If anyone speaks ill of you, or threatens you
With swords, sticks, tile-pieces or stones
While you are expounding Myōhō Renge Kyō,
Think of me, and be patient!
Category Archives: Promises
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 8, 2025
“Ajita, look! The merits of the person who causes even a single man to go and hear the Myōhō Renge Kyō are so many. It is needless to speak of the merits of the person who hears Myōhō Renge Kyō with all his heart, reads Myōhō Renge Kyō, recites Myōhō Renge Kyō, expounds Myōhō Renge Kyō to the great multitude, and acts according to Myōhō Renge Kyō‘s teachings.
A Single Stalk of Lotus Flower
Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p442-443The Buddhist monk Zhiye had the secular surname of Yang. He left home as a small boy and took up residence at Changle Monastery in Yangzhou. He kept the monastic precepts assiduously and learned to recite the Lotus Sūtra with such fluency that the lines flowed from his mouth like a stream of water from a vase. At the end of the Daye era of the Sui [617], Yuwen Huaji committed the heinous act of murdering Emperor Yang in the palace bathhouse. Thereupon the world fell apart and the populace was thrown into famine. Residents scattered and [the region] became a maelstrom [of chaos], with the price of rice soaring to ten thousand cash amidst the tumult. Zhiye at the time was living in a small room of a detached cloister, where he was engaged in uninterrupted recitation of the Lotus Sūtra. Consequently, he died of starvation in his chamber. There was no one to bury him, and the room itself collapsed around him, trapping his remains beneath it.
When peace was finally restored during the Yining era [617-618], a single stalk of lotus flower suddenly appeared on the spot. Its radiantly colored petals opened forth to display the most extraordinary freshness and beauty. Monks and laity alike were struck with awe, and no one could think of an explanation for it. At that time, an old monk who was a former resident of the monastery realized what was going on and said, “There was once a monk who devoted himself exclusively to recitation of the Lotus Sūtra on this site. He must have perished here as a result of the turmoil of the times. Since there would have been no one to bury him, his bones are probably still here, and [this lotus has appeared] as a result of the monk’s spiritual potency.”
They cleared away the debris around the stalk of the flower until they un covered his skeleton. It turned out that the blue lotus flower had grown up through the skull and was rooted beneath the tongue. The tongue itself was as though still alive, showing no sign of decomposition whatsoever. The monastic assembly took the tongue and blossom to the head of the hall. They rang the bell, gathered the monks, and performed cyclic recitation of the Lotus. When the tongue heard the scripture it appeared to be able to move about. Once local monks and laymen heard of it, sightseers gathered around forming a solid human wall. There wasn’t one who didn’t sigh in admiration. All made the supreme resolution [to seek buddhahood].
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 7, 2025
The great multitude present here
Shall remove their doubts.
The Buddhas do not speak differently.
There is only one vehicle, Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 6, 2025
Anyone who wishes to expound Myōhō Renge Kyō
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.He should not despise others,
Or have fruitless disputes about the teachings.
He should not perplex others by saying to them:
“You will not be able to attain Buddhahood.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 5, 2025
The good men or women who keep, read, recite, expound or copy Myōhō Renge Kyō, will be able to obtain eight hundred merits of the body. Their bodies will become as pure as lapis lazuli. All living beings will wish to see them.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 4, 2025
“Universal-Sage! Anyone who keeps, reads and recites Myōhō Renge Kyō [in the later five hundred years] after [my extinction], will not be attached to clothing, bedding, food or drink, or any other thing for living. What he wishes will not remain unfulfilled. He will be able to obtain the rewards of his merits in his present life. Those who abuse him, saying, ‘You are perverted. You are doing this for nothing,’ will be reborn blind in their successive lives in retribution for their sin. Those who make offerings to him and praise him, will be able to obtain rewards in their present life. Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 3, 2025
[The rākṣasas] said to the Buddha simultaneously:
“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps Myōhō Renge Kyō so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 2, 2025
I beat a drum and sought the Dharma in all directions, saying with a loud voice, ‘Who will expound the Great Vehicle to me? If there is anyone, I will make offerings to him, and run errands for him for the rest of my life.’
“Thereupon a seer came to [me, who was] the king. He said, ‘I have a sūtra of the Great Vehicle called Myōhō Renge Kyō. If you are not disobedient to me, I will expound Myōhō Renge Kyō to you.’
“Having heard this, I danced with joy, and immediately became his servant.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for July 1, 2025
Just as King Sakra is the king of the thirty-three gods, Myōhō Renge Kyō is the king of all the sūtras.