Before getting the quotes about the Lotus Sutra that I want to share, I need to underscore the very different nature of Thich Nhat Hanh’s practice. This is not Nichiren Shu Buddhism.

In discussing Chapter 24, Wonderful-Sound Bodhisattva, he explains:

Those of us who are musicians, composers, and singers can follow the path of Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound. Music can create harmony within us and harmony within the Sangha. Chanting, for instance, helps us concentrate and nourishes our insight, devotion, and happiness. During sitting meditation we practice a kind of music when we recite the gathas. By practicing mindful breathing, we can help the Sangha be peaceful and harmonious. This is part of our practice, making the harmonious music of mindfulness within ourselves and sharing that with others. When the Sangha comes together in silence, in deep mindful breathing, this too is a kind of silent music that we can enjoy very much. We sit together in peace and harmony, not working hard at all, just producing our being, our full presence in the Sangha, and this is enough to nourish and heal us individually and collectively. This is a kind of musical therapy that can create peace and harmony, and it has the power of healing and transformation.

It is because of this difference in focus that Thich Nhat Hanh devotes 45 pages spanning five chapters to Chapter 25, the Universal Gate of World-Voice Perceiver Bodhisattva.

The verses in Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra go on to describe how the Universal Gate is able to deliver us from a variety of dangerous situations. In every case, the key to our salvation is mindfulness—mindfulness of love and of the embodiment of love and compassion, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. “By virtue of constant mindfulness of Sound Observer,” the Sutra tells us, “we will be delivered from all danger and suffering.” Mindfulness is the key that allows us to discern and act wisely, to respond appropriately, to know what to do and what not to do in a dangerous situation in order to bring about the best result.

Looking deeply and practicing the mindfulness of love helps us to be lucid, to be loving, and that lucidity and loving kindness serve as a kind of protection for us, keeping us from all kinds of danger. We usually believe that danger comes to us from outside. Yet most of the danger we face comes from within ourselves. Without a clear view, our fear and misunderstanding can create a lot of dangerous situations. Delusion, anger, and craving are the basic afflictions, and they can be healed and transformed by the practice of mindfulness of love. Mindfulness of love can help stop suffering right away and lead us away from the poisonous fires.

And later:

Without compassion and love you’ll be overwhelmed by anger and hatred toward the person who has harmed you. There are those who are so cruel, who have done such terrible things, that you cannot believe they are human beings. There are many people like this in the world, in South America, in North America, in Africa, in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia, everywhere. You may think that if you had a gun in your hand you would shoot someone like that right then and there. But would you shoot a Buddha? We know from the Lotus Sutra that everyone has the seed of Buddhahood. And we know that meeting hatred with hatred, meeting violence with vengeance and retaliation can never lead to the end of hatred and violence. Love is the only force that can protect us and others from harm.

The first thing you notice when practicing mindfulness of compassion is that you don’t suffer anymore. When you have enough of the energy of compassion and love in you, your heart grows big and you can embrace everything and everyone – even those you call your enemy. When you can look deeply into your “enemy” and see that he is a victim of ideas, notions, and misinformation, of conditions in his own life and his culture and society, then you can remain calm, your heart remains open, and you will have a better chance to help him get in touch with his humanity, his innate Buddha nature, and transform the seeds of hatred and violence within.

The practice of Avalokiteśvara allows us to listen and look deeply in order to understand. With understanding, compassion arises in our hearts and we know what to do in order to help.

And finally:

The ground of all manifestation, the ultimate dimension, is always there. The role of the bodhisattva in the action dimension is to help us get in touch with our ultimate dimension, offer us the gift of non-fear. The different colors and shapes, the variety of forms and manifestations, are only various kinds of appearances. When you can touch the ultimate dimension of yourself and everything, you no longer feel fear. You are not caught by attachment to a particular manifestation, by notions of birth and death, being or nonbeing, because you know that this body, this form is just one manifestation. You are ready to manifest again in another form, quite as wonderful as this one.

