Regarding Myō Hō Ren Ge Kyō

Regarding “the wonderful” of the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai declares in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “Wonderful means something mysterious, absolute and beyond expression;” “the Lotus Sūtra is called wonderful because it is the hidden teaching of the Buddha,” or “it is named so because the sūtra is the supreme and ultimate Dharma like nectar.”

As for “the Dharma,” T’ien-t’ai’s Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra states, “The Dharma means the law of provisional and true teachings with ten realms and ten levels of suchness.” (The reality of all things means that each of the ten realms has ten suchness-aspects. When the reality of all things is considered, the ten suchness-aspects of nine realms are provisional because those are the worlds of delusions, while those of the Buddha realm is true because it is the true world. Because the ten realms represent the reality of all things, they are non-duality in their form of provisional or true teachings). It is said also, “The Dharma is so named because the provisional and true teachings are not separated from each other as the ultimate truth.”

The meaning of the “Lotus Flower” is explained in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The lotus flower is the simile of the provisional and true teachings. ‘Flower’ is applied to the provisional and ‘lotus’ is the true. Putting the two together, the provisional and true teachings are one as the lotus flower.” It is also stated, “It shows the true result (attainment of Buddhahood) of the Eternal Buddha and reveals the non-duality of the provisional and true teachings.”

Grand Master Chang-an speaks of “the Sūtra” in the second prologue of the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Buddha’s voice teaches the Way to Buddhahood, which is called a sūtra.”

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 85