Peaceful Action

Viewing the Lotus Sutra from the Inside Out

In discussing Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra it is important to underscore that Thich Nhat Hanh is not Nichiren or a follower of Nichiren or even a follower of T’ien T’ai.

Nichiren and T’ien T’ai looked upon the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, the ocean into which all of the rivers of expedient teachings flowed. To understand the Buddha’s expedient teachings, one must view them through the lens of the Lotus Sutra. Think of this as looking from the inside out.

Thich Nhat Hanh views the Lotus Sutra from the outside looking in. Here’s an example:

The Sangha has gathered on the Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, Vulture Peak. Their feet are on the earth; they are in the historical dimension. They see their teacher Shakyamuni; they see they are among a great assembly of disciples. They are in the realm of reality that we normally perceive, which is subject to past, present, and future. Suddenly, with the appearance of the jeweled stupa, everyone has been transported from the historical realm into the realm of the ultimate nature of reality, where there is no time or space. From the world of relative phenomena, we are able to touch the absolute, and this recognition brings about a powerful vibration, something like an electric shock. Those who have learned the art of mindfulness are finely tuned and are able to receive this vibration. The ultimate goal of our practice and studies is to be able to touch the true nature of reality with our mindfulness. In the beginning our mindfulness is not yet strong, but little by little it becomes more steady and solid. And as our mindfulness becomes more stable, the ultimate dimension of reality will appear more and more clearly to us, right here and now in the historical realm, the world of appearances.

Peaceful Action, Open Heart, p100-101

And for the vast sea of people who are not monastics trained in meditation but have received Nichiren’s teaching, we have Śākyamuni’s Jewel:

For those who are incapable of understanding the truth of the “3,000 existences contained in one thought,” Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, with His great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 164