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.

Source elements of the Lotus Sutra lists Rahula, the Buddha’s son, as foremost of all who loved learning. Lotus World has him foremost in inconspicuous practice. Either way, he is an example to follow for those who take faith in the Lotus Sutra.

In his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra, Rev. Ryusho Jeffus offers this explanation of what the Buddha calls Rāhula’s “secret practices”:

“It is the ordinary day-to-day practice that each of us performs that is actually the great secret practice of Rāhula. It isn’t fame or acquiring a big name that is required to attain enlightenment. It isn’t being famous that will lead others to practice the Lotus Sutra. It is our practice of the Lotus Sutra in our everyday lives that will enable countless others just like us to ultimately take faith in the Lotus Sutra. We should not be discouraged, instead we can look at Rāhula who will become Walking-On-Flowers-Of-Seven-Treasures Buddha and we too can walk on the flowers of the seven treasures of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.”

Here is another place where Nikkyō Niwano’s principle of half a step fits. We must lead by example, but not from far in front, acting superior, but a measured half-step ahead, showing what’s possible.

While everyone who takes faith in the Lotus Sutra is declared a child of the Buddha, one can imagine that it wasn’t easy for Rāhula to be inconspicuous when his father was Śākyamuni. As Gene Reeves points out in Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“While the name Ananda means ‘bliss’ or ‘joy,’ the name Rāhula means ‘obstruction,’ ‘bond,’ or ‘fetter.’ Born just shortly before the future Buddha left home to pursue enlightenment, it is said that he was named Rāhula by his grandfather after the future Buddha announced immediately after the birth of his son that an ‘obstruction’ (rāhula) had been born. Like many sons of noble Shakya families of the time, the future Buddha apparently had been thinking of leaving home from a fairly young age. It is said that his own father, the king, had arranged for his marriage to Yaśodharā when he was nineteen in order to discourage him from leaving home. Ten years later, Rāhula was born, and it was said that Shakyamuni called him Rāhula because he created “bonds” of affection. This story would later be used to show how a bond of love can be an impediment or hindrance to one who wants to follow the life of a monk.”

As Reeves explains, Rāhula was about 7 when his father returned home for the first time. As the child of divorced parents, I have always favored the story that Rāhula’s mother pushed her son to go ask his father, whom he’d never met, to give him his inheritance and his wealth. Divorced parents are like that. That the Buddha made Rāhula the heir to his spiritual wealth by taking him on as a novice monk says all we need to know about the Buddha’s love for all his children.

Chapter 9 offers an important lesson on the need for those who take faith in the Lotus Sutra to put that faith into practice in their lives.

This lesson comes in response to a complaint from a group of newly minted bodhisattvas who want to know why the Buddha is focusing so much attention on lowly śrāvakas.

The Buddha replies:

“Good men! Ānanda and I resolved to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi under the Void-King Buddha at the same time in our previous existence. At that time Ānanda always wished to hear much while I always practiced strenuously. Therefore, I have already attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, but he has not yet.”

Ānanda loved hearing about the Dharma but did nothing with that knowledge. Śākyamuni practiced strenuously and in doing so achieved his goal.

Our faith requires that we keep our gaze on the horizon, on the goal at the end, the goal beyond the daily needs. And in order to reach those goals we must act, moving one step at a time toward that horizon. Faith is the key to the gate of the teaching, but we must put the key in the lock and enter the storehouse of the Buddha’s teaching and walk the path to reach our goal.

The idea of vows and how they should shape our goals is another important lesson of the Lotus Sutra. As Gene Reeves explains in Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“In Mahayana Buddhism there is a distinction between two kinds of vows, special vows (betsugan in Japanese) and general vows (sogan). Special vows, which might better be termed ‘resolutions,’ are relative to time and circumstance, individual ability, and so on. They may change. Here, however, we are talking of the Buddha’s original general vow, a vow that is said to be taken by all buddhas and to be good for all. It is sometimes taken to be a four-part vow: to save everyone, to remove all hindrances to awakening, to study all the teachings, and to attain the Buddha Way of supreme awakening. These four are sometimes known as the four great vows of followers of the bodhisattva way.

“The idea of making a vow that will last for uncountable eons, a vow that is to be the very basis of one’s life, stresses the importance of perseverance, persistence, or diligence. It is a fundamental teaching of the Dharma Flower Sutra that we should set goals for ourselves, such as saving all the living, or world peace, goals that we know very well may never be fully realized. Having set such a goal, we should be devoted to pursuing it. This is why perseverance in the face of difficulties is one of the six transcendental practices or perfections of bodhisattvas. Following this way, we will not easily become discouraged, want to give up, or turn back. Defeats and losses can be expected, but even small victories in the struggle for world peace and human happiness can be a cause for great joy.”

Faith cannot exist without practice, and the practices of Pūrṇa in Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples, should be studied as we seek to make the Lotus Sutra come alive in our lives.

Ryusho Jeffus in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this observation:

“The four kinds of unhindered eloquence are dharma, meaning, words, and joy. When one has these four they are able to teach the dharma without difficulty. You could say they will be confident in their ability to teach the Buddha’s teachings to others. Knowing the meaning and words of the Dharma goes beyond an intellectual understanding or accumulation of information and knowledge. It is about the ability to express the teachings contained in the Dharma in such a way that the listener will be able to understand, and relate to their own lives. … If we are able to relate our own joy as well as cause the listener joy in hearing and understanding, then we have been able to accomplish unhindered eloquence. It isn’t about fancy words. It isn’t about sharing information. It is about a deep person-to-person, life-to-life communication of the profound nature of the Dharma, which actually transcends words.”

