QUESTION: According to the Flower Garland Sūtra, Bodhisattva Good Treasures met some fifty “good friends,” in search of the way. Among his “good friends” were such distinguished bodhisattvas as Universal Sage, Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara (Kannon) and Maitreya. Ever Weeping Bodhisattva, King Spotted Feet, King Wonderful Adornment and King Ajātaśatru were led to emancipation from the illusion of life and death respectively by Bodhisattva T’an Wu-chieh, King Fumyō, King Wonderful Adornment’s wife and two sons, and Minister Jivaka.

These teachers were, however, great sages, and difficult to encounter after the passing of the Buddha. After the extinction of the Buddha there lived such great teachers as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu in India, but they died, and such teachers as Nan-yūeh (T’ien-t’ai’s teacher) and T’ien-t’ai of China are no longer here. How can we then sever the chain of life and death?

ANSWER: “Good friends” (reliable teachers) exist even in the Latter Age; they are the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvana Sūtra.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 58