Revised following the RKINA 201 class. Explanation below.
In the Buddhism for Today chapter on Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, Nikkyō Niwano suggests three important points to take from the prediction of future Buddhahood given to Mahā-Kāśyapa, Great Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti and Mahā-Kātyāyana.
- Not ‘you are Buddhas’, but ‘you can become Buddhas’
- Not self-interest, but seeking to save all people
- Not reason alone, but inspired faith
I have no objection with the first point if we are only discussing Chapter 6 and the Trace Gate of the Lotus Sutra. But after Chapter 16 and especially the first half of Chapter 17, the question of becoming a Buddha takes on a whole different meaning.
On the second point on whether these great men seek to save all living beings, I have doubts. Nikkyō Niwano says:
If we make this feeling our own personal joy alone, it is meaningless. This is the second important point of the Buddha’s prediction. At the end of the second verse portion of chapter 6, Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti, Kātyāyana, and others spoke in unison as follows:
“Great Hero, World-honored One!
Thou dost ever desire to pacify the world;
Be pleased to bestow our prediction, … ”What they are saying is: “The Buddha always desires to make all the people of the world feel at ease. We also desire to become buddhas and to make them live in peace. Please give us your assurance of becoming buddhas.”
They do not mean that they alone be saved and become buddhas, or that they alone become buddhas and attain peace of mind. Their final purpose is to make all the people of the world happy. This is a most important point. We must understand that the real intention of these disciples in earnestly requesting that the Buddha give them his assurance of becoming buddhas lies in the fact that they wanted to obtain such freedom and power as to be capable of making others happy. If we do not realize this, we are likely to receive the mistaken impression that they asked the Buddha for only their own personal enlightenment and mental peace.
Is this really “the real intention of these disciples”? Like the poor son in Chapter 4, these great men did not believe they could become Buddhas. They are asking for an assurance, just as the man fleeing famine hesitated before taking food from the king’s banquet. Yes, when they become Buddhas they will save all living beings. But that’s not why they are seeking this assurance from the Buddha at this point in the Lotus Sutra.
On the third point, Nikkyō Niwano begins by saying:
The third major point of the Buddha’s prediction is that the Buddha’s disciples must already have well understood that they would become buddhas, through the teachings that the Buddha had already preached.
This is simply false. As the first 14 chapters of the Lotus Sutra explain, the teachings of the previous forty years were all expedient lessons for śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas in accordance with their capacities. The whole point in this portion of the Lotus Sutra – the Trace Gate – is to reveal that what people thought was the goal – escaping this triple world riding one of the three vehicles – was simply a portion of the One Vehicle that carries all people to enlightenment.
While I can quibble with these points, I am in total agreement with the discussion of the need for repetition in practice:
When the Buddha gave his prediction to Kāśyapa, his domain was described as a beautiful and ideal land, and the description of this realm was repeated in the verses that the Buddha spoke afterward. Though slightly different in wording, basically the same description was repeated in the predictions given to Subhūti, Maudgalyāyana, and Kātyāyana.
In chanting the Lotus Sutra, we should not think, “These are the same words as before,” nor should we recite them carelessly. Repetition has a very important function in religious life.
To do something repeatedly makes a deep impression on our minds. But this repetition must be done wholeheartedly. Anyone who tries reciting chapter 6 with his whole heart will find himself repeating the description of man’s ideal state as symbolized by the ten epithets of the Buddha, and the ideal human society as symbolized by the description of the beautiful lands of the buddhas. Through frequent repetition these ideals will penetrate the depths of his mind.”
I am reminded of my objection to this assessment of Chapter 7 from the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of the Bay Area lecture May 9, 2021:
As for what changed in my assessment, see Understanding Colored by Causes and Conditions