This collection of essays is the first English translation of Bukkyo No Oshie, Shakuson To Nichiren Shōnin. That book has been used mainly as the source material and study guide for an advanced examination taken by priests in the Nichiren Shū branch of Buddhism. Today, we have an increasing number of Nichiren Shū priests outside of Japan, many of whom do not speak Japanese fluently yet still want to participate in an English version of the exam.
The collection covers the life of Siddhārtha Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni Buddha; the teachings of the Buddha and their development over time; the Lotus Sūtra, the teaching of the Buddha which is the foundation of the practice of Nichiren Shū; the teachings of Tiāntái, a Chinese monk who lived in the 6th century CE and wrote extensively on the structure and ideas of the Lotus Sūtra; the life of Nichiren Shōnin who founded Nichiren Buddhism; the teachings of Nichiren Shōnin, based on the Lotus Sūtra and the teachings of the Buddha and Tiāntái; and finally a history of the various branches of Nichiren Buddhism following the death of Nichiren Shōnin in 1282 CE.
All those who worked on this first edition hope that it will find an audience beyond those ordained in Nichiren Shū, and provide a detailed background of Nichiren Buddhism, both for those who practice and for those with a more academic interest. …
With palms together,
Shinkyo Will Warner
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
April 2021
So who is our true lord? The answer for this question is also included in the Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings. In the first part, Nichiren Shōnin classified several figures of the Buddha appearing in various sūtras. The classification for Śākyamuni Buddha shows him to possess the three virtues of ruler, teacher, and parent.
In the ninth year of the Bunei era (1272) at the age of 51, Nichiren Shōnin wrote A Treatise on the Differences of the Lotus Sect from Eight Other Sects, Hasshū Imoku-shō. He interpreted the following passage in Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sūtra, “A Parable,” as expressing the three virtues: “Now, this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings therein are all my children. Now this place is beset by many pains and trials. I am the only one who can rescue and protect others.” The virtue of ruler corresponds to the passage “Now, this threefold world is all my domain,” the virtue of parent to “the living beings therein are all my children”, and the virtue of teacher to “Now this place is beset by many pains and trials. I am the only one who can rescue and protect others.”
We know of many feudal lords in the long history of India, China and Japan. We also know of many teachers of Indian and Chinese philosophy such as the teachers of Brahmanism, in Japanese gedōshi, or teachers of Confucianism, in Japanese getenshi. Parents mean the normal family relationships of up to six or eight degrees of kinship. However, nobody other than Śākyamuni Buddha possessed all three virtues. Thus, Śākyamuni Buddha should be regarded as superior among all teachers in the three countries.
Nichiren Shōnin described the necessity of faith in the Lotus Sūtra as “to replace understanding with faith.” We are unenlightened people. Even if we dream of gaining the wisdom of the buddhas, accomplishing that is impossible with our mediocre intelligence. What Nichiren Shōnin describes is completely different. By discarding our limited intelligence and devoting ourselves solely to faith in the Lotus Sūtra, the wisdom of the buddhas naturally emerges. We unenlightened people cannot comprehend the wisdom of the buddhas. But this wisdom will come to us naturally if we have faith in the Lotus Sūtra. It is just like the way a baby drinking its mother’s milk cannot understand the elements contained in the milk but uses the milk to nourish growth.
The six degrees of identity consist of six degrees of practice, ranging from shallow to deep. However, in terms of the substance of reality that is manifested, there is no difference from one stage to another. Therefore, we call it “Identity.”
The stages of the six degrees of identity are:
1. Identity in principle
All beings have buddha-nature. The presence of buddha-nature always remains. Every single form, every single fragrance, is nothing but the middle way.
2. Verbal identity
Understanding the above teachings by listening to good friends and reading the sutras.
3. Identity in contemplative practice
Cultivating practices according to the teachings.
4. Identity in outer appearances
Manifesting harmony in outer appearances.
5. Identity of partial realization
Partially destroying fundamental Ignorance and partially seeing reality.
