Chapter 17 sets forth the four stages of faith of those who believe in the Lotus Sutra during the Buddha’s lifetime, and the five stages of practice for those who follow it after his death. The four stages of faith are:

“Those living beings who have heard that the lifetime of the Buddha is of such long duration and have been able to receive but one thought of faith and discernment—the merits they obtain . . . [will bel beyond [the merits of practicing] the five pāramitās.”

“If anyone hears of the duration of the Buddha’s lifetime and apprehends its meaning, the merit obtained by this man will be beyond limit and he will advance to the supreme wisdom of tathāgatas.”

“The one who is devoted to hearing this sutra, or causes others to hear it, or himself keeps it, or causes others to keep it, or himself copies it, or causes others to copy it, or . . . pays homage to the sutra; this man’s merit will be infinite and boundless and able to bring forth perfect knowledge.”

“If any good son or good daughter, hearing of my declaration of the duration of my lifetime, believes and discerns it in his inmost heart, such a one will see the Buddha always on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa preaching the Law. And he will see this Sahā-world whose land is lapis lazuli , it has towers, halls, and galleries all made of jewels, in which dwell together its bodhisattva host.”

The five stages of practice:

“If [anyone], after the extinction of the Tathāgata, hears this sutra, and does not defame but rejoices over it, you may know that he has had the sign of deep faith and discernment.”

“The one who reads and recites, receives and keeps [this sutra] – this man carries the Tathāgata on his head. Such a good son or good daughter need no more erect stupas, temples, or monasteries for me, nor make offerings of the four requisites to the monks.”

“If anyone after the extinction of the Tathāgata receives and keeps, reads and recites it, preaches it to others, either himself copies it or causes others to copy it, and pays homage to the sutra, he need no longer erect stupas and temples or build monasteries and make offerings to the monks.”

“He who is able to keep this sutra and add thereto [the six pāramitās . . . he will speedily reach perfect knowledge.”

“If anyone reads and recites, receives and keeps this sutra, preaches it to other people is able to … serve and extol the śrāvaka-monks … [and] is able to keep [the six pāramitās] those people … are near Perfect Enlightenment, sitting under the tree of enlightenment. … Wherever those good sons or good daughters sit or stand or walk in that place, [you] should erect a caitya [stupa without relics; stupa of the dharma]; all gods and men should pay homage to it as a Stupa of [the relics of] the Buddha.”

The eternally enlightened Original Buddha, as taught in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, is the eternally unchanging dharma-kāya; Śākyamuni, who was enlightened at Gayā, was none other than the Buddha revealing himself as the nirmāṇa-kāya. Unenlightened understanding (“skillful means”) contrasts with the “truth” of the Buddha. These contrary modes of understanding do not, however, mean that there are two opposing existences (the One vehicle and the three vehicles; the Original Buddha and the manifested form) or two times (without beginning or end, having beginning and end); rather they are different ways of looking at the same existence, the same time. Ultimately, the Buddha’s absolute truth is one. The verse section of the same chapter can be considered the expression of the culmination of religious uniāty:

“[When] all creatures have believed and obeyed,
In [character] upright, in mind gentle,
Wholeheartedly wishing to see the Buddha,
Not caring for their own lives,
Then I with all the Saṃgha
Appear together on the Divine Vulture Peak.

“When all the living see, at the kalpa’s end,
The conflagration when it is burning,
Tranquil is this realm of mine,
Ever filled with heavenly beings, Parks, and many palaces
With every kind of gem adorned,
Precious trees full of blossoms and fruits,
Where all creatures take their pleasure;
All the gods strike the heavenly drums
And evermore make music,
Showering mandārava flowers
On the Buddha and his great assembly.

My Pure Land will never be destroyed,
Yet all view it as being burned up,
And grief and horror and distress
Fill them all like this.”

That preserving the teachings was an important issue for the Saṃgha can be gauged from the references to dhamma-dhara (dharma-dhara) and dhamma-kathika (dharma-kathika) in Buddhist writings. However, Mahayana, which combined in the bodhisattva way the self-benefiting practice of preserving the correct Dharma and the other-benefiting practice of the propagation of the sutras, called the preacher who bore that mission the dharma-bhāṇaka. Why different terms were used is of considerable interest.

We have seen already that the bhāṇaka, as a memorizer and reciter of sacred works, had from old been counted as a type of musician, and that his existence is confirmed by dedicatory inscriptions at Sāñcī and Bhārhut. Around the second century BCE the bhāṇaka came to be connected with stupas, performing offerings in praise of the Buddha, reciting the sutras, and conducting sermons, for the benefit of visiting lay pilgrims. At that time (the period of sectarian Buddhism) the Theravāda sect laid claim to being the orthodox preserver of the teachings, and paid no heed to the bhāṇaka. It was the humble bhāṇaka, though, whom the Mahayana sutras referred to as a bodhisattva and gave the mission of propagating the true Dharma. Therefore it is not impossible to find in the bhāṇaka of that period certain evidence for one source of Mahayana Buddhism.

