Montgomery (March 11, 1983)
In Nichiren-shu, what importance is given to the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal-Sage? Are they used at all for either doctrinal devotional purpose?

Murano (April 26, 1985)
The Muryogikyo (“The Sutra of Innumerable Meanings”) was translated into Chinese later than the Myoho-renge-kyo by another person than Kumarajiva. The original text was probably composed later than the Myoho-renge-kyo. This sutra has a famous sentence, which Nichiren frequently quoted: Shijuyonen miken shinjitsu, which means, “I have not yet revealed my true teaching for the past forty odd years.” But this saying can be read between the lines of Chapter XVI of the Lotus Sutra, as I inserted in my translation of the sutra. The Kan-fugen-bosatsu-gyobo-kyo (“The Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal-Sage”) was also translated later than the Lotus Sutra and not by Kumarajiva. It was apparently intended to be a continuation of the last chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This sutra carries Jojakko or “Eternally Tranquil Light” as the name of the world of Sakyamuni Buddha. We say that the world of Sakyamuni Buddha is called Jakko-jodo (“the Pure World of Tranquil Light”). The word Jakko is given only in this sutra, and in no other sutras. The setup of this triple sutra: The Muryogikyo as the opening sutra, the Myoho-renge-kyo, and the Kan-fugen-gyo as the closing sutra, had been established long before the time of Nichiren. Nichiren sometimes called them Hokekyo Jikkan or the “Ten Volumes of the Lotus Sutra,” but he usually used the expression: Hokekyo Ichibu Hachikan Niju Happon, which means “The Lotus Sutra, One Book, Eight Volumes, Twenty-eight Chapters.” We usually put the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra in front of the statue of Nichiren.