I recently completed reading Santideva’s The Bodhicaryavatara: A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening. This book was the subject of the Nichiren Shu service and lecture put on my Rev. Ryuei McCormick in Oakland that I attended on Nov. 25. I’ve already used portions from the introduction to help illuminate some of what I’m learning. (See this post.)

I have more than 200 quotes from the Bodhicaryavatara that I consider inspiring and worth taking the time to input into this website so that I can easily access them, perhaps having them randomly appear in order to prompt consideration of these Mahāyāna ideals.

But as I consider this I wonder whether it can be done without distracting from my primary practice of reciting the Lotus Sūtra and chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

As it happens, I am preparing to start publishing daily quotations from Nichiren’s writings as published by Nichiren Shū. I gathered the quotes during my “100 Days of Study.” In introducing that project I mentioned:

“Over the past few months I’ve been reading books about Bodhisattvas and the Six Perfections from Zen authors, books on the basics of Buddhism and introductions to the Lotus Sutra by authors outside Nichiren Shu. On my to-read pile are books on T’ien-Tai philosophy and the Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, two volumes of dharma talks by the Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii and, for good measure, the Vimalakirti Sutra.

“This is all part of my effort to follow Nichiren’s admonition: “Strive to carry out the two ways of practice and learning. Without practice and learning, Buddhism will cease to exist.” (Shohō Jissō Shō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 4 p.79)”

This blog post was prompted by quotes from two of Nichiren’s letters. These quotes underline my dilemma, illustrating both the need for study and the danger from study.

The Need

The Lotus Sūtra of the fifth period consists of one fascicle of the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning as an introduction, eight fascicles of the Lotus Sūtra, and one fascicle of the Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva as the conclusion, bringing the total number of fascicles to ten.

The reason for my commentaries on the Four Teachings (Tripiṭaka, Common, Distinct, and Perfect) and the Four Periods (Flower Garland, Agama, Expanded, and Wisdom) is to help others learn what the Lotus Sūtra is. For one cannot correctly understand the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra without learning the pre-Lotus Sūtras, although one may study the pre-Lotus Sūtras without learning about other Sūtras.

In support of this, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai stated in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “When attempting to spread various sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra, the essential part of the teaching will not be lost even if a doctrinal analysis of all the teachings of the Buddha is not rendered. When attempting to spread the Lotus Sūtra, however, the essence of the teaching may be lost if a doctrinal analysis is not made.” It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra (chapter 2, “Expedients”), “Although the Buddhas expound various teachings, it is for the purpose of leading the people into the world of the One Buddha Vehicle.” “Various teachings” here refer to all the pre-Lotus Sūtras. “For the purpose of leading the people into the world of the One Buddha Vehicle” means to expound all the scriptures of Buddhism to reveal the Lotus Sūtra.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 81

Underscore For one cannot correctly understand the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra without learning the pre-Lotus Sūtras.

The Danger

[A]bsolute subtlety (zetsudaimyō) is a doctrine of revealing the truth (single path to enlightenment) and merging all the provisional teachings for bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddha, and śrāvaka (kaie). Here the pre-Lotus sūtras, which are abandoned as expedient by the doctrine of relative subtlety (sōdaimyō), are all included in the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra. Once entering the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra, the pre-Lotus sūtras will no longer be dismissed as expedient. All the sūtras entering the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra take up the one flavor of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō because of the wonderful merit of the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra. There is no reason why they have to be referred to by other names such as nembutsu, Ritsu, Shingon, or Zen. Consequently, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “Just as water becomes salty when it flows into the sea, any wisdom ceases to exist in itself after it is taken in the True Wisdom.” Thus he instructs us that no original names be mentioned. People of the Tendai School generally maintain:

The pre-Lotus sūtras with the first four flavors, which were dismissed in comparing the Lotus Sūtra with other sūtras (relative subtlety), can be kept and any names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas can be recited even after the single path is revealed through the doctrine of absolute subtlety because these sūtras, Buddhas and bodhisattvas are included in the wonderful entity of the Lotus Sūtra. Waters in rivers before entering the sea differ in size, or in cleanliness, but once they flow into the ocean, we can see that it is a serious mistake to distinguish or select water saying that some waters are cleaner than others. Both the dirty water that is undesirable and clean water that is loved stem originally from the same ocean. Therefore, even when we put a special name on some water, water is water wherever it is taken out from, and it is a mistake to think that there is a difference in water. Likewise, it is not a terrible idea to believe in any teaching one likes or comes across.

Thus they accept and believe any teaching which comes to the mind such as the nembutsu and mantras.

When speaking in vague terms, a point of view such as this seems rational, but strictly speaking it is a serious fallacy leading to hell. The reason is that while one person who truly understands the doctrine of kaie may uphold various provisional sūtras or recite any names of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, all other people generally keep or chant them with the usual prejudice without understanding the meaning of kaie. Consequently, such a view can be an evil teaching in which even if a person who understands the doctrine may get enlightened, most people will fall into hell. Any doctrines expounded in the pre-Lotus sūtras and the “ultimate truth” shown in those doctrines are all composed of biased thoughts and convictions. As stated in the second chapter, “Expedients,” of the Lotus Sūtra, “They are astray in the thick forest of wrong views on existence and non-existence.”

Then both those who know the doctrine of kaie and those who do not know it cannot avoid going down to hell if they uphold provisional sūtras and recite the names of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in them and contemplate the “ultimate truth” of the expedient teachings. Those who are convinced that they know the doctrine of kaie are no less wrong than those who believe that it is possible to put the water of the ocean into a puddle made by a hoof of a cattle. How can they escape from falling into the Three Evil Realms (hell, the realm of hungry souls, and realm of beasts and birds)? What’s worse, those who do not know the doctrine of kaie, basically taking in wrong teachings, are so attached to the wrong views or expedient teachings that they are sure to fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering. Even after realizing the doctrine of kaie, they should dismiss such ideas considering them expedient teachings with which enlightenment cannot be achieved. Do not recite or uphold the names and the “ultimate wisdom” of evil doctrines.

Shoshū Mondō-shō, Questions and Answers Regarding Other Schools, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 179-181

This dilemma is especially important here in the United States, where – unlike Japan – there is no foundation of Buddhist understanding. Study is necessary to build that foundation. Or to put it in the context of the Lotus Sūtra, by studying the pre-Lotus sūtras we can correctly understand how these expedient teachings flowed into the ocean of the Lotus Sūtra.

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō