Priest Eikai recited the Hokekyō from the time of his first vow until his last moments. He studied the Three Contemplations of the Tendai Teachings, and wished to avoid secular affairs.

Eikan thought, “Even if one’s first vow is to follow the Way, unless this vow is correct, one’s practices will all be fruitless. So one should develop great piety in the Tendai Hokke Teachings and engage in significant practices to end one’s karmic cycle of rebirth and death. The sentient beings who repeat the cycle of rebirth and death in the Six Worlds come out of the darkness and go into the darkness, while those of the Three Vehicles go into the light from the light. Yet, they have not attained Supreme Enlightenment.

Now I will see the truth of the One Vehicle, the Mahāyāna Teachings. Recent ascetics tend to pay more attention to the external hardships in their practices rather than to the inner experiences in their contemplation and meditation. Some rely on merits gained by offering secular properties and treasures rather than by depending on faith cultivated by following correct precepts.

They ignorantly accept the transient consequences of the karmic cycle within the Six Worlds and never sense the merits of good deeds which will bring them to Buddhahood. After observing all these, I have decided to abandon the Ten Hindrances which interfere with the causes of piety, and to develop faith in the Six Steps to lead to Buddhahood.”

Thus, with firm determination, Eikan devotedly observed the Ten Commandments to attain the Way. He practiced all these in silence as recommended in the precepts. He clearly viewed the transiency of this world, discussed the Law with appropriate phrases, and abstained from sake and other liquor for the rest of his life.

The mode of his practices was like that described in the Bonmōkyō. When he recited the Hokekyō distractedly, he did not record the number of recited copies. He made textual studies by collecting interpretations of the commentaries and sentences from the sūtras. He also made contrastive studies by comparing the meanings of the sentences in the sūtras with analytic explanations. He recited more than ten thousand copies of the Hokekyō with firm concentration.

Birds and animals came to make friends and accepted food from his hand. Demon deities always attended him, and wished to serve him. He once saw and paid homage to the light released by Śākyamuni Buddha, on another occasion, he was greeted by Fugen. Such extraordinary incidents happened to him frequently, but he kept them all in his mind and never repeated them to others.

As he practised and recited the sūtra, Eikan finally became old, and came to know his last moments. He took a censer in his hand, faced the image of Fugen, sat in the correct posture as he recited the Hokekyō, concentrated on the truth in his mind, and finally crossed the boundary of life and death. (Page 72-73)

Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan

NOTES:

• The Six Stages in attaining enlightenment in the Tendai Sect include the stages of being ignorant that the Buddha nature exists in all beings, the stage of knowing the above truth, the stage of engaging oneself in practices, the stage of leaving delusion, the stage of attaining partial enlightenment, and the stage of attaining complete enlightenment.
• The ten principal commandments in the Mahāyāna discipline prohibit killing, stealing, committing adultery, telling lies, drinking intoxicating beverages, coveting, losing one’s temper, and speaking falsely of the Three Treasures.