In Nichiren Buddhism it is understood that in the Kaimoku-shō Nichiren made five comparisons between various religious teachings in order to reveal the highest teaching. Nichiren himself does not ever use the term “five comparisons” and the fifth comparison is not as clear in Kaimoku-shō as it is in other writings. Nevertheless, Kaimoku-shō is regarded as the source of the five comparisons. …

1. Buddhism is Superior to Non-Buddhism

Of all the non-Buddhist teachers Nichiren says, “Although they are called sages, they are as ignorant as infants in that they do not know causality.” This is essentially the same critique the Buddha makes of the sixty-two false views in the Supreme Net Discourse. None of the sixty-two views takes into account the causal and interdependent nature of life. They tend to assert either a form of eternalism, wherein all or at least some beings enjoy an eternal unchanging existence, or they assert some form of annihilationism, wherein phenomena disappear without a trace, or they try to equivocate in some way. …

2. Mahāyāna is Superior to Hinayāna

Just as Buddhism is superior to non-Buddhism because it takes a greater perspective that goes beyond one lifetime or even many lifetimes to reveal the causal processes underlying even the births and deaths of the gods in the heavenly realms, Mahāyāna is superior to Hinayāna because its perspective is vast enough to see that beyond the limited goal of nirvāṇa as an escape from the cycle of birth and death it is possible for people to raise their aspirations by taking the vows of a bodhisattva and thence embarking on the path to attain buddhahood, even if it takes an incalculably long time to do so.

Another difference in perspective is that whereas the Hinayāna only teaches that there are six worlds of rebirth (realms of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting demons, humans, and gods) and nothing more besides the negation of rebirth in the six worlds known as nirvāṇa, Mahāyāna teaches that in fact there are many pure lands throughout the universe. The pure lands are realms where all the conditions are perfect for attaining buddhahood and each is presided over by its own buddha who is assisted by many bodhisattvas. With the help of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, sentient beings can be reborn in these pure lands in order to attain buddhahood. Nichiren says that the Mahāyāna:

… were expounded for criticizing adherents of the two vehicles who relied on the Hinayāna sūtras. In these Mahāyāna sūtras, the Pure Lands of the Buddhas were established in the worlds of the ten quarters in order to encourage ordinary men and bodhisattvas to be born there. This troubled adherents of the two vehicles.…

3. True Mahāyāna of the Lotus Sūtra is Superior to Provisional Mahāyāna

In the Lotus Sūtra … the Buddha reveals that the three vehicles he taught to the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas are actually just partial aspects of the One Vehicle that leads all alike to buddhahood. The Buddha even makes a series of predictions that in future ages his major disciples and all the other members of the assembly will attain buddhahood. If it were not for the Lotus Sūtra then the major disciples who had become arhats would have no hope of attaining buddhahood. “But if the earlier sutras are more attractive [and more valuable], Śāriputra and other adherents of the two vehicles would have lost a chance to become Buddhas forever.” The other sūtras are considered provisional because they do not reveal this larger perspective that grants buddhahood even to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and so they are not fully inclusive of all beings. The Lotus Sūtra alone should be considered the true Mahāyāna because it makes it clear that all beings can attain buddhahood without exception. This is the reason why the Lotus Sūtra is superior to the other Mahāyāna sūtras. …

4. The Original Gate is superior to the Trace Gate

The Trace Gate consists of the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra in which the Buddha is still seen as the historical Śākyamuni Buddha who attained awakening two thousand five hundred years ago. It is called the Trace Gate because it covers the teaching of the One Vehicle by the historical Buddha as described above, and these teachings are the traces or imprints of the teaching of the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha. The historical life of the Buddha and his teachings is like a print made in soft wax by a seal, or like traces left in the sand by a person walking on the beach. The Trace Gate is also referred to as the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra because it is in this part of the sūtra that the Buddha teaches that in theory all people are capable of attaining buddhahood.

The Original Gate consists of the latter fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra in which the Buddha is the timeless ultimate truth and an ever-present reality leading all people to their own buddhahood. The Original Gate is also referred to as the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra because it is in this part of the sūtra that the Buddha reveals the transcendent nature of buddhahood and that it is an active and present part of our lives already, we only need the faith to realize it. From this point on, buddhahood is no longer a theory, but the essential truth informing all the other teachings.

