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The Buddha’s Pure and Immaculate Voice

Yesterday I wrote about Senchu Murano’s penchant for inserting his twist on tales from the Lotus Sutra (“Questions and Fantasy Answers“). I also posted that article on the Nichiren Shu Group on Facebook and asked if anyone could offer a defense for the use of “fantasy” stories in place of actual Lotus Sutra verses in teaching Nichiren Buddhism.

Judging from the comments I received, my original post failed to make clear my point. Let me try again.

In Nichiren’s Treatise on Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, Wooden Statues or Portraits (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 91), he writes:

The written words of the Lotus Sutra express in a visible and tangible form the Brahma’s voice of the Buddha, which is invisible and intangible, so that we can see and read them with our eyes. The Buddha’s pure and immaculate voice, which had disappeared, is resuscitated in the form of written characters for the benefit of humankind.

Shinkyo Warner, in his Daily Dharma post on this quote, says:

Living in this world, 2500 years after the Buddha Śākyamuni walked the Earth, it is difficult to hear his voice leading us to enlightenment and encouraging us to let go of our attachments. In the Lotus S̄ūtra we have an instrument for creating the Buddha’s voice in our own time. This is his highest teaching. It brings all beings to liberation, whether they are clever or dull, stupid or wise, focused or distracted. It reminds us of our true nature as Bodhisattvas who chose this life out of our determination to benefit all beings. It shows us how to transform the poison of suffering into the medicine of compassion, and the poison of ignorance into the medicine of wisdom.

When Senchu Murano inserts his words and ideas into his “fantasy” about the Lotus Sutra, what do we hear?

In Murano’s 1997 booklet, The Gohonzon, he tells this tale about the Buddha Many Treasures (Prabhutaratna, Taho):

The fantastic narration of the Lotus Sutra begins with the story of Prabhutaratna (Many-Treasures, Taho) Buddha, as follows:

There lived a Buddha called Taho many kalpas ago in a world called Treasure-Pure, which was located far to the east of the Saha World. Taho Buddha knew the Wonderful Dharma, but did not expound it by himself because he thought that the Wonderful Dharma should be expounded by a Buddha who would emanate from himself as many Replica-Buddhas as there are worlds in the universe, dispatch them to those worlds, and then expound the Wonderful Dharma in a sutra called the Lotus Sutra. Taho Buddha decided to wait for the advent of such a Buddha, and to approve the truthfulness of the Lotus Sutra expounded by that Buddha.

In Murano’s 1998 booklet, Questions and Answers on Nichiren Buddhism, he suggests this is how Chapter 11 starts:

Sakyamuni Buddha did what he had never done before at the beginning of Chapter XI of the Lotus Sutra. He produced innumerable Replica Buddhas of his own from himself, told them to expound what he was going to expound from that moment, and dispatched them to the worlds of the ten quarters: the four quarters, the four intermediate quarters, zenith, and nadir. After he saw them having reached their assigned worlds, Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the teaching of the One Vehicle, that is the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Obedient to their Original Buddha, his Replica-Buddhas expounded the same teaching throughout the universe and as a result the universal validity of the Wonderful Dharma was revealed.

The stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground and hung in the sky before the Buddha at the opening of Chapter 11. There is no discussion of emanations of Śākyamuni until the congregation asks Śākyamuni to open the stupa. As for whether other Buddhas can create emanations, that is clearly the case in The Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, which is the concluding portion of the Threefold Lotus Sutra. (See this post.)

If the tale of the Stupa of Treasures, as Murano says, is where “the fantastic narration of the Lotus Sutra begins,” then what of the earlier 10 chapters?

In Chapter 11, Śākyamuni explains to the congregation what has happened:

“The perfect body of a Tathāgata is in this stūpa of treasures. A long time ago there was a world called Treasure-Purity at the distance of many thousands of billions of asaṃkhyas of worlds to the east [of this world]. In that world lived a Buddha called Many-Treasures. When he was yet practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas, he made a great vow: ‘If anyone expounds a sūtra called the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in any of the worlds of the ten quarters after I become a Buddha and pass away, I will cause my stūpa-mausoleum to spring up before him so that I may be able to prove the truthfulness of the sūtra and say ‘excellent’ in praise of him because I wish to hear that sūtra [directly from him].”

