[I]t is sometimes said that the Lotus Sutra offers an easy way to awakening, and that this is why it has been so popular throughout the history of East Asia, and, judging by the large number of fragments that continue to be found, probably it was once popular in India and Central Asia as well. But is the way of the Dharma Flower Sutra so easy?

This matter is a little complicated, because, as is so often the case with this text, two things are asserted that seem incompatible on the surface. On the one hand, it teaches that anyone and everyone can be, and to some degree, no doubt, has already been, a Dharma teacher and bodhisattva for someone else. We can say that all have planted seeds of becoming a buddha, or that they have entered the Way of becoming a buddha. In Chapter 10 we are told that if anyone rejoices even for a single moment from hearing even a single verse of the Sutra, he or she will attain supreme awakening. Please notice, however, that it does not say “has” attained supreme awakening, but “will.” What is between the hearing of a single verse and the attainment of awakening is, at least normally, a great deal of effort and work. As we have seen, the treasure we seek is at once both near and very distant – and what the Sutra teaches here is that even a single verse can plant a seed, a starting point for entering the Way. Like any seed, the seed and the bud that springs from it have to be watered and nourished in order to grow, flower, and bear fruit.