As I’ve explained many times during this review of Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today, my first focus is always on what the Lotus Sutra actually teaches. I strongly believe the Lotus Sutra says what it means and means what it says. Having said that, there are places open to explanation. For example I found Nikkyō Niwano’s explanation of the symbolism of the two places and three assemblies of the Lotus Sutra quite revealing.
In Chapter 15, the Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, Nikkyō Niwano offers some very imaginative interpretations of what is taking place.
Buddhism for Today, p177The bodhisattvas who sprang up out of the earth signify people who have had much suffering and worry during their lives, have accumulated virtues in such an unfavorable environment, and have attained enlightenment while leading ordinary lives. Such people, who have themselves experienced and weathered much suffering and worry, possess real power. They indeed have the power to instruct other people.
Obviously there’s nothing in the text of the Lotus Sutra to suggest this interpretation. This is how Śākyamuni introduces these Bodhisattvas:
Now I will tell all of you in this great multitude, Ajita! [I know that] you have never seen these great, innumerable, asaṃkhya Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who sprang up from underground. After I attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi in this Sahā-World, I taught these Bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World. When they were there, they read many sūtras, recited them, understood them, thought them over, evaluated them, and remembered them correctly. Ajita! These good men did not wish to talk much with others [about things other than the Dharma] but to live in a quiet place. They practiced the way strenuously without a rest. They did not live among gods and men. They had no hindrance in seeking profound wisdom. They always sought the teaching of the Buddha. They sought unsurpassed wisdom strenuously with all their hearts.”
Nikkyō Niwano goes on:
Buddhism for Today, p177That the Buddha entrusted the sahā-world to the bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth teaches us that the world in which we live should be purified and made peaceful through our own efforts as dwellers in the world, and that we should realize happiness in our lives through our own efforts. We are responsible for creating the Pure Land where we live. We should bring about our happiness through our own efforts — what a reassuring and positive teaching this is!
Here is where Nikkyō Niwano inspires with a message suitable for everyone to live by. This is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. It’s just not the teaching of the Bodhisattvas from Underground.
I have the same problem with this discussion of the enlightenment of Śākyamuni:
Buddhism for Today, p178Some religions proclaim that their founders were sent by God. Others declare that God gave a revelation to the founder or that God descended from heaven to this world.
Unlike these religions, the teaching of Buddhism is the truth that Lord Śākyamuni, who was born as a human being like all of us and experienced human suffering and worry, aspired to enlightenment, practiced ascetic disciplines, and attained enlightenment after six years of spiritual effort. The process through which he attained his enlightenment can be clearly seen. Therefore, we can feel confident that we are sure to reach supreme enlightenment eventually if only we follow the Buddha’s teachings and traverse the same path. It is also sure that because this teaching is one that sprang up out of the earth (actual life), we who actually live in this world can follow it. Chapter 15 makes this point emphatically.
And this explanation of the Bodhisattvas from Underground:
Buddhism for Today, p179That these bodhisattvas did not originally dwell in the earth but that they, who were in the infinite space below the sahā-world, came out of the earth and rose into the sky has a deep meaning. These bodhisattvas were people who had been freed from illusion in their previous lives by means of the Buddha’s teachings. For this reason, they had been dwelling in infinite space. But hearing the Buddha declare that he would entrust the instruction of the sahā-world to them, they entered into the earth, namely, this sahā-world, experiencing suffering there, and practiced religious disciplines so zealously as to attain the mental state of bodhisattvas. Therefore, they rose into the sky again after coming out of the earth. Though the bodhisattvas had been free from illusion in their previous lives, they voluntarily passed through various sufferings and worries in this sahā-world for the purpose of saving the people here, endeavored earnestly to become enlightened, and preached the teaching to others. As mentioned before, this is a very important process; without completing such an endeavor, they could not truly acquire the divine power to save the people in the sahā-world.
For me, Gene Reeves does a better job of explaining this chapter in Stories of the Lotus Sutra.