“He attained enlightenment[, and became a Buddha]. When he was about to pass away, he said to the bhikṣus in the presence of the great multitude of gods and men, ‘If you wish to make offerings to my perfect body after my extinction, erect a great stūpa!’

“If anyone expounds the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in any of the worlds of the ten quarters, that Buddha, by his supernatural powers and by the power of his vow, will cause the stūpa of treasures enshrining his perfect body to spring up before the expounder of the sūtra. Then he will praise [the expounder of the sūtra], saying, ‘Excellent, excellent!’

“Great-Eloquence! Now Many-Treasures Tathāgata caused his stūpa to spring up from underground in order to hear the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma [directly from me]. Now he praised me, saying, ‘Excellent, excellent!’ ”

Senchu Murano’s words are pure fabrication, a whole cloth that muffles the Buddha’s pure and immaculate voice.

How does one defend such an act, especially when the book was written in English for an audience that knew little if any of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra?

Previous: Questions and Fantasy Answers

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Perils in the Latter Age of Degeneration

The first thousand years following the Buddha’s extinction are called the Age of the True Dharma. During this period, many people kept the precepts and some attained Buddhahood. The next thousand years are called the Age of the Semblance Dharma. During this period, many people broke the precepts, and only a few attained Buddhahood. After the Age of the Semblance Dharma comes the Latter Age of Degeneration. This period is filled with people who neither keep nor break the precepts, but the country is filled with people who have no precepts.

Moreover, we live in a defiled and chaotic world. In the pure world, people abandon evil things and take on the right things, just as a bent tree is straightened with a straight rope. The five defilements (of the age, evil passions, people, views and life) began to increase in the Ages of the True and Semblance Dharmas, becoming furious and chaotic in the Latter Age of Degeneration. It is like when a strong wind creates big waves and they hit, not only the shore, but also each other. Defilement of views did not cause much trouble in the Ages of the True and Semblance Dharmas, but in the Latter Age of Degeneration, a few evil teachings spread, causing the destruction of the True Dharma; as a result there seems to be more people who fall into the evil realms due to their wrong beliefs than people who fall into evil paths due to worldly crimes.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 140.

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Something Shining Like the Moon Flew Like a Ball

Just at the time when I was thinking this must be the place where I would be beheaded, the soldiers began to get excited, gathering around me. Shijō Kingo began to cry saying, “The last moment has come!” Looking at this, I uttered, “How cowardly you all are! I am glad you are laughing at such a wonderful occasion as this when I am now going to present my malodorous head to the Lotus Sūtra. Why do you break the promise you had made?” Just at this moment, something shining like the moon flew like a ball from Enoshima Island from southeast to northwest. It was before daybreak, the night of the twelfth and was still too dark to see the faces of people. However, the night was brightened by the shining object for us to see our faces as clearly as on a moonlit night. The executioner who was ready to kill Nichiren fell down on the ground blinded. The soldiers became frightened. Some ran away as far as one hundred meters, others dismounted from horses and squatted down on the ground, and still others remained stiff on horseback.

I, Nichiren, shouted, “Why do you stay away from a felon like me? Come back here quickly.” None of them, however, came near me in a hurry. “Daybreak is coming very soon; what can you do if it gets light? If you have to kill me, do it right away. It would be unsightly when it gets lighted.” Thus I shouted to them, but there was no response.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 28-29

LS32, WONS

Day 13

Day 13 covers all of Chapter 8, The Assurance of Future Buddhahood of the Five Hundred Disciples.

Day 13 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the prediction for Pūrṇa Bhikṣu, we hear from twelve hundred Arhats.

Thereupon the twelve hundred Arhats, who had already obtained freedom of mind, thought:

“We have never been so joyful before. How glad we shall be if we are assured of our future Buddhahood by the World-Honored One just as the other great disciples were!”