To be a cloud floating in the sky is wonderful but to be rain falling on the earth and into the rivers is also wonderful. To be snow on a mountaintop is also wonderful. To be water for a child to drink is also wonderful. Water can manifest itself in many different forms and every form is wonderful, every manifestation is necessary. Bodhisattvas are not caught in one manifestation, in one body, so they can give up their body very easily, just as Medicine King Bodhisattva gave up his body and allowed it to burn for thousands of years in order to offer the teaching to many beings.

Each manifestation is linked to the next manifestation in terms of cause and effect. If the cloud is polluted, the rain will also be polluted. That is why the practice of self-purification is so important. While being a cloud you try your best to practice self-purification so that your next manifestation will be beautiful. When you fall to the earth as rain you will be very pure, delicious water. By transforming ourselves through self-purification, we help to purify the world.

Having very limited exposure to Buddhism outside Nichiren Shu, I’ve often wondered how one incorporates Avalokiteśvara into one’s practice. Clearly it is not simply a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card.

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that practice must be more that rote routine:

As a young man I heard a story of a lady in North Vietnam who practiced calling the name of Amida Buddha every day, several times a day, perhaps as many as 10,000 times a day. This is the primary practice of Pure Land Buddhism, and for a sincere practitioner it can bring about much transformation and spiritual benefit. Yet this lady’s practice did not change her life at all. She invited a bell, hit a drum, and burned many sticks of incense every day, but it did not bring her any deep transformation or peace. The element of diligence was there, the goodwill was there, but the practice wasn’t effective because it had become rote and meaningless, a mere means to a hoped-for result rather than a deep practice of mindfulness in itself.

One day a neighbor, wanting to test her, came to the gate of her house at the time she did her practice. Just as she started to chant he began to call out to her. First, she tried to ignore him, but he continued to call her name, again and again. Soon she became irritated and started to strike the bell more loudly, pound harder on the drum, and chant louder. This was an indirect way of saying “Don’t you know this is my practice time? Go away!” The man understood the message but continued to call her name, only now even louder. Finally, she stopped chanting, put down the bell and drum, came to the door, and shouted angrily, “Why do you disturb me at a time like this? Can’t you hear that I’m practicing?”

Her neighbor smiled and said, “You know, I called your name only about fifty or sixty times, and you are already so upset! Every day you call the Buddha’s name thousands and thousands of times; imagine how upset he must be!”

We must practice in such a way that our method of cultivating mindfulness and concentration – whether it is in the form of sitting meditation, walking meditation, chanting sutras, or invoking the name or image of a great being – serves to bring about calm ness, peace, and joy. Otherwise, no matter how long or hard we practice, it will be of little or no benefit.

Having gotten this far and before proceeding to reprint Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, I need to reiterate Nichiren’s warning:

Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors, or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.

We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.

It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119

In the blue Nichiren-Shu Service Book, you have The Four Great Vows on page 78 and on the next page Four Vows. Rev. Shoda Kanai of the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada uses the Four Vows rather than the Four Great Vows in his services. The Four Vows read:

I vow to uphold the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

I vow to practice the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

I vow to protect the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

I vow to spread the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

As much as I find useful and inspiring elements of Thich Nhat Hanh’s practice, these Four Vows are my practice.

• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
• Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra
• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Avatamsaka Sutra
• Errata
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s Practice

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peaceful Action, Open Heart strays far from the text of the Lotus Sutra in several places. This lack of fidelity to the sutra undermines his interpretation.

