T’ien’tai, therefore, makes clear that all things and phenomena in the ten realms are manifestations of the ultimate reality. Since ultimate reality is another name of the Lotus Sutra, what he states is that all things and phenomena are equal to the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). This was another way of Nichiren expressing his understanding that the Buddha’s highest wisdom is not something that takes us out of this world, but is found within the everyday experiences of our lives. Even the realms of anger, greed, fear, hostility, calm and pleasure are part of the Buddha’s pure land. The practice of the Wonderful Dharma is not to escape from these difficult places, but to use them to benefit all beings. To be caught up in them is to be deluded about their evanescent nature. To see them for what they are is to know the joy of enlightenment.

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

Anyone who wishes to expound this sūtra
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.

The Buddha sings these verses to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. The way we live our lives can either reinforce our delusions or help us gain more clarity about how things really are. In these verses, the Buddha advises against these actions not because he will think less of us when we do them, but because when we find ourselves behaving these ways it is because we are not seeing things for what they are.

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

I always expound the Dharma.
I do nothing else.
I am not tired of expounding the Dharma
While I go or come or sit or stand.
I expound the Dharma to all living beings
Just as the rain waters all the earth.

The Buddha makes this declaration in Chapter Five of the Lotus Sūtra. It is normal for us humans to become worn out, frustrated or annoyed as we try to benefit others. Often, other people do not want our help, or when they take our help, they do not progress as fast as we want them to. Sometimes there are only a few people we want to help, and may actually wish harm on those we blame for our problems. The Buddha gives us a different example. He gets his energy from creating benefit. It does not drain him. He sees that all beings want to improve themselves, no matter how perversely they may go about it. He knows that all beings are worthy of receiving the Buddha Dharma.

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

May the merits we have accumulated by this offering
Be distributed among all living beings,
And may we and all other living beings
Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!

These verses are from Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sutra, where the Brahma Kings from the ten quarters of the universe come to celebrate the enlightenment of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha. We too can cultivate this wish that all the good results of our life’s work be for the benefit of all beings.

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

Have faith in the great Mandala Gohonzon, the most superlative in the world. Endeavor! Endeavor to strengthen your faith, so that you may be blessed with the protective powers of all Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this as part of his letter to monk Sairen-bō in his Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality (Shohō-Jissō Shō). One way of reading this passage is that as we develop our faith in the Omandala Gohonzon, the Buddhas will provide more protection for us. Another way to read it is that as our faith develops, so does the power we have to protect others, free them from suffering and help them to awaken their Buddha nature. Either way, Nichiren shows us the practical results of our faith.

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

Needless to say, boundless will be the merits
Of the person who hears this sūtra with all his heart,
And expounds its meanings,
And acts according to its teachings.

The Buddha sings these verses to Maitreya (whom he calls Ajita – Invincible) in Chapter Eighteen of the Lotus Sutra. The merits we gain through our study and practice of the Lotus Sūtra do not make us better than any of the other beings with whom we share this world. Merits accumulate when we strip away our delusions and see the world for what it is. We sometimes focus on what we can do to change the world, thinking that merely changing how we look at the world will have little effect. It is only when we see things for what they are that we can act effectively. Otherwise we are merely reinforcing the delusions of ourselves and others.

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

The Buddha said to Universal-Sage Bodhisattva: “The good men or women will be able to obtain this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma after my extinction if they do the following four things: (1) secure the protection of the Buddhas, (2) plant the roots of virtue, (3) reach the stage of steadiness [in proceeding to enlightenment], and (4) resolve to save all living beings. The good men or women will be able to obtain this sūtra after my extinction if they do these four things.”

For us who aspire to this difficult practice of the Wonderful Dharma, the Buddha gives this guide in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sūtra. For us to have even heard of this sūtra in this life we must have already done these four things. In order to maintain this practice, we need to use the Buddha’s protection for the benefit of all beings, not just for our benefit alone. We need to nourish the virtuous seeds we have already planted, remain steady and confident on the path to enlightenment, and sustain our determination to maintain our respect for everyone.

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

The Indian lizard kṛkalāsa eats in the wind; it won’t grow if there is no wind. A fish lives in the water, and a bird makes a nest in the tree. Likewise, Buddhas live in the Lotus Sutra. As the moon’s reflection resides in the water, Buddhas reside in the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, you must remember that where there is no Lotus Sutra, there are no Buddhas.

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji). We may take for granted our opportunity to find and practice the Lotus Sūtra in this lifetime. In Nichiren’s writings, and in the Lotus Sūtra itself, we are reminded of the great benefit we have created and the great hardships we have already endured to allow us to find this Wonderful Dharma and have the opportunity to practice it. When we try to rely on the transitory aspects of our lives, we are surely disappointed. It is only when we keep and practice this Sūtra that we find the Buddha leading us to our true birthright, the enlightenment he knows we and all beings can reach.

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

The Buddha is great, but compared to the Lotus Sutra He is like the light of a firefly in front of the sun and moon. When compared in terms of height, the Buddha is like the earth while the Lotus Sutra reaches the heavens. If making offerings to the Buddha has such great merit, how much more so does one gain by making offerings to the Lotus Sutra?

Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). When we encounter someone we consider great because of their fame, their wisdom, or anything else that leads them to be dear to us, our natural inclination is to show our gratitude to them by offering them gifts or services. When we learn about the Buddha, his life and what he taught us, even from a distance of 2500 years, we cannot help but be grateful for everything he has done to benefit us and all beings. But, as Nichiren instructs, when we realize the treasure of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, and how it is the embodiment of the Ever-Present Buddha who continues to teach all beings through all worlds and all time, our gratitude to it is even greater. We make offerings to the Sūtra through our practice, our determination not to allow suffering to dictate what we do, but to cultivate the wisdom and compassion within us, and repay the Ever-Present Buddha with the enlightenment of all beings.

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