None of these five items radically affirmed by the Dharma Flower Sutra – Shakyamuni Buddha, this world, the Dharma Flower Sutra itself, those who embrace and follow the Sutra, and the bodhisattva way – should be understood as being static or unchanging. All are alive and dynamic or they are nothing. All are in processes of learning and growth and change, often through enduring trials and suffering. This can be seen as an extension of the very basic Buddhist idea that all things are related and interdependent, always coming to be by being dependent on others.

It may seem strange to say that the Dharma Flower Sutra is alive, but what we mean by that is that unless the Sutra is somehow embodied and brought to life in the actual lives of someone, unless it makes a real difference in the actual lives of people, it amounts to nothing at all, or at least to no more than a dead book on some shelves. The Sutra does not spread itself. Its spread depends on Dharma teachers, human beings – on all of us.