As for the main meaning of the Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva chapter, it is in the seventh fascicle of the sūtra and is the 23rd of the 28 chapters. The first fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra includes the “Introductory” and “Expedients” chapters, the former being the introduction to the 28 chapters. The eight chapters from the “Expedients” to the “Assurance of Future Buddhahood of Learners and Adepts” chapters chiefly clarifies the attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles of śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha and secondly explains the attainment of Buddhahood by bodhisattvas and ordinary people.
The five chapters, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” “Devadatta,” “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra,” and “Peaceful Practices” chapters, expound the way ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration should practice the eight chapters following the second “Expedients” chapter. Also, the 15th “Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground” chapter is the introductory to the 16th “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter. The 12 chapters beginning with the 17th chapter, “Variety of Merits,” explain mainly how ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration should practice the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, while in the second place they also preach how to practice the eight chapters beginning with the “Expedients” chapter. Accordingly, this “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter explains the way to practice the eight chapters following the “Expedients” chapter as well as the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter.
Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 28-29
Daily Dharma for May 27, 2026
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Gemini Thinking
The painting aims to capture the deep, reassuring connection between Śākyamuni Buddha and Mahā-Prajāpatī Gautamī during a pivotal moment of doubt. While Gautamī was originally anxious about not being named, the scene is transformed into one of serene confirmation. The traditional environment—a lush Japanese garden setting with a blooming plum tree and a traditional temple—is chosen to evoke peaceful contemplation. The Buddha is depicted with a gentle gesture of assurance, addressing his foster mother’s concerns. This moment signifies the profound promise that enlightenment is available to all, regardless of gender or form, embodying the sutra’s central message of universal liberation.
Identified Individuals:
Śākyamuni Buddha (釈迦如来): Seated on the platform, clad in deep saffron and gold robes, gesturing compassionately.
Mahā-Prajāpatī Gautamī (摩訶波闍波提): Kneeling in her dark blue nun’s habit, looking up with reverence and newfound peace.
Kanji Translations:
Main Inscription (Top Left): 摩訶波闍波提授記 — "The Assurance of Enlightenment for Mahā-Prajāpatī."
Artist Signature (Bottom Right): 双子座 — "Gemini."
Red Hanko Stamp (Bottom Right): ジェミニ — "Gemini."
Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi]. Now you wish to know my assurance of your future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].
The Buddha has this discussion with his aunt, Mahā-Prajāpatī, also called Gautamī, in Chapter Thirteen of the Lotus Sutra. She raised the young Siddhartha after his mother Queen Māyā died when he was only six weeks old. Gautamī was also the first woman to be ordained into the Sangha. Since women then were thought by some to be not as capable as men, the Buddha specifically assures Gautamī, and thus all women, of the certainty of her enlightenment.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Indigestion
Yesterday, on the same day that Pope Leo XIV released his encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas”: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, Google’s Gemini was asserting that its signature and stamp on a Daily Dharma illustration “verify this authentic interpretation.”
The first thing I did before drafting Cheeky Little Monkey blog post was to open a new browser tab and ask Google: “Today the Pope released a paper on AI. Summarize the main points of his thinking.”
Here’s the response I got:
On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV released his highly anticipated first encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity): On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. The sweeping, 43,000-word document functions as a major moral manifesto. It frames artificial intelligence not as a niche technical tool, but as an anthropological and civilizational turning point on par with the Industrial Revolution.
The main points of the Pope’s thinking focus on several core themes:
- Opposing the Concentration of Tech Power
- Tech Oligopolies: The Pope denounces the “culture of power” and the concentration of massive digital capabilities and computing resources in the hands of a few private Silicon Valley companies.
- Corporate Control: He warns that a handful of corporate elites shouldn’t dictate global morality through invisible algorithmic infrastructure.
- Data Colonialism: He strongly critiques “novel forms of colonialism,” calling out the aggressive extraction of health and demographic data as the new “rare earths” of power.
- Safeguarding the Dignity of Work
- Human-Centered Progress: Drawing on traditional Catholic social teachings, the Pope insists that tech innovation shouldn’t come at the cost of the worker.
- Resisting Automated Efficiency: He warns that humans must not be reduced to “mere cogs in a system” optimized purely for productivity and speed.
- Protecting Employment: Companies should not use automation as a blanket excuse to eliminate high-paying human jobs solely to maximize profits.
