In Gene Reeves’ discussion of Chapter 11, Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures, he makes an important observation:

“Here it’s important to note that the Stupa does not come from some distant heaven, but springs up out of the earth. This means that this world and ourselves in it are affirmed, as this is where the truth about the nature of reality is to be found, and to be taught. In other words, this world has a kind of buddha-nature within it, here symbolized by the Stupa that comes up out of the earth with Abundant Treasures Buddha in it.

“So, too, the fact that all of the buddhas throughout the entire universe come to this world, or at least to a purified version of this world, shows a powerful affirmation of our world. The Pure Land, this story implies, is to be found here. This is the land that Shakyamuni Buddha transforms into a Pure Land, even if only temporarily.

“Such affirmations are not just sentiments; they are an indication of where our own energies should go – that is, into purifying this world and realizing the buddha-nature of things in this world, thus enabling us both to see this world as a Pure Land and to transform it into a Pure Land.

Rev. Ryusho Jeffus put it this way in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

“Buddhism is not a practice of isolating ourselves in our homes and doing our daily service, and having it stop there. … [I]f a person is not himself fully embracing the entire Lotus Sutra of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha then it is impossible to teach others and to fully share with others the truth, the entire truth of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra does not stop at one’s own life. The Buddha demonstrates this when he asks who will teach this on into the future.”

Clearly this is not an easy goal or a simple task. This is a great challenge, which the Buddha underscores with his nine easy and six difficult acts near the end of the chapter.

“Good men! Think this over clearly!
It is difficult
To expound this sūtra.
Make a great vow to do this!”

Our faith and the strength we gain from our practice is the key here. As explained in History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism:

“The original intention of the Buddha was not to discourage those gathered at the assembly with the teaching of the six difficult and nine easier actions. He taught these to rouse others to resolve to spread the message of the Lotus Sūtra actively throughout one’s life, no matter how hard that might be. He wants those who meet difficulties not to shrink back, but to move forward with an indomitable will.

We are expected to advance not despite difficulties, but with the faith that carries us through this sea of suffering to the other shore.

The first few times through my cycle of 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra I stumbled over the image in Chapter 10 of a thirsty man digging randomly on a plateau in search of water. Surely there are better places to dig. Then one day it struck me: That was what I had done when my thirst for a deeper understanding of Buddhism had forced me to shun Soka Gakkai and to look elsewhere.

Sometime after I was laid off in 2008 and caring for my wife, who was battling breast cancer, I had something of a crisis of faith – not my faith in the Lotus Sutra or the Daimoku, but my faith in my practice and the expectation of where it would lead.

In Chapter 10, we are told: “Anyone who, while seeking the enlightenment of the Buddha, sees or hears this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, and after hearing it, understands it by faith and keeps it, know this, will approach Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

We are told in the previous sentence what it means to “keep” it: “Medicine-King! Although many laymen or monks will practice the Way of Bodhisattvas, they will not be able to practice it satisfactorily, know this, unless they see, hear, read, recite, copy or keep this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma or make offerings to it. If they hear this sūtra, they will.”

At first I started doing more activities with Soka Gakkai, attending more meetings and volunteering at the local community center.

“Medicine-King! Suppose a man on a plateau felt thirsty and sought water. He dug a hole in order to get water. As long as he saw the dug-out lumps of earth were dry, he knew that water was still far off.”

Years went by and I was no closer to filling the void I felt in my practice. Eventually I started looking outside Soka Gakkai, and in 2014 started looking into Nichiren Shu.

“He went on digging, and then found the dug-out lumps of earth wet.”

By 2015 I was attending services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church and studying the teachings of Nichiren with Rev. Ryusho Shonin, who was then in Charlotte, NC, and holding online meetings before Zoom became a household name.

“When he finally found mud, he was convinced that water was near.”

Today I have a pool of refreshing water of the Dharma in which to practice my swimming.

“The Bodhisattvas who hear, understand, think over and practice this sūtra, will approach Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Why is that? It is because Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi which all the Bodhisattvas should attain is expounded only in this sūtra. This sūtra opens the gate of expedients and reveals the seal of the truth. The store of this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is sound and deep. No one can reach its core. Now I show it to the Bodhisattvas in order to teach them and cause them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

I am told that in some schools of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan, instruction in the Lotus Sutra begins with Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Dharma. Skip that boring stuff about who is in the crowd or the endless predictions for the śrāvakas and get right to what we are promised:

“Medicine-King! Do you see the innumerable gods, dragon­kings, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men, and nonhuman beings, and the four kinds of devotees: bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās, and those who are seeking Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood or the enlightenment of the Buddha in this great multitude? If in my presence any of them rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gāthā or a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I will assure him of his future Buddhahood, saying to him, ‘You will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.’ ”

“The Buddha said to Medicine-King:

“ ‘If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gāthā or a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I also will assure him of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.’ ”

I didn’t start with Chapter 10 when I began my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra practice in 2015. Instead, my awareness of the beauty of the sutra and my faith in its promise began with Chapter 1 and grew with each cycle through all 28 chapters. Today, more than 75 times through that cycle, I am not sure whether I can endorse the idea of starting with Chapter 10 any more than I can condone the practice of studying only Chapters 2 and 16.

But I also can’t advocate my own practice, at least not for someone who is unfamiliar with Mahayana Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra. It takes a certain dedication to devote that much time to personal practice, and I don’t believe it is essential.

Still, I certainly understand why Chapter 10 is considered a gateway to the promise of the Lotus Sutra:

“The good men or women who expound even a phrase of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma even to one person even in secret after my extinction, know this, are my messengers. They are dispatched by me. They do my work. It is needless to say this of those who expound this sūtra to many people in a great multitude.”

If nothing else, we should celebrate and welcome Chapter 10’s promise for those who combine faith and practice:

“Medicine-King, know this! Anyone who copies, keeps, reads and recites this sūtra, makes offerings to it, and expounds it to others after my extinction, will be covered by my robe. He also will be protected by the present Buddhas of the other worlds. He will have the great power of truth, the power of vows, and the power of roots of good. Know this! He will live with me. I will pat him on the head.”

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.

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.

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.

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