6. Ultimate identity
The complete fulfillment of wisdom, the elimination of all ignorance, and manifesting an original Dharma-body
How should one devote oneself solely to faith in the Lotus Sūtra? The answer to this question is in the Lotus Sūtra, namely the five practices of bodhisattvas… . Then again, according to Nichiren Shōnin, the practice most suitable for unenlightened people like us is chanting Odaimoku, reciting “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” “Namu” is a Chinese imitation of the sound of the Sanskrit word “namo,” which means “to believe.” “Myōhō Renge Kyō” is the title of the Lotus Sūtra as translated by Kumārajīva. Therefore, “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” is an expression of faith in the Lotus Sūtra. For Nichiren Shōnin, the act of reciting Odaimoku is the act of becoming a buddha in our present form.
Since faith is internal, it only becomes visible when expressed through some action or practice. In the case of the Lotus Sūtra, the practices that render faith in the sūtra visible are reflected in the five practices of bodhisattvas described in Chapter 10, “The Teacher of the Dharma.” These are receiving and keeping, reading aloud, reciting, expounding, and copying the Lotus Sūtra. Naturally these are not mere expressions of faith. If one believes from one’s heart the message of the Lotus Sūtra that anyone can achieve buddhahood, then one will always carry the Lotus Sūtra and memorize its words deeply in one’s heart. This is what it means “to receive and keep the sūtra” or sometimes “to memorize and keep the sūtra.”
The practices do not end there. One can help others to hear the teachings by reading aloud from the Lotus Sūtra, or by reciting what one has memorized from the sūtra. If someone who hears the words of the sūtra says he or she wants to know more about the contents, one can then expound it. Then the best way to spread the sūtra over a wide area is to produce many copies. Therefore, these five methods are practices for the benefit of others. They reflect a base of faith in the Lotus Sūtra and are the practices of a bodhisattva. Since they are the practices of a bodhisattva, they are also the actions which lead one to achieve buddhahood. That means that when one continues these practices through countless cycles, the goal of becoming a buddha awaits.
More importantly, the five practices of bodhisattvas lead others to buddhahood. By first teaching others the central theme of the Lotus Sūtra, that all can become buddhas, then implanting in them the realization that they themselves can also achieve buddhahood. Bodhisattvas embody the five practices, simultaneously working towards achieving both their own buddhahood and that of others. By extension, the five practices of bodhisattvas continuously widen the circle of these practices. In that point, we find the meaning of the practices.
In the Lotus Sūtra, the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are taught that they should walk the path of the bodhisattva, by continuing the practices of bodhisattvas. If they continued to do so into the far distant future, in some future world they could realize their dreams to become a buddha.
What are the bodhisattvas’ practices? Their foundation demands a firm faith in the Lotus Sūtra. This means that bodhisattvas must trust what the Lotus Sūtra asserts most strongly. They must believe that every person possesses the innate possibility to achieve buddhahood.
This concept is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. Śākyamuni Buddha says this to Śāriputra, the wisest of his disciples.
“Even you, Śāriputra,
Have understood this sūtra
Only by faith.
Needless to say,
The other Śrāvakas cannot do otherwise.
They will be able to follow this sūtra
Only because they believe my words,
Not because they have wisdom.”
Even Śāriputra cannot understand this concept, that all people can achieve buddhahood, only by thinking. It therefore must be much more difficult for anyone else. This fact that there is not one person who cannot become a buddha is an unmistakable truth that Śākyamuni has understood through the wisdom of the buddhas. Therefore, the message is that you can fully receive this truth only by faith.
Of the many śrāvakas, Śāriputra is said to be the wisest. The Buddha tells Śāriputra that the wisdom of the Buddhas is something beyond his understanding. That means that for all the śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas, the wisdom of the Buddhas is also beyond their understanding. The wisdom of the Buddhas attains the reality of all things, which cannot be put into words. This is because at the beginning of Chapter Two the Buddha says of all things, their appearances as such, their natures as such, their entities as such, etc. He only says, “as such,” because the reality of all things can be attained only by the buddhas.