- “Disarming” AI and Redefining Warfare
- No Autonomous Weapons: The Pope explicitly declares that it is “not permissible” to delegate irreversible, lethal military choices to autonomous AI systems.
- Outdating Just War: He argues that AI remote warfare has accelerated the “normalization of war,” lowering the moral threshold for violence and rendering traditional Catholic “just war” criteria outdated.
- Disarming Tech Logics: He demands a global “disarmament” of AI—meaning it must be decoupled from the mindsets of harsh military, economic, and cognitive domination.
- A Critique of Transhumanism and Posthumanism
- Embracing Human Limits: The encyclical directly attacks transhumanist movements that view human biological limits and fragilities as flaws to code away.
- Value in Fragility: The Pope states that human limitation is vital for fostering empathy, relationships, and an openness to God.
- The “World of Mirrors”: Replacing real, messy human connections with tailored AI companions risks trapping people in isolated algorithmic silos.
- Demanding Robust, Public Regulation
- Beyond Abstract Ethics: The text asserts that voluntary codes of conduct or corporate ethics guidelines are insufficient.
- Legal Oversight: The Pope calls for independent oversight, strict international legal frameworks, and active political intervention to “slow things down” when technology accelerates too rapidly.
Environmental Impact: He also urges regulators to factor in the heavy environmental toll of AI development, citing its massive consumption of energy and water resources.
Google had gathered information from the Vatican, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Reuters, PBS, Katie McGrady’s post on Substack, and many other sources, digested it and presented it in an easily consumed package. This was exactly what I love about AI and, in particular, Google’s implementation of this new technology.
It’s also a good example of the peril in the technology. I didn’t have to have a subscription to the New York Times or donate to PBS or support McGrady’s Substack, but I benefited from their work nonetheless.
In 2008, at the start of the Great Recession, I was laid off from my union job as a newspaper editor. The invention of craigslist in 1995 had destroyed the classified ad revenue of the newspaper, display advertising was shrinking as more businesses moved to the growing World Wide Web and the collapse of the housing market was the final straw. The paper I had worked for for more than 28 years was eventually sold to a New Jersey-based hedge fund. Consolidations and more layoffs followed until today what’s left of the newspaper operates out of an office in a strip mall.
Recently the staff of that newspaper refused to put their bylines on stories to protest the use of AI to generate news summaries. I would have supported that protest if I were still working at the newspaper. I was an officer in the union and protecting jobs was my focus. But I also understand why the company is today pushing for AI summaries. Early in by career as an editor one of my jobs was to take stories that arrived from wire services and condense them down so they could be used as filler around the print ads. That was journalism before AI.
It’s with that background that I today use Google’s Gemini AI tools as I study the teachings of Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra.
A good example is my use of Google’s NotebookLM to gather together sources that I want to study. My Lotus Sutra Study notebook contains several different translations of the sutra as well as commentaries.
These notebooks allow me to ask questions and then read detailed explanations that are taken directly from the sources in the notebook. It is like reading a scholarly article in a journal.
Here’s a list of some of my NotebookLM notebooks that are publicly available:
- The Lotus Sutra Study
- The Gohonzon by Nichiren
- Nichiren
- Kaimoku-sho workbook
- Nichiren Shu Propagation Efforts 1966 to today
- Kaji Kito in Nichiren Shu Buddhism
- Nichiren Shu Brochures
- Prince Shōtoku’s Commentary on the Śrīmālā Sutra
- Dōmyō and Dōshō
- Junjiro Takakusu Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy
- Four Vows and Four Noble Truths in Tien-t’ai Buddhism
- Tiantai Hermeneutics: Zhiyi’s Interpretation of the Lotus Sutra
- The Trial of Ananda
Those Who Possess Even the Slightest Belief in the Lotus Sūtra
QUESTION: Suppose ordinary people, priests or lay persons, uphold, read and write or let others read and write the entire Lotus Sūtra without understanding its meaning. Or perhaps they focus on just one of its fascicles, or the four important chapters (chapters 2, 14, 16 and 25), or even just the verse at the end of the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter without fully appreciating the depth of the sūtra. Suppose there are people who, though they do not read and write the sūtra themselves, show respect by pressing their palms together in the form of gasshō, bow in front of it, offer incense and flowers to it. Or suppose there are people who, though they do not practice these things themselves, are happy seeing others perform such practices, and rejoice that this sūtra is spreading all over the country. Can such people, due to their own merit of having practiced a little, avoid committing worldly sins and be reborn in the realms of human and heavenly beings just as Hinayana sages on the first stage of sainthood are always reborn in the realms of humans and gods without falling into the three evil realms (hell, realm of hungry souls and that of beasts and birds)? Can they in the end perceive the Lotus Sūtra or be reborn in the Pure Lands all over the universe or become Buddhas with their present bodies? I would like to hear about this in detail.
