Although we have not cultivated virtue in the past, if we had not been born in the Latter Age of Degeneration, the age when the Wonderful Dharma is transmitted, it would have been difficult to attain the Way of liberation even though eternities passed by.
Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter
Devadatta, who committed the Three Rebellious Sins, as well as Rāhula, who observed the 250 precepts, similarly attained Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra. King Wonderful Adornment, who was attached to Brahmanism, as well as Śāriputra, a man who held the right view, were guaranteed future Buddhahood. This is what is meant by “If there are those who hear the Dharma, not even one will fail to attain Buddhahood.”
Sennichi-ama Gohenji, A Reply to Sennichi-ama
If a person wants to practice the spiritual contemplation according to the Lotus Sūtra, he should decide the content of practice after establishing the clear answer to the issues on the provisional and true teachings, and on the essential and theoretical sections. Since the Lotus Sūtra is the sole scripture worthy of being called ‘Wonderful,’ the way of the spiritual contemplation should be established according to this sūtra.
Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation
Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p444-445There was a certain Kim Kuayi of the [Korean] Kingdom of Silla who bore a single son. When he was a young boy the son left home [as a Buddhist monk]. He had always shown a particular delight in reading the Lotus Sūtra. However, in the second fascicle of his family’s copy of the scripture, there was one character that had been accidentally scorched beyond recognition.
At age eighteen the young monk died unexpectedly and was reborn in the household of another Kim Kuayi who lived elsewhere. Once again he left home [as a Buddhist monk] and developed a particular affection for reading the Lotus. But whenever he reached the second fascicle there was one particular word that he would always forget how to read, the instant he learned it. One night he dreamed that a person said to him: “Young master, in a former life you were born into the household of a certain Kim Kuayi in such and such a region. You also became a mendicant, and in that former life read and recited the Lotus Sūtra. However, one character was inadvertently scorched. As a result, in this life you are prone to forget it as soon as you learn it. That old copy of the sūtra still exists. Go there; find it; and see for yourself.”
Guided by his dream, the young master set off in search of the household in question. Upon finally locating it he asked tentatively if he might pass the night there. His father and mother from his previous life had a vague feeling that they knew him. [After he told them the story,] they brought out the old sūtra. Sure enough, they found that one character was scorched in the second fascicle. The young monk and his parents were joined deeply in their feelings of joy and sadness. The two households consequently became quite intimate, brought together almost as one. Their story reached the county and prefectural governments. From there, the local officials reported it to the throne. Thus it came to be transmitted and retold throughout the land. Even down to today it has not died out. All of this happened during the Zhenguan era [627-650].
At first only I, Nichiren, started chanting the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, but then two, three, then one hundred people, gradually began chanting it. This will continue in the future. Isn’t this what emerging from the earth means? When an innumerable number of people emerge from the earth and this Wonderful Dharma spreads extensively, there will be no mistake, just as a shooting arrow never misses the earth, Japan will be filled with people chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. You should therefore establish your fame as the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and devote your life to it.
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality
The five characters of the Wonderful Dharma, the gist of the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, can deal with calamities and disasters if only one puts faith in it, but this is what the Buddha especially entrusted to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.
Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Chibyō-shō, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Toki
His never-lying tongue touching the highest heaven in the realm of form, Śākyamuni Buddha again declared to the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the Four Heavenly Kings, and dragon gods: “In the fifth 500-year period, when all the teachings of the Buddha are about to disappear, Bodhisattva Superior Practice will be entrusted with the five ideograms of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō as the cure for those slanderers and non-believers of Buddhism who suffer from white leprosy.” How could these words of the Buddha be false? Even if the earth turned upside down, high mountains crumbled, summer did not follow spring, the sun set in the east, and the moon fell on the earth, there would be no mistake about this.
Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time
Venerable Ānanda and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī listened to every word of the wonderful teaching of the Lotus Sūtra for eight years and at the assembly for compilation of all the sūtras after the Buddha’s extinction, nine hundred ninety-nine arhats wrote them down. They began with “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” and chanted “Thus have I heard.” Doesn’t this prove that the five Chinese characters of “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” are the essence of the one volume Lotus Sūtra, twenty-eight chapters in eight fascicles?
Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude
Grand Master Miao-lê also says in the sixth fascicle of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Various sūtras call themselves ‘great,’ not ‘wonderful’ because they can lead those with heart, but not without heart, to Buddhahood. The Lotus Sūtra, however, can lead those without heart to Buddhahood, so it is called the ‘wonderful’ sūtra.”
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
Following yesterday’s discussion of Homosexuality and Buddhism, I wanted to offer Chinese Master Hsuan Hua’s Six Great Principles, which is described in the bilingual (Chinese-English) Basic Code of Conduct for the Laity.
Basic Code of Conduct for the Laity, p148-149Maxims for Buddhist Disciples
We are here studying the Buddhadharma together but we should not be attached to it. Rather, we should approach it with an objective mindset and analyze it with our inherent wisdom. We should not be deluded by beliefs, believe in the deluded, or be forced to believe. We should not take thieves as our children, taking wrong for right, taking black for white and mistaking evil for good. What is most important is to aspire to be Buddhist disciples who truly seek the truth. We should not act like the blind leading the blind, causing beings to become confused and lost, causing them to blindly follow us, causing them to do things which are mixtures of good and evil, things that are mistakes in the Law of Cause and Effect. We who are studying the Buddhadharma must pay attention to this.
Why do we need to practice the Buddhadharma? Is it because we are greedy for something? If so, then we should not be practicing it. When practicing the Buddhadharma, we must get rid of our greed. Otherwise, it will be easy for our hatred and delusion to arise. As soon as we are greedy, hatred and delusion will follow along; in that case, we cannot even talk about precepts, samadhi, and wisdom. When we investigate the Buddhadharma, we cannot be greedy for quick results, self-mastery, or spiritual powers. All these are considered as going against the way, and we end up forgetting the true purpose of studying Buddhadharma. Basically, we were trying to transcend the sea of sufferings and escape the burning house of the Three Realms – in short, to leave suffering and attain bliss. However, if we use the mind of greed to seek this, the more we study, the more we will suffer.
Not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not self-benefiting, and not lying – these Six Great Principles are maxims for Buddhists. If we are able to put these into practice at all times and in all places, then we are Buddhist disciples who truly understand the Buddhadharma. I have been telling you this same thing repeatedly. The principle sounds very simple; however, it is not so easy to accomplish. If you can truly act in accord with these Six Great Principles, you would all have become Buddhas long ago. If you can really put these Six Great Principles into practice and not become a Buddha, I shall stay in the hells forever and not come out. I am that earnest to guarantee you that anyone who cultivates in accord with these Six Great Principles will surely become a Buddha in the future.