Seeing what they had in their minds, the Buddha said to Maha-Kāśyapa:

“Now I will assure these twelve hundred Arhats, who are present before me, of their future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi one after another. My great disciple Kauṇḍinya Bhikṣu, who is among them, will make offerings to six billion and two hundred thousand million Buddhas, and then become a Buddha called Universal-Brightness, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The others of the five hundred Arhats, including Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Gaya­Kāśyapa, Nadī-Kāśyapa, Kālodāyin, Udāyin, Aniruddha, Revata, Kapphina, Bakkula, Cunda, and Svāgata, also will attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, and become Buddhas also called Universal-Brightness.”

Nichiren writes of Aniruddha in his Letter to Hōren:

A Hinayāna sage known as Pratyekabuddha is incomparably superior to a śrāvaka. He is so great that he can stand in for the Buddha to appear in the world to save its people. It is said that there was once a hunter who in a time of famine gave a bowl of rice mixed with barnyard millet to a pratyekabuddha called Rita, and as a result he was rewarded with rebirth as a man of wealth in the human or heavenly world for as long as 91 kalpa (aeons). Aniruddha, one of the ten great disciples of the Buddha who is reputed to have mastered the divine-eye of heavenly beings to see through everything, is said to have been [the incarnation of) the hunter. Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this, “Although the bowl of barnyard millet rice has little value, the hunter donated all that he owned to a person of great merit. Therefore, the hunter was rewarded with such good fortune.” It means that although a bowl of millet rice was not much in value, it was presented to a noble person of Pratyekabuddha status, and this is the reason why he was able to be reborn with such good luck.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 46

LS32, WONS

Day 12

Day 12 concludes Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City, and completes the Third Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 12 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered what became of the 16 princes, we consider those who were taught by the śramaṇeras.

“Bhikṣus! When we were śramaṇeras, we each taught many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings, that is, as many living beings as there are sands in the River Ganges. Those living beings who followed me, heard the Dharma from me in order to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Some of them are still in Śrāvakahood. I now teach them the Way to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They will be able to enter the Way to Buddhahood by my teaching, but not immediately because the wisdom of the Tathāgata is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. Those living beings as many as there are sands in the River Ganges, whom I taught [ when I was a śramaṇera], included you bhikṣus and those who will be reborn as my disciples in Śrāvakahood after my extinction. My disciples who do not hear this sūtra or know the practices of Bodhisattvas, after my extinction will make a conception of extinction by the merits they will have accumulated by themselves, and enter into Nirvāṇa as they conceive it. At that time I shall be a Buddha of another name in another world. Those who will enter into Nirvāṇa as they conceive it will be able [to be reborn] in the world I shall live in, seek the wisdom of the Buddha, and hear this sūtra. They will be able to attain [true] extinction only by the Vehicle of the Buddha in that world because there is no other vehicle except when the Tathāgatas expound the Dharma with expedients.

Nichiren discusses this unique relationship between śramaṇera and his disciples in his letter Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra:

When we compare Śākyamuni Buddha in the Lotus Sūtra to Buddhas in other sūtras in regard to the period of practicing the Bodhisattva way and saving people, other Buddhas’ length of practice is said to have been three asamkhya kalpa or five kalpa, while Śākyamuni Buddha has been a great Bodhisattva planting the seed of enlightenment in all living beings in the Sahā World since 3,000 dust-particle kalpa ago according to the “Parable of a Magic City” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, none of the living beings in six lower realms in this world have any relationship with any Bodhisattvas in other worlds.

Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 208

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Hagiography and History

By definition, a hagiography is an idealizing or idolizing biography. It’s not history. Threads of truth and threads of imagination are woven into a tapestry and pinned to the wall to encourage the faithful. But if the faithful recognize the hagiography for what it is, how are we to react?

