas covered a major world system with their broad long tongues, but lacks the truth that such a gesture would substantiate. The Wisdom Sutra tells how the Buddha’s tongue covered a major world system and radiated infinite light when he expounded the prajnā (wisdom). Yet this certainly cannot be a proof [comparable to that of the “Supernatural Powers” chapter]. Because these two sutras include provisional teachings, they obscure the Buddha’s enlightenment in the remote past.

After the Buddha displayed his ten supernatural powers, he entrusted the five characters of the Mystic Law to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. As the sutra states: “At that time the Buddha spoke to Superior Practices and the others in the great assembly of bodhisattvas, saying: ‘The supernatural powers of the Buddhas, as you have seen, are immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable. If in the process of entrusting this sutra to others I were to employ these supernatural powers for immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas to describe the benefits of the sutra, I could never finish doing so. To put it briefly, all the doctrines possessed by the Thus Come One, all the freely exercised supernatural powers of the Thus Come One, the storehouse of all the secret essentials of the Thus Come One, all the most profound matters of the Thus Come One—all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this sutra.’”(78) T’ien-t’ai says, “The passage that follows the words ‘At that time the Buddha spoke to Superior Practices’ constitutes the third stage of the chapter, the transfer of the essence of the Lotus Sutra.”(79) Dengyō states: “The ‘Supernatural Powers’ chapter says, ‘To put it briefly, all the doctrines possessed by the Thus Come One . . . are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this sutra.’ From this it is clear that all the doctrines, all the freely exercised supernatural powers, the storehouse of all the secret essentials, and all the most profound matters possessed by the Buddha as the fruit of his enlightenment—all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in the Lotus Sutra.”(80) Demonstrating ten supernatural powers, the Buddha transferred the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo to the four great bodhisattvas: Superior Practices, Firmly Established Practices, Pure Practices, and Boundless Practices.

[Miao-lo states that] the first five of the ten supernatural powers are meant for those living in Shakyamuni’s lifetime, and the last five for the generations after his passing.(81) But in a deeper sense all are intended for future generations. The Buddha confirmed this later in the same chapter, “Because after the Buddha has passed into extinction there will be those who can uphold this sutra, the Buddhas are all delighted and manifest immeasurable supernatural powers.”

The following “Entrustment” chapter states: “At that time Shakyamuni Buddha rose from his Dharma seat and, manifesting his great supernatural powers, with his right hand patted the heads of the immeasurable bodhisattvas mahāsattva and spoke these words: ‘Now I entrust it [the Lotus Sutra] to you.’” The Buddha first transferred the Lotus Sutra to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, and then to the bodhisattvas taught by the Buddha in his transient status, the bodhisattvas of other worlds, Brahmā, Shakra, the four heavenly kings, and others. Then “Shakyamuni Buddha caused the Buddhas who were emanations of his body and had come from the ten directions to return each one to his original land, saying, ‘The tower of Many Treasures Buddha may also return to its former position.’”(82) After the Bodhisattvas of the Earth had departed, from the “Medicine King” chapter through the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha transferred the sutra again to the people taught by him in his transient status and to the bodhisattvas from other worlds. This was gleaning in order to entrust.(83)

Question: Did the Bodhisattvas of the Earth then appear in Jambudvīpa during the two millennia of the Former and Middle Days of the Law to spread the Lotus Sutra?

Answer: No, they did not.

Question: Your answer comes as a surprise. If the Lotus Sutra, especially the essential teaching, is intended primarily for those people living after the Buddha’s passing, and the Buddha entrusted the sutra to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, why did they not appear during the Former and Middle Days of the Law to spread the sutra?

Answer: I will not say.

Question: I am asking you again, what was the reason?

Answer: I will not disclose it.

Question: Once more, what was the reason?

Answer: If I disclose it, all will refuse to believe and, what is worse, will slander the sutra, as in the Latter Day of the Law of Awesome Sound King Buddha. Even my own disciples would slander the sutra if I tried to explain, so I can only keep silent.

Question: Nonetheless, I urge you to answer. Unless you do, you will be guilty of the fault of greed and stinginess.

