Category Archives: WONS

Protection for the Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

I, Nichiren, believe that as soon as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra appears, all those gods such as the Sun God and the Moon God, who heard the preaching of the Lotus in the “three meetings at two places” (on Mt. Sacred Eagle and in the Stupa appearing high in the sky) will hurry to his aid just as a magnet attracts pieces of iron and the moon reflects itself on the water. They will bear his difficulties and carry out the vows they made before the Buddha at those meetings. Nevertheless, they have not come to rescue me, Nichiren. Is it because I am not a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? I must reconsider the sūtra in the light of my own background in order to see what is wrong with me.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 81

Medicine Suitable to the Condition of the Patient

Our Compassionate Father, the Greatly Awakened and World Honored One, appeared in this world in Central India when the life span of human beings was 100 years and spent His life preaching the holy teachings for all living beings. All living beings during the lifetime of the Buddha were closely related to the Buddha due to the accumulated merit of their virtuous deeds in the past. Therefore, they were able to attain Buddhahood during the lifetime of the Buddha. For the sake of those living after the passing of the Buddha, however, the Buddha expressed His 84,000 holy teachings in writing, giving Hinayāna sūtras to Honorable Kāśyapa and Mahāyāna sūtras including the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvana Sūtra to Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to be spread among living beings after the passing of the Buddha.

However, the five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō, which are the essence of the 84,000 holy teachings and the primary object of the Lotus Sūtra, were entrusted neither to Kāśyapa nor Ānanda. They were not given to great bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya, Earth Repository, or Nāgārjuna. They were all anxious to receive the five characters from the Buddha but their request was denied. Śākyamuni Buddha in a Stupa decorated with the seven treasures instead called out an elder named Superior Practice Bodhisattva from the bottom of the earth and gave him the five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō before the Buddha of Many Treasures and Buddhas in manifestation coming from all the worlds throughout the universe.

Why did Śākyamuni Buddha do this? All living beings after the passing of the Buddha are considered the same dear children to Śākyamuni Buddha. According to the general practice of physicians, the Buddha prescribed medicine suitable to the condition of the patient. Therefore, the Buddha directed Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and others to prescribe the medicine of Hinayāna sūtras to all living beings during the first half (500 years) of the Age of the True Dharma. For the second half of the Age of the True Dharma such bodhisattvas as Mañjuśrī, Maitreya, Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu, were directed to prescribe such Mahāyāna sūtras as the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and the Wisdom Sūtra for all living beings. For the Age of the Semblance Dharma, the ten-century period beginning in the 1,000th year after the passing of the Buddha, Medicine King Bodhisattva and others were ordered to prescribe the Lotus Sūtra with the exception of the daimoku for all living beings.

However, in the Latter Age of Degeneration beginning 2,000 years after the passing of the Buddha, the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna sutras given to Kāśyapa, Ānanda, Mañjuśrī, Maitreya, Medicine King, Avalokiteśvara and others were no longer useful as medicine for living beings. It is because they were no longer effective as cures for the severe ailments of living beings. While the Buddha considered what to do about this, Superior Practice Bodhisattva emerged from the earth. The Buddha then ordered the bodhisattva to give the five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō to all living beings throughout the Jambudvīpa.

Takahashi Nyūdō-dono Gohenji, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Takahashi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 74-75

Lessening Karmic Retribution

As you have been fervent believers of the Lotus Sūtra, you now beckon the major sins committed in the past in order to lessen its karmic retribution. For instance when iron is forged well, its flaws become visible. When burned, a stone turns to ashes, but gold becomes pure gold. I am sure the merit of your true faith in the Lotus Sūtra will be evident, and the ten female rākṣasa demons, guardians of the Lotus Sūtra, will protect you now. Just as Indra appeared as a rākṣasa demon before Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains to test his resolution and Vaiśravaṇa disguised himself as a dove to test King Sivi, the ten female rākṣasa demons may have possessed your parents in order to torture you and test your faith. You may regret if you are not steadfast in your faith. An overturned cart is a warning for the cart that follows.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 77-78

Tasting the Flavor of the True Dharma

Now, when I contemplate the state of Japan, I note that it has been a long time since her inception. Accordingly, the future of the original protective deities of Japan must have been exhausted, their life span having grown shorter, and their authority and power having declined. Their authority and power will increase only when they taste the flavor of the True Dharma. The True Dharma, however, has been lost, allowing evil dharmas to prosper and protective deities to grow old. How can they repulse national disasters and protect parishioners?