The Original Gate, therefore, surpasses the more limited view of the Trace Gate that Śākyamuni Buddha attained awakening for the first time at the age of thirty (or thirty-five according to other sources) under the Bodhi Tree forty years before the time when he taught the Lotus Sūtra. From the perspective taken in the Original Gate, Śākyamuni Buddha’s awakening occurred in a past time so remote that it is often just glossed as “eternal.” Nichiren says,

“In the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra, it was revealed that the Buddha had attained perfect enlightenment in the remote past, making it untenable to assert that he had attained Buddhahood for the first time in this world. “

This is important because it means that even when the Buddha was demonstrating bodhisattva conduct in previous lives he was actually not trying to attain buddhahood but was demonstrating it in a progressively more complete way until he revealed the fullness of buddhahood as Śākyamuni Buddha in India 2,500 years ago. This means that buddhahood was always present and even after the passing away of the historical Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha as the Eternal Buddha will remain present. …

5. Buddhism of Sowing Superior to Harvest — Introspection over Doctrine

There is one final comparison that Nichiren makes in his teachings, though it is not set forth as clearly in Kaimoku-shō as it is in other writings. This is the comparison between the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra as a discourse given by Śākyamuni Buddha 2,500 years ago in India and the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra as spiritual contemplation for those in the present.

Nichiren identifies the spiritual contemplation of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra with the Tiantai teaching of the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment” … . According to Nichiren, ‘The ‘three thousand realms in a single thought-moment’ doctrine is hidden between the lines of the sixteenth chapter on The Life Span of the Tathāgata’ in the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra.” Nichiren identifies the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment doctrine as the seed of buddhahood. “Based on the concept of the seed of buddhahood preached in the Lotus Sūtra, Bodhisattva Vasubandhu insisted on the ‘supremacy of the seed’ in his Discourse on the Lotus Sūtra. This later became the ‘three thousand realms in a single thought-moment’ doctrine of Grand Master Tiantai.”…

The conclusion of the five comparisons is that Lotus Sūtra is the teaching that truly encompasses all time, from the remotest past, to the farthest future. In this perspective all beings are able to attain buddhahood in the fullness of time. More importantly, the perspective of the Lotus Sūtra provides assurance that buddhahood is a present actuality for all beings. Nichiren makes this point clear in A Letter to the People of Seichōji Temple (Seichōji Daishū-chū), a letter he wrote to Seichōji Temple in 1276:

The Lotus Sūtra preaches that Śākyamuni Buddha had attained buddhahood already 500 (million) dust particle kalpa in the past and that even those of the two vehicles such as Śāriputra, who are considered incapable of becoming buddhas, will inevitably attain buddhahood in the future. … It is the Lotus Sūtra that explains the past and future with precision, and upholding this sutra is the way to attain buddhahood.

Nichiren criticizes those who follow the two vehicles of the Śrāvakas (lit. “voice hearers” who are the Hinayāna disciples of the Buddha) and the pratyekabuddhas (lit. “privately awakened ones” who contemplate dependent origination on their own) because these kinds of Buddhists attain liberation from the sufferings of this world of birth and death, but are unable to help anyone else, including their parents. Because of this, they fail to achieve the true purpose of the Buddha Dharma. Speaking of these Hinayāna disciples, Nichiren says:

The purpose of becoming a monk by renouncing one’s family is to save one’s parents. Adherents of the two vehicles think that they can emancipate themselves from suffering. It may be true, but it is very difficult for them to benefit others. They may benefit others to some extent, but they will send their parents to the world where their parents can never become Buddhas. Therefore, I say that they do not know the favors of their parents. (Murano, p. 21. See also Hori 2002, pp. 39-40, and Gosho Translation Committee 1999, p. 228)

Nichiren’s conclusion is that only the Lotus Sūtra has the power to enable our parents to attain buddhahood. Other Buddhist teachings and sūtras may state that in principle all beings can attain buddhahood, but only in the Lotus Sūtra is the buddhahood of all men and women guaranteed and even demonstrated.

Nichiren is known primarily for his advocacy of the Lotus Sūtra as the Buddha’s highest teaching and for the practice of chanting its Odaimoku (lit. sacred title) in the form of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (lit. Devotion to the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma). He is also known for his denunciation of other schools of Buddhism. This denunciation is often summarized in the form of the “four admonitions” (J. shika no kakugen):

Pure Land Buddhism is a way leading to the Hell of Incessant Suffering; Zen Buddhism is the act of heavenly devils, who hinder the Buddhist way; Mantra (Shingon) Buddhism is an evil teaching leading to the destruction of our nation; and Discipline (Ritsu) Buddhism is a false teaching by traitors. (Hori 1992, p. 178 adapted)

It must be admitted … that to our ears [Nichiren’s] four admonitions sound very negative and sectarian. However, in reading the record of the Buddha’s last days in the Pāli Canon I believe that I have found statements corresponding to the four admonitions in the teachings of the historical Śākyamuni Buddha.