Answer: Then since I have no choice, I will try to give you a brief explanation. The “Teacher of the Law” chapter states, “[Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world], how much more will this be so after his passing?” The “Life Span” chapter states, “I will leave this good medicine here.” The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter speaks of “the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law.” The “Medicine King” chapter says, “In the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it [the Lotus Sutra] abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa.” A passage in the Nirvana Sutra reads, “Suppose that a couple has seven children, one of whom falls ill. Though the parents love all their children equally, they worry most about the sick child.”

With the clear mirror of these passages one can guess the Buddha’s intent. They show that the Buddha did not appear for the sake of those present during the eight years when he revealed the Lotus Sutra at Eagle Peak, but for those who would come after him in the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law. His advent was specifically for people like us, those living in the beginning of the Latter Day, not for those who lived in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days. “The sick child” mentioned in the Nirvana Sutra represents those who slander the Lotus Sutra after the Buddha’s passing. The Buddha will now “leave this good medicine here” especially for those who, the sutra says, though the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, do not perceive it as good.

The Bodhisattvas of the Earth did not appear in the Former or Middle Day of the Law for good reason.

Hinayana and provisional Mahayana were spread in the first millennium, the Former Day of the Law, because the time was not ripe [for the Lotus Sutra] and the people were not ready to embrace it. The four ranks of bodhisattvas in the Former Day led those who had received the seeds of Buddhahood by hearing the Lotus Sutra during Shakyamuni’s lifetime to harvest the fruit of Buddhahood through Hinayana and provisional Mahayana teachings. [If the Bodhisattvas of the Earth had spread the Lotus Sutra at that time instead of later,] the people would have reviled it and thereby destroyed all the merit they had accumulated by maturing their seeds. Therefore, the bodhisattvas did not appear then. People of the Former Day are like those in the Buddha’s lifetime who gradually matured and attained enlightenment through the first four flavors of teachings.

In the middle and latter part of the Middle Day of the Law, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds was reborn as Nan-yüeh, and Bodhisattva Medicine King as T’ien-t’ai. Preaching the text of the theoretical teaching and employing the meaning of the essential teaching to supplement it, they fully revealed the doctrine of the hundred worlds and thousand factors and of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. They expounded it in principle, but they did not establish the actual practice of the five characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo or establish the object of devotion of the essential teaching. The time was not right for propagation, although even then some people had the proper capacity.

Now, in the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, Hinayana adherents attack the doctrines of Mahayana, and provisional Mahayana believers denounce the true Mahayana teaching. East is mistaken for west, and heaven and earth are turned upside down. The four ranks of bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching are gone, and all the heavenly gods have deserted the country and no longer lend it protection. At this time the Bodhisattvas of the Earth appear in the world for the first time solely to bring the medicine of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo to the ignorant people of the Latter Day. This is what is meant by the words, “Even if one reviles the correct teaching and falls into the evil paths, one can create causes for the eventual attainment of benefit.”(84)

You who are my disciples, take this to heart! The countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth were the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, from the time he first set his mind on and attained enlightenment in the remote past. But they did not come to his place of enlightenment in India, nor did they come to the grove of sal trees when he entered nirvana. They were unfaithful to him. They also failed to appear when the Buddha preached the first fourteen chapters, or the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and they left the assembly when he preached the last six chapters of the essential teaching. They only attended the Buddha during the first eight chapters of the essential teaching. Since these noble bodhisattvas received [the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo] and made a solemn oath to Shakyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas of the ten directions, is it possible that they will not appear now at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law? Know this: in the time for the practice of shakubuku the four bodhisattvas appear as worthy rulers who rebuke and convert ignorant rulers, and in the time for the practice of shōju they appear as priests to embrace and spread the correct teaching.

Question: Does the Buddha predict their coming in the Latter Day of the Law?

