When we open the Lotus Sūtra, we can see its teachings as clearly as looking at our face in a mirror. It is similar to recognizing the color of grasses and trees as the sun rises. It is stated in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “The truth has not been revealed during the first forty years or so.”
Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 145-146
The quote about truth not being revealed in the first 40 years of Śākyamuni’s teaching is used throughout Nichiren’s writings to support the revelation in Chapter 2, Expedients, of the Lotus Sutra:
“Śāriputra! I also expound various teachings to all living beings only for the purpose of revealing the One Buddha-Vehicle. There is no other vehicle, not a second or a third. Śāriputra! All the present Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters also do the same….”
With that I mind, I think it is useful to read the context in which the Buddha says, “[A]fter more than forty years the truth has not yet been revealed.”
Using the Reeves translation:
At that time Magnificently Adorned Bodhisattva spoke once again to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, the Dharma preached by the World-Honored One is inconceivable. The ability and nature of living beings is also inconceivable. And the gateway to the Dharma of emancipation is also inconceivable. Though we no longer have doubts about any of the Dharma preached by the Buddha, out of fear that various living beings will be perplexed, we repeatedly ask the World-Honored One about it.
“For the more than forty years since the Tathagata attained the Way, for the sake of the living you have continued to preach—the meaning of the four modes of all things, the meaning of suffering, the meaning of emptiness, of impermanence, of no enduring self, the absence of greatness, the absence of pettiness, non-arising, non-extinction, one character, absence of character, Dharma nature, Dharma character, being originally empty and quiet, non-coming, non-going, non-appearing, and non-disappearing.
“Those who have heard it have obtained the warm Dharma, the highest Dharma, the best Dharma in the world. They have obtained fruits of a stream-enterer, fruits of being a once-returner, fruits of being a nonreturner, fruits of being an arhat, and the pratyekabuddha way. They have aspired to become awakened. They have ascended the first stage, the second stage, and the third stage, and reached the tenth stage.
“In what sense is what you preached in the past, the meaning of all the buddhas, different from what you preach today? One hears that if bodhisattvas practice only the profound and unexcelled Great Vehicle Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, without fail they will soon attain unexcelled awakening. Is that true? Please, World-Honored One, out of compassion and pity for all, analyze this for the sake of living beings everywhere, and leave no doubt in the minds of all those in the present and future who hear the Dharma.”
Then the Buddha said to Great Adornment Bodhisattva: “Good, good! Great and good son, you have raised good questions for the Tathagata about the subtle and wonderful meaning of the profound and unexcelled Great Vehicle. You should know that you will greatly enrich many, pleasing human and heavenly beings, and relieving living beings from suffering. This is the truth of great compassion, a truth that is not in vain. For this reason you will surely and quickly attain unexcelled awakening. You will also enable all living beings in the present and future to accomplish unexcelled awakening.
“Good sons, after sitting upright for six years under the bodhi tree at the place of the Way, I could attain supreme awakening. With the eyes of a buddha I could understand that not all the teachings could be proclaimed. Why was that? I knew that the natures and the desires of living beings were not the same. As their natures and their desires were not the same, I taught the Dharma in various ways. I used the power of skillful means to teach the Dharma in various ways. And after more than forty years the truth has not yet been revealed. This is why there are differences in the way living beings take the Way and why they do not attain unexcelled awakening quickly.
“Good sons, the Dharma is like water that washes away dirt. Just as the water in a well, a pond, a stream, a river, a valley, a ditch, or a great sea is equally effective in washing away all kinds of dirt, so Dharma water effectively washes away the filth that afflicts living beings.
“Good sons, the nature of water is the same, but a stream, a river, a well, a pond, a valley stream, a ditch, and a great sea are distinct and different from each other. The nature of the Dharma is like this. There is equal effectiveness and no differentiation in washing away the waste of afflictions, but the three teachings, the four fruits, and the two ways are not one and the same.
“Good sons, though the water washes equally well, a well is not a pond, a pond is not a stream or a river, and a valley stream or a ditch is not a sea. Just as the Tathagata, the world’s hero, is free in the Dharma, all of the teachings in his sermons are like this. Though early, middle, and late teachings equally wash away the delusions of living beings, the beginning is not the middle, and the middle is not the end. Teachings at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end are the same in expression but different in meaning.
As a bonus, I offer this quote from Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 242):
The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning states: “The Buddha has been preaching various teachings through expedient means in order to lead all the people to the True Dharma. For forty years or so till today – (three weeks for preaching the Flower Garland Sūtra, 12 years for the Āgama sūtras, 30 years for the Hōdō sūtras and the Wisdom Sūtra, totaling 42 years; the Treatise on the Dharma World, too, states 42 years) – the truth has not been revealed” (in chapter 2, “Preaching”). The sūtra also preaches: “By means of the pre-Lotus sūtras, one will never attain supreme Buddhahood no matter how long one practices his training. Why? Because the great direct way to enlightenment is not preached in those sūtras, hence one encounters many difficulties in walking in steep and dangerous ways” (chapter 3, “Ten Merits”). It further preaches, “There is no suffering in practicing the great direct way” (chapter 3, “Ten Merits”).
I hope to touch on these topics in the final days of this 21-day stay-cation retreat.