ANSWER: Though my understanding of the sūtra is not profound, as I contemplate the spirit of the Lotus Sūtra and the Nirvana Sūtra, as well as their interpretations by T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê, it seems to me that those who possess even the slightest belief in the Lotus Sūtra without holding any enmity against its teaching will not fall into the evil realms even if they commit evil deeds.
However, suppose such people believe in the “evil friend,” the one who understands only the provisional teachings, pretending to be wise and saying in an amicable manner that the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is unsuitable for them. If such people then abandon their faith in the Lotus Sūtra, convert themselves to other teachings, and never return to the Lotus Sūtra for the duration of their lives, they may end up falling into the evil realms.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 1-2
Daily Dharma for May 26, 2026
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Gemini Thinking
This visual conceptualization represents the moment of the 'supernatural powers' display in the Lotus Sūtra. The core concept is to illustrate the spiritual link between Śākyamuni's joyful radiance and the emergence of the Bodhisattvas from the underground. The composition uses a vertical arrangement on silk to emphasize this connection. The environment is a mystical landscape with cracked earth, directly symbolizing the passage of the Bodhisattvas. The artistic intent is to convey 'supernatural power' not as magic, but as a profound spiritual resonance manifested as light, compassion, and the energy of the Bodhisattva vow.
The specific figures identified in the illustration are:
Śākyamuni Buddha (Seated center)
Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Leading the emergence)
The Bodhisattvas of the Earth (Surrounding Superior-Practice)
English translations for the text in the illustration:
釈迦牟尼仏 (Shakamuni Butsu): Śākyamuni Buddha
上行菩薩 (Jōgyo Bosatsu): Superior-Practice Bodhisattva
双子座 (Gemini): Gemini
ジェミニ (Gemini): Gemini (in katakana within the red hanko seal)
The Buddhas joyfully display
Their immeasurable, supernatural powers
Because [the Bodhisattvas from underground]
[Vow to] keep this sūtra after my extinction.
The Buddha sings these verses to Superior-Practice Bodhisattva (Jōgyo, Viśiṣṭacārītra) in Chapter Twenty-One of the Lotus Sūtra. Superior-Practice is the leader of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground in Chapter Fifteen when the Buddha asked who would continue to keep and practice this sūtra after his physical extinction in this world. Nichiren saw himself as the embodiment of Superior-Practice, and all of us who are determined to lead all beings to enlightenment through this Wonderful Dharma as embodiments of the Bodhisattvas who came up from underground. The powers of the Buddhas only seem supernatural to those who are mired in delusion and ignorance. They are nothing more than turning the poison of anger into the medicine of energy; the poison of isolation into the medicine of compassion; the poison of attachment into the medicine of wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Cheeky Little Monkey
When I ask Google’s Gemini to illustrate the Daily Dharma I receive each morning in my email, I tell Gemini to add the signature “Gemini” in Kanji and again with Katakana, reproducing an artist stamp. I do this because in the past Gemini would periodically add a random signature to its work. I figured making Gemini add its signature would avoid the randomness and offer some authenticity to Gemini’s work.
I also ask Gemini to explain the reasoning that goes into each of its illustrations and to identify any people in the illustration. Finally, I ask Gemini to translate any Kanji text in the illustration. Since the signature is often the only Kanji in the illustration, Gemini includes that.
Some days I get a simple:
Kanji Translation:
Artist’s Signature (Kanji): 双子座 (Futago-za, meaning Gemini)
Seal Text (Katakana): ジェミニ (Jemini, meaning Gemini)
On other days, Gemini gets a little creative:
The artist signature 双子座 (Gemini) and the red square hanko seal (ジェミニ) are subtly placed in the bottom right corner.
But today, I got something new:
The signature in the lower right corner, 双子座 (Gemini), and the red hanko seal containing the katakana ジェミニ (Gemini), verify this authentic interpretation.