Answer: The Buddha states, “In the last five-hundred-year period the Lotus Sutra will spread abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa.”(85) The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai predicts, “In the last five-hundred-year period, the mystic way will spread and benefit humankind far into the future.”(86) Miao-lo predicts, “The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law will not be without inconspicuous benefit.”(87) The Great Teacher Dengyō says, “The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand.”(88) The latter part of this quotation means that his was not the right time for propagation. The Great Teacher Dengyō, who was living in Japan, foresaw the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, saying: “Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T’ang and to the west of Katsu.(89) As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, ‘Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?’ There is good reason for this statement.”(90)

“A time of conflict” in this commentary refers to the two disasters of internal strife and invasion from the western sea that are occurring at present. At this time the countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth will appear and establish in this country the object of devotion, foremost in Jambudvīpa, that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching attending [the eternal Buddha]. This object of devotion has never appeared in India or China. Its time had not come when Prince Jōgū in Japan constructed Shitennō-ji temple, so he could only make a statue of Amida, a Buddha of another world, the object of devotion. When Emperor Shōmu erected Tōdai-ji temple, he enshrined a statue of the Buddha of the Flower Garland Sutra [Vairochana Buddha] as the object of devotion, but could not manifest the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher Dengyō almost revealed the truth of the sutra. The time had not yet come, however, and so he built a statue of the Buddha of the Eastern Region,(91) but did not represent the four bodhisattvas of the essential teaching in any form. Ultimately, this was because the revelation of the true object of devotion had been entrusted only to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. They have been waiting for the right time to emerge from beneath the earth and carry out the Buddha’s decree. They did not appear in the Former or Middle Day. But if they do not appear in the Latter Day of the Law, their vows would be outright lies, and the prophecies of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions would be no more than froth on the waters.

We have recently experienced great earthquakes, huge comets, and other calamities such as never occurred in the Former or Middle Day. These signs could not be caused by garuda birds, asura demons, or dragon deities. They must foretell the appearance of the four great bodhisattvas. T’ien-t’ai states, “By observing the fury of the rain, we can tell the greatness of the dragon that caused it, and by observing the flourishing of the lotus flowers, we can tell the depth of the pond they grow in.”(92) Miao-lo says, “Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes know the way of snakes.”(93) When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated. Similarly, when one knows the Lotus Sutra, one understands the meaning of all worldly affairs.

Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age. The four great bodhisattvas will protect anyone who embraces the five characters as faithfully as T’ai-kung Wang and the Duke of Chou supported King Wen, and as devotedly as the Four White-Haired Elders94 served Emperor Hui.

Written by Nichiren.

The twenty-fifth day of the fourth month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273), with the cyclical sign mizunoto-tori


Cover Letter

I have received an unlined robe,(95) three sumi inksticks, and five writing brushes.

I have written down some of my thoughts concerning the doctrine of observing the mind. I am sending the treatise to Ōta, Kyōshin-bō,(96) and the others. It explains an important matter that concerns me, Nichiren, and must be kept secret. Only those of single-minded faith should be allowed to read it.

The treatise contains many difficult points and few answers. What it reveals, however, has never been heard of before and is bound to startle those who read or hear of it. If you do show it to others, never allow three or four persons to read it together at one time.

In the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing, the heart of this treatise has never been revealed before. Despite the official persecution facing me, I expound it now in the fifth five-hundred-year period, when the time is ripe for its propagation. I hope those who read it will remain firm in their faith so that both teacher and disciples can together reach the pure land of Eagle Peak and behold with reverence the faces of Shakyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas of the ten directions.

With my deep respect,

Nichiren

The twenty-sixth day of the fourth month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273), with the cyclical sign mizunoto-tori

Reply to Toki



Background:


Nichiren Daishonin completed this work, one of his most important, in the fourth month of 1273, during his exile at Ichinosawa on the island of Sado. It was addressed specifically to Toki Jōnin, a leading disciple who lived in Shimōsa Province, and its cover letter instructed that because it revealed the Daishonin’s ultimate teaching it should be shown to only those with strong faith.

In another of his major works, The Opening of the Eyes, written on Sado Island a year earlier, the Daishonin explains the object of devotion in terms of the Person. He declares that he is endowed with the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent, implying that he is the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who leads all people to Buddhahood. In the present work, the Daishonin explains the object of devotion in terms of the Law and declares that the Gohonzon that embodies the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the object of devotion in the Latter Day. Faith and practice based on the Gohonzon enable everyone to perceive the Buddha nature in his or her own life and attain Buddhahood.

