Our faith is the initial key that opens the gate to the teachings of the Buddha. Our practice is the action that allows us to enter into the wisdom of the Buddha. Studying the Dharma illuminates the path. As we progress in our practice our faith naturally grows.

In Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, we are offered four sets of practices – those of body, mouth, mind, and vows – that “an ordinary Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas” should use to expound the Dharma. Invariably, the student of Nichiren Buddhism stumbles here at the stark difference between these peaceful practices and the violence and conflict that enveloped Nichiren’s life.

Much of that difference can be explained by Nichiren’s goals in 13th Century Japan.

“For Nichiren, preaching the exclusive truth of the Lotus Sūtra was not only about leading individuals to enlightenment, but also about saving the country and establishing an ideal buddha land in this world, a task he came to see as his personal mission and responsibility. In declaring the supremacy of the Lotus Sūtra, he found it necessary to rebuke attachment to other, provisional teachings; in consequence, he encountered repeated antagonism.”

Nichiren felt the four peaceful practices were unsuited to his era. Do they apply today?

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano argues carrying the insistence on aggressive propagation into the modern world is ill-advised.

“In practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, so long as a person forces himself to endure persecution and the scorn of outsiders though filled with anger and resentment, he is a beginner in Buddhist disciplines. A person who has attained the Way can maintain a peaceful and calm mind even while suffering and can feel joy in the practice itself. Until a person attains such a state of mind, he must take scrupulous care not to be tempted or agitated by the various setbacks in his daily life. The chapter “A Happy Life” [the title of the Peaceful Practices chapter in the 1975 edition of the Threefold Lotus Sutra] teaches us this. The bodhisattvas declare with great ardor their resolution to withstand persecution from outside in the chapter “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” while the Buddha, like a father, gently admonishes the bodhisattvas not to yield to inward temptation in the chapter “A Happy Life.” In a sense, these two chapters state the contrast between a kindly father who knows the world and a son who is young and high-spirited.”

Rev. Ryusho Jeffus offers this warning in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:

“When there is no obstacle to practice it is entirely possible to create a false obstacle by our behavior of obstinacy and belligerence. The kinds of obstacles created in those situations are false. I can be a jerk and have people around me treat me poorly, but I can’t claim it is because of my practice when I am not actually following the peaceful practices in a peaceful environment. In an environment that is not hostile we should practice in a non-hostile way.”

Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra, is most often discussed in the context of the hardships the expounder of the Lotus Sutra must expect after the death of the Buddha. But for me, what stands out is the silence of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas’ reaction.

Let’s start following the predictions for Mahā-Prajāpatī Bhikṣunī, Yaśodharā Bhikṣunī and their attendants:

“Thereupon the World-Honored One looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis. They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together towards him with all their hearts, and thought, ‘If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sūtra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.’

“They also thought, ‘The Buddha keeps silence. He does not command us. What shall we do?’ ”

“In order to follow the wish of the Buddha respectfully, and also to fulfill their original vow, they vowed to the Buddha with a loud voice like the roar of a lion:

“ ‘World-Honored One! After your extinction, we will go to any place [not only of this Sahā-World but also] of the worlds of the ten quarters, as often as required, and cause all living beings to copy, keep, read and recite this sūtra, to expound the meanings of it, to act according to the Dharma, and to memorize this sūtra correctly. We shall be able to do all this only by your powers. World-Honored One! Protect us from afar even when you are in another world!’ ”

As the Introduction of the Lotus Sutra offers, “ ‘Encouragement for Keeping This Sutra’ means encouraging people to uphold it in spite of certain difficulties. It also implies effort and patience.”

For me there is no more powerful demonstration of faith than upholding the Lotus Sutra in the absence of encouragement. The effort and patience needed to act are two of six perfections all Bodhisattvas must master.

In The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Gene Reeves explains the meaning of “upholding” the Sutra.

“Usually, when translating it in the Dharma Flower Sutra, I have used the term “embrace.” It occurs in several combinations that are important in the Sutra, especially (in Japanese pronunciation) as juji, “receive and embrace”; buji, “honor and embrace”; goji, “protect and embrace”; and jisetsu, “embrace and explain”; and there are many others. I like to use “embrace” because, for the Dharma Flower Sutra, what is involved is not a matter either of storage or of defending, but of following or adhering to the teachings of the Sutra by embodying them in one’s life.