Some examples:

In Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, the Buddha “stretched out his broad and long tongue upwards until the tip of it reached the World of Brahman. Then he emitted rays of light with an immeasurable variety of colors from his pores. The light illumined all the worlds of the ten quarters. The Buddhas who were sitting on the lion-like seats under the jeweled trees also stretched out their broad and long tongue and emitted innumerable rays of light.” (Murano, p298)

Here’s Thich Nhat Hanh’s retelling:

Now the Buddha realizes a very important miracle. He stretches out his tongue and his “long, broad tongue” is able to encompass the trichiliocosm. Then from each pore of his body he sends out innumerable rays of light of every color, which illuminate all the world-spheres in the ten directions. In all these realms can be seen a Buddha sitting on a lion throne under the bodhi tree, very dignified and beautiful. Each Buddha also puts out his tongue and emanates countless rays of light in the same way. As the Buddha’s light reaches them, all the innumerable Buddhas in turn illuminate all the world-spheres throughout incalculable trichiliocosms.

The Buddhas who join in stretching out their tongues and emanating light are in the purified Sahā world, seated under the jeweled trees, having arrived prior the the opening the Stupa of Treasures.

Another example concerns Chapter 22, Entrustment. In Hurvitz’s translation the chapter opens with:

At that time Śākyamunibuddha rose from his seat and, displaying great supernatural powers, with his right hand stroked incalculable bodhisattva-mahāsattvas on the crown of the head, then said: “For incalculable hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of asamkhyeyakalpas, I practiced and cultivated this dharma of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, so hard to obtain. Now I entrust it to all of you. You must all single-mindedly propagate this dharma, broadly causing others to benefit from it.”

Three times the Buddha stroked the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas on the head.

In Thich Nhat Hanh’s retelling the Buddha strokes the Bodhisattvas heads but then Thich Nhat Hanh adds:

By gently stroking their heads, the Buddha gives thanks to all his emanation bodies who have gathered from infinite numberless worlds to open the door of the jeweled Stupa of Prabhutaratna. He thanks them for responding to his call and appearing in the skies above Mount The Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, combining their spiritual strength so that the door of the Stupa could be opened and the fourfold assembly on the ground below would be able to look into the ultimate dimension. This is an act of great compassion toward the assembly of shravakas, because of course the Buddhas and bodhisattvas do not need to open the Stupa of Prabhutaratna in order to see the ultimate dimension. But because the Sangha wants to see the ultimate Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, their teacher in the historical dimension, calls all his manifestation bodies back to help him open the door to the ultimate dimension.

This retelling falls apart on many levels. Where in the Lotus Sutra does it suggest that the spiritual strength of the emanation Buddhas were required in order to open the Stupa of Treasures?

As a final example, I offer this:

There is another bodhisattva mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, Earth Store (Kṣitigarbha). Kṣitigarbha [Jizo in Japanese] means “womb or storehouse of the Earth.” The Earth is very solid and contains and preserves many kinds of jewels. So this name describes the qualities of this bodhisattva: solid, long lasting, and preserving many virtues. Earth Store Bodhisattva represents a realm of action that is very much needed now. Earth Store has vowed that as long as the hells are not vacant he will not rest. He will not enter nirvana and enjoy being a Buddha. He will not stop working to lead all beings toward Buddhahood.

Fine as Kṣitigarbha’s attributes are, Kṣitigarbha does not appear in the Lotus Sutra. But Kṣitigarbha is a pivotal figure in Thich Nhat Hanh’s practice. He explains:

In the ceremony of transmission of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, we bow to Manjushri, Avalokiteśvara, Samantabhadra, and Kṣitigarbha.

Again, this is an example of viewing the Lotus Sutra from the outside looking in rather than viewing the sutra as Nichiren and T’ien T’ai did from inside the perfect, looking out at the provisional and expedient teachings.

• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
• Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra
• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Avatamsaka Sutra
• Errata
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s Practice

I’ve spoken before of perspective in viewing the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren and T’ien T’ai examined the Lotus Sutra from the perspective of the Buddha’s highest teaching and used that perspective to interpret the provisional teachings. A very different result occurs when the perspective is shifted so that other sutras are used to view the Lotus Sutra.

