From the standpoint of teachers of the Dharma and messengers of the Tathāgata, Śākyamuni Buddha must always be present, an eternal existence, so that they can maintain their practices unwaveringly. Śākyamuni Buddha’s constant and eternal presence supports them and encourages their activities, at times urging them on their way even strictly. With this realization they know that if they stop their activities, Śākyamuni Buddha’s activities are also stopped. Therefore, if the teachers of the Dharma and messengers of the Tathāgata do not act, Śākyamuni Buddha has no relation to us who live in the present age, becoming merely a buddha of a past age.

Therefore, you must become a teacher of the Dharma and a messenger of the Tathāgata! This is the greatest message of the Lotus Sūtra: to keep teachers of the Dharma and messengers of the Tathāgata present and active. This guarantees Śākyamuni Buddha’s eternity. The three orders in “Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures,” Chapter 11 of the Lotus Sūtra, are orders to become teachers of the Dharma and messengers of the Tathāgata, and to spread the message of the Lotus Sūtra into the future.

Śākyamuni Buddha does not abandon us perverted people.

“I am always thinking:
‘How shall I cause all living beings
To enter into the unsurpassed Way
And quickly become Buddhas?”‘

With this vow, Śākyamuni Buddha, as the Eternal Buddha, is constantly lending a helping hand to us perverted people.

How do the activities of the Buddha toward the salvation of others over eternity develop? In “The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata,” these activities are revealed in the form of the six occasions of showing the deeds and figures of buddhas.

I told the stories of my previous lives in some sūtras, and the stories of previous lives of other Buddhas in other sutras. I showed my replicas in some sūtras, and my transformations in other sūtras. I described my deeds in some sūtras, and the deeds of others in other sūtras.

Śākyamuni Buddha is always leading us into salvation, showing himself in many guises and using many different methods. Right before the Assembly in Space begins, many buddhas were invited. These were actually manifestations of the Eternal Buddha. This reveals why they are called manifestations. Many buddhas besides Śākyamuni Buddha appear in Buddhism, for example, Amitābha Buddha and Medicine Master Buddha. Each of these buddhas is viewed as a part of the Eternal Buddha. Even the historical Śākyamuni Buddha, whose lifespan was limited, is viewed as one aspect of the Eternal Buddha. In this way, all the buddhas working toward the salvation of living beings are merely different manifestations of the eternal Buddha, who uses the six occasions of revealing the deeds and figures of buddhas to show himself appropriately in each situation.

It may seem that so long as we remember that the Eternal Buddha is at the base of the individual Buddhas, we can put our faith in any Buddha. Nichiren Shōnin severely criticized such a theory, saying that it makes light of the base and emphasizes trivial details.

“The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata” reveals the true nature of this Sahā world. Śākyamuni Buddha became a buddha in our Sahā world. Since he is the Eternal Buddha, the Sahā world is the world in which he resides. This describes our world as an eternal pure land.

“In reality this world of mine is peaceful.
It is filled with gods and men.
The gardens, forests, and stately buildings
Are adorned with various treasures;
The jeweled trees have many flowers and fruits;
The living beings are enjoying themselves.”

If this is the reality of the Sahā world, then we are all residents of the eternal pure land. Why don’t we experience the Sahā world as an eternal pure land? According to the text, we are perverted people. This means that we cannot see straight but look at things from the wrong side. Thus it is revealed:

“This pure world of mine is indestructible.
But the perverted people think:
‘It is full of sorrow, fear and other sufferings.
It will soon burn away.”‘

Although in the eyes of the Buddha the Sahā world is unmistakably a pure land, we perverted people experience is a world filled with sorrow, fear and sadness. We “sinful people” cannot escape our “evil karmas.”

At the beginning of Chapter 16, “The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata,” Śākyamuni Buddha asks his listeners three times to pledge their faithful reliance on what he is about to teach. Maitreya and the others assembled pronounce their firm conviction in response. Having completed this cautious procedure, the Buddha tells them:

Listen to me attentively! I will tell you about my hidden core and supernatural powers. The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi forty and odd years ago. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.

This means: “You all think that Śākyamuni left the Śākya palace, practiced hard, and achieved buddhahood forty-odd years ago near Gayā. But you’re wrong. An infinite amount of time has passed since I became a Buddha.” Thus Śākyamuni Buddha revealed that he had not achieved buddhahood recently, but is the Eternal Buddha who achieved buddhahood in the infinite past. This is referred to as “opening the near to reveal the far,” in Japanese kaigon-kennon, or “opening the traces to reveal the origin,” in Japanese kaishaku-kenpon. This means opening a temporary figure of the Buddha achieving buddhahood recently, and manifesting a original figure of the Buddha achieving buddhahood in the infinite past. In the Japanese characters, kai, is opening, ken, is manifesting.

The original intention of the Buddha was not to discourage those gathered at the assembly with the teaching of the six difficult and nine easier actions. He taught these to rouse others to resolve to spread the message of the Lotus Sūtra actively throughout one’s life, no matter how hard that might be. He wants those who meet difficulties not to shrink back, but to move forward with an indomitable will. In Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Nichiren Shōnin reminisced that his hesitation about spreading the word of the Lotus Sūtra was extinguished immediately when he encountered the six difficult and nine easier actions.

[After] having thus called the buddhas [his replicas] to assemble, Śākyamuni Buddha went up into the sky and opened the door of the stūpa of treasures revealing the figure of Many Treasures Buddha. The two Buddhas, Many Treasures Buddha and Śākyamuni Buddha, sat together inside the stūpa. Then, the assembly called out, “Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!” And Śākyamuni Buddha raised them up into the sky.

Immediately after the Assembly in Space began, Śākyamuni Buddha announced that his time of passing was near, and three times ordered his disciples:

“Make a great vow
To preserve the Dharma forever!”

This order calls his disciples to become teachers of the Dharma, messengers of the Tathāgata in the world after his passing, and faithfully to perform the five practices of the bodhisattvas. In Nichiren Shōnin’s Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, which he wrote while on Sado Island, he refers to these three orders as the three proclamations.

To perform the five bodhisattva practices in the world after Śākyamuni Buddha passed into nirvāṇa, continuing the work of the Buddha by leading all people to attaining buddhahood, means that through one’s own practices one is realizing Śākyamuni Buddha’s goal of saving others. Even in this buddhaless world, these practices are Śākyamuni Buddha’s activities for the salvation of others. Therefore, the teachers of the Dharma who perform the bodhisattva practices are called messengers of the Tathāgata, meaning “agents of the Buddha.” In the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha says:

“Anyone who keeps this sūtra in the future
Should be considered
To have been dispatched by me
To the world of men in order to do my work.”

Thus, those who act as the agents of the Buddha in the world by doing the Buddha’s job of leading others into salvation, after the Buddha passed into nirvāṇa, are referred to as “those who are engaged by the Buddha to do his work,” in Japanese hosshi, or “messengers of the Tathāgata,” in Japanese nyoraishi.

It also can be said that the messengers of the Tathāgata bring about the eternal existence of Śākyamuni Buddha. This is because as long as these people exist, Śākyamuni Buddha’s important activity of leading others into salvation will continue to be done actively. Conversely, messengers of the Tathāgata are asked to continue their activities unremittingly so that these practices do not fall into arrears.