According to the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta of the Long Discourses of the Buddha, the Buddha spent his last year giving final instructions to Ānanda and his other followers to make sure that the Dharma would be taught correctly after his passing. Let’s examine them one by one.

On their last teaching tour together, Ānanda noticed how weak the Buddha had become due to old age and illness. He remarked that he was sure the Buddha would make some statement about the Sangha regarding a successor. The Buddha told him that he had no statement to make and that in fact they had already been taught all that they needed to know. He said, “I have taught the Dharma, Ānanda, making no inner and outer: the Tathāgata has no teacher’s fist in respect of doctrines.” (Walshe, p. 245

By this the Buddha meant that he had held nothing back or concealed in a closed fist. There were to be no secret teachings to be doled out by any successor. There were no further revelations. This basically undercuts the claims of any group that would claim that in order to practice Buddhism one needs not just the Buddha’s teachings but special initiations or empowerments, or to be taught special esoteric rituals. This was the essence of Nichiren’s critique of Mantra, or esoteric Buddhism: in the Lotus Sūtra we have been taught everything that we need to know, nothing is missing. Through our faith in the Lotus Sūtra we are initiated directly into buddhahood and empowered to actualize the qualities of the Buddha’s insight and virtue in our daily lives.

The Buddha then said, ”Therefore, Ānanda, you should live as islands unto yourselves, being your own refuge, with no one else as your refuge, with the Dharma as an island, with the Dharma as your refuge, with no other refuge.” (Ibid, p. 245) Here the Buddha is saying that we will find the Dharma, the true nature of things, within our own lives by putting his teachings into practice for ourselves. It is not something that will be given to us by some external savior. He says nothing here of having to die and be reborn in a pure land. Nichiren believed that to live one’s life alienated from the chance to realize the Lotus Sūtra’s teaching that this world itself is the true pure land where buddhahood is actualized would in fact lead to a hellish existence. In saying that the practice of nembutsu or calling upon Amitābha Buddha will lead to hell, Nichiren is pointing out that true refuge is found in the Dharma within our own lives here and now.

On his deathbed beneath the Sala trees, the Buddha said, “Ānanda, it may be that you will think: ‘The Teacher’s instruction has ceased, now we have no teacher!’ It should not be seen like this, Ānanda, for what I have taught and explained to you as Dharma and discipline will, at my passing, be your teacher.” (Ibid, p. 269-70) According to this account the Buddha did not appoint a successor or patriarch. He believed that the teachings he gave were sufficient guidance. In fact, earlier the Buddha stated that after his passing any teaching put forward as the Dharma, even those by elder monks, should be verified by comparing it to the Buddha’s actual discourses. In calling Zen the school of heavenly devils, Nichiren was criticizing what he perceived as the arrogant claims made by some Zen Masters that their own personal enlightenment superseded the Buddha’s teachings in the sūtras. The point made is that in Buddhism we have the objective criteria of the sūtras to determine what Buddhism actually teaches and we do not have to rely on middlemen. In fact, in Nichiren Buddhism it is taught that we each inherit the Dharma directly from the scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra. This is not to say that we should not seek teachers and mentors for guidance and encouragement, but it means that in the end we cannot go by hearsay. We must discern for ourselves what the Dharma is through our own reading of the sūtras and we must validate the teachings for ourselves through our own practice.

The Buddha also told Ānanda, “If they wish, the Sangha may abolish the minor rules after my passing.” (Ibid, p. 270) Unfortunately Ananda was too distraught to ask the Buddha which of the precepts were to be considered minor rules. At the first Buddhist council, it was decided to keep all the precepts in place because a) circumstances had not changed so there was no reason to change anything, b) changing them would cause the householder supporters of the Sangha to accuse them of laxness after the Buddha’s passing, c) they could not agree on which precepts could be considered minor. In Nichiren’s time the Ritsu or Discipline school championed the practice of all the precepts just as they had been laid down in fourth century BCE India. Nichiren could see that this was no longer appropriate to the time and place, and that such external observance was in any case to miss the true point of Buddhism as taught in the Lotus Sūtra. As we can see, the historical Buddha did not want Buddhism to become a religion bound up in the external observance of increasingly irrelevant rules. As Nichiren Buddhists we do not formally take precepts, but we endeavor to live in the spirit of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. This is actually a more demanding course than simply following a list of rules. We must be honest with ourselves, attentive to our actual circumstances, and always try to find the best way to bring the spirit of our devotion to the Lotus Sūtra’s teaching of universal and immanent buddhahood into our work, family, and other significant relationships, in fact into every aspect of our lives.