Faith cannot exist without practice, and the practices of Pūrṇa in Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples, should be studied as we seek to make the Lotus Sutra come alive in our lives.
Ryusho Jeffus in his Lecture on the Lotus Sutra offers this observation:
“The four kinds of unhindered eloquence are dharma, meaning, words, and joy. When one has these four they are able to teach the dharma without difficulty. You could say they will be confident in their ability to teach the Buddha’s teachings to others. Knowing the meaning and words of the Dharma goes beyond an intellectual understanding or accumulation of information and knowledge. It is about the ability to express the teachings contained in the Dharma in such a way that the listener will be able to understand, and relate to their own lives. … If we are able to relate our own joy as well as cause the listener joy in hearing and understanding, then we have been able to accomplish unhindered eloquence. It isn’t about fancy words. It isn’t about sharing information. It is about a deep person-to-person, life-to-life communication of the profound nature of the Dharma, which actually transcends words.”
We must avoid preaching to others with a superior manner or threaten them or attempt to force a change of heart. Instead, we must follow what Nikkyō Niwano calls the principle of half a step.
Buddhism for Today, p125-126“In doing missionary work or leading others, we can learn something very important from [Pūrṇa’s] attitude, which he maintained both inwardly and outwardly. If one were a person of great virtue and influence, such as Śākyamuni Buddha, even though he never assumed an air of self-importance everybody would throw himself on his knees and concentrate his mind upon hearing that person’s teaching. However, in the case of one who is not endowed with so much virtue and influence, people do not always listen earnestly to his preaching of the Law. If he gives himself the airs of a great man, some will come to have ill feeling toward him, while others will feel that he is unapproachable. Pūrṇa’s attitude is a good example for us.
“It goes without saying that we must not look down on people or think, ‘They are unenlightened,’ but it is dangerous for us even to fancy ourselves to have gone a step farther than others. We must preserve the attitude of keeping pace with other people. But we cannot lead others if we completely keep pace with them, that is, if we behave exactly the same as those who know nothing of the Buddha-way. We should go not a step but only half a step farther than others. If we do this, those around us will still feel that we are one of them and will keep pace with us. While accompanying us, they will be influenced by us and led in the right way without realizing it.”
This is the way practiced by the Buddha’s children.
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