“But in Chapter 13, what is of most direct concern is propagating the Sutra in the face of great difficulties, spreading its teachings to others despite many obstacles, leading others to embrace it. So here, in the title of Chapter 13, it seems fitting to think of being encouraged to ‘uphold’ the Sutra.

In Nichiren’s Toki-ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My Lady the Nun Toki, he writes:

“[W]hen we believe in the certainty of attaining Buddhahood, is there anything to fear? It is pointless to become royalty and enjoy the pleasures of this life. It is useless to be born in heaven and enjoy its pleasures. Instead, follow the example of the dragon girl who attained Buddhahood in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, and align yourself with Mahā-Prajāpatī.

How delightful it will be! How joyful it will be! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 116

Sprouts of faith grow and mature in the soil of the Lotus Sutra, watered with the assurances lavishly offered throughout the 28 chapters. No one is excluded from finally attaining enlightenment. Is there anything to fear?

The predictions given in Chapter 13 to Mahā-Prajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother, and her followers and Yaśodharā, the Buddha’s wife and mother of his only son, are just one of these important assurances.

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano raises an interesting point about the timing of these predictions:

“It may seem strange that the Buddha in his predictions had left [Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā] until last and that before mentioning them he had given his prediction to the dragon king’s daughter, who was, so to speak, an indirect disciple instructed by Mañjuśrī, and only an eight-year-old girl. This priority has the following meanings. First, as already mentioned in the explanation of the Buddha’s prediction to Ānanda and Rāhula, for those closest to the Buddha, like the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī, who had brought up Śākyamuni from babyhood, and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā, who had been his wife and had given birth to his son, such intimacy could have become a hindrance rather than a help to their practice. The Buddha teaches us that someone like the dragon king’s daughter, who is a perfect stranger to the Buddha, can receive the Law with ease, while we may find great difficulty in instructing those closest to us, such as our parents and spouses. The delay of the Buddha’s prediction to the Bhikṣunī Mahā-Prajāpatī and the Bhikṣunī Yaśodharā does not mean that they were considered inferior to the dragon king’s daughter.

And if you want to quibble and say the dragon girl’s prediction was a later addition to the sutra, then Chapter 13’s predictions for Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā become even more important. The enlightenment of Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā put to rest any doubts of whether women are qualified to attain Buddhahood. Everyone has the potential to become a Buddha.

As a postscript, I should add Gene Reeves’ interesting interpretation of the prediction for these female śrāvakas:

“In contrast with the story of the dragon princess, there is no mention of these nuns having to become male. Clearly, as Dharma teachers and bodhisattvas at least, they are female.”

When considering the story of the dragon king’s daughter and how this applies to faith it is appropriate to begin with a warning offered in the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:

“[I]t would be a serious mistake to take the teaching of the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this life’ as meaning we can attain enlightenment without any effort. Even if we believe strongly in a religion, we must still practice it and apply its principles to our life. But by the power of their faith, ordinary people can attain the power of the Buddha without first completing difficult studies and practicing for eons and eons. This is what is meant by the ‘attainment of Buddhahood in this very life’ ”

The power of faith is not the only requirement, however. Gene Reeves in his Stories of the Lotus Sutra has an important observation of the requirements for the dragon girl to become a Buddha.

As we learn in the Lotus Sutra, Accumulated-Wisdom Bodhisattva challenged the girl’s assertion that she could become a Buddha quickly. The girl then took a priceless gem and offered it to Śākyamuni. He accepted the gem immediately. As Reeves observes:

“ ‘Just watch,’ she says, ‘use your holy powers to watch me become a buddha even more quickly than it took for Shakyamuni Buddha to take a jewel from my hand.’ In a sense, a little girl becomes a buddha for them, but she can do this only if they used their ‘holy powers,’ their vision, to allow her to be a buddha for them, to open themselves to her being a buddha for them.

In the end, as Nichiren explains, this story offers actual proof for the faithful:

“Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living beings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. … The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women. Grand Master Dengyō of Mt. Hiei, who first spread the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, annotated in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “Neither the dragon girl, who became a Buddha to preach the dharma, nor the people who heard her preach the dharma needed a roundabout way to Buddhahood. They immediately attained Buddhahood with their present bodies by the power of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 146-147

In continuing my yearlong discussion of faith and the Lotus Sutra, I think it is important to look at Chapter 12 as two halves rather than as the completion of the sutra’s lesson on universal salvation, which it clearly represents. I will consider Devadatta here and follow with a look at the dragon girl’s impact on faith.