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 261

Bodhisattvas from Other Worlds

The book Two Buddhas Seated Side By Side presents a chapter by chapter look at the Lotus Sutra, with Donald S. Lopez Jr. offering a description and anti-Mahayana commentary on each chapter and Jacqueline I. Stone following with an explanation of how Nichiren used the chapter in Medieval Japan.

I’ve found Stone’s contribution excellent and Lopez’s effort so disappointing that I hesitate to suggest anyone purchase the book. See this blog post.

That’s not to say that Lopez has contributed nothing worthwhile. It’s just that I have bags of salt handy when taking in his contribution.

The latest example is his opening paragraph for Chapter 15, Bodhisattvas Emerging from the Earth:

The dramatic tension that has been building since the “Jeweled Stūpa” chapter continues to build here. At the end of that chapter, the Buddha calls for those who are willing to step forward and, in the presence of the assembled buddhas, vow to spread the Lotus Sūtra after his parinirvāṇa. In the “Perseverance” chapter [Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra], billions of great bodhisattvas who have arrived from other worlds vow to spread the Lotus Sūtra throughout the ten directions. The theme of volunteers vowing to preserve the Lotus Sūtra after the Buddha is gone continues in this chapter, which opens with the bodhisattvas who have arrived from other lands to witness the opening of the stūpa now offering to preserve, recite, copy, and pay homage to the Lotus Sūtra in this Sahā world after the Buddha has passed into final nirvāṇa. However, the Buddha replies that there are sufficient bodhisattvas in his own world, the Sahā world, a statement that would be imbued with great meaning by Nichiren. The Buddha’s polite refusal of the offer of assistance from the foreign bodhisattvas, that is, the bodhisattvas who have arrived from other worlds, sets the scene for yet another dramatic event.

Two Buddhas, p161

What jumped out at me here was the characterization of Medicine-King Bodhisattva-mahāsattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, together with their twenty-thousand attendants who were also Bodhisattvas, as bodhisattvas “who have arrived from other worlds.” These are the great Bodhisattvas who are listed in Chapter 1, Introductory, as being present at the start. And in Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva, Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva asks the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Why does Medicine-King Bodhisattva walk about this Sahā-World?” Where in the Lotus Sutra does it suggest all of the Bodhisattvas have all arrived from other worlds?

And yet, judging from Stone’s description of Nichiren’s writings, the other-worldly nature of these Bodhisattvas was well known.

Based on his understanding of the Buddha’s teaching process, Nichiren argued that [the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth] could only appear in the Final Dharma age. During the two thousand years following the Buddha’s passing, that is, the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma ages, persons who had received the seed of buddhahood from Sakyamuni Buddha were led to the stages of maturation and harvesting through provisional teachings. Had the bodhisattvas from beneath the earth appeared and spread the daimoku during that time, many of those people would have reviled it, thereby destroying the merit gained through the maturing of the seeds that they had already received. During those two thousand years, Nichiren said, some of the bodhisattvas from other worlds remained to teach the Lotus Sūtra in this world. Specifically, Zhiyi and his teacher Huisi, long revered as manifestations of the bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja [Medicine-King] and Avalokiteśvara [World-Voice-Perceiver], respectively, had taught the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment from the abstract perspective of the trace teaching.

