QUESTION: What are the merits of chanting only the daimoku?
ANSWER: Śākyamuni Buddha appeared in this world to expound the Lotus Sūtra, but He kept the sūtra’s name in secrecy during the first forty years or so of preaching. From the age of about 30 to 70 or so, the Buddha solely expounded the expedient teachings to prepare the way for preaching the Lotus Sūtra. At the age of 72, the Buddha for the first time called for the title of the Lotus Sūtra. Thus, it is incomparably superior to the titles of other sūtras. Moreover, the two Chinese characters of myō and hō (Wonderful Dharma) in the title of the Lotus Sūtra are equipped with the “3,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine and the “attainment of Buddhahood by Śākyamuni Buddha in the eternal past” doctrine, the essence of the Lotus Sūtra revealed in the “Expedients” chapter and the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter respectively.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
QUESTION: You cannot burn anything by simply uttering the word, “fire,” repeatedly. Indeed, you have to use your hand in order to burn something. You cannot quench your thirst by just saying “water.” You need to use your mouth for drinking water. The same is true with the daimoku. I doubt it is possible to escape from the evil realms through the mere chanting of the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Isn’t it necessary to understand what the daimoku means and what it entails?
ANSWER: When the sinew of a lion is used as a string for a koto, the sound is so powerful that all the strings made from other threads will snap. And when hearing of the sourness of a pickled plum, saliva fills the mouth without eating it. Such mysterious things happen even in worldly affairs. How then can it be denied that something wonderful happens with the Lotus Sūtra? Even a parrot is said to have been reborn in the realm of heavenly beings just by repeating the name of the Four Noble Truths of the Hinayāna teaching. Moreover, a man who dedicated himself to the Three Treasures – the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha – was able to escape the attack of a monster fish in the ocean. Imagine the wonders that would occur with the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of all the 80,000 teachings, and the eye of all the Buddhas. Do you still hold the belief that you cannot escape the four kinds of evil realms by just chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra?
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
The Lotus Sūtra tells of a tortoise who lives at the bottom of the ocean and surfaces once in 3,000 years, finds a floating piece of sandalwood with a hole in it, and rests in the hole. This tortoise, moreover, is one-eyed and squints so it sees the west as the east, and the east as the west. It is likened to men and women who are born in the Latter Age of the Decadent Dharma; and the hole in the sandalwood is likened to the Lotus Sūtra and the “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.”
Myōhō Bikuni Go-henji, A Reply to Nun Myōhō, Nyonin Gosho
QUESTION: Is there any difference between those who chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” (I put my faith in the Lotus Sūtra) and those who chant “Namu Daihōkōbutsu Kegongyō” (I put my faith in the Flower Garland Sūtra) without knowing the spirit of those sūtras? Is there any difference in merit between them?
ANSWER: There is a difference. A small river can take in water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks, but not from large rivers. A large river can take in water from dew and smaller rivers but not from an ocean. The Āgama sūtras are like a small river which can receive water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks. The Hōdō sūtras, the Amitābha Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and the Flower Garland Sūtra are like a large river, which can take in water from smaller rivers. The Lotus Sūtra is like an ocean, which can receive all kinds of water such as dew, drops of water, wells, creeks, small rivers, large rivers, and rain.
A drop of ocean water is a delicacy that includes the five elements of flavor. Moreover, whereas a drop of river water is like an ordinary pill, a drop of ocean water is a panacea. In this regard “Namu Amida-butsu” is a drop of river water while “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” is a drop of ocean water. The Amitābha Sūtra is a drop of minor river water while a character of the Lotus Sūtra is a drop of ocean water.
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
QUESTION: In the Latter Age of Degeneration, what should a beginning practitioner refrain from practicing?
ANSWER: Beginners should refrain from giving alms, observing the precepts, and the rest of the first five bodhisattva practices and for the present should instead take up the practice of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō which is the spirit of the single moment of understanding by faith and the stage of rejoicing. This is the true intention of the Lotus Sūtra!
Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice
It has been 2,200 years or so since the passing of Śākyamuni Buddha. We are now in the Latter Age of Degeneration, when wise persons are gradually getting scarce just as a mountain slopes from the peak and fields are overgrown with weeds. Many people chant the nembutsu or observe precepts but few seek refuge in the Lotus Sūtra. Stars are many in number, but they cannot illuminate the depths of the ocean. No matter how many plants there are, they cannot be used as pillar for a palace. Likewise, no matter how many times one chants the nembutsu, it will never become the way to Buddhahood. No matter how many precepts one observes, they will never become the seeds of rebirth in the Pure Land. The seven characters of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō alone are the seeds of Buddhahood.
Kurōtarō-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Kurōtarō
It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.
[W]hen we believe in the certainty of attaining Buddhahood, is there anything to fear? It is pointless to become royalty and enjoy the pleasures of this life. It is useless to be born in heaven and enjoy its pleasures. Instead, follow the example of the dragon girl who attained Buddhahood in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, and align yourself with Mahā-Prajāpatī.
How delightful it will be! How joyful it will be! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Toki-ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My Lady, the Nun Toki
