“Merit” here also has the meaning of “realization.” The merit of this teaching effects a great change in the field of our six sense organs (sadayatana) our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. When we are able to receive the truth of the Lotus Sutra our sense perceptions undergo a profound transformation. Automatically our eyes are able to see things that before we were not able to see. We attain the eyes of the Dharma that are able to look deeply and see the true nature and suchness of all dharmas, all phenomena in the world of our perceptions. With Dharma eyes we can look into a wilted and yellow autumn leaf and see its wonderful, fresh green nature. We can see that one leaf, whether old and yellow or green and fresh, contains all the merits, all the wonderful suchness of the universe. The eyes of someone who has received and who maintains the teaching of this Sutra, the truth of the ultimate, are able to see the limitless life span, the unborn and undying nature of everything. This is the first merit, the transformation of our sight perception into the eyes of the Dharma.

With the ears of the Dharma, we are now able to hear very deeply. We hear the music of the birds singing, the sound of the wind in the pine trees, and even the very subtle sound of a flower opening. And while we are listening to these sounds, we experience their wondrous ultimate nature. Bird song expresses the truth of the ultimate dimension of all phenomena. Listening deeply to the sound of the wind in the pine trees, we hear the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. In the same way, all of our senses are transformed. When each of our sense organs comes into contact with an object, we receive the truth of the Lotus Sutra, culminating in the transformation of the mind faculty (manaindrya), our mental perception.

When our mind faculty and our other sense faculties have been transformed and purified as a result of the merit we have received from hearing, understanding, and practicing this wonderful Dharma, then we need hear only one gatha or one line of the Sutra to understand all sutras and teachings. We do not need to study the entire Tripitaka in order to understand the Buddhadharma. One gatha contains all other gathas, one teaching reveals the deep meaning of all other teachings, just as the truth of impermanence contains the truth of no-self and the truth of interbeing.