“In future ages if there are good men and good women who p.320have faith in the wisdom of the thus come one, you should preach and expound the Lotus Sutra for them, so that others may hear and understand it. For in this way you can cause them to gain the buddha wisdom. If there are living beings who do not believe and accept it, you should use some of the other profound doctrines of the thus come one to teach, benefit, and bring joy to them. If you do all this, then you will have repaid the debt of gratitude that you owe to the buddhas.”
Point One, concerning “the teacher of the Law”
The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: The word “Law” (hō) here stands for shohō, the various phenomena of existence. The word “teacher” (shi) indicates that all these various p.82phenomena act directly as our teacher. That is, the varied and numberless phenomena of the three thousand realms can act directly as our teacher and we can become their disciples.
Now Nichiren and his followers, who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, are the greatest among the teachers of the Law. For when one reaches a realization of the true aspect of all phenomena (shohō), then one will find that everything, from the burning of the fierce fires of hell to the effect of attaining Buddhahood, exists in one’s life, and that one is a teacher of the Law concerning the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.
Again we may say that the word “Law” in the title “The Teacher of the Law” represents the daimoku, and the word “teacher” represents Nichiren and his followers.