Although the Buddha says this, buddhas do not monopolize the wisdom of the Buddhas. As Śākyamuni Buddha says at the beginning of Chapter Two, to convey to others the wisdom of the buddhas, which cannot be expressed in words, he has taught many things by mixing words, metaphors, similes, and tales of origin and fate. On the other hand, he emphasizes strongly that the various teachings which comprise the so-called “gate” to the wisdom of the buddhas are extremely difficult to understand, and therefore, the gate is difficult to enter.
There is a belief that the Lotus Sūtra was taught over eight years at the end of the life of Śākyamuni Buddha. From the standpoint of the believer, this position is fine. However, from an academic standpoint, we cannot assert such a thing. A Buddhist historian would assert that there is no evidence that the historical Śākyamuni Buddha taught the Lotus Sūtra. In other words, the Lotus Sūtra is not a direct record of the historical Śākyamuni Buddha’s teaching. In that case, when, where and by whom was the Lotus Sūtra produced?
[W]e can present the standard answer that the Lotus Sūtra was one of the Early Mahāyāna sūtras, created in India around 100-200 CE. Was it created in a relatively short period of time, or was it gradually compiled and revised over a longer period of time? Who or what group compiled the Lotus Sūtra into one work? Regarding such issues, many academic theories have been presented, and opinions are certainly not in accord. …
Nevertheless we would like to pose a rather mean question. What if the Lotus Sūtra was not directly taught by the historical Śākyamuni Buddha, but was created in the form of Śākyamuni Buddha’s direct teachings? In other words, the Lotus Sūtra is written in the form of lectures by Buddha, but from an academic standpoint, we cannot easily accept the contents as the words of the Buddha. In this case, if we are asked, “Should we only consider sūtras that we can affirm were taught by the historical Śākyamuni Buddha as legitimate Buddhist sūtras?” What shall we answer? It is a difficult question to answer in a nutshell. But it is a question related to the root of faith.
The Nirvāṇa Sūtra was preached to extend awakening to those who had been left out during the exposition of the Lotus Sūtra and failed to benefit from it. These included the 5,000 people who left the Buddha in the Chapter 2, those who were left on the ground when the ceremony was lifted up in the air in Chapter 11, “Beholding the Stūpa of Treasures,” and those who were skeptical about both this newly revealed truth, the eternity of Buddha’s life, and disregarding the provisional Buddhist teachings and practices.
The above is why the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is also called the teaching of supporting the Buddhist precepts and expounding the eternity of buddhahood, in Japanese furitsu-danjō-kyō, or teaching of gleaning, in Japanese kunjū-kyō. In contrast the Lotus Sūtra is called the teaching of great gathering, in Japanese daishu-kyō.
Also another characteristic of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is to “reiterate and remove,” in Japanese tsuisetsu-tsuimin. This means reiterating all sūtras for those who had missed their opportunities, in Japanese tsuisetsu, and removing teachings other than the Lotus Sūtra that do not lead to buddhahood, in Japanese tsuimin. However, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is not regarded as a pure One Vehicle teaching like the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, in spite of being classified in the same period, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is ranked lower than the Lotus Sūtra.
According to Tiāntái Zhiyi, the characteristic teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is “opening and merging,” in Japanese kai-e. This means unifying all the past provisional teachings into the one true teaching. Tiāntái classified 28 chapters of the Lotus Sūtra into two parts: the first 14 chapters as Trace Gate, in Japanese shakumon, and the last 14 chapters as Original Gate, in Japanese honmon. The Trace Gate takes the form of preaching by a “provisional Buddha,” the historical Śākyamuni Buddha depicted as having first awakened during his lifetime in India. The Original Gate takes the form of preaching by the Buddha who has discarded this provisional status and revealed his true identity as the Buddha who attained awakening in the remotest past. in Japanese kuon-jitsujō, as revealed in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sūtra.
Accordingly, in the period of the Lotus Sūtra, the past provisional Buddha and the provisional teachings were all unified to the pure Eternal Buddha and his true teaching.
