“Bhikṣus! I will collect Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas and expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to them when I realize that the time of my Nirvāṇa is drawing near, that the living beings have become pure in heart, that they can understand the truth of the Void by firm faith, and that they have already entered deep into dhyāna-concentration. No one in the world can attain [true] extinction by the two vehicles. [True] extinction can be attained only by Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Category Archives: Promises
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 14, 2025
[Mañjuśrī said] … “How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound Myōhō Renge Kyō in the evil world after [your extinction]?”
The Buddha said to him:
“A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to expound Myōhō Renge Kyō in the evil world after [my extinction] should practice four sets of things.
“First, he should perform proper practices, approach proper things, and then expound this sūtra to all living beings.
“Mañjuśrī! What are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should perform? He should be patient, mild and meek. He should not be rash, timorous, or attached to anything. He should see things as they are. He should not be attached to his nonattachment to anything. Nor should he be attached to his seeing thing as they are. These are the proper practices the Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should perform.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 13, 2025
The Buddha said to Medicine-King:
“If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a gāthā or a phrase of Myōhō Renge Kyō, I will assure him of his future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 12, 2025
“Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā World and expounds Myōhō Renge Kyō to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom. He illumines this Sahā World with the many [rays of light] of his wisdom, and causes all living beings to know what they should know.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 11, 2025
At that time the gods in the skies [of the worlds of the ten quarters] said loudly:
“There is a world called Sahā beyond a distance of many hundreds of thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds. In that world lives a Buddha called Śākyamuni. He is now expounding to Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas a sūtra of the Great Vehicle, called the ‘Myōhō Renge Kyō, the Dharma for Bodhisattvas, the Dharma Upheld by the Buddhas.’ Rejoice from the bottom of your hearts! Bow and make offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha!”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 10, 2025
Some bhikṣus who live in a period in which no Buddha lives after my extinction may not believe the Dharma after they attain Arhatship because in that period it will be difficult to meet a person who keeps, reads, and recites Myōhō Renge Kyō, and understands the meanings of Myōhō Renge Kyō. They will be able to understand the Dharma when they meet another Buddha.
“Śāriputra and all of you present here! Understand the Dharma by faith with all your hearts! There is no vehicle other than the One Buddha-Vehicle.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 9, 2025
Anyone who understands why the Buddhas expound [many] sūtras,
Who knows the position of Myōhō Renge Kyō in the series of sūtras,
And who expounds Myōhō Renge Kyō after my extinction
According to Myōhō Renge Kyō‘s true meaning,
Will be able to eliminate the darkness
Of the living beings of the world where he walks about,
Just as the light of the sun and the moon
Eliminates all darkness.He will be able to cause innumerable Bodhisattvas
To dwell finally in the One Vehicle.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 8, 2025
The Bodhisattvas who have practiced the Way
For the past innumerable kalpas,
Will believe my longevity
When they hear of it.They will receive Myōhō Renge Kyō on their heads,
And wish:
“May we live long and save all living beings
Just as the World-Honored One of today,
Who is the King of the Śākyas, [saves them]
By expounding the Dharma without fear
At the place of enlightenment
With [a voice like] a lion’s roar!
When we sit at the place of enlightenment,
Respected by all living beings,
May we preach that we also shall live
As long [as the World-Honored One of today]!”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for Jan. 7, 2025
[T]he merits to be given to the person who fills the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds with the seven treasures and offers that amount of the seven treasures to the Buddhas, to the Great Bodhisattvas, to the Pratyekabuddhas, and to the Arhats, are less than the merits to be given to the person who keeps even a single gāthā of four lines of Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Two Tongues in the Ashes
When I was selecting examples of Miraculous Tales from The Dainihonkoku Hokekyō of Priest Chingen, I deliberately excluded the tales of self-immolation. After reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peaceful Action, Open Heart and his recollection of Thich Quang Duc, the first monk to immolate himself in the 1960s to protest Vietnam’s anti-Buddhist laws, I changed my attitude about such stories. I’ve decided to include one example of pious self-immolation from Daniel B. Stevenson’s “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p434In Jingzhou there lived two bhikṣunīs who were sisters. Their names have been forgotten, but they both recited the Lotus Sūtra, held a deep loathing for the physical body, and together conceived the desire to give up their lives [in offering to the dharma]. [To this end,] they set restrictions on clothing and diet and prescribed for themselves a regimen of painful austerities. They ingested various perfumed oils and gradually reduced their intake of coarse rice, until they gave up grains altogether and took only fragrant honey. [Even then,] their energy and spiritual determination remained as vigorous and fresh as ever. They announced [widely] to the monks and laity [around them] that at an appointed time in the future they would immolate themselves.
On the evening of the eighth day of the second month during the third year of the Zhenguan era [629], they set up two high seats in the middle of one of the large boulevards of Jingzhou. Then they wrapped their bodies from head to foot in waxed cloth, leaving only their faces exposed. The crowds gathered like a mountain; their songs of praise filled the air like clouds. The two women together began to chant the Lotus Sūtra. When they reached the “Medicine King” (Bhaiṣajyarāja) chapter, the older sister first ignited the head of the younger sister, and the younger in turn lit the head of the older sister. Simultaneously the two blazed up, like two torches in the clear night. As the flames crept down over their eyes, the sound of their voices became even more distinct. But, as it gradually arrived at their noses and mouths, they grew quiet [and their voices were heard no more]. [They remained seated upright] until dawn, linked together on their two seats. Then, all at once, the fire gave out. [As the smoke and flame cleared,] there amidst their charred and desiccated bones lay two tongues, both perfectly intact. The crowd gasped in awe. [A short time later] a tall stūpa was constructed for them.