Nichiren Shōnin offers a history Saichō, the Grand Master Dengyō, in his Ankoku-ron Gokanyurai, The Reason for Submitting the “Risshō Ankoku-ron” (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 147-148):

The line of Japanese sovereigns, beginning with the seven generations of heavenly deities and five generations of terrestrial deities, is supposed to be followed by one hundred generations of human emperors (hyakuō). During the reign of the thirtieth human emperor, Emperor Kimmei, Buddhism was introduced for the first time from the country of Paekche on the Korean Peninsula to Japan. It has been over 260 years since then to the reign of Emperor Kammu, a reign of more than fifty sovereigns. During this period all the scriptures of Buddhism, as well as the six schools of Buddhism in Nara (Kusha, Jōjitsu, Ritsu, Sanron, Hossō and Kegon Schools) were introduced to Japan. Tendai and Shingon schools, however, were not.

“During the reign of Emperor Kammu, a poor monk, Saichō, a disciple of Venerable Gyōhyō of the Yamashinadera (Kōfukuji) Temple in Nara, lived. He was later called Grand Master Dengyō. Saichō studied thoroughly the doctrines of the six schools of Nara, which had been transmitted to Japan earlier, and Zen Buddhism without finding them satisfactory. Later he read the T’ien-t’ai school’s writings transmitted to Japan by Venerable Chien-chên (Ganjin) of T’ang China forty years or so earlier during the reign of Emperor Shōmu, and was awakened to the profound meaning of Buddhism.

Thereupon Saichō founded the Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei in the fourth year of the Enryaku Period (785) in order to pray for peace and tranquility of the country. Taking refuge in the temple, Emperor Kammu named it the “Temple of the Imperial Guardian Star.” He gave up faith in the six schools of Nara, putting sole faith in the “perfect” Tendai School.

In the thirteenth year of the same Enryaku Period (794), the imperial capital was moved from Nagaoka to the newly founded city of Heian (Kyoto). On the nineteenth of the first month in the twenty-first year of the same period (802), the Emperor ordered fourteen scholars of the six schools of Nara, such as Gonsō and Chōyō, from seven great temples in the southern capital (Nara), to meet with Saichō in the Takao-dera Temple for debate. The brilliant scholars of the six schools could not answer even one question, keeping their mouths shut tightly.

The doctrine of five teachings of the Flower Garland (Kegon) Sect, the three-period teaching of the Dharma Characteristics (Hossō) Sect and the doctrines of two storehouses and three periods of the Three Discourses (Sanron) Sect were all refuted by Saichō. Not only were their doctrines destroyed but it also became clear that they were all slanderers of the True Dharma. Ten days later, on the twenty-ninth of the same month, an imperial edict was issued censuring the fourteen scholars of the six schools of Nara, who respectfully submitted a letter of apology to the emperor.

Again in Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 202-203), Nichiren Shōnin writes:

[D]uring the reign of Emperor Kammu, the fiftieth emperor, 800 years after the beginning of the Age of the Semblance Dharma, a monk called Saichō appeared, who was later known as Grand Master Dengyo. At first, he studied the six schools of Buddhism (Sanron, Hossō, Kegon, Kusha, Jōjitsu, and Ritsu) as well as Zen Buddhism from such masters as Bishop Gyōhyō. Meanwhile, he himself established the Kokushōji Temple (later renamed the Enryakuji Temple) on Mt. Hiei, where he checked basic sūtras and commentaries of the six schools against the interpretations by scholars of those schools. He found many discrepancies between interpretations of scholars and their basic sūtras and commentaries. Moreover, they produced so many false opinions that he felt that all those who believed in them would fall into the three evil realms (hell, realm of hungry souls, and that of beasts).

Besides, Saichō found that those scholars of the six schools each boastfully claimed mastery of the true teaching of the Lotus Sūtra without actually mastering it. He tormented himself thinking: “If I point this out, there will be disputes; if I keep silent, I will be going against the Buddha’s warning.” Fearful of the Buddha’s warning, he finally appealed to Emperor Kammu, who was astonished and ordered the scholars of the six schools to meet Saichō in debate. At the beginning their banner of self-pride waved as high as a mountain and their evil thoughts were more vicious than poisonous snakes. However, they finally had to surrender to Saichō in front of the Emperor, and the six schools and seven temples all became his disciples.