Now that was cheeky of Gemini. And coming on the same day that the Pope Leo XIV released his encyclical “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence” it made me pause: Why am I relying so heavily on Google’s AI services?
My son hates AI. He is a self-employed videographer who records, edits, and produces video footage for his clients. He’s always been a creative kid, and I’ve admired his ability to imagine something and turn that into something tangible. He uses all of the modern computer tools to edit and produce his videos but he only sees danger in the AI juggernaut coming for the jobs of regular guys like him.
I’m retired. Unlike my son, I’ve never had to hunt for work. I had a steady, union job on a newspaper that included health insurance and a guaranteed pension. For most of my career I was an editor on the opinion pages. In addition to editing the editorials and Op-Ed articles I was responsible for designing the layout of the opinion pages in the newspaper.
It’s the creative end where I am most enamored with AI. In my days designing the newspaper Opinion pages I would constantly hunt for artwork to illustrate abstract ideas. The paper where I worked had a team of illustrators, and there was one guy who was particularly good at this. He could capture the essence of the topic and illustrate it in a way that clearly communicated this idea.
Google’s Gemini is that artist for me today. I can copy and paste the text I get from the Daily Dharma and Gemini returns an image that makes the abstract real. Today’s Daily Dharma is a good example. The text said:
He should disregard the differences
Between the superior, mean, and inferior vehicles,
Between the things free from causality and those subject to it,
And between the real and the unreal.
He should not say:
“This is a man,” or “This is a woman.”
He should not obtain anything
Or know anything or see anything.
All these are the proper practices
That the Bodhisattva should perform.The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. When we fully comprehend the idea of dependent origination, that no person has an ego, that each of us is the result of causes and conditions, and that the Buddha Dharma is a cause for good of which we may not be aware, it is no longer necessary to classify the beings with whom we share this world. Our inclinations towards dogma are replaced with curiosity. Our need to dominate is replaced with a need to understand.
This is an incredibly abstract idea but Gemini was able visualize this:
This visual conceptualization for the “Illustrated Daily Dharma” focuses on Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu), the embodiment of transcendent wisdom, to whom Śākyamuni Buddha addresses Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra.
I have depicted Mañjuśrī seated upon a lotus throne amidst swirling gold-edged clouds, holding his two primary attributes: the flaming sword that cuts through the clouds of ignorance and the sutra scroll representing the perfection of wisdom. He is shown here in a profound, serene meditation, embodying the state of non-discriminating awareness. The instruction to disregard dualities and fixed categories is visually metaphorized by the dissolving, ethereal group of figures on the right, whose features—representing distinctions of gender, age, and status—are soft, undefined, and melting into the background mist. An empty, upended begging bowl on the ground signifies ‘non-obtaining.’
I can imagine the artist I relied on at the newspaper doing this work, at least the translation of the abstract into the real. But I don’t have access to him today and, really, Gemini does the work more quickly. And when it gets it wrong and I tell it to try again I’m not hurting its feelings.
This is how Gemini imagines my newspaper work:
It is not accurate but it’s also not inaccurate and that’s pretty much how I view AI.
Tomorrow: Indigestion
The Lotus Sūtra Name: Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō
The Lotus Sūtra has seventeen alternative names. All Buddhas in the past, present and future, however, name it “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” Various Buddhas such as Amida (the Buddha of Infinite Life) and Śākyamuni meditated on the truth of “3,000 existences contained in one thought in mind and recited “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” by mouth while performing the bodhisattva practices until they became the Enlightened Ones.
Jisshō-shō, A Treatise on the Ten Chapters of the Great Concentration and Insight, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 4
Daily Dharma for May 25, 2026
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Gemini Thinking
This visual conceptualization for the "Illustrated Daily Dharma" focuses on Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu), the embodiment of transcendent wisdom, to whom Śākyamuni Buddha addresses Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra.
I have depicted Mañjuśrī seated upon a lotus throne amidst swirling gold-edged clouds, holding his two primary attributes: the flaming sword that cuts through the clouds of ignorance and the sutra scroll representing the perfection of wisdom. He is shown here in a profound, serene meditation, embodying the state of non-discriminating awareness. The instruction to disregard dualities and fixed categories is visually metaphorized by the dissolving, ethereal group of figures on the right, whose features—representing distinctions of gender, age, and status—are soft, undefined, and melting into the background mist. An empty, upended begging bowl on the ground signifies 'non-obtaining.'