While the Mahayana sutras referred to the preserver of the true Dharma as bhāṇaka, they used the terms dharma-dhara and dharma-kathika to indicate those who considered themselves to be orthodox preservers of the teachings. Most such references are found in the oldest parts of the Mahayana sutras; the newer parts invariably use dharma-bhāṇaka. In the Lotus Sutra, for example, the use of dharma-dhara and dharma-kathika is confined to the section before “A Teacher of the Law,” whereas dharma-bhāṇaka is used mainly in the chapters after that. If we allow that the chapter “A Teacher of the Law” marks a temporal shift in the formation of the Lotus Sutra, we may consider that the use of dharma-dhara, dharma-kathika, and dharma-bhāṇaka likewise belongs to specific periods of time. As discussed earlier, the chapters before “A Teacher of the Law” encouraged the veneration of relic stupas, but those after it discouraged that practice and recommended instead constructing caityas containing verses from the scriptures. To reiterate, although the Lotus Sutra called transmitters of the teachings by the general terms dharma-dhara and dharma-kathika, the sutra gave the special task of propagating itself to the dharma-bhāṇaka, as a Mahayana bodhisattva.

According to Tendai’s “Branches of the Lotus Sutra,” the parables are divided into two portions, the exposition and the explanation of correspondences.

Correspondences for the Parable of the Priceless Gem in the Top-Knot

Just as the powerful wheel-rolling king desires to conquer other lands by force, the Tathāgata by his powers of meditation and wisdom has taken possession of the domain of the Dharma, and rules as king over the triple world.

Just as, when minor kings do not obey him, he calls up his armies and goes to punish them, the Tathāgata’s wise and holy generals fight with the Māra kings, for they are unwilling to submit.

Just as the king, seeing his soldiers distinguish themselves in battle, is greatly pleased, the Tathāgata is pleased with those who distinguish themselves.

Just as the king rewards his soldiers according to their merit with villages, cities, garments, ornaments, or with all kinds of precious jewels, etc., the Tathāgata in the midst of the four groups preaches the sutras, causing them to rejoice, and bestows on them the meditations, the emancipations, the faultless roots and powers, and all the wealth of the Dharma. In addition, he gives them the city of nirvana, saying they have attained extinction, and attracts their minds so that they all rejoice.

Just as it is only the bright jewel on his head that the king gives to no one, the Tathāgata does not preach this Law-Flower Sutra.

Just as the king, seeing among his soldiers those whose merits were particularly great, is so greatly pleased that he gives them the jewel from his head, the Tathāgata, as the great Dharma-king of the triple world, teaches and converts all living beings by the Dharma. When he sees his wise and holy army fighting the Māra of the five mental processes, the Māra of earthly cares, and the Māra of death, and doing so with great exploits and merits, exterminating the three poisons, escaping from the triple world, and breaking through the net of the Māras, then the Tathāgata is very pleased, and preaches the Law-Flower Sutra, which has never before been preached, and which is able to cause all the living to reach perfect knowledge, though all the world greatly resents and has difficulty in believing it. This Law-Flower Sutra is the foremost teaching of the tathāgatas and the most profound of all discourses. I give it, says the Buddha, to you last of all, just as that powerful king at last gives the brilliant jewel he has guarded for long.

In chapter 14, “A Happy Life,” Mañjuśrī praises the bodhisattvas of great attainment who have vowed to spread the sutra, and asks the Buddha how it might be propagated by those bodhisattvas with as yet little experience and by novices to religious practice. In reply, the Buddha expounds four types of peaceful practice: actions, words, thoughts, and vows.

1. The peaceful action of the body … is to abide in action (ācāra) and intimacy (gocara), as follows:

   (a) The bodhisattva here abides in a state of patience, is gentle and agreeable, is neither hasty nor overbearing, and is unperturbed of mind. He is not deceived by the dharmas, but sees all things as they really are and does not proceed along the undivided way.

   (b) The bodhisattva is not intimate with kings, princes, ministers, or courtiers, with yoga practitioners, religious wanderers, Ājīvikas, Jainas, or Lokāyatas, with caṇḍālas [dancers, singers, and actors], the poor, pork butchers, dealers in fowl, or hunters, nor with actors or entertainers. Nor does he wish to find favor with women, nor meet with them, and if he visits the homes of others, does not converse with any girl, daughter, or wife. Further, he observes that all dharmas are empty: that all things are correctly established, are not inverted, preserve their condition, are like space, are cut off from all verbal interpretations and expressions, are unborn, do not come forth, are unmade, are not unmade, are neither so or not . . . that they are cut off from all attachment, and that they are produced through inversion of thought.