“A Buddhist Kaleidoscope: Essays on the Lotus Sutra,” published in 2002, includes an article by Nikkyō Niwano (1906-1999), the founder of Risshō Kōsei-kai. Niwano’s essay, “The Threefold Lotus Sutra: An Introduction,” was originally published in Japanese as part of Shinshaku Hokke Sambu-kyō (New Commentary on the Threefold Lotus Sutra) and translated into English for this book.

In discussing the history of Buddhism in Japan in his essay, Niwano writes:

Saichō established a temple called Ichijōshikan-in (later known as Komponchū-dō, the center of the Enryaku-ji temple complex) on Mount Hiei and made it his center for spreading the True Dharma, that is, the Lotus Sutra. His impressive learning and virtue earned him the trust of Emperor Kammu (781-806), who had moved the capital from Nara to Kyoto (then known as Heian-kyō) in 794, thus ushering in the long Heian period (794-1185). The emperor’s favor led to a dramatic increase in Saichō’s following, and the new Tendai sect flourished.

But the eminent priests of the Nara schools of Buddhism did not look kindly on Saichō’s popularity. How uncomfortable it must have made them to see this young man of only thirty or so gaining strength and support—and that in a new place rather than the traditional center of Japanese Buddhism, the old capital of Nara. Their opposition gradually became more overt, finally taking the form of political action. People who felt that this antagonism should not be allowed to fester any longer obtained the court’s permission for a debate between Saichō and representatives of the Nara schools on their positions and beliefs.

The debate was held at the temple Takaosan-ji (present-day Jingo-ji), in Kyoto, with Saichō facing more than ten leading Buddhist scholars of Nara. The entire party of Nara priests was won over by Saichō’s exposition of the wonderful teachings of the Lotus Sutra and conceded defeat. The excellent character of the Nara priests is evinced by the fact that after returning to the old capital they had representatives of the seven Nara schools send a letter to the emperor declaring that they had been made to realize the great worth of the Lotus Sutra. Their respect for the truth and their ability to humble themselves and acknowledge their error are admirable indeed.

With all of that history in mind, I was more than surprised to find nothing about a debate with the leaders of the Nara temples, let alone their defeat and surrender to Saichō’s Tendai school, in Paul Groner’s Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School.

Groner’s book, originally published in 1984 and reissued in 2000 with a new preface, is a footnote-filled scholarly look at Saichō’s effort to carve out a home for his new school in the state machinery that governed Buddhism in that period.

While there is no dramatic showdown at Takaosan-ji where the Nara establishment is soundly defeated, Groner details Saichō’s efforts to gain recognition for his school.

After Saichō submitted his works [to the emperor], the accuracy of his quotations from other texts was verified by the assistant director of the Bureau of Books and Drawings, Tamazukuri. Finding them correct, he forwarded them to the Sōgō (Offce of Monastic Affairs). The Eizan Daishiden reports that the Sōgō was completely overwhelmed by Saichō’s arguments and unable to reply. In fact, Gomyō had already decided to fight Saichō’s proposals through the normal channels, challenging them in the Sōgō and Genbaryō, rather than engaging in a public debate.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p156-157


While Saichō’s arguments can be said to have won this “debate,” it wasn’t until after his death that the fruits of that victory could be harvested.

On the fourth day of the sixth month of 822, Saichō died. His most influential lay patrons, Minister of the Right (udaijin) Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, Vice Councilor (chūnagon) Yoshimine no Yasuyo, Provisional Vice Councilor (gonchūnagon) Fujiwara no Mimori, and Vice Controller of the Left (sachūben) Ōtomo no Kunimichi, submitted a petition to the Emperor requesting approval of the Shijōshiki (Regulations in Four Articles). Seven days after he died, Saichō’s request was granted. …

Saichō’s death had presented Fuyutsugu and Saichō’s other supporters with a chance to press for approval of the Shijōshiki. In addition, it had presented the court with an opportunity to grant Saichō’s request as a token of its grief at his passing. Thus the court was able to honor Saichō without allowing the Tendai School an undue advantage over the Nara schools. Approval of Saichō’s requests during his lifetime would have been the equivalent of court recognition of Tendai superiority.