We must avoid preaching to others with a superior manner or threaten them or attempt to force a change of heart. Instead, we must follow what Nikkyō Niwano calls the principle of half a step.

“In doing missionary work or leading others, we can learn something very important from [Pūrṇa’s] attitude, which he maintained both inwardly and outwardly. If one were a person of great virtue and influence, such as Śākyamuni Buddha, even though he never assumed an air of self-importance everybody would throw himself on his knees and concentrate his mind upon hearing that person’s teaching. However, in the case of one who is not endowed with so much virtue and influence, people do not always listen earnestly to his preaching of the Law. If he gives himself the airs of a great man, some will come to have ill feeling toward him, while others will feel that he is unapproachable. Pūrṇa’s attitude is a good example for us.

“It goes without saying that we must not look down on people or think, ‘They are unenlightened,’ but it is dangerous for us even to fancy ourselves to have gone a step farther than others. We must preserve the attitude of keeping pace with other people. But we cannot lead others if we completely keep pace with them, that is, if we behave exactly the same as those who know nothing of the Buddha-way. We should go not a step but only half a step farther than others. If we do this, those around us will still feel that we are one of them and will keep pace with us. While accompanying us, they will be influenced by us and led in the right way without realizing it.”

This is the way practiced by the Buddha’s children.

While Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples, doesn’t mention faith, it helps illustrate that faith is not for ourselves alone. We are directed to focus on the Mahayana and to avoid simply settling for what is close at hand.

In Chapter 8, the Arhats illustrate their understanding with the parable of a priceless gem sown into the garment of a poor man by his rich friend. The poor man, unaware of the priceless gift, satisfies himself with what little he can earn.

As Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others explain:

“You, the Buddha, are like his friend. We thought that we had attained extinction when we attained Arhatship because we forgot that we had been taught to aspire for the knowledge of all things by you when you were a Bodhisattva just as the man who had difficulty in earning his livelihood satisfied himself with what little he had earned. You, the World-Honored One, saw that the aspiration for the knowledge of all things was still latent in our minds; therefore, you awakened us, saying, ‘Bhikṣus! What you had attained was not perfect extinction. I caused you to plant the good root of Buddhahood a long time ago. You have forgotten this; therefore, I expounded the teaching of Nirvāṇa as an expedient. You thought that you had attained true extinction when you attained the Nirvāṇa which I taught you as an expedient.’

“World-Honored One! Now we see that we are Bodhisattvas in reality, and that we are assured of our future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, we have the greatest joy that we have ever had.”

In Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Gene Reeves emphasizes how a bodhisattva should spend the treasure of the jewel left in the robe.

“In this story, using the treasure clearly means using it to enjoy life. Life is difficult, but we are much freer, more able to appreciate, more able to cope with whatever difficulties life presents us if we have an appropriate attitude toward life and toward ourselves. Having a good attitude toward life, for the Dharma Flower Sutra, means seeing everything that comes to us as a gift, more especially as an opportunity, as what we call a ‘learning experience.’ Yes, life can be very difficult, but if we approach the troubles and difficulties that come our way as opportunities for learning, we will enjoy life more fully.

“In Mahayana Buddhism, the importance of helping others is often stressed. But we should know that even helping others is never merely helping others – it always contributes to our own enjoyment of life as well. The Dharma Flower Sutra encourages us to look for and cultivate the good both in ourselves and in others.”

When we realize we are bodhisattvas – when we understand that we cannot advance until we can bring all others along with us – we begin to understand the true treasure we have been given. Properly spent, the whole world can benefit.

Chapter 4 is entitled Understanding by Faith but in many respects a better example of how faith enables understanding is found in Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City, in the story of the 16 sons of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha who each became bodhisattva-­śramaṇeras.

The sons, realizing there was more to learn than what the Śrāvakas had been taught, asked their father to expound the teaching of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi – unexcelled perfect enlightenment. Twenty thousand kalpas later, the Buddha finally expounded the “Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.”

“It took the Buddha eight thousand kalpas to complete the expounding of this sūtra. During that time he did not take a rest. Having completed the expounding of this sūtra, the Buddha entered a quiet room and practiced dhyāna-concentration for eighty-four thousand kalpas. Seeing him practicing dhyāna-concentration quietly in the room, the sixteen Bodhisattva­-śramaṇeras each sat on a seat of the Dharma, expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to the four kinds of devotees for eighty-four thousand kalpas, and saved six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. They showed them the Way, taught them, benefited them, caused them to rejoice and to aspire for Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.”

In Buddhism for Today, Nikkyō Niwano explains the significance of the Bodhisattva-­śramaṇeras’ sequence of instruction.

“These words indicate the order of preaching the Law. First, one must show the general meaning of the teaching to people. Then, when one knows that they have generated the desire to enter the teaching, one must teach its profound meaning. Next, seeing that they appear to understand it, one must lead them to practice it and to obtain the benefit of the teaching. Lastly, one must so act toward them as to gladden them in keeping the teaching.”

That “desire to enter the teaching” is the essence of faith. The 16 sons received the sutra by faith and, in expounding the teachings, inspired faith.

“These sixteen Bodhisattvas willingly expounded the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Each of them taught six hundred billion nayutas of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings were always accompanied by the Bodhisattva, by whom they were taught, in their consecutive existences. In each of their consecutive existences, they heard the Dharma from him, and understood it by faith.”

All we need now is to remember.

As Nichiren says in his Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sutra:

“Since time immemorial all the people on the earth have been the Buddha Śākyamuni’s beloved children. We had not realized the relationship because we had been undutiful children. It is a unique relationship. As the moon reflects on calm water, the Buddha appears in our calm mind.”