2.  The peaceful action of words. … The bodhisattva who wishes to propagate this teaching should abide in the peaceful stage [of speech]. When he speaks to others, he should not point out errors in others’ teachings, speak ill of others, criticize them, nor find fault with them. By refraining from so doing, he will be able to teach intimately and deeply.
3. The peaceful action of thought. … The bodhisattva does not criticize, revile, or feel contempt for those who follow other teachings, he does not say that others will never attain buddhahood, and he dislikes disputations. Without discarding the power of his compassion, he regards the tathāgatas as fathers and the bodhisattvas as teachers. The bodhisattvas in all directions of space he worships and reveres from his deepest heart.
4. The peaceful action of vows. … Concerning those who have not as yet aspired after enlightenment, the bodhisattva should make the vow: “These living beings are poor in wisdom. They have not heard, known, realized, questioned, believed, or followed the words which secrete the deep meaning of the Tathāgata’s skillful means. Further, they have not tried to enter into this teaching and realize it. When I attain supreme and perfect enlightenment, wherever people are, I will move their hearts through my mystic supernatural powers and cause them to believe, to enter into the teaching, to gain realization of it, and to achieve maturity.” The sutra then goes on to say: “This Law-Flower Sutra is the foremost teaching of the tathāgatas and the most profound of all discourses. I give it to you last of all, just as that powerful king at last gives the brilliant jewel he has guarded for long. Mañjuśrī! This Law-Flower Sutra is the mysterious treasury of the buddha-tathāgatas, which is supreme above all sutras. For long has it been guarded and not prematurely declared; today for the first time I proclaim it to you all.”

According to the biographical literature about the Buddha, Devadatta was a rival of Prince Siddhārtha in the military arts. Early sutras say he brought schism to the Saṃgha. For example, according to the Saṃghabhedakkhandhaka (Cullavagga, V11.3) Devadatta offered to replace the Buddha, then advanced in years, at the head of the Saṃgha. “WorldHonored One, you are old and aged; entrust the community to me.” The Buddha refused and censured his self-interest. In anger, Devadatta left the Saṃgha. Thereupon the Buddha announced that Devadatta’s speech and conduct bore no relation to Buddhism. Devadatta went to Prince Ajātaśatru, incited him to usurp the throne, and planned various schemes for the Buddha’s destruction. Nevertheless, all his plans failed: his hired assassins became converted, the rock he threw from the top of Vulture Peak merely grazed the Buddha, and the maddened elephant prostrated itself before Śākyamuni. Devadatta then decided to provoke a schism in the Saṃgha, and went to the Buddha proposing five rules to be made compulsory for monks (bhikṣus):

1. That they should spend their lives in the forest (āraññaka); entering a town should be a sin.
2. That they should live only on what they had received through begging (piṇdapātika); receiving food requested should be a sin.
3. That they should wear only clothes made of rags from dust heaps (paṃsukūlika); receiving the clothing of the laity should be a sin.
4. That they should dwell at the foot of a tree (rukkhamūlika); entering a dwelling should be a sin.
5. That they should not eat fish or meat; doing so should be a sin. (Some sources say “milk and butter” instead of “fish and meat.”)

When the Buddha refused to sanction these rules, Devadatta went to Vesāli (Vaiśālī), won five hundred Vajji (Vṛji) monks to his way of thinking, and set up a separate community at Gayāsisa.

The early sutras record that Devadatta fell into hell for his evil action in splitting the Saṃgha.

Stupa worship as revealed in the Lotus Sutra is of three types. First, the believer is urged to build, and make offerings to, the relic stupa. Next, the building of relic stupas is forbidden, and people are exhorted to build caityas [stupas containing sutras]. Lastly, it speaks of the jeweled Stupa (ratna-stūpa) and the emanations of the Tathāgata, and the śarīra-stūpa of Prabhūtaratna Buddha. This implies that the sutra is made up of different groups of chapters, containing different views about Stupa worship.

The Lotus Sutra gives priority to the religious practice of receiving and keeping the sutra as the bodhisattva way, rather than to setting forth a central philosophy. Consequently, … the sutra has taken on the character of the transmitters who recorded it. These transmitters, giving concrete expression to the practice, amid difficulties, of receiving and keeping the sutra as the three rules of preaching (the robe, the throne, and the dwelling) described in “A Teacher of the Law,” eulogized the firm and believing mind of one who receives and keeps the Lotus Sutra. The trend toward a Lotus cult, a cult that was to gain fervent adherence in China and Japan, can be traced back to characteristics in the sutra itself.