Saichō: The Establishment of the Japanese Tendai School, p162-163


Just to check the history, I purchased a copy of John Stevens’ The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, which includes a lengthy history of Saichō’s efforts to establish the Tendai school in Japan. His version matched Groner’s. Success in creating a new school, but no debate, no public defeat on the Nara schools.

Personally I find the history of Saichō’s bureaucratic battle very inspiring. The victory may not have been as clean as the hagiography, but it can still encourage the faithful.

LS32, WONS

Day 8

Day 8 concludes Chapter 4, Understanding by Faith, and closes the second volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Day 8 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered the son’s inheritance, we consider how the Buddha is like the rich man training his son.

“World-Honored One! The great rich man is you. We are like [his son, that is,] your sons because you always tell us that we are your sons. World-Honored One! We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings.’ We were so distracted and so ignorant that we clung to the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitless discussions about them. We made strenuous efforts according to the teachings [of the Lesser Vehicle] and attained Nirvāṇa as a day’s pay. Having attained it, we had great joy, and felt satisfied [with the attainment of it]. We said, ‘We have obtained much because we made efforts according to the teachings of the Buddha.’ But when you saw that we clung to mean desires and wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, you left us alone. You did not tell us that we had the treasure-store, that is, the insight of the Tathāgata. You expounded the wisdom of the Buddha[, that is, the Great Vehicle] with expedients, but we did not aspire for that vehicle because, when we had obtained the day’s pay of Nirvāṇa from the Buddha, we thought that we had already obtained enough. We did not wish to have what you had showed and expounded to the Bodhisattvas by your wisdom. You expounded the Dharma to us with expedients according to our capacities because you knew that we wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. We did not know that we were your sons. Now we know that you do not grudge your wisdom to anyone. Although we were your sons then as we are now, we wished to hear only the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. If we had aspired for the teaching of the Great Vehicle, you would have already expounded it to us. Now you expound only the One Vehicle in this sūtra. You once reproached us Śrāvakas in the presence of the Bodhisattvas because we wished to hear the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle. [At that time we thought that you had taught us only the Lesser Vehicle,] but now we know that you have been teaching us the Great Vehicle from the outset. Therefore, we say that the great treasures of the King of the Dharma have come to us although we did not seek them, and that we have already obtained all that the sons of the Buddha should obtain.”

The underlying message of this chapter is explained by Nichiren in his Kanjin Honzon-shō:

Thus, it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra (chapter four, “Understanding by Faith” that four great Śrāvakas such as Kāśyapa rejoiced in their understanding of the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra enabling śrāvakas to attain Buddhahood, and reported to the Buddha that they had been given invaluable jewels without asking for them. This represents the attainment of Buddhahood by the śrāvaka realm contained in our minds.

Not only the śrāvaka but also Śākyamuni Buddha is within us. For, we encounter such a statement like this in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra: “It was My (Śākyamuni’s) original vow to let all beings become like Myself. My vow has now been fulfilled. I have helped them all enter the way of the Buddha.” Does this not mean, that Śākyamuni Buddha, who has attained Perfect Enlightenment, is our flesh and blood, and all the merits He has accumulated before and after attaining Buddhahood are our bones?

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 146

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Endeavor to Strengthen Your Faith

In a word, you cannot find hell anywhere aside from your own mind. It exists in your bosom. I will preach to you this very important teaching the best I can, so please listen carefully. It is just as Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī preached the secret teaching of attainment of Buddhahood immediately with the present body for a daughter of the Dragon King in chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra.

Endeavor to strengthen your faith after listening to this important teaching. He who endeavors to strengthen his faith after listening to the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra is a true seeker of Buddhahood. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai says: “Indigo becomes deep blue even though it is created from indigo leaves.” This means that if dyed blue over and over, indigo blue will become deeper than its original color. Practicing the Lotus Sūtra is the same. By practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra over and over, you will be a true follower. Practice is the best master.

Ueno-dono Goke-ama Go-henji, A Response to the Nun, Widow of Lord Ueno, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 48-50

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Day 31

Day 31 covers Chapter 27, King Wonderful-Adornment as the Previous Life of a Bodhisattva.

