QUESTIONS: Commonly speaking, “good friend” refers to a person.
Do you have any evidence for saying the dharma is a “good friend?”
ANSWER: Usually “good friends” are persons. However, true “good friends” do not exist in the Latter Age; so, there is much evidence of regarding dharmas as “good friends.” For instance it is stated in the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 1, “Following either ‘good friends’ or sūtras, we will be able to listen to Buddhahood of the One Vehicle truth (Lotus Sūtra) as preached above.” This passage regards sūtras as “good friends.”
It is stated in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 28 on the “Encouragement of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva, if there is anyone who can practice and uphold the Lotus Sūtra in this world, he had better think that it is all due to the divine help of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva.” It means that it is with the help of the “good friend,” Universal Sage Bodhisattva, that the ignorant in the Latter Age can have faith in the Lotus Sūtra.
The sūtra in the same chapter claims also, “Anyone who keeps faith in, recites, memorizes correctly, practices and copies this Lotus Sūtra should know that he is like those who see Śākyamuni Buddha in person and listen to Him preach this sūtra. You should know that he is making offerings to Śākyamuni Buddha.” According to this passage, the Lotus Sūtra is identical to Śākyamuni Buddha, who would enter Nirvana and never appear in front of those who do not believe in the Lotus Sūtra but would always appear in front of those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra as if he were alive in this world even after death.
It is also stated in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 11 on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” that when the Buddha of Many Treasures was practicing the bodhisattva way, he made a great vow, declaring, “If the Lotus Sūtra is preached anywhere in the worlds all over the universe after I have attained Buddhahood and passed away, my mausoleum Stupa will spring up on the spot so that I may listen to the sūtra and testify to it.” It means that when we, the ignorant in the Latter Age, chant the title of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha of Many Treasures will inevitably appear in order to carry out his original vow.
The sūtra also states in the same chapter, “The Buddha called together all the Buddhas preaching the dharma in the worlds throughout the universe in a single spot.” Thus, Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, all the Buddhas manifested in the worlds throughout the universe, the Universal Sage Bodhisattva and others are all our “good friends.” So long as we believe in the Lotus Sūtra, we are guided by these great teachers personally. In this sense, our merits accumulated from our previous lives are more than those of Bodhisattvas Good Treasures, Ever Weeping and King Spotted Feet so that we are able to meet better teachers than they were. This is because they met teachers of expedient sūtras while we met teachers of true sūtras; they met bodhisattvas of expedient sūtras and we met Buddhas and bodhisattvas of true sūtras.
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 58-59