In reviewing Buddhism for Today as part of a 34-week Rissho Kosei-kai in North America (RKINA) advance course on the Threefold Lotus Sutra, I was struck by how Nikkyō Niwano speaks of faith in his observations on Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma.

If we delight in a single verse or a single word of the Lotus Sutra by a single thought but become no better than we were before, it is of no use. The assurance of our becoming buddhas is conditional on the result of practice over a long period of time. Why then did the Buddha say that he would predict Perfect Enlightenment for anyone who by a single thought delights in a single verse or a single word of the Lotus Sutra? This is because the mind that one raises through delighting in the Lotus Sutra by a single thought will become the seed of his attaining buddhahood. One must incessantly nurture this seed, making it bud by watering it diligently, making it grow, flower, and bear fruit.

Buddhism for Today, p139

The “mind that one raises” is our faith, the seed of our buddhahood.

The reason that this sutra is the most difficult to believe and to understand is that the fundamental teaching of the Lotus Sutra, that everybody becomes a buddha according to the accumulation of his practice, is so difficult to believe and to understand.

We can understand the Lotus Sutra in theory, but this kind of understanding is liable to be shaken by any adverse change in our circumstances. The person who can truly understand and believe the sutra from the bottom of his heart is one who is spiritually sensitive to the teaching and who is ripe to bear the fruit of the accumulated karma of his former lives. For that reason, we must continually strive to grasp the teaching of the Lotus Sutra more deeply and must patiently receive and keep it regardless of whatever doubts we may have in our minds or whatever persecution and slander we may suffer from outsiders.

Buddhism for Today, p144

The “mind that one raises” is nourished by the five practices of the Lotus Sutra.

Receiving and keeping the sutra (juji), reading and reciting it (doku-ju), expounding it (gesetsu), and copying it (Shosha) are called the five practices of teachers of the Law (goshu hosshi). These are most important practices for those who spread the Lotus Sutra. …

Of these five practices of the teacher, “receiving and keeping” (juji) is called “the intensive practice” (shōgyō), while the other four practices are called “the assisting practices” (jogyō). The reason we must set apart receiving and keeping” as the intensive practice is that this is the most important and fundamental practice of the five; without it, the other four practices mean little. “Receiving” (ju) indicates believing deeply in the teachings of the Buddha, and “keeping” (ji) means to adhere firmly to that belief.

Buddhism for Today, p149

The “mind that one raises” receives deeply the teachings and keeping that belief is the practice that allows our faith to grow.

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