With Nichiren’s boundless compassion, “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” will be heard forever even beyond the ten-thousand year period of Degeneration. It has the merit of curing the blindness of all people, blocking the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyō in Japan, T’ien-t’ai in China, Nāgārjuna in India or Kāśyapa who was the Buddha’s disciple. Practice for a hundred years in the Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting the daimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the daimoku in a two-thousand year period following the death of the Buddha is not worth as much as spreading the daimoku for even a short while in the Latter Age of Degeneration. This is not from my wisdom; it is solely due to the time in which I live.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Essay on Gratitude (Hōon-jō). In other writings, he explained that the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra is not in its power to change the world, but its power to lead all beings, without exception, to the same enlightenment the Buddha found. In this sūtra, the Buddha gives us a different idea of time, the world and our lives. All of these are truly boundless, and the Buddha is always here teaching us.

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I collected firewood and the fruits of trees and grasses,
And offered these things to him respectfully from time to time.
I never felt tired in body and mind
Because I was thinking of the Wonderful Dharma.

The Buddha teaches these verses in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. They are part of a story of one of his previous lives. He was a king who gave up his throne to search for someone to teach him. When he found a seer who knew the Wonderful Dharma, he became the servant of the seer and served him with enthusiasm. These verses remind us of the enthusiasm that comes from hearing the Buddha’s teachings.

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Star-King-Flower! Strew blue lotus flowers and a bowlful of powdered incense to the person who keeps this sūtra when you see him! After strewing these things [to him], you should think, ‘Before long he will collect grass [for his seat], sit at the place of enlightenment, and defeat the army of Māra. He will blow the conch-shell horn of the Dharma, beat the drum of the great Dharma, and save all living beings from the ocean of old age, disease and death.’

The Buddha gives this explanation to Star-King-Flower Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Three of the Lotus Sūtra. Māra is the deity who creates confusion and delusion in the world. His army consists of those who reinforce these delusions and reward those who share them. Such rewards do not benefit those who receive them. They only serve to produce fear and attachment which creates misery in the world. With our practice of this Lotus Sūtra, we learn to recognize delusion for what it is, and reject the superficial benefits that come with it.

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Some children of mine are pure in heart, gentle and wise.
They have practiced the profound and wonderful teachings
Under innumerable Buddhas
[In their previous existence].
I will expound this sūtra of the Great Vehicle to them,
And assure them of their future Buddhahood, saying:
“You will attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
In your future lives.”

The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. In the difficulties we face in this world of conflict and attachment, we can lose sight of our purpose to benefit all beings and try to avoid whatever is uncomfortable. When we hear the Buddha assure us of our inherent wisdom, and that our capacity to benefit others will continue to grow despite any obstacles we find, we learn to persevere through misfortunes, and increase our determination to lead all beings to enlightenment.

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Listen! World-Voice-Perceiver practiced
According to the conditions of the places [of salvation].
His vow to save [people] is as deep as the sea.
You cannot fathom it even for kalpas.

The Buddha gives this description of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva (Kannon, Kanzeon, Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara) to Endless-Intent Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Five of the Lotus Sūtra. As the embodiment of Compassion, World-Voice perceiver demonstrates the boundlessness of our ability to benefit others. We can often feel overwhelmed by the problems in the world, and believe that we are not capable of doing everything that is necessary to lead beings out of their delusions. This chapter reminds us that we are not working alone, and that by depending on wisdom rather than power, we learn to see the wonders that surround us.

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They also will be able to see the living beings of those worlds, to know the karmas which those living beings are now doing and the region to which each of those living beings is destined to go by his karmas.

The Buddha gives this explanation to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. In our world of conflict and ignorance, we sometimes envy people who use force to get what they want. In this deluded state of mind, we believe that cruelty, violence and greed can make us happy. When we use the Buddha’s wisdom to see things for what we are, we realize the power that comes from patience, generosity, compassion and selflessness. We avoid the misery of self-importance, and find the peace that comes from being tied into this world rather than setting ourselves apart from it.

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He said to them, ‘Know this! Now I am old and decrepit. I shall die soon. I am leaving this good medicine here. Take it! Do not be afraid that you will not be cured!’

The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sūtra. It is part of the Parable of the Wise Physician in which a father finds his children have taken poison and gives them an antidote. The poison has caused some of the children to lose their right minds and not trust that the medicine will cure them. By faking his death, the father used an expedient to get the children to realize that there was no other medicine that would cure them, and summon the courage to take it. When we accept the Wonderful Dharma and put it into our lives, we are cured of our delusions and find the Buddha’s wisdom.

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Please remember that the service to your lord itself is practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Interpreting the scriptural statement in the Lotus Sutra, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, therefore, states in his Great Concentration and Insight: “All the activities and daily work of the people in the secular world do not contradict the truth preached by the Buddha.” Please contemplate the spirit of this scriptural statement again and again.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to a Follower (Dannotsu Bō Gohenji). In our frustration with this world of conflict, we may think it best to remove ourselves from those who are increasing the delusions of others. In this letter, Nichiren reminds us that the relationships we have in our lives are important. Service to others does not necessarily mean giving them what they ask for. It means wishing that they lose their delusions and nourishing the Buddha nature within them.

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The great multitude, having seen the two Tathāgatas sitting cross-legged on the lion-like seat in the stūpa of the seven treasures, thought, “The seat of the Buddhas is too high. Tathāgata! Raise us up by your supernatural powers so that we may be able to be with you in the sky!”

This description comes from Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra. Many-Treasures Buddha has arrived where the Buddha was teaching so that he could endorse this Wonderful Dharma. He invited the Buddha to join him in an enormous stūpa tower hanging in the sky. When the Buddha raises up those gathered to hear him teach, he puts them all on the same level as himself and all the other Buddhas. He shows them that they too have the capacity to hear his teachings and put them into practice. Nichiren depicted this “ceremony in the air” in the Omandala Gohonzon and advised us to use this as the focus of our practice. When we put ourselves into this great multitude we listen for the Buddha teaching and realize the benefit we create in this world.

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If you wish to obtain quickly the knowledge
Of the equality and differences of all things,
Keep this sūtra, and also make offerings
To the keeper of this sūtra!

The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. When we see things for what they are, how they are similar and how they are different, we see them with the eyes of the Buddha. This Wonderful Dharma in the Lotus Sūtra is the Buddha showing us how to open our eyes to the joys and wonders that exist in this world of conflict and suffering. When we find something valuable, we offer it our time, our thoughts and our devotion. By making offerings to this Wonderful Dharma, and to all those who keep it, our eyes open even more to the truth of our lives.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com