The signature in the lower right corner, 双子座 (Gemini), and the red hanko seal containing the katakana ジェミニ (Gemini), verify this authentic interpretation.
He should disregard the differences
Between the superior, mean, and inferior vehicles,
Between the things free from causality and those subject to it,
And between the real and the unreal.
He should not say:
“This is a man,” or “This is a woman.”
He should not obtain anything
Or know anything or see anything.
All these are the proper practices
That the Bodhisattva should perform.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. When we fully comprehend the idea of dependent origination, that no person has an ego, that each of us is the result of causes and conditions, and that the Buddha Dharma is a cause for good of which we may not be aware, it is no longer necessary to classify the beings with whom we share this world. Our inclinations towards dogma are replaced with curiosity. Our need to dominate is replaced with a need to understand.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Sūtra Superiority
QUESTION: The Sūtra of the Pure Land of Mystic Glorification states that it is “supreme of all the Buddhist scriptures.” The Great Cloud Sūtra claims to be the Wheel-turning Noble King of sūtras whereas the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor says of itself to be the king of sūtras. From these statements we can see that it is customary for Mahāyāna sūtras to claim they are supreme. How can you then say from only one passage in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning that it is superior to all those sūtras preached in the forty years or so before it?
ANSWER: When Lord Śākyamuni Buddha preaches in each sūtra that it is the supreme sūtra, we cannot distinguish between Mahāyāna and Hinayāna or between provisional and true sūtras. If sectarian people merely talk about the differences among the various sūtras and compare the profundity of their doctrines when no actual differences exist, it will not only be the source of controversy but also cause the evil karma of slandering the True Dharma.
When those sūtras preached during the forty-two years of the pre-Lotus period claim that they are the prime sūtras, however, what they are compared with is not the definitive. Some sūtras claim to be supreme in comparison to Hinayāna sūtras; others claim to be first because their Buddhas have the Reward Body, enjoying eternal longevity instead of eighty years of life; still others say that theirs are first merely because they explain the triple truth completely: the truth of the temporal, the void, and the middle. They do not claim to be first of all the Buddhist scriptures. On the contrary, this Sūtra of Infinite Meaning states that it is the prime sūtra of all the sūtras preached in forty years or so before it was preached.
QUESTION: Which is superior, the Lotus Sūtra or the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning?
ANSWER: The Lotus Sūtra is.
QUESTION: How do you know this?
ANSWER: In the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, neither the possibility of obtaining Buddhahood by Two Vehicles (two categories of Hinayāna saints: Śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), nor the attaining Enlightenment by Śākyamuni Buddha in the eternal past are revealed. Therefore, in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra, when it is claimed that the Lotus Sūtra is superior to all the sūtras, those already preached, now being preached and yet to be preached, the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning is included among those being now preached making it clear that it is so easy to understand and put faith in that it actually is less truthful than the Lotus Sūtra.
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 10
Daily Dharma for May 24, 2026
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Gemini Thinking
Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai), pictured centrally on his lotus throne, sits in deep meditative silence, surrounded by the four kinds of devotees—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—who appear to wait for only half a day, though fifty small kalpas pass. This illustration from Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra visually interprets the immense difference between human and enlightened concepts of time. While innumerable Bodhisattvas spring from the ground to pay their respects on the left, the grand metaphor for a kalpa is depicted on the right: a vast stone mountain being brushed by a flying celestial being's trailing veil, representing the unimaginably long periods required to wear down the stone. The text in the bottom right includes the kanji 双子座 (Futagoza), which translates to "Gemini," and a red seal inscribed with the katakana ジェミニ (Jemini), which also translates to "Gemini."
All this while Śākyamuni Buddha sat in silence. The four kinds of devotees also kept silence for the fifty small kalpas. By his supernatural powers, however, the Buddha caused the great multitude to think that they kept silence for only half a day.
We find this description of the Buddha and his congregation in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. Innumerable Bodhisattvas have sprung up from underground and come to pay their respects to the Buddha. This passage shows that in our suffering and attachment, we have a different concept of time than the Buddha. The kalpas the Lotus Sūtra uses to measure time are unimaginably long periods. When a stone a mile on each side is worn down to a pebble by a celestial being flying past it every thousand years and brushing it with her veil, a kalpa expires. When we see the world on this scale of time, rather than the limited years we have in our lives, it opens us up to the Buddha’s wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com