Sakyamuni Buddha continues teaching Maitreya about benefits which one can obtain after hearing the chapter, “The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata.” He explains how practitioners of the Dharma, even those who have just begun to practice, should believe and accept this Sutra, and what merits they will obtain. This is called the “Four Faiths in the Present and the Five Stages in the Future,” or the “Four Faiths and the Five Stages,” and has long been considered an important teaching. “The present” means the present then, when Sakyamuni was in this world, and not our present today. At that time, there were four stages in the ideal method of faith and practice for his disciples. “The future” means after Sakyamuni has passed away, which is to say, our present and future. Now there are five levels or stages for practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. The names, “four faiths and five stages,” are not found in the Sutra itself. Great Master Chih-i discerned them in this chapter, named them, and spoke about them in his book, The Words of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law. His analysis has stood the test of time, and we should examine it further.
Introduction to the Lotus Sutra