The Buddha’s suggestion in Chapter 23 that anyone who seeks enlightenment should burn a finger or a toe is an example of what Gene Reeves decries in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra as “literalism”:

“It can lead to extreme acts that benefit no one. Devotion is good; devotion to the Buddha is good; devotion to the Dharma Flower Sutra is good. But acts of devotion have to be examined with additional criteria to determine whether they are in accord with the Dharma as a whole, whether they promote or retard one’s progress along the way, and whether they are likely to lead to a reduction in suffering. There could be very exceptional circumstances, perhaps once in ten million eons, when such a sacrifice is called for. …

“Religious devotion not tempered by intelligence and wisdom can be dangerous, both to others and to oneself. Sound practice, skillful practice of the Buddha Way, requires that we develop to the fullest all of our capacities for doing good.”

Chapter 23 is not the only place in the Lotus Sutra where literalism can be problematic. Take for example World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva’s promised interventions:

“If anyone, guilty or not, calls the name of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva when he is bound up in manacles, fetters, pillories or chains, those things in which he is bound up will break asunder, and he will be saved.”

Should we encourage the criminal who believes the Lotus Sutra is a “Get Out of Jail Free” card?

And then there are places where what’s literally promised might not be wanted. For example:

“Anyone who rejoices at hearing this chapter of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva and praises this chapter, saying, ‘Excellent,’ will be able to emit the fragrance of the blue lotus flower from his mouth and the fragrance of the candana of Mt. Ox-Head from his pores, and obtain these merits in his present life.”

I confess that I tend toward the literalist view. I want the promises of the Lotus Sutra to be true and therefore I want to do everything I can to have that come true, even burning a finger. I haven’t lit my finger on fire but I have developed a little ritual that pays homage the idea.

When I light incense at the start of my service I offer the light of the flaming incense stick to my statue of Kannon Bodhisattva, Jizo Bodhisattva, to the Seven Happy Gods, to the Buddhas in manifestation, to my Gohonzon and to Kishimon and the 10 rākṣasas daughters. I then extinguish the flame by pinching the incense between my thumb and forefinger.

Later in my service, when I burn a half-stick of incense for my final Daimoku, I say, “Offer the light thus produced” as I offer the light to my altar and conclude “by burning a finger” as I extinguish the flame between thumb and forefinger.

I have developed small patches of brown calluses on my thumb and forefinger. I cherish them as marks of my faith.

Does faith in the Lotus Sutra require burning a finger or a toe? After all, Chapter 23, which describes the previous life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva as Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva, states:

“Anyone who aspires for, and wishes to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, should offer a light to the stupa of the Buddha by burning a finger or a toe. Then he will be given more merits than the person who offers not only countries, cities, wives and children, but also the mountains, forests, rivers and ponds of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, and various kinds of treasures.”

Gene Reeves in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra openly admits that this is his least favorite chapter for this reason. The Introduction to the Lotus Sutra felt compelled to point out:

“The offering of burning the body, which plays such a prominent part of this chapter, should not be taken literally.”

I was 11 in 1963 when Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk, set himself ablaze in a busy Saigon intersection on June 11. Thich Quang Duc was protesting the Catholic leaders of the South Vietnamese government. Over the months more Buddhist monks immolated themselves until a US-backed coup overthrew the regime in November of that year. In the years of anti-war protests that followed in the late 1960s, the example of these Vietnamese Buddhist monks was a beacon.

Thich Nhat Hanh knew Thich Quang Duc personally and had practiced with him in Vietnam. In Peaceful Action, Open Heart, Thich Nhat Hanh stressed that Thich Quang Duc’s self-immolation was no more a suicide than Jesus’ death on the cross. It was an act of compassion:

“Because of his great compassion, he was able to sit very still as the flames engulfed him, in perfect samadhi, perfect concentration.”

In The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, Reeves offered a historical perspective on burning body parts as demonstrations of faith:

“A great many Chinese monks right down to the middle of the twentieth century followed the practice of burning off one or more of their fingers as a sign of dedication and devotion. Until very recently, virtually all Chinese monks and nuns, and I believe those in Vietnam as well, when receiving final ordination, used moxa, a kind of herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, to burn small places on their scalps, where the scars usually remained for life. This ritual burning was taken to be a sign of complete devotion to the three treasures – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

“While deeply sympathetic with those who show such great devotion by sacrificing their bodies by fire, it is not a practice I can recommend to anyone. It is much better, I believe, to sacrifice our bodies through dedicated work, in a sense burning our bodies much more slowly.”

As the Introduction to the Lotus Sura stresses, the story Gladly-Seen-By-All-Beings Bodhisattva is meant to symbolize “the spirit of giving one’s whole self, believing wholeheartedly, embracing the Most-Venerable-One, and offering to serve the truth with all one’s body and soul.”

One overriding theme of the Lotus Sutra is that all of those who put their faith in the sutra are Bodhisattvas. Our practice is the Bodhisattva practice, and the final chapters of the Lotus Sutra explain how we accomplish that practice.

As Gene Reeves writes in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra:

“[W]hat is the job that needs to be done? The more general answer is that the Dharma needs to be widely shared – so, especially with the Buddha no longer able to do so directly, bodhisattvas are responsible for teaching, and thus perpetuating, Buddha Dharma. The Sutra is concerned not only with teaching the Dharma in the ordinary sense; it is concerned with having the Dharma be embodied, having it be a central part of the lives of people. Early in [Chapter 23], Shakyamuni Buddha says, ‘For incalculable hundreds of thousands of billions of eons, I have studied and practiced this rare Dharma of supreme awakening.’ Notice that he says both ‘studied’ and ‘practiced.’ Practicing the Dharma goes beyond studying it to embody it in one’s life. Thus bodhisattvas have a responsibility not only of teaching the Dharma by words, but also by demonstrating and exemplifying it in their actions.

“It is because of this role as exemplars of the Dharma that bodhisattvas, both mythical and human, can be models for us. Because they are said to have many marvelous powers, people may pray to a bodhisattva for relief from some kind of danger or suffering, but that is not the most useful way to understand our relationship to such bodhisattvas. … If various bodhisattvas have found skills and powers with which to help others, we too can develop skill in ways of helping others.”

And one who practices in this manner is a light to the world. As Nichiren writes in “Shijō Kingo-dono Nyōbō Gohenji”:

“The ten parables preached in the ‘Medicine King Bodhisattva’ chapter of the Lotus Sūtra seem to compare the relative merits of the Lotus Sūtra against all other Buddhist scriptures, though this is not the true intent of Śākyamuni Buddha. In actuality, what the Buddha is preaching is that when we compare the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra against the practicer of all other scriptures of Buddhism, the former is like the sun and moon while the latter is like stars and lights.

“How do we know this? We know this because of the most important statement in the eighth parable: ‘Likewise, one who is able to uphold this sūtra is the most superior of all living beings.’ These 22 Chinese characters are the foremost essence of the entire Lotus Sūtra. …

“Therefore, anyone in this world, male or female, laity or clergy, who upholds the Lotus Sūtra will be regarded by the Buddha to be the lord of all living beings and revered by the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra. When I think of this, my joy is beyond expression.”

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II,
Pages 120-121