Two Buddhas, p175-176

Understanding that Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva and World-Voice-Perceiver are from other worlds does offer an explanation why the Buddha keeps silence when “[E]ighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas … rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together [towards him] with all their hearts, and thought, ‘If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sūtra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.’ ”


See A Variable Transmission for the One Vehicle

Teaching Suitable to a Country

When spreading the Dharma in a country, it is important to take into consideration the type of country it is. One cannot assume that a teaching suitable in one country will necessarily be suitable in another country.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 143.

All Disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha

[S]ince it has been revealed that Śākyamuni has attained enlightenment in the eternal past, Bodhisattvas Nikkō (Sunlight) and Gakkō (Moonlight), disciples of Medicine Master Buddha in the world to the east; Bodhisattvas Kannon (Avalokiteśvara) and Seishi (Mahāsthāmaprāpta), disciples of the Buddha of Infinite Life in a land to the west; various disciples of Buddhas in various lands throughout the universe as well as disciples of the Great Sun Buddha depicted in both the Diamond Realm Mandala and the Matrix-store Realm Mandala of the Great Sun Buddha Stūra and the Diamond Peak Sūtra now are all disciples of Śākyamuni. Since Buddhas in the worlds throughout the universe are all manifestations (funjin) of Śākyamuni Buddha, their disciples are of course Śākyamuni’s disciples. Let alone the sun, the moon, and stars, that have been in this world from its beginning, are disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 76

Assurance of Future Buddhahood

During more than 2,200 years after the Buddha’s passing, not even Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, a great exponent of the Lotus Sūtra, actually experienced a passage in the Lotus Sūtra, 14th chapter on the “Peaceful Practices,” “Many people in the world will hate it and few will believe in it.” It is Nichiren alone who experienced the clear statement in the Lotus Sūtra (chapter 13, “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra”) that practicers of the Lotus Sūtra “will often be driven out of monasteries.” The Buddha preached in the tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma” of the Lotus Sūtra, “If in My presence any of them rejoices, even for a moment, at hearing a verse or a phrase of the Lotus Sūtra, I will assure him of his future Buddhahood.” It is I alone who receives this assurance. There is no doubt that I will attain the Perfect Enlightenment.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 32

Opening of the Buddha Realm in the Act of Chanting the Daimoku

Nichiren understood the emergence of the jeweled stūpa as the opening of the buddha realm in the act of chanting the daimoku. One of his followers, a lay monk known as Abutsu-bō, once asked him what the jeweled stūpa signified. Nichiren explained that, in essence, the stūpa’s emergence meant that the śrāvaka disciples, on hearing the Lotus Sūtra, “beheld the jeweled stūpa of their own mind.” The same was true, he said, of his own followers: “In the Final Dharma age, there is no jeweled stūpa apart from the figures of those men and women who uphold the Lotus Sūtra. … The daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō. … You, Abutsu-bō, are yourself the jeweled stūpa, and the jeweled stūpa is none other than you, Abutsu-bō. … So believing, chant Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō, and wherever you chant will be the place where the jeweled stūpa dwells.”

Two Buddhas, p145

The True Intent of the Buddha

The Buddha’s prediction foretelling the time of disputes and quarrels is proving to be as certain as the ebb and flow of the ocean!

T’ien-t’ai says in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Lotus Sūtra is so profound that the Middle Doctrine cannot be compared to it.” He also states in the Great Concentration and Insight, “Vasubandhu and Nāgārjuna deep in their hearts knew exactly the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, but outwardly they preached as they saw to fit the time.” Explaining what is meant by T’ien-t’ai in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, Miao-lê declares in his Commentary on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, “No one can be compared to the Lotus Sūtra in rectifying the fallacies of the various sūtras and revealing the truths;” and in the Additional Annotations to the Three Major Works of T’ien-t’ai, Ts’ung-i interprets T’ien-t’ai’s words in the Great Concentration and Insight, “Both Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu are not comparable to T’ien-t’ai in perceiving the true intent of the Buddha.”

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 209-210