QUESTION: Regarding the true practicer of Buddhism, how does one preserve one’s faith?

ANSWER: According to the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha first preached various provisional teachings, which were later merged into the Lotus Sūtra, the only way to Buddhahood. All the people in Japan misinterpret this, saying that since various provisional teachings were merged in the Lotus Sūtra, they all are equal in value or in depth of meaning. Thus, it is said, reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha (the Buddha of Infinite Life), chanting mystic mantra words, practicing Zen meditation, or keeping and reciting the names of any of the sūtras, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas are equivalent to practicing the Lotus Sūtra, and therefore those who practice any of these are true practicers of Buddhism.

I say this is a great mistake. After all, true practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha. Upon obtaining Buddhahood, our Lord Śākyamuni Buddha wanted to preach the Lotus Sūtra, the sole way leading to Buddhahood. However, since the capacity of the people to understand and have faith in it was not ripe, He at first preached various provisional teachings for forty years or so as an expedient. Only then did He preach the Lotus Sūtra, revealing His true intention. It is clearly stated in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, introductory to the Lotus Sūtra, that various provisional sūtras are expedient while the Lotus is true. A passage in it reads: “Through the expedient, the truth has not been revealed for over forty years.”

Having fully understood why the Buddha first preached the provisional teaching before revealing the true teaching, 80,000 bodhisattvas such as Great Adornment declared in the sūtra that no matter how long one practices the expedient teachings of the pre-Lotus sūtras, Buddhahood will never be attained. Then, in the Lotus Sūtra proper, it is preached in the second chapter: “The Buddha revealed the truth only after a long period of preaching provisional teachings.” He also declares in the same chapter: “There is only one teaching, neither second nor third teaching except those preached as expedient I now simply discard the expedient teachings.” And we are admonished in the third chapter “not to believe in even a word or phrase except in the Lotus Sūtra.”

From these words it should be clear that the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra alone is the great dharma enabling all people to attain Buddhahood, while all other sūtras should be given no value whatsoever.

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 84