Category: Lotus Seeds

Just as a fertile field has the capacity to produce a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables if the right seeds are planted, we have the capacity to manifest the wisdom and compassion of a Buddha if the seed of Buddhahood is planted in our lives. Our Buddha-nature is like the fertile field which awaits the seed; Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is that seed. All the awakened qualities and merits spring from that seed, which we receive through our faith in the Lotus Sutra. That is why chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, “I devote myself to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma” is the primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism.

[Within the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha], the Buddha shows us the possibility that we can awaken to the truth about life. Shakyamuni Buddha provided us with a model of human wisdom and compassion. When we take refuge in him, we take refuge in the possibility of our own awakening. In different schools of Buddhism, the Buddha is interpreted as anything from an abstraction to an almost god-like celestial being, but in Nichiren Buddhism, we do not regard Shakyamuni Buddha as an other-worldly reality, abstract ideal, or long dead teacher. He is the awakening to the living reality of our own lives, which we realize when we take faith in Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

The Buddha is not some god-like entity. The inner life of Shakyamuni Buddha is within ourselves. The actual qualities and accomplishments of Shakyamnni Buddha flow naturally from his realization of the ultimate truth. They serve as an inspiration and a guide to what we are capable of doing when we take faith in the Buddha Dharma.

The One Vehicle is the teaching that there are no permanent barriers to attaining Buddhahood. Even the worst evil-doers have the ability to awaken to the truth about themselves, repent of their wrong-doing, and begin to follow the way to Buddhahood if they take faith in the One Vehicle. Those who are looked down upon by others for any reason also have the ability to awaken to the incomparable dignity of Buddhahood if they take faith in the One Vehicle. There is no discrimination in the One Vehicle. People may be different based on race, class, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, intelligence, personal habits, interests, spiritual maturity, and many other factors, but in the end all people have the same capacity to attain Buddhahood.

The awakened life of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha is the awakened life of all beings throughout time and space. It is also actively present in our lives, a presence that enables us to live as buddhas when we open ourselves to the Buddha’s merits and virtues through our faith in the Lotus Sutra.

Once the Eternal Buddha reveals his unborn and deathless true nature, Buddhahood is no longer just a theory, or the achievement of a special person who lived in the distant past, or a remote future possibility. Buddhahood is the essential truth of the present moment that the other teachings point toward. This is why the One Vehicle teaching of the historical Shakyamuni Buddha is considered to be the reflection of the Eternal Buddha in this world of impermanence, while the Eternal Buddha is the ever-present actuality that is the source of all such reflections. It is important that we receive this teaching with faith and rejoicing, and spread it to others.

Though the Essential Section of the Lotus Sutra is of primary importance for determining the faith and practice of Nichiren Buddhism, this does not imply that the Theoretical Section should be discarded. The Theoretical Section derives its own meaning from the Essential Section, but it can also be used to help us better understand the Essential Section. The point of this is that though the theory of the One Vehicle depends upon the essential reality of the Eternal Buddha, the theory and the reality are consistent with one another. If we have faith in the Eternal Buddha we will understand the meaning of the One Vehicle, and if we truly understand the meaning of the One Vehicle, we will be in accord with the true intention of the Eternal Buddha. For this reason, Nichiren Shonin taught that the whole sutra was worthy of respect, both the theoretical and essential sections.