In his Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Gene Reeves says:

“Basic to the teachings of this Sutra is a kind of promise, an assurance, that each and every living being has the potential to become a buddha. This tells us something about ourselves, of course, but here the light is shining in the other direction, encouraging us to see the buddha in others—regardless of their moral or other qualities.

“In an important sense, this story [about Devadatta] is not so much about Devadatta as it is about Shakyamuni Buddha. It does not teach us that Devadatta was able to become a buddha because his inner intentions were really good, or because he changed his ways and became a good man, or because of anything else he did or did not do. What this story teaches is that the Buddha is one who can see the buddha in others. And that is what we are encouraged by this story to do – to look for and see the buddha in all those we encounter.”

Of course, we repeat in Chapter 20 and the lessons of Never-Despising Bodhisattva that our practice should see the Buddha in everyone, but here we are being asked to set aside our preconceived ideas about people.

In part this reflects a lesson in non-duality. As Introduction to the Lotus Sutra explains:

“Buddhism believes that good and evil are not two separate things; there is no absolute distinction between the two. An evil deed cannot be considered an absolute. The Devadatta Chapter is known as the teaching that explains the attainment of enlightenment by evil people, and its philosophical background comes from the ‘non-duality of good and evil,’ as understood in Buddhism.”

So, while everyone knew of Devadatta’s past wrongs, only the Buddha knew of his past good works. This is an important lesson on our faith and our practice of Lotus Sutra Buddhism. As Nikkyō Niwano explains in Buddhism for Today:

“This is a most important declaration. When we receive scorn, abuse, and obstruction from others, we are apt to become angry with them, feel sad, and begin to doubt the Law. We must instead endure such hardships and divert them to a positive force because the teaching of the Lotus Sutra is the supreme Law in this world. Many ancient teachers and leaders, including both Sakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren, have proved by their example that man can thus transform drawbacks into advantages. … Sakyamuni Buddha not only did not feel resentment toward Devadatta, who inflicted so many injuries on him, but even thanked him for his ‘good friendship.’ ”

Since this 800 Years of Faith project is dedicated to Nichiren and his work, it’s only right to emphasize how his faith encourages us so many centuries later. After all, as he says in Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Answer to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, we have not chosen an easy task:

“To become a Buddha is more difficult than trying to thread a needle by casting a thread from the top of one Mt. Sumeru to the needle on the top of another Mt. Sumeru. How much more difficult it will be if a strong headwind is blowing the other way!

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 93

But how much easier is the task when we have a leader to follow, one who has trod the path. In Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Nichiren writes:

“Born in the Latter Age of Degeneration, I, Nichiren, was the first to spread the outline of the Wonderful Dharma reserved for Bodhisattva Superior Practice. I was also the first to inscribe the Great Mandala with Śākyamuni Buddha appearing in the ‘Life Span of the Buddha’ chapter of the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha of Many Treasures who emerged in the ‘Stupa of Treasures’ chapter of the theoretical section, and bodhisattvas from the earth in the ‘Emerging from the Earth’ chapter. These are very meaningful to me. And those who hate me cannot affect my enlightenment no matter what power they hold.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 77

Nichiren took the example of Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures together in the Stupa of Treasures and devoted his life solely to the cause of spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration. As he says in Shohō Jisso-shō:

“When Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and many other Buddhas and bodhisattvas from all over the Universe gathered at the assembly up in the sky above Mt. Sacred Eagle, what Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures agreed upon was solely for the sake of perpetually spreading the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration. When the Buddha of Many Treasures who had already been inside the Stupa shared his seat with Śākyamuni Buddha, what was decided by the two Buddhas as generals standing under the flag of Myōhō Renge Kyō was nothing but the truth. It was a meeting to help us living beings achieve Buddhahood.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4,
Page 78-79

Nichiren goes on to say that he wasn’t there at the time, but speculates he might have been and just doesn’t recall since he’s an ordinary man. With this speculation he emphasizes that “past, present, and future are not separated from one another.” This is just as true today for those of us who have taken faith in the Lotus Sutra – the past on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa is not separate from where we practice today.

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.