Here’s a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peaceful Action, Open Heart:

When our mind faculty and our other sense faculties have been transformed and purified as a result of the merit we have received from hearing, understanding, and practicing this wonderful Dharma, then we need hear only one gatha or one line of the Sutra to understand all sutras and teachings. We do not need to study the entire Tripitaka in order to understand the Buddhadharma. One gatha contains all other gathas, one teaching reveals the deep meaning of all other teachings, just as the truth of impermanence contains the truth of no-self and the truth of interbeing.

A follower of Nichiren would have no problem with that observation. But then Thich Nhat Hanh goes on:

This is the meaning of the Avatamsaka Sutra: the one contains the all.

Repeatedly in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peaceful Action, Open Heart, he returns to the Avatamsaka Sutra [the Flower Garland Sutra]. In discussing Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, when the Buddha emitts rays of light with an immeasurable variety of colors from his pores, Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

Then there is the image of the rays of light emitted by the Buddha. “Light” in Buddhist sutras is a metaphor for awakened understanding. The world of the Avatamsaka Sutra is a world of light. The Buddha is light; beams of light stream out from each pore of his body. His light of mindfulness is very strong, and with that source of light the Tathagata is able to illuminate all the world-spheres, as if by shining the beam of a powerful lamp into them. With the light of his great spiritual power the Buddha can see clearly whatever phenomenon the light of his mindfulness rests upon.

We also have the source of this light in our own consciousness. When we develop our capacity for mindfulness and allow it to shine within us and around us, we are able to see many things that we cannot ordinarily perceive. When the light of mindfulness, of awakened understanding, illuminates a leaf, a blade of grass, or a cloud, we are able to see all the wonders of that phenomenon and the multidimensional world of the Avatamsaka Sutra is opened up to us in an amazing way. And just like the Buddha, thanks to mindfulness we too can perform miracles.

Suppose there is someone who lives very mindfully, dwelling in concentration. She comes home, goes out, stands, sits, speaks, chops vegetables, washes pots, carries out all the activities of daily life in mindfulness and concentration. In all her actions of body, speech, and mind she shines the light of mindfulness. When others encounter her they are able to get in touch with that mindfulness, and they are influenced by it. Touched by the light of her mindfulness, the seed of mindfulness in their own consciousness begins to sprout, and naturally they also begin to cultivate mindfulness in their activities as she does. This is a true miracle that any one of us can realize.

The light of mindfulness of those around us – a brother or sister, parent or teacher, spouse or partner – shines out onto us, and thanks to that we also begin to cultivate mindfulness and shine it out toward others. What is a Buddha? A Buddha is nothing other than the light of mindfulness, and that light, wherever it shines, is able to show us the wonderful truth, the ultimate dimension of whatever it illuminates. Those who are touched by the light of mindfulness in turn shine the light of their mindfulness upon other people and objects. Just as the Buddha’s rays of light, when they reached all the other world-spheres, caused the countless Buddhas to emit their light, when we live mindfully we shine that light broadly all around us and help others get in touch with and shine their light of mindfulness as well.

Another example of this comes in Thich Nhat Hanh’s discussion of Chapter 28, The Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universally Worthy. Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

Universally Worthy is the last bodhisattva mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, and his role here is to protect and preserve the Sutra, to “broadly propagate it and cause it never to perish.” However, this brief chapter is not extensive enough to reveal the full dimension of Samanta-bhadra, who is called the bodhisattva of Great Action. So we can use elements from other sutras, such as the Avatamsaka Sutra, in which the great action of Samanta-bhadra is explicated more fully, to complete the chapter on this bodhisattva in the Lotus Sutra.

Clearly Thich Nhat Hanh uses the Lotus Sutra to illustrate his teaching rather than using the Lotus Sutra as the basis of his teaching. The difference is not subtle.

• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out
• Stretching the Truth to Pull Meaning Out of the Lotus Sutra
• Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Avatamsaka Sutra
• Errata
• Thich Nhat Hanh’s Practice