[The rākṣasas] sang in gāthās before the Buddha:
Anyone who does not keep our spells
But troubles the expounder of Myōhō Renge Kyō
Shall have his head split into seven pieces
Just as the branches of the arjaka-tree [are split].Anyone who attacks this teacher of Myōhō Renge Kyō
Will receive the same retribution
As to be received by the person who kills his parents,
Or who makes [sesame] oil without taking out worms [from the sesame],
Or who deceives others by using wrong measures and scales,
Or by Devadatta who split the Saṃgha.
Category Archives: Promises
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 10, 2025
The rich man knew
That his son was base and mean.
Therefore, he made him nobler
With expedients,
And then gave him
All his treasures.In the same manner,
You knew that we wished
To hear the Lesser Vehicle.
Therefore, you did a rare thing.
You prepared us with expedients,
And then taught us Myōhō Renge Kyō.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 9, 2025
Those who seek the enlightenment of the Buddha
Are as various as previously stated.
A kalpa will not be long enough
To describe the variety of them.
They will be able to understand Myōhō Renge Kyō by faith.
Expound to them
Myōhō Renge Kyō!
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 8, 2025
“Ajita! Anyone who, after hearing Myōhō Renge Kyō, keeps or copies Myōhō Renge Kyō or causes others to copy Myōhō Renge Kyō after my extinction, should be considered to have already built many hundreds of thousands of billions of monasteries, that is to say, innumerable monasteries, each of which was installed with thirty-two beautiful halls made of red candana, eight times as tall as the tala-tree, and spacious enough to accommodate one hundred thousand bhikṣus. He also should be considered to have already furnished [those monasteries] with gardens, forests, pools for bathing, promenades, and caves for the practice of dhyāna, and filled [those monasteries] with clothing, food, drink, bedding, medicine, and things for amusements, and offered [those monasteries] to me and to the Saṃgha of bhikṣus in my presence.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 7, 2025
Never-Despising [Bodhisattva] at that time
Was myself.
The four kinds of devotees,
Who were attached to views at that time,
Were able to meet innumerable Buddhas
After they heard
The words of Never-Despising [Bodhisattva]:
“You will become Buddhas.”
They are now present here
In this congregation.They are the five hundred Bodhisattvas
And the four kinds of devotees
Including men and women of pure faith,
Who are now hearing the Dharma from me.In my previous existence
I encouraged them
To hear Myōhō Renge Kyō,
That is, the most excellent Dharma.
In all my previous existences
I taught them the Way to Nirvana.
But really this is the sūtra
I taught them to keep.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 6, 2025
Just as the Sun God dispels all darkness, Myōhō Renge Kyō drives away all the darkness of evils.
The Recompense of Nondecay
Note: This is another in the monthly excerpts from “Tales of the Lotus Sutra.”
Buddhism in Practice, p440-441During the era of [Emperor] Wu-cheng of the [Northern] Qi (562-565), a person digging on the slope of Mount Kandong near Bingzhou came upon a patch of soil—yellowish white in color—that stood out in marked contrast from the ground around it. Probing further, he turned up an object that had the appearance of a pair of human lips, with a tongue, fresh red in color, sticking out between them. He reported the matter in a memorial [to the throne]. [The emperor] made inquiries among various learned scholars but could find no one who knew [the meaning of it]. When he heard of this, the mendicant Fashang (495-580), controller-in-chief [of the sangha], memorialized the throne saying, “This is the recompense of nondecay of the sense faculties that is achieved by devotees who [ritually] keep the Lotus Sūtra. It is proof that [this individual] recited [the scripture] more than a thousand times over.”
Subsequently, the emperor summoned the secretariat drafter, Gao Chen. “You are one inclined to faith,” he ordered, “go personally to look into this matter. Surely [this object] will have some sort of numinous power. Place it in a duly purified place, convene a maigre feast, and make offerings to it.”
Chen received the order and went to the site, where he assembled various Buddhist monks renowned for their devotion to the Lotus. Holding incense censers in hand and maintaining strict ceremonial purity, they circumambulated [the tongue] and offered prayers saying: “O Bodhisattva! Countless years have passed since you entered into nirvana. As one who has reverently received [the Lotus and kept it] flawlessly during this current age of the counterfeit dharma, we beseech you to manifest for us your [marvelous] stimulus and response (ganying).”
The instant they raised their voices the tongue and lips began to beat about on the altar top. Although no sound came forth, it looked as though it were chanting. Of those who witnessed it, there was not one whose hair didn’t stand on end. Chen reported the phenomenon. The [throne] ordered that it be stored away in a stone casket and moved to a stūpa chamber.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 5, 2025
Anyone who keeps
Myōhō Renge Kyō,
Know this, has compassion towards all living beings
Because he is my messenger.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 4, 2025
Many people hate Myōhō Renge Kyō with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.
Myōhō Renge Kyō Promise for May 3, 2025
Anyone who keeps Myōhō Renge Kyō
Will be able to locate by smell
The bhikṣus who are sitting or walking about
In seeking the Dharma strenuously,
And the bhikṣus who are reading or reciting Myōhō Renge Kyō
Or devoting themselves
To sitting in dhyāna
Under the trees of forests.He will be able to know by smell
The Bodhisattvas who are resolute in mind,
And who are sitting in dhyāna or reading [this] sūtra
Or reciting it or expounding it to others.He will be able to locate by smell
The World-Honored One who is expounding the Dharma
Out of his compassion
Towards all living beings who respect him.He will be able to know by smell
Those who rejoice at hearing Myōhō Renge Kyō
From the Buddha,
And act according to the Dharma.