Day 31 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month witnessed the two sons asking their mother and the mother allowing her sons to join the Buddha, we consider the preparations to see Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha.

“Thereupon the [father came to them. The] two sons said to their parents, ‘Excellent, Father and Mother! Go to Cloud-Thunderpeal-Star-King-Flower-Wisdom Buddha, see him, and make offerings to him because to see a Buddha is as difficult as to see an udumbara flower or as for a one-eyed tortoise to find a hole in a floating piece of wood! We accumulated so many merits in our previous existence that we are now able to meet the teachings of the Buddha in this life of ours. Allow us to renounce the world because it is difficult to see a Buddha, and also because it is difficult to have such a good opportunity as this to see him.’

“Thereupon the eighty-four thousand people in the harem of King Wonderful-Adornment became able to keep the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

“Pure-Eyes Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma for a long time. Pure-Store Bodhisattva had already practiced the samādhi for the release from evil regions in order to release all living beings from evil regions for many hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas.

“Now the queen practiced the samādhi for the assembly of Buddhas, and understood the treasury of their hidden core. The two sons led their father by these expedients and caused him to understand the teachings of the Buddha by faith and to wish [to act according to those teachings].

Nichiren explains the target audience for this chapter in his letter “Response to My Lady Nichinyo”:

The chapter “Wonderful Adornment King” is expounded for women. It tells of a wife recommending Buddhism to her husband. If a wife recommends the Lotus Sūtra to her husband in the Latter Age of Degeneration, her merit will be the same as that of Lady Jōtoku, or Pure Virtue. The merits would be much more upon you both, a husband and wife, who believe together in the Lotus Sūtra. You are like a bird that has two wings or a vehicle with two wheels. Everything will surely be achieved by you. With heaven and earth, sun and moon, sunshine and rain, plants and trees of the merits will bear blossoms and fruit.

Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji, Response to My Lady Nichinyo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 137

LS32, WONS

Day 30

Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Day 30 Text with annotationsPlay MP3

Having last month considered Brave-In-Giving Bodhisattva’s offering, we consider Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King’s offering.

Thereupon Vaiśravaṇa Heavenly-King, the Protector of the World, said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! I also will utter dhārānis in order to protect this teacher of the Dharma out of my compassion towards all living beings.”

Then he uttered spells, “Ari (1), nari (2), tonari (3), anaro (4), nabi (5), kunabi (6).”

[He said to the Buddha:]

“World-Honored One! I will protect this teacher of the Dharma with these divine spells. I also will protect the person who keeps this sūtra so that he may have no trouble within a hundred yojanas’ distance [from here].”

Vaiśravaṇa’s offering of protection is cited in Nichiren’s letter, “Treatise on the Elimination of Calamities”:

The Lotus Sūtra declares in the 26th chapter on the “Mystic Phrases,” “I, the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamon), will ensure that there will be no decline nor harm within the area of a hundred yojana, where this Lotus Sūtra prevails.”

The Nirvana Sūtra preaches, “You should know that the land in which this wondrous Sūtra on the Great Extinction (Nirvana Sūtra) is spread is a Pure Land as indestructible as a diamond. The people who reside here are also as indestructible as diamonds.”

The Sūtra of the Benevolent King states, “This sūtra with a thousand lights always shines within 1,000 Chinese li assuring that the seven calamities will not befall in that area.” The sūtra also preaches, “Many evil priests who wish to win fame and material gain will preach false teachings before such men in power as the king, crown prince and princes, eventually destroying the teaching of Buddhism, leading the country to ruin. Unable to distinguish right from wrong, the king will put his faith in their false teachings and promulgate arbitrary laws and institutions contrary to the Buddha’s commandments, ruining the teaching of Buddhism and destroying the country.”

As I contemplate these scriptural passages, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “There will be no decline nor harm within the area of a hundred yojana;” in the Sūtra of the Benevolent King, “The seven calamities will not befall the area within 1,000 Chinese li;” and in the Nirvana Sūtra, “You should know that the land is as indestructible as a diamond, and the people residing there as indestructible as diamonds.”

Sainan Taiji-shō, Treatise on the Elimination of Calamities, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 92-93