Four important elements are contained in the full title of this work, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One’s Passing. They are the time, the Buddha’s teaching, the people’s capacity, and the Law. Concerning the time, a Buddha appears in accordance with the deep desire of the people to see him. The time for his advent is defined as the “fifth five-hundred-year period after the Thus Come One’s [Shakyamuni’s] passing.” Concerning the Buddha’s teaching, this is indicated by the word “established.” In establishing the Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin, considering the people’s capacity, depicted the essence of the Lotus Sutra, or the Law he perceived. The people’s capacity means that “for observing [the true nature of] the mind.” The Law is indicated by the phrase “the object of devotion.”

Nichiren Daishonin embodied in the object of devotion the state of life he enjoyed as the eternal Buddha so that people could attain the same condition of enlightenment. A description of the Gohonzon in the text includes a depiction of the ceremony of the transmission of the Law: “Myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated to the right and left, and, flanking them, the four bodhisattvas, followers of Shakyamuni, led by Superior Practices” (p. 366).

The text may be broadly divided into four sections. The first section explains the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. The Daishonin elucidates this doctrine by referring to the works of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai of China, who based his exposition on the Lotus Sutra, and to the works of other Chinese scholars.

The second section discusses the meaning of “observing the mind.” T’ien-t’ai established a complex practice of meditation as a means to perceive the true nature of one’s own life. This was to observe one’s mind, or to perceive all the three thousand realms in a single moment of one’s own life.

Here the Daishonin proclaims that the practice of observing one’s mind in the Latter Day of the Law is none other than to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with firm faith in the true object of devotion, saying: “Shakyamuni’s practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in these five characters, we will naturally be granted the same benefits as he was” (p. 365). This is the principle that embracing the true object of devotion is in itself enlightenment.

The third section describes the Gohonzon, the object of devotion, by classifying the entire body of the Buddhist teachings into three categories: preparation, revelation, and transmission. In terms of the Daishonin’s teachings, preparation includes all the teachings of all Buddhas throughout time and space; revelation is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Law implied in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter; and transmission, the teachings of all Buddhas seen in the light of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

The Daishonin asserts that Shakyamuni’s is the Buddhism of the harvest, meaning that he expounded his enlightenment as an effect only, without revealing the cause. The Daishonin’s teaching, however, is called the Buddhism of sowing, for it teaches the cause for attaining enlightenment directly, thus guiding people compassionately in their quest for the ultimate state of life.

In this section, Nichiren Daishonin identifies the object of devotion implied in the “Life Span” chapter as the entity of the Law for propagation in the Latter Day. He states that the Bodhisattvas of the Earth will surely appear in the world to establish this supreme object of devotion.

The fourth section brings the treatise to a close by declaring that the eternal Buddha who appears in the Latter Day of the Law will establish the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo out of profound compassion for the people of that age, who are ignorant of the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.


Notes:

