The reason why such śrāvaka disciples as Śāripūtra and Maudgalyāyana were in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as 3,000 or 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa was not because they committed the crime of ten evil acts, five rebellious sins, or eight rebellious sins such as treason. It was simply because they met “evil … Continue reading 800 Years: Losing Their Right Mind
Within the disciples and believers who had been forced to endure pressure from the government, doubt and agitation began to arise, with such thoughts such as “Why must Our teacher, who propagates the Lotus Sūtra, undergo such persecution and why don’t the heavenly gods lend him protection?” In February, Nichiren Shōnin addressed this doubt when … Continue reading Necessary Persecution
Generally speaking, when a man tries to distinguish himself in the world, even people who seem to be sages or saints envy him. How much more so ordinary people. In ancient times, Wang Chao-chün, a consort of Emperor Wen Ti of Former Han, was so beautiful that 3,000 women in the imperial palace envied her, … Continue reading ‘What Is Done by Night Appears by Day’
Contemplating the attainment of Buddhahood by Venerable Maudgalyāyana and his mother, you have a grandson, Lord Jibu, who is a Buddhist priest. This priest is neither an upholder of precepts nor especially rich in wisdom. He neither observes even one of the 250 precepts nor maintains even one of the 3,000 solemn rules of conduct. … Continue reading Hanging on to the Pine Tree of the Lotus Sūtra
QUESTION: You say that epidemics spread in Japan because this country persecutes the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra causing the protective deities to leave the country. If so, why is it that not only nonbelievers of the Lotus Sūtra but also your disciples suffer or even die from the disease? ANSWER: Your question seems most … Continue reading Virtuous Deities and Evil Spirits
Is it because of the karma in your past lives that you sent me this robe or are you trying to be a particle of soil on a fingernail? It is stated in the Nirvana Sutra: “It is much more difficult to meet a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of the … Continue reading The Tortoise and the Floating Sandalwood Log
QUESTION: I ask with much hesitation whether it can be that fire can beget water, or that a rock may beget flowers. From the standpoint of Buddhism, it is understood that a bad effect would follow from a bad cause; similarly, a good product would arise from something good. Nevertheless, should we look at our … Continue reading Becoming Buddha with One’s Present Body Not Easily Defined
[R]ecent scholars of the Tendai School have lost the secret teaching inherited from Grand Master T’ien-t’ai and stored in the stone tower. And, based on their own ideas, they forged such writings as the transmission of the threefold contemplation in a single thought, put them in bags of brocade, hung them around their necks, and … Continue reading The Real Intention of Grand Master T’ien-t’ai’s Buddha Dharma
QUESTION: Hasn’t Grand Master T’ien-t’ai really attained the word of the Wonderful Dharma? ANSWER: Though Grand Master T’ien-t’ai attained the Wonderful Dharma in mind, he did not propagate it outwardly. He kept the realm of profound enlightenment he attained to himself and outwardly did no more than calling the Wonderful Dharma the threefold contemplation and … Continue reading Grand Master T’ien-t’ai’s Teaching
Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets the two letters of Chih and kuan (concentration and insight) in the Great Concentration and Insight: “I call kuan the wisdom of the Buddha and Chih the insight of the Buddha.” This (interpretation), however, refers to the wisdom and insight of the Buddha in the theoretical section, not the ultimate wisdom … Continue reading Insight of the Buddha in the Theoretical Section