62. The wording of the Japanese text has been expanded here for clarity.
63. Here the Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter indicates Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, or the Law implicit in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter.
p.38164. Preparation indicates a teaching that prepares the way for the revelation of the truth, and that readies people to accept the truth. Revelation is the truth that the Buddha imparts. Transmission indicates the admonishment following revelation, which urges that the truth be transmitted to posterity.
65. The “theoretical teaching” generally means the first half, and the “essential teaching,” the second half, of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Here the Daishonin includes the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the Universal Worthy Sutra with the Lotus Sutra to form what is known as the threefold Lotus Sutra. As described here, the “theoretical teaching” indicates the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra, and the “essential teaching,” the last fourteen chapters and the Universal Worthy Sutra.
66. “Three categories of preaching” refers to “the sutras I [Shakyamuni] have preached, now preach, and will preach,” mentioned in the “Teacher of the Law” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” says that the Lotus Sutra stands above “the sutras I have preached” (the provisional sutras), “[the sutra] I now preach” (the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra), and “[the sutras] I will preach” (the Universal Worthy and the Nirvana sutras).
67. The wording has been reordered somewhat in translation.
68. The Daishonin uses the term “essential teaching” here to indicate not the latter half of the Lotus Sutra but the ultimate teaching contained within the “Life Span” chapter, that is, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Hereafter this term is used in two different ways. Similarly, the “‘Life Span’ chapter” and the “one chapter and two halves” are either meant literally or refer to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that they contain.
69. Lotus Sutra, chap. 13.
70. Words and Phrases.
71. On “The Words and Phrases.”
72. A commentary on T’ien-t’ai’s Words and Phrases and Miao-lo’s On “The Words and Phrases” by Tao-hsien, a priest of the T’ien-t’ai school in China during the T’ang dynasty.
73. Lotus Sutra, chap. 15. In the quotation, the expression “these words” refers to Shakyamuni’s declaration that the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are his original disciples.
74. These are the five major principles (see Glossary) formulated by T’ien-t’ai in his Profound Meaning to explain the title of the Lotus Sutra.
75. Words and Phrases.
76. The Supplement to “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.” See n. 72.
77. The Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue is described in the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. When Bodhisattva Medicine King practiced austerities in a previous existence, he expounded the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha Jeweled Dignity, who appears in the next sentence, is described in the “Universal Worthy” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. According to the sutra, Bodhisattva Universal Worthy came to the ceremony of the Lotus Sutra from the Buddha Jeweled Dignity’s land in the east.
78. Lotus Sutra, chap. 21.
79. Words and Phrases.
80. Outstanding Principles.
81. On “The Words and Phrases.”
82. The quotations from the “Entrustment” chapter describe the conclusion of the Ceremony in the Air, which begins in the “Treasure Tower” chapter.
83. “Gleaning” here means gathering those left behind for the purpose of entrusting the teachings to them. This transfer takes place in the six chapters from the “Medicine King” to the “Encouragements” chapters and in the Universal Worthy and the Nirvana sutras.
84. On “The Words and Phrases.”
85. Here the reading of this sentence from the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sutra is changed. The sutra passage is generally rendered as follows: “After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa.” Such a change is possible in rendering the classical Chinese into Japanese.
86. Words and Phrases.
87. On “The Words and Phrases.”
88. Essay on the Protection of the Nation.
89. T’ang refers to China, and Katsu to a Tungusic nation that ruled over northeastern China and northern Korea in the sixth and seventh centuries. “A land to the east of T’ang and to the west of Katsu” indicates Japan according to old maps.
90. Outstanding Principles.
p.38291. The Buddha of the Eastern Region refers to the Buddha Medicine Master.
92. Words and Phrases.
93. On “The Words and Phrases.”
94. Emperor Kao-tsu (247–195 b.c.e.), founder of the Han dynasty, tried to disown his son, the future Emperor Hui. Hui’s mother persuaded four eminent elders, who lived on Mount Shang, to become his advisers. They were known as Master Tung-yüan, the Scholar Lu-li, Ch’i Li-chi, and Master Hsia-huang. On seeing these four elders, the emperor was so impressed by their dignity that he accepted Hui as his successor.
95. An unlined robe for summer use, made of hemp cloth or crinkled silk.
96. Ōta is Ōta Jōmyō, an official employed in the Kamakura shogunate’s Office of Legal Affairs. Kyōshin-bō is also known as the lay priest Soya. Together with Toki Jōnin, they were leading followers of the Daishonin in Shimōsa Province.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

^^^^4 Weird and his sincere seeking spirit^^^^

Bowing in humble obeisance…..

T

 

[PassTheDoobie]

“Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - WND, Vol.1, page 412)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

“There may be times when life itself seems a burden, when we feel trapped or weighed down by something, when we feel passive and a victim of circumstances, or when we feel somehow lost. Those are the times to shed our passivity and turn it into initiative, telling ourselves, ‘I’m going to follow through on this path!' ‘I’m going to carry out my mission for today!' When we decide to do so, a genuine spring will dawn in our hearts, and flowers will start to bloom.

"Persevering for us means continuing in our efforts to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and share Nichiren Buddhism with one person after another. We who know this sure and practical way for transforming winter into spring are fortunate indeed.”

SGI Newsletter No. 9366, The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, Part 2: Human Revolution, 17.4 Seeking Out Challenges for Self-Development in One’s Youth, from the January 2016 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translation released 8th March, 2016

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Proactive initiative results in victory.
Slow, unresponsive efforts result in defeat.
With a vision towards the future
let’s move with lightning speed!
Bravely and resolutely,
let’s open the way forwards!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

“I am praying that, no matter how troubled the times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground.”

(“On Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins” - WND, Vol.1, page 444)